The pattern and instructions for this very easy sun dress designed specially to fit Iplehouse BIDs, went up on BJDCollectasy a few weeks ago while I was away. To go to BJDCollectasy and download the free pattern pdf, just click on the photo.

I finally have all my trip photos downloaded, and a whole third are doll photos - over 700 of them! I've been trying to figure out how to go about posting them. The photos tell a story, but there are way too many for one big story. Also it takes time to process all the photos since I shoot everything in RAW, but I'm very happy with them and can't wait to share them. So I'm thinking the best thing would be to open four new Favourite Photos albums - to correspond to the four chapters of the story - and just drop photos into the appropriate gallery as I process them. I can't create the final story until the photos are processed anyways, but then at least I'll be able to share them. New photos will be added as they get processed so you can go look each day to see if there are new ones.

In the meantime, a few more photos which are already done....my three adventurers coming down Shell Canyon in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming.....

...and crossing in front of the snow-covered volcano Mount St. Helens, in Washington.....

..and Byuri alone on the wildflower-covered bluffs overlooking Bandon Beach in Oregon...

..and with her Mom down on the beach, at low tide, heading for home...

I just had to take this photo with Jan still in the frame - because it made me laugh. He looked just like a huge giant in the doll's perfectly scaled world.

It's all about the camera angle. I was laying flat on my stomach on the wet tundra, and it's not so easy for me to get up, so Jan had to move the figures around. 

Another shot taken from flat on the ground is this one from a series of reflection photos taken at the Icefields Center. It's that ever-useful snow-bank on the edge of the parking lot again.

I saw the reflections in the puddle on the edge of the Icefields Center parking lot, and knew I'd have to get down very, very low - like on my stomach again - so I actually got Jan to move the RV so people who were starting to arrive to take the Sno-Coach tours onto the Athabasca Glacier wouldn't see me lying flat on the pavement, and wonder what kind of nut I was. 

I'm slowly getting all my trip photos uploaded, and am so happy with so many of them. Mikey says I should make a printed book of the story, and I think I will. While we were at Waterton Lakes National Park, I had the idea that the Prince of Wales Hotel high on it's overlook above the Waterton Lakes would make a perfect "castle" for my group of adventurers to set out from.  I just erased all the cars - and the entire parking lot - in PhotoShop, and I think it looks great.

Well, I better go have breakfast and do some of my chores. These photos are just too addictive!

Well, we are finally home again!  That was one interesting trip. The very first thing I always do when I get home is download my trip photos - I especially want to see the doll photos. I have too many photos for the old drive, so here's a few from the ones I did manage to upload.... 

First, Kyle and Aeran at Tangle Falls in Jasper... they became "an item" on the trip.....

Asa and Byuri in Vancouver's Stanley Park with the totem poles....

Aeran and Maya resting at Upper Waterfowl Lake in Banff.....

As you can see, we did finally get some better weather in the Rockies. In fact, we waited around for two days in the rain for the skies to clear. The interesting thing about a "rain" forecast in the Rockies is that it "rains" at the lower altitudes, but snows at the higher ones. The mountains were spectacular with more snow than I've ever seen on them on any previous trips. Some lakes were still partially frozen, while others were ice-free. Bow Lake was covered with ice....this photo was taken the first time we passed by - just as the clouds set in and the rain began...

While Peyto Lake was totally ice-free. The road up to the overlook was closed so we had to hike up through the slushy snow....but what a view!

...and Morraine Lake was still mostly covered with ice. What a colour!

I'm so glad we waited around for the better weather. After Mikey left us on the bus to Vancouver, we went back up the Icefields Parkway - in the rain - which was heavy snow at the Columbia Icefield - a big surprise.  We took photos of Kyle, Maya & Aeran there in the snow storm...

Then after spending time in Jasper in the rain, we came back down the Parkway the next evening to spend the night at the Icefields Center, and I took another photo of the same three dolls, in the same snowbank at the same spot beside the parking lot....all the fresh snow had been washed away by 24 hours worth of rain, but the mountains were starting to appear....

Then I took another photo the next morning, again in the same spot, in the same snowbank - but this time on a beautiful sunny morning..... 

There's so many great photos, but I'm tired and my drive is full, so I need to deal with that before I can download and see the rest of my photos.  It's great to be home again, but now there's so much work to do. Four weeks of just driving around looking at scenery and taking photos, but now there's a garden and house to take back.

To say the weather hasn't been co-operating much this trip would be a MAJOR understatement! We have Mikey (our youngest son) along for a few day's adventure to Lake Louise in the Rockies. And "adventure" it really has become. The first half day was reasonable, but then the heavy rain began in central British Columbia. Apparently it had been raining heavily for several days already (like everywhere else here), and we learned the Trans-Canada was closed because of a huge mud-slide in Glacier National Park. That meant making new plans, and a 900 kilometer detour to Jasper instead. It was a good choice as the only other route through the Rockies was also closed due to bad weather. Jasper and the top half of the Icefields Parkway were actually quite nice yesterday,  but as soon as we arrived in Lake Louise today, the heavy rain started - again. Mikey insisted on checking out the scene anyways and took the "standard tourist shot" of us in front of Lake Louise, jewel of the Canadian Rockies. Mikey has helped me make these two posts with his equipment, but he's taking the overnight bus back home to Vancouver soon (we are sitting in the RV in the pouring rain, in the Lake Louise parking lot waiting for the Greyhound bus) so there will be no more posts until I get home in about a week from now.

 I did manage to take photos in Stanley Park with Asa and Byuri and the totem poles, and even some of the Haida village at the UBC Museum of Anthropology. I really like how the photos of those two dolls in their native costumes are working out. The photos for the first part of my planned story are not coming along so well though. The photo adventure was going to have four parts. The first section with my three adventurers heading off on some secret quest (they haven't told me what or where). The second part was going to be about when the three encounter a lost native child whom they take along in search of her people. The third section would be about the native child and her mother returning to their village, and finally the fourth section would be the three adventurers continuing on their quest. At this point I don't know if there will be any Rockies photos of the dolls at all - the forecast is for several more days of straight heavy rain. I'm still hoping, but hope is fading fast.

We've been on the road for over two weeks now, and am at Mikey's in Vancouver, so can post an update on my blog. It's been interesting so far - especially for doll photography. The Badlands were too hot and sunny, many of the places I had wanted to take doll photos - like the Beartooth Highway - northeast entrance to Yellowstone - were still closed because "closed in winter" there means until July, and we had to leave Yellowstone in a hurry because a blizzard hit. Every day has been overcast, some had a touch of sun, and most had some rain. One good thing about all the overcast, drizzly weather throughout Oregon, Washington and BC, means no high-contrast doll photos or dolls discolouring from too much sunshine. Here's a few sneak peak photos from the ones I could post with minimal work.......

Kyle and Maya crossing the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming....

Maya, Aeran and Byuri traversing the bluffs overlooking the ocean at Bandon, Oregon.....

Asa and Byuri resting on Ruby Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington.......

Asa and Byuri in Thunderbird Park, Victoria, British Columbia.....

Everyone around the campfire, Pacific Rim National Park, BC.....

Asa and Byuri watching the tide roll in, Long Beach, Pacific Rim National Pk, BC.....

The next few days should be interesting. We are starting  back east tomorrow, and the forecast is all rain, with snow expected in the Rockies. Not the best for scenery shots, but might be okay for doll shots.