At 5 PM tonight we are going a Game Drive ( not a Safaria as Safaria is an overnight trip or longer) . So today we checked out all the facilities in this park. Besides the Wave pool, and the large Hot pool, they have 2 lge slides, A slide that uses Inner tubes , a Zip line, aGo-Cart Track and a 1 KM long Water Ski Oval where you are pull around the oval on a cable at a speed up to 30 KM an hour unless there are young kids using it , then they slow it down. As it turns out, one of the skiers was the Maintenance man from Germany who actually install the Ski tow in 1993. He was here doing a Semi-annual check and of course has to ski to ensure all is working good. I had a good chat about the operation so I said , what happens if you fall 1/2 way around. He said , Oh, that's when SFSW kicks in. I said , what hell is that. He says Ski; Fall; Swim to shore; Walk back to the start. Then I ask the obvious question , How deep is the water and he said about 1 meter and without thinking I said , that's not very deep. His anwers; What's difference , you only ski on top of it. the cost to is R50 for 1/2 hour R80 for 1 hour. R=.13 cents Cdn.
In the evening we did the game Drive with 8 other people. We seen a few Ostrich, many different bred of Antolope, a herd of Zebras, several Giraffe and a herd of White Rhinos. We thought the Giraffe where the high light of the animals.
We arrive back at the Hotel located on the Camp site ( it also has a convention centre ) and we decided to have supper in the Hotel resturaunt which was highly recommended by the Driver. We ordered their special which was 1/2 a rack of ribs, 3 prawns, Baked potato and something that resembled shedded onion rings all for R80 ( around 10.00 cdn). My beer cost 2.50 cdn.
After supper we headed to the Hydro pool , a huge indoor/outdoor Hot pool for about an hour to swim, soak and talk to others doing the same. Two couples we had met the day before invited us over to their " Caravan " for a drink of Amarula ( much like Bailey's) for a night cap. Amarula is made from a fruit that grows wild on a large tree in the nature Reserves. It is a favorite food of the Elephants . Sometimes the fruit falls to the ground and ferments, then the Elephant eats the fruit and gets Drunk. I actually seen a video on Youtube of this happening. Good Night
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Bela Bela 2 Nov
Today we ventured to the stores in town as we needed some stuff from the hardware store and then some more groceries. As I parked I ask a lady how long I could park in this space , and said it doesn't as we have no police in town to enforce the rules. These people ( both white and Black) speak many lauguages and I assume by looking at each other they know the language. I bought 3 items at the hardware store and for the life of me, I could not understand what the hell the lady was asking me. So I just handed her the money shown on the cash register.
Then we went grocery shopping and could not find Sour Cream, mainly because we were looking for our type of container. We ask a White lady ( shopper ) so she went to the Black "shelf packer " but spoke in a different language. I ask if she spoke many different language and she replied that she spoke two but could understand several more.
In the afternoon, we hit the outdoor Hot pools and unbeknown to us all the schools in Pretoria were on a day off so there where Bus Loads of school kids. I started to count them but I stopped when I got to a Zillion. Need you ask the colour of most of the students. Besides the huge Hot pool there is a Wave pool (not hot ) complete with a slide. and there are no rules on the use of the slides which surprised me. You can come down in a train formation, head first , even in an inner tube or air matress. And I must admitt, I did not see anyone get hurt. So much for rules. I did one of the big slides myself, but I made sure it was all clear before I went down.
In the evening we went to the Hydro Pool again . I'm not sure why the name Hydro but it too is huge and it wraps around the hotel and they have a walking bridge over one area. When you swim under the bridge you are now going outside which is nice with the hot water and the cool evening air. In this area we met 2 couples ( White ) who are camping near us. One couple are Africans ( meaning Whites born in ZA) . The other couple are immigrates, he from Holland; she from UK.
After discussing most of the world problems and them giving me a history lesson on their country, they invited us over for a night drink of Amarula (sp ) , much like Bailey's. It is a drink made from a wild fruit tree and the animals eat the friut that has fallen off the tree and fermented and they actually get "Drunk". I have seen the pics of this.
