An important day

Today is a very important day for two reasons, first and most important it is our daughter Tracy’s birthday, Happy Birthday Tracy, love ya lots from Mom and Dad, hope you are having a great time camping this weekend! Second it is Oreo’s second birthday, but no cake for her, just some extra loving and maybe an extra doggie treat eh!
Woody got up early today, he is meeting with some members of the Onoway Fish and Game Association to help them install a new dock at Salter’s Lake, since our visit a few weeks ago, some vandals burned the dock and the toilet there, what a terrible thing it is such a nice little lake. We did not realize that the Association managed the lake when we first visited the lake. It is a real crime that the vandals will probably never be caught. The hours of volunteer time, the donated services, (a track hoe to lift the dock in place), the cost of buying the drums and having them filled with foam, plus the other materials, these rotten brats just have no idea what is involved to build and then re-build, nor do they care. They also burned some items at other parks in the Onoway vicinity.
Note: I hope to add some pictures of this task as one of the members said they would send some of the pictures they took, I will note the update when completed. Woody returned around noon as he had an appointment in the city at 2:30 pm with the clinic where he received his bone-anchored hearing aids. They asked him a while ago if he would volunteer some time as they are doing more research to improve the hearing aids. He has been their guinea pig many times before and is very happy to accommodate them. He completed other errands after his appointment and returned home round 6:00 pm. I spent most of the day working on the blog, cleaning up the hard drive on Woody’s computer, walking/playing with Oreo and getting very frustrated with a computer program I purchased a year ago. I re-installed it on my computer and when I attempted to activate the program, I got a message that informed me I had to buy a new license as I had exceeded the allowed activations, which is ONE! I thought okay I have the whole folder on my external drive so I will copy to my computer and then I should be good to go. No, that will not work either! So the flipping program crashes and I need to re-install, I immediately sent an email to their customer service department, I had re-registered online with no problem as I have the serial number and the key number you get when you first register the program. I receive an answer later informing me that I need to send them a copy of the original purchase receipt, the serial number, and my full name, what store I purchased the program, how I had paid for the item, cash, cheque, credit card, blah, and blah, blah. Well I do not have the receipt, when we moved I got rid of all the records that were not necessary, I only kept information for tax and warranty purposes. Who would have thought I would need that receipt to re-install a program. Well we will see what happens, I sent them all the information they requested except for the exact purchase date and a copy of the actual receipt. I am waiting for a second response. If they do not allow me to activate this program, I will spread the word around, and no, it is not a Microsoft program. I have never had a problem re-installing a program before this. Good thing Sony Vegas Movie Maker is not like that, as I have had to re-install it many times. The other thing that really bugs me is I registered the program online when I bought it, so why can’t they look up the information! Okay enough of that.

We had a nice dinner, then took Oreo for a walk, it is actually nice this evening after being blustery all day. There are a few campers pulling in tonight, we only have three open spots left for this weekend, and it is a long weekend in Alberta. I continued working on the blog until after 9:00 pm Woody is reading. After taking Oreo for her last play/walk we closed the gate and called it a night.

A little get together with family

Sunny, cool and windy this morning, but still a nice day. We travelled to Michelle's this morning for a brunch to meet with our granddaughter Jennifer who works at Lake Louise and was en route to Slave Lake, Alberta for a friends wedding. She and her friend Alex had spent the night at our daughter, Tracy's place they all arrived at Michelle's around 11 o'clock for brunch. We enjoyed the brunch very much; four varieties of pancakes, fruit, whipping cream and real maple syrup and had an awesome visit, returning home around 1:30 p.m. Michelle had also baked Tracy a birthday cake as it is her birthday tomorrow and they will be in Slave Lake camping, so we had a little impromptu Birthday Celebration, what a sweet thoughtful thing to do for your sister Michelle. Michelle, Caitlin, Jennifer and Alex followed us home for a visit and to review the African pictures. Jennifer and Alex left around 3:00 pm for Slave Lake another 2 1/2 hour drive for them with a stop in Barrhead, so Jennifer could show Alex, where she was born and spent part of her childhood as well as her great-grandparents home. Michelle and Caitlin left around 4:30 pm.


We forgot our camera at home so no pictures of our get together at Michelle's but we did catch a couple of pictures at our place, just as Jen and Alex were leaving.

