A Clean Engine is a Happy Engine
The checklist is done. I set out earlier this summer to take care of everything I knew was wrong with the car when I bought it, and a few new things.

Earlier this summer, mechanics took handled new tires, new control arm bushings, and new rear brakes. Then I got some rust taken care of, a new windshield, and filled in some paint chips by myself.

Well, today seemed like a nice day for some car work. Seeing as I've never, ever poked around the engine of my car, there was plenty to do. I started with the cabin air filter; it was all clogged and was starting to get mouldy. Then, an oil change. I've never done one of those before. It's amazing, the oil filter in this car is in a canister right at the front of the engine, on the top. Super accessible, really easy. Then I cleaned the mass air flow sensor. Finally, I took the cover off the engine and checked up on the spark plugs.

With a clean bill of health, and a completed checklist, the engine deserved a little bit of cleaning up. It's true, a clean engine is a happy engine.

Beautiful BC
The vacation is over now, it's the end of August, but I thought I would take a few minutes to reminisce about the land of the mountains falling into the ocean...

The second leg of our vacation was more relaxed than the first. Everyone was exhausted and so we took it easy. That's how family vacations go. We visited (obviously) Vancouver, Victoria, Butchart Gardens, Whistler, Squamish, the Science Place, and everything along the way. We also visited many of the upcoming Olympic sites. Throw a wedding in there, and all of the time flies right by. I found myself not in a mood to take too many photos, but I got some fantastic ones of plants.

One of the highlights of the trip was probably driving the Rav4 down the very twisty and very steep highway 5 between Merritt and Hope. Wow.

WestJet was its usual chipper self. On the flight home, the entire safety demonstration was recited as a poem.