Tomorrow, thursday we are going on a 1 1/2 hour night Safaria.
Then we went grocery shopping and could not find Sour Cream, mainly because we were looking for our type of container. We ask a White lady ( shopper ) so she went to the Black "shelf packer " but spoke in a different language. I ask if she spoke many different language and she replied that she spoke two but could understand several more.
In the afternoon, we hit the outdoor Hot pools and unbeknown to us all the schools in Pretoria were on a day off so there where Bus Loads of school kids. I started to count them but I stopped when I got to a Zillion. Need you ask the colour of most of the students. Besides the huge Hot pool there is a Wave pool (not hot ) complete with a slide. and there are no rules on the use of the slides which surprised me. You can come down in a train formation, head first , even in an inner tube or air matress. And I must admitt, I did not see anyone get hurt. So much for rules. I did one of the big slides myself, but I made sure it was all clear before I went down.
In the evening we went to the Hydro Pool again . I'm not sure why the name Hydro but it too is huge and it wraps around the hotel and they have a walking bridge over one area. When you swim under the bridge you are now going outside which is nice with the hot water and the cool evening air. In this area we met 2 couples ( White ) who are camping near us. One couple are Africans ( meaning Whites born in ZA) . The other couple are immigrates, he from Holland; she from UK.
After discussing most of the world problems and them giving me a history lesson on their country, they invited us over for a night drink of Amarula (sp ) , much like Bailey's. It is a drink made from a wild fruit tree and the animals eat the friut that has fallen off the tree and fermented and they actually get "Drunk". I have seen the pics of this.
Tomorrow, thursday we are going on a 1 1/2 hour night Safaria.
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
1 Nov Bela Bela
I still have not taken the time to provide an update on 30 and 31 Oct but I will find time soon. But for 1 nov here goes.
As you may recall we are picking up the RV today and the RV dealer picked us up at our Hotel at 10 AM. We expected a quick " Sign Here" and we would be on our way. First we had to have a coffee with the manager and then she went over the "contract" and made sure we understood EVERY word. This took about an hour. One item of note was that she gave me 3 days to get use to a "Clutch " If I took out the clutch during first 3 days she would replace it but after the 3rd day i would have to pay for it. Then the manager ( she ) had her Demo guy show us everything about the camper and I must admit there are a few difference from our 5 th wheel. The Camper Van is a Mercedes chassis with a Mistbushe diesel engine and it will cruise at 120KMH.
As a side note; I ask the tour driver if 120Km was the speed limit, he no; that is the "take off speed" ; Cruising speed is somewhat higher and he is right.
Anyway, the next move was for me to drive the Van to the loading area so they could load everything we needed to camp and again the Manager supervised the loading and insisted we extra sheets so we don't have to do a wash. she said camping is for fun not washhing clothes. However, we are the exception because she said that not many people rent a Camper for 2 months. After we loaded the camper, we ask where we could find the nearest grocery store. She said not to worry, my Shuttle driver will take you there and wait for you. The shuttle driver is a retired business man who was bored in retirement so he took this job and loves it. Besides he was a wealth of knowledge. he says the country has changed in every ( good )way since they held the World Soocer Finals.
Finally, around 1:30 we got on the road to Bela Bela which is about 80 KM north of Pretoria and arrived in at our camp site around 3:30 PM.
The Hotel and Camp site is called " Forever Resorts, WarmBath " . The park has a huge hotel , numerous camp sites and many chalets ( cottages ) but the main attraction is the Hot Pools and i mean pools . The "Hydro " pool which is the best attraction is about the size of 2 Olympic pools. We spent about an hour in the Hyrdro pool last night and of course chatted with several people. One tidbit ( I will add these as i get them ) is that South Africa ( ZA) has 53 Million people and there are only 3 Million "Whites". I now feel like I'm the only "White Guy" in a Black band.
As of 9 AM 2 Nov we have not explored the whole park so we must get going. We also have to buy a few more item we need for our camper.
