Almost "On the Road Again"!

Finally, we got our break in the weather on Friday when the temperature went above freezing. Tonight we are all packed up, the coach and all systems are operative and we are parked out front ready to head south in the morning. The roads look good thru Alberta, Montana, Idaho & Utah for the next few days so that's good! We are aiming to reach Conrad, MT tomorrow night. Wish us luck!

On the Road again in 2009

It's time to start packing up old Kingsley for another adventure on the open road. Destination....warm weather and shirtsleeves!

The plan is to leave Edmonton one week tomorrow but , of course, the weather will decide when we depart. Here's what we are dealing with(see pictures). The temperature as we speak is -30C with a windchill taking it to -38C & the spare bedroom is piled high with all the stuff we brought in from the coach in October. Lots to do before we leave home for maybe two months. We are very lucky to have people living here while we're gone. It will be a challenge but, we are up for it. I will be posting every few days and I hope you have fun following along vicariously!

Westcoast Winter Wonderland!

I came home yesterday after five days in Vancouver visiting with Michelle & the grand-dog, Zephyr. Wow, It was -27C Sunday afternoon when I flew out of Edmonton hoping for some respite from the cold and snow. Vancouver greeted me with typical rain and atypical below zero temperatures. There was snow on the ground and much more to come over the next few days. Vancouverites were loving the novelty of it all and everyone seemed to be in good spirits, greeting one another, which is not the norm when the weather is the routine!

Michelle & I had fun. She lives in the West-end of Vancouver and we shopped, lunched and went to the Art Gallery, traveling mostly on foot as it was easier to get around walking instead of trying to drive on the ice.

I came home yesterday to... surprise, surprise...-27C! There were cars in the ditch all along the highway in from the airport. Winter in Canada, you gotta love it!! We have to get travelling south with Kingsley ASAP! We are aiming for early January. I will keep you posted on our activities.

P.S. Zephyr is modelling her new raincoat and snood!

Footloose in the "Big Apple" with Barbara Dundas (Sims)

This is the account of an adventure without Kingsley and without Alan..... a different kind of adventure!

We headed out on Friday, November 7th via Air Canada (Barb from Calgary & me from Edmonton) bound for NYC and a little holiday. This was a birthday present for me from eldest daughter Barb & hubby Keith and our third trip there. The first time was 20 years ago and a really exciting adventure for both of us in the big city. The second trip in the spring of 2003, there were four as daughters Catherine & Karen joined us. Unfortunately, Cath, Karen & Michelle were unable to get away from work to come with us this time.
Friday was a long day with a connection in TO but, we made it to our lodgings at the Westside YMCA about 6:00pm. The Y is a great place to stay in NYC...definitely spartan but, clean, safe, central and very affordable! The four of us stayed there in 2003 and Barb & Keith stayed there a couple of years ago when they ran the New York Marathon. It's a bit of a well kept secret.... and now I've let it out of the bag!! Anyway, it works for us and with the money we saved, we were able to do lots of other fancy things.We went for dinner to a great restaurant, Le Bonne Soupe, which we discovered the last time we were there and after dinner walked over to Rockefeller Centre where we bought tickets to the Top of the Rock. It was a beautiful night, warm & misty with a very fine drizzle up on the roof. What a view and what a beautiful Art Deco building! We spent over an hour up there and I took lots of pictures.

Saturday, after breakfast we headed thru Central Park and over to the newly renovated MOMA(Museum of Modern Art)where we spent over four hours. So much to see including a Van Gogh exhibition ...48 paintings from the Starry Night collection.
It was raining when we came out of the museum and several fellows were right there with $5.00 umbrellas for sale. We bought one and proceeded to walk over to the TKTS outlet in Times Square to buy same-day ½ price tickets for a Broadway show. The line-up was around the block and everyone was getting soaked so we decided to come back the next day. We saw a movie instead: ‘Rachel getting Married’. Barb wanted to see it in Calgary but so far, it hasn’t arrived there. It was very good. We walked to Columbus Circle after the movie and had curry in this wonderful place(Whole Earth Market)in the Time-Warner Mall. On the way out, we watched them setting up the Xmas decorations and coordinating the lights to the music. Awesome! It was even snowing from the ceiling of the four story rotunda…something new being added this Xmas season.

Sunday, after breakfast, we headed to Time Square to line up for tickets to the matinee performance of ‘Spring Awakening’, a musical which won the Tony award in 2007. We really enjoyed the show…a good choice. On our way back to the Y we passed the Ed Sullivan Theatre, home of the David Letterman Show. A small sign outside said ‘show tickets available’ so in we went and signed up for a lottery for one of two shows being taped on Monday. After a glass or two of wine in our tiny room, it was back to see another movie at our movie theatre around the corner. We walked through the night streets to Barnes & Noble bookstore and café, bought some books and had a late meal.

