Muir Woods

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

...Joyce Kilmer

I'm not quite sure why, but I seem to have this affinity for trees. I was very happy we had the opportunity to travel up the coast past Sausalito to Muir Woods.

Muir Woods is a magical place - despite all the noisy people.

It amazed me how enclosed the feeling was, how majestic the trees.

It was a very good day indeed.

Golden Gate?

I'm not quite sure why they called it the 'Golden Gate'...I guess it sounded better than 'Terracotta'....

Between The Rock and a Hard Case

...so says Sean Connery in the motion picture movie 'The Rock' (which, by the way, is a fun movie to watch - you've still got it Sean!)

We did the kitchy tourist thing and took the ferry over to Alcatraz. Leave it to the Americans to turn something dark and sinister into a tourist attraction...that being said, of course, I purchased many an 'appropo' Alcatraz tin cup for myself and my coworkers (nothing like 'stickin' it to the Man'!)

Alcatraz is an incredible place. The audio tour was fantastic, and I highly recommend this tour - especially for any parents trying to scare a little straight into their kids!

United We Fly....

Wednesday saw us heading out to San Fransisco with Danie and Connor for a few glorious days in 'Caleefornnniya'. Wow, could I live there. Seriously. I would happily live out my days in Santa Cruz feeding the seagulls and listening to the sealions happily bark their way under the pier.

I didn't realize how much I was missing the ocean (any ocean) living in Alberta. I mean, sure, I will readily admit how spoiled I am getting to see the glorious Rockies every day, but boy it did my soul something to see the ocean and step into it (no matter how damn cold it was)!!

We grabbed a car and toodled down highway one down the coast and our first stop was Pacifica...a lovely little seaside town with quaint houses along the slopes, beautiful tanned surfers (right Danie??) milling about under the outdoor shower spigots...my my, yes it certainly did the heart good!!! heehee, I digress....

So after dipping out toes, we continued along down the coast past artichoke fields as far as the eye can see until we came upon Santa Cruz. *Insert big sigh here* I instantly fell in love with a gorgeous white hip roofed house along the shore road. Just down from there was the Pier, where the boys found their own little treasure by way of geocache (Paden is SO hooked, it's funny and fun all at the same time). We grabbed the prescribed salt air, salted fries and watched the salty dogs and seagulls. I just loved looking out over the water at all the boats, and licking my lips and tasting the salt air on them.

We were treated to a rogue sea lion who happily looked up to watch us watching him, then he moved off to grab a snack of his own, no doubt.

Across from the pier was a carnival, and I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that it's the same carnival that is in the opening shot of 'The Lost Boys'. With the wind blowing, you could occasionally pick up the sound of laughter and people squealing with delight on the rollercoaster.

We strolled for a bit, then headed further down the coast to Monterey. Great shops, food (highly recommend The Fish Hopper) and geocaching. By the time we started heading back, it was after nine o'clock which didn't get us back to San Fran til almost midnight....but what a great day!

A Day of Rest

It may be that Sunday is a day of rest for most people, but we've been so busy visiting and toodling and doing stuff that we didn't quite get to rest til the Monday!

We were going to load up the trailer and head out to the icefields, but we were all pretty knackered!

So it was a very lazy jammy day...

Just what the doctor ordered - well, that and a good Nora Roberts novel!

We LOVE you James!!!!

Ah, Sweet Baby James - James Taylor....Lordy, Lordy that man surely does have the most amazing voice. He is (of course in my unsolicited opinion) one of a small handfull of artists that can take you right back to a moment with his music.

Mexico
Sweet Baby James
Shower the People
Your Smiling Face
How Sweet it is....


Yes yes yes....how sweet to sit and listen to him sing and play and entertain and charm the crowd at the Saddledome on Sunday July 13th.

It was a treat, a pleasure, and an honor to 'feel the love' of this special person. What a great concert.

I was happy that I was able to score tickets for Danie and I to go.
I'm looking forward to his cover album...he sure does a mean Wilson Pickett!

WE LOVE YOU JOHNNY!!!!

...Now say that while you're hands are way out in front of you like you're at a rock concert making the 'love you' sign and that's what I would have looked like Thursday nite at the Stampede Grand Stand Show.
*Insert bust a gut laugh in here*
It was a really full day - there was ALOT going on and only one day to see it, and see it we did.
Everyone had a ton o' fun, despite the cold (and it WAS cold, even for Calgarian standards).

The highlight for me, besides the bull riding, steer wrastlin' (oh Sean Mulligan you hunk you), and barrel racing - was Johnny Bagpipes....WE LOVE YOU JOHNNY!!!!...

This guy is hilarious and if you ever get the chance to go see him, you will come out with your face and guts sore from laughing so hard! He was going on about how he wanted to be a rock star but the men in his family have always been pipers, and he was sad to say that there are no such things as Johnny groupies....well we fixed that~!!! WE LOVE YOU JOHNNY!!!! We had the people in the stands around us in stitches.

We didn't get home til very late and we needed a Tim's hot chocolate to warm us all up, but it was a great day at the greatest outdoor show on earth!

Can I Get a Yahooooooo!!!!

My sister Danie and her son Connor arrived on Wednesday.
It's always great to have family come visit.
Their flight was on time and when they came through the international gate, there was a country band playing 'rawhide'....get em up get em out round em up ...yeehaw rrrrraaaaaaaaawwwhiiiiiide!!!!....then Connor got lassoed by one of the cowgirls...the look on his face was priceless!!!

This is going to be fun...

Paden was pretty excited to see his cousin...they hadn't seen each other in person in over 2 years...wow how time flies.