We’ve been home for two weeks now – all the cases have been put back into their black bags
and are tucked up neatly out in the garage waiting for their next outing
I even started to do a tidy up
But then got diverted –
Looks like I’ll have to come back another day to finish that job
So – lets think about other things.
The weather varied between beautiful hot days
like this one in Calgary where one day the temperature
at a bus stop near Whitehorn Ctrain station was 27c/81f
To freezing cold with nasty wind to go with it
like the day we took the Western Brook Pond boat trip
The other day I made mention that while we were away we had Good Times and Sad Times – Take the Good with Bad times – it certainly applied to our 7 weeks of travel during August and September. The trip could also have been described like a movie title ‘Two Hurricanes A Birthday and a Funeral’; we experienced all of those.
We began with a couple of days in Vancouver then sailed up the Inland Passage on a cruise ship to Alaska. Great fun and the weather was so much better (read drier) than last time. Will write about that another day
Then across country to the Annapolis Valley and time with family
and Guess What?
Sixth time lucky – I actually got to see water in Hall’s Harbour lol
Dh’s Aunt had her 87th birthday and for the first time in 2 years had all her children together in the same room, the funeral (of a beautiful lady we knew well, mother in law of one of dh’s cousins)was a couple of days after arriving in Nova Scotia and the hurricanes followed not long after – Earl and Igor paid the east coast a visit and did loads of damage both near Halifax and in Newfoundland.
We, but not the rellies missed out on Earl as we sailed for Newfoundland earlier than intended and we, but not friends on the island missed out on Igor as we came back to the mainland a day before Igor hit.
Of course the real highlight of this trip was our time in Newfoundland – I have never felt so comfortable in a place as I did the whole of the 2 weeks we travelled around this fantastic province. A much larger province than I imagined – one main road that goes on for ever – beautiful friendly down to earth people with a language all of their own. Where else in the world is a lake called a pond and a small piece of water between two pieces of land called a Tickle lol
There for all to see were – Trees – Mountains – Fishing Villages and Fishing Boats – Roadside Gardens, the Hilly Streets and Coloured Houses of old St Johns, there was plain simpleFood and of course Lighthouses and Water
I was a little nervous to begin with about being 14 days in a car (not a big one either) with 2 others as well as Dh – thats where the ‘Take the good with the bad times’ comes in. Boy did we see the ‘other’ side and learn a lot about each other lol
For instance there were two men in the car who hogged the front seats which meant my head (and Bonnie’s, my back seat companion) was constantly turning right and left and peering through the front seats trying to get good views of the passing scenery – not what either of us was used to. Bonnie put her foot down one day and we did sit in the front for a few hours but you could feel and almost hear the sulking from the back seats – not what the men were used to either lol
Get the picture?
I did sometimes but not all the time lol
A sad time came towards the end of our trip when we arrived in Calgary to the news that dh’s longstanding airforce friend had been diagnosed with an agressive cancer so our days there were spent at the hospital – the men had long chats whilst I visited his wife (friends for years). As well as being outside and enjoying some late summer/early autumn well appreciated sunshine, walking round the hospital grounds gave her a fresh face to talk to. He’d had back and leg pain for a while but didn’t have it checked out until early September – to begin with his GP was treating him for Sciatica but an MRI scan proved otherwise.
There was a ‘nasty’ tumour at the base of his spine along with secondaries in his lungs and skeletal system. Not nice eh – given several weeks to live without treatment but an unknown time with he chose to have several ’rounds’ of chemo and is now starting radiation treatment. He said, I can’t lie here waiting to die – I’ve chosen to do something and hope for the best.
Think I’d best stop for now, will be back another day
Still Waters 
