Memory Bank Deposit

I often check the blog when wondering when we lived somewhere, traveled to a certain place or when a milestone was celebrated.  Not sure if it's age that is taking a hit to my memory, or a life well lived where there is lots to remember.  But it's time for another memory bank deposit.

Fall 2023

In September we got the go ahead to travel from Roger's doc so we high tailed it to see Brad, Anette and Magnus. Brad rented a boat, and while Magnus was at an outdoor course, we explored the waterways around Seattle.  We always have fun together, and this was no exception.

A fabulous lunch complete with raw oysters and cold beer

The last time we saw Rich and Laura Morris was in Belize many, many moons ago.  We were excited when we heard they were coming to the West Coast, and they spent a couple of days with us and loved Vancouver Island. We picked up where we left off, and hope our paths cross again soon.

In October, many family members helped celebrate John's 95th birthday.  It was a transitional time for John as he prepared to move to McKenzie Town Retirement Residence.  It was a bumpy start with siblings flying into Calgary over the ensuing months to help, but after several months, it's clear John is well cared for, gaining weight, made friends and enjoys the socialization aspect of the residence.

Left to right:  Cooper, Clare, Tyler, Madalene, Rhonda, Pat and Ken Christie, Annette and Dwayne Majcher, Karen and Colin (who was taking the picture), Walter, John, Roger and me.

                 

43 years ago, Roger had a bad hang gliding accident where he broke his arm in several places, and damaged his ulnar nerve.  Over the years, he had pain and numbness in his hand and it was losing strength. In October Roger had a 3+ hour surgery and his recovery has been remarkable.

                    

Winter 2023-2024

Magnus's school had a totally new take on the "show and tell" from my childhood.  Each student was given a subject and they had to teach it to attendees.  Magnus did a terrific job of teaching Longitude and Latitude - complete with an interactive component, .  We were extremely proud watching him so at ease sharing the information with other groups that stopped by his station. 

                 

We celebrated an early Christmas and brought Obi home with us while Brad, Anette and Magnus went to Japan for the holidays.

Magnus loves doing Sandwich Hugs 💕

Important members of our "Island Family" are Bev and Stu.  They also celebrated Christmas early in Alberta with their family, so the four of us spent a fabulous 2 days in Tofino.  We ate, drank, played games, and walked the beach. And laughed.  There was a lot of that.

Tofino is one of our happy places.  Doesn't matter if it's sunny or rainy and foggy -
it's spectacular and never disappoints.

In February, we had a fabulous few days with dear friends from Spokane, Paddy and Dave Carlson.  We showed them around some of our fav spots including: Cathedral Grove, Englishman River Falls, the Fern & Cedar and Nanoose Bay Cafe!  We have such a great time together that we're always planning when we can see each other next!

Roger had a total knee replacement in February, and it is all that's advertised.  Tough recuperation despite going faithfully to physio and working out at the gym.  He's now trying laser therapy to try to break up the scar tissue and gain more range of motion.

 T-Shirt thanks to Brad -- Roger's surgeon and physiotherapist got a laugh out of it!

Spring 2024

Brad, Anette and Magnus moved into a beautiful home in Woodinville in March. It's on a gorgeous acre of land complete with a raised club house for Magnus.  Woodinville is a popular wine region and while their home is rural, in five minutes, you can be tasting wine and eating in neat restaurants.  

To celebrate my birthday, Brad and Anette took us to a beautiful winery in Woodinville for a tasting.

Magnus served as Roger's cane and helped him throughout the weekend. 

Roger worked on the boat over the winter, and in May we were ready to start using it again with a weekend away near Thetis Island.

We spent a great day on the water with Bev and Stu.

Fun times!

In May, we returned to Woodinville to help Magnus celebrate his 11th birthday!

                         

Brad and Anette tricked out the clubhouse and swing set for Magnus's birthday. 
We gave him the yellow swing which fits him perfectly!

Roger hit the balls, and I was the official ball boy!

We had a hoot at an indoor golf range that had games we've never played before.

Summer 2024

We returned to Calgary in June to celebrate Roger's mom's 90th birthday.  She also moved to supportive housing and is at the Renoir Retirement Residence - where I worked more than 20 years ago!  We had an afternoon tea and it was great to meet some of the lovely ladies that she has become friends with.

Left to right:  Rhonda, Aunt Iris, Madelene, Jack and Roger

We had a fabulous day anchored at Clam Bay with good friends, Ed and Connie Lewis.  We even managed to catch a few crab to go along with the delicious barbeque we had on board.

Roger has always wanted to cruise the Broughton Archipelago which lies on the northern part of Vancouver Island.  We planned our itinerary leaving from one of our favourite spots, Telegraph Cove.  From there we went to Sullivan Bay, then on to Echo Bay. 

The historic village at Telegraph Cove has treasures throughout.

We had beautiful weather the day we left for Sullivan Bay.

Sullivan Bay is a floating village complete with beautiful homes, a marina, store and gas station.

The 20 mile trip back to Telegraph Cove was a little stressful (for one of us -- for the "other one" it was really stressful) due to a couple of boat issues. It was raining, the seas were rough, and we were surrounded by islands with very few other boats. 
It was such a relief to see the entrance to Telegraph Cove.

Before doing the Broughton trip, we made a huge decision to sell our boat upon our return.  

