I got a feeling, that Tofino will be a good time!

Surfs, sun, and relaxation! Oh, Tofino you treated us well. A week in Tofino was just what we needed after a week at Wizard. It fit perfectly and the randomness of Wizard continued through our week. And we were joined by my friend Deeds, which made it that much better!

We arrived in Tofino with no idea of where we were gonna sleep and what exactly we were going to do while there. All we knew was that surfing was a must and chilling at the beach was a priority. With limited money and free spirit we decided to ninja camp! lol. We set up camp on a logging road that our awesome friend Alex told us about. We didn't really know if he was for real or not so we had to ask at one of the shops and they were like, "Ya totally go to this logging road and there'll be tonnes of spots for you guys to crash at!" It was sweet! There were only about 3 other groups of campers with the same idea....and they were no where near us! Even though we were in the bush in the middle of nowhere, we were happy. I think Deeds was a little worried at first but she had faith that Kel and I had it under control. And we did!

When Kel and I were in Calgary and met up with Dave and Brad we planned to meet up again in Tofino, along with another Brock alum Kenora. The rest of the week we basically all hung out together and went surfing! The ocean was FREEZING! But it was worth it! Kel and I couldn't wait to go surfing again, but Deeds on the other hand was a little nervous. For her first time she did awesome! Getting the wetsuit on and off was a bigger challenge than anything. lol. Thank God for the wetsuits though! I'd have been an icicle without one!

It felt so good to be in the water and crash against the waves. It was the first time Kel and I had been in water and been swimming all summer. We needed it! And we missed it! And if we weren't surfing we were at least on the beach! It was the most beautiful week ever. Perfect weather and an amazing place. Definitely a slice of heaven.

There's something to be said about being in quiet beach towns where everyone is a friend and it doesn't matter what you're doing as long as it's making you happy. I really don't know the last time I felt that rested and ready to go!

I give major props to Deeds...Katie and my randomness can be a bit unnerving to some because it literally is chaos; no plans, no ideas, just going with the flow; and she was absolutely up for anything and ready to play! She didn't even mind when we picked up the two young guys trying to get a ride back to the airport:) They were cute...couldn't just let them keep running down the road...

Wizard Training Camp

Oh baby, oh baby! Finally! Time for camps! WOO HOO!

I've got to be honest. I've been waiting for camps pretty much since I took them last summer. I set an intention to volunteer at at least 2 this summer, had no idea how or where it was going to work out and when I got those confirmation emails I was estatic!

I had been to both of the other camp locations in Ellenville, NY and Sanger, CA, but had never experienced the 'highly recommended' Squamish, BC site. WOW! It's everything everyone talks about and then some. Set in the valley between glaciered mountains....what's not to be amazed by. The trees talk, the wind whispers....well maybe I'm giving a bit too much of the Wizard experience away here... :)

Although Kel had been to Wizard, I on the other hand had not. And I was ready to go right after I did Warrior last September! My intention for the camp was to have fun....and well let's just say I had a frickin riot! I loved every minute of Wizard! And I had the BEST band ever! Full of love and light...and crazy too! I heart them all. Connected Creators = CHAMPIONS! hehe

And there definitely was no better place to do it than Squamish. One word, Magical! It's amazing and beautiful. And it feels like home.

Needless to say, it was an amazing week!!!


Great energy, great people, great transformations...new friends, new family and new perceptions. And of course a whole lotta love!

Words are little in comparison to how I felt so read this post for a deeper look at my Wizard experience from the 'other' side. :)

Old Friends in New Places...

There is so much to do while in Alberta. And Kel and I FINALLY went to one of their most popular tourist locations of all, Banff National Park. We originally weren't going to go to Banff until the next day, but when we got to Canmore (our hosting for the night), the people we were staying with weren't actually at their house. lol. So we decided we might as well go.

We basically flew right through Banff and headed to Lake Louise. While we were walking up to the lake I looked over to my left and saw 2 people I haven't seen in months. My uni friends Dave and Brad were there! I was planning to meet up with them at some point but the universe thought then and there was as good a place as any. lol. HOW COOL! So we ended up spending the day with them. We sat by the lake for awhile catching up and enjoying the view. The guys seemed very appreciative of the beauty of it and the park itself. After tree planting for 2 months I guess you start seeing things in a new light.

Along with Lake Louise we headed to Lake Morraine, which I thought was even more beautiful, as if it's possible! Lake Morraine had a lot more character...it was rugged and secluded. It' also called the Valley of ten Peaks because there are ten huge mountains along it's base. It's gorgeous!!

After that we all headed to Johnson Canyon to the waterfall. It was, again, beautiful! Everything there is pretty wonderful. lol. The best part was the cave that we went through that took us right in front of the waterfall. It was cold and wet but awesome! Fresh glacier water! That's the other thing, all the lakes are very blue...it's really pretty.

Our afternoon in wilderness gave us growling stomach's which led to a quick grocery shop at Safeway. Being with other travellers on a budget is awesome! You start to appreciate grocery stores and coolers a hell of a lot more! And minivans apparently.....We had dinner in Brad's van in the Safeway parking lot. It was quite a set-up with lawn chairs and everything. We were quite cozy and the company was the best part! :)

We eventually made our way back to Canmore where we stayed with our cousin's inlaws, Moe and Garth. We hadn't seen them in a realllllly long time so I had forgotten what they looked like. lol. But they were very welcoming and had a beautiful home that Kel and I were very appreciaticve to have stayed in. We visited with them the next morning and they told us all about their travels to Europe. Can't wait to go there!

