Phoenix AZ January 30 and 31

January 30 and 31, 2010
Saturday got up and drove to Phoenix. Helen and Ron had phoned to see when I was coming. Got here in the afternoon but the hostel was not open until 5 p.m. Then the cell phone was dead so needed to charge to make a call. Couldn't get Helen and Ron am not sure yet about their phone situation but emailed and they have my number. I was anxious to have a shower so booked into yet another Motel 6 (costs more on Saturday night than the rest of the week - go figure.)

Had a shower and got all the electronics charged up so feel much better.

Sunday I connected with Carol Radway and we met for brunch. Then we walked around a flea market out here. Not a great way to be spending my time.

Whooa

That sure didn't say what I meant. I had a lovely visit with Carol and I am very glad to have gone to the Flea Market for the experience of it. I just can't get over the volume of stuff for sale and the volume of shoppers purchasing all this stuff and so much of it has no quality. I guess it is all about impulse buying.

Then I went to the Smith's and dropped in but they weren't there. I left a note. Hope to hear from them or I just may take off in the morning.

I have an appointment with Apple to do this blog thing at 5:45 so hope to be able to get it published.

Phoned Frank Lawson here too. May meet for lunch!!!

January 28, Parker Arizona

Got to Parker after lunch and found Gary and Sandy at their resort. Met with their neighbors George and Melba (Toast) Stirling from Gray Creek, BC. They cooked a turkey on an outdoor (portable) convenction oven. It was a lovely meal. Stayed with Gary and Sandy. The next day we drove to Quartsight to the outdoor flea market. My it is quite a place. Dozens and dozens of vendors selling everything under the sun. We packed a lunch and stopped in the desert and took some pictures of the cacti. Back to Gary and Sandy's and cooked a wonderful dinner of pork chops with saurer crout and brown sugar. It was really good too. George and Toast joined us again. Friday was planned to go to the Eagles Club for Indian Fried Bread. Hmmm that was interesting. We all decided to plain should have had onions, salsa, and sour cream then they would have been like a taco or pita with all the filling. Stayed Friday too. Went to a second hand store and bought new runners and two pairs of capris. What a deal.

January 27, Palm Springs

Drove down the coast from Monterey. WOW. I have done that drive before but am breathless with the beauty of the ocean and the waves crashing into the coastal mountains.

Found my way to Hearst Castle. What a magnificant place. 117 rooms. The tour did not include all of them of course but it is quite a place. It is way up on the top of the mountain with views of the ocean and surrounding mountains. It was well worth the time and the distance.

From there I went into the little Danish town of Solvang. All the buildings are done in Gingerbread style. It really is a tourist trap. I was between meal time so didn't eat there and decided to keep going.

As I continued down the coast getting closer to Los Angeles and really just wanted to get passed it altogether. The only thing I might like to have done there was go to Rodeo Drive, but not into that kind of shopping. Kept on going and stayed overnight in Oceanside, California. Stayed at a very unsavory hotel.

Phoned Tai Pham, he worked with me at CPS and moved his wife and child to San Diego to be closer to her family. He seems to be happy but still misses his job.

Left bright and early in the morning and happy to have sun shine. Got to Palm Springs early and found the Motel 6 again. It is much easier than having to check prices all over the place and they really are an inexpensive chain. Found a grocery store and bought some healthy food. Von's is a Safeway chain so my Club Card works here. Wine special $2.21, can you believe that.
I also bought some colour for my hair to lighten the roots. Kind of feel like a gangster character.

Am off today to Parker, Arizona to see if I can connect to the St. Jeans. They are from Calgary and spending their first winter in the south. They have a motor home and plan to be down for most of the winter.

January 24, 2009 Santa Cruze, Monterey, Carmel, Pebble Beach

What a treat, got up and the sun was shining so took the time to go to Golden Gate Bridge and walk over. I think I did all the things on my tourist list that I wanted to do.

