Returned Home

24 July 19 

Today we are going home as we have been away for 11 days. However today is Todd's birthday and he has to return to work at his shop in Calgary, mainly because he has be away for a few days and his shop always host a party on his birthday. He left for Calgary around 8 AM. Unbeknownst to him , Carroll suggested that we crash the party so shortly after he left we also left. 

We arrived at the party a little late but all the staff and invited guest where still there so we got to me folks that we had never met before and there was plenty of food left. Todd calls it "Miracle Day" when he was born and of course the staff has a lot of fund with that. 

After the party we headed home and as it happen there was a terrific wind and the MH does not react well to the high winds. It was a fight to keep the MH on the road. On the way home there was a 18 wheeler who had an accident and we also came upon a large grass fire in the fields, probably started by the railroad. We noticed Fire Trucks from 5 different  towns, including the Fire Service from the Suffield  Military Base. End of our trip. Cheer

Visit the G/Kids at the Cabin

23 July 19

The 4 kids were at the cabin with Dad as Mom was at a Jonk family Anniversary in Minot , ND. While in Kelowna, we purchased  20 lbs of Cherries and 20 lbs of Blueberries, knowing, full well that the G/Kids would consume most of them. 

Emily , age 16, works at a Pizza and ice cream parlor beginning at noon so she got us up at 9 AM so her Dad (and us) would take her out on the boat to go Wake surfing. After we went boating for an hour or so we returned to the cabin for breakfast.  And then the other 3  ( Rhett, Quinn and Megan ) wanted to learn to surf behind the boat, s o in the afternoon we went boating again and too our amazement all 3 G/kids were able to get up and Wake surf behind the boat. That was enough boating for today. Cheers

Leaving Nakusp and going to visit our G/Kids at there Cabin

22 July 19

We left Nakusp and planned to stop at our son's (Todd ) cabin which is located on hwy 93 between Fairmont and Canal Flats on Columbia Lake. Due to our " unscheduled " stops along the way we were not sure if we can make it today. 

First we had to catch a ferry at Kalso to cross Kootenay Lake and this is a 1/2 hour crossing. Of course the ferry left just as we arrived at the landing so we had a 1 hour watch. The entrepreneurs of Kalso have taken advantage of this Ferry Landing by setting up several business such as a bakery, a cafe and a dress shop. Due to the wait time Carroll decided to " Browse" the dress shop.  The ferry crossing is free, but Carroll's dress cost me 75.00. 

Carroll had designs on stopping along the way in Crawford Bay which is an "Arties/ Farties " ( Artisans ) tourist trap village for us wayward  travelers who just have to but something even if it is over-priced. 

We visited the " Barefoot Handweaving " shop where they have 2 weaving loons and they weave most of their items right in the shop. Yes, it cost me another 100.00 to get out of that shop. We continued down the street to the " Dog Patch Pottery " shop and again it cost me to get out that shop as Carroll had to buy a Mug to add to the ones at home that we don't often use. 

The village has many other Artisan shops but the one of note is the "Northern Woven Broom" shop because it makes hand woven broom and they provided the brooms for the Harry Potter movies. 

Finally, we got back on the road and headed for the cabin, arriving just in time for supper. We plan to stay here until Wednesday. Cheers  

Heading for Nakusp, BC

Sunday 21 July 19

The first question our friends ask is " Where the heck is Nakusp " and why did you go there. The best answer is that we have never been there and it is "kinda " on the way home. Besides a few years ago a lady at the drug store mention that she was from Nakusp and as a well traveled traveler I decided we should visit it someday and today is "someday". 

From Kelowna you  travel to Vernon BC and then take Hwy #6 east which is a very winding , two lane road that goes thru several small towns/villages such as Lumby and Cherryville until you reach Needles. The trip on #6 is slow but very scenic so if you are in a hurry take  the TC #1 where you will see nothing but people trying to pass and jocking for position. 

When you reach Needle you will board a ferry and cross Arrow Lake ( which is a portion of the Columbia River system ) which is an enjoyable  10 to 12 minute crossing and the ferry is pulled by and endless cable. The landing on the other side is at a town called Fauquier and you then continue north on #6 for about an hour and you will reach Nakusp.