You can hardly see Oreo against Jennifer's black skirt.


Woody and I visited for a short time and then Woody fixed a trail sign re-installed it and mowed trails stopping for a short break, checking his favorite online forum sites. Laptops are wonderful we sat outside while he checked out his favorite sites he then resumed mowing as he headed for the tractor his comment was “I should be paying them to play with this tractor I'm having so much fun”! Oreo wanted to follow him but she was very good, staying here as commanded. She sat looking in the direction he had left for about five minutes then laid down watching and listening for about another 15 until I decided I needed to take her for a walk/play to distract her. When we returned from our little walk, I took the trimming shears and trimmed around the gate, some signs were totally covered up with overgrowth of bush and others were partly covered. Oreo happily followed me and stayed close; she is such a good girl. Woody and I are surprised at how many frequent this park, many vehicles stop here through the day and evening walking the trails or just taking a short walk around the facilities and checking them out. It is 7:30 p.m., and I can hear the tractor returning, guess it's time to have some dinner. We were sitting outside just enjoying the evening when a couple that come here very often pulled in (they previously had left their motor home here), they were waving and saying hello, they stopped and said they'd be over later, they had some goodies for us. They arrived a short time later, with homemade banana muffins and some cinnamon rolls, they made comments on how much better the park locked so we sat and visited shared an adult beverage, and of course, they wanted to see the African pictures so we spent some time sitting outside with the laptop viewing the African pictures, it was a wonderful evening.

Sunset at Imrie

We woke up to a cloudy, windy and cool day, threatening rain, Woody made a few phone calls to locate the parts for the tractor then left for town while he was gone I cleaned our little home took Oreo for a nice long walk. I then started working once again on the DVD of his African trip; I really would like to get the DVD completed, so we can send it to friends. Creating a reasonably good slideshow is time-consuming, but I enjoy it and today is the perfect day for inside work. When he returned with the required parts, it was pouring rain, so he settled down to read it rained most of the day until around 7:30 p.m. with short breaks. Woody took Oreo out for a nice long walk and play during the breaks in the rain, other than checking email I spent the afternoon, and most of the evening creating the DVD, although it's not finished yet, the DVD is rendering for the first preview. It has finally stopped raining and I can see in the West that it is clearing. While chatting online with some friends later, we noticed the beautiful sunset, Woody ran out quick with the camera to capture some pictures.

More cleaning up at Imrie Park

After our usual morning routine we spent the remainder of the day attending to-park duties and playing with Oreo, Woody cut grass in the main area, brought the large tractor into the main campground and used it to complete some cleaning up chores picking up a refuge with the bucket etc. He was going to mow the trails with the rotary mower attachment but found the PTO would not engage a couple of members dropped in and between them they decided the tractor needed some parts. It appears the sheer bolts are broken. It was too late to actually to pick any parts up today so we continued cleaning up, Woody mowing more grass within the campground with little garden tractor and me puttering around sweeping out the shelter and the sidewalks etc. A beautiful warm sunny day, we both totally enjoyed spending the day outside.
Later, we settled into our little home to chat online, check email then turned in early, another fantastic day!

A productive day

Woke up to rain which continued until around 11:30 am, we spent our time, cleaning up our email box, checking our favorite forms and doing a little house cleaning. I found a post in RV.Net forums regarding an Arizona RV Park in the Snowbird section; a member posted a link to Tombstone Territories RV Park, stating it was away from the big cities, highway noise and trains WOW that sounds good. We have found so many RV parks in or close to big cities, highways, trains and no trees except for the obligatory 1 tree per site, we were ecstatic. After reviewing the website, we decided to email for more information. This park looks promising, view of the mountains and there are many interesting areas to visit. We were very pleased to hear back within one hour, a total shock as we have sent many emails to RV parks for more information in the last four weeks, most did not reply or it took two plus weeks for a reply. The park staff are forwarding a packet of information, cannot wait to recieve it! When the rain quit and dried up some Woody got out the weed eater and went to work until he ran out of string for the weed eater. Three of the members dropped over during the afternoon to assist Woody with various tasks and the association has set up accounts for Woody to purchase supplies he needs so around 3:30 pm he travelled to Onoway to purchase the needed items. Woody wants to have the camp grounds looking shipshape for the weekend crowd. There is a lot of catch-up grass cutting, grass and tree trimming etc. to do as the previous camp hosts both had full-time jobs and were not able to keep up with the trimming and mowing in the park. We are being treated so well here it is a pleasure to work with the Onoway Fish and Game Association and Gun Club.