Plugged in the GPS and hit the coast. Stayed in the little place called Marina Motel 6 just outside of Monterey. Had a lot of fun seeing the coast and cannery row. Love to shop in that atmosphere. Ended up purchasing new runners. Mine were soaked in San Francisco and awful to wear. I am in San Luis Osbispo tonight at a hostel. It is a great big old house they say they can sleep 30.
I drive down the coast, beautiful sights. Stopped in San Simeon and saw the Hearst Castle. WOW what a place. The life style must have been something in those days. It was a guided tour and they kept talking about cocktails and dinner. I just wished I could have been one of the guests.

Anyway on to Solvang and Santa Barbara tomorrow.

January 22, 2010 Lunch Tony and Kathy

This is a picture of the house where Keith and I lived for several years. Doesn't look too bad.

Tony Hobbs at Fisherman's wharf.













Once again it is raining. I was up and out bright and early this morning and found my way to the Japanese Gradens in the Golden Gate park area. Just as I was approaching the sky cleared a little and it was sun shine while I was in the Park. January is not a very good time to be looking at gardens but the sculptured trees and bushes are wonderful along with the streams and water falls. So I really did enjoy it. Some music would have made it very Zen.

From there I found my way out to the Avenues and found the old shopping centre I used to go to. Of course it has all been updated and is just like any of ours in Calgary.


Kathe Woods Walsh

I picked Tony up at noon and we went to a little hole in the wall restaurant to meet Kathy for lunch. We all had fish and chips. Kathy didn't have much time as she was going back to look after her man. I took Tony back to his place and he just happens to live down the street from XL or Bob Viser and he was out on the street so we stopped and had a little visit. He did remember Keith and I but I have no recollection of mutual experiences.

Came back to the hostel and walked the Golden Gate bridge. The rain is coming again.

I am leaving in the morning.

San Francisco January 19 2010

From Portland I drove south and stopped in Medford for one night and Chico another night. From there I went to Lincoln, Ca and stopped and visited with Ray and Arlene Crook.




From there I went on to Auburn CA and visited with my long time friend Jeanne Hammil and met her husband, Bill.







Arrived in Sanfrancisco on Tuesday. It was pouring cats and dogs all the way from Sacramento and when I came into the Bay area the sun was shining just like the angels had opened the gates. I love having the GPS it makes it so easy to find my way around.

I drove around familiar haunts, saw the house where Keith and I lived when we first got married and












also went to City hall and took a picture of where the "wedding" was.

From there I drove out to the Avenues where we lived later. Took a picture of that old house too. Drove down Noriega Street to see the swinging door and didn't recognize the street at all. The Swinging Door was the local bar that we used to drink at and made many good friends. I couldn't even guess which building was the place. I am glad Keith didn't come and see how changed it is. I wasn't able to connect with my friend Tony so went to the Presidio hostel. It is a great location and has parking so am quite comfortable.
Tuesday night I connected with Kathy Woods Walsh and we met at San Bruno at a restaurant and had supper. It was great to see Kathy, we had lost touch from those days. She is having some difficulty, the man she has been with for 29 years is not in good health. He has diabites and was in a hospital but sent out to another place. She can't look after him at home so is busy running to take care of all his needs.

Wednesday I met Tony. I went and picked him up and we went all over the place. Drove through Golden Gate Park and the Pan Handle and down Haight and Ashbury. Saw the old Dutch Windmill that has been fully restored and is operational, saw the Conservatory of flowers which of course would be better if not winter. Went into Presidio and saw Diane Fienstein's house. Saw the officers houses and the GI hospital. Stopped at Sea Cliff and took pictures of the city and Golden Gate but was pretty foggy. We drove over to Coit Tower and got a parking place right at the front door, then went up to the top and it had cleared enough to have a fabulous view of the city. from there we went to Fisherman's Wharf and had lunch at Pier 35 and wondered the shops. It was a really fun day.

Portland to San Francisco

Found my way to Portland at least outside Oregon City, Oregon where Fran's sister Norma is with no problem. She and Pat have a lovely home. They have a couple of acres so lots of space between neighbors and quiet. They have been antique dealers so have their whole house furnished in antiques. I met some of her neighbors and went walking early in the morning. We went around the area seeing the sights but unfortunately it has been very cold and wet. Went to see her friend Diane. She has also been a flight attendant. I was interested to learn about the McDonald girls. They were ladies who got fired from flying or quite to be married. Some time after I had quit they said it was illegal to have made everybody change jobs and they were given their jobs back. Sure wish I had known that way back when.

