A log about those Silly Folks and their Escapades

Has it really been 6 months since we last did a post 🙁

Look, we have all sorts of excuses, like too busy being retired and trying to fit everything else into the day and/or night.

So, with out further ado and with a few pictures attached here is a month by month update of the last 6 months.

MARCH

So after coming back from Hawaii all of a sudden March arrived. That must mean it was time for our annual Family Ski Vacation. We rented a 5 bedroom condo in the Bridgegate area of Sun Peaks. It works real well for our group. The condo is ski in and ski out and although it is a bit of a way from the village, it beats everyone trying to cram into something smaller.

Of course there was the annual Treasure Hunt with all the kids and parents searching for and finding hidden surprises.

Just look at these “wing nuts” to figure out whether or not we have fun times on these weekends

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The only disappointing part was the snow conditions. It was so warm at Sun Peaks that the grooming crew were having to move snow from other areas to keep some of the access trails open. The groomed areas were a little icy, but in the end everyone had a great time.

Right after the Sun Peaks weekend everyone came back to Kamloops to visit GGMA and GGPA. The kids took a walk down to the park…… isn’t this the cutest photo ever of the four Cousins?

Then in the last week of March I attended a weekend Ukulele Workshop hosted by the Ukulele Orchestra of Kamloops. The instructors were Peter and Paul Luongo from Langley. They were fantastic and I learned so much and it really has helped my growth in playing the ukulele.

APRIL

April was quiet for the most part as we settled back into a regular routine after our time traveling.

Near the end of April we finally took the time and visited Brenda’s cousin George and his wife Eva who live on Gabriola Island. They live in an idyllic location inland on the island surrounded by lots of forest. While there George took us on a tour of the island and a very interesting area that we stopped at was called “The Galleries”. These are sandstone cliffs on the ocean that have eroded over the centuries mostly from the wind and the saltwater. Pretty cool aren’t they, they look likes cemented and suspended waves.

From Gabriola we stopped for a couple nights in Vancouver. We made the Tuesday night Vancouver Ukulele Circle where there were about 80 other Ukulele enthusiasts. Also, I bought another Ukulele; an 8 string Kala Tenor Uke……. it’s a beauty.

Finally at the end of April I started a small group to form a bluegrass, country, folk band. The first night we had three at our house for a practice and general discussion of how this might work. There was a banjo player, a guitar player and of course I played ukulele. My idea was a to add a fourth person, on upright bass…… more on this in the next month(s).

MAY

May was a busy, fun and another great month.

Early in May I was able to get an upright bass player to attend a practice. What a difference it makes to have that deep bass beat added to the music; we are actually sounding not too bad and have some plans and ideas for the future…… more later.

In May we made a trip down through Washington State and along the Oregon Coast. The final destination being a visit with a former work pal and his wife – Jay and Shari Jackson. Jay and I have kept in touch since I retired and although he formerly lived in Mississippi, he has moved back to Oregon for a few years.

Since Jay and Shari are both still working we planned our arrival for a Friday night and to spend the weekend. So, our trip down was really relaxed with stops in Tulalip, Astoria, Lincoln City and Florence prior to arriving in Coos Bay.

Beautiful weather and scenery all the way……….. but windy 🙂

We had a great couple days with Jay and Shari and their friends. We got in a lot of catch up visiting, a golf game and met many of their friends and acquaintances. Now it’s their turn to come up to Canada for a visit.

JUNE

June was one month were we stayed home for a change…….. well except for a visit to Kelowna for Oliver’s 3rd Birthday.

Also, the small 4 piece group I formed has been practicing on a regular basis and we now call ourselves “the Kamloops City Strummers”. The objective of our group is to get together and grow musically, to learn from each other and to give back to the community by entertaining at Senior Residence’s. We are aiming for our first public concert in early July.

June was also the month we hosted our annual Friends Reunion… year number 38. Everyone made it to Kamloops and boy was it warm and toasty in Kamloops. Almost record temperatures, so we tried to tailor our activities to keep everyone cooler. One day we spent up at Lac Le Jeune campground and in the evening some of us headed down to Riverside Park for a cooling off dip in the river. A great time was had by all.

