Ooo. It has been a long time since I have been in here. Look at that, I can draw faces in the dust. Adelle and I have been lonesome for this place but we haven’t wanted to come in and bore you all with the day to day stuff…so we have stayed away. But now, I am counting down the days til I hit the road again, and I just wanted to make sure everything worked.

It has been an exciting few months since I got home. I helped a friend produce and stage the 4th annual Blue Bridge Festival That was fun but a lot of work.

I helped at bit, but not too much with my daughter’s wedding, which happened last weekend. It is hard to imagine that my baby is old enough to be married, and to have a baby.

Oh yes, I did cry.

I wrote a book. That was an experience. I can hardly wait to have it in my hands so I can show it to you.

And I got involved in a few other things. I had a busy time.

Now I am winding down from all of that, and starting to seriously look at my maps again. Vincent Van-go, true to his name, is pulling north every time we head into town for a few errands. I am  having to cajole him home every day.

Vincent dreaming

My plan is to visit all, or as much of Alberta, Saskatchewan and the North West Territories as I can with several stops in Ontario and Manitoba along the way. I am hoping to get to La Ronge, Saskatchewan, Black Diamond, Alberta, points around Winnepeg, Yellowknife NWT and many places in between. I still haven’t been to Jasper or Rocky Mountain House. Looking at the map, there are so many communities that I know I can’t get to them all…but I will make a good stab at it. There is another problem too, there are no roads to many of the places I want to go. I will either have to fly in, take boats or in some cases, ice roads. Maybe my northern trip will have to be it’s own entity. Hopefully I can teach courses, speak, or do something that will inspire some northern communities to invite me in. I am putting that on my wish list.

So, it is looking pretty tidy in here now. Things are almost ready. I am hoping to be on the road the morning of July 12, first stop, Collingwood, where I will pick up some stuff I have forgotten there, and spend the night getting ready for the ferry crossing at Tobermorry the next day.

You can come along: subscribe to my blog and I will drop into your mail box almost daily as I find my way across the country. Invite your friends too. The more the merrier.

You can help: introduce me to your friends and family in the prairies. My schedule is not firm yet, actually, I will probably never have anything carved in stone , so I can travel anywhere that people want me.

Or, help me find people to sponsor me. I want to thank the  Writers Community of Durham Region for their help, inspiring me to write the book and for sponsoring my visits to writers groups across the country.

Take care for now. Hope to see you again soon.