Westward Bound

Monday I fly out to Calgary to meet my Mom for a bittersweet road trip. We'll be driving through the Rocky Mountains and ending up on Vancouver Island to visit my brother. Then I'll fly home from the island.

I'm very excited to see the mountains. Living here in Ontario we have hills, not mountains. According to Wikipedia, the highest parts of the province are some of the escarpments in the Grey-Bruce regions where you can reach the dizzying heights of 1,400-1750 feet above sea level.

So yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing real mountains. And the car knitting time! No work, no children, no husband. Just me & my Mom who's made this trip a few times before. No doubt I'll be spending the rest of today going through my stash and planning what yarns to pack and what I'll be knitting.

That's the sweet part.

The bitter of the bittersweet? This trip is a bit of a memorial to my Dad who passed away last September 28th. Mom & Dad used to drive their trailer from coast to coast after they retired. They've been to each coast several times and even driven up to Alaska, the NWT, and the Yukon. This is my Mom's first road trip without my Dad. And we'll be arriving at my brother's home in time for the anniversary of Dad's passing - which also happens to be my brother's birthday.

This will be a fantastic trip and a difficult one. I'll be missing my husband and daughter but I'm glad to be able to be there for my Mom as we mark this difficult anniversary.

My Dad and I are very much alike. So for the next week, I'll be there sitting beside Mom as we drive through the Rockies, listening to her chatter away. I'll be the strong, silent type to her outgoing personality. And I'll try to be a tiny portion of the emotional "rock" that my Dad was to her over the course of their 49 year marriage.