Woody tossing Oreo's toy, she loves to play fetch!

A small grass area to the left of the parking lot.

Our home

Woody got up early to open the gate. I slept in till 9 a.m. or so, and after my first coffee I took Oreo for a nice long walk this little park has 7 miles of walking trails through the bush what a great way to start the day walking through the bush with dappled sun shining on the undergrowth. I just love the smell in the early morning in the bush. Oreo spotted a chipmunk and was determined to catch it, trying to climb the tree the chipmunk inhabited, funny to watch her, the chipmunk was totally not concerned. Just continued about it’s business as if it knew Oreo could not possibly harm it, we had had a fun walk. As the morning progressed, we dealt with checkouts and such. We then went shopping for some flowers for the park at as nearby nursery, had lunch at a local restaurant returning home around 2 p.m. excited to plant the flowers and hang up the hot no yes no what you if there is an baskets. As we were planting some of the flowers campers dropped by and commented on how nice the flowers looked and they were happy to households on a full-time basis at the park made them feel much safer. Later a member of the ennui fishing game Association dropped in to say hi, bringing his wife to introduce us to meet enjoyed a short visit. We spent some time playing cards until received a phone call from a member of the Association calling as he was concerned about the rain, they decided the tent needed to be taken down when he immediately started dismantling the tent by the time the member arrive. The tent was already dismantled, and just needed to be moved to the main building brainstorm didn't amount to much but better safe than sorry eh! We spent the evening walking checking sites and playing with Oreo chatting online and later discussing our luck at finding this opportunity and how very happy we are.





The sign with rules, costs in the park.












As you drive though the gate, the camping area is down a small hill The kitchen and shelter are what you see in the middle.








Well guess who is having fun with the little tractor.










The Rolling Castle nicely tucked in the trees.








The sign as you drive into the park.

This is a view from the Rolling Castle, the gravel area is parking for day use area and guests.

Looking Northwest from the Rolling Castle.

Looking northeast from the Rolling Castle.

First full day at Imrie Park

Woody assisted our son-in-law Chris, with some house renos, on the way he dropped me off at the Laundromat to do laundry. When I had completed the laundry, Michelle came and picked me up and we proceeded back to their place for lunch. When Michelle and I arrived at their place Woody and Chris were playing badminton and having a blast. We returned home late in the afternoon and checked in on everyone at the campground, all was fine. I then spent time trying to set up a good spreadsheet for the campground registrations, while I was doing that Woody chatted online with some friends. We then took Oreo for a walk and play, closing the gate to the campground at 11:00 pm. We are both looking forward to another awesome day here.

Today is a big day!

Today is move day and more importantly our daughter Tracy and Keith’s anniversary. Happy Anniversary Tracy and Keith, may you have a great day and many more happy healthy years together! We love ya lots!
We spent the day preparing to move, moving and getting set up at our new home. As we were leaving the campground the owners stopped us and presented us with a refund of one month’s rent, what a nice surprise, we did not expect that due to their “no refund” policy and since we were occupying a seasonal site, we thought we might expect what they may be able to make renting it out on weekends. Thank you Michelle and Ross, we so appreciate your understanding our change of circumstance and the new opportunity that came our way, and also your words of encouragement regarding our work camping position.
The move went without a hitch, no problems at all, Woody backed our big rig into the site, no problems, and we were all set up around 3:00 pm. We are both so happy to be here, lots of green space, 7 miles of walking trails, we are tucked in the trees and it is so quiet, no highway noise, it is such a joy to be here in our new summer home of Imrie Park. Shortly after we arrived we walked one of the trails, which ends up, at a bird watching area, with a very nice building set up for sitting or standing watching the various waterfowl on Devil’s Lake, there are large numbers of ducks, some had babies, such fun to watch. Around 6:30 pm, we met with some members of Onoway Fish and Game Association for a short meeting, the handing over of paraphernalia required for our position. We discussed the needs and expectations of our position to reaffirm our duties, etc. Woody will be busy for a couple of weeks catching up on grooming the campground and trails, oh he is a happy man for sure. Tonight there is a group coming in who rented the large tent, so first project help set up the tent, when that task was completed time to share some stories in the shelter. While Woody and the OF & G members were erecting the tent, Oreo and I set out investigating another trail right behind our fifth wheel, oh she loves it here also, lots of bush and undergrowth to explore, puppy heaven for sure. We truly cannot believe we lived in this area for 15 years and were not aware of this campground, all 216 acres of it! The first lady architect in Edmonton donated the land in 1988 and the campground opened in 1990. Here is link with a bit of information and a couple of pictures if you are interested, http://www.tpr.alberta.ca/asrpwf/programs/parks/park_and_wildlife/imriepark/index.asp