As you may recall we are picking up the RV today and the RV dealer picked us up at our Hotel at 10 AM. We expected a quick " Sign Here" and we would be on our way. First we had to have a coffee with the manager and then she went over the "contract" and made sure we understood EVERY word. This took about an hour. One item of note was that she gave me 3 days to get use to a "Clutch " If I took out the clutch during first 3 days she would replace it but after the 3rd day i would have to pay for it. Then the manager ( she ) had her Demo guy show us everything about the camper and I must admit there are a few difference from our 5 th wheel. The Camper Van is a Mercedes chassis with a Mistbushe diesel engine and it will cruise at 120KMH.
As a side note; I ask the tour driver if 120Km was the speed limit, he no; that is the "take off speed" ; Cruising speed is somewhat higher and he is right.
Anyway, the next move was for me to drive the Van to the loading area so they could load everything we needed to camp and again the Manager supervised the loading and insisted we extra sheets so we don't have to do a wash. she said camping is for fun not washhing clothes. However, we are the exception because she said that not many people rent a Camper for 2 months. After we loaded the camper, we ask where we could find the nearest grocery store. She said not to worry, my Shuttle driver will take you there and wait for you. The shuttle driver is a retired business man who was bored in retirement so he took this job and loves it. Besides he was a wealth of knowledge. he says the country has changed in every ( good )way since they held the World Soocer Finals.
Finally, around 1:30 we got on the road to Bela Bela which is about 80 KM north of Pretoria and arrived in at our camp site around 3:30 PM.
The Hotel and Camp site is called " Forever Resorts, WarmBath " . The park has a huge hotel , numerous camp sites and many chalets ( cottages ) but the main attraction is the Hot Pools and i mean pools . The "Hydro " pool which is the best attraction is about the size of 2 Olympic pools. We spent about an hour in the Hyrdro pool last night and of course chatted with several people. One tidbit ( I will add these as i get them ) is that South Africa ( ZA) has 53 Million people and there are only 3 Million "Whites". I now feel like I'm the only "White Guy" in a Black band.
As of 9 AM 2 Nov we have not explored the whole park so we must get going. We also have to buy a few more item we need for our camper.
Monday, 31 October 2011
Quick note
Having lunch in a mall in Johannesburg. We pickup our tv tues then we are on Lourdes way.I have too good stories cming when I get time. Yes, we have been lost already, dam gps
Thursday, 27 October 2011
South Africa-- We're Here
We arrive in Johannesburg ,ZA at 9: 30 PM Wed 26 Oct.
Now from the beginning. We left home on the 23 th and went to Todd's place were we would recheck our check list ( just kidding; we don't have check list ). Actually, we packed our belongings in 2 hockey bags unbeknown to us all bags are limited to 62 inches when measured L+W+H and limited to 50 Lbs. I knew we were well under weight but one bag was 68 inches. How to solve the problem ; remove items from the big bag and stuff them in the smaller bag, then squashed the big one into small size. Problem solved until we get to the airport.
Monday was a long day as we were now just waiting for "Lift Off" on Tuesday but the Twins had the soloution so we took them to Wal-Mart for a photo shoot. The shoot went well, for the Twins but I'm not sure if the Wal-mart Photographer wants us back. Following the photo shoot, as we headed home the Twins and Rhett started to " Chant " Donald's Donald's so naturally we turned into MacDonald's to try to wear out the Playroom. Not much was doing in the Playroom until a G/Pa and G/Ma brought in there very Shy little girl to play. ( Our Twins do not conjer up to the word Shy ) Anyhow I ask the Twins to take the little girl up the the tower and show her how to enter the slide safely. I may not have used the word Safely. Then i heard Megan coming down the slide and it was then I remmebered that I forgot to say " No Head First slides" . Megan shot out of the slide and do to a high rate of speed she "Overshot " the landing pad but managed to get stopped before hitting the wall. I immedately ran to the bottom of the slide hoping to catch the Sly little girl. I holler up to Quinn to send her down feet 1st, which he did fast. But he told her to lay down flat so she could go fast. Then he followed right behind her. I guess this operation must have scared the G/parent of the sly girl because they left with saying Goodbye.
