Texas Y'all

We are now solidly placed in Texas. After a overnighter in a quiet road stop we found ourselves at our first RV park. Boondocking is not impossible in Texas but certainly not easy. Mix that with the weather  - hot and humid - and we acknowledged prior to leaving that deciding to go to Texas would mean campgrounds.

We had planned to stay at Tips Park in Three Rivers, which appeared to be a city ran facility. However, when we drove in it did not feel comfortable. If you have RV'd much you will know what I mean - sometimes a place does not feel right. There were 2 RVs in the park, one was not habitable and the other was questionable. Any how we ended up just west of town at Naylor's RV Park and it was great. Being in this location allowed us to visit a vacation highlight and personal favorite - San Antonio River Walk.

When we were "done" in the San Antonio area we headed to the ocean! We wanted to stay at Padre Island National Seashore - Malaquite Campground, but they don't take reservations. We scoped the place out ahead of time and to ensure a site we actually left our campground in Three Rivers a day early and pulled into Malaquite knowing there was an opening.

We had such a great time in this area! So many beach walks, so many happy hours with Ivan and new friends Rod and Karen, and a visit to SpaceX!!

Although we were not lucky enough to see a launch, being able to drive close, walk up t the area, and freely take photos was well worth the day.

That seems like enough excitement for one post so you'll have to wait!

310 toYuma

Hmm - I may have used this before but it's cute.

We left Saturday morning and our first day of travels was like summer driving. An overnight stop at Idaho Falls Walmart, as usual. It was starting to snow over the Monida Pass, but lightly.

Day 2

Yup... all day. This was the I15

At any rate since I am still writing this blog you know we made it.

We ended up spending 2 nights at Casablanca Casino in Mesquite. They have an RV area that is dry camping. It's a great location to de-winterize, get groceries and wash the vehicles up. And it's warm! 

Rather than heading straight to Yuma this year we decided we were in time to  see what all the buzz was about at the great Quartzsite RV Show. We were also able to camp alongside Erne and Deb and Ivan! We had a great time sharing stories, refreshments, food and fun.

It was so great to have these mountains and skies every day!

The fun has to end sometime in Quartzsite and it was time to move on to Yuma.

We headed to the best spot ever - Fortuna Pond.

I'm sure you can see the benefits of this location - water and trees in the desert are sight to behold. My office view was pretty distracting.

Our days here were spent with friends old and new. Deb and Ernie and Ivan were over on Sidewinder Road, and we had a lovely dinner again with Judy and Phil, and then we also had several visits with another co-op co-conspirator of mine Marc and his wife Peggy. And we had brunch with Brent and Lynne, an old Tisdale school friend of Don's! So you see we had several happy hours and visits that filled our days.

We were almost tired when we decide to pull up the jacks and move a bit east to the Phoenix area. Last year we found a perfect spot close to Ron and Bev on Cottonwood Road just south of Apache Junction. Besides Ron and Bev there are so many folks here we know, and a few we managed to visit. But first - the views!

We will be the first to admit that our whole stay here the weather was less than desirable. There was more rain than we've ever experienced however we hadn't ever had rain. haha. The upside is the desert was so green and lush, it was quite beautiful. Our site did get pretty muddy, the creek filled up fast one day, and rains in the desert are just plain interesting.

We had a great fire on my birthday, and great company! Ron and Bev and Carol and Richard met us for dinner at Boston's Pizza, then after we went back to our place and had a fire with Ron and Bev and Deb and Ernie. A great birthday! And thanks to Carol and Richard for a lovely home cooked meal and use of their laundry equipment!

We also went for dinner one evening with Don's cousin and an old school friend of mine, Brad. We met his partner Patricia and Brad and I caught up on events surrounding all the people we know.

On the family theme we spent a great afternoon also with my cousin Peter and his wife Marla!

Don played bachelor again as I jetted off to Saskatoon for the Co-op AGM. I was able to walk on stage for my second term as a Director. A proud moment! It should be noted that I made it there and back in a reasonable state of normalcy with my luggage and almost on time - quite an accomplishment!

Our last night before departing for the vast state of Texas Ron and Bev introduced us to Organ Pipe Pizza. The organ is amazing and the music ok, but the pizza was by far the best we have had outside of Canada!

We are now off to Texas - to see if what we remember is as a great as we thought. And the food:)

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all! May 2023 be a better year in many ways than the last couple but may we also keep with us all the good things we learned through the pandemic and all the connections we found again!

We will be going south again this year, earlier than other years, but first we have an exciting and crazy January to get through!

Lots of hockey, ringette, basketball, friends, volunteer meetings, co-op meetings and...

GRAND SLAM OF CURLING!

Like we needed another week long commitment but I was asked to attend the Co-op Canadian Open in Camrose for the week, and we, especially Don, loves curling. So January 10 - 15 we were either on the road to Camrose or in the Co-op sponsorship skybox at the Camrose Encana Area.

It was an honor to be there representing Co-ops across Western Canada, and of course to see the on ice action all week. From the top seats you could see and hear action on every sheet. What a great experience.

When I was asked I had no idea another honor would befall me - presenting the cup to the wining female team; Japan. Again, what an honor.

The next day we were back on the road to Saskatoon for January meetings and Don fit in another visit with mom.

January 21 at 4:00 a.m. excitement overcame us and we pulled out of the driveway, fifth wheel in tow!

Stay tuned...

Merry Christmas

Well I guess I need to get through November before I send Christmas greetings!

