Edmonton to Prince George

We got on the road early this morning.  After a quick breakfast at Tim’s, we started our drive west on Highway 16.  It was my day to drive and it was a long one.  

When we got into the park we saw some of the locals.  First the bighorn sheep welcomed us as they strolled across the road.

The elk were hanging around further down the road.  It is interesting to see how drivers can be so different with wild animals.  Some slow down, put on their hazard lights and take pictures.  There are some that keep going almost pushing the animals off the road and then there are others that pay no attention as they speed along.  It is surprising that there aren’t more road kills by those uncaring drivers.

We stopped in Jasper and went for a walk to stretch our legs and grab some lunch.  It is such a pretty town and the weather was amazing.

After a little break from the car, we continued west.

We made a quick stop at Mount Robson. This was the first time for us on this stretch of the highway but Ron remembered that his mom had told him how much she had enjoyed this stop when his parents had travelled along highway 16 so many years ago.

It’s the highest mountain in the Rockies and we understand why Donna thought it was so beautiful.  It would have been nice to be able to call her and tell her that we made it to one of her favourite places. 😥

From there to Prince George, we spotted black bears along the side of the road in three different places.  Stephen told us that we are just starting to get into bear country.  We will be watching for them tomorrow.  I’ll have my phone on the ready for pictures.

We settled in at the Best Western after getting our 10,000 steps.  We watched the hockey game and were cheering for the Leafs. They tied the game in the third period and went into overtime and kept our hopes alive for a few more minutes. We were hoping that they could pull off a win but it was not to be.  

And all good Leafs’ fans say, “there is always next year.”  We have been saying it since 1967…😳

Our holidays are just getting started.  I guess the Leafs were jealous.

Something Old, Something New

As we travelled yesterday we reacquainted with some old friends.  We enjoyed the day and the Leafs even pulled out a win!

Today, Ron took over the driving as we headed to Edmonton.  Our goal was to meet the newest member of our extended family.  Our niece, Xarra had a beautiful baby boy six months ago and we had only seen pictures. We parked at the West Edmonton Mall and put on some steps while we searched out were Xarra and Alex were living.

I’m so glad that we made this stop. Soren is such a happy baby and he gave us lots of smiles as we did everything we could to see those dimples.

Millie wanted to make sure that she got some attention too.

After our visit, we walked back to the mall which is part shopping/part amusement park.

After an afternoon tea, we headed to Jay’s for supper and to spend the night.  Jay is a reasonably new friend (someone Ron had worked with at Brocket).  Jay made us Jambalaya for supper.

It was kind of Ron’s dream house…a large tv with surround sound, a pool table and darts.  I thought the evening was pretty good too.  I didn’t have to make supper or cleanup.  While the boys were downstairs, I enjoyed the comfortable livingroom.

They say (whoever they are) “out with the old and in with the new.”  We prefer to keep our old friends and add new ones.  Our family has lost some special people this past year.  We will not forget them but we are so happy to celebrate precious little ones that have been added to our clan.

Old Friends

We packed our little civic full with as much stuff that it would hold and headed north.  I was the driver today.  It seemed like it took us forever to get to Three Hills but we arrived right at lunch time as planned.  We met Marion and Merv at the restaurant.  I was so excited to see them that I forgot to take a picture.  Thankfully, I found an old one to use.  We haven’t changed that much???

I met Marion when I worked at Prairie Bible College.  It didn’t take long for us to know that we would be forever friends.  Marion had told her son that she was sad that I would be moving to Ontario and that she might not see me again.  Her son’s response was “don’t forget about heaven.”  I’m hoping that we will have more visits before that but yes, there is always heaven and texts and video chats.

We drove around Three Hills to refresh our memories of the little town that we called home for three years.  We enjoyed living there and getting to know the special people that touched our lives.

We continued north to have supper with friends from way back.  I remember Kevin from Sunday School days and then youth group.   I also remember how much Kevin and Ron would laugh when they get together.  Some things never change!  Leanne is a bit younger and was a friend with my sister, Tina.  We spent some time reminiscing and a few tears were shed.

We had a delicious supper with them and they surprised Ron with cake.  So thoughtful and so delicious.

