LOCATION: At my aunt and uncle’s house in Grande Prairie, Alberta

WEATHER: Partly sunny. High 70

I spent the morning spiffing up the Airstream – mopping the floor (hard on the knees!), making the bed (hitting my head on the cupboards), and defrosting the freezer.

Once complete, Jack, my uncle’s caregiver, made us a Phillipino lunch. Called si-sig, it is smoked pig head meat, cooked with herbs and spices.

Leo enjoyed the sunshine on the deck

We took a spin around Grande Prairie – stopping for a beer flight tasting at Grande Prairie’s brewery.

We stopped at Canadian Tire, a unique store in Canada – seems to have everything. This is a new one, one of Canada’s largest. We bought a gas grill and grill table. George loved it!

Back home, we enjoyed a fire around the firepit, toasting the USA.

DINNER: Normally Jack cooks, but I wanted to share a typical American 4th of July dinner. George grilled some brats. We had corn-on-the-cob, potato salad, and zucchini. Dessert was apple pie, very American, but made by Jack’s Phillipino-Canadian family…a nice twist!