We spent the remainder of the evening chatting with our friends online and will post some pictures of our new home tomorrow.

Just let me conclude today’s ramble by saying we are so very happy to be here!

Our last day at Sandy Beach

A beautiful warm day, I did some cleaning and prep work for our move tomorrow; many little things need to be safely stored for the move. We are both looking so forward to our new home and work camping, a totally new experience for us. Woody went to town to do some shopping and complete other errands. Upon Woody's return, he completed the task of organizing “the man room” for the impending move and mowing the grass in our little yard, we want to leave the site nice and tidy. After dinner, our neighbour Duane came over for a farewell/good luck visit. We sat around the campfire swapping stories consuming a few adult beverages and manging to burn most of the wood we had previously purchased, storing the remainder to take with us. We had an awesome visit, Duane is a fantastic storyteller, we promised to keep in touch swapping email addresses and phone numbers, thanks Duane for making our last evening at Sandy Beach a memorable one!

More VHS viewing

Sun is shinning this morning, Woody is off to town around 9:30 am for an appointment regarding his Project Management job. After checking out my favourite internet sites, I settle down to review more VHS tapes, man so many memories, some are just overwhelming, but I am so happy we decided to keep them and transfer them to DVDs. I took a break and completed some cleaning of our little home. Woody returned home and after some lunch we both continued to watch the tapes for a time then I worked on his Africa trip DVD, I am trying to learn how to use some more tools on Sony Vegas Movie Maker, always a challenge, and Woody read. We both took Oreo out for a much-needed play/walk, and then headed to bed.

Another cool and rainy day

A rainy and cool day, Woody had an appointment in town; he is Project Managing a small job for a previous client. I spent time reviewing VHS tapes, some have deteriorated to the point of being nothing but garbage, some I discovered if I run them through a couple of times they will clear up significantly. I am sure it is hard on the VHS player but oh well, after this round; I will not be using the VHS player again. Woody returned after lunch to pick me up as we both hair appointments in town after which we went out for dinner. Returning home, we stopped at our present campground office to discuss a possible refund of fees paid. We may get a partial refund even though the campground policy states “No Refunds”, we are happy, sure cannot complain. We chatted online until the dish went down due to rain, I returned to reviewing VHS tapes and Woody read until we decided to call it night and headed to bed.

Yes! another exciting day

Another warm and sunny gorgeous day, Woody took the truck in at 8:30 am, had a squeaky belt, nothing serious, replaced the belt, the belt tension mechanism did not require replacement he then continued to the city to run a few more errands. I spent time learning how to transfer VHS tapes to DVD, always a learning curve when using new equipment. When he returned, we both watched some of our old home VHS tapes, interesting to watch and surprising to realize just how much one forgets details and certain events. What a treasure it is to be able to transfer our memories on DVD to enjoy. I am sure one day the DVDs will need to be transferred to new media with technology advancing as quickly as it is, hopefully that will be our kids worries eh.We had our interview this evening for the work camp position, YES we have the job, great opportunity for us; free site with full hook ups plus wages. We will prepare to move to our new home on Friday. This position will is also for next summer and if we choose for many summers to come. For us this is huge bonus, campgrounds here are so expensive and very few available, as I have mentioned in a previous post. Returned home and shared our exciting news with our friends online. Tomorrow we will approach the owners of our present campground for a refund as we pre-paid to September 30th. Our new home at Imrie Park offers many bonuses for us, besides the obvious financial savings, more privacy, hiking trails, close to fishing, an archery and gun range for our use, no extra charge, the quiet of country living, closer to our family, shopping and the all important Laundromat, lol! We are so excited and pleased to have found this opportunity, thanks Allen!

