So I went on vacation.

I had little really set out other than the tour to Reno with Mom.
A tour for Mom, with her Son, agreeable and let’s go !
Casino’s are “Cash, o’no’s !”, redemption is just a good ‘hit’ away.
Seven + days in different Casho’no’s
“Cocktails”, smoking furiously, whilst jamming valuable paper into a machine to make the wheels spin.
A vortex, no question…
Seven nights, flight and ‘compact car’ was a steal – already enticing.
- the ‘compact’ was a new TrailBlazer, with sun-roof.
Ninety degrees, ‘it’s a dry heat’ and air-conditioning.
I spent some bucks and won USD 854 on a 35 cent bet, not an even tour by any means, I was on Vacation and duly entertained.

I got to spend time with my Mom.
Some time spent reflected on the Mom/Son relationship, other times reflected the aging future and our reflection on common experiences through time.
Really, get to know each other and take each other in, live with each other and try to step back in time.
Frankly, take the entertainment out of the equation and the time together is invaluable.
My Mom and I get along very well, we travel well together and there is little pressure from both sides of the lake.
Mom retires in October.
I could not be happier than to have spent some time with her.
We grew-up together.

After the tour of the desert, we stopped to shop before crossing the border to get our duty free limits.
A carton of smokes each and booze. Mom doesn’t drink a lot, so I bought 48 beer.
Eight different kinds of American brew for the week to come, its RockShow so I will need, some. ( I still had 17 RollingRock from the last American tour)
67 bottles of beer on the wall, no mind the kitchen counter’s cityscape of booze and expected guests.
I wondered if I had enough.

Upon the return to Vancouver, the Sun had been out and promised to come out again, for a few days !
YAY ! - we are tired of the nasty long cold winter we have endured, Vitamin D is REQUIRED MEDICINE !
Vancouver.
Look at it and tell me its not visually stunning, on a Sunny day.
The grey ruins the impression.

So I am home, in downtown once again.
I make a few telephone calls and the setting for the next 13 days has become, tentatively, clearer.
A day to unpack and rewind and a guest is incoming tomorrow.
It’s the telephone Buddy. He is bringing his Bike, we are to ride and drink and eat and laugh. Live, in person.
I am vaguely thinking, oh no…

DJR arrives and it’s road pops from my fridge, to the ferry boat to get ‘RockStar SuperNova’ and then on to the golf course.
Golfing, the clouds are about but the Sun really is determined !
More pops and a cart to move about the greens.
Most relaxing – power to carry your afternoon’s refreshment and equipment requirements, yet it’s very green, blue, quiet and getting brighter.
Yes, this is Vancouver.
We played well with initial ‘attitudinal adjustments’ and then lost some golfing focus, we were spilling our beer.
Alcohol abuse ! I stopped drinking on the 10th hole.
Laughing, drinking and golfing our way back to my house.
The beer fridge is totally appreciated.
The best of the six-pack’s is called ‘Pike’s Kilt Lifter”, a lager beer, from Washington state.
Yes, yes it could.

After sometime of consumption, Rockstar SuperNova suggests we go for a bike ride around the seawall.
DJR is down for the count and we are off for a tour.
Did the seawall around Stanley Park, in the wrong direction, at 3 am. Ibreebniated.
The things drinking can induce.
Anyways, we made it and the tone of the tour time before the RockShow was set. We had 3days.
The Sun and Blue sky woke us up each day
Let’s go !
Cycling far and wide, eating good, drinking a lot, visiting good friends at their mansion, for more drinks a warm tub and great snacks and finally, Kits Outdoor Monster pool.
Swimming in the Sunshine, riding the new South False Creek seawall and bridge, the day before it opened, a tour of Sunny outdoor Vancouver, what more do you need. ?
I am on Vacation
- they put in these recliners on some parts of the new seawall…ahhh, they did those right, I want one !
.
The RockShow is tonight and we have advice there will be no Greet with the band. Oh well, carry on.
Snacks for the rest of the incoming guests from Granville Island and it’s off to the kitchen to prep.
The buzz of the phone says, ‘we are in’, meet the band at 6pm. YeeHa !
Get the incoming guests and deliver them in time for fresh hot snacks and leave to meet the band.

How cool is it to meet the players who make pictures in your life with their music ?
I’m Happy. Wow.
Of course, the show was unexpected.
The band returned to being a 3 man band.
And, of course, when it was all over, I had no voice for 3 days.
A whispery, squeaky, pubescent voice for 3 days…doesn’t hurt, but I like a good RockShow and feel the band should know they were rocking my world !
And for the first time in my memory, the paper reviews were on – RUSH, the band, came to play music like they have not done in a very long time.
ROCKSHOW ! TOUCHDOWN ! no voice !

I delivered the guests to their respective transportation modules the next day and returned home to a message on the machine, confirming the next 5 days of my vacation.
Cleaning up the spot and packing before my departure was going to be tight, I had 6 hours to be at the airport.

Where did I go ?
You either know or you don’t and that’s all I going to say about that.
The tour was a first in so many ways, the sights seen were so totally new and the prospects inexplicably exciting.
8 airplanes, 2 continents and 3 countries later, I return home to go to work tomorrow – 9 days after I left.
A bit stunned.

A HUGE SMILE !

I’ve never had a vacation like that in my 44 years.
To think that the tour might just be starting…

Good Morning indeed.