In case you wondered where I was all week (ie, in case you noticed this site was down)... my apologies. I figured the internets could live without me for a while though!

I find myself this evening in the town of Baddeck, on Cape Breton Island. I'm on a 4-day road trip adventure with my mother and sister, which started yesterday evening. Today we drove from Halifax to Baddeck, and tomorrow we are going to conquer the Cabot Trail.

Highlight of today was when we rolled into Baddeck, and I spotted a sign for a yarn store called Baadeck Yarns. We pulled up only to discover that... it had closed five minutes ago! And there was no one in sight. A look in the windows was enough to tell me I was facing a serious tragedy, but what could I do?

Well, enter my bold little sister, who is not afraid to ask for what she wants. "Well, I bet the owner lives in that house," she said. "We'll just go ask her if we can go in."

I protested, but she insisted. "What do we have to lose?" she asked. "The worst she can say is no! I'm sure she'd love our business." So we walked up to the house, and Emma waved at the person inside.
An older gentleman came to the door.

"Do I look like a yarn lady?" he said. "No, but you might be related to one!" I replied. Emma chimed in to tell him about my yarn and knitting obsession. "Well, my wife's in Toronto at a trade show," he said. "But I'll get the keys and let you in if you like."

Well, it really has been a travel-icious fall for me this year. So far, since September started, I've been to the following places:

- Toronto (twice)
- Cortes Island
- Seattle, WA
- Portland, OR
- Washington, DC
- San Francisco, CA
- Burlington, VT

Next week I might just find myself passing through Massachusetts on the way back to Toronto in a car with James, and then I fly home (back to Vancouver, that is). Whew.

For the record, most of the travel above has been for the DeSmogBlog, and yes, carbon offsets were purchased for all air travel. I know it doesn't change the fact that it's a lot of carbon burned, and I'm not sure how I feel about it all (besides lucky and grateful but tired), but better offset than not, I suppose.

All right, so as far as what I've been up to goes... You can read the post that I wrote about Bioneers for the DeSmogBlog here. What it doesn't really say is how much I *love* Bioneers. And if you are a person who cares about the world, you should at the very least download some of the amazing plenaries, if not plan to attend the main event or one of the satellites next year. It's *so* inspiring and lovely.

San Francisco at this time of year is also extremely lovely, and I very much enjoyed spending 4 days in sweltering sunshine. Thank you to Eddie for hosting me (and check out the Geek Entertainment that came out of the weekend here).

But all good things must come to an end, and so on Tuesday morning I boarded an airplane headed for Chicago, and then another for Vermont. That was a bit of a shock... because it's nearly freezing here. So within 24 hours of arriving, I had found the North Face store in town, and bought myself a down jacket on sale. I've always wanted one... and heck, being *numb* with cold in Vermont seemed like a good excuse for a splurge. Lesson learned: pack for all weather possibilities, or be prepared to spend what's required to make up for your shortfall.

So with all this travel, I'm also becoming something of a connoisseur about hotels. Here are some things I've learned:

1) Getting a hot homemade chocolate chip cookie on check-in makes me happy.
2) Being given little sample size toiletries beyond the usual shampoo, conditioner and soap makes me feel like I'm not being ripped off (as ridiculous as that is).
3) Sadly, the smell of said free toiletries almost always makes me sick.
4) The internet situation in most hotels leaves something to be desired. I find it offensive to pay for wifi in the lobby, only to have to also pay for ethernet in the room.
5) If you ever need a replacement cell phone charger, ask at a big hotel. They have boxes of left-behind ones to spare.
6) A comfy bed and nice sheets are essential to the hotel enjoyment experience.
7) Windows that open are good (because fresh air is good).
8) I think it's offensive to charge me $4 for the small bottle of spring water left in my room.

Moral of the story: If you're ever in Burlington, stay at the Doubletree, and not the Sheraton. (I ended up staying at both. Long story.)

I think that's about it for me. If you're at all curious, you can keep up with the SEJ conference coverage at the DeSmogBlog. For now, I'm off to the hotel hot tub (which is definitely a bonus).

UPDATE: The hotel hot tub has been out of order for a week. -1 Sheraton! Oh NO!!!

I'm in Washington DC this weekend, (wo)manning the DeSmogBlog booth at the GreenFestival. It's my first visit to DC.

Yesterday afternoon Kevin took me on a power tour. We saw the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Vets Memorial, and all the other memorials too (there's lots). We blew over to the White House, too, which was actually less impressive than I thought. I mean, I'm sure it's pretty nice and all, but you can't get anywhere near it and it's not that amazing from 300 meters away. Just kinda crazy to know that you're standing outside the seat of ALL THAT POWER.

Last night I hung out with two dear friends who moved here six months ago, and we went to Busboys and Poets, which is one hella cool spot. I'm kinda ashamed somehow to admit this, but I had this moment of realization last night sitting there. I realized with some awe that it was the first time I had ever, I think, sat in a room where at least half the people were black. Because this just does not happen in Calgary, or in Edmonton, or in London, Victoria, or Vancouver, and those are all the places I've lived in my lil' life. So that was a humbling moment, realizing how narrow my world has been in some ways.

Then today I spent a lot of hours at the Washington Convention Center, telling anyone who would listen about the DeSmogBlog, and eating too many free samples of organic processed food. I had a good time though, and ran into some friends from Web of Change (Care2 and EchoDitto in the house!)

Tomorrow is back to the convention center, and then Monday I'm gonna hit up some museums before I fly out at 5pm. Til anon...