Brown's Christmas Letter 2010

CHRISTMAS 2010

Dear Friends & Family,

Thanksgiving, Black Friday & Cyber Monday have all passed & Christmas is almost upon us once again.We don’t have any snow, of course, here in Mesa or any terribly cold weather, but rest assured, the decorations are out in full force & the Christmas music has been playing in the stores since mid-November.

2010 was a good year for us. We had lots of fun & happy times mixed with some sadness. We had a good first winter here at Silveridge doing lots of things & making lots of new friends. We arrived home in mid-Apr. & I flew to Edmonton for a few days to see my mum as she wasn’t doing very well & we had a trip to Australia planned in June to visit our new grandson. Yes, for those of you who don’t already know, Lesley Anne gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on Mar. 27. Samuel Thomas is his name & he is absolutely delightful. Do I sound like the doting grandmother??

I returned home from Edmonton & commenced cleaning out the RV while Ron worked on the outside. What a job! but we got it all spic & span, then we flew off to Australia for a month to see our new grandson & meet Brendan’s family. We had such a good time with Brendan, Lesley Anne & little Samuel. We managed to fit in a couple of trips with them. One, for just a weekend to see how Samuel would adjust to traveling & a different routine & the other trip, which was longer, was to the Barossa Wine Valley & the river lands. We met some family friends & had just a wonderful time. Brendan’s family showed us a good time too. We had chatted many times on the computer & by phone, so it was nice to finally meet them.

We then flew over to New Zealand to spend a couple of weeks with Jennifer & Dave. It was fun seeing where they live & meeting some of their friends. We also did a week long trip with them up the west coast to the northern part of the south island & down the eastern coast back to Christchurch. We managed to visit many wineries on that trip too. We had super weather in both Australia & New Zealand considering it was winter there.

We were home a week when we had a call from my brother in Sherwood Park that my mum had passed away, so we hopped on a plane & flew to Edmonton for her funeral. She was 96 when she passed away so she had a good long life, but I do miss her a lot.

We had 2 lots of company come to visit us. Paul & Gail Caracas from Kelowna, who we met in Mesa & Donna & Vaughn Rollins from Ont., who we also met in Mesa. Both couples spend their winters in the same park as we do.

It wasn’t too long before Oct. rolled around & on the Thanksgiving weekend we flew to Saskatoon to attend the wedding of Chad Nicholson, who is the son of long time friends, Ken and Gail Nicholson. When we returned home, it was time to get the RV ready for our trip back to Mesa. We left on Oct. 15 & spent 2 weeks getting down here. On the way we visited with family & friends. We also got in a couple of golf games on our way down.

We arrived at Silveridge in Mesa on Nov 1 & had a nice welcome from our neighbours Rick & Judy Winters & Byron & Marlene Nate. We have gotten back to our routines here in the park. I belong to one of the quilting clubs & we meet twice a week to sew & chat. I go to the gym in the mornings to work off some of the good food we consume & I golf once a week with Ron, Paul & Gail & Gord & Carol Rose. Gord is also giving me lessons & I think I am slowly improving.

Ron keeps busy golfing 4 times a week & fixing up the golf cart we bought so I can get my sewing stuff to the sewing room. We also enjoy going to a couple of different dinner theatres here which put on some excellent productions. And of course, there are the dinners & parties with friends in the park. Some friends from Nebraska are coming to visit in Dec., friends from home are coming for the month of Jan., we are planning to drive to San Antonio in early Feb. to visit our friends there, then some other friends from home are coming down the last 2 weeks of Feb., so we will be busy. Before we know it, it will be time to say goodbye to everyone here & return home.

We have Christmas lights on the golf cart & around the RV, so it is looking quite festive in site 666. We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.

With love from
Ron & Gail

Click on Picture to enlarge -- Picture titles below



egbrown48@gmail.com
rtbrown@mars.arc.com

Pictures - Top to Bottom

1. Samuel Thomas Reed at 7 months in Adelaide Australia

2. Our Site #666 at Silveridge Resort in Mesa. Note the lights on our golf cart

3. This is a party at our friends, Gail and Paul Caracas. They have a Park Model and just finished a renovation to their Arizona Room so we had a PARTY !!! Gail and Paul are first with their daughter Julie behind Paul. You can just see Gail and I but Byron and Marlene Nate along with Carol and Gordon Rose are behind us.

4. This is our arrival party organized by our good friends and neighbours Byron and Marlene Nate. Byron is on the right side with Marlene behind him. The other couple Rick and Judy Winter are from Edmonton and grew up just a few doors from Gail !!!! The Winters have become very good friends and just live across the street here. Rick, Byron and Paul are all part of our golfing group.

