Getting in Hot Water

We decided to re-visit a campsite that we enjoyed on 2008.  Jim and Mary’s RV Park in Missoula is such a nice place, and it is always wonderful to have a place to hook up and call home that is clean and friendly.  Our main goal this round was to find some gentle hiking areas, and maybe combine that with a hot spring. 

We were successful in the search, and I’m so excited to share the pictures with you.  The hot springs were amazing, with three different areas and temperatures.  We selected the coolest one for our soak (which was still 103 degrees), and after hiking in, also had a picnic lunch (and a cold beverage).  You can’t ask for more than this for perfection.

This was the extent of the “touristy” things we did.  Other than that Bev and I tried our best to contribute to the economic development of the community.  We proved to be quite efficient at that!

Getting High

Our next stop on this journey was Whitefish, Montana.  Our goal was to explore the US part of Waterton, known as Glacier National Park.  And the specific site we wanted to visit again was Going to the Sun Road, which crosses through Logan’s Pass.

We stayed at the KOA in Whitefish, which gave us great access to the park, as well as Kalispell.

I cannot emphasize enough how breathtaking the scenery is.  Although I don’t have a lot to say about this stop, it was amazing and worth it!

Just the Bear Necessities!

I was thinking this holiday instead of posting on a regular day, I would try to post at the end of each "segment" or event. LOL. You will see how that goes!

September holiday started out on Tuesday, with our destination Waterton Springs Campground, on the edge of Waterton National Park. Departure was delayed a bit by a stop at Olds RV, to check on a warranty concern with the new trailer. As you own RVs over time you learn to stay on top of ANY little thing you believe is not normal, while still in the warranty period. When we were first time RV owners there were items that we weren't familiar enough with to know if they were the normal or not. So Olds RV may wish they hadn't met us! I am very happy with the service department and their ability to follow through. When we dealt with Woody's RV on the last trailer they often didn't remember what they were supposed to look for, and one time took 2 months and 6 phone calls to order a piece that never came and was forgotten from one call to another. I think I might need to teach them how to set up a customer service electronic something... Although that offer wasn't taken up, ha ha. Anyway Clarence at Olds RV has a great system, called a computer, and is even email savvy. We email our concerns, he sets up an appointment for when we are close in the area, and when we walk in the repairs are already recorded in the system for anyone to read. Enter the modern world.

Back to holidays - we arrived at Waterton about 4 pm and were soon joined by Ron and Bev. Wednesday was a day to explore the village of Waterton, and some of the sites around.  We started by driving up to Red Rock Canyon and hiking some trails there.  The weather and sights were amazing.  You can see many waterfalls and mountains, but in each setting they are all so beautiful.

The odd thing about today’s driving was the amount of bears we came upon. The first one was just crossing the highway outside of Waterton, followed closely by a cute cub. Then in the parking lot of the canyon, one was wandering around, amusing/terrifying tourists, and then on the way home yet another one crossing the road. The last one was the biggest, and we were able to watch it devour a few berries for an afternoon treat!

The waterfalls were worth the 2 km hike in +29 weather…

We also took the driving trail trough the buffalo paddocks and weren’t disappointed!

The afternoon was spent enjoying a lunch in Waterton and then a leisurely stroll through the shops.  Not a lot of that in Waterton, but what they have is nice.

Back to the campground for dinner, and an evening of visiting and for Bev and I – walking.  Tomorrow we are off to Montana and Glacier National Park!

Enjoy…

August is here and gone–but what a month!

Well it seems like I just wrote a monthly re-cap, but August has met us and left.  As I said in my last post it is the end of summer for many, but we are extending ours by going away for September:)

First the big promised news…

That’s right – Lindsay and Jeremy are expecting! I’m not sure you are aware of the birthday stats in our family but this baby will be the eleventh member of the family and the sixth February birthday.  We are so excited to see our family growing again, and so excited for the Stecyk family to grow.