We are having a great time enjoying the kids being back to their sports 100%. It takes some scheduling to make it to as many games as we can, sometimes we have to miss one or two but try to keep track and make it even overall through the month or week.

So November birthdays are Tracy and Reese. We were able to take Reese out for the traditional birthday shopping and lunch! It's unbelievable that she is 12 years old and in grade 7.

Happy birthday Tracy! Happy Birthday Reese!

I decided to fly to Saskatoon for my November meetings and was that a fiasco! On the direct flight home it ended up being a stop in Calgary which turned into getting back to Edmonton 5:00 pm Tuesday instead of noon on Monday. 

Both November and December seemed to fly by. 

We completed what are now the traditional Pre Christmas activities - Grandma and Grandpa Christmas Boxes!

It is such a fun way to share ourselves with the grandkids, and make the season longer. You never know what will be in them - Christmas cookie kits, Christmas PJs, family games, tree ornaments, maybe a gift card. The possibilities are endless!

We also went to Tisdale for a quick Christmas visit with mom and the siblings. Our gift to mom this year was a catered Christmas meal with just her immediate family of kids. I was so glad Don did the extra driving so I could see mom and then get to my Co-op meetings!

Thanks to our kids the year ended again at a New Years Eve bash at the casino - this year Fleetwood Mac and ABBA. The food, music and company was top!!

Here Comes Fall

Fall was a unique time for us. Along with all the fantastic things in our life like kids, grandkids, friends etc., we went on a car trip and stayed in a yurt!

September was filled with anticipation as we looked forward to our trip to Las Vegas to see Jimmy Buffet! One more concert off our bucket list, and a chance for a road trip. We decided to take the long way to Vegas by travelling through the Oregon coast. LOL Not your normal route. We booked a few hotels and a few Yurts, hoping that would have us closer to the ocean for walks.

Most of this plan went well, except that Jimmy Buffet concert was CANCELLED!! We seem to offer the worst karma to any performers over the age of 60. We have had a broken hip that caused a cancellation, we were at Meatloaf when he took sick in Edmonton, and a few other incidents.

Thankfully we found out in time to readjust things, and the new plan was a trip to the Oregon coast! So other than the day spent getting there and home, we stayed in Yurts. Thank goodness Don planned properly and we had a few amenities with us to ease the transition from a 35' completely self contained fifth wheel to a one room hard walled tent! 

Thrown in throughout the fall were the regular Saskatoon Co-op trips, a fantastic Thanksgiving with the whole family in the house, a first since Covid, and many many hockey and ringette games, with a game of basketball thrown in to confuse me.

My work is just busy enough I don't get restless, and I must say I am looking forward to going south, although I don't stop working, the scenery is much nicer and we do relax a lot more.

This September was kind of odd for us. We usually go on a vacation within Canada but not close to home. This year I guess because of my “co-op life”  we couldn’t find a time that fit in. Also we have been meeting in the summer with our friend Larry to camp, and that didn’t work this past summer. So long story short we planned a camping trip with Larry in Saskatchewan that aligned with my Saskatoon work.

So off to Waskesiu Lake at Prince Albert National Park for a week! It was kind of funny when we realized we don’t have to go in the summer, as we have no kids and school to schedule around! The campground was really nice, the sites large, and an easy walking distance to the little downtown.

We spent our days exploring the area, catching up with Larry, and even made a trip into Prince Albert and had lunch with Don’s sister Kathy.

Waskesiu Lake is as beautiful as everyone says. There are so many campgrounds along the lake, and many many spots to put a boat in, etc., but it may be a bit far for regular visits!

After our stay there, we went to Langham for 2 nights. Don stayed in the trailer and I went to Saskatoon for my meetings.

Thanksgiving with all the kids home was just fantastic. Some day we will quit referring to the pandemic – but this was the first time since that we were all back together for a holiday dinner.

As I said we decided to take a road trip even though the concert was cancelled. What a great decision. We stayed in a hotel one night on the way there, and then booked yurts for the ocean stays. The Durango was PACKED! We weren’t really sure how this roughing it would go for us RV people, but it was pretty great. I won’t say the beds were comfortable, and we missed indoor plumbing, but overall it was a good experience, and being on the ocean was worth it. Lots of beach walks, exploring and relaxing.

Our first yurt stay was near Astoria at Fort Stevens State Park. This has always been a favorite stop of ours, the beaches are amazing for walking and the park is close to town for everything, but most importantly our favorite restaurant – Mo’s Diner. Only the best clam chowder ever. So good that we brought back frozen starter packs for ourselves and Lindsay.

The photos will show the yurt. There was a bunk bed with a double on the bottom and single on top, a table and 2 chairs and a futon. Also thankfully electric heat. What there wasn’t was a fridge, but we brought an electric cooler with us and that worked just fine. We ate our bigger meal when we were out through the day, and cereal for breakfast and snack stuff for dinner. We also brought a coffee pot and electric kettle, so that made mornings nice not having to search for coffee.

The yurts were more booked up than we expected so we did spend one hotel night in Portland. Then it was back down the coast a bit to Nehalem Bay State Park and another yurt. Also a great state park and beach!

Although the yurts were “interesting” it was a great trip – the chance to walk our favorite beaches and smell the ocean were worth the odd sleeping arrangements. Not the same as in our fifth wheel, but a great holiday none the less!

October has one family birthday - Don! Rink schedules didn't allow for a family dinner, as well as the fact that we were in Saskatoon for co-op meetings, but that meant we were able to meet Ken and Brenda for his birthday supper which was nice.