Todd bought me an iPad2 on Friday thinking I was smart enough to learn all about it by Tuesday. I gave it a good try but on tuesday morning about 9 AM I could not get either keyboard to function. For you folks who don't have an ipad , they have an internal and external keypad. I then put in panic call to the Apple Help line. Has that phase ever been misplaced. After about 1/2 an hour on the Apple chat line I finally gave up and decide to go right to Future Shop where Todd bought the ipad2 and the "Associate " tried the keyboard , agreed it did not work and gave me a new one. Problem solved.
Our launch time was 3:20 PM but be there 2 hours early was KLM's request. So Todd dropped us off about 12:45 , a little early but what the heck. We ask direction for KLM and went to the counter as I have done many times before. Since I have not been on an Aircraft for two year the whole procedure has been revamped to speed up the loading... I think. Anyway, the KLM clerk told us we had to use the Quick and Easy Self check in computer. I took one look at the computer and thought to myself, maybe we should have started yesterday.
I ask the clerk to get us started but she took one look at me and said give me your Passports and you On-line ticket printout. Ten min later she had completed our " Quick and Easy in procedure " complete with Boarding passes. Then we followed her to the counter where she tagged our bags, ( they were both underweight ) handed us our boarding passes and said have a nice flight.
We then went to the KLM boarding lounge where we sat for 2 more hours until they loaded. I guess we were too early to say the least. The Aircraft was a brand new A3A something or other AirBus. It held 247 people, the leg room was great, and the seat were very comfortable. The in flight service was excellent and so was the food. Booze was free ( or maybe part of the ticket price ) and the fed us 2 full meals and a snack in between meals. Our flight to Amsterdam was 8 1/2 hours.
We had 1 1/2 hour wait in Amsterdam and had to be clear thru security again. I happen to get the lady who failed the " congeniality course" as she gave me heck for not having the items out of my pockets and my belt off. As she not given me a tray i ask her if she wanted me to put the items on the converer belt and she snap back saying I should have known to take the the computer out of the case. Anyway the customer behind me took somme pressure off me because was in a bitchy mood so the two of them had words.
Then we boarded our flight to Johannesburg and that was a Boeing 777-2000 and it was a"cattle car" compared to the AirBus. There was very little leg room but Carroll I had a vacate seat beside us. This flight was 10 1/2 hours and again we had 2 meals and a snack in between . However, I managed to find a comfort posn since we had 3 seats between us so I logged some sleep time and missed desert and any free booze they were peddle.
We arrived here on schedule but had to walk a mile thru a passport check, then our luggage and then thru customs where our friends where waiting.
Deane and Nick are great friends and good ambassadors as they have gotten us ready for our trip around South Africa . Today, Thursday Deane took us to the hugh mall to get a Sim Card/ Flash card/Stick to power my computer in lieu of the WiFi that Ican't get yet. I got the SIM card at Vodacom but due some computer problem both in there shop and with Telcom supplier it took 2 hours to get it activated. The SIM card and Flash stick with 3 months time cost R400 or about $ 50.00 CDN.
Carroll stayed with the computer while Deane ( this lady knows everybody and were to get the best deal ) took me to another shop to get a cell phone. They sold me a phone, the SIM card and 35 Minutes for R125 which is about $16.00 CDN.
Then Nick and Deane met us for Lunch and mapped our a large majority of our Trip. since we don't get our MH until Sunday or Monday we rented a car for 3 days to travel around this area.
I was on the Freeway today with my rental and i managed to stay on the left side of the road.
Now from the beginning. We left home on the 23 th and went to Todd's place were we would recheck our check list ( just kidding; we don't have check list ). Actually, we packed our belongings in 2 hockey bags unbeknown to us all bags are limited to 62 inches when measured L+W+H and limited to 50 Lbs. I knew we were well under weight but one bag was 68 inches. How to solve the problem ; remove items from the big bag and stuff them in the smaller bag, then squashed the big one into small size. Problem solved until we get to the airport.