After a good dinner and some chocolate cake, Leanne and I went for a long walk with the dogs.

They live in a beautiful place and it was good to get some steps and see the area.

Ron and Kevin stayed behind to cheer on the Leafs and they won!!!  We got back in time to see the Oilers have a victory too.

We visited for a bit more and then it was way past our bedtime.  Kevin and Leanne were so gracious to feed us, take me for a walk and give us a bed for the night.

Our first day of our post retirement trip was pretty full and nice.

Last Day!!!!

When Ron and I got married 40 years ago this Sunday, he was a breakfast manager at McDonalds.  True story! Shortly after that, he took the five or six week course to become a Real Estate Agent.  

He sold houses for a couple of years before we moved to Peterborough for him to go to college at Eastern Pentecostal Bible College.  He got his Bachelors of Theology with Honours!! I received my PHT (Put Hubby Through).  It was actually a thing…I have the certificate to prove it. I’d like to think that I did it with honours too.

For 19 years, we pastored in three churches, all in Ontario.  We thought we would be doing that forever but God led us in a different direction and that is when the RCMP life started. Through the past 14 years, he has worked in 5 different posts (more if you count the times he went to other towns to do relief work).

• 1983 - Breakfast Manager
• 1983-1985 - Real Estate Agent
• 1985-1989 - Student at Eastern Pentecostal Bible College (now called Masters) He worked at DuPont during the summers.
• 1989 - 1991 - Assistant Pastor in Gananoque, Ontario
• 1991-1999 - Senior Pastor in Sharbot Lake, Ontario 
  
  
  
• 1999 - 2008 - Senior Pastor in Frankford, Ontario
  
  
  
• November 2008 - April 2009 - Cadet at the RCMP Training Depot
  
  
  
• 2009 - 2013 - Constable in Swift Current, Saskatchewan (Rural)
  
  
  
• 2013 - 2015 - Constable in Deschambault Lake, Saskatchewan 
  
  
  
• 2015 - 2018 - Constable in Three Hills, Alberta
  
  
  
• 2018 - 2023 - Corporal in Brocket, Alberta 
  
  
  

During the past 40 years, Ron has worked at a different places doing different jobs.  He has seen people who have made decisions that have changed their lives for the better and the worst.  We have lived in areas where there are rivers, islands, lakes and creeks.  We have gone from trees to a tree on the prairies.  We have lived where there were three hills and moved to a place where we are surrounded by mountain ranges.  We have tried to enjoy each place.  We have canoed, cross country skied, biked (pedal and motorcycle), hiked and have met so many great friends along the way.

Today, Ron backed out of the driveway to go to work for his last time.  Tomorrow starts a new chapter…retirement!  I know that we will enjoy many new experiences.  We will move to a new place, meet new people and reacquaint with old friends.  We can enjoy each sunny day and do nothing on the stormy ones. Our schedule will be now what we want to do and not wait for the days off because now, everyday will be a day off.

Happy Retirement to Ron!

Don’t Let The Rain Get You Down

We have had some beautiful warm days and Ron was off all week.  We walked, went for free coffees (thanks to the Tim’s hockey picks) and got some errands taken care of.

Today, Ron was back to work and the sky is heavy and grey.  I asked Alexis this morning what the temperature was and she responded with “Right now it’s 5 degrees Celsius. Today expect a high of 8 degrees.”  Usually that is all our little artificial intelligence will say but today she added, “don’t let the rain get you down.” 

Even though the house seems dark this morning with no sunshine coming through the windows, I feel very content.  I can’t describe how different I feel from a few months ago. I felt like every day there was a heavy cloud hanging over me and there was no sun that could penetrate through that.  Today, with cloudy skies and wet pavement, I can almost see the grass growing.  My neglected gardens are popping with perennials and I know soon there will be flowers. Over the next couple of days, I will give some attention to the gardens, removing the weeds and giving the plants space to grow.

I guess life is kind of like the seasons.  Sometimes, we go through stormy weather and it is hard to keep moving through the hurricanes, tornadoes and dumps of snow that comes our way.  As we dig out from the damage that the wind may blow at us or try to dodge the torrential downpours; we discover that we can’t avoid what life throws at us.  We can take cover and come out stronger.  Looking at the green popping in the garden bed, I imagine those plants that have been dormant through the winter.  Piles of snow hid them from any sunshine and instead of giving up, they are ready to bloom.  I guess that is where I am.  

