Preparing for New Zealand September 28, 2010

Last day.  Tomorrow we head to LAX and hop the plane to New Zealand.  So today will be the last blog at this address.  We invite everyone to come along with us and enjoy our travels.  The new blog will be

The Kiwi Kronicles and will be at the following URL

                   http://thekiwikronicles.blogspot.com

Hope to see you there. 

Preparing for New Zealand September 25 - 27, 2010

The time is getting near to our leaving and our time has been spent packing, repacking, getting a few last minute things done, repacking and waiting.

We had a nice break on Sunday.  We were invited to travel over to Mission Viejo and have brunch with

Sanjay and his family.   Mission Viejo is about 70 miles west of Hemet and is in the southern part of Orange County.  It is a very nice and clean little city and was declared to be the safest city is California and the third savest city in the US.  Sanjay had planned a BBQ outside but since it was 107 degrees we decided to stay indoors. It was a very pleasant afternoon of good company and good food.  As usual I ate too much.



Nancy, Sanjay, Kathy, Me



Neil ( Sanjay's Son ) and Sanjay.




 


Nancy, Sanjay and Neil.

 


Sanjay and Nancy

















We left Mission Viejo and headed back to Hemet but decided to take the slower route through San Jaun Canyou.  The landscape is pretty barren and rocky but what to you expect when it is over 100 degrees for most of the summer. 


San Juan Valley, California




San Juan Canyon, California

















We left the canyon by climbing the eastern ridge which brought us out overlooking Lake Elsinore.  This left us with a short jog across Hwy 74 into Hemet.

Lake Elsinore, California

Lake Elsinore, California

Only one more day.

Preparing for New Zealand September 10 - 24, 2010

The last two weeks have been pretty slow, just slowly dragging along.  We have managed to get most of the things needed to be done and are now just putting in time.  The list of things we had to do when we got to California have pretty much been completed.  We got the prescriptions sorted out, we did the shopping for the extra clothes and hiking gear.  We delivered the camper to Lancaster, CA home of Lance Campers to have some work done on it when we were away.  We made the arrangements to have the 5th wheel stored and the limo to and from the airport is all set up. So NOW we WAIT. 

Oh Yea, there was one other thing that had to be done.

Before



The Beginning

  


The End is Near



All Done



The New Me

Five Days to Take Off





Preparing for New Zealand Sept 1 - 9, 2010

We left Grapevine on the morning, early morning, very early morning on the 1st and hot footed it to Hemet.  We made it to Van Horn, Texas on the first day and then to Blythe, CA on the second day.  This left us with only 150 miles of the 1367 total miles so Friday was an easy day.  We had made arrangements to have the 5th wheel delivered to the RV park for us so it was an easy set up. 

The reason for coming back to Hemet early is that we need the time to make sure everything is ready for our trip to New Zealand.  We are leaving September 29, 2010 from LAX and will arrive in Auckland on the 1st of October.  We have rented a Campervan and will be touring the three islands for six months, returning on April 1, 2011.

The most important item that had to be taken care of is visas for New Zealand.  We had sent off the applications shortly after crossing the border into the US but it was returned because we sent them too much money.  Go figure.  We made the corrections, reapplied and waited.  Fortuntely all was good as the visas arrived yesterday.  We are good to go.

Stay turned for further updates.

FROM Y'ALL TO EH!!! Day 91 – 90 August 19 – August 31, 2010 Grapevine, Texas

The stop in Grapevine was mainly for doctors and prescriptions to prepare for the next part of our journey. So we headed out to be poked, probed and stuck with needles. The good news is that we were both given clean bills of health and told to get out of town.

However, before leaving for California we were able to catch up with some good friends. When we first got to the Vineyards we hooked up with The Harpers for breakfast. Floyd and Lynnie are two special people we have come to know during our time here. We enjoy their company very much and will certainly see them down the road.