Monday was a long day as we were now just waiting for "Lift Off" on Tuesday but the Twins had the soloution so we took them to Wal-Mart for a photo shoot. The shoot went well, for the Twins but I'm not sure if the Wal-mart Photographer wants us back. Following the photo shoot, as we headed home the Twins and Rhett started to " Chant " Donald's Donald's so naturally we turned into MacDonald's to try to wear out the Playroom. Not much was doing in the Playroom until a G/Pa and G/Ma brought in there very Shy little girl to play. ( Our Twins do not conjer up to the word Shy ) Anyhow I ask the Twins to take the little girl up the the tower and show her how to enter the slide safely. I may not have used the word Safely. Then i heard Megan coming down the slide and it was then I remmebered that I forgot to say " No Head First slides" . Megan shot out of the slide and do to a high rate of speed she "Overshot " the landing pad but managed to get stopped before hitting the wall. I immedately ran to the bottom of the slide hoping to catch the Sly little girl. I holler up to Quinn to send her down feet 1st, which he did fast. But he told her to lay down flat so she could go fast. Then he followed right behind her. I guess this operation must have scared the G/parent of the sly girl because they left with saying Goodbye.
Todd bought me an iPad2 on Friday thinking I was smart enough to learn all about it by Tuesday. I gave it a good try but on tuesday morning about 9 AM I could not get either keyboard to function. For you folks who don't have an ipad , they have an internal and external keypad. I then put in panic call to the Apple Help line. Has that phase ever been misplaced. After about 1/2 an hour on the Apple chat line I finally gave up and decide to go right to Future Shop where Todd bought the ipad2 and the "Associate " tried the keyboard , agreed it did not work and gave me a new one. Problem solved.
Our launch time was 3:20 PM but be there 2 hours early was KLM's request. So Todd dropped us off about 12:45 , a little early but what the heck. We ask direction for KLM and went to the counter as I have done many times before. Since I have not been on an Aircraft for two year the whole procedure has been revamped to speed up the loading... I think. Anyway, the KLM clerk told us we had to use the Quick and Easy Self check in computer. I took one look at the computer and thought to myself, maybe we should have started yesterday.
I ask the clerk to get us started but she took one look at me and said give me your Passports and you On-line ticket printout. Ten min later she had completed our " Quick and Easy in procedure " complete with Boarding passes. Then we followed her to the counter where she tagged our bags, ( they were both underweight ) handed us our boarding passes and said have a nice flight.
We then went to the KLM boarding lounge where we sat for 2 more hours until they loaded. I guess we were too early to say the least. The Aircraft was a brand new A3A something or other AirBus. It held 247 people, the leg room was great, and the seat were very comfortable. The in flight service was excellent and so was the food. Booze was free ( or maybe part of the ticket price ) and the fed us 2 full meals and a snack in between meals. Our flight to Amsterdam was 8 1/2 hours.
We had 1 1/2 hour wait in Amsterdam and had to be clear thru security again. I happen to get the lady who failed the " congeniality course" as she gave me heck for not having the items out of my pockets and my belt off. As she not given me a tray i ask her if she wanted me to put the items on the converer belt and she snap back saying I should have known to take the the computer out of the case. Anyway the customer behind me took somme pressure off me because was in a bitchy mood so the two of them had words.
Then we boarded our flight to Johannesburg and that was a Boeing 777-2000 and it was a"cattle car" compared to the AirBus. There was very little leg room but Carroll I had a vacate seat beside us. This flight was 10 1/2 hours and again we had 2 meals and a snack in between . However, I managed to find a comfort posn since we had 3 seats between us so I logged some sleep time and missed desert and any free booze they were peddle.
We arrived here on schedule but had to walk a mile thru a passport check, then our luggage and then thru customs where our friends where waiting.