5. When I am not golfing I am usually cooking steaks on the BB

New Zealand Adventure 2010

It is July 1st and we have just left Adelaide on our Air New Zealand flight to Auckland where we have a 2 hour stop before we do our short 90 minute hop down to Christchurch. The pilot announced a huge tail wind so our travel time is 3.5 hours instead of 5 which was amazing. Christchurch is about 700 miles south of Adelaide so we were preparing for colder temperatures. Our arrival at 10:30 PM was exciting as Jennifer and Dave greeted us at the airport and drove us to their home in Christchurch in their Subaru Outback. In preparation for cooler weather they had given us their bedroom that came equipped with a space heater, electric blanket, and lots of bedding. Their house was built at the turn of the century and is cute, centrally located, and great in the summer BUT COLD in the winter. Both Jennifer and Dave who teach in the Public School system had the first two weeks of July off. They had decided not to make any definite travels plans till we got there as we wanted to follow the sun. It worked and despite being cold and winter we never got rained on and every day for two weeks was sunny BUT cold !! We hadn’t seen Dave for about 3 years but Jennifer was home last Sept. It was a great two weeks with lots of good times and plenty of NZ wine.

We arrived on a Thursday so Jenn had one more day of teaching before her two weeks off. On Friday she picked us up at 1 PM and took us to her school where we were treated like Royalty.
We were swarmed by her students as we left the car to meet the principal for the official school tour followed by coffee in the staff room. Jenn had arranged for us to spend the afternoon in her class so the children could ask us questions about where we lived. It was one of my proudest moments to see my daughter, now 30, in command of 30 grade one students. We got questions on how many toilets we had in our house and lots of interest in bears !! Avon Head Elementary School has a mixture of children from different countries and backgrounds so keeping some sense of order in chaos with 30 high energy children is a challenge that Jennifer has mastered.
On the way home we stopped at a large grocery store called Countdown which had a massive wine section with reasonable prices which got even better with the 30% discount for the Canadian Dollar. I knew this was going to be a GREAT two weeks !

Dave and Jenn were happy to have the two weeks off and planned short trips for our first 5 days.
We did tours around Christchurch, Sumner, and Lyttleton in sunny weather despite the winter season. Kerri and Bevin Waterton, friends of Jenn’s, hosted two dinners at their home for us. These were arriving and leaving party's which enabled us to meet many of her colleagues and friends. These were enjoyable evenings with lots of conversation about NZ with long time residents. Life in NZ was different than I expected as prices were very expensive even with our exchange discount. NZ wine seemed to be the best value so we drank many bottles of Sauvingnon Blanc and Pinor .

On July 8 we packed up the car and headed along highway 73 through Arthur’s Pass to the West Coast. Our first stop was Punakaiki which is a National Park that has spectacular views of the famous Pancake Rocks as you look out into the ocean. We splurged and got an ocean view suite at the Punakaiki Resort which was a 5 star establishment. We watched the sunset with Jenn and Dave as we ate cheese, crackers, and drank NZ wine. Although we wished that moment would last forever, the dinner that followed at the resort was equally impressive. Day 2 was a long day, but interesting drive to Nelson where we rented a large 3 bedroom home right on the river. It was a great spot in downtown Nelson close to shopping and grocery stores. Nelson is on the North Coast of the south island so is much warmer that Christchurch and in the heart of Wine Country.
After 3 days of tasting wines at different wineries we left to go to Blenheim which was just east of Nelson and also a wine tasting area. We stayed for two days in a beautiful Villa called Vintner’s Retreat and again sampled some of NZ’s finest wines. With the car loaded with wine, we headed back to Christchurch under sunny skies and great weather. It was a long drive home and Jenn had a friend turn on all the heat to their house so it would be warm for our late evening arrival.
Monday was a day of rest, but Tuesday, we were off for a days drive to Lake Takapo and views of Mount Cook, the highest peak in NZ. Please look at the pictures of this area on Flickr as it was the most spectacular scenery we have ever seen in all our travels. It was a sunny day with no clouds so the snow covered mountains provided an awesome backdrop for the dark blue waters of Lake Takapo. The beauty of this area is indescribable and not fully captured by the pictures but I will always remember that day as being so spectacular with Mount Cook in the background. Our last day in NZ was spent visiting Riccarton House which is in Christchurch and shows some of the early life before settlement.

Two weeks went by quickly and on July 15 we boarded Air NewZealand for the 90 minute hop to Auckland before our 13 hr non-stop flight to Vancouver. We arrived in hot sunny weather & Al picked us up at the airport in preparation for a fine dinner cooked by Kazuko. We drove home the next day and as usual our house was waiting for two tired travellers.