Floyd and Lynnie Harper

We were able to have dinner with Marsha but I don’t have a picture as she is camera shy. Okay, the truth is I forgot the camera. We enjoyed a very nice dinner and were able to catch up with all of Marsha’s going on’s since the last time we saw her. She is a special friend and we wish her well.

We couldn’t come into town without meeting up with Eddie and Anna. I play poker with Eddie and I plan to join him and a few others at the World Series of Poker in Vegas this coming June. On this trip we did get to join them for dinner and a very fun night.

Anna and Eddie Melissari

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The weekend before we left we were invited to Bernie and Susan’s for dinner. When we arrived we discovered it was Bernie’s birthday and he is now the same age as me. Ryan ( Bernie’s son ) and Michelle ( Ryan’s wife ) was also there and we had a nice night. We hadn’t seen much of Bernie and Susan since we retired and it was good to catch up.
 

Bernie Anderson

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Susan Anderson

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Michelle and Ryan Anderson

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Bernie Anderson

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We got our final reports from the doctors on the 31st of August so the plan is to head for Hemet in the morning.

FROM Y'ALL TO EH!!! Day 88 – 90 August 16 – August 18, 2010 Cleveland, Ohio to

We left Hudson early Monday morning and jumped on Hwy 71 which headed south through Columbus and down into Cincinnati. We then turned southwest, still on Hwy 71 and followed it into Kentucky towards Louisville.

Welcome to Kentucky

We stayed on a southwesterly direction through Kentucky until we hit Tennessee and came to Nashville. We passed through Nashville and decided to stop at a little place called Buffalo, Tennessee after 600 miles of driving.

We did not get away as early on Tuesday but we still had a good driving day. We left Buffalo around 10:30AM, got back on the I71 and followed it through Tennessee to Memphis. We passed through Memphis and entered Arkansas by crossing the mighty Mississippi.

Mississippi River

The Mighty Mississippi

At which point we turned a little more south and headed to Little Rock and then Texarkana. We were going to go into Memphis and take in the Elvis Presley Museum at Graceland but decided against it. We carried on into Texas and finally stopped at a little town named Mt. Pleasant where there is a KOA campground. We did a little over 460 miles today which will leave us a very short jaunt into Grapevine.

With only 150 miles remaining on the trip we decided to sleep in and have a relaxing day. We arrived back in Grapevine early in the afternoon and set up. Tomorrow we start with our appointments and visits.

Texas Sky

FROM Y'ALL TO EH!!! Day 81 - 87 August 9 – August 15, 2010 Toronto, Ontario to Cleveland, Ohio

The plan was to leave Toronto Monday morning for Buffalo so that we could get the paperwork done for our visas. We were also planning to spend a couple of days in Ellicottville just relaxing and enjoying the area, but such was not to be. We had ordered something from the bank that was scheduled to come on Monday but in fact did not arrive until Thursday morning. We had returned the rental car so we just stayed close to the camper and enjoyed (not) the heat and humidity.

Thursday morning we headed for the bank, picked up what we needed and headed for the border.

 

The line up at the border was heavy but it moved pretty quickly and it was to long before we left Eh and crossed over into Y’all.

We stopped in Buffalo to send a FedEx package and then headed straight for Hudson, Ohio which is a small city about 20 miles south of Cleveland. In making the drive we crossed through New York State, touched the north end of Pennsylvania and then entered into Ohio. We followed Lake Erie until we came to Cleveland where we turned south to Hudson.

We arrived at the Johnson’s (Kathy’s older brother and family) just in time for supper and spent a quiet evening catching up.

Sister In Law Shirley

Neices Camille and Grace

Brother Bob

Friday was a busy day. Bob and I hit the links for 18 at a nice course not far from their home. It was here that I learned the Ohio Scoring System. It seems I lost the golf came because in Ohio the high score wins.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
We got back from the golf course with enough time to have a little rest before getting ready for dinner. We ventured downtown to a restaurant called “The Tomato Grill” and had a very nice dinner. The food was good, the company was excellent and Bob treated, how do you top that. Thanks Bob.

