Reflections of Horseshoe Bay

I love this image. We sat outdoors in the sunshine. We enjoyed each other's company. I looked up and really liked the scene into store's window and loved all the light play. I poised my camera and just as I shot the image, Shelly peeked into the window, too, to see what I was shooting. The timing was impeccable!

This was our first coffee shop (Starbucks) stop on our way to Whistler, B.C. Horseshoe Bay is a gorgeous, touristy place aptly named for the shape of the bay. It reminded me some of the town where I grew up.

There were five women travelling together in Loretta's car. It was a tight squeeze, but Loretta is the master...er...uhm....maybe she is the Mistress of packing lots of stuff into a tight space.

I kept a journal...a paper journal during this trip...a pink moleskine, of course! I asked each of my traveling companions to make contributions into this journal during coffee stops. They complied. Now I have little writings from each of them in their own handwriting.

Surprise!

For the longest time, I wasn't posting here because I was so busy working on my dear friend's birthday gift. I didn't want to spill the beans, so I couldn't post anything about the quilt. And then, since i was so busy completing the quilt, I just didn't have a lot of time.

You see? The whole party thing was a surprise for Shelly. Her mom contacted me and told me she could get me a ticket...and wondered if I could line up kid care. I jumped on it and said, "YES!" Before I knew it, I was working on getting my passport because traveling to Canada was part of the plans.

I was away for ten days...and as much as I missed my kids, I had a WONDERFUL time. Loretta met me at the airport in Seattle and from there, we drove to Shelly's town. When we got into town, Loretta dropped me off at the little coffee shop where Bryan met up with me. We ordered some iced coffees. I hid in the conference room while Loretta went on to Shelly's house to pick her up. Shelly told her mom that she'd just made a pot of coffee, but Loretta insisted on coffee at Master's Blend. They got to the coffee shop and Shelly was surprised about her dad's presence. Then everyone ordered coffees and got settled at the table that Bryan and I had taken a lot of consideration in seating everyone. Loretta sent me a text message and I walked out of the conference room and asked Shelly if I could sit next to her. She was surprised! I managed to make a little two-minute video of that first surprise. If I can figure it out, I will post it here: