My feet are killing me!

Day three. After another good sleep and quick breakfast we took the bus to 42nd street and then walked the 1/2 mile to the terminus for the Circle Line Boat Cruise tour of lower Manhattan.

A beautiful day for learning about the history of this very historical part of the island. A knowledgeable guide gave a running commentary on everything from Ellis Island, the remainder of the pier that Titanic was supposed to dock at, [adjacent to the pier where Luisitania docked], to the Statue of Liberty and everything in between.

We then took a cab to Macy's where we had a light lunch. The cab ride was an experience that has to be done at least once in a lifetime: New York gridlock. We then explored the Empire State Building which is another worthwhile experience

My feet were beginning to show signs of stress, but my companions were dauntless and we pushed on. First was Grand Central Station, which is clean as a whistle. We tried to relive the Elliot Ness shoot-out that was filmed there I believe, we had difficulty with the steps scene however.

Fellette and Ian then walked us to the Chrysler Building, which is nicer than the Empire State Building. There certainly were some very rich corporations and imaginative architects in the 20's and 30's in New York. After that we were all a bit bagged and took another cab back to the hotel where we relaxed for a few hours.

Dinner tonight was a light meal within walking distance from our temporary home. After dinner Ian guided us to Central Park. We strolled down the park for about 1/2 mile. It is lined with very fancy hotels and shops. Upmarket is the term. Ian then took us past the Park Hotel where he and some companions were housed while working with Donald Trump on a yacht project. It never got off the ground because Donald ran into financial problems in the crash of 1987.

Back to the hotel by 10 where we received information on checking out and transport to the ship tomorrow.

Well Ruth, tomorrow we find out what our facilities and ship are like. I wonder if we will be able to connect to the internet for the next 18 days? Who knows, this may be the last entry until we reach jolly old England.

Actually, I am ready for a rest and would like to get these suitcases unpacked!

On The Busses...

Two days in New York. That is not even enough time to get oriented, but it is all we have, three nights and two and a half days actually. We join the ship tomorrow afternoon.

We made contact with Ian and Judy early in the morning and met in the lobby. First time in two years that we have seen each other. Within 50 feet of the hotel we are chatting with one of about 5,000 yellow-jacketed black ticket sellers for the hop-on-hop-off bus tours. We had months ago decided that we would do that on day one.

Breakfast in an open-air cafe and by 10 we were on the Bus. We took the 'Downtown' tour, which includes 'Midtown'.

Maybe a quick geography lesson would be in order. We are in Manhattan, and island, 20 Ks long and four Ks wide. So, downtown is the bottom half. The buses are open top two-deckers. It seems that here are almost as many tour buses as there are cabs in NY. We spent over two hours having an informative and delightful tour of this fascinating place.

I have been here a few times in my life, always in some hurried fashion and never really became oriented about what was where: Wall, street, the garment industry, the theatre section, the Brooklyn bridge, Greenwich, Soho, [which means South of Houston, a street in the area], and so on. Seinfeld makes more sense to me now.

On the way we passed Macy's, both original and new location. Did you ever wonder why Macy's shopping bags have that humungous big red star on them? Because Mr. Macy was originally a sailor and he had a red star tattooed on his hand.

Soon it was time to grab a lunch at a deli, unfortunately not a Jewish one that offers the whole 'Jewish Deli Experience'.

After lunch, back on the bus for the uptown tour. Through Upper Westside, Morningside, Harlem, east Harlem, etc. Past Central Park [2 1/2 x 1 mile], and all the fancy homes and mansions of the rich and wealthy. The tour was a feast for anybody remotely interested in architecture and a museum buff would have had a field day.

When we got on the bus in the afternoon, we had a Japanese tour guide. We had difficulty understanding him and it did not get better the longer we went on. We went past the place where John Lennon got shot. They have created a bit of an attraction in honour of him called 'Strawberry Fields', suddenly we had an urge to see the Strawberry Fields and got off the bus. Within minutes we were back on another bus. This time we had the most informative and knowledgeable guide ever! We never did see the Lennon shrine, as our intention was to change buses without offending our host.