Exciting day

Another gorgeous day here 29c 79F, I worked on the blog then spent time checking for a spring home in Alberta, thought southern Alberta might be better weather wise than our home area but doesn’t seem make much difference, I did find a nice looking campground in Magrath, AB and sent them an email for more information. Woody spent some time reading and doing a few chores. Received a phone call from Onoway Fish and Game Association regarding our potential position work camping at Imrie Park for the rest of the summer, we have an interview tomorrow evening, we are praying, would love have that position it is just what we have been searching for, we are so excited, cannot sit still. Sounds very promising, the President asked if we would be willing to move in next week, WOW we thought they were looking at next year camp hosting, oh yes we would move, no problem. The pluses are many, closer to our family in the area, shopping Laundromat and a gorgeous little park to call home, free site with full hook ups and some wages on top, we are praying! We pre-paid until Sept 30th at our present campground so will approach the owners regarding a refund if we secure the new position. We chatted online with our friends, sharing our exciting news then discussed the situation, finally going to bed at 11:30, hopeful we could sleep!

Visit with Barb and Grant

Woke up to a beautiful morning sunny and warm, the high today was 25c 77F, no rain! Woody went to town in search of a visor for the drivers side at the auto wreckers, the visor lost it tension so hangs down in Woody’s face and blocks his vision, not good! I worked on the blog until he returned with a new to us visor. He installed the new visor then repaired the drawer slides in our bedroom dresser, all the bouncing and bumping over the many miles of bad roads was just too much for the loaded drawers.
We then went to our chiropractors (Barb, Grant, and daughter Elly) for dinner and spent a fantastic evening visiting and sharing the Africa pictures with stories. We were served BBQ, buffalo steaks, fresh homemade bread, new baby potatoes, two salads prepared with fresh vegetables, side of fresh cucumbers, tomatoes topping the meal off with a cake with fresh strawberries topped with ice cream, now you just cannot ask for more than that, or can you? Oh yes you can, we brought home leftovers! Barb is a marvellous cook and Grant did an awesome job handling the barbeque. Thanks Barb and Grant for a great visit. We ended up staying later than we had thought we would, arriving home to an excited puppy that needed a late evening play after that we checked our favourite forums and turned in for the night.

Woody and Andrew met

After lunch Woody drove to Pipestone Creek Archery (just over an hour from here) meeting Andrew as planned to practice with their bows. They intended to use the outdoor 3D range but the weather did not cooperate, they moved to the indoor range and had a great time.

Andrew and Woody hanging out!










Jim, the owner of Pipestone Creek Archery and Andrew.


I worked on the blog and cleaned up our little home, except for the “man room”, that I shall leave for Woody.
Many RVs pulling in this afternoon, some pretty big rigs, surprising how many RV’s they can squeeze into this campground.
Latter part of the day this area was part of a Tornado watch, nothing happened except rain, thunder and lightening and the watch ended around 9:30 pm. We spent the evening reading.

Errands and some exciting news for us

Woody spent most of the day running errands. The truck has a squeaky belt (we think) and while getting the truck checked, he was chatting with Allen (our long time friend) who works at Country Automotive in Onoway, Allen informed him of a work camper position that will be available for next season. Wow, Woody was all ears; it is a small campground in this area, actually closer to shopping, our family, and the Laundromat. Woody called the contact regarding the position, looks promising, and upon his return and after a quick dinner, we checked the campground out. Nice small campground with walking path to Devils Lake, a nice lake in this area, small but has fish. While there we chatted with the present hosts of the campground who were very informative as to the duties, how busy the campground is, etc., sounds like a good opportunity and just what we were looking for, free parking, with water, sewer, electricity in exchange for grass cutting, and host duties, there is also a gun and archery range that we would be mowing grass and caring for, with some payment involved. We came home very excited and hopeful. The Onoway Fish and Game Association operate this campground and the contact person Woody talked to said he would present our names to the association first thing next week cannot wait to hear what the outcome of that meeting will be. We arrived home just before a major rainstorm, rained off and on until after midnight. Between rainstorms, we chatted with online friends and read. Oh yes, the day was warm 24.2 c (about 75F) and it cooled of nicely with the rain.

