Blake's Blog - Back in the USA
(In a sing-song voice) “On the road again. I can’t wait to get on the road again.”
Well, here we are again, cruising south on Highway 2. Queen Lizzy’s road.
(singing again) “California here I come, right back where I started from.” Well, that’s not factually correct as we started from Calgary, Alberta. But we are headed for California. First stop is Cranbrook, BC. It is only an over-nighter and we will be making our way to Coeur D’Alene tomorrow. In about two weeks, we will be down in San Francisco, after stops in Portland and a couple of national parks. Should be loads of fun and I am really looking forward to seeing the Redwood forest. Hopefully, we’ll meet a few Ewoks.
The past couple of week have gone by fast. We had a great time in Calgary and got a lot done but it was ridiculously busy. A big thanks to my parents for taking care of Kizmet and the kids a number of times, for feeding us, and providing a base of operation during our time in town. It was great to see my sister, Suzanne, and her family, Adam, Kate, Clare, and Simon who were in town from Pittsburgh. We also owe thanks to Rafat and Nan, the Kumar family, the Vines, the Williams’ family, and the Knibbes for all taking turns having us over for dinner. I’ll have to go on a diet and do a bunch of running but it was definitely worth it! Seeing my brother’s band play at a bar on MacLeod was a highlight – great job James!
We managed to get to the Apple store (twice) to get our Mac repaired, we did a bunch of paperwork, and all had dentist appointments (Isaac had a second one for a cavity filling – too many sweets). Sonya, Tashy and Isaac got hair cuts. We moved five truckloads of firewood from my parents to my sisters house (more on that in a minute). Sonya renewed her driver’s licence (she is driving and towing the big rig as I write this). I’m super-excited that Sonya is driving again as I like being a passenger – can’t wait to read some books, play some chess, and watch a few movies.
While we were in town I also had an opportunity to visit my parents’ new home. Yes, they just recently sold the family home in Lake Bonavista, where they have been living for some 25 years, and bought a bungalow in Douglasdale. The new place is in an adult living community where the yard work is all taken care of. So Mom and Dad will not have to worry about shovelling and mowing and raking. Sounds pretty good, actually. As a bonus, they are very close to the Bow River pathway so it will be easy to bike from our place to theirs, once we are back in town. With the pending move, Mom and Dad have started packing (well, more Mom than Dad). And that it why the kids and I moved so much firewood from my parents’ backyard over to my sister’s place. We will have plenty to fill up my wood shed when we get back. I’m sad to see the Bonavista home sold but I’m very happy for my parents as I believe that this will be a good move for them. They already know a number of people in the new community as they regularly play bridge with some of them. So, hopefully, it will be an easy transition.
Another highlight of our two weeks in Calgary was an epic Nerf gun fight that we had in Fish Creek park. This was Isaac’s idea and I thought it was brilliant so I helped him organize the event. A bunch of my family were joined by a few of Isaac’s friends and our buddies Zoe and Shane for an all-out Nerftacular, mulit-battle, luxury, world-renown Nerf gun fight. Complete with a campfire, blue skies, hot dogs, fresh fruit, and marshmallows, a good time was had by all. Sonya and her gang of delinquents won a number of rounds of capture the flag. Although James, Shane, and I had undoubtedly greater technique, amazing skills, and superior weaponry, we often found ourselves out-manned and out-manoeuvered by the 12-year-olds in Sonya’s army.