Time To Say Goodbye

Our time in Calgary has come to an end, the adults are back to work and the kids are back to school and we need to head back to Kelowna. But I guess it is a good things because after enjoying four days of good weather we woke up to snow this morning 😦

Our son dropped us off at the airport on his way to work and we flew back to Abbotsford a few hours later. 

It was another good flight and as we approached Abbotsford the clouds started to clear and there were some pretty views.

Once again we were the first people off the plane because once again we were seated in the very last row but also once again they disembarked from the front and the back of the plane. We travel light, with just a small backpack each, so we were at the truck in no time. Our oldest son offered to drop us off at the Abbotsford airport and pick us up so that we could save on parking but we didn’t want to interrupt his work day and parking at this airport is cheap!  For five days it only cost $36.00

We left the airport and met up with hubby’s sister, two brothers and husband/wifes for breakfast. After another nice visit we headed back to Kelowna. 

Unlike our trip down our trip home was not without snow 😦

But we got back to Kelowna before the snow started sticking to the highways and we were greeted with a nice afternoon and sunny skies.

The campground is that little oasis of green trees jutting out into the lake.

It was a great week away and it felt like a lot longer because of all that we did 🙂

Until next time …

Off To The Campsite

Well Monday dawned much cooler and the skies were looking grey but that didn’t stop us from loading up the trucks and heading out to our son’s summer campsite.  Well to be fair they loaded we just hopped in once the work was done 😀

We have never been here before so we were happy to get the opportunity to see it. The park hasn’t opened yet, so they can’t stay, but they were able to take some of their stuff out and get their trailer set up for next weekend when they will be able to start their summer camping season.

It was nice for hubby and I to wander around and see where they are going to spend their summers. The resort is big and has lots of amenities … it is like a family version of the parks us snowbirds stay in during our winters south … we think they will have a great time here.

The hour drive was much longer on the way home due to an accident on Hwy 2 that delayed us for another forty-five minutes. It was pretty much cleared up by the time we passed it so I’m not really sure what happened but hopefully there were no serious injuries.

This is is our last day here and we are sad to leave tomorrow but it is time to go home.

Until next time …

Our Time In Calgary

We woke up both Saturday and Sunday morning to beautiful blue skies and what our son’s family considers warm weather 🤣

Okay to be fair it was warm in the sun but the wind had a chill in it. We sat out on the deck Saturday afternoon and both hubby and I had our coats on, the rest of the family was in short sleeves and shorts. Both our son and daughter in law came from Kelowna but they are now acclimatized to Alberta and when they come back to Kelowna they find it too hot … I on the other hand love our hot summers.

We didn’t do a lot on the weekend other than visit, but that is why we came 🙂

We did enjoy a nail biting Vancouver Canucks play off game Sunday afternoon. We almost turned off the game with three minutes left because the Canucks were loosing 3-1 to Nashville but fortunately we didn’t because the Canucks scored with 2 minutes and 49 seconds left in the game and tied it up with 8 seconds left in the game and then scored another goal a minute into OT to take the series to a 3-1 lead. I really did feel bad for the Nashville fans because I’m sure they thought they were watching their team tie the series at home in Nashville. Hopefully the Canucks will take game four Tuesday night in Vancouver.   Oops since these blogs are late posting I guess we know the Canucks lost that game 😦 so we will go to game six in Nashville.

Until next time …

More Family Visits

We said goodbye to our son and daughter-in-law before they headed off to work and then we headed out for another visit with hubby’s mom.

Oh and guess what? It’s still raining!

After a nice visit with mom and hugs goodbye we head out to Abbotsford to meet up with hubby’s sister and brother and his wife for lunch.

She does have a nice view out her window.

It was a long drive since we ended up being detoured and stuck in traffic. Not sure what this guy did but the detour didn’t work out well for him!

The company at lunch was great but it took forever to get our food which meant hubby and I were eating fast because we had a flight to catch at the Abbotsford airport.   While we are down on the coast we decided to fly to Calgary to see our youngest son and his family who we also haven’t seen in five months. 

We can fly from Kelowna to Calgary but it is much cheaper to fly from Abbotsford and we were here anyway so it just made sense.

I took the picture below to show it was still raining but it didn’t really show how much is was raining so I wasn’t going to post it, but I almost got kicked off the plane for taking it so gosh darn it I’m going to use it!

A flight attendant later told me that Transport Canada won’t let you stop on the tarmac to take pictures but she had no idea why I got in trouble for taking pictures while I was stopped on the stairs. Oh well, lesson learned, I won’t do that again.

As we departed Abbotsford the skies began to clear and it was a great flight.

When we landed in Calgary the weather was not bad and there was no rain so we were happy.

Our son picked us up and we headed to his place for grandkid snuggles 🥰

Until next time …

More Rain

Well my morning walk was not as long as I wanted it to be but I had to give up because I was soaked through my coat and all my clothes. If I ever end up living back here I will have to buy a better rain coat!

But I do love all the flowers the spring rains produce 🙂

Our flowers at home are starting to bloom but not in the abundance they have on the coast.

We had a nice visit with hubby’s mom and then went out for lunch to Hawthorne Beer Market & Bistro in Cloverdale, BC. When hubby was young this used to be a confectionery store.

We did try a flight of four beers and there were some good ones so I’m sure we will be back.