Deane and Nick are great friends and good ambassadors as they have gotten us ready for our trip around South Africa . Today, Thursday Deane took us to the hugh mall to get a Sim Card/ Flash card/Stick to power my computer in lieu of the WiFi that Ican't get yet. I got the SIM card at Vodacom but due some computer problem both in there shop and with Telcom supplier it took 2 hours to get it activated. The SIM card and Flash stick with 3 months time cost R400 or about $ 50.00 CDN.
Carroll stayed with the computer while Deane ( this lady knows everybody and were to get the best deal ) took me to another shop to get a cell phone. They sold me a phone, the SIM card and 35 Minutes for R125 which is about $16.00 CDN.
Then Nick and Deane met us for Lunch and mapped our a large majority of our Trip. since we don't get our MH until Sunday or Monday we rented a car for 3 days to travel around this area.
I was on the Freeway today with my rental and i managed to stay on the left side of the road.
Saturday, 22 October 2011
Next Trip ...South Africa
After the Huntsman Games we have to head home and get ready for our planned trip to South Africa ( SA) with a lauch date of 25 Oct which gives us 12 days to pack up the RV, find a RV storage are in Mesquite,NV and get home and start ( actual finish packing). Since we where knocked out of the Games on Thursday, that gave us an extra day to get home. So Friday, we packed the RV and headed 50 Miles south to Mesquite, NV where the winter temp is usually above freezing and we did not want to winterize the RV. Had we left our RV in St. Geo we would have had to Winterize it. By noon on Friday we had " Stored " the RV, had breakfast at the Virgin River Casino and allowed Carroll enough time to donate her last $20.00 to the Casino and then we headed home, knowing full well it would be 2000 KM of bordum on I-15: A Trip we have driven many many times.
Since we did not get away from Mesquite until noon, we decided that somewhere north of Salt Lake City would be far enough for the 1st day. As it turned our , we reached Layton, UT which is 35 Miles north on SLC hence we would not have to fight the morning Traffic the next day.
When we reached Layton, Ut our 1st move was to find a hotel room for the night. We have been collecting " Choice Hotel points " for a few years so we thought we would see if we could collect on a "FREE" room. Well!! you can only collect on the points by calling the 1- 800 reservation and we do not have a US cell but I do have a laptop and I do have Skype. ( Did I mention that we never Plan ahead ) Now, all I needed was WiFi signal and since a Choice hotel was within my sight I pulled into their parking area, open my Laptop, dialed in choice Hotel and I had a strong signal so i proceded to call the "Reservation " Line. Within 5 min we had a free room for the night. The rest of the evening was spent shopping as we were only a stone Throw from the Shopping Maul.
Saturday Morning: After a Free( as advertized ) Healthy Continential(where the hell did the get that word) breakfast we headed for Great Falls , Montana where we would spend Saturday night. ( There I go... Planning again ) However, we picked up a coupon book at rest stop which has "discount hotel rooms " and those words are music to the ears of all Seniors. The 9 hour trip was again boring so there no need to bore you anymore. But once we arrived at the " Discount " hotel , where we had stayed before , I ask if the had a room for the night and once the answer was "yes we have lots of rooms" I slapped down my coupon and said Can I get a room with this coupon. I think I may have startled the Clerk because she said that they did have any rooms at this price but since I had their discount coupon at $70.00 she would have to honour it. After moving in to our room we went to Applebees ( basically a excellent family resturaunt ) for supper.
If the USA is in a resession they forgot to tell the people in Great Falls, Montana. When we got to Applebees there was one parking spot left in the lot and we had to wait about 1/2 hour to get a table. Maybe resturaunts aren't the best place to judge a resession.
Sunday : After another Free, Healthy Continential breakfast we headed for home because we had a million things on our minds and other things to do before next Sunday. Our first concern was the line-up at the border and the attitude of the customs officer. When we got to the border there was "No One" ahead of us and the customs Officer was very jovial, so we were cleared in about one minute.
