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Get in touch with us Carol |
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| June 11 2008 | ||||
It snowed again yesterday and today is cold
but it was extremely nice on Tuesday the 10th for us to tour the
Olympic Village
what a site and fun place to just sit and watch the athletes, we
enjoyed a bus tour around the village and had lunch while watching
the students learn ski jumping
in a pool of water that pushes air out of black tubes as the skier
hits the water, since a skier has a lot of heavy gear the air helps
him/her to raise fast with no injury. I have put a lot of
photos on the Utah photo
page take a look at the jumps and the area.
The pool, loge and all sites are open year round to learn, take a
try or just sit and watch, there is no entry fee just to sit and
watch. The only time there is a fee is when an event is being
held such as in June watching completion jumps or when you want to
run the loge try your hand at ski jumping or take a ride on the ski
lift. You will really enjoy more then one day to see all, lots of
shopping in the Redstone shopping center at the bottom of the
village and the old section of Park City is a wonderful to explore
by walking the streets to see all of the old homes, business, lots
of wonderful shops to explore and great resturants. I even went
skiing
Until next time Love Carol |
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| June 03 2008 | ||||
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Here we are in
Rockport State Park, Juniper campground as Camp host for the summer,
we attended an orientation meeting today just below the dam there is
another overnight primitive area. The old church was the meeting place which can be rented to have weddings, meetings etc., it was built in the 1800's now renovated by the park a beautiful place for a memorial party.
all that work here attended
the women you see towards the front work the gate or office. The men work in maintenance and of course Mike. We had a lot to learn and it was very informative, we then had lunch prepared by Joe (one of the Ranger's) it was a great day getting to know everyone, at the very start Joe lead a game tossing Mr. Moose to each person, we had to say there name and tell something about ourselves I thought this was clever and fun. Joe is a lot of fun and will be holding a employee fishing tournament sometime soon can't wait to see if I remember how to fish. Will let you know how that goes. We really like being Camp Host here it is a peaceful setting even when the campground is full. See all of the pictures on the State Parks page. Oh by the way it is suppose to snow tomorrow and be in the high 50's so all of you who are in the hot weather come up and see us! Love Carol |
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| June 28 2007 | ||||
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Brigg
passed away yesterday and I am not myself, everywhere I look I see
him. He was such a joy over the last 12 years. So we have
decided to leave the area not only because of him but the weather
looks like it is going to heat up around here. The people here in Canada have been wonderful, we meet some new friends Wray and Elizabeth Taylor, Wray plays the guitar and boy is he good. He has a band and on the weekends in Canada he plays at a Club. We were unable to stay to go but he did play for us and gave Mike a CD of his music, I really love hearing him play. I hope soon I can hear Mike play, he has been practicing for about 3 years and no one has really heard him, I know from past experience he will be good when ready. Also new friends, Nancy and Bill Kunsch (they play the dulcimer), I'm thinking of maybe maybe getting one and trying my hand at a musical instrument. Leaving tomorrow and heading for Utah, see the granddaughter and kids, then off to Washington Keep cool Love Carol |
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| June 21 2007 | ||||
Thanks to all who have asked
about Brigg ,his
blood work came back negative and the vet says he did not know why
his blood levels keep changing as they do. Right now he doing
fine, we put diapers on him at night which have saved us a lot of
washing all of those beach towels and the plastic cover we have for
where he sleeps. He is on special food of course you can only
buy this at a vet's office, and it has to be mixed with baby food
for him to eat it. The cost of baby food and diapers are off
the wall, now I understand why my daughter-in-law Kathy, made all of
her own baby food. How can people afford a child now days, I wonder.
Briggs eyes are not as bright as before but he still likes playing
ball, just doesn't last as long as he use too, just like Mike and I
old age will do that too you!
