The Merry Marsden Travels

Tuesday, June 4, 2013 Off to Deer Lake, Newfoundland via WestJet with my brother Peter and his wife, my sister-in-law Brenda - Tessels from Varney, Ontario. We left at 9:30 AM and landed in Deer Lake at 1:30 PM (NFLD time) after a 2:15 hour flight. We picked up our rental car from Enterprise - a Toyota Corolla - no cruise control and roll up windows - and drove in to Deer Lake and stopped at Tim Hortons. It was misty and 60 degrees. We drove north to Gros Morne National Park and checked out the Information Centre and then on to Rocky Harbour to check into the Oceanview Hotel. We signed up for a few boat tours in the area and the pub show "Anchors Aweigh" for the next night in the hotel lobby and admired the art of Ben Ploughman. We walked about in Rocky Harbour - to the cemetery and the out on the pier and stopped for our first fish dinner at Jackie's Restaurant and walked back to the hotel for the night. Wednesday, June 5,  2013 Up at 7 AM for a lovely breakfast ...

Sunday, April 7, 2013    Arrived home in Lakefield around 4 PM on Thursday, April 4/13 after lunch with Gramma and Grampa Marsden in Toronto, morning tea with Ellie and Jan Lech in St. Catherines and breakfast at the Fallsview Marriott Hotel Concierge Lounge in Niagara Falls. The car was ready to explore with all the stuff we were travelling with plus we stopped for some groceries in Peterborough at Costco. All was well at the Lakefield house, internet was on, water got turned on the next morning and then Bell telephone and Satellite TV the next day. Backtracking to when we left the timeshare in South Carolina on Friday, March 29th we drove 9 hours to Tom and Diana's house in Chesapeake Virginia to spend Easter with them. Saturday morning we went to a big park in Chesapeake and participated in an Easter Egg Hunt and other activities sponsored by the City of Chesapeake. It was a beautiful sunny warm day and lots of kiddies were up for the action. I assisted Jacob get 6 egg...

Tuesday, March 26, 2013 Chilling out in Foxwood Hills, South Carolina We left Texas as scheduled on Wednesday March 20th after a delicious barbecued rib dinner done by cousins Maureen and Don. Also have to mention we participated with friends from the Garden Club in the annual TG St Patrick's Day parade. A very fun green event - 4 PM parade in the park and it was about 90 degrees but we biked on. Didn't miss the Bike Club Picnic at Anz ---- Park on the Rio Grande before our take-off day. So onward to Sulphur Louisiana (8 hour drive) for one night - with a cookroach encounter in the room - so our night was free? Don got a great photo of it before stepping on it so he could show the manager. March 21nd night (another 8 hour drive) was at Harrah Casino - Veranda Hotel in Tunica Mississippi. No bugs and no winnings either but the room was only $20 since we have player cards. Good Deal. March 22 (after a 9 hour drive) we arrived at Kinston Manor and the Villas at Foxwood Hills ...

Saturday, March 16, 2013  Soon to Move North again . It has been a busy March and we leave Texas on March 20th so we are trying to get organized for the trip between events. Don's slowpitch team won their championship against the 1st place team (who hadn't lost a game all season) on a very windy Tuesday morning. He then took the game ball and presented it to this team manager's widow at the "Fun-eral" the RV park they resided in was having that afternoon. On the Thursday of that week, Don played in the CAN-AM slow-pitch game and Canada won! So ends his ball season. The Chili and Jello Dinner went very well with 10 couples participating. Brenda was the maker of the prize winning chili and was rewarded with a chili pepper sunvisor. The Garden Club mulched the new garden near the entrance to Trophy Gardens. Hoping the plants make it through the hot dry summer - there are severe drought conditions in the RGV. I had a trip out to South Padre Island with the Bi...

Thursday Feb 28/13   Time is getting shorter in the Texas Sunshine We have been busy enjoying the Texas Sunshine. Our street party was on Feb 16 and we had a potluck lunch on the street and played beanbag and ladder golf games after. Unfortunately Canada lost the CAN-AM golf tournament last week but we keep playing golf anyway. We have been doing some new things too. Last Saturday, I went with Maureen, Bonnie and John to "Smokin on the Rio" in Mercedes and were judges for a smoked ribs competition - tasting 10 different rib entries. Maureen, Bonnie, Brenda, Judy and I spent the afternoon before at the same place watching 3 top valley singers for an afternoon happy hours party for Winter Texans. Last Monday Brenda, Maureen and I went to the local Aloe Vera Farm - where I had been 2 times before but I like going to see the 90 year old couple who do the tours of the place. This time the plants were all flowering too. Later Bonnie and John hosted Maureen's birthday din...

Thursday, February 14/13     Happy Valentine's Day Continuing AT&T internet problems have caused delays in blogging and keeping in touch with family and friends but we persevere. Good trip to Casa Grande Arizona from Jan 29 to Feb 5 for Gourdfest. Our friend Tom Brudnicki was a wonderful host to myself, Barbara, Sally and Russell for the week. Barbara and Sally worked hard increasing their gourd art skills and I went on adventures and shopping trips with Tom and Russell. On our last full day we toured the Phoenix Botanical Gardens and did some shopping in the big city. Don survived well back in Texas with friends in the park feeding him dinners so he didn't go hungry. Coming back to Texas, life continues to be busy. 16 members of our TG Bike Club participated in the 20 mile bike tour for Arbor Day in McAllen. We completed the ride in 2 hours - starting early at 7 AM. There are birthdays to celebrate and potluck dinners for different reasons - the Cana...

Tuesday, Jan 22, 2013 Time flies when your having fun. The weather has had some cool spells here in January - Florida seemed to have missed the cool and wet and today Florida is cool and we are just fine at 75 or so. There are some special projects happening here at the park. I am working with friends building some new gardens - funding them through pancake breakfasts. Also getting 16 members of our bike club to do an Arbor Day 20 mile ride on Feb 9 in McAllen - for which each member will get a t-shirt and a tree - which fits into our garden project. Last year there were just 2 of us that went on this ride. I have also went to more high school plays - "Chicago" done by Edinburg High School and "The Wizard of Oz" done by Edinburg North High School. High schools in Southern Texas have large theatres attached to their schools to promote the arts - and it seems to be paying off since their productions are very well done. We are going to another one this Sunday call...