March 31, 2023

This is the busiest park we have ever been in. There is always something happening besides the usual daily or weekly events.... This month was our Luau with sweet and sour pork as the main entree. This was hosted by Dee and her group. The first 50 people in the door got Leid...lol.... and we had entertainment by our line dancers.

Angus and Rolande gettin green!

Then there was St. Patricks Day, beginning with a parade, then tea (beer) in the Rose Garden where we voted for the best entries. Also a baked goods competition where you have never seen so many green pastries and cakes and wanted to eat them all!!  

And that is not all.... the evening presented us with a full course Corned Beef dinner, complete with potatoes, carrots, cabbage... and deserts of all the award winning deserts from the afternoon. Just way too much fun!!

Tony and Marta
 the eldest couple in our park

friends Donna and Terry
decorated their bikes

the Motley Crew
l to r front:  myself, Tina, Rolande
l to r back: Donna, Chris

February 28, 2023

 

February was paving in the park.. A small group of men get together, led by Ken McAllister, rent the machine, buy the tar and spend a few days filling in all the cracks in our roads in the park. Its hard and tiring work, and certainly not for the feint of heart!! But, so far, its saved having to hire out at get the whole park re-paved!

Still lots happening in the park... Ladies Birthday Luncheon on the 10th, Super Bowl Party on the 12th, although we did not attend. Fish Derby on the 19th, with fish tacos for dinner afterwards. Many in attendance for this... its a favorite for us all! Bunco at Noon on the 16th, Appreciation Dinner for all the volunteers hosted by the Board and the Activities Committee... beef dip for dinner..... yummy!!

Myself, Estelle and Phyllis.

My cousins Phyllis Menard and Estelle Niven were in Palm Springs on a bus tour in Mid February so I was pleased as can be that their schedule was not too busy and we could get together. We do not see each other very often, so we must take advantage of every opportunity to visit. 

We enjoyed pizza from Bobs Pizza in downtown Palm Springs. 

January 31, 2023

Happy New Year to all!

We all survived the New Years Eve Dance, although some of us partied a little longer than others.  New Years morning was clean up, then breakfast by Dee...

January was a month of new beginnings, at least for our park model it was.... bought new furniture...hung new living room curtains....that is always exciting!

The last Saturday of January is our Annual Street Fair, so everyone is usually busy running around and preparing for this BIG event! From 7 am until 1 pm the park is busy, busy, busy...people come from all over to take part in the festivities.

We have breakfast from 7 until 9, and music, supplied by Matt Jenkins this year again, starting first thing. There are vendors selling their wares, a huge bake sale, a raffle with upwards of 30 draws, the largest Garage Sale you've ever seen (this is where my old furniture ended up), BBQ burgers start at 9:30 and go until lunch. In the span of 5 1/2 to 6 hours thousands of people come through. 

I had a table in the Club House for my sculptures, and there were tables outside too. 

It is our largest fund raiser, and just about everyone living here gets involved in one way or another....setting up, taking down, cooking, selling... something for everyone!!

December 31, 2022

Things that happened in December:

Michel and Angus raised a new flag on Flag Mountain. The old flag was ripped to shreds. It was however, a US flag and this one.... as you can see... is both!!

Hiking is still high on the priority list for Michel and there are a few new recruits in the park to go along. 

Roger and Marie, from Scotch Creek, BC are parked in their 45 foot motorhome, in the lot next to us. Great couple! Younger than we are, he just retired at 64... but that being said, he has all kinds of energy. Michel sees him as a God send... The shed project, ongoing throughout the month... more on that later in this post.

The Ladies Birthday Luncheon was well attended. 

l to r:  Wendy, Shirley, Barb, Dee

There were 25 ladies. Fun was had by all.

l to r: clockwise: Liz, Char, Tina, Donna, Myself, Renae, Kay, Chris.

l to r clockwise: Lisa, Sharon, Marta, Candy, Marilyn, Lynn

l to r clockwise: Karen, Dorothy, Marion, Peggy

l to r: Anne, Liz, Rolande

Of course, the usual things happen in a month at Rainbow Spa... Bunco, Snowflake dance, paint and sip, happy hours.....

I attended the Caliente Hot Springs Christmas Art and Craft Fair. It was quite late in December, the 17th, and sales were poor for everyone in attendance. But I displayed my wares and hung in for the required 4 hours....I did sell one sculpture, so all was not lost.

Then comes the shed project, the ongoing project throughout the month of December. The big decision was: do we buy a new one... or does Michel raise the old one using cinder blocks.(you can see the old shed in the last post)

Here's where Roger comes in... He says: "If it were mine, I would raise it, but I'd go up by two cinder blocks not just one, and put in a real door. So the project began. And Roger was here everyday to help Michel do this job. 

