Oct 1 - Oct. 7 Staying in Penticton at Wrights Beach Camp/ Thanksgiving

Oct 1
We have some chores to do today, laundry and clean the inside of the trailer. We'll get that done and go visit Margi. We picked up Shannon at her hotel and headed to Margi's for a great visit. More of her friends showed up while we were there so it got pretty busy. I remember some of her friends but it's been 30+ years since I have seen them. We stayed as long as we could and then dropped Shannon off to do some more work from her hotel. We went back to the rig and did a couple more chores and called it a day. We have free cable TV for the week!
Oct 2 
My buddy Mark has this week off and is coming over for coffee this morning. Mark is a long haul trucker and recently invested in his own rig. The "Big Pumpkin" I called it. A new Peterbuilt with lots of chrome and a monster sleeper. He's RV'ing and getting paid for it!

Mark and his new rig

We had a great chat and a couple coffees and then he was off to meet up with his daughter, Sam. We will meet up with Sam later this week.

Margi's son, Bryon, is driving up today from Vancouver. It will be great to see him again. We all gathered at the hospice and had a nice afternoon together. Bryon is staying in Summerland at his in-laws house. He has a hot tub to use and free beer and wine. Lucky guy! Not much else to say, not every day is a dinger.
Oct 3
We worked on a blog post in the morning. Terryn texted that everybody is going for lunch at Earls so we will meet them there. Bryon drove to Kelowna and picked up another friend of Margi's from the airport. Kristie flew in from Vancouver Island and will be here a few days. 

Kristie, me, Terryn, Tammy, Shannon, Leslie & Bryon

We had a good lunch and then went to Margi's for a visit. Leslie and I went back to our rig after to get supper ready. Shannon and Dan are coming over tonight for barbecue steaks etc. 

Bad pic, some weird light thing going on.

After supper we are going bowling!! It has been years since Leslie has been bowling and I have never tried 10 pin bowling. It will be great to have some fun with Shannon, Dan and Bryon. We all met at the bowling alley and picked up our really cool shoes lol.

Setting up

Smiling cousins; Bryon and Shannon

Posing with bowling balls

I might have had beginners luck but I actually won the first game! I did bowl as a kid in a league but that was 5 pin not 10 pin. So we decided to try a second game. One thing we learned about Dan at the wedding was that he is just a little competitive..... maybe just a little. He made a bet with Leslie and Shannon that he could beat them both this game and if he did they would have to do a shot. They agreed on a shot called a pickle back. A shot of whiskey backed up with a shot of pickle juice. I'm not in on the bet thankfully. If they both beat Dan then he'll have to do 3 shots! lol. The final score ended with Leslie tying with Dan and Shannon behind by a bit. They ended up each doing a pickle back shot as a compromise.

Compromise.

We all had a good time. It was time to call it a day. So on a happy note we said good night with hugs and handshakes until we see everybody tomorrow.

Oct 4

We did our usual morning routine and went to see Margi. There is a weird sign at the hospital parking lot so Leslie grabbed a picture. 

For real ?? We were here for over two weeks and never saw one!

In the afternoon Leslie wanted a nap so I went over to visit Mark's daughter, Sam. She was working on a wood table and her fella Dave was working on a Viking wood carving for a customer. I was amazed at the work Dave was doing on the Viking. We had a beer and talked in the back yard where they were working. The carving was still in rough form but I asked Sam to send me some finished pics. It's cheating but so cool to see the finished product.

Before color and finishing

Incredible work!

Sam was working on a table top while Dave did the Viking. Really cool products they are producing.

I went back to the rig and got cleaned up because we are off for wings at Bar One at the Sandman tonight. We haven't been out so much in years. Leslie got a short power nap in so she's good to go. We drove down to Sandman where Terryn had reserved a big table for all of us. The place is packed for wing night. Wings were great and the company even better. Everybody made it out, even Mark dropped by after he had another dinner. Good times.

Good wings bad pic lol.

Me, Shannon, Dan, Terryn, Kristie

Mark & me

With big hugs we said so long to Bryon and Kristie as they are leaving early in the morning back to the coast. Cheers guys! So good to see you.

