Hot enough for ya?!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Wascana in the middle of the prairies. The weather is very hot with frequent thunderstorms from the daytime heating. We had an alarming time early in the week as we came in contact with potential covid infection. I isolated until Tuesday and our contact was able to report seven days clear testing results. Except for that interlude, we have been able to get down to visit Dad each day, and Wendy was able to carefully visit even those days as she had not had the close encounter I had had. I have managed to get out for three golf games, timing them to be through by about 10:00 before it gets uncomfortably hot. The golf went well, and, even better, I was able to walk three games with only one day of recovery between each—encouraging! Wendy has completed two stages of painting, so I have been able to remove all scaffolding now, and she has only the lowest six feet to complete. I am considering what to build with the now-surplus pallets, but first it needs to cool down outside. I have no interest in working outdoors in 35° weather. We got the windshield replaced in our car on Friday. It had one major stone chip, and a lot of pitting. We hope the new one survives our the rest of our trip! I am scheduled for another 6am golf game on Tuesday, and then, we'll need to prepare for our trip west. Investors reawakened their fears of recession as the Bank of Canada raised the prime rate by a full percentage point. The markets lost value this week, and so did I. The Riders lost their game this week to Toronto. It certainly was a winnable game, but a late pick-six proved the difference. Let's go Riders! The Blue Jays have been on a downer, losing 9 of 10 games at one stretch. C'mon Jays! 

Erica writes, "We are starting to get glimpses of the long range weather for our trip to BC. So far it is looking pretty good, if a bit hot, for a motorcycle trip. We have parcelled out our trip into shorter days so we can hopefully avoid the heat of the day and work within the confines of our middle aged bodies! Five hours on a bike is fun, but more then that and my legs turn to jelly! 

With audio chat up to 1.2km—Nice!

We ordered new helmets last weekend and are picking them up today. The bikes have been serviced and new back tires get installed on Monday. The current tires are pretty bald. Unless the weather changes to storms the whole way, we plan to ride out to Vernon over four days for Uncle John’s memorial, and then take two days up to Edmonton for the Ulrich reunion. Liam is still working at the camp near Maple Creek. He has been affected by allergies like his mom and dad. Eric is doing some proofreading for his brother Neil. Haaken got a new bed this week. Greg continues to work on healing."

Erin continues to put us up in her basement—we're liking that. Wendy keeps working on painting and other renovations. The stained ceiling is now stain-free. It's amazing what a bleach spray can do! Kristian has been at camp all week working as a junior counsellor. He reported that the kids behaved well, and most of them sang the group songs. He got back Friday night. He and Erin took me golfing this morning. Very enjoyable! 

Travis, Joanna, Gemma, Andrew and an assortment of animals remain behind in Thunder Bay. We get frequent reports on the progress and misbehaviour of the puppies—what a pair! Gemma cares for our place, and manages our mail. Thanks! 

And that's about enough for this week.