Next year summer home?

After completing a few chores, we decided to check out a few of the RV Parks in the area for a possible summer home next year. Wow what a surprise, the monthly rates are outrageous, and there is nothing special about these RV Parks, I know our season is short, May 1st to Sept 30th usually, some do not open until the May long weekend but I think the rates are too high. We checked two at Alberta Beach, one in town, to crowded and right next to a community centre that is rented regularly for weddings, socials, etc., did not even ask for rates. Alberta Beach is a small community right on Lac Ste Anne. The next was situated next to a golf course, informed us they preferred to rent to golfers and they were booked up for next year, rates, $750.00 per month, more than we are paying where we are right now! Next stop Spring Lake, not a bad park, the lake is nice (spring fed) they are booked four years in advance their rent is $750.00 per month, and raise that to $950.00 for July and August YIKES! We thought it would nice to stay at a different park next year staying somewhere in the area close to our family. I found one nice looking campground in the Lethbridge area that has reasonable rates and opens April 1st, $450.00 per month, emailed them and yes, they would have space and could easily accommodate our rig. Lethbridge is south about 5 ½ hours from this area, too far from the family for many visits eh! Thinking maybe, we could stop there for a couple of months on our way back next spring, need to check out the weather for April/May, not that it really matters, certainly would be not be cooler than this area. We discussed the whole issue of needing to be back in Alberta for 6 months of the year, if that was not the case we could find warmer digs in the lower mainland of British Columbia, ah well probably more expensive there but it would be warmer and we know our daughter, Deb, would be happy to have us close by, ah well will find some solution we are sure.

We spent the evening chatting with friends online and relaxing.

More Africa

Blogging is a very time consuming sport when I add pictures, takes forever to organize the pictures on the blog with the captions beside them, I just cannot figure out a way to make it work efficiently. It has taken me over 4 hours of work for 3 days of entries. The work is worth it though; Woody and I already enjoy looking back over the posts savouring the memories.

I do not have any notes entered in my journal at all for this day, I looked up the weather on the internet, it was a nice day with no rain, so hope you will enjoy some more pictures of Africa.

Giraffs are beautiful, curious animals and they are everywhere, not dangerous, they just walk away when they feel you are getting too close. They have very beautiful eyes with long curling lashes.

Giraff browsing, with Mike taking a picture.

The hippo is the most dangerous animal in Africa, they kill more people than any other animal.

Another critter that is dangerous is the Cape Buffalo, the horns you see are about 2' across.

Africa pictures

A much cooler day with some rain high barely reaching 65F, we have been thinking about daughter Tracy, Keith, and their two girls, they left on vacation this past weekend, and we are hopeful they will have good weather travelling around the Kananaski country for the next two weeks. They have a travel trailer and we know they always have a great time despite weather, but life is more fun when the sun shines.
Some more Africa pictures.






A Sable browsing.











Moon over the mountains at sunset.

Another beautiful sunset.

This is a road, most of the roads in this area are just trails. The main roads are about 1 1/2 lanes, gravel with big potholes.

A group of Sable, Sable vary in colour, the darker coloured are usually male and the lighter colour female, they both have horns.

Lazy day, Africa pictures

Today was a gorgeous day, no rain temperatures in low 70’s, with that ideal clear blue Alberta sky, nothing compares except maybe Montana’s blue sky. We passed our time leisurely doing the usual daily tasks, reading, walking, and searching more areas for our winter home. We are amassing quite the list of RV Parks and average temperatures in different areas of the southern states. There is so much to see, no matter where we look, it would take three lifetimes to see it all. Some the areas we would love to visit are not warm enough during the winter, we have been discussing ways we may be able to spend time during late spring or late summer visiting those destinations.

I have not been doing a good job of keeping my journal or the blog updated and since I have been working on the Africa Safari DVD thought I would share some pictures today and over the next few posts. There are some pictures also on the June 21st post.

Hunters Hill Safari is located in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, June and July are the coldest months, freezing temps overnight but usually it warmed up nicely during the days, although many days a brisk cold wind blew.


A Photo safari truck, the Hunters Hill offer daily photo safaris as well as hunting safaris.







