Snowbirds

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Lynn

A Snowbird is a term often associated with people who move from colder climates of the northern USAWN1421201_l and Canada and migrate southward in winter to warmer locales such as Florida, California, Hawaii, Arizona, Texas, or elsewhere along the Sun Belt of the southern United States and into Mexico.  Canadians took on the name, “Snowbird” as their own when Anne Murray (Canada’s sweetheart), in 1969 sang her way into all our hearts with the line: “Spread your tiny wings and fly away, and take the snow back with you where it came from on that day…”

I’m being really honest here but I am NOT a fan of snow.  I never took to the snow sports, so I don’t take advantage of the winter weather to do “fun” things.  For me, it’s an endurance to suffer through the snowy seasons until the warm weather returns…and that can sometimes be a very long wait.  In Alberta I have seen snow in all twelve months!  Thank goodness we also have those wonderful Chinook winds that can blow in so temperatures rise from well below 0 C to into double-digit temperatures within hours.  Barometric pressure messes with my head, so it’s migraine time when that happens!

We are very used to snow, we Canadians.  We have to be!  When snow is on the ground on an average of eight months a year, we learn to live with the white stuff.  We are very spoiled where we live with the views of the Rockies, and the snow on their peaks make them even more beautiful!  That’s about the only benefit I see with having snow in our vicinity.  I love looking at the mountains!

Enroute back home from Las Vegas, we spent the night in Ely, Nevada and woke up to snow this morning!  In fact, we are the cold spot in the U.S. this morning!  I knew I was going home to snow in Alberta, but I sure did not expect snow in Nevada!  I reluctantly retired my tank top, shorts and sandals and put on my jeans and sweater.  I am in a woe-is-me mode this morning lamenting the fact we are leaving summer behind the farther north we travel.

Our “Great Adventure” continues as we travel north.  God uses the weather to teach me along the way.  As much as I love the summer weather we have experienced the last four weeks, the reality is that there will be days of bad weather…and snow!

We travel with God through all seasons of life.  We love the fair weather, but certainly there are far more lessons learned through cold, snowy months.  Those are the times we hunker down and just try to stay warm and connected with God.  So today, I’m looking out the RV window and I’m seeing a ray of sunlight peak over the snow-covered peaks here in Ely and I can’t help but smile.  This Snowbird is almost home.

“He Who forms the mountains, Who creates the wind, and Who reveals His thoughts to mankind,
Who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth—the Lord God Almighty is His name..” Amos 4:13

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On the Road Again

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Lynn

rv_there_yet_shower_curtainAn interesting week in Las Vegas to be sure.  As we plan on rolling up the awning of our 5th wheel and start heading for home, we take with us countless memories (and pictures) of our “Great Adventure”.  Being away more than a month, it almost seems like we’ve been away a year…we’ve seen and done so much!  However, we can’t put off going back to reality although the temptation to go further south is definitely there!  Now that we’ve experienced what retirement may look like as full-time RV’ers, I’m not nearly as trepidatious about traveling and living in our little home-away-from-home long-term.

Still, there were some ups and downs along the way.  I had a little tumble down some steps coming out of a restaurant in Cannon Beach, Oregon.  Twisted my right ankle and my derriere suffered some colourful bruising.  I was so worried that my little fall would mean a trip home earlier than expected, but except for the bruising I was up and walking the next day.

Last Monday here in Vegas, my left leg started to swell, then throb and although I hoped it was just muscle soreness my husband insisted I go get it looked at.  My “Spidey Senses” were tingling, hoping it would not be true, but having experienced one years before, I had an inkling it was a blood clot.  Sure enough, it was confirmed by an ultrasound: a clot just below the knee to the ankle.  Good thing we had it checked out and thank goodness for Traveller’s Insurance especially when we had to fill the blood thinner prescription!  For those of you Snowbirds from Canada, who are planning to travel to the States or anywhere, do NOT leave home without medical/traveller’s insurance.  We were shocked by the cost of the prescription: $1000.00 US!  Not to mention the cost of the emergency room visit and the medical tests which we estimated to be nearly $3,000.00.  That’s quite a hit if you don’t have insurance.

