We have finished our cruise and are now visiting with our oldest daughter and our 2 year old grandson. The cruise was an exercise in luxury. It was lovely to have all our needs looked after, but not one I want to repeat anytime soon. Barry on the other had loved it and would take another cruise anytime. A SWINGING BRIDGE IN SEATTLE I found I would rather be visiting the exotic places the staff was from in their home environment. DO YOU THING WE SHOULD GET ONE OF THESE ABOARD CAT'S-PAW IV???It was a great chance for the whole family to get together. One night at the dining table we laughed until our sides split, hearing stories from all the perspectives was hilarious. We both enjoyed getting to know our niece from England, Amanda. She is an interesting young woman, working in the wine industry in London. She worked for a year in Paris as a waitress and her explanations about differences in the dining styles of the French and English were very entertaining.

We left the cruise and headed west from Vancouver, we stayed a couple of nights with my brother in the interior of British Columbia. He has retired since the last time we were in Canada, so we got to see his new home in Okanagan Falls. There are falls there, although they are now controlled by a damn that the wine industry in the region uses to control the river for irrigation purposes. We were amazed at the number of vineyards, they were everywhere. Bob and I went for a lovely bicycle ride down the valley along Skaha Lake. The path is on an old rail line bed and is a much better choice, in my opinion than riding on the busy highway. The Canadian Ironman competition is run in Penticton which is just a ways up the road, so lots of folks use that highway to train for the race. Bob and his wife Barb were working at the polls for the provincial government, a lucrative few days work for them.

We are presently getting to know Quinn, our third grandchild. He is a very active, co-ordinated little fellow. He takes after his mother who used to have me running a merry chase at that age. He travels around the playground at a trot, his balance is unbelievable, both Barry and I kind of gasp at some of his antics. The other day he was teetering on the edge of a step (keep in mind, he is only 25 months old) he overbalanced and managed to step down without mishap. He climbs up the twirly slide; Trish figured his Dad has taught him how to do that but no, Quinn just figured it out. He is quite the kid.
We are spending May long weekend here, today Trish and I did a lot of yard work while Grandpa entertained Quinn. He was actually a great help as we spread some hay in the corral, spreading peat moss on the garden was also a hit, but we waited until he was sleeping to repot Trish’s bedding plants.
We will head to Alberta on Tues. hopefully to visit lots of other folks; so far I have managed to line up 6 different folks we want to say hi to. Barry starts work June 1 so our plans are to get to Yellowknife a few days before that. The ferry across the Mackenzie River seems to be running now.