Yesterday I started my post with a clip from an old song… I’ll do the same today with this old chestnut, I Was Born Under a Wandering Star.
My mom was the one who used to sing this to me (in not quite as low a register as Lee Marvin does, mind you) every time I said I was yearning to hit the road and go travelling. I don’t know where that need to roam comes from, but for some of us, itchy feet have nothing to do with athlete’s foot.
The past year and a bit have been really good for finding myself in far-flung places. Strangely, though I lived there for many years, Vancouver Island has become a destination. Last year I had the pleasure of taking a couple of sailing trips with my daughter and her husband on their lovely sailboat, Easy Rider.
It was a little chilly lounging around on the foredeck in February… But that didn’t stop me from trying. That’s what those lovely survival suits are for, right?
Had a great road trip through the mountains in March and stopped (of course) at Grizzly Book and Serendipity Shop in Revelstoke where, it turned out, they were filming a Christmas movie (hence the Christmas decorations in March…)
After arriving back in Canmore (home, these days) I basically unpacked and re-packed and went off to Paris. But not before a late night ice climbing expedition:
Our neighbourhood. For most of our stay we hung out in the 15th, a five minute stroll from this bridge.
From Paris, I took a quick trip to Montreal, Toronto and London as one of my books was nominated for a Silver Birch Award in Ontario.
Then, back to Paris. Where, among other things, I ate frog legs.
Eventually, we returned to the mountains, but only briefly, just long enough to climb a mountain or two.
The weather was good on the coast and I was longing to get back on the water…
I’m fastening on the ‘don’t lose the dog’ netting on the boat before we set off for a few days of puttering around in the Gulf Islands. I have no more photos of this trip because I dropped my brand new phone overboard as we approached Nanaimo Harbour! Note that the weather had improved dramatically so no survival suits were required.
Once back in the mountains I played about with my replacement phone and enjoyed a bit more climbing
before heading back to Europe.
There was a day in Paris…
quick visit to the Centre Georges Pompidou…
… and then on to Madrid, where I met my daughter and Dad in Madrid…
From there, a train to Sarria where we began a very slow walk 120 kms or so to Santiago de Compostella as part of our Great Camino Project. (If you haven’t already found it, check out @lastlegbook on Instagram for lots of photos of our journey).
Santiago… that way…
Because we were working on a book about the project, after our time was up in Spain, we jumped on a cruise ship in Barcelona and wrote 65,000 words or so… One of these days we will get the rest of the manuscript done and, with any luck, will eventually see a book. If you’d like to have a look at a few of the posts written along the way, here are a couple of links…
Once back at home in the mountains, I lost a bet and had to jump down Main Street wearing a pink bunny suit…
(and no… I didn’t… pass wind, that is… I did jump through town while singing the Happy song by William Pharrell… )
When all that was over, it was time to pack our bags again and head back to the coast for Christmas with family.
The gang in Vancouver…
You might think all that was more than enough packing and unpacking, but what did we get for Christmas? Yes!! Allegra and I received tickets to go on a cruise together! So off we went again to explore the Caribbean… but not before a little ice climbing…
It’s kind of nice you don’t need seventeen layers crampons and ice axes to have fun on the beach… (this one in Jamaica).
And then, home again just in time for spring break and (this is getting a bit ridiculous) another trip to Paris!
It was a wet spring in Paris – the Seine is threatening to overflow her banks…
And finally, back home to the mountains for a bit more ice climbing…
Yeah. It’s been quite the year, or so… I couldn’t have imagined all those many miles being logged had I tried to look ahead at the beginning of 2017. Who knows where this next year will take us?
Yikes!!
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