We were so lucky this month to see lots of Lindsay and Connor, thanks to Lindsay taking some time off and spending a little holiday with us.  They have had a busy summer with weddings, etc. so we have had other pop in visits and overnighters, but a week in Jasper with them and Tracy and Cal and all was so fabulous!

The new fifth was quite comfy in the mornings, even with Lindsay in the bed and Connor in a playpen.  This picture shows how well we fit in the sitting area, and there’s still the dining room to use.

Sorry I digress.  I should try to talk about things in the order they happened!

The first camping trip with the new trailer was at Cross Lake Provincial Park for the August long weekend.  What a fabulous weekend it was!  We headed out Thursday and were excited to spend the weekend with Tracy and Cal as well as Lindsay and Jeremy!  Favourite times are always with the family in one place and all the grandkids together.  It sure is sweet having our own trailers.  LOL

The weekend was spent totally relaxing, hanging out with everyone, and enjoying the days and evenings around the campfire.  We missed having Paul and Mary at our gathering, but welcomed Jared and Kim and Donnie and Kristi and families. I must say I questioned my sanity at camping with 12 kids and their parents, but it was just fine!!  Great people, maybe they will join the May Long weekend crew?

We went home for one night to repack food and drink, and headed out to Abraham Lake to join our friend Ivan for a few days of quiet R&R.  If you haven’t stopped there to enjoy the area, it is highly recommended.  Here is the view from our window…

We had quite a quiet time, but did manage to get in one scenic hike to some waterfalls.

The other big highlight of the month was our week in Jasper.  We did all the things we love – exploring Athabasca Falls, Maligne Canyon, the streets of Jasper, and a visit to Jasper the Bear (which is an excuse for ice cream).  Great times with everyone together.  I must say though I miss Jeremy when he isn’t able to join us, but no one has unlimited holiday time.

The rest of the month was filled with friends and family and other activities.

I started a Pilates program at a local facility, Core Movement.  Although I really enjoy the stretching and relaxing aspects of yoga, I wanted something that offered a bit more of a workout, and I’ve found it.  The owner Janine, is fabulous, and has set me up with an at home (or RV) mat and roller program.

We enjoyed a few visits with my mom, who lives with my brother in Edmonton.  She accompanied us to buy some bike parts with Blake, then a lunch.  As well we picked her up one Sunday and made a trip to the lake lot to empty it for the year, as we have decided not to keep the lease lot, but just the membership with the club.  We discovered we are too busy to use it to the full and may try in a few years again when we want to be in one place every weekend.  I also picked mom up last week and we went for groceries and supper.  I have really enjoyed visiting with her while Warren and Cherie are on a Turkish vacation!

Cal, Blake and Em participated in a Five Peaks run one weekend, and Lindsay, Connor and I went to Chickakoo Lake to cheer the kids on!  Sorry we didn’t stay and watch your 17 km Cal!

Phil and Therza hosted a summer end BBQ, and that was a blast.  A night that I could have stayed and partied, but I said I would be DD.  Oh well…

We have made some more progress around our house as well.  We finally trimmed the front spruce tree about 5 feet up from the ground, allowing better lawn mower access.  As well we removed the lilac bush totally, and trimmed the cedars.  You can actually see the front street now!

Probably the biggest investment we’ve ever made in the house was this moth’s installation of new windows.  What an amazing difference to both insulation and aesthetic.  I love them!

Of course Don put some work time in, and he is really looking forward to September.  When we return in October he will likely be hitting the road flat out.

I know I have missed many good coffee dates and play dates in this summary, and they were all wonderful as always.  This says it all…

Lazy Days of Summer

The first week of July was a nice quiet, relaxing one for us.  Which we needed after that long weekend of fun…

But then the excitement started again.  On Monday Don and I went to the Grande Prairie area to do some work.  My simple humble little job is running the GPS and walking the perimeter of the tree lines for Don to draft.  Never one to make things simple I of course did not wear the proper PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and tripped on a stump, leading to quite the cut on my leg.  Oh well – just meant an incident report, etc.  Good practice for the safety officer (me)!  In defense I must say that the underbrush was very heavy, but I was told to wear boots and long pants, but chose not to.  I now own proper boots and Carhart pants.