Pat was sick most of the time while I was there so Norma made food for us but he ate in the bedroom. When he was feeling better he came out and said hello and tried to be social. I am glad we finanally got to meet.

The next day we went to a Bead Shop and I got some stuff to start making jewelery. Well at least I have some tools. Norma gave me a mini lesson on how to turn the wire, and ends for bracelets, and joining beads. So now I have to find some time to see what I can do. There is no tax in Oregon so this was a good place to make the purchase however it was $72.00. We went to visit another friend Dusty, another retired stew. She does beading also so gave us some interesting beads. Very sweet. She also gave us a lovely lunch and a tour of her house that was an old Victorian that has been redone. I loved it. The next day we went to the monthly meeting of the Clipped Wings Club. Stews that don't work any more. They had a clothing exchange with the leftovers going to charity. I did very well. I got 2 bracelets and a couple of pairs of earrings. A long black sweater coat, a short grey cardigan, an orange cashmere sweater, a blue silk cardigan, a chocolate brown sleeveless sweater, a long black with small beige design elastic waste skirt. So I thought I did very well. Norma took a bunch of stuff also. Love getting stuff for free. Sunday Pat was feeling better so I invited them for brunch or lunch but he wanted to stay home and watch football. Norma wanted to eat at home to use up food before they went away. We walked over to her friend Maggie's house and she gave us a wonderful drink of Chocowine. It was almost like Bailey's. She said it was from Switzerland. Very tastey. Pat gave me a box of Trader Joes macaroni and cheese and also a bottle of wine called Friends. Norma gave me a travel bag for all my additional clothing.

January 10th to 14th Visit with Linda and Terry

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I moved from Normas to Lindas and again a lovely home. I hadn't seen Linda for 35 years since Keith and I were sailing to Australia. Linda and Terry have a retail business supplying realtors with merchandize for their business. They had to be at work every day so I was on my own. I was able to make an appointment with the apple store and think I have the blog thing working. The house is close to a big shopping centre so was able to find my way over and look at the shops. Again it was raining so was glad to have some down time to catch up with laundry etc.






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Calgary to the Island

January 2 and 3 2010
Got to Victoria and found the Hostel. What a great location right at the waterfront close to the parliament buildings and the old Empress Hotel. I really enjoyed it. Was impressed with the residents. Alll quite mature. Met a woman named Yessie and she was staying there for a period of time. Her current job is working as a pet sitter and when she doesn't have a job she lives at the hostel. Doesn't have a permanent home. Yikes. I met a couple of fellows who spend all their time travelling and had a number of tips on how to save money. It was so cold

Phoned Gerry Heyward. She had broken her ankle and is off work. Phoned Dixie and she was busy with family.

Jan 2, 2010
I was packed and ready to head to Victoria. I love to drive. If it was warmer I probably will sleep in my car. Driving from Nanoose to Victoria I passed Shawinian Lake so drove in there to see the private shcool. It was rainy and grey all the way but when I turned off the highway to Sawinigan it was beautiful and sunny. What a really quaint old English type of place. They must have had quite a life style at the turn of the century.

Jan 1 2010
New Year's day I was really looking forward to view the Polar Bear dip at the ocean. Unfortunately we got there too late and all the activities were over and all the dippers were out of the water. Then we went to Brian and Donna Ross' and they weren't home so we went to a golf course and had coffee and Nancy insisted we have lunch so we had turkey sandwiches and then went back to Brian and Donna's. I am glad Nancy and Donna got to meet they are nice people.

December 31, 2009
Nancy bought some muscles at the market and Don had prepared to cook Salmon on the Barbq so that is what we had for New Year's Eve. It was a lovely meal. Don had worked all day plastering the bathroom so did not stay up 'til midnight. The three of us played cards Cribbage for a while then Don went to bed. Nancy and I saw midnight and then went to bed. We drank lots of wine and had champagne for midnight. Lots of fun.


Enjoyed my visit with Jan Ford. We went to a little wharf side restaurant and had shrimp melts. Very good. Jan is very interested in traveling with me so will keep in touch with her. She has sisters in Texas so could be good.

