Summer Getaways

Hello, hello! I've been meaning to post another blog entry, but days whizzed by.

Ten reasons I procrastinate:

1.

Well, actually, I have a good excuse. We've been taking advantage of the beautiful Pacific Northwest summer. First, we drove up to the Okanagan Valley (view from our friends' property in the picture above), one of Canada's four most endangered ecosystems. While our friends live on the U.S. side of the border near Oroville, Washington, we stayed in nearby Osoyoos, British Columbia, a friendly town in Canada's only desert environment.

We visited the Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre, which celebrates "thousands of years of Okanagan First Nations habitation on desert lands." The Centre includes indoor exhibits and cultural collections, as well as an outdoor, reconstructed Okanagan traditional village and self-guided interpretive nature trails through 50 acres of sage grasslands and Ponderosa pine forest.

Ask me about our Close Encounters with the Border Patrol. Hmmm... I'd better not go there.

But the best part was visiting friends (from left to right -- my friend Kate, moi, and my friend Janine):

Kate and Janine are both wonderful writers, and I couldn't live without their critiques of my work.

Then we escaped to San Juan Island for a family getaway. We stayed at the Lakedale Resort (see our rented log house to the left), watched for passing Orcas (also known as killer whales) at Lime Kiln Point State Park, and enjoyed the quaint shops in the picturesque town of Friday Harbor. (Click on the links, and you'll find some fascinating information and a few spectacular photos.)

Also, I've been writing up a storm. I'm working on my next middle grade novel. Anyone want to guess what it might be about?

Just now, I received a text message from my sister, Nita:

"Anya has a tooth."

Anya is my eight-month-old niece, who smiles at everyone all the time. She is the best baby in the history of the universe, but then, I'm biased. I'm her auntie.