Travel

Derek stands beside an entrance sign for Highway 101 south

In the Palm of our Hands

You know the kind of person who can tell you the street names and highlights of towns and cities they’ve visited only once? Well, I’m not one of those people. I have just dug through a mountain of receipts to remember where we have been! Lucky for us, we mainly drove on one road: highway 101 along the Pacific coast, from Washington to California.  …

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twilight - friends helping each other up a hill

My Limit of F***s

When Donald Trump made fun of sexual assault victim Christine Blasey-Ford, I knew I was close. When he walked up the steps of Air Force One with toilet-paper stuck to his shoe, and no one told him, my laughter created a little bit of room for more. But the confirmation of undoubtedly biased Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court nailed it. I’m out of f***s.  …

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Thankful Thursday – A Mountain of Mentors

Ever since that time I bought the big house in Toronto and found myself waist-deep in a much higher cost of living, I’ve been seeking out ways to make it all smaller. The big house coincided with the big job so the bills were manageable. But as fun as it was to decorate the place, the whole lifestyle went against my core values.  …

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iPhone sitting on a stand

How I Learned to Love my iPhone (Or Fake It!)

For years, my Blackberry was my constant companion. It was provided to me by Rogers radio and I loved it. I was lightning-quick on the physical buttons on the keyboard and rarely made mistakes. It went with me to Europe and turned out photos that were plenty good enough. It’s not like I was entering them in a contest.  …

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Shania \Twain in white jeans, white sleeveless denim jacket, red top and red hat, looks happy as she walks onto the Fan Fair media stage

Throwback Thursday – Countryfied

For a few years, alternating them with my then-husband, I went to Country Music Fan Fair in Nashville as a working journalist. It was always held during the hottest week of the summer, roughly 105F in the shade. I got to interview country’s up-and-coming stars while freelancing for the now defunct Country Wave Magazine.  …

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Throwback Thursday – Une Dizaine D’annees, Mon Dieu!

Translation: It’s been ten years since Derek and I visited England and France. We also went to Monaco but didn’t quite make it to Italy. I’d love to spend a couple of years visiting tiny pockets of Europe. The only other European country I’ve seen is Iceland.  …

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Throwback Thursday – At Your Service

When I was a kid, I loved the poems of Robert Service. They told stories of the Yukon gold rush in a musical cadence that included lots of alliteration and rhymes. Service didn’t bother with subtleties in his most famous works. You knew what you were getting with The Cremation of Sam McGee, The Ballad of Blasphemous Bill and hundreds of others. He also wrote six novels, two autobiographies and even acted in the 1942 film, The Spoilers, with Marlene Dietrich. Visiting his restored cabin in Dawson City, Yukon – a preserved historical site – is on my bucket list. 

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Clean Getaway

Derek and I have been looking around to invest in a vacation retreat. Something modest to match our budget. A little place near water we can spruce up and customize. Our summer home when we’re ready to become snowbirds. We’re looking everywhere – from other provinces to other countries. Nothing is off the table. If you’ve explored the cottage areas of Ontario and you don’t have a million dollars to spend, you know how difficult it is to find something affordable close to home. …

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Off the Beaten Path

We like to get out and explore on our own. One of our favourite side trips from Las Vegas was to Oatman, Arizona. They call Oatman a ghost town because it’s settled in the Black Mountains of the Mohave and once boasted a population of 3,500. That was in the gold rush days. Now about 100 people live in the old west throwback town year round and wild burros roam freely through the streets. …

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