Episode 2 Adventures in the Heart of Children's Book Authors before we introduce you to other children's book authors, Kira, my granddaughter and co author of our book the Adventures of Caboose the Rocky Mountain Bear.

We want to share the story behind our story.

What was our inspiration and how has this led us to writing over 40 children's books in our book series the Adventures of Caboose the Rocky Mountain Bear.

Please enjoy the interview with Kira and hopefully it helps you write your own children's book with your kids or grandkids or purchase children's books to bring adventure and fun to children's lives.

Self published children's book authors must sell between 1200 and 1500 books to break even, not including getting paid for their work.

If you Visit our site caboosetherockymountainbear.com you will find several ways you can support us as we work to bring all of our books to life on the written and illustrated pages.

Buying milk and Cookies is a feature on our website that will go a long way in helping us grow this podcast show helping as many children's book authors publish and market their books as possible or helping us bring our next book Hi Jinx at the Big Head Folk Music Festival in the Adventures of Caboose the Rocky Mountain Bear series to life.

Enjoy the listen and share with your children or grandchildren and thank you for your support.

Adventures in the Heart of Children's Book Authors.

Thanks for joining us here today.

I'm in conversation with my granddaughter Kira Dumoulin and we are sharing our story about our life together in the Rocky Mountains.

So hi Kira.

Hi.

How's it going?

Good.

How about you?

Excellent.

Excellent.

So I know today our conversation is all around Canmore and the significance of the Canmore Bow Valley and the Banff national park area and what it meant to you and what it means to you.

And so I just thought we would start with just discussing your first recollection or thoughts on what you thought of all your visits and continued visits to Canmore.

I think the first thing when I think of Canmore is that it's like, it was like a coming of age for me.

It's where I grew up.

I always said that Canmore was my second home.

It was my home away from home.

And so I was able to just step back from reality and just learn who I was and what I liked without, you know, worrying about school or worrying about what was going on at home.

So when you say what you liked, in what manner, what was it that you liked or you Learned.

Well, first of all, the people in Canmore are a lot more chill.

They're very laid back and I love that about them.

And a lot of them are honestly tourists too.

So you're meeting people from all over the world and then obviously you're surrounded by like beautiful mountains that just have a peaceful demeanor about them and you're able to do things that you can't do in the city.

Right.

So I know you, you did many things.

And so maybe you can tell me what special activities stick out in your mind that you can do in the mountains that you really can't do in other areas.

Yeah, for starters, you can go skiing and snowboarding on the mountains.

It's not quite the same when you're, you're skiing on a hill, it's like maybe 30 seconds long and then you're back on the chairlift and it's, it's not very long lived.

It's just like one done kind of thing, right?

A little, a little air in your hair and then you're done.

You're done.

You don't even get wind and you're at the bottom.

Hiking, there's not as many hikes.

And being able to just climb up a mountain and reach the top and like look down at the beautiful town below you and the rivers.

Can you, can you think of a special hike that stands out?

And even though you return to Canmore over and over again, you think, I think I'd like to go do that hike again.

There's actually two.

So one of the easier ones is called Grassy Lakes.

I've been there a few times.

You can go like the main route or there's like the more difficult terrain, I want to say.

And that brings you to the side of the mountain.

You can see like Mount People climbing up the mountains.

There's lakes, obviously the name, and then there's also Ha Ling, which I did climb when I think I was about 12 with my grandpa, my papa, who's here with me.

And yeah, we ended up summoning that mountain, which is one of like my greatest accomplishments to this day, I want to say.

Yeah, that was a lot of fun.

It was very last minute too.

It was, it was.

And I, I'm not sure if we had the right footwear.

And I would suggest to people, if they are out in the Camor area and decide to do Ha Ling, they make sure they're wearing the right footwear.

For sure.

Yeah.

And bring lots of water.

Lots of water.

Absolutely.

Maybe a raincoat too, because somehow it's always Raining at the top.

Tr.

True.