December 31 2009
Today Thursday New Years Eve Nancy and I are going to Jan's for a visit. Must stop at CIBC again. Haven't got that money transfer figured out.


Tuesday was a down day.


Wednesday Nancy and I went to Nanaimo again as Nancy had to take her vehicle in for service so we shopped around in the City Centre. I would like to go back and check the Mac store. Still haven't figured out the blog thing. Donna Ross phoned in the afternoon and invited us to their Parksville place for New Years day so that will be good to have the two couples meet. I stopped at a CIBC and got $900 travellers cheques and $100 USD cash costing $89.00 is't that a great deal.


Another day we drove down to Chemainus and did the tourist thing. It is a small town on the island that was becoming a ghost town for lack of indusry and the town revived itself by painting murals on the outside of many of the town centre buildings. Then merchants and artisans came in and now itis quite a thriving community. I enjoyed the browse
around.

Monday Nancy and I went to Nanaimo to the movies and saw "Its Complicated" with Merle Streep. It was excellent.

December 26, 2009
Now it is boxing day and also Don's birthday so Nancy is having more people for dinner.

It was a lovely dinner party with Ken and Vivian Jones neighbors of Nancy's and also Tom and Jan .... originally from Calgary. We had roast beef and all the trimmings with a sweet tray for dessert.


December 25 2009
Our Christmas morning was quite low key. We exchanged gifts, Nancy gave me lovely earrings that I was wishing for and a clock with a light and also a CD. I gave Don and Nancy a cribbage board and cards, so we shall play later. We had a delicious quiche for breakfast. Her friends Tom and Jan came for dinner with his mother Helen. I had provided the turkey and we had lots of potatoes and vegetables. Good food, good conversation and lots of fun.

Well Skype worked. It was wonderful seeing the children. Addison is very talkative. She was quite excited about all her new toys and it was good to see Ed and Lindsay. I talked with the Lorenz's too. Sammy stole my heart when she said she wanted this Grandma (me) to come to her house. Meagan looked very happy. She had all Kevin's family coming for dinner
Still having difficulties with Skype so went to Nanaimo yesterday. Sure hope this works to see the kids.

December 19, 2009
The next day I went to Courtenay to Udita's. We went out for a lovely dinner at a restaurant named Atlas. Very good food. The next day we had a slow start to the day. Had a nice brunch and then got ready to go out to a Winter Solstace event. We drove out to the country so it was very dark upon our arrival but what a magical experience. The path was heavily wooded and the whole distance was lighted with T-light candles in paper bags. We had quite a distance to trek into a field where a huge bonfire was going. It did keep us warm. There was a bit of a skit about the conflict of summer and winter and a ceremonial fight with summer winning of course. Then we sang some songs and then walked to the rivers edge again in the lighted forest and then we put floating candles into the river. There were probably 200 people there so was qite a sight to see all the candles in the river in darkness. We then looked at some wonderfully decorated houses with Christmas lights. Then back to Uditas for a very nice supper. In the morning we had breakfast and coffee and then I came back to Nanoose. Before I left Courtenay I stopped at London Drugs to try to get the Skype going. Hope it works tomorrow. Also stopped at WalMart and got tunics for Nancy and myself. Also brought a bottle of wine home and they seemed to like that.



December 18, 2009
Friday I met with Frank Lawson. I went to his house, nice little house with a fabulous view of the ocean. We went to his local and met some of his friends. Then we went on a drive and saw 3 houses where his brothers live. Stopped at a roadhouse tavern and had a drink with the locals. Was lots of fun. Went back to Frank's local called the Deez and met up with one brother. The pub has a meat draw and I won a ham so contributed that to Don and Nancy for the holidays. Went back to Frank's to phone old school chums but couldn't get anybody at home. I returned to Don and Nancys.

December 14 2009
On the Monday I went to Nanaimo and had an overnight with Laurie Evans. She has been having quite a tough time. She has had a second bout of cancer and has had all the treatments and seems to be coming along. But in the midst of all this the man she lives with left her for another woman. Laurie is hopeful that he is coming back to her and I wish her the best.