Nakusp is a village,and became  a settlement in 1892 and is located on the shores of Arrow Lake in the West Kooteney region. It is surrounded by the Selkirk and Monashee mountain ranges and as a result they have 2 Hot Springs resorts which is a definite draw for tourist along with golf , fishing, hiking and a lovely Japanese Garden. We visited the Halcyon Hot Springs resort and it is definitely a place to visit and stay if need be. The village has several  hotels at a reasonable price , several RV parks and a beach on the lake, with a good shopping area including a Save-On food store. The RV park was well run and we would have stayed longer if had more time. Cheers

Toured Kelowna and dinner with our Granddaughter and family.

Saturday 20 July 19


We made arrangement to meet our Granddaughter  ( Amanda ) and family for a supper date around 6 PM at a restaurant that they selected. Therefore we had the whole day to tour Kelowna and to observe the life during the summer in Kelowna. As anyone who has visited Kelowna knows the have a beautiful right in the city and as usual it was very busy with most activities on or around the late. When went to the the downtown area and it too was a bee hive of activity.

As I mentioned , we are camped outside of the city so on the way into town we passed several fruit orchards, mostly cherries and peaches. We decided to stop at a fruit and veggie market to check the prices as we did want to get some cherries, peaches and blueberries to take home. Then we went to an orchard to see what they had and if their prices were and less that the market. As it turns out the prices were the same as the market so we bought 20 lbs of Cherries and blueberries ans a small basket of peaches as the freestones were not available yet. 

I'm sure you are wondering what we will do with 20 lbs of Cherries and blueberries. Well, we intend to stop at our son's cabin between Canal Flats and Fairmont BC on Columbia and we were sure that our 4 G/Kids, better known as the  "human garburators " would devour  most of the fruit. 

After supper with Amanda and family we returned to their home to say our goodbyes' and to take some family photos. We hope to see them again sooner than the 4 years that had passed. Cheers

Horsefly to Kelowna, BC Friday 19 July19

After saying our "Goodbyes " to Bob we left Horsefly and headed for our destination which was Kelowna where we visited our Granddaughter and her family. I turned off the GPS and decided to follow my own route as I was sure it was a better route meaning a better drive and just a fast as the GPS route. We followed hwy 97 south from Williams Lake to Cache Creek and at that point I and I alone decided to take TC1 even though the "navigator" mews that I might want to take another look at the map. Then we got to Spences Bridge where we would take # 8 thru the Nicola valley and hook up with hwy  97 C which would eventually get us to Kelowna but certainly not as quickly as I though. On the map, road #8 road look fairly straight and uncomplicated, however I later found out that the guy who drew the map never travel on the road because it had a few hundred cruves that he fail to enter on the map. However, the scenery was endless and so were the curves. There was a bit of noise coming from the "navigator " saying that we might want to listen tot the GPS in the future. It was a rhetorical question and did not require a response nor was one given.  

We eventually reach hwy 97C and headed for Kelowna where we arrived about 2 hours behind my estimated arrival time. Lesson Learned:  Take a second look at the GPS suggestion; the fastest route may be the fastest route. 

We arrived in Kelowna in the late afternoon and the traffic was unbelievable but we were later told that Friday afternoon in the summer is always wall to wall traffic. We actually had to creep thru the city to reach our campsite on the east side. We have learned a lesson; don't go to Kelowna in the summer months.

When we reached our campsite we were shocked. There was no hookups, the site were at random wherever you could find a spot and the price was 45.00 per night. Unbelievable that they had the nerve to charge for this dump. The young guy that was the park utility man ran an extension cord so we had 15 amp services and he ran a hose so we could get water but that was it. We had to stay because we needed a place to park for the night and we had a supper date with our Granddaughter and her family in 2 hours and we did not want to be late.  Most of the other 10/12 campers where ; let me just say, they did not dance in our circle but they were polite and quiet. 

We have not seen our Granddaughter and family in 4 years as they had moved from Gibbons , AB (near Edmonton) to Kelowna about 2 years ago. Her children then 12 and 16 did not enjoy living in the country and her husband works near Ft Mac so he had to fly into work his shift so Kelowna wasn't much more of a deal then Ft Mac. 

