I have been so busy since my retirement. My second cousin, Elaine Burke, and I went on a week long road trip. We first visited with her daughter Louise Racine and son-in-law, Steve near Peterborough and spent the night.
The next day we drove to Newcastle and visited with Eveline and Donald Mayhew who would be Elaine’s first cousins and my third. I had never met them before and they were both so hospitable. We played cards and enjoyed a great visit.
The next day we drove to Hanover where my aunt Francis and uncle Roy Mayhew live. When we arrived, Roy was sitting in his little electric car on the front lawn in the heat, all by himself. He looked like a giant lawn ornament. We told him that we thought Fran had put him out there, hoping that someone would take him. He just laughed and said he loved sitting in the sun.

That evening four of their eight children came to visit with us. Marilyn, Lee, Linda and Paul. So another great night. The next day we went to Owen Sound to visit Elaine’s granddaughter , her father and his mother.
The following day we visited with Ida Stevens in Kincardine on the shores of Lake Huron and we met her daughter Karen. Another great visit.
We had to start heading back home so we drove to Oshawa and spent the night with my cousin Bobby Mayhew and his girlfriend Rachel Beausoliel .
Elaine had gotten some bad news about her son-in-law Steve who had taken a heart attack and was in a Toronto hospital. I am terrified to drive anywhere near the 401 but Rachel said she’d drive us in. I was glad Elaine was able to see Steve.
Elaine makes such a great travel companion. She would like to take some other trips with me as long as her health is good. Then we headed home. It was a fantastic week.
I was only home long enough to mow the lawn and wash my clothes before I took off again. I drove back to Oshawa and jumped in with Rachel and Bobby to go to Winnipeg. Bobby’s nephew, Quentin was getting married. We drove for 16 hours the first day and eight the next and arrived on Saturday a week before the event. We helped prepare the lawn because the wedding was going to be in their back yard. I painted benches and helped prepare the wedding souvenirs.
My son, Alex, drove down from Snow Lake, which is a seven hour drive. We spent three days with my cousin Denyse and her husband Larry in Winnipeg Beach and we had a fabulous time with them. Got to meet Denyse’s first grandchild Jacob and his mother Shay-Lynn and Daddy Darryl.
The wedding was very different and the priest was totally hilarious. Unfortunately it was so hot that day that we all melted under the clear top tent. Most of the wedding party jumped into the pool at the end of the night. But a great wedding nonetheless.
A few days later we spent a couple of days at Rick’s cottage at Falcon Lake, Man. He took us for a tour of the lake and we had a lot of fun playing games.
It took me three days to get home. During our trip I saw two moose, two bears, three blue herons and a lot of swans. It took me a few days to recover after all that driving. I thought I’d be quiet for a while but I got an invite from Bob and Rachel to come to their camp on Pigeon Lake at Lindsay, Ont. So this is where I spent the August long weekend. It was actually too hot to do anything but we played a lot of games. I also painted a welcome sign with a sunset background.
I’m wishing everyone who has a birthday this week a very happy birthday.