By the way, New York seems to have cleaned up. Or maybe it never was as nasty as I thought. Harlem and the related areas are clean and tidy, as were all that we saw, all day long. I know there are poor areas everywhere but none that we saw. New York seems to be a very highly organized and well regulated city, from what we saw at least.

Back to the hotel in late afternoon, time for a jet-lag nap. A few showers were falling near the end of the trip, but not enough to spoil the day.

Later had a delightful dinner at Rosie O'grady's Saloon, across the street from our hotel. In bed at 10 and up at 6.30.

Newark revisited...

Newark, New Jersey is just across the Hudson River from New York. That is where one gets the best view of the NY skyline. About a 1/2 hour car ride to what they call The Big Apple.

Newark is where we landed last night at a very nice sized airport. 1/3 the size of Vancouver Airport. We cleared customs in Vancouver so we were at the luggage carousel in mere minutes. We were to be met by a Princess Cruise person since we bought the over-priced three night hotel package. We are the the Sheraton Towers about 7th Avenue and 53rd Street.

Our travel day was smooth enough, Murphy did not follow us fortunately. As you know there are a zillion steps to get from your home to your destination with your luggage without some glitch. We only had three steps to go as we came down the escalator to the luggage carousel.

1. Will we be met by a driver?

2. Will our luggage be there?

3. Will we have reservations at the right hotel?

As we came down the escalator to the luggage carousel there were several people holding up cards with names on them. I did not see our name so I went to the luggage carousel. A tap on the shoulder by Fellette and she pointed to a man with a sign that I had read a Dial Car! So step one was glitchless after all. Our luggage soon arrived and we were off.

A 1/2 hour ride in a Lincoln Limo, [I told you it was over priced], and we were through the Lincoln Tunnel and into the raw seamy side of NY where we could have gone to a Peep Show, or and Adult Video shop, or Fellette could have popped into a 'Male Room', whatever that is. The streets were packed with people and cars and 4,000,000 cabs.

To the hotel and bingo, mission accomplished we were 'here'.

I have visited Newark several times before on early Canada Ticket business. In 1979 I made a visit to finalize plans to buy our first press, I was meet at the airport by a huge man who squired me around the place for a few days. At the end we shook hands and I gave him $25,000 as a down payment on a rebuilt press and a promise to deliver in six months. I was housed in a motel in Newark, a seamy place but OK.

Nine months later, I was in Newark again, four weeks before Christmas. The press was not delivered, we were living on food stamps and I was a very, very unhappy person. My oversized host was a con-man it appears. He had taken my money and used it to satisfy other people who were hassling him to fulfill his promises. I was 3000 miles away and no threat.

I walked into the shop that day and said I was there to stay until I saw my press on a truck. I again stayed in the seamy Newark Hotel. Only when I had a longer stay, [three weeks], did I realize that the motel was a favourite spot for Friday and Saturday one hour stays by amorous and very noisy lovers!

I helped finish the press, saw it stuffed into containers and left for Vancouver a few days before Christmas. There was not a lot of gifts under the Christmas tree that year, but the kids were used to it by then, as our money had dried up months ago.

That was then, and this is now! Nice to be in New Jersey again, this time to join a cruise and see friends Ian and Judy for the first time in two years.

D Day...

Well, it seems like D day to me. What a rush!

It is one half hour from now that our ride to the airport arrives and we are still 'taking care of details'.

Murphy was around today, again! I arrived at The Farm to say goodbye to all there and just as I got there my Blackberry phone died! Gadzooks, that is my life-line to the real world for the next five weeks. A tittle bit of battery-removal and a reboot cured that though. Just sent to test me I suppose.

Yesterday one of our tasks was to pick the peas in the garden, and shell them and freeze them. That brings you back to earth in a hurry, nothing like shelling peas to slow you down!

Tonight we sleep in New York, Lord willing.

Hope to talk to you later.