JULY

Well all of a sudden July arrived and the weather in Kamloops was fantastic!

Early in July we made a overnight visit to Princeton. It’s been quite a awhile since we had been there and we needed a grand-kid fix. We arrived in time for a local parade. Sage and her friend were busy catching candy being thrown and if you look close you can see Conrad tossing the candy from the fire truck with Kevin driving. Also, Brenda had planned out a bunch of outside science experiments for the kids. So, lots of fun and lots to catch-up on in Princeton.

The Kamloops City Strummers played their first gig at The Shores Residences. It’s where Brenda’s Mom & Dad live. a good crowd for an evening performance and everyone seemed to enjoy the songs we played.

We followed this gig up with a street performance in front of the Kamloops Public Library. This was totally “ad-hoc” and we weren’t sure what to expect. My plan was to get us in front of a less than familiar crowd and see how we performed. Worse case people would not stay and listen….. but that never happened. Folks stopped, listened applauded and moved on. So, overall a success, but lots of room for improvement.

We also played a gig at Ridgeview Retirement Residences. The residents in this facility are a little further along in their personal illness and were tough to perform for; however there were smiles on their faces and people clapped along as we played.

Brenda and I also headed to Kelowna for a 5 days to look after Zach and Oliver while Jeff and Lindsay went to Quebec City to see the Rolling Stones.

AUGUST

August started with a visit from Prince George of Sabrina, Mike, Amelia and Mikayla.

The Kamloops City Strummers held their weekly practices and also performed for the residents at Overlander Extended Care.

Then Jeff, Lindsay, Zach and Oliver arrived for Hot Night in the City Car Show and Ribfest Weekend. In addition to all the activities going on downtown Brenda and her Zumba friends did a “Flash Mob” on Victoria street.

Then as soon as they left Brenda and I headed off to Whistler for a week. We kayaked, biked, hiked, swam, shopped and enjoyed a week of spectacular weather in Whistler. We rode the chair lift from Whistler Village right to the very top of Whistler Mountain and then took the Gondola that spans the almost 2 km’s between Whistler Peak and Blackcomb Peak. What a ride, what a view and what a great week 🙂

We drove back to Kamloops just in time to empty our suitcases and load them with some clothes for Retro weekend up at Sun Peaks. This included tribute bands for The Blues Brothers, Credence Clearwater Revival, Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart and Motley Crue. A bunch of Brenda’s exercise girl friends came up and we had a fun time with them watching the shows and going out for dinner.

SEPTEMBER

Early in September just prior to school starting Kevin, Tamara, Sage and Conrad came for a quick visit for some last minute school shopping and Halloween Costumes. What fun to have them stay with us……… always lots going on and lots of laughs. Plus we had GGPA and GGMA over for dinner.

Also in September Kamloops City Strummers performed at Kamloops Seniors Village. 

So, that’s about it for now. Our plan is to keep this updated at least monthly.

See you all in October.

Today we decided to walk around Diamond Head, this time in a clockwise direction.

So, the following is a self guided tour complete with a few pictures…… enjoy.

From our Hotel, the Pacific Monarch you head east down Kuhio Ave.

At the end of Kuhio Ave. you come to Kapahulu Rd. you cross the road and turn left and head north.

You are now going around the outside of the Honolulu Zoo. At the next intersection turn right and follow the pathway till you come to Monsarrat Ave.

At Monsarrat Ave. turn left and cross the street. You’ll be right at Queen Kapiolani Gardens.

Follow Monsarrat up the hill towards Kapiolani Community College. You will now be walking through a residential area complete with shops and stores, gardens, etc.

Part way up you will pass by a couple of stone structures that were formally military gates built during the Second World War to protect the area as Diamond Head was a military installation.

Once you reach the crest of the hill you will be at Kapiolani Community College…… it’ s a great stop for bathroom break.

After you leave the College the road turns into Diamond Head Dr. and you walk past the entrance to Diamond Head State Park. This is where you enter Diamond Head to walk across the crater floor and climb the stairs and walkways to the top.

You are now about 1/2 way around and you start heading downhill around the back side of Diamond Head.

A little further along Diamond Head Dr. meets up with Kahala Dr. and you turn right to start heading back towards Waikiki.

