jet-setter

Last week, I got back to Victoria from a two week vacation. Flying to Toronto, I went to my younger cousin's wedding In Kingston. It was great to see fam and friends again, after being away for so long. I'm very happy for Sarah! I also got a chance to see family from the Skinner side. Both of my older cousins recently got engaged, so it looks like I will be going back sooner than I thought.

While I was at the wedding, Danny was racing the Canada Cup #4 in Edmonton.

He drove my car from Victoria so he could pick me up. I had a fairly quick turnover in Ontario, staying only 5 days. I flew to Calgary where Danny was waiting for me. We stayed with a friend of Danny's from the Yukon, Nicole, for 3 days. Traveling with 5 people, and 5 bikes takes a little ingenuity! While we were there, we went to Lethbridge for a horseback riding trip!

Danny's sister-in-law's family owns a 2,000 acre ranch somewhere between Calgary and Lethbridge. The trip was ridiculously fun!

On the trip, it was also Tom's birthday. As a celebration for his bones turning older than time itself, I made a cake. It took a lot of patience, but luckily Amber, Danny's sister-in-law, helped me work on it for hours!

From there, we headed to Canmore for Canada Cup #5. Canmore is incredible. The views were spectacular and the riding was hard!

And I made a friend along the way...
Not a bad backdrop for a race...
Tom coming through the top of the first climb really quick...

Danny flying through the singletrack that's riddled with roots, stumps and rocks...


Driving back to Victoria, we took two stops; One in Salmon Arm to see Paulie, one in Kelowna to see Danny's family. Salmon Arm was a quick over night stop, and we spent 3 days and 2 nights at Danny's grandad's house. His parents are moving from the Yukon to Regina, and we met in Kelowna during their move. Danny took me on a pretty hilly road ride, we went for some good walks and ate some delicious meals!

On our way back to Victoria, we brought along Danny's parent's dog, Sadie, for the week while they flew to Ontario to visit more family. While this dog would jump up on you, pull the leash, jump on beds and couches, bark, I worked tirelessly to help her kick these bad habits. Danny's Mom was impressed that Sadie wasn't pulling on the leash when Danny returned her. Maybe I missed my true calling.. ?

Canada Day was lots of fun. No work and all play makes for a good day! I had a little get together and made moose burgers and a HUGE lasagna. After eating as much food that would fit into my belly, a few of us drove up Mt. Doug to watch the fireworks. It was nice seeing them, but it wasn't the same being that far away from all the excitement.

This month is going to be crazy busy at the shop. I'm working lots of hours and don't have much time off for any sort of racing... which is fine by me because I'm not entirely race fit right now...

I'm looking for some early morning/late afternoon training buddies... if you're interested in some swims, rides, and/or runs, let me know!

Keep fit and have fun!

JS