Anyway – another day in history on Tuesday.  We had a consult with an All Weather Windows rep and decided to replace all the windows.  The current ones are originals, and one pane sliders.  The new ones will be triple pane and cranks.  This old house must wonder what it is going through in the last couple of years!

A special treat later in the week was a visit from Lindsay minus Connor and Jeremy.  Once your child becomes a parent it seems odd to have them without their family.  We had a great visit, and did something new – went to the movie Despicable Me 2, with Tracy, Blake and Em. 

It was great – the movie, the popcorn, the chocolate, the pop.  LOL

Lindsay went home Sunday, and Monday morning we were off for the rest of the week to Ole MacDonald's Resort, near Stettler.  It is a great family campground with a fabulous beach, ice cream store, etc.  We had a fun filled week playing on the beach and trying everything they had to offer which included train rides, tractor rides, go karts, a merry go round, and a petting zoo.  Blake and Em did a lot of bike riding as well.  Blake has mastered 2 wheels, and does loops around the campground!  Tracy and I decided it was the nicest camping time we have spent, and some of that was due to the great weather.

We came home on Friday, and Saturday morning I went out to Wabamun where Jeremy’s mom and dad live, and picked up Connor.  Lindsay and Jeremy were at a wedding in Vernon, and Grandma Violet and I were sharing Connor.  Although it was a short weekend with Connor, it was a blast.  He is a happy goofy kid, quick to share cuddles and kisses, and also super active.

Spending a week with the Camerons, and then a weekend with Connor left me a little exhausted, so thankfully my great friend Sharon had scheduled a spa day on Monday as a birthday gift for me.  It was fabulous, we even had a chocolate wrap!

Tracy and I took the kids to K Days on Thursday, and had a blast.  Again – just a teeny bit tired at the end of that.  There’s a pattern to my visits that all end in tired.  Ha ha

Now something I didn’t really announce was WE BOUGHT A NEW TRAILER!  That’s right – we have a new second home.  You know we just love so many features of our first fifth wheel.  At the time we purchased it, and actually still, it was important to us to have what is referred to as an fully enclosed bathroom.  Just something we wanted and weren’t willing to concede on.  Our first one had a huge rear bath, with a large linen closet in addition to a full wardrobe.  To get this feature at that time we had to forego another wish – a rear living area with recliners.  The Pilgrim served us well for many years, and we can only hope the new one is as great of quality and provides as many kilometres of travel – over 100,000!  The new one is still within the legal size limit at our lake co-operative of 35’, and has a rear living room with recliners, and a free standing dinette.  Quite exciting!  So out with the old Pilgrim, in with the new Sedona…

 

 

 

 

 

The weekend was spent packing everything in, learning what fits where, and deciding as when you change houses, if there is anything you don’t use.  I hate keeping lots of things in my house or my trailer, so this was a good opportunity.  Although with an RV when you stay in it for more than a couple of weeks like we do, you need to really consider what it takes for life, as you don’t want to end up always running out to buy stuff.

This past weekend was also filled with many great visits with friends.  First we had dinner with Phil and Therza on Friday.  It is crazy that we haven’t visited since the Eagles concert in Vegas, considering they live minutes form Tracy and Cal’s.  Saturday morning we enjoyed a quick coffee with Regina and Wayne, again haven’t visited with them properly since their wedding last July!!  After getting the trailer from Olds, we had a fabulous evening with David and Anne, including a scrumptious dinner at the Sawmill.  Sunday Paul and Mary popped over to see the new unit.  Monday Tracy and Cal and the family dropped by on their way home from camping and had dinner, then Tuesday we went out with Paul and Mary!  You are correct – I have not cooked much!

Now throughout the month Don has worked a lot, including a week in Peace River.  And I didn’t even tell you about the house renovations Paul has been doing.  He installed a new wider set of closet doors in our bedroom, and re-did the laundry room.  While he was at that, I painted the shed and all the flower bed walls.

So it has been a fantastic month!

