A year of adventures

 I’ve been off work for twelve weeks - twelve! I had to count twice to believe it. Okay .. this is week 12 and it’s only Tuesday, but still.  Travel thoughts:  I did my road trip and RI/TX trips. I’m in the final third of my Canada trip - it’s been pretty evenly split between city (Toronto) and cottage time. Toronto time has been quite similar to my Portland time - some social, some lazy hangout solo time (mostly with books, though I did watch all the show Severance).  This week and next I’ll spend Friday through Wednesday in Quebec City and Montreal, and I’m excited for both! Then I have one more day in Toronto, and head home (with a side swing to see a friend in Milwaukee, WI).  It’s been a nice split of active and lazy time; people and solo time; and the weather has been decent, if too hot in Portland and too sticky/sweaty in Ontario. But…I guess that’s summer!  I’ll be glad to be home for 2 weeks and wish I had a bit more time there, but I didn’t want to leave Canada any sooner.  4

 I’m in Canada! I was glad to have an early morning direct flight, and I carried on my luggage to be on the safe side. Everything went well! I’m in Toronto and have had city time, including: Drenching thunderstorm while walking around the city $$$ cocktail while recovering from said drenching thunderstorm (I was worried my bedraggled self would not be welcome but they were very nice) Yummy home-cooked meals with my host-friends Cottage time including several walks, kayaking, SUP-ing, and a 71-minute swim around a nearby island A sunset dinner cruise with a former coworker  My host-friends getting a PUPPY who is sweet and cute (and temporarily semi-high maintenance) Photo dump follows:

 I didn’t ONLY travel to see family in July. I had just about two weeks at the end of the month - and realized I needed to take full advantage of them. Since I’m spending August in Canada, those days at the end of July were the last of my Portland summer!  So, I got busy!  I went marionberry picking (Oregon-created hybrid of blackberry & raspberry). I went to see comedy in one of our city parks. I went wine tasting   What else? I did one hike, one short bike ride, two kayak outings, one water aerobics session, finally toured a mansion I’d been meaning to check out for 25 years, went to a singalong, and had some great food.  I went to a backyard BBQ at a friend’s place, and saw two movies: Thor (…it was fine) and a documentary about Leonard Cohen, his song Hallelujah, and how it became a touchstone. I LOVED this and highly recommend it.  And now: I head to Canada. This summer feels like a whirlwind!