After dinner we walked down the street to the town square where they have a bandstand. The band was already playing when we arrived and it was crowded. We strolled around for awhile before making a stop at the ice cream store, Stone Cold Calories, sorry Creamery. I was introduced to a particular flavor in Oakville (it was Nancy’s fault) and now it is becoming a habit.


We stayed and enjoyed the band for a period of time and we also met a group of the Johnson’s friends and neighbors. Once the socializing was done we headed home and called it a night. It was a really nice evening.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 






Sunday morning we headed for the farmers market on the outskirts of Hudson. It is located in the field of an old farm. They was a bunch of stands set up with vegetables, fruits, baked goods, crafts, you name it. We looked at everything and bought a few things. It was a nice morning.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 










 

 

 

 

We left the market and headed back to Bob and Shirley’s house where we spent the rest of the day visiting. We haven’t had the opportunity to spend much time with the Johnsons over the last few years so it was nice just chatting. They have a lovely house with a large back deck and I spent a lot of time there

We all had an early night as Bob had a flight in the morning and we wanted to get an early start on our drive back to Grapevine. So we said goodbye to the girls (Camille and Grace) as they wouldn’t be up in the morning and headed for bed.

We really enjoyed our time in Hudson and it was nice seeing the Johnsons again. It would be nice to catch up with them more often.

FROM Y'ALL TO EH!!! Day 71 - 80 July 31 – August 8, 2010 Toronto, Ontario

We spent the August long weekend at the Indian Line RV Park in Brampton. We tried to rent a car but left it too late, everyone was sold out. As a result it became a very relaxing few days, we just laid back and enjoyed life.

On Wednesday we had arranged to meet up with Tom and Ruth Smith one last time before leaving the country. Tom and I spent the morning chasing around a little white ball at Silver Lakes Golf Club which is north of Newmarket. The course was very nice, in very good shape and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Neither the heat nor the humidity could dampen our enjoyment.

After we finished playing golf we went back to the Smith’s for a look at their new house and to spend a little time with them. Dawn and Avery dropped in while we were there so we had a nice farewell visit.

I did have to go to the Walk In Clinic on Thursday to get something for my bronchitis but spent the rest of the day and Friday resting up for Kathy’s reunion with some of her old Ryerson classmates.

On Saturday we headed over to Jim and Pam Jeffries who were hosting the get together. They were terrific hosts and our gratitude and thanks goes out to them.

Jim & Pam Jeffrey

It was a fun day as a lot of old adventures and tales were dragged up and rehashed. Kathy had not seen some of these people for 35 years, while some she had seen in recent years. I have come to know several of them over the years so it was also a fun day for me. I do believe everyone had a grand old time.
 

  

Jim Jeffrey, John Valenteyn

Mandy

Janet, John, Ian

We had a wonderful meal and then sat around and continued with stories, picture viewing, picture taking and just catching up in general. The day came to a close at around midnight as some people had long drives ahead of them. Overall it was a tremendous day spent with old and valued friends.

After a very leisurely morning we headed back over to Pam and Jim’s for a little one on one visiting. We really hadn’t had a chance to spend much time with them the night before so today was nice. We just sat around their lovely back yard and chatted. We did take time out for a swim in their pool before sitting down to dinner. Overall it was a great day and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We said goodbye around 9:30 PM and ventured back to the RV Park. Tired but very contented.

Tomorrow we plan to head over to Buffalo for a couple of days before heading to Cleveland to visit Kathy’s brother and his family. The trip to Ontario has been phenomenal; we got to see our new granddaughter Ashley. We were able to visit with our daughter Mandi and her husband Gary for an extended period of time. We even got to take Ashley on her first fishing trip at 5 months old. I was able to play Glen Abbey. More importantly we caught up with friends and relatives that we regrettably hadn’t seen in a long time. It is things like this that have certainly made this trip memorable.