Our Travel Blog

My photo
Driving Miss Donna - what does this mean? Whenever I want to go somewhere, if Don is home he will usually drive. He always says he is driving miss Donna! This blog is for our travels, usually with our truck and fifth wheel trailer, but sometimes in our other wheels. When we are not vacationing check in for updates, although less frequent, about our life at home and our wonderful family:)

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Retirement!

As I had mentioned before Don is/has retired!  The girls and I wanted to have a party for him at a small hall or something, but in honour of his retirement and the fact that it was his party – we let him pick.  LOL
So we had a great gathering at our house this weekend.  Don worked with me on the guest list and it was a perfect mix of people who have been a part of our lives through the years.
I would like to thank everyone who attended and helped us celebrate with Don – Ron and Bev, Jim and Janice, Paul and Mary, Todd and Sharon, Dave and Nadine, Kevin and Rita, Erica and Dion, Stu and Susan, Dean, Ivan and Bruce:)  And of course our marvelous family - Tracy, Cal, Blake, Emerson and Reese and Lindsay and Jeremy.  We had a great evening of visiting and reminiscing, listening to the “gravel guys” tell their tales, etc. 
Don’s company DWS Aggregates Consulting Inc. is bustling as of today, with plans for some work through the winter months.  Don keeps telling the contractors that call him he doesn’t want to work full time, but the calls keep coming in.  Essentially his immediate future plans are working for DBH Technical Services on a part time basis. 
We hope to spend April in the south, as my contract will be completed as of March 31, 2012.  There are murmurings that we may be retained on some basis via Volunteer Alberta, but no concrete offers or plans as of yet, so April will be ours!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

I Promised BIG News!

Well here we are with lots of news!  Sometimes we have to wait a long time to write and say that, sorry.


Lindsay and Jeremy are having a baby!!

YAY!!  It feels different knowing our baby is having a baby!  That sounds strange but you know your kids are always kids to you.  We can't wait for March, but are also enjoying watching them live through this stage for the first time.  All our love and best wishes to them.

The whole family is headed to their new home for Thanksgiving, that means Don and I and Tracy, Cal and the kids.  I believe there are also some Fort Mac friends coming for turkey.  It will be an awesome weekend!

Announcement number two...

Don is RETIRING!

October 31 is his last day.  This concludes 31.5 years of government service.  That is a lot of gravel experience!  What next?  DWS Aggregates Consulting Inc. has been formed for just over a year, and will hopefully fill as much spare time as Don wants it to.  He has an opportunity to do some work effective soon, and we will see where the new path in life leads.  It has been an extremely busy time getting all the legalities, pension plans, health benefits, accountant appointments, business insurance, etc. dealt with.  But we think we are ready...  Maybe some more time with family?  Maybe more time on the road?  We are flexible and excited for wherever this goes.

And the normal news...

We have leased a trailer lot at Lac La Nonne Lake, which s about 40 minutes from home.  It is quite a nice spot, and we purchased the existing deck, storage shed and wood shed from the previous tenants.  Although it is not our intention to stay there always and not go camping elsewhere, it is a nice option.  There are quad trails and you can drive directly from your trailer site, so no hauling.  We have spent quite a few nights there, and love it so far.  Taking some time to get to know our neighbors has been fun, lots of campfires.  My brother and his wife, Warren and Cherie, also have a site there.

We attended Don's nephew Aaron's wedding in Saskatoon.  It was a great family time, and Daryl and Aaron make a beautiful couple!

September long weekend saw Don and I headed to one of our favorite areas - Coeur d'alene, Idaho!  Farragut State Park was booked for the long weekend, but we made reservations at Tamarack RV Park right in town.  This is usually a gamble, as the in town parks are sometimes more long term communities than campgrounds.  As it turned out though this time we were lucky.  The campground was nice, prices reasonable, and in a quiet part of the city.  And Starbucks was within a block!

On Monday we headed to Farragut State Park, which if you've read this blog you know is a favorite spot of ours.  We have stayed in the area for a few days at a time, but this week was spent exploring new places we had not taken the time for before, such as the Priest Lake area.  We did some shopping but honestly not as much as before.  I think we go to the states enough that it wasn't quite as entertaining as it used to be:)

I tried hard not to work but circumstances did not turn out too well, and I ended up almost putting full hours in.  Thank goodness Don is a patient person!  When I did my September expenses it reminded me how expensive american air time is.  Four days off was all I wanted!  ARGH.  Oh well - better luck next time.  My contract expires March 31, 2012 and then travelling can become our own again.  Who knows where life will take me?

So as I say good bye this time, lots of new things to think about and ponder.  Fall really set in today, the furnace is on in the house finally.

Have a great October everyone.  Part of us will be with those friends travelling south this winter, Pat and Walter, Ivan, Ron and Bev...