Her children are now; Sabian 18 and graduated and Keenan who is 15 so Kelowna provide a much better social life for the entire family.  They have a beautiful home and we had a nice supper and chatted into the late evening. We made arrangement to go out for supper tomorrow evening. cheers   

Traveled around Horsefly Lake

Thursday 18 July 19

Bob and a friend go to Williams Lake every Thursday to shop and to do any necessary appointments. This a 100 KM round trip so they try to squeeze in all things on their trip. Today Bob's friend had to take his truck into town for maintenance, hence both drove their vehicles so they would have a vehicle while in town. 

While they were away we drove around the area of Horsefly Lake to see what really attracted people to this area. Obvious  there are people who want to get away from the " Maddening Crowd " of the city because there are many many houses/ cottages all around the lake. The idea of fishing on this wonderful lake during the summer is an attraction but it has got to be very boring during the long winter. It does appear that many people do live here all year. So each to his own. 

Since we will be leaving tomorrow and since Bob would not be home until suppertime,  we had planned to make supper. However, when Bob arrived home he surprised us with a large pizza so supper was on him. 

After supper we talked about all things  "important " until about 9 PM and then tiredness took over and sent us all to bed. Cheers 

Kamloops to Horse Fly Lake... Wed 17 Jul

Wednesday morning as we where about to hook up the car to the MH at Barker's it started to pour rain as it did most of the night. Since we were not in a hurry we just had another cup of coffee and finally the had  stopped. 

We left Kamloops heading for  Horse fly to see another military friend ( Bob Donker ) who we had not seen in several years mainly because he lives in a place that is also in the middle of nowhere. 

The trip took us about 6 hours even thought the GPS said 4 hours. The GPS doesn't take into account that we need a pit stop, a fuel stop, a lunch break and a snooze stop. It was an interesting drive as the towns/cities had odd names such a Cache Creek, 70 Mile House, 93 Mile ( they left off the House ) , 100 Mile House, 150 Mile House. Incidentally the distance between 100 and 150 Mile House is not 50 miles. But maybe it was in horse and buggy days. 

After leaving hwy 93 just north of 150 Mile House we travel another 56 km to our friends house in the town of Horse Fly. The town doesn't have much, just a general store with a  liquor dept, post office, school and a cafe ( call ahead to see if is open ). The area is mainly cottages and fishing but I did see a few small cattle farms.

When Bob built his house on the 7 1/2 arces of bush land he had the foresight to included an RV parking space complete with a full RV hookup ( PWS ) and satellite TV. Bob and his wife Elanor ( she passed away 3 years ago ) where avid RVers and they expected their many RV friends to visit hence the reason for the RV hookup.

We spent the rest of the afternoon swapping stories about family and friends and keeping our throats wet with Bob's beer.  Carroll had 3 steaks in the MH so we offer to Bar-B-Q the steaks for supper and Bob supplied the potatoes etc. After supper we again talk about our military buddies. Bob goes to Williams Lake ( 56 KM one way on a paved road but not your normal hwy ) every Thursday with a friend to run errands such as doctor and dental appointments and to do the shopping. Since they leave at 8 AM we called it a night fairly early so Bob could be ready when his friend arrives to pick him up in the morning.  Cheers 

Tuesday (16 Jul ) morning around 8:30 we left our overnight parking spot heading for Kamloops to meet our military friend who we served with on two base ( Holberg BC and Sioux Lookout ON ). Both bases are in the middle of nowhere. They insisted that we park in their driveway as they live on the outskirts of town where driveways are longer then a car's length so there was lots of room for us.  

We have been to their home 2 or 3 times in the past 20 years but we had to uses Carroll's trustee GPS to worm our way thru the city of Kamloops. Unfortunately, Kamloops has 2 seasons; winter and construction and we drove straight thru a  "war zone" in the middle of the city because our GPS said so. Luckily, a detour got us right back on the street we needed so all was not lost. 

We finally reached our friends place ( Marg and Joe Barker ) and we swamp stories about our families , military friends , both alive and dead and about our travels. They spend their winters in Montserrat and have done so for 30 years and yes we did visit them many years ago. Montserrat is not our cup of tea as it is too laid back.    By 11 PM we were all "talked out " and called it a night. Cheers

Summer Trip to BC to see friends and relatives

We left home on Sunday 14 July for a 10 or 12 day trip to BC in our MH. Our first stop was at our son's place for overnight which allowed us to see our G/kids once again. Our main reason for the trip ( besides using our MH ) is to see our G/daughter Amanda and her family which we have not seen in 4 years. Boy! does time fly. 

