People in time

Mary and I had the good fortune to be together with Hilary, Shayd, Carly and Mark this past Fathers Day. Hilary and Shayd were over from Vancouver for five days. We also toasted on the recent engagement of Mark and Carly. After the lunch we made a short walk along Lake Ontario. Meanwhile in Holland my niece Sascha "finally" decided to get married with Joost, her partner with whom she raised their three kids ages 22, 20 and 18. At the photo together with her parents Ger en Bert + older sister Monique and younger brother Berry.

And Fiona had a nice graduation day with her proud parents Susan and Ralph at the University of Guelph. Time marches on.....

Memories

One of my old university friends from Holland was visiting New York and hopped over to Toronto for a few days. Throughout the past 50 years we had fun together as students (especially at the hockey field and along European ski slopes), met up frequently when he lived in NY, Sao Paulo and Amsterdam, and ended up now being two chilled older guys reflecting on life (he even as a grandparent). Age had booked a nice modern style hotel in Toronto which featured old music turntable and vinyl records in the rooms! The second night he was our guest in Niagara.

Old memories put to new life again also on the clay tennis courts during the past few weeks. It has been 50 years when I did that sport last and yes, it still comes back but with super sore leg muscles after two hours of playing once a week. But hey, it worth trying to stay fit and it is a nice group of people at the Welland Tennis Club.

Almost 30 years ago we landed ourselves in the Niagara Region and while cleaning up old paperwork and photos, the above pic has been a favorite (about1998-1999). A few years later (2003-2004) I was in Maputo (Mozambique) a few days with my niece Monique (who then worked two years in Malawi).

Around that same time, I was once able to have my father meet with my father-in-law in Zeist (Holland) where another university friend managed Hotel FIGI. Was fun to do that.....

Carly & Mark engaged

Big news today: Mark asked Carly to marry with him.... wow.... And a happy momma shares the news with her Dad....

Quiet rest of April

There was of course the once in so many years eclipse of the sun by the moon. Apparently specially in our region almost 100% and only to be watched with special glasses. Mary got her Dad one pair of the glasses which made him look real cool....

Opa also had a visit from Holland by the son of one of his older sisters. Opa is the last one standing of the nine siblings in his family. Still going pretty strong for 94....

I try to keep myself as fit as possible with once or twice a week two hours of pickleball, weekly 1 km swims in the YMCA, lots of walks and once or twice a week exercises, stretches and sauna in our little basement gym. Also enjoying the activities with a bridge group (every Friday morning) and a group of retired folks in our town organized in PROBUS. With some of them we meet every Tuesday in the local community center.

During the history course I audited at Brock this winter, I met an exchange student from Denmark. He mentioned that he was buying a car to drive out West once the courses were completed. I offered him the bed I made for such a drive out West a few years ago. And so did this contraption get a second use with this young fellow, even though he had to make a few adjustments on it....

Train ride from Vancouver to Toronto

After the drive back and forth a few years ago, I thought this time it would be fun to take the Via Rail from Vancouver to Toronto: four days and four nights. It was a good experience of "slow travel". The route goes via Jasper, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg and various stops at smaller towns.

Our train before departing from Vancouver station. The seat was with a berth. During the day it was a regular seat and in the evening the steward made up lower and upper beds. I had an upper bed which was comfortable despite the getting down and up during the night for bathroom breaks....

Breakfast, lunch and dinner were included in the price, and the meals were excellent quality. Each meal a steward seated me with different fellow travelers which was a nice way to meet a variety of fellow passengers. One of the train cars was for activities (card and board games available) with a hostess who also offered a beer tasting one evening and a wine tasting another evening.

The two dome cars offered 360 around view which was especially nice during the Rocky Mountains. One of the dome cars also had a bar and a relaxed seating area where I spend many hours reading.

This photo is from the brochure but it gives a good impression from the route through the Rocky Mountains. Below a number of the views along the route...

A frozen waterfall near the town of Jasper which is located in Jasper National Park. The train made a stop in Jasper during which we were able to stretch our legs with a walk in town.

The views from the train afterwards of Jasper Park were beautiful but I can never capture them well with my simple phone. Just a few pics....

And from Edmonton on it was a day and half of views over the endless Prairies followed by a day and half of views of northwest Ontario (still with quite a bit of snow on the ground). A very nice trip....

Another visit to Vancouver

Another visit to our daughter Hilary to join her during her 32nd birthday. We had a nice week together with a few nice dinners out as well as a few excellent home cooked meals, a look out visit at Cyprus Village, a camp fire along a river near Squamish and a good uphill walk in Deep Cove. Cyprus Village is a new building development with a beautiful view over Vancouver and its bay...

One of the meals Shayd was sweating over was homemade fish and chips. A first which worked out well. In Squamish Hilary and I had a huge sandwich after the stiff uphill walk which showed at my health app some 58 stairs....

The view after the walk was certainly worth it. It was Good Friday and we were not the only hikers that day. Busy foot traffic on the way up and the way down...

A different view was near Squamish in a nice little beach along the river. Shayd and Hilary made a fire and brought lots of snacks. It was a lovely afternoon...

I visited with Kelly, a friend from the years with MSF. Her husband Ben was my first hire when setting up MSF Canada in 1991. Ben was for work in South East Asia, but it was great catching up with Kelly, who made a meal from a special "no recipe recipes cookbook". I need to get that one....