Soon time to head South.

Here is another quick story of what we have been up to since the last blog.  August was a little slower at the Ice Cream Shack and the September long weekend was a little dreary so we did our best to go out with a bang.  The weekend after the long weekend is officially our shut down date.  Thanks to all of our loyal customers and friends for a great season.

 Before everyone goes back to school we like to have a mass birthday party.  We ended up with most of the grandkids here all at once.  We were missing Joey and Rio who didn't come down from Alberta this trip.  We give all the kids their presents and have a little get together.  Here was the gang at the Ponderosa this year.

Then we said goodbye to our Alberta Family until next year.  Its great to have everyone around us in the summer cause its a long old winter without them.

We had to say bye to our friends Jim and Marilyn who have camped for 2 or 3 days every week this summer.  Charlie loves them dearly and thought he might just stay with them in their camper.

With the Shack closed down it was time for me to go back to work for a bit.  I had promised a local contractor that I would give him a hand getting his COR Safety Certification in place this year so I headed there to get it started.  His office is at his farm which is about 10 miles up the road.  He even had a little office for me to use.  My goal is to have him ready before we leave in mid October.  

 Lots of paper work to do and getting all the safety stuff in order.

We had to move the Ponderosa from our seasonal camp spot into the big empty space in front of CJ's.  We have our own power there and can stay for as long as we want.

And of course the Ponderosa needs a little attention.  We have a cracked exhaust manifold and after some trying to book it with a friend mechanic fell through, we have decided to make it last one more trip.  I'm putting some pictures of the crack on here just so I have them for future reference.

Another problem is the leaking hydraulic motor for the fan.  It has a little leak so it is time to get it fixed.   It is in a heck of a spot and will not be easy to remove.

With a little help from my friend Chuck and a few dang it's,  we got it off and sent it away to have all the seals redone.

Speaking of Chuck and Angie, they arrived from the south in mid September and have been hanging with us for a couple weeks.   They are fun to be around and we got to spend some good times with them and Pat and Harold.   We parked them in front of us at the shack and plugged them in to power.  Charlie showed up on the doorstep for treats.

We had a lot of fun for a couple weeks.  We took them to all of the traditional Canadian places like Tim Hortons for coffee.

Then off to Canadian Tire for the photo op.  Not every day you see one of those in the USA.

And for all of our American friends, guess what we have in Canada??  And lots of them!!!!

We played games and ate and had bonfires and just a generally good time.  Two weeks flew by and it was soon time to say our so longs.  Hope they have safe travels and we will meet again.

We even went to a kids rodeo not far from here with Chuck and Ang.  Our friends Dick and Jeans grandson Dawson is quite a rodeo kid.  We spent and afternoon watching him roping and wrestling and riding his horse.  Thanks Dick and Jean for inviting us to come see him perform.

Another of our highlights was attending a afternoon of fun with our friends Reg and Linda.  Reg and Linda camp at the park lots and we got to know them through Charlie.  Linda always kidnaps Charlie when she is camping and Charlie loves her to death.  Actually it is sometimes a fight to see who gets to have Charlie, Linda or Jim and Marilyn.  Anyway, Reg has a big mobile BBQ and he cooks up a big bunch of ribs and pork and they invite a whole bunch of their friends over for the afternoon.  We were honoured to be invited this year.

They have a lovely old house which is actually designated a heritage sight.  Linda gave us a tour which was breath taking.

They even hire a musician to entertain us for the day and this year it was a young guy who played some Jazz and Blues for us.  He even joined us when he was on his break.

Charlie was kind of the guest of honour and was the only dog invited to come.  Linda has some cats and Charlie was alright with that.  He had to run of the place and hung out with all the guests, but if he went in the house, he wasn't allowed past the kitchen because one of the cats would be sitting there turning him around.

I do apologize that I failed to get a picture of the hosts, Reg and Linda.  Sorry guys.

I've made a couple purchases to take on the road this year.  The first is for my entertainment.  I am not a professional but do enjoy playing once in a while for myself.  Sue finally gave in and let me get one.  I will be careful to play it only when she has gone out somewhere.

The other purchase was something I have needed for a long time.  I need to have tools all in one place instead of chasing all over the place looking for them.  This tool kit will be the answer, however the first lesson to learn is to open it right side up.  This mess took me about half an hour to put back!!!

Things have slowed down at the lake and it is quite peaceful around here.  The lake is low and our boat is lonely out there.  Soon time to take it out and store it for the winter.

Still seeing some very pretty sunsets but the temperatures are starting to drop.  Soon time to head south.  We have some interesting adventures planned for this winter, so stick with us.