The rest of the day was spent visiting with our son and daughter-in-law which is a nice way to spend time 😀

Until next time …

Off On Another Adventure

Just an FYI, I posted this blog, and the ones that will come in the following days, starting last Wednesday but I’m not sure what I did wrong and why they didn’t post 😦 but I think I am back on track and hopefully this one will post.

We left Maxx to look after our site and headed down to the coast to visit our oldest son and daughter-in-law and hubby’s mother. We haven’t seen either of them for five months so we are looking forward to our visit.

The weather was good and there was no snow on the Coquihalla or the Connector but we did hit rain just before Hope, BC.

Well the rain wasn’t unexpected since it is the coastal area and it is spring … and lord knows we need rain all over British Columbia to help with the drought and forest fires.

The brush grows very thick down here and I’m sure it is a lot of work to keep it from taking over the roads!

As I write this blog it is still raining and I wouldn’t mind seeing a little bit of sun but that hope isn’t looking good for our time here 😦

Until next time …

2023 – 2024 Snowbird Year Wrap Up

Well our route home this winter was one we have taken many times, through Las Vegas Nevada, Twin Falls Idaho, Wenatchee Washington. We were pushed a little faster because of a snow storm following us but all in all it was a good route with hardly any snow, so we were happy with our choice.

The city of Kelowna is waking up

Over the past five months:

We spent time in six states; Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Nevada, and Idaho.

We covered 6,859 mi (11,039 km) up slightly from 2022/2023. Our first winter away still showed the most distance, when we travelled 14,093 mi (22,663 km) from Kelowna, B.C. to Key West, Florida.

Once again our fuel prices heading home were much lower than our trip south. On the way south we averaged $5.36 USD per gallon ($1.897 CND per litre, which sadly with the recent increase in taxes on fuel in Canada is only $.10 CND per litre more than we are paying at home) and on the way north we averaged $4.021 USD per gallon ($1.423 CND per litre, which is about $.35 CND per litre less than we are paying at home). So we paid a $1.34 a gallon less heading heading home than heading south and the main reason for that was the two weeks we spent in California. This winter we spent $2,854 on fuel which was only up $291 over last year but we also travelled 909 miles more than we did in 2022/2023. 

In previous years it has always been cheaper to do our travelling in the US even with the exchange rate but the last few years it has worked out to be about the same as travelling in Canada. While fuel prices work out comparable even when you add the exchange other things are much more expensive. We have noticed that eating out costs the same in the US as it does at home in Canada but when you add the 35% exchange it makes it pretty pricey! Also food prices, other than milk, cheese, and eggs, are comparable to home but again you have to add that 35% exchange. So all in all it isn’t cheaper to travel in the US anymore 😦  Of course the warm weather during the winter will have us going back again this winter.

As usual our most expensive diesel was in California but unlike last year when it was in Oceanside this year is was in Fortuna, CA at $6.259 USD per gallon ($2.216 CND per litre). Our cheapest diesel was $3.739 USD per gallon ($1.324 CND per litre) in North Las Vegas and Wells Nevada and Jerome Idaho.

A pretty sunrise

We have enjoyed some nice sunny warm weather since we arrived home, but we have also had some chilly mornings. I spent three nights with three of our grandsons which is always fun. My sister and I attended the Jazz Festival where the youngest of the three was performing and he had three solo’s that I thought he did an awesome job on 😀 In fact his band was chosen as the outstanding band in their category and invited to play at Student Showcase Concert!

We have a few trips planned for next week so I should have something to blog about 🙂

Beautiful skies this morning but chilly!

Until next time …

A Beautiful Easter Monday

We had a beautiful, warm, sunny, day today with a high of 20C/70F. Our plan was to finish setting up our site but instead we started our day with a surprise visit from friends and that was a lot of fun.

A pretty sunrise this morning.

Once they left hubby put the light up in our gazebo and I raked leaves. We debated having a fire since we had put the fireplace up a few days ago but we decided we would just enjoy the heat from the sun.

Jose came home with us and has chosen a spot near the gazebo and a big planter. I think he, and I, are both looking forward to pretty flowers filling that pot 😀

The birds are having a good time at the feeders but they keep knocking on Maxx’s windows and are driving us nuts! We think they see their reflection and think it’s another bird … maybe it’s mating season.

Our next few days will be filled with appointments and catching up with friends at our two coffee groups, yes it’s nice to be home!

Until next time …

Happy Easter

We wish you all a very Happy Easter and hope you are enjoying your day. Normally we attend mass with our daughter and her family but they are all sick so it was just hubby and I. Instead of going to their church we went to the church our middle son was baptized in.

It was beautiful day and the flowers along the side of the church are all starting to bloom, along with the magnolia trees.

Yes spring is definitely in the air 🙂

Until next time …

And We Are Home 😄

The weather wasn’t great when we left Wenatchee, WA but it wasn’t raining and I still had my flip flops on.

We had a very easy border crossing, drove right up with no wait. The only different question was did we have any weapon parts, that is new. We have been asked about weapons before but never parts. Anyway we didn’t have any 😀 so we were quickly on our way. As soon as we crossed the border the sun came out!

Okay to be fair maybe the clouds were clearing on the US side and I just didn’t notice it but it was definitely sunnier and warmer in Canada. But also some not so good signs … is this a new forest fire?

I did call the forest fire reporting line but ended up on hold for twenty minutes and then I lost cell service briefly and got cut off. I haven’t seen any reports of a new forest fire so I guess everything was okay.

We are now all set up at the park … well not all set up, we will do most of that work today.

Until next time …