Saturday, September 19th to September 27th 2015

As Dianne put it "Saturday was pretty much a good for nothin' kind of day...rain settled in and it poured all day". I did a little bit of shopping after Ray had his time at the pool for a hot tub. At 3:30 we asked Steve and Dianne over for cocktails and snacks and spent a couple of hours chatting. The next morning, Sunday, we woke up to find our power out and it came back on shortly after 8:00. It could have not been out for very long as we were only down 25 amps on the batteries. Ray went and picked up his Mum and we all went out for Chinese Dim Sum at Empire Garden in Walnut Grove area. Wow it was fantastic. Ray picked out 9 dishes and we could not eat it all so ate left-overs for dinner. The total bill was only $57 plus tip. All I can say is Yummmmm! www.empiregarden.ca 

After the wonderful lunch we took Mum back to Burnaby and tried to get into the T & T Market at Metrotown to pick up some liver that she had been wanting. The parking was insane ... after a few minutes we all decided to forget it and drove Mum back home. I drove us back to Fort Langley where Ray promptly went to bed with ice as he was "done". Monday it was "Beer and Burger Day" for $11 at the Big Ridge Brewing Company in Surrey. We picked up Steve and Dianne and off we went.

Tuesday is coach washing day. Ray did the very top edges for me and I washed the rest with him manning the hose. Boy I was tired after the two hours but the coach looks fabulous. That wax job we had done at Quartszite last winter sure made a big difference on how the dirt did not stick and washed easily away. Later we were sitting outside enjoying a few rays of sunshine at happy hour with Steve and Dianne when I decided to invite them over for dinner ... with the caveat that Dianne help and learn. I needed to cook my planned dinner for Ray anyways. This is what she had to say: With the work done, we sat outside enjoying happy hour with Ray and Deb. Next thing we knew, we were being invited for dinner...sweet! But there was a catch...I was to be Deb's helper in training. She's bound and determined to make a cook out of me yet! Well...it's not that I don't know how to cook, I just don't enjoy it as much as she does! Having said that, I did learn lots of little tips and tricks as she showed me how to make Jaeger Schnitzel. A fairly easy dish...see Di...you could do it all by yourself! LOL. We had a great time and everything tastes better with wine!

 

Not bad cooking area for a small house! Well done Grasshopper! Yup everyone is full and relaxed and assumed their perspective spots! 

The next morning Dianne and Steve were off to the island for a week and Ray left for his 10am dental appointment to prep his tooth for a crown. It was a 2 hour appointment in the dental chair and did not go well for him. He had to have 4 courses of freezing so he did not jump out of the dental chair. Of course this meant that his back was hooped. We'd previously planned to take Dad and Betty out for dinner at the Big Ridge Brewing Company so we arrived at their house at 4:30 for a visit and then at 6 they followed us to the pub. Ray, Betty and I really enjoyed our meals .... Dad not so much. I do not think he was feeling very well as he did not even finish his beer. Oh well we tried. 

Thursday we just hunkered down, I did laundry and Ray just poked around his lockers. I spent quite a bit of time on the computer planning our trip south. Friday we both went to the hot tub at the Langley pool and it was lovely. This is the first time I have gone this month as Walnut Grove Pool is closed until this Monday for maintenance. I found I could get lots of other things done in the coach with Ray "out of my hair" so to speak. Saturday Ray made me French Toast for breakfast. Thanks! Very seldom someone cooks for me. After breakfast he went for a short while to Walnut Grove to do his shopping and then I took my grocery list and off I went to SuperStore and Walmart. Ray cooked me dinner too! He went to Lee's Market and bought a rotisserie chicken! Sunday we actually slept in to 7am. Wow. 

Today Garrett comes for a visit with Kira. Freya will be so excited. Kristi and Jason were supposed to pass through on the way back to Kelowna and pick up Ray's Mum and bring her here for a visit. Mum was not feeling all that well on Saturday and Kristi was feeling a little under the weather as well so they made the decision yesterday to go straight through to Kelowna. All in all it has been a pretty busy week. The countdown begins before leaving for the states. We can hardly wait. Ray researched quite a list of exciting things to see and it was up to me to plan where we were going to stay. 

Sunday Update 

Well the day started out calmly ... or so I thought. Received a call from Garrett at 10 am that he was running late and would not be here until noon. At 11am received a call from Kristi ... yes they made the 11am ferry, and guess what they spoke with Grandma and she was feeling better so the plan was back on for Kristi and Jason to pick her up and bring her here for a late lunch and by the way! I have to be back in Kelowna for 7:30pm for a meeting. I immediately went to Mach 1. Lunch needed to be made which was going to be hamburgers with some salads. Everything had to be ready when they arrived as they only had 1/2 an hour to get going again. Bacon, onions and mushrooms were immediately chopped and cooked ahead to be just rewarmed as they take the longest. 2 1/2 hours later I was finished with the prep and dishes were all done. When Ray received the call that they were at the gate the burgers were thrown on the BBQ. A very quick visit including everyone stuffing their faces Kristi and Jason with the two dogs were back on their way. 

Garrett and Mum remained and we enjoyed sitting in the sun while Garrett played the guitar for us. At 5pm Ray suggested that Garrett drive Mum home as he was getting ready to shoot pictures of the lunar eclipse tonight. Ray drove them to Garrett's SUV just outside the park and came back to get his stuff all together. 40 minutes later we received a call from Garrett, Mum had left her purse in our car and could not get into her apartment. Oh no... now what. It turned out that Garrett was able to get a hold of the maintenance people for the complex on the emergency number and eventually someone came to let Mum in. Fortunately she has a spare key and cash so we will return her purse on Tuesday on the way to Garrett's for dinner. Ray's photo shoot turned out to be a frustrating bust! The poor guy. His camera would not operate correctly with his lenses and he missed the whole eclipse. While he was monkeying around with the camera his lens fell out of his glasses as well. When he came back to the coach he was fit to be tied! After fixing his glasses he took me back to where you could see the moon on the water. It was very beautiful. Too bad for Ray, the next blood moon is not until 2033. On the bright side he will now have it all figured out I am sure before we leave for the states as this is not the first time the camera has locked up. We think it is a setting problem that he does not understand yet as the camera body is a new one since August and has more options than his last one.