I'm taking my daughters, Ainsley Rose and Charlotte on the greatest trip EVER!

When I announced the news at the dinner table,

Charlotte said, "Are we going to Great Wolf Lodge?"

Ainsley said, "Disney Land?"

"No", I replied, "We are taking a train trip from Ottawa to Vancouver on Via Rail.

Ok, I'll admit it: this is MY trip of a lifetime. I've always loved trains. When I was a little girl, I spent hours with my Dad and his model train, and it’s a family legend that my Grandparents (Dunagan) met on a train, after Ted winked at Pauline.

And...I'll also admit I haven't spent much time (ok NO time) outside the Pacific Northwest.  This is my chance to finally see more of Canada!

So, we're taking the greatest trip, EVER!

We are flying to Ottawa, then taking Via Rail to Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Jasper and home to Vancouver.

Ikea has recalled LYDA jumbo cup.

Details here.

 I’ve bragged about my Book Club before. I love my Book Club.

But, this time I’m bragging about a guest. We were lucky enough to have local author Dan Kalla come to this week’s meeting. Kalla was lovely. Soft spoken… smart… funny.  Let’s just say he easily held his own with a group of wine filled, book loving women! We discussed his book “The Far Side of the Sky”, (which we all enjoyed) and he gave us a sneak reading from his forthcoming book, “Rising Sun, Falling Shadows”.

Kalla told us that his goal as an author is pretty simple: He wants to write books that people enjoy reading.  Mission Accomplished. We highly recommend Kalla’s books for your summer reading list!

You can find more about Dan Kalla, and his books, here.