Fast Track!

Another week has passed, and we are apparently off the Fast Track as we remain in Regina. I have completed the stairway project.

Applying the carpet

It involved removing the old carpet, underlay and smooth edge, cleaning up the nosings on the treads, installing new carpet with included melton backing, and then dressing up the bottom stairs with wood facings to match the floors upstairs. The fan-shaped treads around the corner were a challenge, but it has come together just fine.

Adding the flooring for trim

Wendy has remained on a light-work assignment as she continues her battle with bronchitis. Thus, she has done a LOT of Lego again this week! She and Kristian are making good progress on several construction projects! 

I built a Fast Track board

I used scraps of Erin's flooring to build a game board. We have enjoyed quite a few rounds, including a memorable birthday night involving six players on two teams—it was complex! We enjoyed a lot of outdoor visitation with friends here, and were further delighted to catch up with long term friends from Yellowknife. The markets struggled all week as the After Hours guys consistently bet on rising values due to the strength of the USA economy, but each day it seemed the fear of the FED erased all that enthusiasm and left us in the red! Fortunately, the economy final won the battle this week and we did get an increase in market values and I had a winning week. In the world of sports, the Riders surprised with a strong defensive performance and a win over the BC Lions. Now, they have the bye this week as they prepare for home-n-home battles with the powerful Bombers. The Blue Jays also surprised, but in the opposite direction as our high expectations are not being met, and they currently sit outside of the playoff picture. 

Fresh Flowers, Memories!

Erica writes, "We are heading up to Waskesiu this Saturday to enjoy a music festival and hang out with friends. This week was cool and rainy—I guess summer is coming to an end. Eric is speaking at church this Sunday. Liam is wrapping up his plans to start school in the fall. Not much to report from Haaken and Greg!"

Erin continues hosting us in her basement as has been the long-term plan since she was in grade school—LOL! We're enjoying it! She has also set up a golf date for the four of us, although Wendy will not be golfing. We are looking forward to that outing. 

Travis & Joanna remain in contact. Some phone calls last for hours! We are starting to put together our plans for our return to Thunder Bay, and looking forward to that reunion as well. 

And that's enough for this week. 

Regina

Another week has passed and we have returned to Erin and Kristian's place in Regina. We completed last week at Layne & Tiffany's in Mankota—thanks folks. On Sunday, we drove over to Bengough where we enjoyed gathering with many long time friends, and met some new people. The congregation provided a sumptuous pot luck—those folks know pot luck!

Aunt Grace, just turned 98! 

In the afternoon, we visited Aunt Grace at the Health Centre, and were fortunate to catch up with Joanne, who was there visiting her mother also. We then toured through some familiar locations in Ogema before completing the tour in Regina. I have got back to work on the stairs, and have almost completed that project. Wendy has continued with her illness, and on Thursday finally gave in to the notion of getting some medical attention. She has bronchitis, and is now on antibiotics and is using a puffer to help clear and cure her airways. She continues to cough too much, but is gradually feeling some better. As the week ended, we began celebrating Erin's birthday. I built an ice cream cake to order—this time it was peanut butter ice cream on the lower layer, with grape jelly as the topping. It tastes delicious. Astrid and Liam came over Friday evening for the cake ceremony and to play many games of Fast Track in teams. Shawn also came by when he got off work. Tonight, we continued the celebration with supper at Olive Garden where all of us ate too much and enjoyed the feast a great deal. I have advised Erin that as we get older, even celebrations take longer, and using a whole week to celebrate a birthday is not out of the question! It was another no good, very bad week in the markets as the continuing strength of the USA economy has prompted the FED to issue warnings of further rate hikes, despite inflation data showing continuing improvement. Sigh! We also close the week with heightened concerns over the situation for family and friends in the Fraser Canyon, the Okanagan, and Yellowknife. Our old home town has now completed an evacuation, and the fires lurk a mere 15km from town. The relatives in North Bend are on evacuation alert and some have lost homes there already. Likewise, in the Okanagan, the wild fires have taken homes and businesses and many thousands have evacuated. The world of sports seems a bit distant at times of peril like this. Riders continue to flounder—sigh! Jays remain in the playoff hunt, but we expect them to be challenging for top spot in their division—c'mon guys! 

Erica writes, "Eric and I returned home; then I spent the week in La Ronge and Melfort. Eric had some meetings at the U of S to get ready to teach a class this fall and winter. Eric and I had a lazy, recovery day on Saturday."

With Kristian's return home, things have returned mostly to normal at their place, aside from the grandparents residing in the basement!

Happy Birthday Erin!

Wendy's illness has made it a fairly low-key week, but we still celebrated Erin's birthday! Maybe we can get some golf in next week! 

Travis, Joanna and the dogs are holding the fort in Thunder Bay. We have frequent contact with them, and look forward to returning there. In the meantime, we remain thankful that they are available to manage any issues that may come up. 

And that's enough for this week. 

Heading for Home!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior, and we have been steadily making our moves in that direction! Last Saturday, we took the ferry off the island, and drove up to Howard & Diane's in North Bend.

I'm standing on the deck...
He's not running away!

