Saturday, August 17, 2013


We are now in the Okanagan visiting my brother and his wife.  They have been showing us a great time.  This morning we went out picking peaches, something we have never done before.  There is nothing quite like fruit ripened on the tree, the peaches are really sweet. We are going to have our fruit fixes for the next few weeks. The other day when the temperature hit the mid 30's we went floating down the channel in Penticton, unfortunately the camera's batteries went on strike so I was unable to get any pictures.  It is quite the tourist attraction, because if you have your own tube or blow up boat it doesn't cost a cent.  It took over 2 and 1/2 hours and we floated the better part of 5 km. At times we would run into a traffic jam of 4 or 5 floaties tied together and we would madly paddle with our arms to steer around them to find our own space.  
We also climbed the rather large hill behind Bob's house, something I have been wanting to do since he moved in.  We left early in the morning to avoid the heat and managed to get back to the vehicle before noon.  My brother Bob and his wife Barb went up with Barry and I and we managed to stick together almost all the way to the top. Near the top we got separated and we were both relieved to see each other back at the car.  I think those hills were echoing with the sounds of our shouts as we tried to locate each other.  Yesterday we indulged in the other time tested Okanagan past time, wine tasting.  There are lots of vineyards within a stone's throw of my brother's place and we managed to find some pretty decent g.  We also managed to fit in another round of golf, much to Barry's delight.  I find the game quite frustrating, at times I can manage a great drive while at others, the ball just dribbles off in any direction after I have topped it, jeeze!!
Gavin, our great nephew, James and Kendra's son. 

Our great niece, Avery, James and Kendra's daughter

Our nephew David, his wife, Roxan and our great niece, Adeline. 
Before we arrived we indulged in all sorts of family visiting in Alberta. We were entertained in the homes of our niece's and nephew's at James and Kendra's, David and Roxan's and Mark and Laura's.  I am pleased to tell you that all of them can really cook and we truly enjoyed spending time with them and getting to know them and their progeny better.  Kids grow up so fast, the last time we saw Avery she was just learning to crawl.   


My sister-in-law Margaret and her son James

We were invited out to see our nephew James' work site about 30 minutes outside of Rocky Mountain House.  He works in a gas plant, one of the by products of the gas in sulphur and the plant stockpiles it and then processes it for sale.  Here you can see the layers where they poured the molten sulphur before it solidified into a huge pan.  


Barry gearing up in his brother's motor cycle duds and taking his bike out for a spin. We thought he would be gone for a good while but he was back in short order!!  Must be getting old!
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As we passed through the Rockies on our way to BC.  Taking in our ninth province on our cross Canada tour, we enjoyed the majesty or the gorgeous mountains.  We headed south from Revelstoke and crossed the Arrow Lakes twice on a ferry in a very picturesque route to the Okanagan from Calgary.  Canada truly is a large, beautiful country.  

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

We are in Innisfail visiting with Barry's brother and his wife.  They have a trailer that is stationed at their favourite spot, Wilderness Village, in west central Alberta.   We have been spending time walking, bicycling and sitting around the camp fire, one of Bruce's enjoyment in life.  We have also gone out golfing twice.  While we couldn't be described as anything but hackers we have managed to play 27 holes in the last week.  Our first foray was to Nordegg which is an old coal mining town and we played golf in the shadow of the Rockies.  It was a very scenic if somewhat rustic course.  Today we were at Eckville, where my jeans on the course were not frowned upon and best of all it was $10.00 Tuesday.  We had many laughs at each others expense as we shanked balls into ponds, deep bogs and bounced them off of fences and trees.  Fun was had by all!!