Now a Major Motion Picture Starring Will Smith

You Are My Sunshine

The first part of our vacation was a week in Kelowna with my lovely wife's sister Red. It rained the day we got there and a bit the day we left, but while we were there, it was gorgeous -- sunny, 25+, just lovely.

We enjoyed some very fine eating, including a wonderful meal on a patio surrounded by mountains (they thought we were silly for asking to be on the patio, but it turned out to be a lovely evening and we had it all to ourselves, except for the ducks).

We visited wine country (a bit, 3 vinyard's worth) and sampled some very fine wines. We also took a ride on an honest-to-goodness steam train and visited a goat farm (for the cheese, panninis and gellato, not for the goats, which were pungent).

I also enjoyed the output of British Columbia's local breweries. They brew a decent beer out there, although they have no idea what to call it (note to BC breweries: you can't call just anything a pale ale).

All in all, a very relaxing way to enjoy a beautiful bit of real estate, and enjoy Red's company.

I Coo, I Poo, That's All I Do

Unfortunately the weather at our next stop, Calgary, wasn't as compliant -- chilly and gray and rainy for most of the week. But that didn't stop us from having a great time and enjoying the company of my lovely wife's sister CalgaryMom, her husband BroncosFan, and their new baby, HappyBaby.

We got to see a bit of Calgary (including the Calgary Tower and its glass floor) and enjoyed a few meals out and quite a few very good meals in -- CalgaryMom and BroncosFan are both talented cooks, and excellent hosts.

And HappyBaby didn't earn her soubriquet for nothing -- that is one happy baby. Cute as a button, too.

Quite a successful vacation!

My God, It's Full of Stars

The other thing that we did in Calgary, which honestly merits its own entry here, is visit the Sentry Box, Canada's biggest game store.

I'm not a religious man, but if I were to pray, apparently it should be in the direction of Calgary.

They have a bookstore's worth of fantasy and SF novels. They have anime. They have every board game, miniatures game, card game and role-playing game I've ever heard of. They have stuff that I haven't seen for twenty years. Want a copy of the Stargate board game? Operation -- Spiderman Edition? Original hard-cover Advanced D&D Manual of the Planes? Old-school Ral Partha lead miniatures? An entire box of VTES Final Nights cards?

Well, you can't get that last one, because it was coming home with me. But, holy shit. Their historicals section is the same size as Fandom II. Just the historicals section.

If I lived in Calgary that store would ruin me.

And That's About It

So now we're back -- landed in Ottawa late last night, drove home, and sacked out. My lovely wife has a long day at a client's site today, but I took it off so I could slack off at home, watch Star Trek and sort my vampire cards. Back to work tomorrow.

Now you're up to speed.

Oh, one more thing -- Go Red Wings!