Now as we headed for home we started thinking about a list of project that had to be attended to before next Sunday. Christmas present for the younger G/kids and Christmas cards complete with a cheque for the Teenager G/Kids. It is amazing the number of things you to have remember; like the Insurance is due on the RV on 1Dec but we would not rec the notice until late Oct or early Nov. So we were glad, for some reason it popped into Carroll's head. And since we are not coming home after SA we would never have thought of it. Anyway, to this thought to bed, suffice to say, there are many things to think about before you vacate the "Homestead" for 6 months.
Well, tomorrow, Sunday we move to Todd's place and get ready to lauch to SA at 3 PM Tuseday. My next Blog will likely be from SA but not for a few days while I get my bearing. cheers. tom
Since we did not get away from Mesquite until noon, we decided that somewhere north of Salt Lake City would be far enough for the 1st day. As it turned our , we reached Layton, UT which is 35 Miles north on SLC hence we would not have to fight the morning Traffic the next day.
When we reached Layton, Ut our 1st move was to find a hotel room for the night. We have been collecting " Choice Hotel points " for a few years so we thought we would see if we could collect on a "FREE" room. Well!! you can only collect on the points by calling the 1- 800 reservation and we do not have a US cell but I do have a laptop and I do have Skype. ( Did I mention that we never Plan ahead ) Now, all I needed was WiFi signal and since a Choice hotel was within my sight I pulled into their parking area, open my Laptop, dialed in choice Hotel and I had a strong signal so i proceded to call the "Reservation " Line. Within 5 min we had a free room for the night. The rest of the evening was spent shopping as we were only a stone Throw from the Shopping Maul.
Saturday Morning: After a Free( as advertized ) Healthy Continential(where the hell did the get that word) breakfast we headed for Great Falls , Montana where we would spend Saturday night. ( There I go... Planning again ) However, we picked up a coupon book at rest stop which has "discount hotel rooms " and those words are music to the ears of all Seniors. The 9 hour trip was again boring so there no need to bore you anymore. But once we arrived at the " Discount " hotel , where we had stayed before , I ask if the had a room for the night and once the answer was "yes we have lots of rooms" I slapped down my coupon and said Can I get a room with this coupon. I think I may have startled the Clerk because she said that they did have any rooms at this price but since I had their discount coupon at $70.00 she would have to honour it. After moving in to our room we went to Applebees ( basically a excellent family resturaunt ) for supper.
If the USA is in a resession they forgot to tell the people in Great Falls, Montana. When we got to Applebees there was one parking spot left in the lot and we had to wait about 1/2 hour to get a table. Maybe resturaunts aren't the best place to judge a resession.
Sunday : After another Free, Healthy Continential breakfast we headed for home because we had a million things on our minds and other things to do before next Sunday. Our first concern was the line-up at the border and the attitude of the customs officer. When we got to the border there was "No One" ahead of us and the customs Officer was very jovial, so we were cleared in about one minute.
Now as we headed for home we started thinking about a list of project that had to be attended to before next Sunday. Christmas present for the younger G/kids and Christmas cards complete with a cheque for the Teenager G/Kids. It is amazing the number of things you to have remember; like the Insurance is due on the RV on 1Dec but we would not rec the notice until late Oct or early Nov. So we were glad, for some reason it popped into Carroll's head. And since we are not coming home after SA we would never have thought of it. Anyway, to this thought to bed, suffice to say, there are many things to think about before you vacate the "Homestead" for 6 months.
Well, tomorrow, Sunday we move to Todd's place and get ready to lauch to SA at 3 PM Tuseday. My next Blog will likely be from SA but not for a few days while I get my bearing. cheers. tom
Friday, 21 October 2011
The Huntsman Games at St. Geo, UT
The Huntsman Games are a facinating place to be; not only to play "your " sport but to meet others from across the country. It is kind of unfortunate they we are so busy with our sport that we do get to see other interesting sports like the "Quick draw-- Six shooters" as an example. These guys participate with all the regallan , like the " Wyatt Urpe " long coat and Cowboy boots and hat " and they sure look the part.
The softball participation is no doubt the largest sport by the number of players as there was around 350 Teams ( Men and Women ) and when you consider that there is 14 players per team; well you do the math. I was advised that there was over 11,000 participates thisyear. What really surprised me was that Volleyball and Bowling was over-subscribed they organisers had to be limited number of teams , as they did not have anymore facilities.