I need to weed out the doubts, worries and things I can’t change in my life.  I need to keep going.  I can keep going!

Only three more shifts for Ron to work!

A Perfect Day!

Perfect days to me can be a nice hike with great weather and muscles that hurt just enough.

It might be a day with my grandkids when we do something that everyone enjoys and there is no whining or fighting.  This, of course, has never happened.

It has been times with my son and his sweet wife.  It doesn’t matter what we do because it just always leaves me feeling good.

It will hopefully be times with my daughter when we move to Ontario as we bake, enjoy a tea or maybe shop.

It is always when Ron is home and we have plans or perhaps we do nothing at all.

It can also be those days when you reconnect with a friend and enjoy catching up.  That was my day yesterday.  

I haven’t been driving much lately and rarely by myself.  Yesterday, I changed that.  I drove three hours to Medicine Hat to meet my old tea buddy. She’s not old…just older than 10 years ago when we had spent time together.

Picture taken 10 years - two working ladies

Fourteen years ago I started working at Innovation Credit Union in Swift Current.   

I sat at the front desk on the third floor for the first year and every day this lovely lady would walk by at 9:30 a.m. and come back with a Tim’s.  I decided that this was a friend that I wanted to have.

I soon was leaving every day at 9:30 and coming back with my tea and a new forever friend.

Through the years we have kept up to date with our tea times but it has always been virtual. Yesterday, we had our visit face to face.  Virtual hugs are okay but the real thing is much better.

Catherine was a wonderful tour guide.  We walked around chatting and catching up.  She picked a cute little bistro for lunch and we talked some more.  To make the day complete, my tour guide took us to Police Point Park and even suppled me with a bottle of water.

It was a great place to explore with lots of intersecting paths along the water and no hills to climb.

We walked and, of course, talked some more.

We sat along the shore and enjoyed the sun, scenery and friendship.  We had to take a selfie to mark the occasion.

Two retired ladies 

It was such a nice day and we even managed to find the vehicle after all of our twists and turns. Our next chat will most likely be virtual but it was extra special to have this day.

I then drive the three hours and got home just in time to watch the Leafs play.  What an exciting game!

When Tampa Bay was leading there were some sad faces in Ontario.  I tried to stay calm with the thought that at least they would go to game seven….the dreaded game seven,

And then Austin Matthews tied the game.  We had a chance.  The end of the third period came and the Leafs were going to overtime and the captain came through.  He got the puck in the back of the net and everyone went crazy. They won!  It got a little loud at our house and in Ontario. 

They made it past the first round.  They haven’t done that since 2004!  

What a way to end the perfect day!

Go The Distance

I’m trying to develop somewhat of a routine with posting on my blog.  There will be times when I will have interesting posts about our adventures and other times (like today) it will be just my thoughts.

So much has happened over the past two years and with each event I felt like a punching bag.  You know the ones…they have the weighted bottom and when you punch it, it would wobble and then stand straight, ready for the next round.  At first, I wobbled with each hit. Then there were illegal shots to the head and jabs below the belt.  I began to lose the weights out of the bottom and tumbled over.  The fight seem to continue even though it was a technical knock out.  Why wasn’t the referee blowing the whistle to stop the fight?

Lately, even though many of the circumstances haven’t changed, I have felt the weights settling in.  (Boy, do I feel the weight…another story!)  Instead of laying flat on the ground, I am starting to wobble back.  I might even have a little bit in me to dodge a punch or two.

The last couple of days have been hard but today I decided instead of dwelling on the circumstances we would enjoy the sunshine.  First, we went for a walk.  It was so nice that my spring coat was too much.  We then drove to our favourite place…Waterton Park. 

It was such a beautiful day.  The mountains looked majestic and it felt good to enjoy the scenery and take deep breaths.  Now, I am enjoying the sun on the deck in my little nest.

The bell has rung to end the round and I’m taking a breather.  I’m not sure how many more rounds there are in this fight.  I’ve got the scars and bruises from the previous rounds but I’m STEELE Standing…