We have had a nice visit with
Rose Anne and Ron Evans
We will start exploring this area tomorrow now that Rose Anne had to take Ron back to the hospital, there are several areas we are told not to miss. The weather is cool again today, but is suppose to hit the high 90's by this weekend and I thought I had escaped the heat...anyone know of a place that stays 75-80 day and 30-40 at night all year around...guess if we all did then we would be there... Oh well, maybe we will find utopia someday and start an RV park!! Taking one day at a time. Love Carol |
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| June 20 2007 | ||||
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Hey, it's been so long
and there is much to say, I hope that we can get it all in. Let's start back in Niagara Falls where like a dummy I let Carol go into a glass blowing shop. Oops, did I goof up. At first it wasn't so bad watching him make a piece for the breakfast table, looked pretty cool. That was until he told me the price. $900.00 dollars. Wow, he is very good but, I would have a hard time putting a big glass vase on my table that cost that much. Oh well, I went out to find a cup of coffee, yep, over there, got it. Just looking around trying to see all the sights and here comes Carol. "You aren't going to believe what the glass blower can do." Wait a minute, I was just there and saw what she saw, I think. "Oh no." He says that he can do a Kokopelli. " Now wait a minute. We are in Canada. Yes, there are Indian tribes from here and I am sure that they have totem polls and the such. But, a Kokopelli. I doubt it. Does this guy even know what a Kokopelli is. "No, but I can draw for him." Oh boy, here we go again. Just how really good is this guy, can he make something from a drawing, and can you even draw what you want so that he can understand it? Oh yes, after seeing that last vase he made, just how much is this piece of glass going to cost. "Oh that is not a problem, it is JUST $200.00." Oh, what the heck, ya have a birthday coming up and this would surface and keep me from calling Arizona to get that ring that you wanted from Monica. For those that don't know, my niece in Tucson owns Coldwell Jewelers up on Oracle. If ya ever need some jewelry give her a call and just tell her that Uncle Mike sent ya. And, ya want a discount. Ok, Carol is all excited now and she gets the pencil out and starts drawing. "Oh yes, Oh no, it is not looking right. I just can't seem to draw what I think it should me. I wish I had wore my earrings so he could see what it really looks like. Oh well, this is close." And away we go. First, we must get 3 helpers 
to start this thing.See pictures, yes she took them from step one to the finish, maybe I should take the camera away! While the master stands by his station all 3 helpers get to work with big long rods, and put a piece of glass on the end molding, shaping, and putting some of this powder stuff on the glass. The Master gets a hold of this big glob of glass and starts pulling and rolling it around on his table, and when it starts to harden up pops it back into the kiln. This kid is so hot it is almost white. Pulls it back out and starts pulling and rolling again. Come to find this if the body of the Kokopelli. Now is when the fun begins. The three helpers, all of which have a little piece of glass on there rods and now getting orders when to bring them over and how to shape and put that dust on the ends. Really, quite an operation in motion. By the way, none of the helpers can touch the body of the Kokopelli. They bring the rod with the glass and the Master will grab a hold of the rod and place the glass on the body. Then it is a matter of pulling and shaping the piece that is stuck to the body. The Master will cut the glass that the helper off, and back to the kiln to get more glass. Oh course Carol, is standing there supervising, and answering questions on how things to be put on and how many. Please remember, This guy doesn't even know what a Kokopelli is. After shaping, pulling, sticking, and coloring, Carol seems to be quite satisfied. Now there is one catch. With the glass being so hot it has to cool off in a kiln overnight. Yep, this means that we have to go back to Canada the next day to get the piece. With Carol jumping up and down and dancing all over the place, she just can't get the $200.00 fast enough into the hands of the cashier. The way she was whirling around I was afraid that she would knock over one of the displays that held allot of glass pieces that were very expensive. Remember that first piece I told you about at the beginning, most of them were the same price. After it was all said and done, the Master came over to Carol and ask if he could buy the piece back. "NO WAY!" "Why would you want to do that." As the Master lowered his head, with a twinkle in his eye, he told Carol that he under priced the piece and did not realize the work or time that it was going to entail to make. Now I thought this was just a bunch of bull. This way you would leave with the piece and feel like ya go a real good deal. As Carol was leaving the shop, the Cashier came over and told her that, the master was very serious on the buy back. Hey what do I know. What I do know is Carol is happy with what she got, he got the $200.00, I don't have to order a ring from Tucson, and everyone seems to be happy. What more could you ask for. Until later Mike |
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| June 19 2007 | ||||
Ok, we finally made it to
Niagara Falls and are staying is a place that is called Lazy Lakes.
I was having second thought on this place account it does not have
sewer. They have a Honey Wagon that will come around to you rig and
flush it out when you want for 5 bucks. Well, after seeing the
showers and the restrooms, this worked out a whole lot better that I
thought it would. Nice Park.
