The New Westminster Reunion!!! Yvonne and Sarah finally got together again. Their third muskateer, Willem was over on Sunday too, so they all got to play. They are awesome together and had tons of fun. It was hard to pull them apart, but we did it. Top picture is Sarah's "new" brother Riley - what a cutie-pie. Somehow I forgot to take a picture of Willem's new brother Seth, we'll catch him next time.

We were driving towards the #1 highway the first time the phone rang on Sunday with Sarah badgering Auntie Carmen about what time Yvonne was going to get there. We managed to get ourselves setup just before Sarah arrived at our place for a swim before we got the whole gang together at Carmen and Wayne's. They put on a huge spread and we all enjoyed chatting and catching up on all that everyone has been up to.

We were lucky to sponge another dinner off them last night too. The girls got to play just by themselves and are starting to learn how to put a few things away before destroying Sarah's entire bedroom.

Saturday, March 24th

Debbie, Lana and Yvonne
Debbie and Leslie

Michelle and Leslie

Courtney, Yvonne and Danielle

Well, what a busy day we had. We started our day at Debbie's place and got to catch up on all the action of the last year. She's looking great, healthy and happy - love the slim new you!!!

We were lucky to get to see Lana for a while, but Mercedes was out. I can't believe I saw Lana the day she was born. We're getting old, but still looking good!

We followed up with dinner at my partner, Michelle's place. Although we're in daily contact, it's amazing how much we had to tell each other and our time zipped past. Michelle and Vito's daughters Courtney and Danielle were their usual hospitable selves. They kept Yvonne busy with polly pockets and their Build-a-Bear's. Yvonne had a great time and didn't want to leave.

Friday, March 23th:

We got through the truck crossing border in record time. There were only a few cars in the lineup and we only were asked how long we'd been gone and how much in value we were bringing back. No grilling, we were just welcomed home and off we went. We dropped the rig right at the RV park at the border and made a hasty departure to go visit Poppa and Grandma. They were so excited to see their little girl again. We had a great lunch and visited through the afternoon and topped it off with a fish & chips / sushi dinner. Our day zoomed right past us and we are happy to report that both grandparents are happy and healthy the way we left them.

Thursday - March 22nd:

We were so surprised by a big Point Roberts reunion at Margie and Ron's house. Ron did his famous deep-fried turkey (FABULOUS, as usual) and Margie made everything you can imagine to go with it. They surprised us by getting Ben, Lynn with Kelly and Jeremy to come down from Point Roberts. When Yvonne say Kelly getting out of the car she started to squeel. They've spent many a day playing at the beach. Both kids have grown so much it's amazing. We were also surprised to have fellow Point friends, Stan and Cassie show up. They of course, being grown ups haven't changed a bit!!!! We had a great time swapping stories and stuffing us full of delicious goodies. THANKS GUYS

View of Bend, Oregon from Pilot Butte
It was CCCCold up there!!!

The Columbia River Gorge

We sadly left John, Lila, Marina and Inga at Eagle Crest Resort yesterday. We all had such a great time together, I think we've found our permanent travelling budies!!

On Tuesday, we went to Pilot Butte for a hike up the hill. It was windy and so cold, but we all made it to the top. Including the winer child, Yvonne, who seem to know just how to get a ride on Uncle John's shoulders. The view from the top was well worth it. We could see 360 degrees. Unfortunately, the clouds hid a bit of the majestic snow-capped Sisters mountains, but we got a great view of the eastern mountains. All of the mountains here are volcanic and are cone shaped. Can you imagine being in this area 20 Million years ago! In the last few days, we've travelled over and around many of the volcanic mountains that are part of the Pacific Ocean's "Ring of Fire". It's been a beautiful drive.

Yesterday, we drove straight north out of Bend until we hit the Columbia River, then west into Portland. We've always wanted to drive along the Columbia River and are very glad we went this route. It is so pretty. We will have to return one day to explore it.

We are currently in Centralia, WA and will be in Bellingham today to visit Ron and Marg Haling for a deep-fried turkey feast before waddling across the border tomorrow.

The High Desert Museum in Bend was our destination today. It was a fantastic museum with various different displays. One area was about the Native Indian populations and how they survived through the high desert area. We went on an interesting tour that depicted 100 years of history in this area through different dioramas. We got to see a screech owl presentation (picture above). They are so tiny - only about 5-6 inches high. We also saw an otter show to end our day. The girls really loved a room they called the "cave room" where they could play with puppets and crawl in a rock cave.

We have possible snow forecast today, but so far it is only a bit of sprinkly rain. We're having a lovely time with these guys. Yvonne and Marina have picked up where they left off and are busy with each other all day long so us adults are getting lots of visiting, walking and craft time. We've been working on spiral beaded bracelettes.

Take care everyone and see y'all at home very, very soon.

Our First Family Contact!!!!! We're at Eagle Crest Resort in Oregon, which is half way between Bend and Redmond. John, Lila, Marina and Inga are our first family contact since Sudbury last June. Yvonne was speachless for about 10 seconds and then hauled Marina off to play the second she got here. We think Yvonne was starting to see the holes in our "little white lies" we had to tell her to keep her from knowing that Marina was coming. The condo is great. We are all looking around it thinking it's cozy enough to live in. We are on one of the three golf courses here. We've spent time walking and swimming and generally relaxing since the kids are busy catching up. The weather has been a lovely mid-60's for us and nice and sunny. There are miles of paved bike trails, so the walking is great here. We have a few more days here to visit and play before heading the rest of the way north.