And like you said, Grassy lakes is pretty remarkable because when you hike up to about maybe three quarters of the way up the mountain, all of a sudden there's these two small lakes right in the middle of the mountains.

Pretty spectacular.

And with.

With the colors and the water, pretty amazing.

The whole idea behind the adventures of Caboose, the Rocky Mountain Bear all started because you had these two stuffies named Georgia and George, and they came on adventures with us.

So maybe describe what you remember about that.

George.

And first it was Georgia, and then George, her brother.

What do you remember about that?

Yeah, so I was, like, in daycare at the time.

And what they did is they would rent out these stuffies.

They'd let you take them on trips.

And the whole idea was so that these stuffies could see the whole world, you know, whether they were going to Cancun on a beautiful tropical vacation or, like the mountains.

And they came with a little suitcase filled with clothes that you could change out their clothes throughout the trip.

And I don't know, I like, loved stuffies growing up.

So being able to bring this.

This little stuffy on an adventure with.

With me was just so special.

Right.

It was like having a friend along.

Exactly right.

And I still remember the first time we went to Canmore together is just you, me, and Georgia.

And I remember how concerned you were about Georgia, and we had to make sure she was buckled in in the backseat with you.

Oh, yeah.

She was one of us.

She was definitely one of us.

So we definitely had to make sure she was safe and sound.

And then when we got to Canmore, it was.

Tell me about, like, what triggered this whole idea that we needed to take her to.

Like, we went and went to so many different places with her.

Yeah.

So can you remember back when you were younger and actually doing all that?

Vaguely.

Yeah.

But I think what was going through my mind was like, I need to introduce this stuffy to as many adventures as possible possible.

Like, she needs to see all these things.

She.

She needs to be able to go back and tell her stuffy friends exactly what she saw and what she experienced.

For sure.

And it is amazing how many different places we went.

Yeah.

And think about, like, the other kids that took her on trips too.

Right.

She's probably a lot more traveled than most people.

Exactly, exactly.

And do you remember taking her to the Canmore Folk Festival?

I know that folk festival is quite famous.

I think it's now being.

It's the oldest folk festival in Alberta.

Been running for over 40 years.

Do you remember taking her to the folk festival the first time?

Kind of.

I mean, I was young at the time, but I do remember that she was getting pretty thirsty, so I had to give her some lemonade to cool her down.

It was pretty hot outside.

Yeah, she came everywhere with me.

She saw lots of live bands, live artists.

She saw the vendors.

Yeah, it's pretty neat, for sure.

So what would you think was one of your favorite moments with her at the Canmore Folk Festival?

Just sitting in our chairs, enjoying our drinks, our food, and watching the live performers.

I think she actually liked the people on stilts, too.

They were quite a lot taller than her.

Me too.

That's so true.

That's so true.

And you know, it's interesting too, when we think back to the Cammor Folk Festival and you introduced her to.

Like you said, the people in Camor tend to be very friendly, laid back.

And a lot of times they're, they're, they're.

They were tourists like us.

And I remember when we went to the Camel Folk Festival, we met a couple named Linda and Tom, and they were from Portland, Oregon.

Do you remember that?

Of course I remember that.

We actually met them.

I believe it was the first day on the Friday we were waiting in line and they ended up sitting beside us.

And they had a granddaughter around the same age.

So we started talking and never stopped.

We still keep in contact with them to this day.

My grandparents went and visited them in Portland.

We're really good friends.

We, like spent the rest of the festival with them.

We played Uno in line.

We always stuck together.

We watched the bands together.

Definitely a lot of fun.

And like you said, there's a lasting friendship that has been going on for, oh, well over ten years now, so.

And I think that's also like the beautiful thing about the festival.

You're just.

Everyone is so calm and laid back that you have the chance to talk to strangers.

And, you know, whether it's someone that's like you meet in the line or somebody like in the bathroom line, like anywhere, you know, you can just chit chat.

Yeah, Fast friends.

Exactly.

Which is like not that common.

These.

A lot of people are like, maybe Internet friends, but it's not super common.