About this point the road heads uphill a bit more before levelling out and you come to the first of two lookouts.

The second lookout has a Memorial to Amelia Earhart. It commemorates her 1935 flight where she was the first person to fly from Hawaii to the USA mainland.

These two lookouts are a great spot to watch the real surfers catch some waves…….. there are always quite a few in the water. They must really like to surf in this area because it is a heck of a walk down a very steep hill to get to the ocean.

Once past the lookouts you head downhill towards Waikiki. You’ll go by the Lighthouse and some pretty awesome and expensive homes.

At the bottom you can either head back through Kapiolani Park or take the beach walk back to the hotel.

The total distance around the base of Diamond Head is a walk of about  9.5 km’s.

The days are flying by and we are really busy doing a lot of nothing. Well it really isn’t nothing, but it is sure keeping us busy with everything there is to do.

Thursday afternoon we headed to the farmers market that is held at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki.

Plus sunset this evening was spectacularly different:)

However, today we are stalled a bit. There are really high winds and so it is keeping us close to the condo. Rains are starting but it will all blow over and we’ll be back on track later today. Having said that the temperature is still a very nice 25C, so we can’t complain at that.

Last night we went over to the Hyatt Regency Pool Bar. There was a local ukulele player performing. Her name is Taimane and she was very good. She played one somewhat traditional ukulele song and her mother did a Samoan Dance; which was special since it was Taimane’s birthday. The rest of her songs were ones written by her or adaptations on other cover songs. Her style is quite edgy and harsh and personally not the style I like. But there is no argument that she can really play the ukulele and her strumming hand moves as fast as I have ever seen anyone play and her finger picking is clear, crisp and accurate…… no mistakes.

We were joined at our table by a very interesting couple who lived nearby. He was a semi retired Cardiologist and she worked as the office manager. They have travelled the world and he presented papers worldwide on the subject of heart health, cholesterol, etc. plus he had some very strong opinions and facts around immunizations, vaccines, lifestyles, life choices, etc. he said he had a poor bedside manner but that was just the facade he wanted to project. We could tell that he would be a very straight-shooter and not beat around the bush with regards to your health and what you needed to do to improve it.

Well we made it to Hawaii!

The weather has been great and we are really enjoying our time here.

The days have been pretty lazy, but that’s just how we like it. We walk everywhere and have been averaging 10 to 12 kilometres a day.

Mornings start with a long walk and then coffee on the beach…… so perfect that it’s hard to describe. After breakfast it’s off to the beach for a swim and some sun. This is followed with swim and some sun in the afternoon.

The first week I went to 4 different ukulele lessons; that was to figure out which ones I would go back to or continue with. So far it looks like I will attend the Tuesday and Thursday lessons with Wainani Yim at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Centre. She is a great teacher and makes the lessons and learning a lot of fun for players of all ages and talents.

Late in the afternoon we head back for Happy Hour at a local watering hole or our condo and watch the sunset. We have a great view from the 22 floor. 

Last Saturday we hiked up to Kapiolani College where they have a weekly farmers market. A great selection of fresh fruits, vegetables, cooked food, flowers, etc. It was a fun way to spend the morning.

These are Avocados……… Brenda was being a brat with the photo to try and make it look like I had “Boobs”:)

Next update???? Who knows, but check back.

Well,  it has been ages since the last post; actually it’s been over 4 months and lots has gone on. Some good and unfortunately some not so good.

September arrived and it was back to Bus Driving; except for the Teachers Strike, which delayed my return to work but gave Brenda and I a chance to take a short notice trip to Vancouver and spend a couple of days in Yaletown. We rented a Condo, lived the “lifestyle”, cooked some delicious dinners and dined out at a couple of trendy Yaletown hot spots. Weather was perfect and we got in lots of walking.

October was a very tough month. It started out great with both families from Princeton and Kelowna arriving for Thanksgiving. But then tragedy hit the family when we found out that Chris Van Meer (our brother George’s son) was tragically killed in a traffic accident near Texas Creek, which is located between Lytton and Lillooet.

