So much as gone on in the last month - my team released another chip while I was semi-officially on sabbatical enjoying time with my family. Some stuff I can't tell you, b/c I recently learned my oldest child subscribed to my newsletter. 🤐

I'll talk about vacation, and save other stuff for another day - we went to Canada! I was proud of having worked through the process of getting passports for all my kids. I know, that's child's play for some people, but I suck at bureaucratic processes (and spelling, and remembering dates, etc.).

We started out from Austin, TX. Weird thing: our youngest is scared of airport security. Like, insanely afraid. It must somehow balance her innate crochet skills. I don't know. But there was a LOT of angst getting through security. Of course, we had screwed up her name on the ticket -- putting one of the other kids' middle names on her ticket, so we didn't help. But, apparently, they no longer look closely at that.

Direct flight to Vancouver, and we stayed at the JW Marriott Parq. It was way above my norm for hotels, but it was pretty dang nice.

Another apparent fault: I never got a feel for speed limits in kilometers per hour. I mostly just "found my pack" and traveled with them, probably a little too fast, but not the fastest group on the road. I really didn't want to deal with an out-of-country speeding ticket, but we also had a loooot of distance to cross--we planned to go to Whistler, then loop back around to Banff, flying out of Calgary.

Favorite thing in Vancouver: while the water taxis were cool, the shopping in Granville Island was neat, and Stanley Park was beautiful, my favorite thing was the SteamWorks Brewpub. We chatted with our really cool waiter, who kept telling our kids how much they should appreciate my wife for mapping out our trip, kept us laughing, and told us definitely to buy bear spray. He even gave me an old beer-tasting glass that they no longer sold, just because. ❤️

Off to Whistler. Very pretty place. We did a family forest walk on platforms built in the trees and learned about the region, flora, fauna, and geography. Later that day, I began to feel super-lame, thinking about my younger days and younger friends, and so I took my older two kids on a zip-lining adventure. We saw two bears, twice—once at the beginning and once at the end. We had a fun zip-lining guide, Alejandro, who taught us to flip ourselves upside down and translated phrases my kids had learned by heart from our in-laws, but didn't know what they meant.

​

From there, we drove five hours to Kelowna—our youngest got to meet a friend there through a cosmic coincidence, and they hung out at a beach. My wife and abandoned our older kids and went to wineries for a few hours, then picked them up and had some fantastic burgers, watching volleyball while we waited.

We drove another five hours to Lake Louise (oh, we listened to a murder mystery audiobook on the drive, but we've barely dented it, so I won't comment on it yet). We stayed at Deer Lodge, which was a really cool old lodge right next to Lake Louise. At that point, we ignored the advice of our SteamWorks waiter and hiked without bear spray. I mentioned my youngest was afraid of airport security... also afraid of bears. Bears are a little more legit to me, but we couldn't find bear spray, so I just pointed out that we merely had to be faster than the occasional old couple we passed on the path. I know, I'm depraved. But my risk assessment didn't trigger any "Danger, Will Robinson" moments. Lake Louise had a greenish tint, milky even. We learned why, but I'll leave it to you to learn more if you're interested. Lake Moraine was more blue (also explained for those who stop to read signs), and had some rocky overlooks to climb for cool pics.

One night there at the lakes, then on to Banff. We spent three nights in Banff, staying at Tunnel Mountain, at the top of hill a mile from town (which we walked many times!). That first day, we shopped. Next day we got in our exercise, walking to a waterfall then the Fairmont, which is tucked away from the hoodlums like me (but we found it). Somewhere in there, we bought bear spray! We drove through a scenic trail the third day, hoping to see wildlife (while hiding in our steel box from the bears), but didn’t. Then we hiked up the actual Tunnel Mountain and, from its peak, I sent the only IG update I managed during the trip. 🤣

By the time we arrived in Calgary, we were beat. We did a little shopping, but weren’t up for the planned escape room—we went back to the hotel and vegged.

On our way back, we missed our connecting flight, but it somehow magically worked out. 🧙‍♂️

It’s been a while since I wrote—how is everyone doing?

I pulled the pieces I wanted into Book 1 of my next series--it's in an incrementally closer state of done. Done-ish. In writing ahead, the ultimate story is stronger, but it changes Book 1. Fear of similar forward-looking issues has me hesitating on the level of done-ish-ness I am willing to declare. Make sense?

I just finished Bird by Bird, written by Anne Lamott. It is a truly an encouragement for writers. Or maybe just an eye-opener that helps writers feel understood, lets us know our journey is going to suck (a lot of the time), and suggests ways to cope and enjoy the things we should.

I’m reading Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eams. I’m really enjoying it, but the story behind why I picked it is cool too—my Amazon ads based off this book gets me the most sales, so I thought I should know more about it. 🧐🤓👍

Previous Newsletters

• ​Newsletter - May 30, 2023​
• ​Newsletter - May 14, 2023​
• ​Newsletter - May 1, 2023​
• ​Newsletter - April 25, 2023​

​​May you get lost this week in another world.

​

Follow me on Goodreads.

​Subscribe​

​