You, Me and Vitamin D

I returned 'home' to Cranbrook last week to spend a few days with the lovely Steph Murray.

There's something about Cranbrook. There's not much too it but it has the small-town goodness that you don't find in big cities. It reminds me alot of Gympie which is a comforting thing when you're on the other side of the world. Returning to C-Brook after being in Banff is like coming home from work and pulling on a pair of comfy old sweats. It just fits.

The sun was shining in B.C so I made the most of it by lying in the sun and getting my first sunburn of the summer - my back and my bum are now two different colours! Hurrah! There are no words to express how it feels to have the sun back in my life and be able to lie in it wearing minimal clothing. Instead of wearing thermals, jeans, a singlet, a t-shirt, a long-sleeved t-shirt, three sweaters, my snow jacket and a beanie and still be freezing my kahootz off.

Cranbrook's local professional junior ice-hockey team, the Kootenay Ice, were playing two home games while I was there so I was very willingly dragged along to watch with Steph and her ice-hockey enthusiast father. Both games were pretty important in the series, determining the Ice's lead up to the Memorial Cup so the whole town was packed into Cranbrook's stadium. Now that I've got the hang of watching ice hockey (penalties, power plays - I've got the jargon down pat), I don't know if I can ever go back to watching the cricket.  All the skating and the slamming and the violent throw-downs on the ice - it's just so damn addictive.

I did all the things typical of my trips to Cranbrook - went to Boston Pizza, drank a lot of ceasers, went to the movies, went shopping, played Steph's out-of-tune piano and painted my toenails. It was lovely to feel like I was back in the 'real' world, rather than the Banff bubble. It felt like I had crawled out of my winter hibernation like a bleary-eyed bear and was feeling those first welcome effects after a healthy dose of Vitamin D.

Ciao for now. xo

To Cranbrook, With Love

As much as I love Banff - living in the ski town, working on a ski hill, snowboarding down Angel run in the sunny afternoons, seeing the snow pile up on our balcony, playing foosball at the Gap, even finding a kind of satisfaction in slipping over on the icy walkways - sometimes a girl can get a bit tired of it all. The incestuous nature of living in a ski town, dragging my tired ass one hour up a hill to go to work where I get stiffed the tip off a $100 bill, falling on my ass too many times as I come down Angel run on a windy afternoon, the water leaking into my bedroom as the snow on the balcony melts, being refused entry to the Gap because it's too crowded and not being able to walk out the front door without wearing a pair of iceskates.

So when Banff loses its sunny appeal, I pack up and return 'home' to Steph Murray in Cranbrook.

It had been four months since my initial visit to Cranbrook and while little had changed in my favourite Canadian town, it was a relief to see Cranbrook's fast-food strip and somehow feel like I had returned home. But my trip back wasn't without effort. After a few days of epic snowing, Mother Nature smighted my attempts to leave Banff and caused an avalanche on the BC/Alberta border. What should have been an easy four hour journey on the Greyhound (my favourite form of transport in Northern America), I ended up spending nine very mind-numbing and sinus-aggravating hours travelling the long way through Calgary and Fernie before finally making it to C-Brook at 5am in the morning.

Another memorable trip to add to my list of Greyhound adventures.

But after a long sleep (in my OWN room) and a shower (in my OWN bathroom) the slog was definitely made worthwhile. As Steph went to school and work, I set up permanent residence on the couch were I wasted my way through the third season of The Hills and played her out-of-tune piano like it was a Broadwood Grand and I was Billy Joel. I went to Boston Pizza, ate some Dairy Queen, went to a junior league hockey game and spent some quality time enjoying life outside of the Banff bubble.

And I got my hair cut - every tired, down-and-out girl's saving grace.

So I returned to Banff feeling relaxed, renewed and rejuvenated and like I'd missed it - just the tiniest bit.

Ciao for now. xo