Chris was such a great young man and it was such a tragedy to hear of his passing. Chris was a quiet person, but so “full of Life” and adventure. Chris loved all his family, friends and extended family. Their is a very large hole in our family. We truly miss Chris 🙁

In November as a family we also lost Arnold Desrocher, Lynda’s husband. Arnold passed away very quickly after a short stay in the hospital. We’ll miss Arnold for his quiet nature, his wealth of knowledge on world events and his amazing recollection of little known or unknown facts in  “Trivial Pursuit”.

November was also the date selected for a Memorial Celebration of Life for Chris Van Meer. It was held in Langley at Sirocco Farms. There were lots of tears, few smiles and a few laughs. At the end of the memorial balloons were released by the family and friends as each person came up to take a pair of scissors and snip the ribbon to let them fly away……… it was very emotional for everyone.

December arrived and so did Christmas. Oh and also both families complete with 2 dogs and 1 cat. It was hectic, it was busy and we loved every single minute of Christmas.  Kevin and Brenda went out and picked up GGPa and GGMa for Christmas dinner; so we had a table full. Food was delicious and lots of laughs, smiles and family times. We were so lucky and truly blessed to have had everyone here for the holiday season.

January started with us moving GGPa and GGMa from their home of almost 45 years. Dean and Judy drove down from Prince George and in one full week of work we cleared the house and got GGMa and GGPa set up on the north shore at The Shores Residence’s. Immediately following this we got the house listed and on the market. Whew!!!

 

It’s been a busy summer and a lot of the time has been spent with the Grand-kids and Grand-dogs.

In mid July we met Kevin and Tamara in Merritt to pick up Nova and Rover to bring them back to our house for the week, as Kevin, Tamara, Sage and Conrad were headed to Vancouver Island for a vacation. Below is a photo of our dog Oscar that we took years ago while camping. Nova and Rover were sitting in the same plastic wash basin that Oscar is sitting in……… we aren’t junk collectors…… honest 🙂

Then in early August we were off to Kelowna to help Jeff look after Zach and Oliver while Lindsay was in Italy at the World Ultimate Club Championships.

Finally, last week we headed to Merritt to meet Kevin and Tamara and pick up Sage and Conrad to bring them back to our house for a week vaction.

Time with the grandkids is so much fun, but it is also tiring, we aren’t sure where they get all that energy 🙂 So rather than ramble along about what we did and where we went, here are some pictures.

This past weekend was our annual reunion with our friends……… this is year number 36 that we have been getting together.

Dean & Judy were the organizers this year and they chose a place near Sooke B.C. which is not too far from Victoria. The house we stayed in was a VRBO Rental http://www.vrbo.com/568841 , it had 5 bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms, a beautiful deck over looking Sooke Basin and it had everything that we needed for the weekend.

We all arrived Thursday afternoon, headed into Sooke on Friday morning and visited Victoria most of Saturday. As usual we did lots of reminiscing, visiting, eating and making new reunion stories and tales. Most can be told………. many can’t 😉

On Sunday Rick & Gayle headed off to visit some relatives on the island and Betty-Anne and Ross headed off to their cabin at Horne Lake. They were all meeting up a couple days later for a visit at Horne Lake…… and why not, the weather was spectacular and we are all retired 🙂

Dean and Judy and Brenda and I stayed at the Sooke house for the remainder of the week and had a great visit and did some exploring and sightseeing of this area of the Province.

Yes, it has definitely been way too long since we have a done a post about what’s happening. Well, as we promised you when we started blogging a few years ago; there was never going to be a dull moment in our lives 🙂

So, let’s recap the last couple of months.

April……. who the hell stole April? Where did it go? What happened? Well actually, near the end of April we headed down to Spokane to attend a concert; more on that later. On the way to Spokane we stopped overnight in Princeton for a grand-kid fix. Plus we had a great walk to the tunnels of the old Kettle Valley Railroad and a good visit with Kevin and Tamara. .

You will notice that the only pictures attached are of grand-kids……… Parents are boring 🙂

From Princeton we headed to Spokane for a Jake Shimabukro Concert. Jake is the world’s best ukulele player. The concert was held at the Bing Crosby Theatre which is 98 years old/young and it is quite a unique venue. The nice thing for us was that it is fairly small and tiered so you are really close to the stage and the performance; it was the perfect venue for this type of perfromance. Jake’s show was amazing and his mastery of the instruement is like no other 🙂 He truely is a virtuoso of the ukulele. In addition he is very humble and honored to be performing for all the patrons and at the end of the show he comes out and has a meet and greet and signs absolutley every autograph and takes time to talk to you and thank you for attending his show.