Golfing is another huge sport and they do have many excellent course. As one gentleman told me that he comes every year because he get to play a minimum of 3 games for 70.00 entery fee on some of the best courses in the US, so he does have a point.
I would like to point out that there were 42 Mens Softball Teams in the 70 + Division ( 11 Teams from Canada) therefore if you do the Math that means that at least 550 Senior Men where not in a Senior Care home this week. ha ha
The Huntsman Corp also has a Free Health check area set up where anyone can come in during these games and get several different test such as Blood test for Chorlestrol, Bone density, Ultrasound on your Arteries, AFib and a few others that I can't remember and they send a full report to your home for you to pass to your doctor. Furthermore , they give you an appointment so there is NO waiting like back in Alberta.
During the first week of the games they host an opening ceramony where all the atheletes ( Participates) get to march into the University Stadium around the track to a cheering crowd and every sport is introduced. I even got "Goose Bumps" the first time it I marched into the stadium. However, I must admit that after 10 years of coming to the Huntsman Games , the "Goose Bumps" are gone.
The games start on a Monday and every team plays 3 games on Mon and Tues as these games are to "Seed" each team to its' division ( level of ability ) where they will be competitive. Starting on Wed we start playing 2 or 3 games a day as this is Double Knockout. By Thurs 1/2 of the teams are eliminated and the finals are played Friday morning. Althought the winners only get a "Gold Medal" it is a great feeling to stand in the middle of the ball field when it is over and you recieve the Gold around your neck and you can say that we beat everyone one in our division. However, by winning Gold you will be moved up a division next year so winning Gold two years in a row is extremely difficult. We were knocked out in 6 games this year but there is always next year and it is fun to play guys from all over the USA and Canada.
Are we going to the Huntsman Games next year..... Is the Pope Catholic.
The softball participation is no doubt the largest sport by the number of players as there was around 350 Teams ( Men and Women ) and when you consider that there is 14 players per team; well you do the math. I was advised that there was over 11,000 participates thisyear. What really surprised me was that Volleyball and Bowling was over-subscribed they organisers had to be limited number of teams , as they did not have anymore facilities.
Golfing is another huge sport and they do have many excellent course. As one gentleman told me that he comes every year because he get to play a minimum of 3 games for 70.00 entery fee on some of the best courses in the US, so he does have a point.
I would like to point out that there were 42 Mens Softball Teams in the 70 + Division ( 11 Teams from Canada) therefore if you do the Math that means that at least 550 Senior Men where not in a Senior Care home this week. ha ha
The Huntsman Corp also has a Free Health check area set up where anyone can come in during these games and get several different test such as Blood test for Chorlestrol, Bone density, Ultrasound on your Arteries, AFib and a few others that I can't remember and they send a full report to your home for you to pass to your doctor. Furthermore , they give you an appointment so there is NO waiting like back in Alberta.
During the first week of the games they host an opening ceramony where all the atheletes ( Participates) get to march into the University Stadium around the track to a cheering crowd and every sport is introduced. I even got "Goose Bumps" the first time it I marched into the stadium. However, I must admit that after 10 years of coming to the Huntsman Games , the "Goose Bumps" are gone.
The games start on a Monday and every team plays 3 games on Mon and Tues as these games are to "Seed" each team to its' division ( level of ability ) where they will be competitive. Starting on Wed we start playing 2 or 3 games a day as this is Double Knockout. By Thurs 1/2 of the teams are eliminated and the finals are played Friday morning. Althought the winners only get a "Gold Medal" it is a great feeling to stand in the middle of the ball field when it is over and you recieve the Gold around your neck and you can say that we beat everyone one in our division. However, by winning Gold you will be moved up a division next year so winning Gold two years in a row is extremely difficult. We were knocked out in 6 games this year but there is always next year and it is fun to play guys from all over the USA and Canada.
Are we going to the Huntsman Games next year..... Is the Pope Catholic.
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