December 4th to January 2 2010
I stayed with my friends Nancy and Don. She used to work for the Police but retired the year before me. She worked with Vivian in Volunteer Resources. So we have been busy running around the area here and getting ready for Christmas. I will be here into the new year so will have a wonderful holiday here.





They belong to the Probus Club and had arranged for me to come along to the Christmas party for the wine tasters group. It was at a restaurant. Very nice people but the food was just awful, meat too tough, veggies too hard, good wine though not enough of it. The next week we went to another party at the Golf course where Don volunteers. It was a lovely evening, nice people and really good food.

Party, party party



I took the ferry from Horseshoe Bay across to Nanaimo. Again the GPS makes it so easy to get anywhere.



December 1st, 2nd and 3rd Donna Ross
Then on to North Vancouver and saw my long time school friends Donna and Bran Ross. Their house is magnificent. It had six sets of double doors to the outside just on the main floor. Then there was an upper level and a basement walkout. Quiet different than my teeny tiny little cabin. We went to a lovely quilt, fabric shop there as well as lots of fun little shops in the area. Getting very hard to resist purchases. We spent a day in Vancouver looking at "Granville Island" another fun shopping area and drove around the west end where I lived when I was 18. Lots of memories. We had lunch at the Vancouver Yacht Club one day and went to a warehouse where they make clothing one evening. We could try and buy. That was fun. I was very disciplined though and only bought a couple of tops. My friend volunteers for a hospice and they had a candle vigil for people who had lost loved ones to send messages and light candles. It was at a big evergreen tree in a park on the waterfront. Was very moving and quite beautiful.



November 29th, 30th and Dec 1st Coquitlam

From there I went to Coquitlam. Was there at my friend Sandie Ewing's for a couple of days. Again it was cold and raining but we made the best of it and walked along what they call the Sea Wall. It is really neat to see the freighter ships in the inlets. Went to the famous Army and Navy store but was very good and didn't buy anything. We shopped some neat places and had tea at a cute little shop. Went to Sandie's friends house and had a lovely meal. Very friendly and generous people.







November 24 to 29th Chilliwack
From there I headed down to the mainland and visited with more relatives and long time school friends. So I stayed a couple of nights in.Chilliwack at the home of my second cousin Jim. Barb and Doug took me out at night so had a really nice visit. Did a really neat tour called Christmas Crafts Quilt Crawl. I just fell upon it but what a neat thing to do. They gave me a printed map of the area and the different merchants to visit who were involved with the day. They had a prize of a trip to Mexico if you visited all the spots, but I didn't do that.

The GPS has been wonderful for finding my way around. That Crawl was a real test.



Calgary to Silverton
The drive over was quite a challenge between Banff and Golden (lots of snow) but not much traffic and those on the road went nice and slow. Got to Silverton safe and sound. Having a wonderful time with my friend Fran Wallis catching up on all the gossip. She is a dance instructor and had an event out last night. I went with her friend to a musical evening at the local town centre. Very good quality music and enjoyed it. She has a really cute little cottage near a lake. Not so pleasant when it was wet and overcast the whole time. Like all of us our age she has way too much stuff and finds it overwhelming so we had a lot of fun paring down her stuff and hopefully I got some organization into her life. Silverton is only 250 people but there certainly are some very talented residents. One evening Fran was busy with her Dance students so I went with a neighbor, Carol Bell, to a classical performance at the local art centre. The singing and music was wonderful. The cost is by donation. A couple of nights later there was a one man show, I think it was called Oh Baby about Dad when he finds out they are pregnant and what feelings and emotions he goes through. It was hilarious. Fran is a great cook too so was well fed and well entertained while I was there. Another night we went to the Hot Pool for a swim. It was the most magical place to a hot spa. It was outdoors. The pool is surrounded by cedar trees. It was dark but lights in the water. Then add to that, it was gently snowing. And the music was Japanese. very Zen. What a lovely way to spend a not so nice evening. I must say for a town of 250 people they have a lot of talent.


October 31 2010
Was at Meagan's for Halloween. The little kids are so much fun to be with. Would like to have them with me on this journey.