Added to the trip will be  a visit to a military buddy in Kamloops and another one in Horsefly Lake east of Williams Lake. 

The trip from home to Okotoks is about as boring as 1942  newspaper and we have done it way too many times. 

On Monday morning around 9 AM we left Todd's place and according to my trusty iPhone maps and Carroll's useless GPS, both said we could reach Reverstoke around 4 PM , BC time. Both where right but the traffic problems tried there best to make us later. When we got close to Canmore there was a traffic lineup for miles at a snail's pace. The hwy dept was doing some line painting, therefore both lanes had to merge into one and the paint truck was only traveling about 20 Kmh. I'm fairly sure I could hear the swearing and it wasn't all coming from our MH. 

Then sometime in the early afternoon an 18 Wheeler decided to park his Rig on its's side in the median. That cost us another 1/2 hour but luckily the tow truck had not got around to up-righting the rig yet or we would have spend a few hours parked there. I watch the TV show "Hwy to hell " so I know how long it take to get an over-turn rig out of the ditch.
 After a lunch break by a Pull-off on a lake we continued on as we deduced that we could still make Revelstoke by 4 or 5 PM.

However somewhere near Salmon Arms on a straight stretch of BC hwy another driver of an 18 wheeler fell asleep at the wrong time and parked his Rig over the embankment. The Tractor section had already been removed and the trailer was being unloaded so the tow trucks had not block the road yet so that only cost us 20 mins.

Even thought we did run into some paving crews we did get to Revelstoke by 4:30  and we found a place to park for overnight. It was a 5 acre paved lot with outdoor bathrooms and was obviously made for trucks to stop for the night. It did have a sign that said please limit your stay to 8 hours so I decide our "stay time clock " would start at Midnight. 

Before parking for the evening I had to refuel and I chose the Shell stations as the price of fuel was all the same Price and I had an Air Miles card and  I could use the miles. There are no truck stops in Revelstoke and our MH is 30 ft long and the tow is 20 ft. On top of that the fuel filler is at the rear of the MH and I was taking on about 200 L. With our length I will either block the traffic at the front of the MH or block the traffic at the rear of the car. I tried three times to use a pump that would not block the traffic but it did not work.  Finally I went across the street to Chevron station that was practically  void of customers where I could fill up without blocking anyone. I got fuel for 1.39.

We returned to the Truck stop and grab a space where we did not interfere with any Trucks. We spent a peaceful however  some  dork had 5 acres and he chose to park 3 feet for us.    Cheers 

MX/TX Trip # 85 17 to 23 March 19

This week started much like it ended. Sunday was overcast with a Misty type of rain and then finally it started to pour. This continued thru the night into Monday. We have a metal roof on our MH so any amount of rain provides a continuous chorus of music and it has no "OFF" switch. Amazingly enough, it does lull you to sleep after a while. 

Our friends from Nfld , had just returned from a 2 month trip to South America which included Peru, Columbia and Ecuador so they invited us over for Dinner to reconstruction some of their trip even though we followed them on Facebook. We have been and are interested in visiting SA we could not duplicate their trip because it included bus, train and plane travel coupled with miles and miles of hiking and hiking is not in our vocabulary. Although we still have Equador on our Bucket list. 

At this time of year the "Goodbye Parties " start so on Wed our friend Terry from Med Hat had several people over as she says to use up the food and the booze. She has a Park Model so any unused food is normally passed to the Park maintenance staff. 

Then on Thursday our friends, Ken and Linda invited us for Dinner and as Linda says we have a pork loin that we have to eat before they leave. We met Ken and Linda in Fiji several years ago when we did our Australia/ New Zealand trip which included a week in Fiji. 

With all the rain and overcast weather we had this week , we spent much of the time glued to the TV watching Women's curling. Too bad our Ladies did not fair better, however, it does speak to the parity of curling around the World. Cheers  

MX/ TX Trip #84 Happenings 11 to 16 March 19

The week started with a nice breezy ( actually windy)  day with a high of 85 F (30 C ) which is considered a gift from the "heavens " especially with all the rain and cool weather  we have received during Feb and Mar. It seems somewhat funny that we "Winter Texan's" complain about the weather when we don't want to return  home because the weather is much worse there. You can never satisfy a Senior.