On the way back home we spent a night in Kelowna for another grand-kid fix:) Oh! Ya and we visited with Jeff and Lindsay as well.

Once back home I had a day to sort out my stuff, pack another suitcase and I was headed off on a 10 day golf junket with a group of 44 other rabid golfers. We golfed in Idaho, Oregon and Washington State…… the golf courses were amazing, I won some money at the casinos  and my golf games were abysmal…… enough about that.

When I finally got home for a few days we had time to make a decision on having the outside of our house renovated including siding, facia, soffits, eavestrough, decking and railings. Here is a picture of the front of the hosue before the project got started…………….. more pictures later and you’ll not believe the transformation:)

Somewhere in the middle of renovations we headed back to Kelowna to look after Zach and Oliver.  Jeff and Lindsay were off to Las Vegas for a few days away with their friends Jill and Mark from Calgary. The boys were great, but they did miss their Mom and Dad.

Since we’ve been back home it’s been, yardwork, exercise and golf. Speaking of golf, there is a migration of bluebirds that pass through the area around Eagle Point Golf Course and one of the members builds bluebird houses. All together there are about 10 houses scattered around the golf course and about half of them have nesting birds; all in different stages of growth. He constructed them so you can open the front and take a look inside and as long as you don’t touch the nest or the birds there isn’t a problem taking a peek. So, Brenda and I headed up one afternoon to take pictures and see how this years bluebirds were doing:) 

Finally a couple pictures of the front of our house finished with a newly painted front door……… sure smartens the place up doesn’t it:)

More pictures to come once the deck and railing at the back of the house are complete…….. that change is as amazing as the front.

The weekend of March 21st to 24th was this years Family Ski Vacation. This year we rented a large condo – Bridgegate #11; it had three levels, 4 bedrooms, hot tub, large kitchen and lots of space, even for a group our size.

Everyone arrived on Friday night and it was so great to have time with them all before the busy part of the weekend started.

Saturday after breakfast we had time to play with the grand kids and then it was time to head down to the main village to walk around and everyone to explore Sun Peaks.

It had started to snow lightly on Friday night and continued through most of Saturday. This years family group photo very impromptu, however it was also probably one our better group photos.Plus look at these pictures of the grand kids; aren’t they special?

By Sunday morning there was 2″ to 3″ of new snow, so everyone was very excited about the day of skiing ahead. Brenda and I looked after Oliver and the rest went skiing at different times of the day. They all came back saying it the conditions were great.

After skiing it was still light outside so we all went outside and even Oliver got to try the skis that had been rented for Zachary. Sage and Conrad went sledding and with help of there Dad they had some pretty crazy rides down the hill on the sled.

Monday morning came too soon and it was time for everyone to head home.

Another great family vacation 🙂

We arrived into San Diego very early on Sunday, it is home to the USA Navy’s 3rd Fleet, which is part of the Pacific Fleet.

Once we disembarked we caught a cab over to the hotel and got settled in for a couple days. After a while we headed to the Gaslamp Quarter of the city which is an older area that has been refurbished and now has lots of shops, stores, restaurants, etc.

From here we headed towards the marina and then we were out to dinner.  On Monday we caught the Hotel Shuttle over to the San Diego Zoo. Lots to see and do here as there is over 125 acres to cover. We started by catching the Aerial Tram to the top of the Zoo and then we worked our way down the hill.

The Zoo of course has every imaginable animal and species, etc. It is divided into different Countries and regions.

After a lunch stop we caught a 4D Movie that was included in our ticket price. On the way into the movie there were these 2 Macaws which were very similar to the 2 that we saw in Costa Rica. By the way, these are real!

A 4D movie includes the 3D glasses and then the 4D part is wind, water, chair vibrations, etc. that you feel as part of the experience

After the Zoo it was back to the hotel a dinner out and time to get ready to head home on Tuesday morning.