Sarah's Adventures: July

I barely remember July. I went to Theatre Under the Stars, continued my volunteer work at Bard, rode what was supposed to be the Empress 2816 steam engine, attended the Jericho Beach Folk Festival, and continued the frenzied wedding planning. I also took a stab at being nurse-in-charge on the busy kids unit. Let's just say that I don't remember getting a lot of sleep in July.

The ride on the Empress made for a great, relaxing day, though. My friend Andy and his wife and son came with me (I had four tickets and no takers for the other three for a good long time) for the day-long trip that included a ride to Port Moody on the train from downtown, and a cruise-type boat ride back. They even provided us with sandwiches on the boat. The weather couldn't have been better, too. With so much rain in Vancouver in July, that Saturday was prefectly sunny. What I wasn't happy about was that my whole reason for entering to win the tickets was to ride the steam engine. Once we arrived, I realized instantly that the engine was missing, and replaced with a mid-century diesel engine. The Steamer was broken, and being repaired in Calgary, I was told. Damn. But it was a fun day, anyway. Plus I got to hang out with the cutest little dude I've seen in a long time!

Empress engine on its way to Port Moody

This July, I headed to my "first" folk fest. I was adament to go, and bought a full weekend pass so I could take it all in at my leisure. Actually, waiting at the bus stop on the saturday night I mentioned it was my first and the lady next to me touched me on the shoulder and said "ooo, I gotta touch you- you're a folkie virgin!"
The weather was utter crap, but I stuck it out like many others ove the weekend. I donned the rubber boots, raincoat and umbrella, and wandered the park for hours. I felt like it was heaven for the ADD kind of gal because you could go to one stage and listen to the act for a few songs, but then wander only a few feet away and get distacted by the act on another stage! They were all great, and I ended up buying a few CD's before the weekend was out. I especially liked Graveyard Train, though there were many more I can't remember the names of.

the pond at Jericho was lit up all firey-like at night and I couldn't resist!

On Sunday, Mike came with me, and we stayed until dark. There was a really cool lantern parade! I wish I knew how to make one of these babies because they were brilliant!

Like I said, July was the month of frenzied wedding arrangements. There came a time when I realized I needed help, even if it was mostly moral support. My mother came for a visit near the end of the month to help me work on the wedding dress which was driving me crazy. At the end she was adament that she wasn't much help, but when you're in a tizzy it's nice to have someone else around (Thanks, mom!)