Just wait until you read about August – which of course includes many nights in the new RV!  Have a good month, and enjoy August – for many of you it will be the last month of summer, but not for us!  Ha ha…

Sweet Days of Summer

Could anything be better than sitting in +28 weather, at the trailer and writing a review of June? 
Since our last post things have been a busy kind of quiet.  The same weekend the Shikaoi delegation were in town, Emerson had her first dance recital.  I was so proud of her going on the big stage with a few of her group dancers!  There was not a smile that morning on anyone’s face bigger than Emerson’s. After the recital we gave her flowers.  Photos were not allowed during the performance and the picture I posted doesn’t show her awesome costume, as the dance school gave them all T-shirts as gifts, but her smile is the same!

We had a great time out at the trailer with the Cameron kids.  They came out for the day on a Thursday, as Emerson has completed pre-school for the season, and Blake doesn’t have Kindergarten on Thursdays, it was the perfect opportunity for a mid week visit.  We indulged in hot dogs, s’mores, and endless quad rides.   Reese determined she wasn’t quite ready to be a quad rider, but she enjoyed the rest of the day.  We also played bowling and bocce ball.
There were some intense games!


My next week was filled with meetings, meetings, meetings.  I have recently assessed my volunteer commitments and they are declining rapidly.  There is a lot of pressure in today’s world if you are not traditionally employed in a job that you must have spare time to volunteer.  That might be the case if you were a stay at home senior, or maybe someone who had always wanted to volunteer but hadn’t made the time, but in my case I put volunteering as a high priority for my whole life and now am ready to take a break.  I no longer want my volunteer commitments to replace opportunities with family and friends.  So I am decreasing that load.  I have resigned from the Ringette association, the Friends of the Library, the Tri Community Adult Learning Assoc., and as of December 31 the Family and Community Support Services Board.  My goal is to only serve on the Co-op Board at this time.  Other reasons come into play and a strong one in favour of the Co-op is that it offers growth and learning opportunities as well.
Rant over and back to activities.  This week did include the opportunity to attend the annual Vitalize Conference, this year held in Edmonton.  Vitalize is a provincial conference for both volunteers and those that work in the voluntary sector, and I always find it a great opportunity to stay abreast of what is happening in that world, from my business perspective.  I spent 2 nights at the hotel, one with my great friends Diane and Yvonne, and another with Yvonne alone.  Fun, food and learning all wrapped up in one.
Don spent that week working in Peace River as part of his mentoring contract.  This mentoring was not something Don thought of as part of his consulting work, but he has enjoyed it for the most part, and made good friends in David and Anne.  If I can ever shake all my commitments I would like to spend some time there with him!
Next week – guess what?  The first half of the week was spent in meetings and volunteering at a golf tournament.  But the reward was that I went to Fort McMurray on Thursday for a long weekend.  Don, Cal and Jeremy were off on their quad and fishing adventure, and it was the perfect opportunity to visit Lindsay and Connor!  By all the stories it appears the guys had another great trip, although some unexpected closure of trails, etc. saw them with a last minute destination change.  Their plans had already been impacted by the flooding and a bridge collapse over the Firebag River. 
Anyway – Lindsay, Connor and I had a great time.  Connor loves daycare so much, and the interactions with the kids, that I wondered if he wasn’t a bit bored with Lindsay and I.  At one point he even brought his clothes and shoes over to us!  But Saturday was spent playing outside in his new sand and water table Lindsay bought, and a visit with Lauren and Mike.  Also on Friday evening Lindsay hosted a Steeped Tea party and we had a blast drinking tea, nibbling on appetizers and sharing stories about life in general in only a way women can do…
For anyone who has not visited or lived in the north it is hard to describe how hot it is, but using your common sense you can understand that if the sun doesn’t go down then cooling off is hard to achieve!  So I was particularly glad Lindsay and Jeremy had their a/c in fine working order!
The last week of June was  a blast, as I spent a morning with Emerson and Reese while Tracy attended Blake’s year end activity day, had a long overdue dinner with Dana and Maria, and odd but exciting I received my orthotics!  Happy feet are important.
The saddest but proudest time is June might be Blake’s completion of Kindergarten!  Unbelievable that we now have a grandchild in grade school.  Actually unbelievable that we now have 4 grandchildren!  LOL
To end this fabulous month we spent the long weekend at the lake with 2 of our closest friends, the Scotts and the Marshalls!  They came to our lake development, and we spent many hours visiting, laughing and eating!  We also visited the St Albert and Alberta Beach markets, and every one of us found some special treasures.  The temperatures were some of the warmest we have enjoyed this year (in Alberta!)
Don has worked more days this month than anticipated, but continues to enjoy that.  We sent our company year end off in good time this year, as we are getting more of a system every year. 
It’s a great life, and we are both enjoying the balance and opportunities we have worked hard to achieve.  July will speed by as we look forward to all the little trips and visits already planned.
Happy Canada Day!