Since Tuesday was also warm but windy we, along with our friends from Brandon decided to go to MX for the last visit of the year. The ladies had a pedicure while Larry got his golf shoes polished and I found a barber who did a decent hair cut for 5.00. Then the ladies had to do some "last minute " shopping  ( as if they needed  more MX stuff ). Carroll bought another purse for a reason I don't understand because she seldom  carries a purse and we don't have any money left to put in it after spending 4 month travelling around Mexico and the USA. 

Last week I heard a "Click " every time I moved the car forward or in reverse and as a long retired mechanic I recognized this noise as a bad U-Joint and I knew it had to be replaced. I ask a friend, who has been coming here for 20 years, if he could recommend a mechanic or a garage. He advised me to take it to Martinez in a local town some 5 miles away as he is a good mechanic and his prices are reasonable. I took it to Martinez the next day but he was busy and ask me to bring it at 8 AM the next day. Then he said let's do a road test and you drive and show me the problem. I backed up and he heard the "Click". Then he said put it in  Drive and another "Click". He said yep, it's a U-Joint.  Bring it in tomorrow. Martinez replaced both the  from and rear U-joint and then did a complete diagnosing check because my Engine light was on. The Engine light has been on for 3 years so I didn't consider it an emergency but he said he would do it anyway.   The cost of the parts, labour and diagnostic report cost 128.00.   

I knew that Martinez  was a retired Marine so I ask him how he became a Mechanic. He said his  Dad immigrated to the US before he was born and started to repair cars under a tree in his back yard. After a year he built a shed to work under cover. As a young boy he was interested in helping his Dad and learned to be a mechanic. Then during the Vietnam War he joined the Marines. After his first 5 years was up, he joined for another 5 years so he could get his  " re-up " pay which he gave to his Dad to build  the 5 bay garage that he runs today. He would like to retire but if he did he said his 3 helpers wouldn't have a job so he keeps the garage open for them. I would guess that his helpers are not licensed. 

Saturday was the start of the Women's World Curling which gave us something to watch on TV because it started to rain in the early morning hours and continued for 3 hours. Then the wind came up and the temp dropped to 11C. In TX with a north wind and rain that is a recipe for dam cool. Since our friends from Brandon are going home on Sunday  we went out for supper and said our goodbyes. Cheers

MX/TX Trip # 83 The Brier Week (1 to 10 March 19 )

As any curling fan knows from 1 Mar to 10 Mar is the Brier or the Canadian Championship of Curling and we are avid curling fans so much of our spare time will be spent watching the best Curlers in the World battle for the chance to represent Canada later this month.

Other happening this week  was renewing my iPhone plan. I am not great at understanding the iPhone yet but I am slowly learning.  The provider I chose in the US is T-Mobile and they don't mind me returning to ask multiple questions. One young lady who has helped me a couple of times told me that a T-Mobile staff has to have 3 months training before they  every sees a customer and I must admit they are customer friendly.  Anyhow the monthly charge for my iPhone is 67.00 CDN and it provides unlimited talk and text in NA and it comes with 10 GB of data. Telus.. are you listening. 

My WiFi was renewed on Wednesday but the provider has never sent me a bill.  I even ask for a eBill but they said they do not do eBills. I do pay it by Visa so I can track it but you would think they would want to sent a bill. I have to return the router to their office before I leave so I hope I get a bill then. 

Thursday was the last of the six Legends concerts that they have every year in this area and this time it was the Piano Man. The Piano Man is joined by  his son along with the obvious backup players. The music is mostly from Elton John and Billy Joel  and it was a very good 2 hour concert. Cost was 13.00.

On Thursday there was  a huge Bridge  Tournament at our Park and Carroll volunteered to help cut the cakes that they serve along with tea and coffee at intermission. . Carroll thought that she was going to cut the cakes and then be done. She later found out that she also had to serve it so after several hours of standing,  her back and knees where very sore. Moral of the story; when you volunteer make sure you understand your task. 

We have friends from ON that we meet 20 years ago who we have not seen since we got to TX in Feb and they are leaving on the 16 th so we managed to arrange a lunch date so we could catch up on their happenings and travel stories. They are of Dutch descent and they go to Holland every summer so they do have interesting travel stories.  We also went to the local Legion for a fish supper with friends from Brandon. While at the Legion  we also met old friends from NS whom, we knew from our days in Shilo, MB. It seems that wherever we go we see old friends but we have been traveling since 1998 so i guess we can't help but to bump into some friends ever once in a while. 