Another rainy day in Alberta didn't stop us from going to Jasper and seeing the icefields on our way. Now we saw the Athabasca Glacier and I must say I wasn't impressed. I thought it was going to be alot bigger and more like a glacier....but it really just looked like ice on a mountain. I guess that's what it is, but I just wasn't expecting that. lol. It was neat though, and something to see. We headed to the Athabasca Falls as well. Beautiful, but probably would have been gorgeous to see on a sunny day!

Finally we made it to Jasper. I like Jasper. It's alot quieter than Banff and more low-key. When we got there my friend Whitney, whom we were going to stay with, was at work. So to pass the time we headed to the local brewery, where else? lol. We eventually made it to her place and got to see where she lived now. In a lodge basically. She works for the lodge and lives there as well. It reminded me of residence life in uni, prolly not something I would like to repeat. lol. We just chilled all night and caught up with one another. It was awesome to be around old friends again. I'm getting excited to head back home in Septmeber and see everyone again!

Calgary Stampede...Day 2

After Nashville North we needed a little recovery time. We chilled out all afternoon, worked on the blog a bit, slept and hung out with Lisa. We were contemplating whether to stay another night or head to Canmore and Banff, but Kenny's advice was not to leave until we've seen a Chuckwagon Race and the Grandstand Show. His words were, "If I thought it was awesome and I liked it then you two definitely gotta go."

If Kenny sat through a Grandstand Show, lived to tell and lived to tell others to go to it?! We had to go. Basically if he liked it, the possibility that Kel and I would like it are about 99%. Not because he's our cousin and we like the same things, but because Kel and I are like little kids and get excited about the smallest of things. Kenny on the other hand..not so much. So we did. When we left Lisa's it was sunny, when we got to the park it was rainy. It poured pretty much the entire 3.5 hours we were there. I think maybe for 45mins combined there was no rain....but it was worth it! Good thing I brought my little cover-up. lol.

Now we want to see a motorcross! That stuff is sick! The video doesn't quite do the show justice. It was wayyyyy more than we excpected and the performers were incredible. And they did most of it in the rain. I was impressed.

It was a wicked, what, 3 days? in Calgary. Cowboys and cowboys and horses and cowboys...sorry, I lost my train of thought there... :) I think you're on the right track. Cowboys, cowboys.....cowboys...........

Calgary Stampede...Day 1

We got up really early with no clue how to get downtown for the parade. We ended up taking the bus right downtown a block from the parade route and parked ourself on a corner where we had a great view of everything! Katie and I decked out in our 'new to us' cowboy boots...hehe...we looked and felt like real cowgirls! Value Village has a great selection of cowboy boots...well in Alberta anyway. But of course you must clean them before wearing. This is important.

Thing about Calgary is that a good chunk of people from home relocated out there so we were expecting to run into a few people we knew, but when we ran into Kara, we were pretty surprised! We grew up figure skating with Kara and her sisters...one of which now plays for Team Canada, Meghan Agosta. That was just the start of our little Leamington reunion...we knew a few of them were out there, but some were entirely unexpected!

Apparently we were so captivated at the rodeo that we didn't take any pictures or video of the bucking horse or bull riding. It was awesome! IT WAS THE BEST PART!! lol. But yes, wayyy to into it to even think about snapping any pics. Our friend Cheyenne's brother was one of the bull riders! He didn't do so well the first day, but the second day I guess he kicked a$$.

Nashville North was also awesome. Met up with Kenny and Jarod again...man...let's just say it was A LOT of fun! Kenny's got moves I've never seen! (I'm sure no one has ever or will ever see those moves again!) Well he's now on youtube so everyone can see them! hah! Luv ya cuz!

The Warm-Up...The Day Before Stampede!

Our purpose for heading back to Calgary was just to experience the Calgary Stampede... "THE GREATEST OUTDOOR SHOW ON EARTH!"

One of the Stampede Traditions is that local businesses have Free, yes free... :) pancake breakfasts every morning of the Stampede. Well CBC Radio, one of the official stampede peoples had their breakfast the day before the festivities even began! It started at 7am so Katie, Alanna and I got ourselves down there before 7 and were still behind almost 100 people! Yes, 7 am in the morning and there was a line all the way down the street. These people are keeners. I thought we were for being there at 7, but I guess not!

We were served by the Mayor of Calgary, Dave Bronconnier, who gave us each an extra pancake when he found out we were all the way from Ontario. I think he said, "You're hungry and weary travellers." I didn't protest, they were goooood pancakes! We moved down the line to get some sausage and then enjoyed the entertainment.



The hoop dancers name was Dallas Arcand and the Asian marching band came all the way from Tapei, Tawain. They were also in the parade the next day. We also met Harry the Horse, the official Stampede mascot. He was prety cool. Although he slightly resembles a giraffe....

That afternoon we were totally geeked about hitting up the Stampede. We went to our friend Lisa's house. Another of our childhood friends. Me and Katie and Lisa and her sister Stacey were inseprable when we were together. It had been a long time since seeing Lisa so it was awesome to catch up. She's quite the hostess! Lots of awesome food and good company. She took good care of us and made sure we didn't go hungry while we were there. lol.

We be Jammin' in JUNE!

Juuuune! Thanks to all who made it fantastic! Lots of love and appreciation! <3