By the way, did you know that Air Canada flies from Vancouver to New Jersey, direct? When we booked it was to NY. Let us see if Murphy is still with us at the airport.

Murphy's law...

According to Murphy's Law, "if it can go wrong, it will". What law is it that says "it will go wrong at the most inconvenient time"?

Upon arising this AM, I turned on my Blackberry as part of the morning routine, and some emails came in. Later, as part of my routine, I turned on my laptop, that precious thing that is going with us tomorrow to keep in touch and do the Blog. No Mail! Darn, Murphy and his brother have got together!

Today's plans now include taking the laptop to work and have the experts there check my settings.

Oh well, who is going to give us any sympathy on a glitch like that when we are fortunate enough to be able to take a trip like this? Nobody.

The last cruise we went on I also had a computer glitch. That time Murphy waited until we were in Florida at the hotel the night before our 111 day cruise. My computer acted up, it seemed that about six keys on the keyboard did not work. In desperation I phoned friend Ruth , who lived there, for advice. Upon her recommendation I whipped out and bought a remote keyboard for the trip. I beat Murphy then and I will beat him again this time.

A bit about this upcoming cruise...

This is a relatively short vacation for us compared to past years, two nights in NY, 18 on the ship and 11 in England.

It is a bit of an odd itinerary, going to Greenland and Iceland to name a couple of places that were never very high on my wish list. However the companionship overcame any misgivings on the itinerary, so we booked.

The basic vacation plan is as follows: We fly to New York on the coming Wednesday, spend two nights there before joining the ship. 18 nights on board the Tahitian Princess, [670 passengers and 30,000 tons]. We disembark in Dover and take a cab to their home. We spend 11 days there [doing handyman jobs, if they let us]. We do have a day in Paris for lunch via the Eurostar train through the Chunnel, and no doubt some other outings as well.

We fly back home on August 24 to work off the cruise food.

I hope to have internet connections and do a blog. Wish me luck, as keeping 'connected' while travelling can be a challenge.

Test packing..

What is a test pack? Well, it is not really a test pack, it is really getting out the suitcases and picking out the clothes and shoes etc that you think you need, or want while away.

We have two days in New York, 19 on the ship, including shore time in Halifax, Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland, the Shetland, and Norway. Then about 11 days in England including a day in Paris. So what would you pack for such a trip? What is the weather likely to be in Iceland, or Newfoundland?

Well, a few hours later, the bedroom was an absolute shambles and there was no recourse but to bash on. Packing for the World Cruise two years ago was a breeze: we just took everything that we even remotely thought that we might need. Then we shipped it off three weeks ahead of our departure. We just took a small suitcase each with us when we flew to Miami.

This time we have to physically take the suitcases with us. ["Such a hardship" I hear you saying, no, it is just plain fun and adds to the trip,] It really is exciting getting all your fancy clothes out and seeing what fits and what doesn't. I love seeing Fellette trying on her outfits and then getting her beads and accessories that go with it. I actually took pictures of her various outfits, but her hair was not that great at the time so, sorry, no fashion parade folks.

By noon the next day, my lovely had it all tucked in and we got it into three cases. Included in one case was an extra folded up case for who knows what!

Me again!

For anybody that reads this thing, here is an update.

Fellette and I are off on a reasonably short trip in July. Leaving home Wednesday July 22 and arriving home August 24.

Details to come.

The real world...

We are back from fantasyland and full into our normal life.

What is normal one may ask. To us, normal is a bit of this and a bit of that. Some bits are interesting, some not so much. Today, as I was cutting up a fallen tree I thought that to us 'this is normal', to others it could be looked upon as 'somewhat odd'. To each his own. To some, lying on a couch and watching a football or cricket game is the norm for many on a Sunday afternoon. To some, going to a concert is the thing to do.

Enough rambling. Here was our day...

Lazy get up, the start of daylight savings time. I forgot to change the coffee clock so it came on later, good because we slept in!

To Church for spiritual fuel and a bit of catch-up with friends, then off for a quick lunch at home and then to the Farm for Alicia's 12th Birthday Tea with some 'Aunts' and two Grandmas.


