February 26, 2005
"Their (Furnells') property has 3300 acres. We had tea and then they took us for a drive around the property - it seemed to go on for ever. We saw 8 or 9 kangaroos in the wild. They also have 3 emus - just young."
Feb.27/72 "Today we went to visit the Furnells at their farm, about 5 miles outside Gil. She was a war bride who came here just at the end of the war." This is a picture of Bruce Furnell feeding one of their 'joeys'. It's hard to believe, but he will be almost 50 years old.
February 23, 2005
I was told I had to prove that Gary and I are capable of standing up on cc skis so here is the proof
February 22, 2005
For the IQ. This young man, 18 months old, is all prepared to go crosscountry skiing with his dad. He is in a sled with a zip-up cover and a harness that his dad will use to pull him. We were told that it is very light, and they had them to rent at the ski chalet.
I promised Gary I would post a picture of him crosssountry skiing, on my blog.
The only downfall of the whole experience occurred when Dianne wanted a picture taken off the crosscountry ski trail. Guess who fell down.
On Sunday evening we dined at Abbot's, a small, but exceptional restaurant run by a transplanted Torontonian. At this establishment we had to pay for alcoholic drinks and dessert. A total bill of over $150.00 cost us $30.00 plus tip.
We had dinner on Saturday night at a restaurant called Ossowippi Express, located on the shore of Lake Couchiching. The restaurant consists of very elegantly restore railroad dining cars. The food was exceptional and the only thing not included in the package was our drinks.
Horseshoe Valley is about 20kms from Orillia. A considerable part of my childhood was spent visiting my grandparents who lived in this house on Coldwater Road in Orillia. It was nice to see that it has been well maintained since my grandparents sold it. It was fun to be able to spend a little time exploring the town. It is a very beautiful spot in the summer. Casino Rama is just outside Orillia and after dinner we went to the Casino Dianne and her friend Marg went to see a Joe Cocker concert (whoever he is) and Gary and I went to gamble in the casino. After about half an hour I hit the jackpot on a progressive slot machine and won enough money to more than pay for our whole weekend. I only had two coins played instead of the max, 3 and didn't win the full jackpot. Oh well, it was more than I had ever won at a casino before and was just the icing on the cake.
On Monday we went crosscountry skiing. All costs were included in the package deal. Once again, it snowed during the night so there was fresh snow, and the trails were groomed early in the morning after the snow. There are several trails of varying degrees of difficulty, from very flat to very hilly. On Monday there were very few other people on the trails. Here we are taking a picture break. I am pretty much a downhill skier, but found the crosscountry to be very enjoyable. The temp. was around 0 deg.C. and there was no wind. We didn't see any deer, but there were fresh deer track all over. We could have asked for any better weather all weekend.
The pipe. Snowboarding is a sport that hardly existed the last time I went skiing so , I was pleasantly surprised to find, unlike stories I have heard, that the snowboarders were no problem at all. There are lots of lifts at Horseshoe so we never had to wait even though there were a lot of people there. This picture was taken on Monday so the weekend skiers were not around.
On Sunday we did downhill skiing. The package included the lift charges ( $70.00) for 2, but not the ski rental ( $27.00) each. We hadn't been skiing for almost 10 years, so I was pleasantly surprised that at 61, after quadruple by-pass surgery(2001) and prostate surgery(2002), I was still able to ski all the hills, after a few brush-up runs on the junior hill. It's a great family location because there are 23 runs of various degrees of difficult, although the only run that I avoided was the mogul run because I didn't want to exhaust my self on I run. They also have a snowboarding pipe. There was a light snow the night we arrived so first thing in the morning ( we started when the lifts opened at 9:00 am) the hills were in good shape. By the early afternoon the hills were starting to get icy as the new snow was lost.
We had a fun-filled weekend at Horseshoe Resort. It is a fantastic spot for old ( us ) and young. The weather was perfect,and the accommodations and food were exceptional. As it turned out the package deal we had was an execptional value. We arrived on Saturday about 4:30 pm and left on Monday about the same time.
February 17, 2005
There was some mix-up with a woman's room. The Purser was trying to remedy the situation. He asked, "Would you like an inside cabin or an outside cabin?" She replied, "Well, it looks like it might rain today. I'd better get an inside cabin."Someone -- always a man -- always asks, "does the ship run on generators?" The Cruise Director usually tells them, "No, we just have a very long power line running to the mainland."