There was lots of adventure there as we had a bear visit the deck at Howard and Diane's. I got some pictures, and Howard got the bear! After shooting it, the bear ran away, although mortally wounded, and the body was later discovered some distance behind their house on the bank of the Fraser River. We enjoyed a relaxing couple of days with Warren & Evelyn—Thanks again! Then, we did a bit of touring in the Kootenays, on down to #3 Highway. Yesterday, we got as far as Medicine Hat! Today, we drove into Saskatchewan where we are comfortably ensconced at the home of our nephew and niece, Layne & Tiffany, with Chet and Daisy, near Mankota! Thanks folks! All along the way, Wendy has been publishing a wonderful travelogue with pictures on FaceBook:

 https://www.facebook.com/wendy.ulrich.71 

I don't know the particulars of whether all folks can see that or only her FaceBook friends! Once again tonight, we enjoyed several games of FastTrack, introducing it to Layne, Tiffany and Chet who was the star of the event! The weather has treated us well along the way, even as we nursed the car's air conditioning. We'll have more work for our mechanic when we get back to Regina. It still seems to freeze up and lose air flow, but for brief intervals it cools very nicely! The markets began the week all jittery as folks worried about inflation and what the FED might do in their efforts to crush it. However, the July consumer price index report showed that annual inflation has fallen by about two thirds since last summer, a better-than-expected number suggesting that measures to cool the economy are working without hurting the economy. Real wages have outpaced inflation for the last five months, and unemployment is at a low the U.S. hasn’t seen since 1969—thanks Uncle Joe! As a result, I achieved some good gains in the markets, about double my weekly quota. That was my good news as my sports teams did not fare so well. True enough, the Jayhawks completed their Puerto Rico exhibition tour with 2 wins and 1 loss, but the Riders? Sigh, they were slaughtered by Montreal! And the Jays? Nothing to write home about! C'mon guys! 

Eric and Erica have also been vacationing and travelling west. They left the island yesterday, and had a long day planned to also make it to Saskatchewan today. 

Erin has been goofing off at home, pretending to be a cat lady, while failing to produce wins for either the Jays or the Riders! Actually, she has been working regularly, and is anticipating hosting the Baileys when they get to Regina. 

Travis, Joanna can crew have been enjoying the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition. Rosie proved to be a less than fearless rider on the carnival rides. 

And that's all I can manage this week! 

Travelling!

Another week has passed; we've ended the week on the left coast of Canada! It's been a week of travelling and visiting for us, and we've enjoyed it all a great deal! We began the week in Sherwood Park, celebrating  Scott's and my birthdays. Then, we headed south toward Red Deer and then west into the national parks. We had a shock to see how far the Columbia glacier had retreated since last we saw it. The old parking lot was replaced by a new one down the hill, and both were out of sight by the time we reached the glacier. Alarming! We continued through Jasper and back-tracked to Hinton to enjoy a $10 night at the hotel there, but at least it included a nice hot breakfast! It was very nice, and we saw that the next night would have cost us over $200—nice deal! The next day we drove down to Kamloops and spent a less enjoyable night at the hotel there—they were reshingling, so there was a mess everywhere! We completed the trip to the coast via Whistler—beautiful new scenery for us. We caught the ferry from Horseshoe Bay over to Nanaimo and drove down to Langford where we moved in at Andrew, Aura & Aiden's place where Haaken also stays. We spent the rest of the week there and enjoyed visiting with friends in the area. Kristian and I even got out for some golf one day. Today, we caught the afternoon ferry from Swartz Bay over to Tsawwassen as we begin our trip east. Tonight, we're at Howard & Diane's in North Bend.

Haaken demoed snack food!

Tally Ho! 

Kristian and I had company!

The markets suffered a tough week to begin the month as a variety of fears about earnings and rate hikes and the war in Ukraine caused concern. We had some recovery on Friday, but otherwise, it was a weak week! Major League Baseball has passed the trade deadline, and the Blue Jays picked up a few new players. They're playing a bit better again. The Riders continue to struggle with their back up quarterback, and their makeshift offensive line. They play Ottawa tomorrow. 

Erica writes, "This weekend Eric and I are travelling west to Victoria to see Haaken and catch up with the BC Baileys. It has been a busy week but a good one and it always feels nice driving west. We enjoyed a light show between Lloyd and Sherwood Park, and the storm caught up with us as cousin Margaret’s place in Sherwood Park. We met Thor, their rambunctious puppy, aka The Devil. We only managed a half an hour visit though as we need to make good time to make the ferry. If all goes well we will make our reservation on the 9:00 ferry, pick up Liam at the airport in Victoria and then arrive at Baileys after midnight. We might even catch up with Mom and Dad somewhere along the way for a cup of coffee and bio break." They did meet us in Chilliwack along the way. They caught the ferry this evening at Tsawwassen and headed over to the Island to meet Liam at the airport, and take our spot at Andrew's place for the next while. 

Erin has been practicing her cat lady role at home. She has also had her internet and TV service upgraded, so she is learning how the new system works. 

Travis and Joanna are taking care of business in Thunder Bay. This week, Travis surprised me with news of tickets to the McDavid show! We're going Minneapolis in October to see the Oilers play the Wild. Never did I imagine I would get to watch McDavid in person! I'll be living on that expectation for the next few months! Thank you so much! 

And that's enough for this week.