On Saturday someone decided to share the Sun with us and our temperature went to 34 C which is a little hot but we also got a TX breeze making it a wonderful day for a change. However, the Brier ( curling ) was down to the Championship round so we were glued to the TV for a few hours. 

On Sunday the 10 th , as usual we had breakfast with our friends, the Nahas as they are going home to Brandon next Sunday. We hope that the rotten weather that is predicted will pass before they leave. We must admit we were glued to the TV to watch the final curling game between Koe and Bottcher, ( both from Alberta , I might add ). We are glad to get a free week away from the TV but Carroll now has shopping on her schedule so that makes it a boring few days for me. The weather man has promise a very rainy, windy and cool week again.  What the heck is wrong with this weather . Cheers  

MX/TX trip # 82 ( Tuesday , Wednesday and Thursday)

26, 27, and 28 Feb 

Tuesday and Wednesday were rainy, cool days with high winds so what the heck can we do. Actually very little. We checked the theatres hoping to find a movie that we would like but to no avail. It seems that all the movies are violent  or space like so that is not our style. 

We solved the boredom by going to Costco. As everyone knows you can not just buy a couple of things at Costco. Somehow we found a way to spend 82.00 even though we only need a few items. However the "Tasters " had some excellent food so all was not lost.

Thursday 

It is probably best that  Feb is coming to an end because the  weather has be horrible and can't get much worst. March has got to be better. We have tickets for several  concerts and tonight the Legend music is about Jimmy Buffet. We do not know about him or his music but we bought the ticket anyway. We did not like the music so at half time we left and returned to the park and decided to join our friends and soak  in the hot tub. To us it was much more enjoyable than " Jimmy Buffet " Music. Cheers  

MX/TX Trip # 81 ( 25 Feb 19 )

I flew back to TX today but I had to catch the 1 PM flight as opposed to the 7 AM flight as both Todd and Yvonne had early morning meeting which meant the Marjorie ( their Nanny ) had to take me to catch my flight. 

Since I got a last minute flight the only available seat was a middle one so I was hoping that the 2 people on each side are not Football size people. The guy with the window seat was an executive with Enbridge oil Company. I questioned him why he was not in business class and he said it was a last minute decision and it was the only seat left. He said he was spending a week in Houston on business. 

The guy in the aisle seat had a Hab's cap on so I ask if he was a fan or just wearing there cap. I was going to ask ( jokingly ) if he got it at a garage sale but before I got a chance he said he was a Canadien's alumni, which meant he played for the Canadiens several years ago. I then ask his name since I did not recognize him. His name is Glen Metropolit. He played 08/09 and 09/10 for Montreal . He played professionally from 95 to 17 but he had a "cup of coffee " with Washington, Atlanta, St. Louis, Pilly and Montreal. He played in Europe for most of his career. 

He said he lived in Florida so I ask what brought him to Calgary when the temp was -35 C. He said he was with the Canadiens Alumni team travelling in Western Canada raising money for charity and playing against Police/Fire fighters in such places as  Yorkton, SK, Crystal City MB and even Victoria BC. I ask if he had to carry his equipment or was it taken care of and he said they had to carry their own equipment. It was an interesting trip.

When I got to Houston I immediately checked on my connecting  flight and of course the gate was changed as it always is and it also said it was delayed due to weather. I had to get a panic call thru to Carroll as she was having a friend pick me up in McAllen and of course we were not advised of length of the delay. I finally got home an hour late however the weather was bamy as opposed to the - 31 C when I left Calgary. Cheers  

MX/TZ Trip # 8o Sports Weekend

Saturday 23 Feb 19

Every weekend is a Sports weekend in Todd's family but this weekend was the final of the hockey season for the Twins and Rhett. EM also was in a Volleyball tourney. On Saturday Rhett was playing in the 1st game of a 3 game playoff and the winner goes to the Provincials. The game went into overtime and so was my heart. They lost in overtime but there was 2 games to be played on Sunday and again next weekend so all was not lost.  
 This weekend was TSN Hometown Hockey in Okotoks and Todd was one of the directors so he had some involvement. My body is not climatized to the minus 30 C temperature so I went home to the warmth of  Todd's house. I got a airline ticket to return to TX on Monday so this my last chance to see the G/Kids playing winter sports. 

