Archive for the ‘Canada’ Category

Notable Omissions

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

It has been pointed out, by my mother, that in my recent blog entries related to my trip to Canada to visit her, failed to have her picture.  That’s the problem with dictating a blog long distance.  Something always gets lost in the message.  Well, here she is.

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It had been entirely too long between visits.  It was certainly wonderful to catch up.

On another note, borrowed from Kiri’s (our daughter-in-law) Facebook gallery, here is granddaughter Gracie, right, and her friend Peyton enjoying a recent Taylor Swift concert in Dallas.

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From all reports, they had a great time.

Floral Paradise

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

Click for Kelowna, British Columbia Forecast

Even though the Canadian growing season, here in Kelowna,  is much shorter than we are used to, they can really develop some great floral displays.  This row of flowering trees are actually hanging baskets of petunias.

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And a beautiful wagon full of more petunias.

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We planned to stop and see how they did the hanging baskets, but, they were already closed for the season.  The sign says that they will reopen in March.

Most people are used to seeing grape vines being grown in structured rows, as shown in the last blog entry.  I guess they figured that they could apply the same technique to apples. This technique assures that the sun will hit all apples for a more uniform color.

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It has been a nice visit to the north-land to see my mother and sister.  Now I can look forward to the 18 hours of planes and airports en route to South Texas.

A Quick Trip to Kelowna, BC

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

Click for Kelowna, British Columbia Forecast

Tinka has headed north to Kelowna, BC to visit her sister and mother.  Kelowna is located in the Okanagan Valley Region of British Columbia on the border with Washington State.

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Lake Okanagan is a popular recreational site for Canadians, who don’t mind frigid water.(CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE.)

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Yesterday, Tinka, along with sister, Jenelle, and brother-in-law, John, enjoyed a nice lunch at the nearby Gray Monk Winery.

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Obviously, Tinka is the one with the tan.

Here is a shot of the lake, looking out over the vineyard.

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Family Around the Continent

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

WE’RE BACK!!!!

On the morning of May 14th we headed to the airport and hopped two American Airlines flights heading in opposite directions in a quest to visit our mothers.  Tinka headed off toward Kelowna, British Columbia with stops in San Jose and Seattle.  Her mother, Val Echols, lives in a retirement home near Tinka’s sister Jenelle.

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Thinking she was headed off to the Arctic Circle, Tinka only took winter clothing along.  As luck would have it, the daytime high temperatures were in the mid-nineties.   She had a wonderful time and because of the warm weather they even made it out to a par-three golf course.

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                             Not bad for 90 years old.

Rick headed east to Hartford, Connecticut via St. Louis.  His mother, Nelle, lives in the Hartford suburb of Farmington.   With a stoke of luck, Rick’s visit overlapped with that of his uncle, Richard Hudgens.  It was certainly good to see him.

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Rick upgraded his mother’s computer with a new HP scanner so that she can begin to scan the photos in her scrap books. It’s pretty slick and is basically a one-button operation for scan, crop, and storing.

Rick’s brother Gary, who lives in the neighboring town of East Hartland, ran his butt off moving us to and from the airport, shopping, and entertaining, not to mention handling his own chores.  We all headed up to his house for the afternoon on Saturday.  Those of you that have been reading this journal for a while may remember the fantastic lobster/clam bake Gary served up last July.  This time we were treated to a great steak dinner.

We arrived to find the yard in the midst of breaking out into bloom.  Some shrubs were in full bloom.

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Others were loaded with buds and preparing to burst into color.

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We both had wonderful times on our trips and made it back to the Dallas / Fort Worth area in time to get ready for a busy Memorial Day weekend.

On Saturday, we headed out to Lake Tawankoni where the family was gathering for the day.  We spent the day boating, tubing, jet-skiing, trying out the different Maui snorkel charters and fishing.  The fishing was pretty quiet for most of the day, but at about 6:00 PM the sand bass and hybrids went crazy.  Rick caught seven fish in eight casts.  Then all was quiet again.

Marc shows our three granddaughters, Gracie, Ayden, and Maddie, how to hold on to the tube.

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Gracie escapes from the chilly water.

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Tinka keeps an eye on Maddie, our youngest granddaughter.

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Even Rick made it out on the jet-ski and stayed dry.

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On Sunday and Monday, we had pool parties to attend on the other side of the DFW Metroplex, so, we packed up our home and moved to Bennett’s RV Ranch in Granbury, TX.  Bennett’s is a nice park just off of Hwy 377 on the north end of Granbury.  It is convenient to shopping and the lake.  The wide pull-throughs are about 60 feet long and can accept most any size rig.  Navigating through the park is a little strange, but not a problem if you swing wide going into your site.  They accent the border with large boulders near the edge of the pull-throughs.  This isn’t much of a problem, but may cause you to go the wrong way on the interior road in order to exit.

We had a great time visiting and catching up with many of our “old” friends.  It’s the first time we’ve been able to catch a little sun since we left Tucson.