The Week That Was!

Scene taken on the south side of Mud Bay in Crescent Beach - looking towards the north shore mountains.

Well this week was similar to the last one.....a very busy time indeed.  For some reason or other, it seems as though time is flying right by.

This week saw Jeanette host a group of RN's for the monthly games night.  Although retired, Jeanette does the occasional 'on call' surgical nursing duty and keeps in touch with all of her colleagues and ex colleagues. For years, these RN's have been getting together for a monthly games night.

A special treat for those nurses who celebrated a June birthday. Jeanette prepared this cup cake concoction. (Note the alliteration)

The June birthday girls:  Cynthia, Eunice, Lorraine and Sue.

Candles were lit and, with four deep breaths, they were quickly extinguished.  Because I too celebrated a June birthday, I was included in the photo.

Following some yummy finger foods, and with furniture somewhat rearranged, these girls began their games night. 

I moved up to my office on the second floor but I could not help but smile when the hearty laughter began in earnest  around the games table.  These girls were definitely having a great time.

The party lasted well into the night....which means they shut things down and headed for home at about 10:30 pm

With a another fun games night on the record, plans are underway for the next gathering.

I was busy with all sorts of things during the week - including some golf, a long motorcycle ride and an easy Sunday spent watching a bit of golf on TV, reading, writing this blog and getting ready for visitors this Monday.

We are also preparing for a really funky motorcycle ride involving 10 BC Ferries rides.  We leave mid-week for that journey.  More on that in the days ahead.

At the ready for an early morning Tee off @ Peace Portal Golf Course - built in the late 1920's.  It is located on the Canadian side of the Canada/USA border - next to the Peace Arch border crossing - ocean side.

The first Tee.

(L-R  John, Rick, Al)  Rick was the overall winner - with a really good round of golf.

Following our round I took this photo off the green on the 18th hole.  It was a great Canada Day round of golf.  What was even better is how we managed to celebrate our 144th birthday without a crush of,or noisy people waving flags and hooting it up.  We're not opposed to that, by the way, 'au  contraire', we were just as happy enjoying a lovely surrounding in the peace and quiet of trees, birds, the occasion yelling of "FORE" (for the non-golfer, FORE means to duck because a ball is on its way to you), and the odd hurray for a ball well struck.

It is sad to see these pine trees in distress.

It was back home for a shower and change of clothes to ready for a dinner out with friends @ Crescent Beach.

Group shot @ the Beecher Street Cafe, Crescent Beach

 We had been invited to join our long time friends for dinner with their son and daughter in law who had flown in from Edmonton, Alberta, for a weekend wedding.  Our kids grew up together.  It was nice to see them both.  The interesting part of this story is that our kids and their kids chum around, when possible, in Edmonton, Alberta.  How nice that is!

An after dinner stroll on the beach was a fitting end to a great Canada Day.

Our friends, Lorne and Marriette, bought dinner.  Thanks guys....dinner was really good!   The company was even better.

One of the lovely gardens along our Crescent Beach walk.

On Saturday, Jeanette and I rode the motorcycle to Seattle, WA, in search of a truck that our son in law had found on the internet.  Trevor and our daughter Ginette live in Edmonton, Alberta, and, with Seattle only a two hour ride away from our home, we were happy to find a great excuse for a ride south of the 49th parallel.

Approaching downtown Seattle - on I-5

We quickly found the Ford dealership Trevor had identified.  He is a fussy Ford aficionado.  Only a certain truck would meet his fancy.  He is not a fan of chrome, wanted a fully loaded package- every conceivable option on his wish list - with heated seats (our daughter's only requirement) the largest Ford V-8 engine available - trailer tow package - FX 4X4 - wide profile tires.....and,... well...you get the drift.  What he had wanted was available at this Seattle dealership.

Oh yes, it had be a centre console shifter, with on dash goodies to satisfy an oil Barron, etc.

This is the truck....and what a beauty.

So, this being a true Trevor type truck (notice another alliteration), Jeanette and I took it for a test drive, checked out all the bells and whistles, did the man thing and crawled all over it and underneath it.  That is always fun.  Jeanette got into the act too.  She was crawling all over this truck.

We called Trevor to let him know that we were sitting in it and that it was true to the Ford dealer's internet info.  He was thrilled (and we also know that he really wished he was there to test drive, crawl around, negotiate and seal the deal).

Awesome looking truck, I dare say! Oh yes, one more major criteria!... the truck had to be a long box!  It is!

Yep, these seats are heated.  Ginette's criteria had been fulfilled.

So...Jeanette and I began the 'sales/purchase chicken dance', as I like to call it.  We played the back and forth game and called Trevor twice to let him know how far we had advanced in the 'sales dance'.  In the end - after some more tugging and pushing, we (Trevor and Ginette too) were happy with the 'agreed to price'.  The deal was written up, deposit left behind, paper work completed and the dealer will now conform to the required paper work required to 'export' the truck into Canada and to permit us to 'import' the truck into Canada.  This is not a complex process but there is a system that must be carefully followed to satisfy both the  US and Canadian customs.

With the deal behind us, Jeanette and I began our ride back home.  We could not believe the craziness that became a 4.5 hour ride back home.  The normal ride is 2 hours.  I-5 was packed to the gills with vehicles seemingly going nowhere fast or somewhere, very slowly.  We have witnessed grid lock but this was Saturday - long weekend - Canada Day/July 4th - total craziness.  About 30 minutes north of Seattle, the traffic was stopped dead.  That's five lanes of metal on rubber, with nowhere to move.  We still do not know why but, from our read, it was simply caused by far too many vehicles trying to get somewhere.  It was vehicle Armageddon.  Unimaginable volume!  Once the traffic started moving again, we had to stop every 1/2 mile or so.  This went on for about 40 minutes then all heck broke loose and we were back to speeds of 70+ mph.  Only 10 minutes later, it was back to a dead stop.  We simply tired of this and, because we know the back roads quite well in the Pacific Northwest of Washington State, we headed east on one off ramp and cruised east looking for parallel highway 9.  Once found, we headed north through beautiful hills, mountains and prairie.  Traffic was light and we were able to relax in the ride without the crazy stop/start that was the I-5 experience.

I seriously could not fathom doing the crazy grid lock Seattle rush hour during the regular work week.  We have experienced that rush hour many times....and it is not for the faint of heart.  Imagine that grid lock during the wet and dark winter mornings and evenings.  But, I digress!

Booting off I-5 for Highway 9 north.

Other than the experience above, it was a good day - certainly for Trevor and Ginette - and Jeanette and I enjoyed an irregular ride to a large metropolitan city.  We generally avoid grid lock and large cities on our motorcycle rides.  We much prefer pastoral country settings.  We were thrilled to be the eyes and ears - negotiators and arm wrestlers - for our kids on their truck purchase though.

Our view - northbound on Highway 9. 

So, that was the week that was!  It was a good one, and we trust yours was too.

A brief but warm thought for a blog follower and RV aficionado from southern Alberta.  We understand from Tin TeePee/Log Cabin  that John, from  John & Brenda's Incredible Journey  lost a brother recently.  Our most sincere sympathies to you and your family.

Thanks for dropping by.