Monday, we headed west to the docks and the East river..a beautiful day and a brisk walk. We discovered the USS Bataan, a supply ship and aircraft carrier on active service and just back from the middle-east. They were having an Open House for the public so we checked it out. It’s a massive ship and all the crew were so accommodating. They are in port for the Veteran’s Day parade through the streets of NYC Tuesday. The newly refurbished museum ship, the Intrepid, was at the next pier. The grand re-opening and dedication by George W. Bush also set for Tuesday. We were heading to the Harbour Cruise Pier for a circle tour around Manhattan when my cell phone rang. It was the Letterman show and we had tickets for the first show taping. It’s not every day we have the chance to see Letterman & company…the harbour cruise was off! The show did not disappoint. Dave’s guests were Ted Turner (CNN, Jane Fonda’s ex), Jamie Oliver (celebrity chef & cookbook author) & Taylor Swift (up and coming C & W singer). The band & Paul Schafer were terrific and it was fun seeing how the show is put together. Dave came out before the show started in his shirtsleeves and talked to us for about five minutes. It was one of those great New York minutes (well…hour)!! Back to our little home away from home for Happy Hour and then out for a chinese dinner.
Everywhere we went, we walked…so central to all the action!

Tuesday, November 11th - Veterans/Remembrance Day and our last day in NYC.
It was a long traveling day: first the subway and bus to Laguardia, then the plane to Toronto. Then we parted ways; Barb leaving for Calgary and me for Edmonton. We had a wonderful holiday and lots of fun. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

The Family

I 'm always talking about my family so, here are some pictures! Our four daughters are: Barbara, 47; Catherine, 46; Karen, 44 & Michelle, 31. Barb & Keith and Karen & Russ have three & two boys respectively and live in Calgary, AB, Catherine & Bill have three girls and live in Thornhill, ON & Michelle lives in Vancouver, BC. Counting Alan & I, that's 17 of us altogether!

We don't get together as often as we would like but we try to make it happen.

The four girls spent last weekend together in Vancouver but this picture was taken last fall. (Barb, Karen, Michelle & Cath). The latest, taken last weekend, is on my Facebook page...couldn't download it here. The two pictures of the grandchildren were taken last year and they have changed/grown up somewhat since then. The girls: Jeanne, Annie & Leslie and their parents are at Annie's Gr. 9 graduation. The boys: Donny, Jack, Fraser, Sam & Tom are delivering flyers.

We are very proud of all of them!

A picture is worth a thousand words, they say!

Here's a selection of some of the thousand pictures I've taken on the the trip...I exaggerate!!

The Dominion Observatory near Oliver, Soaring Eagle winery, Naramata and George & Alan going for a beautiful morning of golfing. More pictures on the sidebar.

Kingsley back in Home Port!

I have fallen behind with blog reports!

It has been a week since we left Summerland. Thursday, we traveled as far as Oyama (short trip) because one of the tires was heating up red hot. We had them checked at Kal Tire in Vernon the next day. Brakes needed adjusting but the bearings were in good shape. One hour up in the hoist, two tires off, brakes & bearings checked. No charge!! Gotta love that Kal Tire! That was our 49th anniversary present!

Friday night we stayed at a wooded camp by the road at Malakwa, BC. We followed a trail through the woods to the Eagle River the next morning. Everything is pretty deserted by now but it must be full of campers & hikers in the summer. Good steelhead fishing in the river.

Saturday, it was Golden, BC by the river and the CPR line. Lots of trains going by night & day. I love the sound of the trains. After Golden, Sunday morning we drove through to Lake Louise with a stop at Emerald Lake and on to Calgary.

We had a great trip home after seeing the family Sunday in Calgary. Everytime we see the five grandsons, they've grown another inch or two (Donny & Jack especially). The girls (Barb & Karen) arrived about suppertime from Vancouver and their weekend together with Catherine & Michelle, so we heard all their news. They packed a host of activities into a short couple of days. By Monday we were ready to head on home. We dropped in on our GMCer friends Carol Gray in Calgary and the Engmans in Olds on our way north. There were lots of big tandem trucks and pipe-carrying ones on the highway to Edmonton . The economy on the corrider is booming and Red Deer is expanding like crazy. Arrived in Edmonton about 4PM and the roads were all torn up with construction. The traffic was insane but we made it home and we're happy to be here. We will stay put for Thanksgiving in Edmonton. The coach drove like a dream!
We didn't move Kingsley around to the back 'til yesterday and Alan did all the unpacking. This afternoon he has drained the water system and blown out the pipes with his new compressor. What a guy! Today is Wednesday and he's back working at Rona! He just can't stay away.

Still lots of veggies and herbs in the garden waiting to be harvested but, our weather is changing. Winds and colder weather are coming.

Thanks for letting me share our travels with you and thanks for your comments! We hope to hit the road again in a couple of months and head waaay south to the warmth of Arizona & California. We just have to watch for a break in the weather and we will make our getaway with Kingsley!