Erica visits the West Coast - August 2007

Allow me to introduce you to my friend Erica, we met in grade 8. We've maintained our friendship over the years and from halfway across the country (if you consult your map, you'll see that Canada isn't so small). Erica flew out for an extended weekend at the end of August & we were sure to take her over to Vancouver Island to visit my parents who she considers to be her "spare" parents. We are both thankful that we were able to visit Mom & Dad together as Dad was diagnosed only 3 weeks after her visit.
Mom has been watching Martha Stewart and created this lovely ply-wood/balloon welcome sign.After Erica helped make dinner, she had to make her own bed. Hotel Labossiere is actually spelled H-O-S-T-E-L.

Picking blackberries in our garden.....they are wild (I wouldn't want to mislead you to think that we had actually planted them!)
Dad eventually grew bored of picking berries and stole our collection before going inside to show Mom how hard he'd worked!
Erica and I off for a short run before breakfast.

Food always goes down really well at our house.....Chef Waterman saves us from eating cereal for dinner.
Cathedral Grove, an old growth forest with ancient trees (the government wanted to mow down a few 800 year old trees to make the parking lot bigger and the hippies blocked their path in protest for over a year - yay hippies!!). We have to take all of our guests to the Grove because the trees are GIGANTIC and amazing.
We are practicing for the next protest.....
This is a little one but still huge (the tree not my lovely Erica).

We returned to the city after the weekend and I took Erica to the massive IKEA in Coquitlam. She bought out the store and we had a heart-to-heart chat over sweedish meatballs & salmon dinners. I think that I still owe her $5 because I swore up and down that she wouldn't be able to fit all of her purchases in her suitcases....man she is good.

Who wouldn't be excited - Erica's nearest IKEA is 7 hours away from Winnipeg. This one is only 3 hours and 30 minutes flight time!!

This looks like we are in someone's living room by the fire place....we are actually at the airport, posh non?