2016 recap

Well another year has come and gone.  Lots has happened to us in 2016.  We took the Ponderosa south for January, February, and March and then spent some time in Alberta with Sheri, Donovan, and Dani on our way back to Manitoba.  We met a lot of real interesting people in our travels and look forward to meeting up with them lots of times as we continue to travel.


One big change in our lives was the purchase of CJ's Snack Shack and Mini Golf in Rivers Provincial Park.  Sue wanted something to do for the summer while we were home and we knew we would be living full time in the Ponderosa, so thought this would be a perfect fit due to the fact it is in a campground setting.  We thought about a name, and decided that this would be a great place for our grandchildren to come and visit Grampa and Gramma and talk them into giving them free ice cream.  We do have one grandchild who is in heaven and won't be able to physically visit us here, so we decided we would name the business after him so he would also be a part of it.  Thus the name CJ's after our angel, Clayton James Green.

We began operation of the business in mid May and were open 7 days a week, 12 hours a day until mid September.  We are happy to say that not only was the business a success, but as a bonus, we met and made friends with a lot of really nice people in our daily operations.  We are looking forward to being back there again this summer, so if you are planning a trip to Manitoba, please stop by for an ice cream.

The other big change in our life in 2016 was the sale of our house.  Although we have been living in our motorhome for the most part since May of 2015, we still parked it at  "home".   In September we passed our home on to a nice young couple who I'm sure will enjoy making memories there.  In order to peruse the full time RV living, we just could no longer have a house that would sit empty for the most of the year.  We will miss it, but our memories will allow us to visit in our minds anytime we want.  We are excited to see any changes the new owners will make.

Front of our house

Motorhome parked in the yard

The other big event of 2016 was the loss of Sues mom to cancer.  Kathy was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and given 3 to 6 months to live 7 years ago.  She had so much to do that she would not let the disease get her down until her work was done.  Part of that work was to be there for Sues dad Andy until he passed away last year from Alzheimers Disease.  She cared for him unselfishly every day, even while fighting her own disease.  She saw Grandchildren graduate, get married, start careers, and became a great grandmother during that 7 years.  The whole family will miss her dearly.

Kathy & Susan

We had an interesting 2016 and most of all, we are confident that all of the choices we made are the ones that will work the best for us at the present time.  We have chosen the nomadic life for as long as our health will allow us, and if this year is any indication of the beauty that is around every bend, we look forward to going around a lot more bends.  One of the things we look forward to is sharing some of our travels with our kids and grandkids, and showing them that there is lots out there to see.  Stay tuned for those adventures.

Susan and I would like to wish everyone a very Happy and Prosperous New Year and my all of your Dreams come true.