Home again, home again, Jiggity-jog

I'm back from 3 weeks' vacation. My family and I drove (!) from New Westminster, BC to Brandon, MB to visit my brother and sister-in-law and my parents. We took our time driving out and back: 6 days out, 6 days back, and, um, 9? days there.

Originally our plan was to camp most of the way there and back, but after two days we realized that the kids were a tad young for that...between mosquitoes, not going to sleep on time, and long-ass days in the car, it made a lot more sense to stay in hotels. (Kids dug it a lot...every new Super-8/HoJo/Travellodge prompted a "Wow, TWO TABLES! This is the best room EVER!" from the oldest.)

Family was fun. The prairies were hot (who knew?). Hotels with swimming pools are to be celebrated. The Rockies were, as ever, amazing. Canmore has a good brewpub and is a very, very pretty town. Aylesbury, SK had a horse to look at, which made it a good place for a picnic with the kids. Regina is made entirely of ass. Saskatoon, home of The Dymunds, is as pretty as ever.

TThe Royal Tyrrell Museum was incredible, even in a visit abbreviated by two toddlers...first time I'd ever seen real dinosaur skeletons before ("and I saw a T Rex anna stegasaurus anna triceratops anna archaeopteryx anna...). I could have easily spent a week there. If you ever get the chance, visit by any means necessary.

Despite some last-minute panics before leaving, I only received one phone call while away, and that from a salesman. I managed to forget about work entirely, and I expect to have to be guided to my desk tomorrow. And that is the capstone of a good vacation.