The lodge grounds were very nicely landscaped and behind the fence is a heated swimming pool.

Rhino's are everywhere and walk through the lodge grounds after dark, when leaving the main
lodge and walking to the cottage Woody was accompanied by a guide with a gun after dark.

The owner of Hunters Hill breeds and raises endangered species, among other animals he has a 24 acre enclosure for white lions. This baby boy is curious!


Simba is one of 3 white lions known in the world. He is about 600 lbs.





The staff at the lodge are fantastic, always smiling and happy to look after everyone.


Hope you enjoyed the little glimpse of Africa.

An awesome day, time well spent

The highlight of this day was a BBQ at Michelle and Chris’s attended by neighbours and friends of theirs. A fantastic day playing with the kids, visiting and all enjoyed the fantastic meal at this special occasion.

Caitin is a real little mother, she looked after the younger children all afternoon.

Okay I am waiting, please someone play ball with me!







The girls in this picture are twins and enjoying a game of badminton against Woody, oh yeah they all the kids kept him busy!









Now let's see whose point was that?

Lisa with her puppy!

Teasing Woody so he would chase them, they nearly wore him out!

Woody and Bryce playing badminton, not sure who won the match!

Chris was a hit with the little girls, always wanting more play time!

Continued quest for a winter home

We both spent the morning in our continued quest to find a winter home. Woody looking at the map, me checking out average temperatures and searching for RV parks/campgrounds on the internet in the given area. There are many RV parks but difficult it seems to find one that suits us, are we that hard to please, we do not think so just want a space that is not a paved parking lot or gravel area with cement pads with very little space between the sites. We have still not had an answer from Canyon Falls RV Park at Canyon Lake, Texas, that makes us both uneasy, if they do not answer emails what is the level of their service we wonder.

We decided to run into town and update our address at the banks we deal with as well as other businesses, I have spent time doing as much as I can online but find not all business or banks make address changes available online. Returning home we took Oreo for a walk/play, continued our search for a winter home and chatting with our online friends.

A rather frustrating day

I spent time uploading videos to Photobucket for my website. The host I was using for the video clips is closing, a real bummer as I had paid for the year on May 8th. I sent the company an email requesting a prorated refund, received a reply, not happening. After uploading the first clip to Photobucket, I proceed to try and view it, message received that I need Flash player, I have the latest version of Flash player, check help, spend mega time following all the steps, no change, now I am frustrated, shut down Photobucket. Go to Woody’s computer to view (he is out running errands), no problem but I am not impressed, and the quality suffers greatly from compression after upload. I had forgotten that was one of the reasons I did not use them in the first place, plus the not so nice page for viewing clips. I spent more time trying to find a fix, no luck and I am thinking no way I can use this site for video clips so spend time searching for a new host, what an aggravating experience that turned out to be, most sites have to much material that I find disgusting and do not want to be associated with those sites in any way. Guess I will use Photobucket until I can find another good host. I close everything and take Oreo for a play; she is such fun to play with or just fun to watch play with her toys by herself. After a play and walk with Oreo I decide to leave the whole situation ride until another day, maybe I will be able to come with a solution. We spent a quiet evening chatting online with friends and reading. Yeah we both enjoy reading books!

More rain and severe storm warnings

Today Woody and Chris had planned to install the finishing inside and out around the new patio door but the weather did not cooperate and Chris did not have his circular saw, he had loaned it to Keith and they are away on vacation. We spent the day checking for a winter home that is when the dish was working in between we read and played with Oreo. We had warnings of severe thundershowers with possible tornado, which thankfully did not happen, we had some good thunderstorms but nothing serious. When the sun came out later I sat and watched the insects (bees and flies mostly) drinking the water off the leaves just outside the window in front of my desk, I so enjoy having the time to watch God Creature’s doing what comes natural to them. After the rain, the leaves glisten in the sun, tiny droplets of water dripping off the tips. Watching the droplets reminded me of a storybook that was one of our daughter Michelle’s favourites. I cannot remember the name of the story but the gist of the story was how unhappy the small animals were due to the rain and cold. A squirrel started counting the drops that were falling off the leaves, other animals joined in, they made a game of it, forgot how miserable they felt and then they realized they were having fun. I know if I asked Michelle she would remember the story, I ended up hiding the book I got so tired of reading it to her! Michelle was about 3 years old, I think. Interesting how certain memories pop back into your mind when certain circumstances present themselves or particular aromas, or at least I think so.
No major storms occurred, later turned quit nice, we walked Oreo, Woody read, and I worked on the blog and chatted with friends.

