And we're off...

Today's the day - it's finally here! When you make plans months in advance, it seems like your vacation will never happen. But then, all of a sudden, it's today! We leave today!

Tonight to be exact. Pat & I are driving North tonight, heading home. That's where we'll pick up the rest of the posse: my 2 brothers, Matt & John; my sister-in-law, Terri-Anne; her parents, Anne & Chip; my niece Jaden & nephews Dustin & Edward; & John's girlfriend Emilie. We're going in 3 vehicles & we have 6 drivers (not me!). My parents are also driving, but they plan on taking it slower, staying the night in hotels.

Not us - we're driving straight through. Stopping only for gas, food & pee breaks. Verner to Edmonton. Well, except that Pat & I will branch off in Regina & drive down to Calgary. We're making our own little vacation out of this!

See, we're going to Edmonton for a wedding - Terri-Anne's brother's. But we're arriving almost a week early since Matt & the kids are in the wedding party (Terri-Anne isn't, but that's a whole other story) - Pat & I don't need to be in Edmonton that whole time. So we're spending a day each in Calgary, Banff & Jasper.

In Calgary, we're going to spend some time with a friend of mine (from undergrad). She's doing her Master's (then med school) there, so I haven't seen her more than once in 2 years. We're going see some of the stampede Sunday evening & do brunch Monday. Then we drive to Banff & stay at a fancy hotel with hot springs. The next day we'll drive to Jasper & stay in a cottage with an old friend from back home. We went to high school together, but he moved out to Alberta a few years after we graduated, so we haven't seen him much either. After a night in Jasper we'll head back to Edmonton - the day before the wedding. Along the way, we're stopping for a horseback ride through the mountains.

After the wedding, we're staying for another day & leaving on Saturday. So by the time we get back home - and then Pat & I drive back home to Hamilton.... we'll be gone almost 2 weeks! As you can see, those 2 weeks are action packed - and filled with driving, driving, driving.

I CAN'T WAIT!

So if you hadn't noticed, I've discontinued the Item of the Day feature for the month. It makes things easier on me. I've scheduled a blog post a day though for when I'm gone, so stick around!