We arrived in Cape Town on December 30th as planned, rented a car to drive out to Highcliffe House, dropped off some of our luggage and had lunch with Jane and Jim. Then off to a late afternoon flight to Windhoek, the Capital of Namibia. Windhoek is a fairly impressive city (at least from what we saw) quite well developed and with a population of 300,000 would be comparable to a Canadian city such as Halifax in infrastructure and development. We stayed at the Olive Grove quest house and spent New Years eve there. It was a very quiet celebration but we did manage to stay up until Midnight(5 PM Eastern Time), but we're in bed at 12:02 am!! We picked up our 4X4 and headed out for our "self drive" tour on January 1st. The ... read more

Christine, one of Debra's long time friends from grade school, came to visit from Toronto along with her sister Michelle who lives in Vancouver. Both are school teachers so they had some time off during March break. This gave us an opportunity to explore some things that we had yet to experience. Of course there were a few days enjoyed just hanging around the pool, and we did tour around downtown Tucson which included a trip to El Charro's in "old Town" for some local Margueritas. We even got a tour of a private house that was 130 years old! Michelle, being very outgoing struck up a conversation with Joe the owner who exemplified Tucson's friendliness by inviting us in. They were just beginning to have dinner ame watch the local Wildcats basketball on TV. The ... read more

Dana left on February 18th to join his brother and others for 10 days of golf in Orlando. My brother's girl friend Linda came in on the same day. It was nice to have company while Dana was away. Linda and I spent a couple of days at the Grand Canyon which was a "gasping" experience for Linda who had never been there before. On arrival, we enjoyed a fabulous sunset and relaxed for the evening . The following day we spent some time hiking around the south rim and part way down the Angel trail. The weather was comfortable unlike the North rim which is cold and closed to the Public this time of year. Next stop was Sedona with some awesome views of the "Red Rocks" and the Chapel of the Holy Cross . ... read more

We finish off our second week in Tucson with a couple days of rain. It was quite unusual to have so much rain in the desert. Mt Lemon which is the highest mountain bordering Tucson received over 5 inches of rain. Of course there is always a danger of flash floods, which thank goodness didn't happen. The locals now claim it will be fabulous spring with so much rain in the ground. As a side note, the Sequora cactus can hold enough water for a year, so they should be could until 2016. After a couple games of golf and a regular routine of exercise, shopping etc, we did visit the Tucson Museum of Art. This was an interesting eclectic collection of historical and contemporary paintings and sculptures. Of course there was a cowboy section but ... read more

Well we're off to Arizona for the Winter of 2015. Left home early on January 8th and drove through -17 degrees Celcius temperatures and snow packed roads until we reached Kentucky. Arrived in Nashville 12 1/2 hours later. Nashville, the home to Country Music, is a very interesting city. Of course we experienced quite a few "Honky Tonks" where music talent is in abundance. Visited the recently opened Johnny Cash museum and of course the Country Music Hall of Fame. Both are worth the time and money. And as a climax, on Saturday night, went to the Grand Ole Opry which is such an experience if your a country music fan. Even Debra enjoyed it! The show is held in the winter at the original Ryman Auditorium which made the performances even more memorable. A Canadian ... read more