New beginnings and a whole new way of life.......

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Well, it is official...I am retired. As of June 24th. My bosses gave me a beautiful luncheon with a few of the staff there that I have known since I started there 12 years ago. Couldn't asked for a better job and the family I worked for were more like family to me than my bosses. I loved my job and everyone I worked with. Thank you all for an incredible 12 years.

So now, I need to catch everyone up on the last few months. The day after my last day of work we drove to Winnipeg for our oldest grandson's graduation from high school. We stopped the first night in Rocky Mountain House. Nothing fancy, just a parking lot. The second night we went to drop off the trailer at the SEP camp in Silver Meadows, AB. We didn't have Jackson, so we stayed with Jeff and Sonya and the kids. It was a short visit because we didn't know how long it would take to drive to Winnipeg from there. They were getting ready to go on vacation also. The next night we stayed in Yorkton, SK. and then drove the next day to Clay and Gillian's in Winnipeg. We were also picking up our dog, Jackson as he stayed with them while we traveled last year.

Graduation was beautiful and brought tears to my eyes, knowing our very first grandchild was graduating from high school. I hope we will be around for the next 6. The other big event while we were there was Gerry wanted to skydive for his 70th birthday. The extra bonus he got to do it with our grandson, Cole. It was a big thrill for him and for Cole. We had a great visit with the Clay Houghtons and then we all got into our vehicles and drove back to Edmonton, to SEP camp for a week. That was amazing as it was last year when we volunteered. This year was special as Cole, our oldest grandson, it was his last year to be a camper and to top it off he was baptized in the lake at camp......that brought the date to July 17th....camp was over. It was very special as always. Then we had a week to camp until our kids, Jeff and Sonya and their three kids came back from their vacation. So we got together with our friends, Jackie and Rolf and camped for a week at Wolf Lake, AB. We also had Ace, Clay and Gillian's Lab with us while they were in Scotland and Ireland. Actually we had a great time with him and Jackson and our friends.

When the week ended, we drove back to Edmonton and parked in Glowing Embers RV Park. And spent a few great days with Jeff and Sonya and Kyle, Brandon, and Kayla. The kids are growing up so fast and it was so nice to be with them again. Now that I am fully retired we hope to be able to see more of them next summer. We kept forgetting our camera, so we have no pictures of them......sorry.

So now that brings us up to August......and we spent that month at our house in Penticton. Jason came up at the end of August and Clay and his family came too. We were going to drive to Prince George for a road trip, but Gerry didn't want to drive all that way. So we stayed the few days Clay and Gillian were able to stay at the house. We missed Jeff and family, but miscommunication... they thought we were going to do something else and we ended not doing it and stayed at the house instead. So they didn't come out to visit. we are sorry it didn't work out.

Now we are at September 1st......our renters moved in, Clay and family started home taking Ace with them, Gerry, Jason, and I took the 5th wheel, which is now our home for the next 8 months.....what did we do? Go camping of course.......We had to drop off Jay in Maple Ridge by the 4th so we parked in Manning Park campground for a few days.....it was cold.....especially at night. But we had a great visit with Jay. We couldn't go fishing because all the lakes didn't take motors.

Okay, so now it is September 5th and we are parked in Celina's parking lot in North Vancouver. Don and Cindy came up to Ric and Kirsi's and we spent the days with all of them. It was great. We left there on the 7th and decided to go up the Fraser Canyon towards Cash Creek. We stayed one night in Lillooet. The road into there was horrible, kind of like mexico. We ended up here in Savona, at the Steelhead Provincial Park. We have been here ever since. It is right on the Kamloops Lake. Gerry has been fishing and the weather is cool at night, but nice during the day. We had a great 10 days there. The weather was very Fall weather, but thanks to having a furnace we stayed nice and toasty. Didn't catch a salmon, but one of the guys who did ended up giving us a 15lb spring. We ate some that night and it was delish........

So after there we went back to Penticton and stayed in Wright's Beach RV Park for a few days and then went camping and fishing at Trout Lake up by Revelstoke. It was a beautiful spot, caught fish and enjoyed Nicole and Steve for 4 days. Then back to Penticton to finish up the things we needed to do and I got to say a last good-bye to Nicole, Jill, Beryl and Bre at the office.

So what have we been doing for the past months? Well.......right now we are in Vegas. But we have traveled with our friends Debbie and Russ through Oregon and now Nevada. We broke a spring in Beatty, NV on our 5th wheel. So we had to have it fixed.....of course they go under and find much more wrong with it. So we have had springs and shackles replaced on both sides of the trailer....a big expense we were not expecting....oh well.....rving is like that sometimes. We leave tomorrow for Lake Havahsu, AZ then onto Tucson to meet up with more friends and then cross into Mexico at the end of the month. Before Tucson we didn't go to Lake Havahsu, we went to Quartzite instead and stayed out in the desert and boondocked. It was so fun and quiet and peaceful....

Well, we have been in Tucson since October 21st and now tomorrow we leave for Nogales and then the next day we leave for Mazatlan. Finally......

I am sorry this has been a quick rundown of what we have been doing, but I wanted to get this out before we cross the border into Mexico. I will blog again when we get there. Hope you enjoyed this.....

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Photos

Cole's graduation - class of 2016 Winnipeg, MB
Cole with mom and dad

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Cole and Genevieve

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After graduation it was skydiving with Papa

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SEP Camp, Silver Meadows, AB Cole got baptized.....

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Camping at the beginning of September with our youngest son, Jay

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Visiting with my brother Don and wife Cindy in North Vancouver.....also with Ric and Kirsi.

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Lillooett, BC....on the way to Kamloops.

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This is where we stayed in Kamloops. Steelhead Provincial Park in Savona, B.C.

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Gerry trying to catch a salmon..

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Fishing with Steve and Nicole at Trout Lake, BC

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The fishing was not too bad.

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This place was Crane Hot Springs in Oregon

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Pictographs near Fallon, Nevada

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Ghost town near a place called Beatty in Nevada

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Sculptures made of cement and fiberglass

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Our friends Russ and Debbie our travel buddies to Vegas....then they had to drive home so she could have triple bypass surgery. This couch was made of small pieces of glass on cement.