Doug and Rob cut up the neighbour's tree across the street. We finished as it started to snow. [He was slaughtering Rabbits as we left.]



One photo was taken yesterday at son Wally's place cutting up wood.


A snowy farewell to Jeanette and back home to light the fireplace! Wonderful day. Maui is just a fading memory, how fast we get caught up in the real again!

Swapping a Bathing Suit for Blue Jeans...

                                                        Above photo is with Gail and Jim Cutler on our last night in Maui.

Wow, home again, home again on the 5th. It is always nice to leave for a vacation and it is always nice to come home. [For me anyhow.]

What I am looking forward to...  [Fellette is not really into this as much as I am.

Grandkids.

A chain saw roaring and the chips flying from it!

Going to our favourite market and getting all the fresh, good produce at reasonable prices.

The smell of printer's ink and paper on my first visit to the shop.

Coffee in bed in the morning with the local newspaper.

Our own bed, shower, toilet.

Driving my very own car again!

Listening to CBC or CTV with real news from around the world.

 What I, [we] will miss...

 Early morning swims.

 Wearing shorts every day.

Pineapple every day.

Kim Chee, onions and a Miller for lunch.

Deciding what not to do that day.

Relaxing with good friends.

Time to think, and to read and relax.

Maui Vacation Recap...

Our winter break is coming to an end, and have only three sleeps left here. We arrived five weeks ago and are ready to come back to reality.

A brief summary: (Is Doug ever brief?)

The first nine days we were alone at our Maui Hill condo, it rained the first day but the weather got progressively better. Gerald and Karen Tottman from Saltspring Island joined us for eight days. Together we had a very, very low key and relaxed time. No major excursions other than a picnic up country and some interesting drives and walks with lots of beach time. Gerald was one of Canada Ticket’s early-on customers and we have kept the relationship at a personal/professional level for 30 years.



Church friends Susan and Tony Amstutz were up the road a bit and we saw them a couple of times. A fun couple indeed.


Brother Graham and friend Maureen arrived and were staying up at Kaanapali, as Graham's newly acquired place at Sugar Beach was rented out. We had a few enjoyable times with them. Our cousin Peggy Cowley and husband Gord arrived and were staying down the road from Maui Hill. We went to church with them and enjoyed a Sunday brunch with Graham and Maureen. Graham is named after Peggy’s dad, our father's half-brother. (Too complicated to explain.)



Gail and Jim Cutler arrived in Mau and were staying up at Maalaea Bay this year. Fellette and I moved in with them 10 days before leaving for home. They rented a condo on the fourth floor right on the water. The view of the bay and whales is fantastic. The only downside is that we are experiencing unprecedented winds now, the most prolonged we have ever experienced. We have felt somewhat housebound because of the howling winds and bent over palm trees outside. [Please send sympathy cards to make us feel better!]

We also got to meet Jim's son, daughter-in-law and new grandson and also Gail’s son and wife. Nice folks, like the parents.



Bits and pieces...

The airfare to get here and back is appalling, between $500 and $900.

The price of groceries is worse than appalling.

Eating out in some cases can necessitate a blood transfusion, or a second mortgage.

The economic slowdown has hit Maui hard. Lots of people here, but not spending as much on excursions and dining out as before, apparently. Hotels are feeling it more than places with cooking facilities!

The whales are here in large numbers, great viewing from Gail and Jim’s balcony!

We witnessed two ocean kayakers get dashed onto the rocks as a sudden high-wind storm came up on the beach at Wailea. Two burly beach bums swam out and got the kayaks, the girls scrambled up the rocky cliff, [in bare feet!] We pulled up stakes and had our planned picnic-on-the-beach back at the condo.

Australian friends Rod and Lyn arrived home yesterday, [we hope] from a 370-day trek around the world. We last saw them in May at the Farm as they headed east... They have wanderlust and enjoy that life. Their kitchen was completely taken out and remodeled in their absence. [We hope.] Could you do that?