For 30 years boating has been a part of  our lives, and in part, that of our family and friends.  Nothing made us happier than to spend a day on the water seeing tentative tubers become daredevils, cooling off in the beautiful water of Lake Pend O'Reille, enjoying barbecues with friends, and exploring the San Juan Islands, Gulf Islands, Desolation Sound and the Broughtons.  Years ago, we even ventured East and traversed the Trent Severn lock system.

We were luckier than many to have made all these memories, but we decided while boats are fun - they are expensive to maintain and keep, and we have more land trips that we want to do.  And frankly, neither of us are as limber as we used to be — and on a boat, that’s pretty important!  Boats can be chartered so we know we won't be leaving boating for good -- we'll just let someone else worry about the "clunks" and "gas guzzling" noises.  We sold "Magnus" to a lovely family whose teenage boys were beyond excited to have a cruiser like ours.  The dad is a boat mechanic who wasn't put off by the challenges of an older boat that Roger pointed out, and know they will enjoy it as much as we did.

Brad and Anette took a sailing course out of Sidney in early July with good friends of theirs from Alberta.  We were thrilled to have Magnus and Obi with us for 9 days for what we dubbed "Nana and RaRa's Summer Camp".  We kept Magnus busy with trips to the beach, trying out miniature golf courses in the area, cooling off in the fun Bumper Boats, go-karting, and a visit to Vancouver Island University's marine station just north of us.  It was such a treat to spend time with Magnus and really get to know him on his own.  Each evening we would have Happy Hour -- Roger and I with a drink, and Magnus with a Spinakers root beer while we all played Scrabble.  

Magnus seemed to have a lot of fun squirting me!

Mini golf --- maxi fun!

VIU Marine Station has wonderful students who encourage visitors to hold many of the sea life displayed at the center.  Magnus loved it and asked great questions.

Roger took Magnus go-karting at a track near Parksville.  They both had a ball, so when Brad and Anette came up after the sailing course, the four of them went!

We went on a whale watching trip out of Victoria and had a picture perfect day on the water.

While we didn't see any whales breach, we saw the flukes of several whales. 
The marine biologists onboard explained how markings on the flukes help identify the whales which is something we weren't aware of.  

Idaho continues to be a favourite place for us, as well as for Brad, Anette and Magnus. We spent 10 days and hit all our "Must Do" things -- like eating at Spuds, McDuffs and the floating restaurant in Hope.  We rented an Airbnb in Priest River with Anette and Magnus who were on their way home from a trip through Alberta.  

A trip here wouldn't be complete without a visit to 74 Main Public House that is owned by good friends, Kerri and Jim Martin.

We rented a ski boat for the day, and Magnus was unsure about riding a flat tube which he'd never done, so I showed him a picture of me riding one with my hands in the air.  He figured that if I could do it, he could too!  Roger started off slow and it took no time before Magnus was telling him to go faster and go over the wake!  Another convert!

Roger and I are so proud of how Magnus can handle a boat.  His safety awareness and skills surpasses many adults we've seen.  He will be another life long boater and that brings us great joy.

Chef Magnus made us dinner at the Airbnb! 

Another breathtaking sunset in Idaho

Brad got a case of FOMO when Anette sent him pictures and videos when we were having fun on the boat.  True to his nature (and that of his father's) he booked a boat for the next day, left work, and made the 5 hour drive up to Priest River. 
We had another fantastic day on the water, and so much fun as a family.  

Brad rented a pontoon boat which felt like a living room on the water!

Magnus agreed to go tubing with me after I said I'd love to do it, but that we couldn't go super fast.  It was a bit of a yawner ride for him, and he couldn't understand why I was whooping and laughing so much --- but I was just so damn happy to be on the water with him on a tube!

Once we said goodbye to Brad, Anette and Magnus, we headed to Martin Bay on Lake Pend O'Reille to stay with our friends, Paddy and Dave Carlson.  Long time friends, Shelagh (Paddy's cousin) and John Slater from Ma-Me-O Beach, Alberta also came down. We had four fun days with rides on their boat, fantastic meals, and tons of laughs.

Left to right:  Me, John, Paddy, Roger, Dave, Shelagh.

Roger and some buddies went on a fishing charter this week and had an amazing day on the Salish Sea.  They caught several salmon and got a huge bucket of spot prawns.

The boys from left to right:  Randy, Phil, Stu and Roger
The captain and first mate cleaned and filleted the fish back at the dock, and we all got several fillets and spot prawns.  No need for talk of the "one that got away".  They got plenty!

We got tickets for Touchdown Pacific in Victoria on the Labour Day weekend.  The BC Lions beat the Ottawa Roughriders and we had a great time seeing a CFL game played in Victoria for the first time.

It's September 1st and in many ways I've always thought this date seems more of a start of a new year than January 1st.  When Brad was little, it signalled the start of a new school year; when we were expats it seemed we were always taking off to a new country, and now it's when I look forward to curling season.

This September, there is even more to look forward to.  We leave Sept 9th for five weeks in Italy and Greece.  For 13 days of it, Paddy and Dave Carlson will be joining us as we travel through Tuscany and then out to the coast near Naples.  We are all super excited about it and can’t wait to meet up in Florence!

This map has different coloured pins showing the places we've visited on our own, and together.  
I will be switching out a few of my green pins for the red pins as we chalk up another adventure together.

When I visited Florence and Rome 47 years ago, I couldn't dream of returning one day with Roger.  He's made another dream come true for me.  Add it to the list.

"In life, it's not where you go, it's who you travel with."

                                                                                      Charles Schulz