We decided to break up the drive back to Canada from Canby with a stop in Green Bay. The weather wasn't great, tornado watches and flash flood warnings but we made it just fine.We chose to stay in Saint Brendan's Inn, an old Irish Inn, pub ad restaurant. What a fabulous find, affordable, great room, wonderful food. I haven't stayed over a pub since I was in Ireland in 1985.

We had a fabulous visit with Aunt Jaynee and her family, Dory and Jim. So much fun reminiscing, sharing stories and enjoying old photos. 

Today we drove to Canby, Minnesota, with a lunch stop in Sioux Falls. We tried the South Dakota specialty  - Chislic, we tried both beef and lamb. 

Lovely drive to Gillette, Wyoming. Beautiful small town, great lunch and then another spectacular drive to Mount Rushmore. Overnight at the Powder House Lodge.

Coal and critical mineral mining all part of the ":Big Beautiful Bill".

We joined the group for a wonderful brunch at the Brinton Museum and then decided to explore Buffalo in the afternoon. What a wonderful surprise. We arrived to a very western small town with live music in the main square, seemingly just for us. We enjoyed some local craft beer and entertainment and then headed for a place to eat. Buffalo is a lovely small town and like Sheridan has some great murals and outdoor art.
Last night we got back to our hotel around 11:30 from the Rodeo and I turned on the TV to wind down - I chose an episode of Diners, Drive Ins and Dives - this episode happened to feature a restaurant in Calgary and one in Wyoming. To our delight the restaurant featured was in Buffalo, for the first time I got to eat in a place featured on the show. Pie Zonas was open, had room for us and the menu featured the dish I'd watched them make. The food was amazing and the coincidence outstanding.

We spent 6 days in Sheridan working on Adrian's Veteran Village housing project and attending the Sheridan Rodeo with the other investors in the Story House Development. we visited the future Veteran Village,  Storey House site and had a great time getting to know the other investors at the Rodeo and other events. Thank you Sheridan.

What a amazing day! We got up at 6am so we could be downtown before the road closures to watch the parade. Our Calgary condo hasn't sold yet so we had a really comfortable place to watch the almost 3 hour event. 
From there we went to the Stampede grounds, arriving just in time for the Rodeo. Managed to catch some daredevil's entertaining the crowds on our way. This was my first rodeo and very entertaining!
After the rodeo we returned to the grounds in search of some food before the evening show. We eventually ended up in the Wine Bar Oasis for a cheese board and some great wine.
The Evening Show was better than I could have imagined, way better than any Super Bowl half-time show I've ever seen. Beginning with the chuck wagon races... followed by great music, amazing acts, including drone art in the sky, daredevils performing over the musicians, some Cirque de Soleil style feats and fabulous fireworks. 

Sicamous, BC - Another fabulous house boat adventure. This year we had two boats, Adrian, his kids and families on one boat and his siblings on another. Lots of laughs from the beginning to the end. No disputes, or issues of any kind. The water was very cool but swimmable, twe all slid, dove and played in and on the water. We even managed a Canada Day visit to the floating restaurant and bar! Evening fires and theme days rounded out an all-in-all good time.  Ice Cream finish at the iconic D Dutchman's ice cream and dairy in Sicamous.

Congratulations Owen - so proud of you!

My first lacrosse event ever. So much fun and Cael's team won the semi-final match - watch for final results on Thursday! I was very proud I managed a few action shots.