They (4 guys helped) move the shed forward, then they laid a new floor of paver tiles, then laid out the cinder blocks (two high). These blocks are all cemented in place, and then with the help of a couple guys they picked up the shed and cemented it into place on top of the cinder blocks. (picture taken right after it was placed on top of the cinder blocks)

Next came the door... Michel was on the lookout for a glass slider, but ended up buying one from Home Depot. He wanted to get the job complete before Roger left on January 1st. 

Pretty skookum looking shed.... no more bonkin' the head going in or out because he forgot to duck!!

l to r clockwise:  Rich, Marilyn, Roger, Jeff, Marie, Tina, Myself, Cathy. 

Christmas morning we had mimosas outside on our new patio. We were joined by Rich and Tina and Roger and Marie and Cathy and Jeff... even Marilyn stopped by for a sip. 

 

New Years Eve was our big dance.

Matt Jenkins played from 9 pm until 12:30 am.

We all had fun, rang in the new year with champagne

Here is a nice picture of a wonderful couple. I know I didn't talk of Marie, like it was all about Roger, but we did spend time with the two of them, had happy hours together and got together quite often. We made plans to get together this summer. So until we meet again, happy trails and safe travels as you make your way down to Melaque Mexico....

And one of us.....

November 30, 2022

We left home early this year to close the deal on our new park model. After spending one night in Boise, Idaho 

and 2 nights in Vegas,

we arrived at Rainbow Spa on the 19th of October. As it turned out, it took a little longer to get title, but all that being said we were at the DMV on November 4th to register the Park Model in our names. 

We stayed very busy all through November, especially Michel, who was super busy making our new yard look nice. First thing he did was pull out all the Oleander trees that were surrounding our property. He didn't do this alone, he hired a landscaper to help. Eli and his son do a bit of work around the park and were recommended. The day of though, there was just Eli and Michel. Eli in his truck, and Michel tying a huge chain around each tree for Eli to pull out. It was scary, but it got done. No pictures. Crazy as it was, I never even thought of snapping a photo!!

I think you can see the Oleanders in these two photos.... There were 9 big trees that ran up the left side of the property... then there were 5 that were behind the shed. Michel removed them himself.  It was enough to pay for the 9.... That little brown fence that you see...was the first thing to go...

Paving tiles were the next project. The ones that created the sidewalk needed to be lifted, leveled and relayed. So, because the old ones were so faded, the new ones so red... we went with a checker board. Many, many pavers layed....

September 30, 2022

Suzi is scheduled to get into the body shop for repairs, but for some reason the shops are all so busy we won't be able to get it done until spring.

But, in the mean time we took a trip to Kelowna in June in search of a new car. Without the RV, we require some decent wheels to be driving down to California in the fall. Buying a new car was like pulling teeth. At first we were in search of a GOOD used vehicle 2019 or newer... and not black !! We checked every dealer in Kelowna, but this was not going to happen. And ordering a new car was another story. 8 month waiting list for most. The KIA dealer had a new car that we test drove. It was okay. The last place we went was the good old trusted FORD dealer. They had ONE...right off the truck, 5 km on the speedometer, that met out criteria. WHITE! So we leased a 2023 Escape Titanium. It is quite a remarkable little car, does everything including parking itself. 

We had some visitors this summer at different times. Dave and Marlene, friends from Rainbow Spa, who live in Merritt stopped to see us. They were attending a family reunion in the Kootenays and driving right through our little City, so they parked their 5th wheel where our RV used to sit and spent the night. We had a good visit. Thank you so much for thinking of us.

We also had a visit from Karen and Sepp. Two more friends from Rainbow Spa, who live in Creston. They have a boat on the coast and drive through our little city a few times during the summer. They stopped twice on their way to the coast. We had two lovely visits with them over lunch, and made a promise to stop for lunch with them in Creston when we go through to Alberta next time. 

This month I flew to Alberta to visit my kids for a week. I went up to Grimshaw with my grandson and his girlfriend to see my son for a few days,  and then spent a few days in Ponoka with my daughter. Michel went to the Island with his son for 4 or 5 days.  I had my fix, and he and his son had some father/son bonding time.

June 30, 2022

Okay, time to blog again. I haven't reeaally blogged in a very long time so I am forcing myself to recollect events from memory. This could be scary, but in reality, no-one will know........

As we never sold the motorhome in the US, we drove it home. My daughter Tammy and her husband bought it and we agreed to deliver it the long weekend in May.

We drove to Alberta to deliver the RV to them in Ponoka, and along the way our front driver tire on our little Suzuki (tow car) blew out. All went well getting the spare on and we carried on without another hitch.

So this is what the tire looked like, and the mess it made of our poor little car. 

Here she sits in her new home in Ponoka, pictured with new owners, Tammy and Rob. I truly wish them as many happy years as we've had with the old girl.