Burns Street Stopping Place Blues: July 1st!

It is almost impossible to carry the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing somebody's beard. -Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, scientist and philosopher (1 Jul 1742-1799) 

Dear Bridgers As I write we are about to depart for Ireland and will soon be vacating Cell Block H here in Paris.  We cancelled our Greek plans and will be returning to friends in the Dordogne for the last week. Home on 16th July.
2 over 1 Byron 

I am still not allowed to use my right arm after my shoulder surgery but I get my first physio assessment on July 8th. Presumably the earliest I may be able to return to the fold is July 13th. Sadly left-handed, Les



Welcome back Clive. I'll be in San Fran but I'm up for Monday July 13th. Cheers,
R.
Hi Melting Chloë and Goils: Up at 6:30 am to have a quick shower before heading upstairs to start the fixings for an omelette Lady Mary will make while I load car. Hope to be on the road, making for Banff before 8:00 am. Quite cool here and not supposed to be an overly nice day for holiday as showers are predicted.  What are your plans for Canada Day?

Don't need anything from MEC as I was able to find the items I needed in Winnipeg at their store there. Thanks anyway. Will probably give you both a call once we are back home. Love and Cheers, Dad/Patrizzio!

I hope that you and your families are having a splendid celebration and that work isn't something that afflicts any of you. Wish you were on the way to winning the World Cup, but I'm sure the holiday will be fun anyway. Love from sunny-for-a-change Berkeley Cactus

Patrick and Corinne, We are thinking of coming back on Sunday and having a visit with you on our way through. Are you home on the 5th? By the way thank you for your newsy letter about your visit back in Manitoba. Cheers, Dawn 

Hi Donna Florida and Herardo! What a delight that you will be able to stop by! Yes, we will be at home as we arrived back in Penticton around 5:00 pm, today. Do you have any idea what time you will be here on SUnday? Lunch? Dinner? Both? You are more than welcome to stay overnight so please consider that if your schedule allows. Chloë will be driving up on Friday to spend weekend. Depending when you hit town you might overlap. I believe she will leave for Vancouver in early afternoon but not positive on time. At any rate, let us know what you think and we'll plan accordingly!

Long drive from Kenton to Calgary on Tuesday. We left my cousin's place at just before 8:00 am and endured smoke, a pall over the sky for the entire day, from the terrible forest fires in northern Saskatchewan, from Virden to an hour or so before Calgary. Cora Lee was starting to feel a tightening in her chest by the day's end, such was the persistence of the smoke and haze. My eyes were also starting to smart. Nonetheless, we persevered and arrived at Betty's home, (close friend of the Durston's), shortly after 6:00 pm.

Soon as we unloaded Mme Coriandre set about preparing a wonderful dinner of pickerel filets, (From Gimili Fish in Winnipeg, kept nicely frozen in double cooler bags with ice-packs and a large solid block of ice!), with fresh asparagus and rice, along with a tomatoe/boccanccini/fresh basil salad. I opened a white and a red and we sat outside on the back patio deck to enjoy the delicious meal.

Up at 6:30 am to wish one another Happy Canada Day and then to have a quick shower before heading upstairs to start the fixings for an omelette Lady Mary made while I loaded car. Had a lovely visit with Betty, (Her eldest son Tom, will drive her to Falcon in about a week. She is 93 so he has been doing the chauffeuring to the lake for many years now.), over the delicious breakfast. Bettye even baked a batch of bran muffins. Unfortunately not gluten-free so I ate Cora Lee's share and even took three for road-fare! After thanking Betty for the wonderful stay we were on the road, making for Banff by 8:30 am. Was quite cool with very light rain spitting down when we left so not an overly nice day for the holiday events planned for Calgary.

Wonderful drive through the foothills and Rockies still take my breath away. Heavy, heavy rush-hour-like traffic which didn't really thin out until we reached the Alberta/BC border. After that it was more of typical summer vacation volume to deal with, campers, pick-ups with boat trailers and the like. Plenty of passing lanes so this stretch of the drive was quite pleasant and we both enjoyed the landscape, knowing that we didn't have the same distance to cover as on the day before.

Only glitch was close to Enderby when we ran into a massive jam a few kilometres north of the intersection of 97A and 97B not far from Grindrod. At first we thought it was due to road construction but learned from a car going in the other direction that driver had been in line-up for three hours! Fortunately, for us, there was a gas station close by so I decided to fuel up in case we had to wait that long as well. Attendant told us that the delay had been caused by a serious accident and told us about an alternate route. I was worried we'd have to go all the way to Salmon Arm and take #1 through Kamloops and then Connector to get home. However, all we had to do was go north to Grindrod, cross the bridge there over the Shuswap River and then take the Enderby-Grindrod Road to come out on 97A in Enderby! Felt very sorry for all those people caught north of us as I cannot even begin to imagine how long they would have had to wait.

From then on it was pretty smooth sailing with only light traffic from there on. Felt rather exciting to be coming "home" to Penticton, really for the first time. Quite a rush to see Okanagan Lake in all its aquamarine majesty spread out below us as we left Vernon. Stopped at a fruit stand in Summerland for some fruit and vegetables before another quick stop at the IGA store, a few blocks from our place for milk, yogurt and eggs as our fridge was empty. Took our time unloading car and then quick showers before Lady Mary did chicken on the bbq while iI made a salad and boiled the corn we picked up in Summerland. Lovely relaxed meal on our new patio table, (setting sun still very warm at 8:30 pm), and then spent an hour or so chatting about trip and planning out tasks for next few days before coming inside, to The Rumpus Room, (formerly The Family Room but that name is too, too sedate!), to watch two episodes of Homeland before turning in. Wonderful end to a wonderful, wonderful trip to Prairies!

Look forward to seeing you both. Fond regards from Lady Mary to you both. Travel safely. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Pics: Smoke obscured sun at Kenton, near Saskatchewan/Manitoba border; kentonites: Kimbo just home from work at a local gravel pit, (She is a tough ticket writer dealing with burly truck drivers who think they can intimdate her when their loads are too heavy She is studying Engineering at Red River College), with her mom, Judy. Dallas, (Brother who is in charge of a number of highway construction crews in area. He compleded same course as Kimbo a few years ago.), with Katarina, his girlfriend, who did same course and now works for Ducks Unlimited in their Brandon field-office. At moment she is surveying wetlands in order that they might be rehabilitated, once drained by farmers. Kimbo getting ready for bed as she is up at 4:30 am! Betty and Cora lee on her back deck; Lady Mary's photo-journalistic work through Banff; couple of shots I took in Field when Lady Mary was using the water closet there! Fruit stand in Summerland. 

Patricio, you are too persuasive, we'll gladly accept your generous invitation to stay over, thank you. Bogart thanks you too but asks me to convey, you have been forewarned!! I'll cancel the hotel when we get to Osoyoos tonight Have a safe trip on your last leg Love Yda  

Hi Little Yda and The Imperiales! What a delight that you will be able to stay over! Do you have any idea what time you will be here on Sunday? Lunchtime? Dinnertime? Look forward to seeing you both, as well as Bogart, of course! Fond regards from Lady Mary to you and Arne. Cheers, Patrizzio!