one month back home in Canada

So we've been back home in Edmonton for a few weeks now, and it's been busy. Let's see, well, somebody turned 40 and had a bit of a party with lots of friends. Like Annett and Brent....

and Pat, Nader, and Christine....

my mom....

and even me and Amanda!

Shortly after the party our friends Daniel and Carmen who, you'll remember (if you were following my blog), we met in Edmonton years ago, and just visited in Australia last month. They were up in Edmonton for a visit. Yup - can all the way to Edmonton of all places to spend some holiday time. Cheers!

But as is tradition, we had to go for Angry Ribs...

Yup - those damn Texas Bold ribs are always to blame...

Cheers!

Anyway, Mike was at work for a few weeks and Amanda was fortunate enough to have one of her school projects (a lamp she designed) be chosen by a fancy lighting store in Toronto

They hope to sell these, but the problem is that she won't be around to make them. So she spent a bunch of time making up shop drawings and finding a company that can make them for her. Then there was her visit to Lethbridge to visit her gran, and my visit from Dave Swan, and our night at the theatre: "Nevermore" about Edgar Allen Poe - excellent production! So ya - it's been busy.

So what's next? Well, now that the weather here is finally nice I think we'll leave. You see, we've also been spending our time doing some trip prep. for the forthcoming sections. We've got flights to London, Dublin, Paris, and then to Cape Town in South Africa. Plus we've got a 15 journey travel pass on Eurail's network.

I also found a new company that's built a web site for people like me. They've made a web site that can track a person's journey and map it and allow posting of pics and trip updates. Check it out:

http://www.MapKat.com/MapPage.aspx?trail=c5143f3d-aacb-4055-9d85-0796bbec7463

But a word of warning - their software is in beta, so it's slow and not 100% stable. Be gentle with it and click slowly. But if used properly will show our path as we continue to criss cross the globe and will show some pics.

Also, I'd like to give a shout out to my friend Axel

who is hoping to embark on an adventure of his own. He's initiating a fund raising campaign for an African charity, and to raise awareness he is planning to ride a motorbike across Canada, then across Europe and down the east cost of Africa. Check out his web site: http://www.rideforafrica.ca/