Happy Father's Day!

Another week has passed and we've begun our early summer tour of western North America. We left Thunder Bay on Thursday, and are now on the flooding shores of the Missouri River in Lawrence, Kansas. But there's a bit of a story to that transition. First off, we completed a few more kitchen renovations, so the island is all ready except for the counter top. 

Island—also Barn Door in background.

Then, we put things away, including the live trap—it'd be hard to call it a "live trap" if we were leaving the poor critter to starve! Wendy got one last car wash, and we headed out on Thursday morning. Our trip has not gone as expected. Our first surprise was as the weather warmed up and we put on the AC—no cool! That was not cool! We're getting that fixed here in Lawrence, to the tune of $200 or so! Wendy had booked us in to a bnb in Minneapolis, but that didn't turn out as expected. We arrived at the location to discover that the owner was not there. Fortunately, another guest just happened to be in the house, so he, somewhat reluctantly, let us in. Turns out he's a student who has travelled from Germany to meet his internet girlfriend. He was a nice young man, and, for sure, saved our day. The bnb had promised to send us an email with the check-in instructions—that never happened. The bnb had promised to provide a fully stocked kitchen and fridge for all our eating needs—that did not happen. The bnb had boasted, "No mobile service—no problem!" Turns out that was incorrect as well. We finally found his phone number, and began making inquiries. "Oh, the food? Yeah, I've cancelled that offer." Not a good surprise. "Oh, towels? Yeah, I'll be right over with those." He finally put some wet towels in the dryer at 4am, but since the dryer was so overloaded, they were not dry in the morning, sigh! "Oh, and breakfast? No, that's not provided either." Puts quite a different colour on bnb! "Oh, TP? There should be TP." Yes, I agreed there should be TP, but there wasn't. We ate out that evening, and bought groceries for breakfast. Somehow, he forgot to offer reimbursement for that as well. On Friday, we headed south again. Wendy used her trusty GasBuddy app to find us a deal on fuel. Hey, it was only 50 km off our course, but at least it was west, so we could then head straight south to Lawrence, right? Wrong! All the roads took us back to Kansas City! The result was we saved $2.40 on Fuel, and spent $2.25 on tolls! But hey, fuel for $2.09 a gallon is pretty good! And, best of all, we arrived at a superior bnb here in Lawrence—meals, towels, TP, everything! Thank you, Aunt Helen! Today, I went golfing with Larry. The regular course I've been golfing here for years has had some great upgrades. It was a nice experience. I turned in 93 for my first game of the year. The markets have returned to troubled. The world economy is suffering a lot under Trump's trade wars, and the US economy is pulling back as well as his tariffs really bite the US consumer. I managed a green week, but not up to quota. A bigger prize was from my dear children who provided me a bench sander for Father's Day. I've long wanted one, even tried to buy one on line (but that's another story!), and now I have one!

Producing dust like never before!

A couple of sports seasons have come to an end. I was delighted to see St Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup, and the Toronto Raptors win the NBA championship. The Blue Jays continue their mostly sad-sack season, but now, the football season has begun! The Riders lost their first game in Hamilton, but more ominously, lost their QB to a headshot on the third play of the game. Go Riders! 

"Eric is playing love the rainy nights on his iPhone. It’s a rainy day here in PA, but we got out to enjoy the street fair anyway. We stopped by a local women’s clothing store and I was pleasantly surprised to find a couple of items that fit me and were on sale! Bonus! (Yes, Dad, another new outfit.) Eric also got a new rain coat as the one he was wearing had a big hole in the side and we found one half price. Liam had an interview and received an offer to work at The Quest camp in August and his employer in Moose Jaw has granted him a leave so he can accept. Haaken continues to work on his portfolio. He has applied to two jobs and is preparing to apply for a third. He would appreciate prayers for his job search."

Erin and Kristian had a good week in Regina. Kristian had a sleepover at Omarion's, and got to hold the new baby sister, Ariana.

with Ariana

He had a PD day on Friday, so no classes that day. The school year is definitely playing out at this point.

Trav and Joanna bought a new pergola for their back deck. They had an assembly party, and have it all in place with their deck sofa. 

Mmmm, comfy!

Makes for a very comfortable set up there. Their new cockatiel seems to be settling in well. 

Dr. Bunsen

And that's about enough for this week.