Friend Ian Bennett from England sent pictures of bulbs blooming in their garden near London. Hold on folks, spring is coming.

Why do smart people do dumb things?

 

The short answer is that they are not as smart as they think they are!

 

Yesterday we moved in with Gail and Jim Cutler [of The Madagasgar-Lemur-Caper and Tiger-Safari-in-India fame], up the road from where we were staying at Kihei, Maui. The move went well enough and we were soon settled in comfortably with our good friends.

 

It was the day that we were scheduled to return our rental car. Jim and I started out to Kahalui in separate cars. A few hundred yards up the road I remembered that I did not bring our cash to pay for the car. Why cash you ask? At the Visa rate of 28% we did not intend to use our credit card in Maui this time. Therefore we brought US dollars from the income of our Condo in Maui. [Living here is not cheap, our first shopping trip to Costco a few weeks ago was $379, US$!]

 

So.... I called Fellette and told her I was returning and please dig up our cash. Dutifully Fellette appeared on the balcony as I drove into the driveway of the four-storey complex and proceed to insert the envelope with the money in the bill-holder in my wallet. She was preparing to throw it to me as I uttered the words "I don't think you should throw it!" Too late, soon the missile with over $1000 US was hurtling to the ground. It was composed of five $100 bills, eight $50's, several $20's and scads of $1's.

 

Please understand that winds can be very heavy here at Maalaea! Within ten feet of being propelled from the fourth floor, the wind miraculously opened my wallet, blew out and opened the envelope. Soon every single bill was flying to the ground being briskly escorted to a nearby drainage ditch by the warm Maui Typhoon-like winds.

 

Jim had appeared on the scene by now, returning to the Condo when I turned back to get the cash. Fellette had also now arrived on the driveway, in stocking feet, after waiting for the elevator. I cannot imagine what Jim was thinking when he arrived on the scene and saw me scrambling around on the blacktop and the weeds making mili-second decisions on whether to disregard a single dollar bill in favour of a twenty, fifty or, 'please Lord, make it a $100 dollar bill'.

 

We seem to have recovered all of the bills!

 

The lesson learned is... 'WEAR YOUR SLIPPERS' and Don't forget your wallet!

A word or two about Blogging...

As some of you may be aware, I have 'blogged' a few times whilst travelling abroad. As you may also be aware, there has been no activity since the odyssey of Amsterdam, ending in April 2008. 

We have 'travelled' since then, but somehow even though fun and exciting for us, our trip to Atlanta for  a few weeks and to Maui for five weeks does not cut it for exciting reading. [Even though I was often tempted to engage in some stimulating story-telling].

Successful blogging is, I believe, a bit of an illusive art. It must be exciting, interesting, well written, amusing, and regular. The latter to me is critical. I believe that my previous blog[s] had a reasonable following. After long trips I would hear from people days, weeks, even months later that told me how much they enjoyed 'travelling' with us and how it became a part of their daily routine. 

We have some good friends from Australia who are/were on a year-long trip around the world. Actually I helped Lyn and Rod set up their blog in Australia while we were there, [blogging on that trip actually]. Unfortunately they were dependant upon somewhat variable internet access at remote countries and locations so the blog was not able to become part of my daily routine. I learned from their experience, that blogging must/should be regular to be well received if we measure number of readers as any indication of success.

As an aside, on the above comment on Lyn and Rod, since they left home west of  Melbourne last February the stock market melt-down and economic collapse has happened. Also now that they are about to step foot on their home soil for the first time in 366 days, their country is now reeling from the worst natural disaster in Australia's history, the bush fires. On the positive side their country home has not been affected and hopefully their kitchen 'remodel' that has taken place in their absence is complete!

The reason for me doing this blog is to get my last blog, 'Will this trip never end?' off the top of the list. As you may have detected at the end of that trip I was somewhat jaded and really thought that we would never travel again. Since then we have had an attitude adjustment and have two trips planned , one in July the other in January 2010, both Lord willing. I hope to be blogging then. 