Mount Shasta is quite a magnificent sight. We spent the morning travelling through the mountain range that divides California from Oregon. We were up to 5,000 ft and there was some snow on the ground left over from the plowing mounds at the rest area. We are now in Klamath Falls, Oregon and relaxing before we head to Bend to meet John, Lila and Marina at Eagle Crest Resort. We told Yvonne today that we'll be staying in a hotel tomorrow. She's so excited and going about packing her things. Just wait until she sees Marina!!!!!

Redding, California was our last stop in California. We really like this little city and stop for a few days each time we go past it. We spent the day on Wednesday at the Turtle Bay Exploration Park. We took our bikes this time and got to ride along the bike paths that follow the Sacramento River. The weather was fantastic and there were signs of spring everywhere. You can see the nice blossoms on the flowering crabapple tree above. All the fruit trees are blooming through central and north California. We were just in time to see a barn owl presentation at the Paul Bunyan centre which was interesting. Did you know that their entire face acts as an ear. They only have holes in their head to receive the sound and the feathers on their face funnel the sound into the holes.

Bye, Bye, Desert Hot Springs. Well everyone, this was the last big stop on our journey. We have the next 10 days to get home with a short stop in Oregon planned next weekend.
Thanks for all the fun we've had to all the people we've met along the way. See y'all again.

Two weeks at Desert Pools have been filled with lovely lazy days at the pool and playing. This weekend, Yvonne has been meeting kids at the pool. There's quite a few families that come and visit grandparents on the weekends. Yvonne really likes to play mini-golf, but she cheats. We've met many nice people - some we've run into in numerous parks. This has been the greatest way to end this epic journey. We are rested and tanned and ready to head north.

I got up this am and went for a walk in the desert. As you can see there are a lot of narly cactii here and in a couple of weeks from now they ae going to be in bloom. We are going to miss that part. It has been fair warm here. 90f today so there were lot of ppl in the pool. About noon it clouded up and the pool emptied out. Strange. We had the pool along with a few other folks to ourselves. It is supposed to cool down into the 80's for the rest of the week and 90's by the weekend. You can tell the locals from the rest of us. If it is in the mid to high 70's you cannot get a chair by the pool. If it is below 70 or over 85f they all sit in their Rv's with the heaters or the ac going. Freaks. Northerners have the facilities to themselves. Wahoo.

I am sure going to hate leaving this area. I love the desert. Warm, dry and no bugs. When you are walking in it you can feel the heat coming up from the sand below you. It is a weird feeling. All these resorts close down at the end of April and open up Oct 1st. 2dam hot. We are here till Monday and then we are heading north. There are some surprises for us in Oregon which we shall report on later. I have been playing water volley ball and some of those muscles I haven't used in awhile can attest to that. Hope you are all well. See you in 2 wks. Jim

Joshua Tree National Park was on the agenda today. 6 years ago Lesliie and I did the south tour of this park but the north end is very spectacular. You can see the constant variations in topography as your drive the loop. Yvonne got another Jr. Ranger badge which keeps her busy and we learn about the area helping her along the way. It was cool up there and we gained 16 degrees from the time we left JTNP and returned to Desert Pools.

Wind power is a big deal down here and the picture shows very few of the wind generators they have here. The top picture is in hidden valley and we took the mile walk through there and it was a pretty nice walk. It amazes us at how much wildlife really lives in the desert, even during the summer but they wildlife is not as visible because of the heat. They figure it is going to be less so this year as they have only received .6 inches of rain this year. They normally get 4" so the berries and seeds are not going to be abundant this year. This area missed all the snow and rain this winter. Cheers everyone. Jim

Volleyball at Desert Pools. Jim joined into the volleyball game today. They spent an hour and a half playing. You can hear the cheering and laughing all over the park. They have a great time. Yvonne and I went over after doing a bit of painting and Yvonne was the ball retriever for a while. Jim's legs are nice and sore today, so it's exercise too. We enjoyed our first full day here. Jim and Yvonne had a nice game of mini-golf and we got to spend hours in the pool and hot tubs. The last picture is the view through the trees to the mini golf course. The mountains are dusted with a wee bit of snow, which is not that often an occurence.

The Salton Sea on the way to Palm Springs is surrounded by lovely lush agricultural land. This picture is of a huge vinyard. We also saw crops of palm trees. We can just imagine they are continually being grown to replace those on the LA boulevards. The drive up was pretty and non-eventful (aka: perfect). It was very windy, but the 5th wheel just cuts through it like nothing.

Desert Pools RV resort is what I'd rank as our #1 spot we've hit in the entire trip. It is so pretty. We are surrounded by the desert mountains and trees all through the park. They have natural hot springs feeding into the three hot tubs and big pool. Each hot tub is kept at different temperatures with the coolest one at 96F. Kids are allowed in this one, so we got to spend a good time in there yesterday. They keep the pool very warm and it's a solid shallow end throughout, so each day they play water volleyball. Jim plans to join in this morning.

The wind has stopped and the sun is out, so we are happy and soaking in these last few days of this exciting adventure.