The frightened tourist: "Are there any bats in this cave?"The guide: "There were, but don't worry, the snakes ate all of them."
February 16, 2005
If you are interested in a great Ski deal visit. You have a choice of resorts, but we are staying here. I will post pictures and an opinion when we return home.
I've posted this picture before, but I really like it, and it shows our cruise ship docked in the harbour at Nice. Nice gets very few cruise ships visiting because the harbour is very small, but our ship was relatively small, so when the weather turned stormy and we couldn't land at Villefranche we had the good fortune of beautiful Nice.
We planned a trip to Nice when Meredith was going into 3rd year. She was going to do her 3rd year at the University at Nice on an exchange, but she got accepted into bus. school and decided to stay at Western rather than go to France, so our plans to visit her in Nice were all for the experience of planning. We finally got there, just a few years later than we originally expected.
A cool street on a damp day in Nice. The narrow streets are interesting and so clean. We encountered some very helpful young people in Nice. Our French wasn't very good, but it didn't seem to matter.
How about some post-Valentine's day chocolat. This shop is in Nice. It's paradise for chocalate lovers.
February 15, 2005
Just discovered that I don't have a single picture of the Volvo in our dig.files so I had to copy Meredith's picture. Meredith texted me a message saying; line 1 "The Volvo just hit" .... line 2 "400000 kms." When I read the first line I thought "Oh God, what has happened now." Then I read the second line. My reply was "That's cool, as long as that's all it has hit." dad
This vehicle is my baby. I purchased it when Brett demolished our previous Volvo. I purchased the car from a friend of mine who's daughter was starting to drive. She didn't think a Volvo was cool enough for her to drive so mom bought a new, red Chev. of some kind, and I bought the Volvo. The Chev. is long gone but the Volvo motors on. The Volvo needs some attention, but it has not been in my possession long enough, in the last year, to get it into the Volvo dealership for a $2500.00 tune--up. It think that after 400000 kms. they should do it for free.
February 14, 2005
HAVE A HAPPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
FEBRUARY 14, 2005
February 11, 2005
A weekend in.... . I don't think they have computers there yet.A travel agent looked up from his desk to see an older lady and anolder gentleman peering in the shop window at the posters showingthe glamorous destinations around the world. The agent had had agood week and the dejected couple looking in the window gave him arare feeling of generosity. He called them into his shop and said, "I know that on your pension you could never hope to have a holiday, so I am sending you off to a fabulous resort at my expense, and I won't take no for an answer." He took them inside and asked his secretary to write two flight tickets and book a room in a five star hotel. They, as can be expected, gladly accepted, and were on their way. About a month later the little lady came in to his shop. "Andhow did you like your holiday?" he asked eagerly. "The flight was exciting and the room was lovely," she said. "I've come to thank you.But, one thing puzzled me. Who was that old guy I had to share the roomwith?"
A driving school test
The following are a sampling of real answers received on exams given by the California Department of Transportation's driving school.
Q: Do you yield when a blind pedestrian is crossing the road?
A: What for? He can't see my license plate.
Q: Who has the right of way when four cars approach a four-way stop at the same time?
A: The pick up truck with the gun rack and the bumper sticker saying, "Guns don't kill people. I do."
Q: When driving through fog, what should you use?
A: Your car.
Q: How can you reduce the possibility of having an accident?
A: Be too drunk to find your keys.
Q: What problems would you face if you were arrested for drunk driving?
A: I'd probably lose my buzz a lot faster.
Q: What changes would occur in your lifestyle if you could no longer drive lawfully?A
: I would be forced to drive unlawfully.
Q: What are some points to remember when passing or being passed?
A: Make eye contact and wave "hello" if she is cute.
Q: What is the difference between a flashing red traffic light and a flashing yellow traffic light?A: The color.Q: How do you deal with heavy traffic?
A: Heavy psychedelics.
Q: What can you do to help ease a heavy traffic problem?
A: Carry loaded weapons.
Q: Why would it be difficult to be a police officer?
A: It would be tough to be an idiot all day long.
February 10, 2005
Zach learned who his friends are, at a very early age.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACH!
"THIS IS HEAVEN!"
The Road Warriors of Wrigley St., Gilgandra, circa 1972.