In the meantime we are all well, the "Great Recession" has touched us, son-in-law Robert is fearful that his employment as a glass-blower at his firm may be over and Canada Ticket is scrambling to minimize the inevitable affects of this creeping slowdown.

I have inserted a somewhat current picture of our immediate family so you can see how we are all handling the ageing process.

Love to all of you, Fellette and Doug

Will this trip never end?..

Yes it will, and I really do believe it is now over, for the last time. The reason that it dragged on after the disembarkation day of April 24th was that we never got our luggage until May 26th. That's right a full 30 days after it was shipped to us from new York. Seven suitcases total.

Why? Do you really want to know? Firstly, apparently personal luggage has to be shipped by Federal Express [express], not Federal Express [ground]. Did you know that those are two separate entities that do not 'talk to each other'. I sure didn't and I guess somebody slipped up at Fedex in New York or Holland America.

So, it went from New York [Brooklyn] to New Jersey, Utah, Portland, Oregon and there they discovered it was sent via the wrong 'division'. So, it went back to New York via Ohio, New Jersey and Brooklyn. Then, somehow it got sent to Holland America in Seattle, where they have their head office. Continuing, it went to Oakland California, then back to Seattle [?], finally to Richmond, BC, [CANADA, hurray!]




However it could not clear Canada Customs until my six page list of contents was typed out, separating the pillow gifts that Holland America gave, in particular the lovely commemorative plates. That being done next day it was then required that I write a letter to Canada Customs authorizing my customs broker to clear the goods on my behalf. This was likely done as a result of me finally taking control of our luggage with our company's Fedex representative after the luggage sat in New York for a week because nobody was talking to anybody.

Also, A & A Customs broker, my brothers company were the ones that walked the goods through this entanglement of foul-ups. Thank you A & A!

To add insult to injury, the two commemorative plates were broken into three and four pieces each. They were packed well enough in hard-sided luggage but can you imagine the treatment they received with so many transfers?

It was a bit difficult not to let this last month spoil an otherwise delightful trip. It didn't.

Our luggage travelled across North America three times in those 30 days, I hope they had a good trip!

One man's poison...

Well, not really poison, but the old parable fits. What one man may find relaxing another man would not.

We had another few days at 100 Mile last week with visiting friends from Australia, Lyn and Rod Lindroth. Three nights actually, enough to appreciate the solitude of the area and not too much to get tired of the lack of facilities.

We met Lyn and Rod several years ago on a cruise, where we spent 48 days together sailing from Southampton to Darwin, in Northern Australia, where they disembarked, heading for their home in Melbourne, in the south. I have written about Lyn before in my blogs as she is a descendant of one of the original 'convict settlers' of Australia. Nowadays it is a proud declaration to have a descendant of a 'first fleeter'.

Back to The Cabin...We had a somewhat convoluted ride up there this time. We took the Coquihalla Hwy even though there is a $10 toll charge. The ride was different than the usual run up there, made more interesting by the snow and mist at the summit. We went to Ashcroft for the first time ever even though we have passed it 5 miles off the highway for years. It is a neat little town, check it out someday. We also went through Merrit that is also an extremely interesting town, although much bigger than Ashcroft. Both are towns with a decidedly western background, authentic cowboys work and live there, rather like going back in time.

We arrived around 5.30 and long time friend, Don Fox, the owner of the property, had the fire on and an ample supply of water in the cabin for us. Fellette whipped up a dinner in no time at all. Don and Lynn came up for a visit after supper and we caught up with their goings on for the past several months.

Sound sleep for us with the quiet and a bit of altitude, [3300 feet]. Lindroths are light sleepers and had a bit of a problem with the 'quiet'. They were still recovering from eight time zone changes [lost hours] in nine days on the journey by ship via Russia. They are on the third month of a 366 day round-the-world walkabout.

Next morning, after delicious coffee and a bacon and egg breakfast we got to work with the chain saw. [By the way we have learned that when working hard, all the bad things in bacon and eggs are neutralized at 3300 feet of altitude!]