Jennifer and Dave were the ultimate hosts whose idea to follow the sun worked out perfectly. Although Christchurch was cold, we escaped rain, snow, and cloudy weather. I now know the much talked about beauty of NZ and have a special palate for NZ Sauvingnon Blanc and Pinot Noir. It was great to meet Jennifer’s colleagues and many thanks to the Watertons who hosted two parties for us. We were very sad to say goodbye as we knew it would likely be another year before we could give Jenn and Dave a big hug but that is how life unfolds. Both hope to move to Singapore in December of this year which has the same school calendar as Canada. This means they could come home for next summer. If possible, Lesley Anne and Brendan might be able to bring Samuel Thomas back to Comox and escape the July Australian winter. That is the happy thought that I am going to end this blog on. Lots happening before we leave for Mesa Arizona on October 15 so will update you on our next rainy day.

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Pictures from top to bottom - just click on picture to enlarge

1. Dave, Gail, Jen in Christchurch
2. Jen in her classroom at Avon Head Elementary
3. Gail , Jen, Ron - West Coast
4. Dave, Gail, Ron - West Coast
5. Jen & Dave- Nelson

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Below link is for our complete set of pictures on Flickr

NEW ZEALAND PICTURES


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Australian Adventure

It is now August 8 and the first day of rain in the past two months. I finally managed to get all my gardening, endless paper work, and household chores done so I can sit down and work on our Blog.

Arrival Dinner -- Click on picture to enlarge

Our visit to Australia was made to see our 4 month old son, Samuel Thomas Brown who kept us entertained everyday with his smiling giggles and unconditional love for anyone that would pick him up and give him a big hug. We found Australian’s to be warm and friendly people with a great sense of humor which typified the Reed family. Pam and Frank Reed are wonderful people who made us feel like part of the family from our first encounter the day we arrived when Brendan cooked that outstanding Lamb Roast on the Weber. We were greeted with flowers from their garden at Victor Harbor and a warmth about them that made us feel we had known them for years. Brendan’s two brothers Damian and Simon live in Adelaide and were often part of the many family outings we attended.

We stayed for a month with Brendan and LA in their home in Adelaide but traveled to some of the many wine regions which are day trips. The second weekend was a special event and a annual gathering of the Reed Family at their home in Victor Harbor. While Pam and Frank live in Adelaide they inherited a large block of land at Victor Harbor which is about 2 hours from Adelaide. It is a beautiful piece of property with sloping meadows that look down on the historical whaling port of Victor Harbor. We arrived around noon hour to a huge feast of steak, lamb, salads and pie but most important was Pam’s Rabbit stew which was the first of 3 tasks on becoming an honorary Australian. The afternoon was spent collecting a large amount of brush off the property for the largest bonfire I have every seen. Brendan and his two brother’s hooked up a trailer onto Frank’s car and collected firewood for about 5 hours. After more food and wine we walked up to the back of the property and started the blaze which I am sure could be seen in Adelaide. It was a great time and one of our fondest memories especially my first rabbit stew.
Frank, Damian, Simon, Brendan

The following week-end Sue and Trevor Smith who are friends of the Reed's leant us their beach house for two days in Goolwa which is about one hour from Victor Harbor. This was Samuel’s first overnight trip away from home and a challenge to see if their car would take all the luggage. The Mercedes was a small car on loan that had a tiny back seat taken up with a large car seat for ST and two bucket seats in the front. We tried many combinations but Gail and I just would not fit in the back seat. I sat up front with Brendan and Gail and LA sat almost on top of each other in the back seat. We just managed to get the lid closed on the trunk and even were able to put in a few bottles of wine. Off we went on our first test run to Goolwa. Pam and Frank came down from Victor Harbor that night and we went out for dinner and then drove with us to Port Elliot the next day. It was a sunny weekend and we saw a lot of the Australia coastline. On our way home we drove to Cape Jervis and saw the ferry terminal over to Kangaroo Island which I am sure will be a destination on a future trip. Samuel Thomas enjoyed the outing and we thought we could try a longer holiday even in the overloaded Mercedes which was built in China!!!