A rainy day

Rained all day, Woody spent the day reading, while I worked on the blog, worked on creating a DVD of Woody’s Africa Safari and read, in between rain showers we took Oreo out for playtime. I always find it surprising how fast the day passes even when pretty much confined to our little home.

Some pictures of Oreo after a hard day!

She puts herself to bed between 10:00 and 10:30 then gives us that sleepy eyed look when we disturb her when we go to bed.

Another visit with Michelle and family

We continued our search for a winter home for the morning then spent the afternoon at Chris and Michelle’s (Chris took the week off to complete some projects around the place); Woody installed a new storm door for them while we were there with assistance from Chris of course. We ended staying for dinner returning home around 9:30 pm. Another very pleasurable day spent with family, we know Oreo had a great day playing and receiving mega attention from Chris and Caitlin.

Some pictures Woody took at Chris and Michelle's place. Tiny spiders nesting on the underside of a plant, when the leaf is touched the spinders come tumbling down clinging to their webs.

If you look closely you can see the spiders hanging from the stringy webs. The spiders are not larger than the head of a stick pin. After touching the leaf and they tumble down they immediately climb back up the webs and settle.

I just love Tiger Lilies. These are the basic orange variety.

Chris also has some very pretty red coloured and yellow Tiger Lilies planted. The yellow are not in bloom as yet.

Sunset Pictures

Rainy and cooler (high of 68F), we ended up reading most of the day a perfect way to spend a rainy day. Thought I might do some baking but could not put the book down! During the evening, it quit raining, while chatting online with some friends we were watching the sunset from the window directly in front of my desk, too capture the pictures Woody climbed up on the roof of our fifth wheel and captured some awesome sunset pictures.

God paints spectacular scenes!
















Just a few minutes later. Notice the position of the sun peaking through the trees.







The scene changes so fast, these pictures were captured in minutes.

Discovered Salters Lake

Woody spent the afternoon with friend Scott today practicing with bow, a few miles south of here, around 2:30 pm a hailstorm hit here, no damage other a few small limbs to pick up after, the worst storm we have had here this summer, luckily Woody and Scott were far enough away, did not get the full brunt of the storm just the edge of it. After Woody returned home we took Oreo and checked a little lake close to here that is excellent for fishing, it is not advertised and only known to the locals, our friend Allen told Woody about it. Very small, aerated the year around and stocked each year with trout, a cutline runs east from the lake, great place for Oreo to run, we want to teach Oreo to sit in the boat with us so running off some energy before getting in the boat should help her to sit quietly for a couple of hours, well that is our plan anyway! Cooled off somewhat today (77F) with some rain.

July 2nd to 4th

Spent most our time reading, shopping and searching the internet for a winter home, south Texas is looking good. The weather here was in the 80’s until the 4th, no rain except the very odd light shower. Dean from Stony Plain AV and Appliances came out and set up the DVD/VCR player for us, now I can start the time consuming job of transferring VHS tapes to DVD a project I want to complete prior to heading south of the border for the winter.

Canada Day

Celebrated Canada Day with Michelle and Chris, enjoying the beautiful warm day, visiting, sharing a meal and Woody gave Chris a hand figuring out what material would be required for finishing trim work around their newly installed patio door. Oreo had a great day playing with Chris although Caitlin was away camping with Tracy, Keith and family and I know Oreo missed Caitlin’s undivided attention. Oreo loves all people but has four favourite people, Woody, Chris, Caitlin, and our friend Dave that is very clear. The rest of us just fill in until one of her favourites steps into the picture.

Oreo getting spoiled by Chris!

Oreo weighs 76 lbs, just a bit large for a lap dog but she doesn't think so!

Dave, your not the only one who spoils Oreo eh!

We arrived home after dinner expecting the evening to be a bit noisy at the campground but all was quiet, later we heard some fireworks (at the beach on the lake), not much of a show though we could see them from our fifth wheel and didn’t last long enough to walk over and get a closer view.