 It is out of town so you don't have the traffic sound and the people were very nice. So, we stayed the whole 2 weeks and then took off John Fiero's Farm in Canandaigua NY . 
John and Norma seem to have it all there. All that grass that he can
mow, which gets him out of the house and Norma can collect her
senses, and the house, even though very old, seems to have
everything that you would ever need or want. The trees, and climate
is just great, during the summer. Now during the winter might be
just another story. They said that the can have 5 to 10 feet of snow
during the winter. John told us of times that he would have to take
a running start at some hills just to get to work, and some of the
times he just wasn't able to get to work. Bet, that really bothered
him to have to stay home and watch TV or something.We stayed at a KOA, oh by the way, KOA means Keep On Adding. They are so expensive I don't see how people stay there unless they just have to. Although, this park was really nice. It was made for the whole family. Had bikes, boats, putt putt, and nice trails to walk on with slides and sliding cables although the trees and trails. The fish pond was catch and release and really large enough to have a family reunion at and still not bother anyone else that was fishing.
After leaving KOA, we went up
camping world where we were going to get the awning replace. While
we were there thought we might as well get the roof redone and
resealed just in case. We stayed in there parking lot for 2 nights,
which wasn't real cool but hey what the heck, they have electricity
hook up so it really wasn't all that bad. |
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Carol's Turn
It's been a frantic 2 weeks, first we
went back to the Floral gardens to see the clock finished We then stopped at the Glass
Blowing shop on the way back to the USA. What a amazing artist
starting with something so small as a large round rock of glass
We are now in Rock Glen
where we have meet up with Rose Anne and Ron, Ron suffered a stoke
while in Rockport, (right after Mike and I had left) and this is the
first time he has been out of the hospital. He looks good
can't walk yet but keeps his exercise going. |
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| June 06 2007 | ||||
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Today we dropped Brigg off at
the vets for an 8 hour blood test, it gave us plenty of time to go
back to Canada to see the Butterfly Garden. After stopping in the
casino where our $40 went extremely fast, we headed north to the
gardens. It was a
great day, the weather was cool, just enough for Mike's light
jacket, made it easy to walk around in. We took the Horse and
buggy ride around the park, the cost for entrance and ride was $57
for the two of us,
just to be around them. See Photos We picked Brigg up around 5PM and of course we will not know the results of his test until Tuesday. I hope to go back this Saturday to the falls
one more time and to the Flower Clock, it is a working clock made
out of flowers at the Botanical Gardens, they has just removed all
of the old flowers and where in the process of adding new ones when
we went. The Niagara Falls area is a must for everyone to see and experience once in their lifetime, I could go there every day just to see and hear the sounds. This was one goal that I am so glad I was able to complete. Until tomorrow Love Carol |
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| June 05 2007 | ||||
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On Saturday the 2nd we took a
trip down the Erie Canal thru the Lockport Locks 34 & 35. The
Locks were hand dug back in the 1890's for shippers to get to
Albany. Today it is mainly used for small boats to go from NY, to
the Atlantic. You can actually go from here to the Mississippi
thru the Florida keys. While cruising Mike and I again thought
it would be nice to have a boat again.
