25/02/2208 - 18/03/2008

Just another quick update to let you all know that everything is going well.

Since our last update sadly Dale and Kaye have left us and Ross and Liz have come and gone. We have really had some great times with all our visitors - and we have already gained a lot of memorable moments and a huge amount of laughs. Spring has really set in, the birds have returned, to Ross's frustration though not the woodpeckers - he thinks they've seen him shooting and they are running scared. The golf courses are starting to open up and Spring Skiing has begun. Okay not sure about the Spring Skiing in the last couple of days we have received 21cm of snow, however the temperature has warmed up it was a nice -10 degrees.

The deer have also returned a couple of times - and I've finally got to hand feed the deer - I was so excited - they are like feeding horses, all lips. They are really timid and I must admit it took a fair bit of patience for me to get them - as you would probably know patience is not normally one of my stronger points.

Ross being the expert marksman decided to realign the sights on the gun before he could even think about going after a wood pecker. Well Ross had the sights all aligned properly or so he thought - different story from Dave (who sadly still leads the woodpecker count). Ross was shooting extremely well. He then called Dave out to have a few shots - well Dave couldn't hit the side of a bus - he was spraying his shots all over the place and blaming Ross for his handy work. Well I went outside had one shot hit the middle target and left - no problems with the alignment from my side of things - I think this is why Dave is leading the woodpecker count - he had aligned the sights to suit himself when we first arrived at the Canyon House.


Ross, Liz, Tony, Lisa, Dave and I all had a lovely lunch at the Hooded Merganser to celebrate the the lovely Tony and Lisa's engagement. What a great day we all had. Lunch was just beautiful overlooking the Okanagan Lake and sipping several bottles of wine. Of course after lunch we all headed to another bar at the Casino and had another couple of drinks (because we needed more to drink). After these drinks we all headed up to the Casino to have a few bets. Well the night finished just as well as it all started everyone of us had a win - what a fantastic night.

Ross and Liz left with a few more injuries than what they arrived with. On day one up the slopes and Liz's first lesson she had a fall which left her thumb black and blue and very swollen and sore, no amount of ice or strapping was going to fix this in a hurry. Liz being the trooper she is took one day of the skis and was back up the mountain the next day. Ross had a fall on his second day which left him with some very sore ribs, but this wasn't enough for Ross the next day he was back up the mountain and fell on the other side to hurt his ribs on the other side - needless to say it was somewhat painful for Ross to laugh, sneeze or cough. Ross spent the first few days with his ski pants on backward. Once we fixed that he did ski allot better. The hot tub was put to good use to try and help alleviate some of their pain.

The last couple of weeks Dave and I have been trying to purchase a motor home - this task has consumed a lot of our time and energy. We have spent more time and energy on this task than any other task we have faced together - if we get through this alive I think we can face anything together, perhaps even 12 months in a 31 ft motor home. We have done a mountain of research - sometimes I think too much and we start second guessing our choices etc. Unfortunately for Ross and Liz they have been here to witness all our ups and downs. As I write this update we are in the process of purchasing a New Class A Motor home from Albany in New York State, so yet again we have another change of plans on our next adventure. We will still leave Penticton on 31 March and fly into Albany, New York to pick up our new RV, we will then head down the East Coast of the States. Arriving in Texas around mid to end of June and then leaving Texas mid to end July and then heading home for a couple of months. We will put the RV in storage in LA for the time we are at home. We will then fly back to LA pick up our RV and continue our adventure around Mexico, USA and Canada. We are both looking forward / scared to driving our RV and starting our next adventure.


The attached picture is what we are looking to purchase.


This is what a woodpecker looks and sounds like. The only time Ross saw one he didn't have a gun. (only a camera.)