Mary's 60th

Mary turned 60 this week and we had celebrations and surprises for her during several days. Sue put up nice things in our backyard, the different presents and today a family lunch at Sue & Ralph. The last surprise was a fantastic photo video produced by Hilary with input from everybody....

And great effort was also given by Mark (with assistance of Carly) with the renovation of stairs to the side entry and basement with left-over hardwood floor pieces and floor tiles....

Last stop: Vancouver

After all the driving from east to west in the USA, Mary takes it easy at Val's place. Hilary picked her up there for two last nights in North Vancouver where Poncho welcomed Mary also...

And some sightseeing also with Shayd during the last full day in Vancouver. Homebound tomorrow...

Seattle reached

Liz and Mary reached the Pacific Coast near Portland, where Mary got a bit worried reading tsunami warning signs. But they had a few nice days along the coast making their way to the road trip's final destination of Seattle (where Liz and Graham live).

In Seattle Liz took Mary for a visit to a large salmon hatchery and for a swim at their club. Afterwards they drove to Tsawassen (just south of Vancouver) to stay a day with their old pal Val. Hilary will pick her mother up there for a short stay in North Vancouver before Mary flies back home. An improved deck is waiting here for Mary as her 60th birthday gift from Hilary, Shayd, Mark and Carly....

Mary's travels continued

After a nice stop along a lake in Utah, Liz and Mary continued through the states of Utah and Idaho. There were beautiful landscapes but also signs of the drought as well as wildfires in those states.

And today they entered the state of Oregon, where they will stay at a place along the Pacific Ocean. The road they use is on a line halfway the North Pole and the Equator....

Handy team Mark & Carly

This weekend Mark and Carly came over to renovate our stairs to the side entrance with left-over hard wood flooring. The garage became an impromptu workshop...

They did this last year in their own house together with an experienced person. Mark bought the required sawing machinery and wanted to "share the love" (for his mother's 60th). After the first day the "work in progress" looked like this...

And at the end, the final product is a beautiful upgrade of our house..... At a future moment, they will come to do some tiling of the bottom part.

 

1 km open water swim

Today I did another "first". While I have been swimming 1 km regularly in the YMCA pool, this morning I swam that distance in an open water organized event (others race distances were 2.5 km, 5 km and 10 km). It was tougher than expected after a few practice swims in the Welland Flatwater Center, but with a combination of freestyle and breaststroke, I completed the distance.

Mary's US road trip

After a few days in Nashville, the road trip continued through several States. The past two days Colorado and Utah. During the drive through the Colorado mountains, they made a stop to enjoy some hot springs.

And just one of the many pics Mary shared from the endless scenery of Colorado and Utah along the roads.... They made stops to visit an underground lead mine and a huge dinosaur historic park with well preserved fossils of more than 100 million years ago....

Bert turns 80

Big birthday bash in Holland: Bert's 80th. Celebrated in the company of two of his old high school friends (with whom they still go camping each year in the south of France) and their three kids Monique, Sascha and Berrie (plus each of them bringing their three children). Han was not able to be there because she had an operation on her back and needs to revalidate during six weeks. But hopefully we can go together to Ger's 78th birthday on October 15....

Mary's travels

Mary has good sleeps so far in the luxury trailer (Winnabago) of Liz & Graham. Counting three sleeps in the camper equipped with air-conditioning as heating. The first night was in a small rural camping ground with a "Hillbilly" pool......

Two days in downtown Nashville while at a KOA camping with all the luxuries and millions of dollars worth of luxury campers. A shuttle bus brought Mary and Liz each day to the heart of country music.

After the short stay in Nashville the trek goes truly west (north-west).....

Fonthill to Seattle

Mary started her road trip to Seattle. With her old windsurfing friend Liz, she will drive during 11-12 days all the way across the US to Seattle. Liz and her husband Graham bought a nice camper and truck last year, which they drove this summer to Ontario from Seattle where they live.

Together they drove to Pittsburgh where Liz and Graham's daughter is studying. Graham will fly back to Seattle from there to get back to work. Liz and Mary will first drive to Nashville to visit and then move north-west towards Seattle. Hilary will pick up Mary there to spend a few days in Vancouver to then fly back to Hamilton. A great road adventure started off this Friday....