When coming back the reverse happens, the water is emptied like pulling the plug on a bathtub. It is fast and something everyone should see. We then went down the canal for about an hour before heading back up. See pictures Took Brigg to the vet again today, we didn't find out anything new other then he needs to have one more test. Sounds just like doctors, one more test ( he has had 3 blood works, and checked 2 IV's ) and hundreds of dollars. I think that physicians should not get one dollar until they have actually found the problem, then I bet they would find out what is wrong on the first visit. Brigg seems to be doing much better, Mike and I are just a little tired of getting up with him to go do his job outside. He drinks so much water and we would like to cut that down, but the vet says he needs the water, as his body is telling him to drink. Hope with this last test we find out what if anything is going on. We plan on going to the Butterfly garden and to see the falls again sometime this week as well as try our luck at the casino. It has been raining for about 2 days and they say this will continue until this weekend, temperature got down to 65 today kind of nice if you ask me, of course Mike is walking around with a coat on. Me I've got a short sleeve t-shirt and am comfortable. I am writing this looking
out the window of our coach, watching the rain and seeing Mike stand
out of the laundry room here in the park. Yes it is wash day,
usually I do it but Niagara Lakes RV park only has 30 amps so I get
some time off from doing the laundry. Until tomorrow (if we have time) Love Carol |
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| June 1st 2007 | ||||
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060107 Let me start out that you'll that are not retired yet, this may be just a little bit drab. Ever since leaving Nashville we have slowed down and got to see the people and enjoy the weather. Yep, the weather. That thing that you, yes you, are talking about everyday. You try to figure out what wear, and complain how tough it is going to be to work in. Oops, there is that four letter word again. I have heard all the stories
about the humidity and how tough it is going to be, and ya know
what. To heck with all the stories that you have heard. Now, if I
had to go out and Here is Plan A.== Probably will stay here in Niagara for about another week and plan on going to see John Fiero's at the farm for a few days, and then get into Canada for another park and stay there for about a month. Met some RV'ers down in Texas that we are going to meet there and swap lies, and probably get into trouble. Hey, we are allowed to do that now and again. Just as long as we don't get caught. After that it looks like we will stay in Michigan for the rest of the summer, or until around October. It should start getting a little chilly around then. As you already know winter has been coming about 3 months late, so, we plan to work our way down to Arizona taking about a month to two months to get there. I saw a couple parks just south of Flagstaff and if I don't really goof this up, should be ok to stay in around November, at least it won't be hot like Phoenix. Would like to hit Casa Grande in January, but the problem with that is, everyone else would like to be there also. I guess we will have to cross that bridge when we get to it. Or, at least use a different Park pass, which will make us pay nightly instead of free. Hey, 6 bucks is 6 bucks. To go any father would be just pure speculation. There are about 3 different
ways to go, and, remember this is Plan A, which is subject to
change. Michael and Kathy, and of course Brooke, the important one.
Is going to be moving sometime in the Summer to Montana from Utah.
They will be needing a little help I am sure, hey, I am still able
to do a few things, I think. Anyhow I can still drive a truck, and
with all the stuff they have, yikes, like I used to have, it will
probably take more than one load to get it there. Ya know what, you
don't need all those things, ya just think so. I really thought I
would miss my tools, and work shop. Nope. There are times when I
could have used then, but did just fine otherwise. |
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What a gorgeous site to see in
Canada Niagara Falls
hear the water and flow
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The drive from Lockport on Hwy
104 is just about 30 minutes from Niagara Falls and there was no
line to get across the border, we parked the car right at Table Rock
and walk immediately to the falls, when we first got there, no wind
but as the day progressed the wind picked up just enough to get the
mist from the falls. We are going back on Monday to explore of
this area. The magnificent of the falls is overwhelming.
I had not seen anything like it, they say the rock that the water
flows over has been worn down so much over the years that someday
the falls may no longer be there. 75% of the water from the
Niagara River is diverted before it even hits the falls and is used
for electricity. And yet there is all of that water WOW!
We are having a great time and I am looking forward to more sightseeing of Canada and the Falls, as well as going to the RV parks in Canada. Gotta go have the dinner here at the park and maybe play Bingo, sure love this eating out for only $3.50 each you get lots of food and great company. Taking one day at a time. Love Carol |
here
at Rock Glen, we had met them for the first time in Rockport at the
Bayview RV resort. Ron had a stroke the day before they left
Rockport and is now in rehab. He will be going to a Nursing
home in the near future and Rose Anne will be putting their 5th
wheel in a seasonal park close by. They are hoping to travel
in a year or two once Ron recovers and is able to start walking.
I pray that they will be on the road soon, Ron's sense of humor has
not left him, he is still the joker, Ron says he likes the idea of
complaining as this gives him something to do, and laughs as he says
it. And Rose Anne, bless her, as the caregiver is wonderful
and still full of joy laughing all of the time. I know we will
be seeing them on the road again in the future.
Here
are our guides Pete (horse) and Christina they friendly and Pete who
would often stop to view his own sites, has learned where and when
he can go do his job. When Christina whistle's that means ok
do it! The tour around the park took about
1
hour we then proceeded to the inside of the Butterfly building (seen
in the background of above picture) There are hundreds of
Butterflies
everywhere they land on you
makes
you smile
As
you can see by the pictures you enter the locks and as the door
closes the water raises, and in a matter of 10 minutes you are at
ground level with the next lock, you exit then you go to the lock
#35 where again the water raises and you are level with the Erie
Canal.
This picture to your right is
of the New York side and their Falls
around the falls to all of the attractions along the Niagara River
Walk way