I am truly amazed with myself for having spent three hours at the Playdium yesterday. What happened was that a family friend gave us a 3-hour game card that expired yesterday, and since we didn't want to waste it, Steve and I went. He used it mostly, I just hung out, watched him play, sat outside in the sun for a bit, found an abandoned game (it was a driving one...boy did I suck), ate the saltiest pretzel in the world, beat my brother once at air hockey (we only played two games, so it's not that bad) and dodged the kids. There were at least four busloads there at the time. I felt incredibly old, until I was outside and saw a bunch of older people, most likely a corporate group, engaged in a team building exercise. So funny. You know that game where there are two teams, each with a pair of super-long skis that have places for your feet, and so the group is attached at the feet, and they have to move in synch to get to the other side of the field? One group had total control of the situation, but the other group literally went nowhere. Ah, memories of grade school.

Latest update: Karen is heading west. My father has decided that we are going on a West Coast road trip in July. Calgary, Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, Barkerville, Vancouver. I know what you're thinking at this very moment: "Where the hell is Barkerville??" Barkerville is a tiny town in the middle of the mountains where my aunt has a Chinese restaurant. To be more specific, it's a little less than 200 km south-east of Prince George. It'll be an action-packed 10 days. I've been trying to see if we can squeeze in a side trip to the Okanagan Valley, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. Boo...sucky. After this, all I need to do is tackle the Maritimes, and I will have been in every Canadian province. Not bad, eh? I wonder if I know anyone in the Yukon...

"Life is peaceful there...in the open air..."