You just meet a stranger out and about, that becomes a lifelong friend.

So out of this, the.

Out of the.

I guess you might call it the seedling.

I don't know seedling, because I'm thinking about the forest and the mountains.

But you know, this whole idea that Georgia and George actually then helped us develop our Own idea, which is Caboose the Rocky Mountain Bear.

And can you remember how that all started?

So it actually started in a coffee shop in Canmore.

Very on brand to the whole Canmore.

Yeah.

My grandpa and I, my papa, we were just sitting in the local coffee shop and we're like, man, like, we have so many adventures and we have so many stories to tell.

And we're like, you know, we should.

We should tell it to people that.

That want to listen and that, like, you know, encourage them that.

To do the same thing that maybe.

Maybe get off their screens and be able to enjoy life and, you know.

Get out in the great outdoors.

Yeah.

Whether it's like, you know, in your town or maybe even go to the Rocky Mountains.

I'm trying to remember back to when we went to the coffee shop, and I think by that time you were no longer involved in the daycare.

No, and I think we were.

We talked to ourselves.

We talked between you and me and thought, oh, you know what?

We no longer have Georgia or George to accompany us, but we have to now have our.

Bring our own friend or our own new family member.

Yeah.

We have the memories and.

Right.

I think we're ready to bring on a new buddy.

A new buddy.

So we came up with Caboose the Rocky Mountain Bear.

And at the time, did you even know what a caboose was?

No, probably not.

No.

I can remember we.

We had my dad's old.

Your great grandfather's old train set, and at the end of the train there was a caboose.

And I think we got around to talking because you said, what is that?

Because in Canmore, it has a main railway line and the trains ran through it constantly, but you never saw a caboose at the end.

And I know you came to me and said, what's a caboose at the end of this train?

Or what is that?

And I said, oh, that's a caboose.

And then we got talking about it and it just seemed to somehow turn into this whole idea that that would be a good name for our own special friend.

Exactly.

And do you remember, I know we wrote the first story together and then all of a sudden our minds kind of ran wild because then we thought, oh, we got so many other stories to get down on paper.

Do you remember that?

Oh, yeah, for sure.

We just started talking.

We're like, hey, do you remember that time we went dog sledding?

Do you remember when we went.

We went horseback riding in the winter.

And just the idea, like, there's A folk festival, us skiing, you know, me chasing a snowboard from Arkansas, all those kinds of things.

And then it kind of manifested itself, you know, and to.

Today, what we're trying to do together is to.

Is to put together more stories to publish our first book, the Adventures of Caboose, the Rocky Mountain Bear.

And also for everyone listening is that we're trying to develop some support or we call it the story.

The.

What were we calling it, Kira?

We called it behind the story.

Behind the story.

That's it.

And that's what we're trying to do here, folks, is to come up with a way to share the behind the story.

So we have all these stories that Kira and I are developing and sharing and involving her sister and her cousins.

And so now what we're trying to do is bring them to life through audiobooks, but to also give you the story behind the story.

So that's what we're trying to do.

So we hope you'll listen to more of these stories behind the stories as we continue to roll out the Adventures of Caboose, the Rocky Mountain Bear.

Is there anything you else like to add?

I think something important that we could also mention is that Georgia and George, they.

They're siblings, but they weren't the same animal.

Georgia was a bunny and George was a bear.

And so within these stories, you'll see family members, and they're not all necessarily the same animal.

And I think that just.

That just shows diversity and that just shows the different people we've met on our, you know, on our path or path of life or the trail along the way.

Good.

Very good point, Kira.

Is that everyone, we would like you to take yourself back, if you can, to your own childhood and rem that the mind of a child and how creative it is, anything is possible.

Yeah.

And that's what Kira is talking about.

Just because it's a bear and a bunny doesn't mean they can't be siblings.

And in the mind of a child, that all comes to life and is.

And it's a beautiful thing to think like that.

Absolutely.

Well, thank you, Kira, for sharing this with us.

And we will definitely have some fun with this over the years.

Yes, for sure.

Bye.