On June 23 about a week later we loaded the car and set off for one of the most famous wine areas in the world. You have heard of Wolf Blass and Penfold wines, well they are part of the Barossa Wine Valley. It was about a 3 hour drive and we went by a massive Auto Assembly Plant that produced Holden’s which is owned by General Motors. The tourist information in Bethany - Borassa Valley suggested Sontag House which was a B&B. This is one of the nicest cottages I have ever stayed at. It was built in 1840 but the interior updated to modern facilities with preservation of its history. We had a great time in some very comfortable surroundings and Brendan and I even had time to quickly visit 3 wineries between 4 and 5 PM!!! The next day we spent drinking wine at some of the most famous vineyards in the world. Many of the tastings were over $100/bottle but it was all free and usually generous samples. One stop had self serve stations set up in the winery where you poured your own and these were expensive wines !!!! I thought I had died and gone to heaven as it was a sunny day and very few people were visiting as it was not tourist season. What a GREAT day but after 2 days at Sontag house we sadly had to pack up and leave to travel north. On June 25 we arrived at the Reed’s friends - Maria and Phillip Martin - who live in Riverland just out side of Waikerie. They have a small farm and raise chickens but in their back yard have a old train car which was fixed up with two bedrooms for a B&B. They never got their B&B going but the accommodation was finished and free !!!! The next day we went to about 20 km down the road and all you could see was huge tanks that looked like the largest oil refinery I had ever seen. Tanks as far as the eye could see but not for oil but WINE. Berri is the largest wine processing plant in the southern hemisphere which encompasses 4.5 hectares and processes 18,000 tons of grapes per season. After tasting some wine we headed off for lunch at a very famous winery called Banrock Station which sits on the wetlands close to the Murray River. This is a combination winery, nature preserve, and famous restaurant which has a spectacular view over the Murray River. We spent the afternoon there eating and drinking wine while I had Kangaroo done in a wine sauce in a puffed pastry which completed my second task of becoming an honorary Australian. We met Yvonne and Jeff Drogemuller , friends of Pam and Frank, there for lunch who invited us for dinner in their spectacular home overlooking the valley. The next morning we left our train and said good bye to Maria and Phillip as we headed back to Adelaide along the Murray River. It was sunny and even had a ferry crossing across the river which is busy in the summer with lots of house boats. The overloaded Mercedes with tired occupants limped back home where we were all glad to enjoy the comfort of a house we called home. Samuel Thomas of course had a great time and slept in his car seat. He was ready to party and very upset when he learned it was bed time.


There are many more stories that you will see in our pictures that include feeding kangaroos at the nature park, visiting the Adelaide Botanical garden, and the many dinners and wine tastings with the Reed family. You will see pictures of Brendan and I building a fence and are wondering what that is all about. Brendan agreed to build a fence in Pam & Frank’s back yard to help separate the carport from the back yard to give them some more privacy since Frank runs his conveyancing business out of the garage/office. Brendan had the wood delivered before I arrived and asked me to help him. We found some of his old coverall's which looked like prison issue and brought up memories of Australia being founded by convicts. Brendan assured me these were from his mining job and in fact Adelaide was a planned community that was first inhabited by wealthy settlers from England which is why the Barossa region got off to an early start. Gail and La would often go off for the day so Brendan and I would show up for work just before lunch. Pam always made sure we were fed well and even had afternoon snacks before Frank brought our port at 5 PM. We quickly figured out there was no hurry to complete the project since food and drink were free. We managed to keep the project going for about two weeks and had lots of fun. Now many of you reading this are wondering what was the third thing I had to eat to become an honorary Australian. Remember I have eaten Kangaroo and Rabbit stew. It was a Vegemite sandwich. Vegemite is made from used brewers' yeast extract, a by-product of beer manufacturing, and various vegetable and spice additives. It is salty, slightly bitter, and umami or malty — similar to beef bouillon. The texture is smooth and sticky. It is not as intensely flavoured as British Marmite and it is less sweet than the New Zealand version of Marmite. I never did eat it so will remain proudly Canadian for the time being.

After a month we were sad to leave but excited about seeing Jennifer and Dave in Christchurch We all got in the Mercedes and had a tearful goodbye at Adelaide Airport where Air New Zealand had a 5 hour flight to Auckland and then 90 minutes to Christchurch. There are many more stories and friendships that could be told and thanks to everyone that made our trip so wonderful. We will of course be returning to Australia in the future and yes I am sure a Vegemite sandwich will be had. Thank you to Brendan and LA for being great hosts . Our next blog will tell of a great adventure in New Zealand but will have to wait for another rainy day !!


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Pictures Labels from top to bottom

1. Arrival dinner with the Reed's and Brendan's Lamb Roast
2. The Reed Clan at Victor Harbor. Frank ( the short guy), Damian, Simon & Frank
3. Breakfast at park in Goolwa
4. ST talking with Grandpa Frank
5. ST enjoying the wine tasting
6. Memorable afternoon having lunch and wine tasting at Banrock Station
7. Building the great fence
8. Another Wine tasting
9. Samuel Thomas in a new outfit Jennifer sent

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AUSTRALIAN PICTURES

Click this link for our photo series of our Australian Trip June- 2010

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Hello from Adelaide - Australia