Many of you may be asking what caused the clot?  The doctor suspected it was sitting too long while travelling.  Even though we would stop and stretch our legs when we were driving, they suggested that with my blood clotting history, I need to get out and walk every 1-2 hours to get circulation in my legs.  It also means that although I might like to travel more, I need to go home to my family doctor and I’ll be “grounded” from travel for a few months anyway.  I’ll be investing in some compression stockings before we head back on the road.  It will take over a week to get back to Alberta and there will be lots of stops along the way…more now with my having to stretch the legs.  Take note, fellow RV’ers, I am giving you advice learned through experience 🙂

We texted the kids and they started praying for my recovery to be speedy.  Between the prayers and the blood thinners, I’m happy to say, my leg showed almost immediate improvement and didn’t slow me down too much so I could take in a few more beautiful sites in and around the Las Vegas area before heading home.

This past weekend, we met up with some dear friends who are now full-time RVers and yesterday we took in the NHRA Toyota National Drag Racing championships here.  For car enthusiasts, like my husband, it’s a must-see event to see Top Fuel dragsters hit over 300 mph in 3 seconds!  It’s an experience I will never forget either.

So, would appreciate journey mercy prayers as we travel back home over the week.  Not looking forward to the snow we’re going back home to, but I’m ready to winterize the rig and already counting down the days until we’re RV’ing again next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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There is a Cost to Feeding Self

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Lynn

IMG_1304Since we began our “Great Adventure”, one thing my husband and I have not lacked is FOOD.  Oh my!  We will have to go on an immediate diet when we get back to our Albertan Abode.  In every restaurant we have eaten in here in the States, I’m convinced the portion sizes for one would feed a family of four!  I generally take at least one half to two-thirds of my meal home and feast on the leftovers the next day with my husband.  Not to mention the meals I prepare in our little home-away-from home when camping; we have taken to eating only two meals a day: a mid-morning brunch and a late supper.  Eating more than that would definitely cost us in excessive poundage that would take months of work to get rid of once we got home.  There is definitely a negative cost to feeding self!

A few days ago we walked along the famous Las Vegas Strip and I couldn’t help but say the same thing there: there is a cost to feeding self.  In a town famous for indulging the whims and wants of people, “Sin City” lives up to its name.  Although absolutely grandiose in its architectural facades from the Statue of Liberty replica at the New York, New York Hotel, to the two-story guitar at the entrance to the Hard Rock Café, everything is meant to lure and captivate, and from the crowds there on the Strip it obviously works!

My husband and I walked up and down the street and felt intimidated by all the sights and sounds.  There is a dark side to Vegas and it was impossible not to notice the scantily dressed men and women on billboards and the neon flash of lights promising instant winners at gaming tables.  The saying that “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” might be a catchy slogan for any city or town that caters to satisfying the selfish desires of people who want to participate in selfish and sinful pursuits but it is not necessarily a true statement because “what happens in Vegas (or any other City), does not stay in Vegas”.  There are always negative results that follow a person, sometimes for a lifetime, when they indulge in sin.  Unfortunately a better way to encapsulate what we found on the Strip was, “every man for himself and if it feels good do it, no matter the consequences”!  With that kind of attitude it’s easy to conclude that there is always going to be a negative cost to feeding self!

We walked past many street people who held up signs asking for hand-outs.  Even in a town dominated by money and opulence there are the working poor and the very destitute.  Although we know from our experience with panhandling in Calgary that many of those street people are just looking for money to feed addictions, others are panhandlers who entertain to attract attention.  Here in Vegas we passed one man who held up a sign reading:

Need money!  Wife got a sex change operation and ran off with my girlfriend!

What does one say to that??

On the drive back to our campsite in Boulder City, about twenty minutes outside of Las Vegas, we pondered upon what we had experienced there on the Strip.  Certainly the sights are spectacular but I had to admit I was more impressed by what we saw off the Strip than on it.

We passed several large and what appeared to be thriving churches with parking lots full of cars.  It is obvious that people recognize that their city, like any other, need Jesus Christ.

We stopped for gas at a self-serve station and a young man ran up to our truck and asked if he could wash our windows.  He didn’t ask for a tip, but he did such an excellent job of it that my husband said he was glad to pay him for his effort.  In every store we’ve been in here the customer service has been exceptional…you can’t help but be impressed!  In our campsite, our T.V. was not picking up the cable channels and two park attendants came to help us discover why.  When we still could not connect due to the analog technology not being compatible with our T.V., one of the men said we could borrow his T.V. for the duration of our stay here.  That’s selflessness and THAT impression will stay with us forever.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”  Philippians 2:3-4

And so our Great Adventure continues…

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