During the winter a 90 year old pine tree that had been killed by pine beetle two years ago blew over. Don had limbed the tree but it was difficult to cut into fire-wood because of the fact that both root and tip were on the ground. It was impossible to use the chain saw as it lay there. We had bought up an eight ton jack specifically for that tree. Fellette and I jacked the tree up so that the tip was off the ground and proceeded to cut off 16 inch slabs for Don's winter wood supply. In two hours the tree was reduced to fire-wood and the slash and stump was set ablaze. My 29" chain saw worked like a charm even though starting it can be like starting a Model-A Ford on a cold morning with a crank. Don got to work immediately splitting the wood for their winter supply.

The photo of the slab with my knife illustrates the size of the tree. You can also see the dark stain that is indicative of Pine-Beetle killed trees. Also interesting that we can see in which direction the tree was standing. On the north side of tree the rings grow closer together due to the fact that they never get the sun, that is where the stain is thinnest. And now you know!

Next day or two we cleaned up some deadfalls and leaning pines and cut them to firewood for our own use in the cabin. We also roofed the shed with some recycled tin sheeting that we brought from the Farm. A few walks in the woods and a lot of reading, scrabble and napping and that was it, time to get back home to the Farm.

Not much of a travel story but it keeps us in shape. It sure was nice to get working again, I for one sleep so much better after a day of productive efforts.

Hard to believe but we still have not received our luggage [this is day 31] from the cruise. It has turned into a comedy of errors between Holland America, Fedex, and Canada Customs.

100 Mile, again!

Degrees of Luxury...

The other night in the early hours of the morning, [around five], I said to Fellette 'Isn't this a luxury?' She responded, 'I guess there are different degrees of luxury.'

We were at the Cabin at 100 Mile. For those that may not know, in 2001 we built a log cabin at a place called 100 Mile House, which is a town 440 K's north of Vancouver. There is not any running water, electricity, TV, phone nor any other distractions. The cabin is on our friends 160 acre piece of property in the heart of the wonderful B.C. Cariboo.

Seven days earlier we disembarked from our floating luxurious [in the accepted sense of the word] cruise ship, after a decadent 3 1/2 month round-the-world cruise. Sometime on that ship, after Tai Chi or an exercise class, our instructor told us to close our eyes and imagine that we were at some favourite place where there is peace and tranquility. My mind immediately went to the porch at 100 mile around seven in the morning having a coffee with just us and the birds, looking for late-leaving deer or coyotes. It was one of my goals to get up there as soon as possible after the lovely but intense time on the ship, in an attempt to get back to reality.

This is where the 'degrees of luxury' comes into play. What is luxury? Is it being served a wonderful meal with white linen, fancy china and superb wines with good company. Yes, of course. But to me it is also waking up in a cabin with the smell of wood-smoke, to the sound of Canada Geese flying overhead, then lighting the Coleman to get the coffee going as you jump back into your home made bed and wait for the tell-tale perking of the coffee. To each his own and God Bless the difference.

We took the opportunity of a long weekend with two of our grand-girls school curriculum to dash up to the cabin one week after getting home. During the weekend I sometimes drew parallels between our life for the past three months and what we were doing this weekend, and loving every minute of it.

 The girls are Adrienne, 6, Alicia, 10.

BBQ's...

Adventure riding...

Hairdresser on site...

Extensive wine selection...

 Single dining...

Or, family dining...

Lessons in arson...

Learn new skills....

Family time...

Quiet coffee lounge..

Queen-sized beds....

Private toilet facilities....

Unique bathroom facilities.

I hope that you can understand the comparisons between the cruise and 100 Mile.


This weekend we did a variety of things. Went for a walk and identified various kinds of animal scat, [droppings], flew a kite, flew airplane gliders, dropped a few trees, burned a pile of last years slash, roasted potatoes, marshmallows and hot dogs in the ashes, spent hours doing Sudoku, read a book on a lost gold mine in B.C., straightened the flag pole, put some tin on my shed roof, had naps, played with the kids, slept like a log and thanked the Lord!