It is Sunday morning in Adelaide and I have just got up. Gail was up about 5 AM and helped LA with Samuel as he had a gassy night and was unsettled. We have had no problem with jet lag
and made the adjustment to Australia much easier than expected. It seems a long time ago when we left Comox on June 1 and made our way over to my brother’s house in Vancouver. We took Gail’s car as it was smaller and would fit in Alan’s driveway for the 6 weeks we are away. Kazuko as usual had a great dinner for us and we had a leisure day on June 2 before Al drove to the airport about 5PM under sunny skies to catch our 8:30 PM flight to Auckland. There was hardly no one at the airport so checking in and security was easy. We had a bite to eat before getting on the Boeing 777 for our 13 hour non-stop trip to New Zealand. It is interesting this aircraft only has TWO engines and the total route is over water!!! We left 20 minutes early
and quickly got to 40,000 feet in time to start the movies and get dinner. The staff was very nice but the food wasn’t that good and the seats seemed more cramped and less room than when we had taken Singapore Airlines to Thailand 10 years ago. It may be I have just got bigger but it is very difficult to get comfortable and when the person in front puts his seat back ... Yikes !!!! My knees had no place to go. I took a sleeping pill and brushed my teeth which seemed like going to bed. Gail and I did get about 3-4 hours of sleep and we landed at Auckland at 5:30 local time or 10:30 Vancouver time. No customs as our bags were checked through to Adelaide. We felt refreshed and ready for our 4 hour flight from Auckand to Adelaide. It left at 7:30 and was 3o minutes early as we arrived in sunny skies at 10:00 AM local times. Brendan was there to meet us but NO Samuel or LA ... the suspense would have to wait. The luggage fit in the car and we were off. I just about had a fit on the first corner of the freeway as I grabbed Brendan’s arm because I thought we were going down the wrong way. Then he reminded me they drive on the correct side of the road... Left. Took a few turns to get the hang of it. We arrived home and were very impressed with their house, garden, and pool but big deal ... Where is ST and LA???? Off Brendan went to get them as Gail and I waited for the big arrival. I stood in the driveway the whole time as I wanted to be the first to hold ST. It seemed like forever but they arrived and I got to hold him before Gail. Yes ... The trip was all worth it for that one moment.

After holding Sam for a long time we gave LA a big hug and she looked great. We had a great afternoon and Brendan and I went to the “ Drive through “ to get some Coopers Pale Ale Beer. It is $2/bottle which is the same as Canada. It was a beautiful afternoon afternoon and Brendan prepared the Lamb roast for the Barby. We opened the large suitcase of presents for Sam and had lots of fun looking at all the interesting gifts. Sam says thanks. Brendan’s parents, Pam and Frank , cam over for dinner and brought a fruit basket and floral arangement from their garden. It was a great evening and we were asleep by 9 PM. Up the next morning feeling refreshed and minimal jet lag we decided to go on a wine tour. Fitting 4 people in their car with a car seat was a tight squeeze but we made it. Off we went for lunch at Woodstock winery and had a great afternoon touring wines in the Mclaren area. Many of the wineries sell “ Clean Skins “ which are excess wine that they bottled without labels. We found a great red for $5/bottle and bought a case. The same winery sold Tawny Port in bulk ... $8.00/Liter. Yes we came home with 2 liters of port, case of wine, and some coolers. This is a good as Total Wine in Phoenix !!! All our Mesa friends know my favorite store in Arizona is Total Wine. Last night we were not that hungry so ordered in in a Pizza and sampled the Port. Sam had a fussy night so Gail helped LA by getting up early this morning. I got to take him solo in the stroller as I went up to the local store to buy a paper. Was I ever proud as I wheeled my grandson down the sidewalk and even got stopped by an elderly lady who wanted to have a look at the new baby. She said, “ Are you the grandpa? “ Proud moment for me as I told her I was from Canada and Sam was my grandson.Sam is having a nap and then we are going to hit the road and do few more wineries today. Great Country! Just click on this link for a cute video of Samuel Thomas.

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Pictures from top to bottom

1. Brendan and Ron Adelaide Airport
2. Lesley and Brendan's home
3. Grandpa Ron with the first cuddle with Sam
4. Grandma Gail had to wait for the second cuddle
5. Samual Thomas Reed
6. Grandpa Frank with Sam

Click on this Link for more Pictures

Thoughts from Comox

It is a rainy Saturday afternoon and I have finally sat down to update my blog. We left Mesa on April 5 and headed straight home heading West on I-10 then North to Needles. The weather was great and we always enjoy the trip across Hwy 40 and the Mojave Desert. It was early morning and the sun was rising in the East as we headed West to Fresno which provided a spectacular view of the desert and surrounding mountains. From Fresno we crossed over to I-5 and made our way to the JGW RV park in Redding. We always stay here along the river and that evening it was about 80 degrees F so we had happy hour looking over the river and watched the sun go down. The Truck and RV were spotless when we left Redding in the morning and Gail has some great shots of Mount Shasta as we start up the Pass and over the Siskiyou’s. Amazing the traffic was light with our early departure but by the time we reached Weed it had rained with a dusting of snow. RATS !!! My clean RV was now dirty- we almost made it home without rain. It rained through Grant’s Pass but we made it to the Phoenix RV Park in Salem in time for Happy Hour. It is always a big relief when you make it over the passes with good road conditions. The next day was sunny and hot so we went up 101 on the west side of the Hood Canal to Port Angeles. As usual we got lost in PA and had to get some help finding the KOA. After traveling all over the USA in Big cities with my GPS I don’t know why PA is always so difficult!!!! Anyway we got settled at the Sequim KOA and were off to see our longtime friends Dave and Susan Hildebrand. We always make this the first and last point of entry into the US and they have a great meal for us in their spectacular home overlooking the Straight of Juan de Fuca. In the morning we got up and were on the ferry by 830 to Victoria. The customs officer in Victoria wasn't very friendly but let us through without any hassles and we were back in Comox by early afternoon.

