I don’t know about the trip right now. My best friend from Spokane (who has been living near Seattle for the past few years) is moving to Montana, so there goes any conceivable excuse for a trip to Seattle.

OTOH, my wife–did you know I got married last year?–is dying to go to Vancouver because she sees it frequently on the Food Network. And personally I’ve always been fond of Vancouver, as I think you know. So a trip there is not out of the question. I’ll keep you in the loop.

Alberta is absolutely freaking gorgeous, so I don’t doubt that PM Harper doesn’t plan on giving it away–even for Vermont (heh). This summer you and Pam ought to take the highway (I think it’s Canada 1) through Kamloops and Revelstoke and over to Banff and Calgary. Due to the perpetually mountainous terrain, it’s going to take you a couple of days to get there. But you’ll be looking at one of the most beautiful parts of the entire planet. (You will thank me.)

You might even want to head south to Trail and drink some Kokanee at one of the sullen bars I used to frequent there when I lived in northeastern Washington State.

Mess in Washington? What mess in Washington?

Y’know, you might be on to something there. Mind you, I’ve not been to Alberta yet, and I bet might be worth hanging on to it. Anyway, Stephen Harper probably isn’t too keen on trading one of his favourite provinces with a state that he probably feels the same way about as you do.

Hope you’re having a good summer, despite all of the mess in Washington, et. al. Any plans for a visit up to the Great Soggy West?

Well, as you can imagine, we at Schmaltz und Grieben had something to say about Vermont’s “secession” too:

http://schmaltz.typepad.com/blog/2007/06/trade_you_a_ver.html

I think a LOT of Americans wouldn’t mind getting rid of Vermont (except for the Ben & Jerry’s tariffs it might necessitate).

Now, as to my own plan: It might suck for you guys if you had to drive across part of the US to get to the rest of Canada. And a real downside is that you can bet that the good old USA will have to save Vermont’s bacon when the terrorists start moving in.

But it might be worth a try, irregardless.

Maybe that would be one way to reduce the $$$ spent on militarism in the US.