Welcome to August!

I'm certainly having fun. My stomach is full of pancakes and bacon, I have a hot cup of tea, and I get to sit down and blog uninterrupted for a half hour. We are on (what I remember from my youth as) a traditional vacation, driving from Alberta to Vancouver Island to spend some time at the beach. We are holed up in Merritt, at a nice little bed and breakfast (we're leaving at noon). It's bright, sunny, has a very relaxed atmosphere and has a computer that is available for use. McMonkey is exploring the house, and Banana is scratching and massaging the cat, building up buckets of good karma .

The past few days we were tenting. I use the word "tenting" deliberately, because it is very different from "camping". Camping is a catch-all phrase that everyone seems to use when they sleep somewhere other than their own house. Tenting, caravaning, tent-trailering, R.V.-ing and stuff like that fall into this category. For all of you that are waiting for the first edition of my dictionary to come out, here's a clarification of what is not camping.

• if you have children with you that didn't carry anything with them except a stuffed toy, you're probably not camping
  
• if you are sleeping less than 50 feet from your vehicle, you are not camping
  
• if you are pulling something bigger than your garage behind your vehicle, you are not camping
  
• if microwave popcorn is an option for your evening snack, you are not camping
  
• if you can't sleep because Brittney Spears is singing too loud, you are not camping

For now, this is a good introduction to living outdoors for my kids. Once they show an interest in it, I'll introduce them to the crack cocaine of the travelling set - hostelling.

Once we get to Vancouver Island, we will be staying with Jenn's sister and her husband in their immaculate, child-free house on the waterfront. They are nice people, but I'm sure our visits are stressful. I hope to learn a few tricks on sea-kayaking from Brad, who goes out for a paddle in his own kayak most mornings. I want to do some sea-kayaking in the Tofino area. Good thing I know how to eskimo roll. I've heard that the whales should be out and about this time of year.