I turned on the water and everything worked perfectly. The house and yard weathered the winter well and we set about making the move from our RV to the house. It was interesting to go through six months of mail. Lesley Anne and Brendon had left all their furniture from their apartment in Vancouver in our house. We now found ourselves owners of yet another 50 inch plasma TV. After some shuffling around we accommodated our new furniture and now and have a sofa in our sunroom. I started working hard on the yard and gardening. It really was pretty easy since I had left it in good shape last fall. Gail made a short trip to Edmonton to visit her mother and family. We are both very excited about our upcoming trip to Australia and New Zealand. I have been golfing twice a week and spending lots of time at the driving range and doing some video analysis of my swing. I'm really hitting the ball well and anxious to start playing in the 80s. Gail is taking golf lessons but spends lots of time sewing and sending clothes down to Samuel Thomas.

A longtime friend of mine, Brent Mitchell, phoned me form Calgary in early May and asked if I would like to be part of a golfing holiday in Bellingham. They meet once a year with a group of guys and play golf for three days at different courses. I jumped at the chance and spent four days with a great group of guys playing some interesting courses. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great but I did buy some wet weather gear. I returned home on May 20 and heard some very bad news on my return. Brent was returning to Calgary and spent the night in Kamloops with his mother where he suffered a massive stroke and was taken to the hospital. Brent is now at the foothills Hospital in Calgary and in good care at a rehabilitation unit.

Alan and family came over for the long weekend on May 21. We had a great time and played two games of golf. May 21 always will be a special memory as that is the day that mom died one year ago. It seems like such a long time ago as so much has happened in the past year.

On June 2, next Wednesday we will be getting on the plane in Vancouver to fly to Australia and see our grandson - Samuel Thomas Reed. We will spend four weeks in Adelaide and then fly over to New Zealand to visit Jennifer in Christchurch. We hope to be home on July 15 and spend the rest of the summer here in Comox. Time will pass quickly and we will be on the road heading back to Mesa around mid-October. We have reserved the same site at Silveridge RV Park for five months starting November 1 of this year. We look forward to our return and feel it is really our home away from home. More pictures and Blog updates coming from Australia and New Zealand.

Pictures from Top to Bottom: Just click on the picture to enlarge

1. Our spot at the Needles KOA

2. The green Mojave Desert

3. Morning View of Mount Shasta as we left.

4. Brent Mitchell and Ron

5. Brendon and LA last summer

6. Samuel Thomas Reed in his Canucks outfit

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Just Click on the Below link for the collection of our Mesa Pictures.

There are lots of pictures but I recently uploaded some really good shots in the " Mesa March- Album". So Byron, Paul, and all our Mesa friends be sure and check them out.

Mesa Pictures

Return to Mesa & Homeward Bound

It is a sunny Sunday morning, March 21 in Mesa Arizona. Today is a busy day as we have to get organized this morning and get to the driving range for a little bit of practice for our golf game this afternoon at Sunland Springs Golf Course. Gail and I are part of a group of 8 that are golfing at 3 PM then back to our place for happy hour and then off to the Super China Buffet, which is my favorite Chinese food place since they serve unlimited crab legs. It has been about three weeks since we arrived back in Mesa having left San Antonio on March 1. We had a pleasant ride back and the weather continued to improve as we left Texas. We are traveling with Doug and Louise Perry who have a Motorhome and were on the road 6 months last year with us. Our first night was in Alpine Texas which made for a long day but we had an early start. We traveled back the same way we came westward along Highway 90. This is much nicer than Interstate 10 as there was almost no truck traffic. As usual Alpine Texas was cold but at least it did not snow as it did on our way down. From Alpine we traveled along Highway 90 to Van Horn and then turned west on Interstate 10 and made our way to Las Cruces New Mexico. This is a favorite stop and we know the area well. The following day was a short one as we arrived Benson Arizona. We really wanted to go to Tombstone and visit the Ok Corral. It is about half an hour south of Benson so we quickly set up and made our way down to the old West town. You'll see some interesting photographs and we watched the live reproduction of the shootout at OK Corral. We returned back to Benson and had an early night in preparation for our return to Mesa. It was only about a three-hour drive from Benson to Silveridge RV Park in Mesa. We felt like we were coming home and were invited to a " Returning Party " , hosted by Paul and Gail Caraca. Yes, all our friends were there to greet us and we were now warming up. Since returning we have met up with our long-time friends from Comox, Gord and Carol Rose who are staying in Scottsdale. We have so many friends here that our days are always kept busy and I usually golf five or six days a week. I played an executive course last week and scored a personal best of 78. On full size regulation courses I am still getting in the low 90s. We of course are very excited about becoming grandparents. We are expecting a phone call any day now and usually talk to Lesley Anne every couple of days. Her due date is March 27 and Jennifer flys over from New Zealand to be with her for 3 weeks. We bought a flag that will be flying when the joyous occasion occurs and have lots of champagne which is building excitement in the RV park. Our time is running short now and we plan on leaving for Canada on April 5. I suspect it will take about a week to get home and will have to start to make our preparations for our trip to Australia in early June. I cannot understand where the past six months have gone. The mood in the RV park is great as the weather is starting to warm up and we usually have 80° weather with sun and it cools in the evening. We are looking forward to getting back into our house and connecting with our Comox Valley friends.

