CHRISTMAS

Christmas came a little early for us, well we had all the family together on the 20th of December. We didn't have the usual Christmas dinner, but gumbo is always good. The grand kids had a great time and the adults ate too much.

David and I had the RV packed and ready to go Sunday morning and we started out trip west about 8:30 am. It was a fast trip to Benson, AZ, we stopped off at a couple of Wal-Marts to spend the night in the parking lot and all was going well. Then the wind kicked up and almost blew us off the road so we pulled into an RV park in Deming, NM. for the night. The rest of the trip was great.

We had Christmas Eve dinner with travelers and friends at the camp ground in Valley Vista in Benson. Too much food again, so we gathered again for left overs on Christmas Day.

Our trip crossing the boarder was uneventful and very smooth until we reach the dirt road leading out to our resort at Kino Bay. But then it is all worth it....

Happy Thanksgiving

David and I feel so blessed, we have had a wonderful fall. Thanksgiving was spent with family and friends in Dixons Mills, AL. Of course we ate way too much but my Sister really knows how to put on a feed. The weather was great so we enjoyed playing, kickball, football and frisby with the kids. Later in the day Lane (my brother-in-law) took the kids on an old fashion yet modern heyride. An old wagon pulled with an ATV, it was fun!

Where Does the Time Go??

You know when we were all kids the time just stood still and now that we're older, it's flying by. But we are having a lot of fun. My Uncle told me once " That the system was backwards, we should have retirement after school so we can enjoy it and work when we get too old to do anything else." Well, I'm not that old yet!
We took the Grand babies and their parents to the beach and had a blast. David rocked the babies and helped them build a castle in the sand. He hasn't lost his touch with the rocking chair either. Nattily (8 months) didn't have a chance. Of course Nadine (9) and Kameron (6) took there turn being rocked too, but they enjoyed playing dominoes with Grand-daddy the most. I took a lot of pictures, played in the surf and sand like I was still a kid. Well, maybe NOT.













If you have never been to the Alabama Gulf coast you are really missing some great beach area. The sand is really white and it's not so crowded that you can't get to the water. But don't come if your looking to surf, Hurricanes are the only time we have waves that big. And we sure don't want any of those. For those of you that aren't into sand and surf, the history runs deep in Mobile. We have three old forts in the area and of course a trip to Mobile would not be complete without visiting Bellingraph Gardens.

As my Aunt Bessy Nell always said, "Yawl come, call, write or send money........"

Mile 0

We arrived at Mile "0" on Sunday afternoon so the first thing Monday morning we had to make the trip into town for pictures. We've been on the road now for weeks, so are we just now getting started? Well it is the beginning of the Alaska Highway but it's been a long time coming.

After looking around Dawson Creek we took a ride over to Tumbler Ridge to check out some falls. While Jan and John went to look at Dinosaurs tracks David and I went off in search of the fall. Yea, David found it and got the pictures. It was going to be too long of a hike down and then back up for me so I sat on a rock and enjoyed God's beauty from that view point.

It started raining before we could get back to the car but we didn't get too wet. Jan and John on the other hand were soaked. (The sun was out when we left the car so we didn't take our raincoats.)

When Jan and John got back to the car, John was having some chest pain. (He does have a heart condition) So we made our way back to Tumbler Ridge where they have an emergency room. His blood work all checked out good but the doctor felt it would be best if he has a stress test. Before deciding if he can still make the trip to Alaska.

We left Tumbler Ridge around 7PM making our way back to Dawson Creek on Hwy 52. Our timing was great for viewing wildlife. We came over a ridge and there on the side of the road was this big Moose. He was looking at us as much as we were looking at him, he just didn't have a camera. A little farther down the road off in the distance we spotted a couple of Elk, it was a little too far to get a real good picture but we tried.

British Colombia, 2

Quesnel was fun, they have a river walk and the river was really moving from all the snow melt.


We took a day trip to Well's and looked around at some really nice art but a little out of our price range.

Barkersville was just down the road from Wells. You have to pay to get into the town but we arrived late so we didn't have to pay. But we only had about 40 minutes there. I went for the gift shop, Jan, John and Dave walked around the town. It would be well worth the $16.50 admission if we'd had all day to look around and it hadn't been raining.














We arrived at Prince George and the sun was out, now that was different. Anyway, Jan and I went shopping, well they have a Wal Mart there. Anyway David and John went to the Railroad Museum and got some really good pictures of old rail cars and engineers. The snow removal below was made out of wood, it wasn't until later they used metal.

On the way to Dawson Creek, we stopped off at Bijoux Falls.

For me the drive to Dawson Creek was very exciting. The snow cap mountains were just beautiful. I must have taken a hundred pictures along the road.

Our next stop was Chetwynd BC where they hold a National Invitation Chainsaw competition once a year. Drawing carvers from China, Europe as well as US and CA. The detail on these carvings are unbelievable.

BC, Canada

Well, we made it to British Columbia, Canada. We had a great time visiting with Doug and Ginger and they are really great host. They fed us well and took us to see some really neat stuff. If you are ever lucky enough to be invited to their home, GO...... You'll have the best time!

Doug, Ginger, Jan, John & David

This is Harrison Lake where they also have the Sand Sculpture Contest every year. The natural hot springs feed some of the near by hotels with therapeutic pools, as well as public pools in the villege.

Below is a sample of the Fraser River Gorge, with Tunnels going through the Mountains in many places. Also the Alexandra Bridge was built in 1863 when traffic heading for the gold fields needed an easier way to cross the canyon. The bridge decking was washed away in a flood in 1912 and the rest of the bridge was destroyed. But was reconstructed in 1926.

(Above pictures)This part of the River is know as Hell's Gate. This narrow gorge of the Fraser River is 110 feet wide, posted an almost insurmountable obstacle for river navigation. The water at this point of the river is 180 feet deep.

We have stopped for the night at Williams Lake. (Below)

Seattle Area

Well, we made it to Seattle and did a little looking around. We walked around the open market and found all types of seafood, vegetables and fresh flowers. Of course we had to see them tossing the fish around at the corner market. They do have fun with their fish, you can see the man catching the fish in the first picture. If you click on the picture you can see some of the prices too.

The hills were a little much for us to walk so we drove over to the Space Needle and took the ride up the elevator. What a view! It was a cloudy day so we couldn't see Mt. Rainier but we could see all of Seattle.

Now these next couple of pictures were taken on a shopping trip. Jan and I can just go so long without going shopping and John and David didn't want to go with us so they missed these sights. Oh well! I don't think they cared because they also missed out on 5 hours of shopping too.

This is Snoqualime Falls a 268 foot fall.

We watched this mountain all day, it started in the clouds and as the day went on it was clear. This was from the North Point Outlet Mall. If you haven't figured it out yet, I just love looking at the mountains.