Oct 5

With all the eating out we need to get some exercise. We got out on a beautiful morning for a run. Leslie took Margaret for a run on the beach. Margaret doesn't run very far before she needs to sniff and investigate everything!! Leslie said they got a decent workout in the sand. Good stuff. I did a 4k run to the airport and back to the rig. It was a great run and brought back some old memories because I used to work at the airport in the early 80's as a baggage handler and fuelling planes for Spencer Aviation. The fuel shack is still there under the same name! Cool. We went and enjoyed some time with Margi before going home to get ready for an evening out with Shannon and Dan. The Victoria Royals hockey team is playing in Kelowna tonight so we are going to watch. Shannon and Dan are season ticket holders so it's a bonus to catch a road game. They even brought their jerseys! We drove to their hotel and Shannon drove us to Kelowna. We went for supper at a pub called Tonic a few blocks from the arena. It was a great choice as the food was great and Guinness on tap for $5 was the beer special. After supper we walked to the arena for the game and cheered as the Royals beat Kelowna 4 - 3.

Dan cheering on the guys going on the ice, matching jerseys!

The $5 Guinness were still available after the game so we stopped for a quick one before heading home. My sister Donna and her kids are very close to getting to the Okanagan too. When we left Kelowna they were in Salmon Arm. We'll see them tomorrow.

Oct 6

We got ready and drove over to Donna & Dennis's place to see the whole gang. Donna's son Kevin, his wife Lisa, Kerry and her sons Brody and Jetson were all finished breakfast and ready to have some fun.

Kevin, Lisa & Brody

Brody& Jetson getting drinks from Grandma (Donna)

Kevin, Lisa & Kerry all went to see Margi for a while. Leslie and I are waiting and letting others visit. Margi is getting a ton of company and that's fantastic but tiring. 

In the afternoon Leslie joined Kevin and gang for a wine run at Blasted Church winery, one of their faves, and a bonus trip to Dubh Glas Distillery in Gallagher Lake for some really smooth and tasty gin. A fun time was had by all except the driver!

Kevin, Kerry & Shannon

Just outside of Penticton, a great winery.

I chose to stay at Donna's because my cousin Michael had just arrived from Chilliwack and I haven't seen him in a couple years. We had coffee and chatted with Donna and Dennis for a bit and then I drove Michael up to see Margi. They haven't seen each other for a while too so it was really cool that they got to visit for a bit. We stayed for a bit and then we all met back at Donna's for a fabulous roast beef supper.

Relaxin after supper.

That was a busy day! Les and I drove back to the park and called it a day. So good to get everyone together :)

Oct 7

Happy Thanksgiving!! It's Leslie writing now (Dave hit the shower). We got up fairly early and I started prepping for the big dinner tonight. I made up a large bowl of guacamole, prepped some brussel sprouts with onions, romaine and Caesar salad dressing and Dave cooked up some bacon the sprout and the salad. Once we had all that done Kevin, Lisa, Kerry and the boys came over to check out the trailer. Kerry's boys, Brody and Jet, both LOVE RV's so we showed them how all the slides and jacks work and they loved it. Of course we were too busy to get any other pictures but the one below.

Kerry, Lisa, Margaret and Dave at the trailer

Once the tour was over we headed to Donna and Dennis's for the big dinner. Thank goodness it was a nice enough day for lots of us to sit outside as we ended up with 21 people for dinner. Terryn, Jordan and Graydon arrived with Margi around 3:30. Margi was so very happy to see everyone. 

Michael and Margi catching up

I spent most of the pre-dinner time in the kitchen helping Dennis. Dave was outside visiting and cooking up the brussel sprouts on our BBQ. Margi ended up spending a bunch of time outside visiting too. After an amazing meal we managed to gather everyone together for a picture. 

Dave had a little trouble with the timer...lol

All of us together

We all had a wonderful time and shared many hugs before heading home for a well earned sleep. Thanks so much to Donna and Dennis for hosting such a large group. It was so great to see the smile on Margi's face and for all of us to be together too.