Our Phone till April 5 is 480-373-7528
Give us a call any time

Pictures from Top to Bottom
" Click on the picture to enlarge "

1. Dave Crucq and I golfing in San Antonio

2. Final Hockey Game - Canada/USA RV Park San Antonio

3. Returning to Mesa Party

4. Expecting Grandparents

5. Golfing Sunland East with Gail & Paul Caraca

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San Antonio Photo's

Mesa March/10

Drowning in San Antonio

It is February 9 and a sunny but cold morning at the Travelers World RV Park in San Antonio. As I look outside across the golf course the blue skies have now appeared after about 10 days of rain. The temperature is 42°F and it looks as though despite being cold it will be sunny for the next couple of days. Our weather since leaving Mesa has been horrible which has had a big influence on our decision to leave the end of February and spend March back in Mesa at Silveridge RV Park.

We left Mesa with bright skies and a lot of enthusiasm on January 25 and spent our first three nights in Las Cruces New Mexico. This is a very nice town which we have stayed in twice in the past. They have a great RV park and it was the site be picked to meet up with Doug and Louise Perry who are our traveling companions from Cranbrook. They spent six months traveling with us last year as we made our North America trip. It was a beautiful trip down to New Mexico and highway I-10 wasn't very busy. The Perry's arrived on day two and we had a great reunion party/gala dinner. Unfortunately the rain started and the bad weather. Gail and I took a side trip to the White Sands National Park. This is in the White Sands missile testing area and part of a large desert that is the largest military area in the United States. It was very interesting and quite spectacular as we did a tour of the base and the National Park. We also went to the McDonald Observatory and spent the day looking at the stars. It was very interesting and even saw my first Bobcat run across the road !! As the rain kept coming we made our way down through El Paso along the I.-10 but turned off on highway 90 toward Alpine Texas. Highway 90 is an outstanding route to take as there is very little truck traffic and wide roads. Alpine Texas was a three-day stop so we could make a trip to Big Bend National Park. This was truly spectacular and one of the most interesting areas we have ever visited. Fortunately it was on one of the few days where we had warm weather and sun. You will see lots of pictures on our site but they really don't do justice to the grandeur of the area. The following day it snowed in Alpine which put a damper on our enthusiasm. This quickly washed away by the rain and we left heading to Del Rio which is a resort area fairly close to San Antonio and sits on a large watershed. We washed the rigs and got all ready for our big grand entrance into San Antonio and the Travelers World RV Park. This is a fairly short drive as we wanted to be fresh as we tackled the San Antonio freeway's. Unfortunately the rain started in the morning and we ended up arriving in rain and dirty rigs. We have stayed here twice last year so we knew the area well and in fact Doug and Louise stayed one month. Our enthusiasm was soon dampened by the first week of cold weather and rain. I did get out to play two games of golf and was most disappointed with the golf courses. Both courses were municipal courses and it was apparent that San Antonio has not spent any money on maintenance. The fairways were basically mud and the greens barely playable. After the great courses in Mesa it was truly a big step down particularly since the reason for coming to Travelers world was the fact that sits on a golf course. So far most of the days have been rain and cold weather so I have only been able to play twice. The people in the park are very nice and trying to make us feel comfortable. We recently went to the San Antonio rodeo with Dave and Marlene Crucq, our friends from Comox who have a winter home here. This was very interesting and one of the top rodeos in the world. Dave was born on a farm so was able to point out the finer features of cattle and horses. We are trying to organize some sightseeing trips with them as there is lots to see around San Antonio. It's just hard to get your enthusiasm up when it is cold and rainy. We are playing lots of crib with Doug and Louise and so far the boys always win. Lesley Anne is doing well and we frequently talk to her through Skype as we have a very high speed Internet connection. We will be leaving here on February 28 and arriving back in Mesa on March 4. We are both healthy and excited about be grandparents on March 27. We have satellite TV with Shaw Direct so will be watching the Olympics on CTV as the rain continues !!!
Take care.