GDHS- Gilgandra Dist. High School.
Feb 1,1972 "Well today as the first day of school for term 1- no kids today- that starts tomorrow"
Feb.11/72 "Well is has been almost a fortnight since school started. Things still haven't got straighten out yet. The timetable won't be ready until Tuesday now, so that means one more day on a temporary timetable."
Feb.20/72 ""Well another week is past and things are starting to shape up a bit. We have our permanent timetables now"
Helen, our RED BACK SPIDER.
Feb.11/72 "We haven't seen any snakes yet but we have some poisonous spiders around."
Helen lived in this bottle for almost 2 years. We fed it live flies. When it was full it was bright red. When it was hungry it was pink. Yes, it was poisonous. When we left OZ we forgot to let it go. Dianne remember on the way to Fiji. She was determined to phone someone from Kiama (OZ) to save Helen, but cruel old me persuaded her it was a futile mission.
More from OZ. Trent and Daniel. (Daniel is now a doctor).
February 09, 2005
A man wrote a letter to a small hotel in a Midwest town he planned to visit on his vacation. He wrote:"I would very much like to bring my dog with me. He is well-groomed and very well behaved. Would you be willing to permit me to keep him in my room with me at night?"An immediate reply came from the hotel owner, who said, "I've been operating this hotel for many years. In all that time, I've never had a dog steal towels, bedclothes, silverware or pictures off the walls. I've never had to evict a dog in the middle of the night for being drunk and disorderly. And I've never had a dog run out on a hotel bill. Yes, indeed, your dog is welcome at my hotel. And, if your dog will vouch for you, you're welcome to stay here, too."
During my stay at an expensive hotel in New York City, I woke up in the middle of the night
with an upset stomach. I called room service and ordered some soda crackers. When I looked at the charge slip, I was furious. I called room service and raged, "I know I'm in a luxury hotel, but $11.50 for six crackers is ridiculous!" "The crackers are complimentary," the voice to the other end cooly explained. "I believe you are complaining about your room number."
Heh, it could have happened to anyone.
February 07, 2005
There were Americans around, but not in huge numbers. We encountered a number of U.S. citizen who travelled to Cuba via Montreal or the Cayman Islands. Some open-minded Americans do travel to Cuba, to see the sights and to enjoy the friendly, energetic people on their own terms.
Oh yes, and if you like old colonial, Spanish architecture 'old Havana' is the place to go. Also, unlike a visit to Cuba in 1989, there were no soldiers, no machine guns, and we had to look very hard to find a picture of Fidel. There was were also no Russians around.
- clubs -
- blogs -
- travel tools - - travel blogs - - travel links - - france - - air - -newspapers- -Travel Magazines- - cameras & things - - sports - - financials - - archives -
Glencoe District Lions
blamblog
meredith
Ice Queen
Government of Canada Consular Affairs-Warnings and other useful info
USA Bureau of Consular Affairs- Travel Information
Southwest Middlesex
Weather Underground
World Time
Travel Maps
Restroom Ratings
Translation
Currency Calculator
Slow Travel
Top Travel Blogs
TravelBlog
Vagabonding
Aircanada Vacations
Bel Air Travel
Book It For Less
Commodore Travel Oshawa
Elderhostel
Exit Travel
Flight Centre
Itravel 2000
LastMinuteClub
Renaissance Travel
RedTag Vacations
Sears Travel
Travel Discounters
Vacations to Go -Cruises
Bonjour Paris
TVG
The BUS
The Bus
Apt.Rental La Clusaz
Ski Pass Reservation
Ecole de Ski Francais
Tourist Office of La Clusaz
National Tourist Office-France
Hotel Reservations-France
Air Transat
Skyservice
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Detroit Free Press
The Globe and Mail
The Guardian
The London Free Press
MAIL & GUARDIAN S.AFR.
Montreal Gazette
Cape Times,Cape Town
Los Angeles Times
LE MONDE
FIGARO
LE PARISIEN
La Repubblica
Toronto Sun
Washington Post
London Times Online
Have Children Will Travel
Connected Traveler
Journey Woman
Ticked-Off Tourist
TimeSharer Magazine
Transitions Abroad
Travel and Leisure Mag.
Travel With A Challenge
digital camera reviews
Sharper Image
PGA
NBA
tsx
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
March 2009