October 16 2010
From there I went to Emma Lake to see my cousin Marlys "the artist". She and her husband Phil have a wonderful log cabin there. It wasn't so nice as it snowed and was very cold. Was just there for a couple of days and then came back to the cabin. The cabin is old with lots of character. Built as a square room with vaulted ceiling and a fireplace on one side. The opposite side has the bedrooms. The walls don't go to the ceiling more like office cubicles with curtains for doors. Allowing for heat circulation in the winter. At any rate we had gone to bed and settling in when I heard a scratching sound. It seemed like it was right by my head. The noise went on an on and I was sure it was getting closer and closer to my head. Finally I couldn't stand it any longer and sat up and turned on the overhead light. Checked all the pillows and didn't find anything. There I was sitting with my feet on the floor and what should come out from under the bed but a bat. I think the wing was broken as it didn't try to fly. But as fast as it came out it went back under the bed. Marlys has her vacuum stored under the bed along with some other boxes so I couldn't see where it went. I wasn't about to start pulling things out at that time of night so just got back under the covers. Needless to say didn't sleep much that night.

Decided having the roof top storage box was not the way to go. Seemed to use a lot more gas than when I didn't have it so will just have to cut back and the junk I carry with me.













October 12 2010
Went to Melfort and saw my cousin Frances and her husband Art. I had never been to her house before and it was really neat to see some of my grandmother's stuff at her house. Frances works for the City of Saskatoon and like me travels back and forth on weekends. They were very gracious hosts and Art was very tolerant to show me the sights inspite of the cold and snow.

October 2010
I was in Medicine Hat for Thanksgiving, Meagan's husband's parents live there. While I was there I told them my next stop was Melfort, Saskatchewan and it turns out Kevin's Mom and I have a relation in common. We are from opposite sides of the family but end up being related by marriage. Small world or what?


Stayed over with Darlene and my luck, she has cleaned out her closet, and lots of her stuff fits me very well so I took a whole sack of clothes back to the cabin. Thanks Dar. What I have learned about Darlene is that when she finds a garment that she likes, she buys one in every colour. Lucky me.


Greg and Camille offered me their Thuile storage box to put on top of my car and I tried it for a couple of weeks but decided not to use it. Margaret and I went to a garage sale and lucked out finding a car refrigerator. So far I think it will be perfect for my journey; however haven't had any hot weather to worry about keeping food yet. I'll see when I get into the south. I think it is a great idea to try to stay on this healthy eating plan.


July 2009
Of course I was back and forth to Calgary several times. Went to the Stampede with Vicki Gillis. We had lots of fun and purchased a whole bunch of stuff that we didn't need. Of course we will do it again next year. Vicki has been very gracious to provide me with food and lodging and lots of wine... . Thanks Vicki.

My cousin Margaret and friend Carol also put me up or put up with me numerous times. They are both such good cooks it has been really hard to not eat everything in sight and put those pounds back on. They gave me a wonderful farewell party before departure with Margaret, Carol, Fran, Trish, Dorothy and Norman and myself. We had turkey dinner with all the trimmings and it was wonderful. But this is getting ahead of myself.








May thru September 2010
I had a wonderful summer, going swimming everyday Mon to Friday made me really happy to stay put on the weekends. Tom & Rhonda were away all summer so it seemed pretty quiet at my end of the road. Rose and I played cards or board games almost every night. Darlene and Wally were away a lot of the summer so we didn't have so many get togethers but did go to Red Deer one day.

I did several overnights to Sylvan Lake and looked after Samantha and Travis while the parents had other things to do.

I went to Standard for Eddie's 30th birthday party. Lindsay had ordered lawn decorations that were golf balls all over the yard and an "old" duffer saying Happy Birthday. I think Eddie was quite touched. We prepared lots of food and the back yard for a barbeque. It was a really nice, hot, summer evening. I didn't stay too long as I was again staying at Margaret's and didn't want to drive into the city too late. Addison was at Grandma Adams so I didn't see her.

May 2009
I think I have been very brave in that I have rented my place in the city. My long time friend Janice Lynn put me in touch with her friend Pat Tuttle and Pat has taken on the responsibility of renting and managing my place while I am away. Currently a woman and child from Dubais are living there so hope that works out alright. She has signed an 18 month lease and suggested she would be interested in 2 years or perhaps purchase. I am not ready to make that commitment at this time. What does the future hold?