Although Rhett played a game at 11 AM he also had a Power Skating class at 3:30 in the town of Black Diamond. I volunteered to take Rhett as I wanted to see what skills they teach at this school. Twenty minutes into the class Rhett wiped the snow off his blades. like all kids do and he sliced to fingers. The instructor hollered to me that he was bleeding so I rushed to see what happened. Because of the amount of blood I rushed him to the dressing and I tired to stop the bleeding with a wet cloth. He sliced 2 fingers at 30 degree angle so the skin was over the cuts so we wrapped it with 2 bandages and I took him to the local hospital, for what I thought would be stitches. Rhett kept reminding me that he didn't care what the doctor would do or say but he was definitely playing in the playoff game on Sunday. The doctor took a look at the cuts and said  that he would glue the skin/cuts and they would be good as new in a few days. The cuts were not deep but they did bleed a lot.   


24 Feb Sunday

Today the Twins are playing the finals for all the "money " in a winner take all game. The Twin's  team never lost a league game all year so they may have been complacent although 9 years old don't normal think like us adults. The first  3 period was a barnburner and ended in a tie. Overtime proved nothing so it was on to a shootout. Our G/son , Quinn is the goaltender and a lost would be on his shoulders. However, the other team missed on there first 2 shots and Quinn's team scored on both of their shots. Game over, we win the cup but it sure increased my blood pressure and heart beat. Cheers

MX/TX #79 Trip to Calgary/ Okotoks

Wednesday 21 Feb 19
I flew to Calgary today and went right to the foothills hospital via a taxi with the idea that I would hopefully get checked over because of the dull ache in my upper left chest area. What a shock when I walked into the ER. There was about 30 people in the waiting room and 4 or 5  people lined up to see the Trauma Nurse . Then I looked at a large TV screen which said " Time to see a Doctor " 4 hours. I ask the guy ahead of me if he thought the 4 hour wait was reasonable and he said you will be lucky to see a doctor in 4 hours. Of course the Trauma Nurse will determine the urgency and if necessary a person who needs attention will jump the cue and rightly so. 

Since my daughter in law ( Yvonne ) works at a bldg next to the hospital,  I decided to return to the ER tomorrow and hopefully get a better position in the cue. I then called my son ( Todd ) at his shop and said I would take a taxi to the shop. 

The taxi driver was from India but immigrated to Canada some 40 years ago but still had the accent. I do not know the address of my son's shop, although I have been there a hundred times so I told the driver that it is on Barlow on the south end of Deerfoot Trail near a casino and he says I know exactly where you mean. Then I noticed that he was getting near Deerfoot but in the wrong lane so I challenged him if he understood my direction. 
Apparently he only heard Barlow and casino  and as it turns out there is a casino at the north end of Barlow , which was the one he assumed I wanted.  He did not realize there was  another one at the south end of Barlow and Deerfoot which is the one I was referring to.  Finally I got him to turn south on Deerfoot and then he was aware of my destination. He did say that he seldom travels to this end of Calgary, hence he never thought of the Deerfoot casino.

Thursday 22 Feb

Yvonne leaves for work at 6:15 AM to beat the traffic so we arrived at the hospital around 7 AM and there was 4 people in the waiting and no line up at the Trauma Nurse so within 5 minutes I was in the nurse station waiting room along with 5 other. The nurses started to pick us off one at a time. Number 3 was a slovenly dressed man of about 30 ish and as he was bing lead to a booth by a nurse he kicked a sign left by a janitor and the sign hit the ceiling and broke a ceiling tile and then he laid some profanity on the janitor. A senior nurse grab the phone and called security and then everything else was out of my sight line so i missed the charades.  

After 10 or 15 minutes I was taken to a booth and told to remove my shirt so the they could do an ECG and take some blood. I immediately fell asleep until the lab tech arrived. This was followed with a Xray and then a wait for the doctor. Long story short , I was checked over and there was no indication of any heart problem so I was released. 

This is a hectic weekend as Todd is involved  with Rogers Hometown Hockey in Okotoks. Tonight I got the detail to take Emily (16 ) to Volleyball practice and  Rhett ( 11 ) and we are have a blizzard so I will get the feel of winter driving. 