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Pictures from Top to Bottom

Gail making Pecan Pie as part of the Gala Dinner Planed for the Perry's arrival

Picnic Area- White Sands National Park

Big Bend National Park

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Just click on below link for Mesa to San Antonio Pics on Flickr

Mesa to San Antonio

Leaving Mesa

It is time to pack the RV and and get ready for our trip to San Antonio. We have spent the last three months in Mesa, Arizona at the Silveridge RV Park. We are in site #666 which is next to our good friends from Kelowna, Byron and Marlene Nate. Last year we spent most of the time on the road traveling and seeing new places. This year we have stayed in one place and got into a weekly schedule of activities and socializing with friends. I found an excellent Golf Pro, Craig Porter at Riverview Golf course. My week is golf lessons on Monday morning, playing at Apache Wells with Harold Stevens on Tuesday and Friday then playing at different courses Wednesday with a group in the park. ( Byron,Paul,Rick). I usually do daily practice at Sunland East Golf Course which is only 5 minutes away and have gone through 3 range passes ( 30 buckets/pass). Yes I am getting better but golf is a challenging game. I have always wondered why all my patients went to this area for the winter. The dry desert climate is great. It is usually about 72 degrees in the day with a relative humidity at 25% and drops to 45-50 overnight so we use our electric blanket but have a great sleep. Food and alcohol are cheap and there are so many golf courses!!!! Our RV site is $500/month plus electricity which is a about $70/month. Life doesn't get better.

Gail has been busy sewing, quilting, and even has taken a few golf lessons. She has made lots of friends in the park and joined a Quilting club that keeps her busy on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Unfortunately for me the Bernina store is only 5 minutes away!!! Yes she got a new sewing machine. We keep in touch with everyone through Skype. For $12.95/month we can call any phone number in the world and have unlimited time. This makes it great for New Zealand, Australia, and Canada.

We stayed here for Christmas and took a Guided Bus trip to the Rose Bowel Parade in Pasadena California for two nights and three days. The tour picked us up at the park and we traveled with a great bunch of seniors to the Hilton Suites in Irvine California. We met a great couple on the bus from Osoyoos who ran a B&B, Joel and Christiane Crocq. The parade was interesting but found 3 million people cramped into tiny bleachers just a bit much. The following day we went to Victory Park where you can see all the floats up close and talk to the people who designed them. It was great to get back to our home after 3 days of getting up at 4:30 in the morning. Next year we are going to watch the parade in the comfort of our home, with our own bathroom and no crowds.

Lesley Anne is in Adelaide Australia and will be delivering our first grandson on March 27. Jennifer is on summer holidays from her teaching job in NZ and is with LA now for 3 weeks. She plans on coming back for the delivery. We will be going to Australia for the month of June and then over to to Jennifer for the first two weeks of July. We hope to come back to Arizona for the winter but not much time for Comox.

We are excited about meeting up with our traveling friends Doug and Louise Perry who have left Cranbrook, Canada and are traveling south to meet up with us in Las Cruses New Mexico. From there we will travel together to San Antonio where we will stay for two months at Travelers World RV park. We traveled with the Perry's for about 6 months on our big trip last year so we have many great memories. Dave and Marlene Cruq are friends from Comox who own a house in Ciblo just outside San Antonio. They have lots of activities planned and will make the 8 weeks go by very quickly. The excitement of leaving is overshadowed by the sadness we feel about leaving all the friends we have made at Silveridge. We have spent a lot of time looking at homes as we would like to permanently winter in Mesa. Our friends from Calgary, Dennis and Cheryl Niebergal were here on a house hunting trip last week. We looked at lots of options and there are some great deals but we may be wintering in Australia.

Today is our first day of rain as this big front moves through flooding much of California, and dropping snow north of us. We will leave for Las Cruces on Monday, January 25 with sunny skies and plan a 4 day stay. The Perry's will meet us there and we will travel together to San Antonio as we are booked in at Traveler's World on Feb 1. I will update our blog from Texas.

The Wandering Canadians -- Ron & Gail.



Pictures From Top to Bottom
" Click on Picture to enlarge "

#1. Gail & I at the Broadway Palm Theater
Dinner Theater- " Meet me in Saint Louis "

#2. Palm Theater- " The Unsinkable Molly Brown "
Ron & Gail, Dennis & Cheryl Niebergal- Calgary
Byron & Marlene Nate - Kelowna

#3. Golfing Group- Leisure World
Ron Brown - Byron Nate
Paul & Gail Caraca - Kelowna - New friends met at the Park

#4. Christmas Day Dinner- Painted Mountain Steak House
Harold & Pam Stevens - Comox-
Ron & Gail
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Photo Links to Flickr - " Just double click on the link below "

Mesa Pictures

Rose Bowl Parade

Silveridge RV Park

Traveling to Mesa