We're in cow country

 

I MADE IT!!! It was easy to get that last 5 KM in and done before 9 AM! I've finished walking the Pacific Crest Trail -- at least virtually. 

I'll write more about it when I get home. 

Alas, the weekend has ended, and I'm on my way home this morning. It was a great weekend; I learned a lot, and I could pass along some of my knowledge, which is always great. As they say, you will retain 95% of what you teach! So I'm always looking for a teaching moment. 

And we've been so lucky as the weather has been beautiful. Look at that blue sky! Even more impressive is that there has been zero humidity - at least here. 

Perfect conditions for walking

I've been staying right next to this massive dairy farm. We walked over to one of the barns just to peek at the cows and perhaps to see some puppies? We didn't see the puppies, but we saw the cows. Lots and lots of cows1 

A massive dairy farm

Seeing those massive barns and how many other buildings were on that property was amazing. Apparently, in this part of the area, there used to be cheese factories on every corner or practically, but those days are gone. I'm sure there are still cheese places, but not nearly as many as there used to be. 

It's a strange area - well, not in a bad way, but so different from the countryside where I grew up. Here, many of the kids bought houses on a couple of acres that have been severed from the main farm, and they have "away" jobs - in other words, they don't farm, but they still live close to their families, and they live in the country. 

Back home, people would move away. Hence, there are many houses on the roads, and many kids stayed close to home but not at home. There's a real sense of community and family togetherness. 

Those properties would get sold, and new people move in or whatever. Back home, the kids just moved away. Houses are sparse as the farms are much larger. 

I should have taken this picture sooner as a tractor and sprayer was going down the road, and a man and his dog were out for a walk. It's definitely farm country. 

A man and his dog

But equally weird for me, there is a MAJOR highway (417) literally behind those big cow barns! 

So my hosts (Ian and Michelle) took me to Alexandria for dinner last night at a restaurant that used to be an old mill. And yes, I looked at my geocaching app and realized that there was one of those little adventures in Alexandria. So after dinner, they humored me, and we did one of them (an Adventure Lab, which is part of geocaching). Thankfully, it was easy, and there was not much walking/driving. That meant I got more points and only 210 points left to hit my target. I still have two weeks!

We saw this mural on our journey. 

A mural we saw on the Adventure Lab tour

The big question is -- did I get everything done in the quilting department? YES -- I have one quilt that I could have finished, but I'm so close, and I was getting brain-dead, so I can finish it at home. The big thing was NOT to finish any quilts but to gain knowledge, and I accomplished that. MY phone is bursting with pictures and all is good. 

According to the Air Canada app, my plane is on time, and hopefully, I'll be home in time to join the Monday Sewing Group, when it starts at 10 AM! How cool is that? If I don't tell them, they won't even know where I was this morning! 

And I finally have the rest of my stuff that I took to Quilt Canada, so I'll get the last of that unpacked when I get home. Not enough to warrant checked luggage -- only my carry-on, and the plane was NOT full - not by a long shot when I checked in last night, so it should be an easy flight. Let's pray that there are no delays. 

That's it for me. The girls will be super excited to see me and go for a walk this afternoon. 

On that note, I'm off to the airport. Can you believe I'm up early so I can blog for you all? Well, it's no earlier than I would normally be up, and I LOVE to write, so it all works!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!