Friday 22 Feb

Today I was detailed to take the Twins to hockey practice at PM at 4 PM as they are off school this week so I had to kill the rest of the day somehow. Todd's hockey rink was covered with 3/4 inches of snow so I decided to clean it off with the snow blower. The kids had friends over so they dug tunnels in the 6 ft drifts in the yard. So how long can it take to clear a 100 X 50 ft rink. Three hours during this very cold weather that they are having in AB. That is considered a days work for me so I took the rest of the day off. Cheers

MX/TX Trip #78 Happenings ( Sun, Mon, Tues )

After breakfast on Sunday with our friends we went to Harlingen as they have an excellent tourist information booth and we ( mostly Carroll ) are planning to go thru OK on the way home so we wanted to pick up a map  of TX and OK. I told Carroll that she would not get an OK map in a TX info booth but she had to find out for herself, and of course I was right. We have a GPS and an iPhone but we still like to have a map of our travel areas. 

All was not lost as Carroll decided that we may as well shop, since we were already in Harlingen which has all the proverbial stores. After an hour or so I reminded Carroll that the curling was on TV and it was much more interesting than shopping. 

Every once in a while I get a slight but dull ache  in my upper left chest and  shoulder area and I felt it for the passed 3 mornings. So I  decided that I should fly back to Calgary to have it checked to make sure it is not heart related.  I have travel insurance but I also have 2 pre-condition and if I have it checked here and the doctor suggest that it could be one of these pre-conditions my insurance would cease immediately. Also , by returning to AB my AB health Insurance is reset and I would have coverage for 40 days. Hence I get a refund from the Travel Insurance. 

On Tuesday I  found a last minute seat for Wednesday so I took it. Unfortunately I had to be at the check in by 5 AM so our friend from Brandon took me to the airport. Cheers  

MX/TX Trip # 77 Happenings ( Thursday,Friday, Saturday )

Since not much is happening when you are settled in the same  RV Park , like we are doing now , I will bunch several days of "activities", if you can call it that into each report. 

The main topic here is how different the weather is from what it has been in years passed. It is fair to said the weather is not conducive to the phase " Sunny Texas" because most days start with overcast, fog, mist and sometimes the Sun. Some our friends are golfers and many days they start their game with jackets/coats  and as an avid golfers they normally "sugar coat "   the weather by saying that the Sun peaked thru etc etc. 

We did not do much on Valentines Day but on Friday we went to MX , which is only 7 miles away , with our friends the Nahas. Neither of us had a need to visit MX but we just want to kill a day and we planned to have lunch while we were there, which we did. Larry and I had our shoes shine as Larry has been going to the same guy for 20 years. Apparently the "shine Guy " is from Monterey, and  comes to " Progresso " this border town every winter because business is better  because of us  "Winter Texans. " Then we met the ladies and had lunch at one of the restaurants that is a favourite for the Gringos. We would normally pick up a bottle of booze but TX has slapped a 2.75 tax on all booze coming into TX so the it just as cheap to buy in TX. 

On Saturday we went to the local Flea market as Carroll was looking for Bamboo sheets. We squeezed the Flea market trip in between the Scotties and hockey and this will continue for the next week. Cheers 

MX /TX Trip # 76 ATM Card arrived ( Wednesday)

Of course we had to hang around waiting on UPS to deliver the card and they usually deliver in the early afternoon but you can't count on the timing so we stayed home even thought it was a nice sunny day for a change. 

Since UPS had not arrived by 2 PM Carroll decided that she needed something from the Dollar store which is about a KM away and she would sign for the card if he arrived while I was away. Just as I passed the office I seen the UPS truck, which means that the driver was getting some Address numbers from the office so I waited until he came back to his truck. I said do you have a parcel for Esler and he said you bet I do just sign here. I now feel better that I have my ATM card in my wallet. 

Tonight is Card night and I play Euchre . There  was also entertainment in the rec hall so Carroll went with another lady and for 7.00 it was apparently OK, which means I would not have enjoyed it.

I have played Euchre with the same 12 people for two years and not one person knew my name when I walked into the room.  I said you can't all have Alzheimer, somebody must know my name. I even rented one guys Park model 2 years ago. I guess when they leave in the Spring they "dump" all the names and then get re-introduced when the return in the Fall. So now you know what kind of people hang out in these RV Parks. Cheers