Donna Miss Driving

That’s Driving Miss Donna backwards for those of you who didn’t understand.  And it refers to the last week when I acted as ambassador for the adult delegation visiting Stony Plain from Shikaoi, Japan.  So instead of being driven, I was the driver.

When I was asked if I would like to be a driver for the visitors I quickly agreed and moved some of my other commitments around.  I have had an opportunity to meet some of these wonderful folks during my employment with the Town of Stony Plain and was excited to renew some old acquaintances and make some new ones!

Of course driving contains many other duties, such as meeting them for breakfast, ensuring they had a Canadian on hand during evening meals when they were “on their own”, and acting as tour guide.  Actually to my surprise even planning an unexpected tour of the University Campus.  Thanks mostly to my ambassador companion Regina, we were up for the task, and it was a pleasure to work with Regina for a few days.

So Day 1 Wednesday found us at Town Office discussing the visit and getting ready for the airport pick up. Driving an extended Tahoe was my assignment.  Yikes!  Arrival was scheduled for 3:00 p.m., and in this case the flight was on time.  Since I have travelled to Shikaoi myself I knew that our friends would be tired form the trip, and felt compassion for them since they had a welcome banquet to look forward to prior to falling in their beds.

The banquet was a great way to welcome everyone to town, but again I am sure they were all glad to rest after.

Thursday Regina and I were back to the Best Western bright and early to have breakfast with the group, then prepare for the day of touring in Edmonton.  We toured the student hub building, which houses the bookstore, and then followed the Alumni trail through some of the beautiful grounds.  Next stop was rather special, as we visited the Legislative Grounds, toured the Parliament Building, and MLA Ken Lemke hosted lunch at a great restaurant downtown, Pampas Brazilian Steakhouse.

The afternoon was spent shopping at West Edmonton Mall, which from the amount of packages everyone including myself were carrying, was an outstanding success.

Friday tours started with Memorial Composite High School, followed by Forest Green Elementary School, and lunch at the Multicultural Heritage Centre.  A tour of Westview Health Centre wrapped up the tours part of the day!  A weary group of folks, but none the less still full of smiles.

The weekend was Farmer’s Days in Stony Plain, and after accompanying the group to the Pancake Breakfast, I spent the middle part of my day at Emerson’s dance recital.  I was able to catch up with everyone at KC’s for lunch with the Mayor, then back to the rodeo grounds.

Sunday morning everyone was off to Jasper for one night, and I was on a break.  Upon their return Monday I met them at the hotel and transported all to the farewell dinner.  Hard to believe their time was drawing to an end already.  The occasion was host not only to an excellent meal, but many toasts and tears.  As they say in Japan Kanpai!

Although I had expected to drive the group to the airport Tuesday morning, that plan was changed.  Wishing to bid a final farewell however, I went to the hotel on Tuesday morning (5:30 a.m.), had breakfast with my friends, and said our goodbyes.  Until I have an opportunity to meet some or all of my friends again I say:

我々は再び会うまでさようなら

Wareware wa futatabi au made sayōnara!

Photo credit goes to Regina Lonnenburg; and in honour of their privacy I have not named the individuals who travelled…