I'M STILL HERE......BACK AGAIN

2017

Life is Good

This is my little place in the house

where I go to

listen to music and work on photographs

no photos taken in January

FEBRUARY MARCH

home in chatham kent

We would go out and about in the countryside

A Canada goose at wetlands near Mitchell's Bay

Came upon this donkey which lives on a side road near Louisville

He was quite curious when I got out of the truck and walked towards him

We also walked about at the Arnold Cemetery just outside Louisville

looking for Agar, Fisher, Arnold and Pugh tombstones

APRIL

We took a trip to Gales Ferry Connecticut

to visit with Joe's sister Alice and family

One of our very favourite places

While there we zipped up to New Haven to pick up Zoe after a St. Michael's lacrosse game
Zoe spent Easter weekend with family which was extra special for all of us

Miss Gypsy was stored in Corunna

Little did we know she would  be going to new owners come June

 

Lots of changes for the O'Rourke family

We sold our Stag Island cottage which was in our family for over 37 years

Everything has a time

Everything has a season

It was time for us to say

So long!

It was sad when we closed the door

however

we both agreed we were looking forward to the next chapter

MAY

We took a road trip to Superior Wisconsin to visit our grandson Beau and his girlfriend Kelsey

Interesting how this little plant popped up amongst the rocks

We were treated to a homemade meal

Each one is quite the 'chef'

Delicious pasta

JUNE
England Scotland Ireland Wales

Standing at the gates of Buckingham Palace

This fine gentleman walked straight towards me (and the other tourists)

I was fortunate to be standing in the right place at the right time

We arrived in London England the day of the terrorist attack which happened that evening

We had planned to go to the Tower of London and London Bridge that afternoon however decided to have a nap and would go the following day
It did not happen

The police officer was standing guard at the palace

OH NO

I was stepping backward to get a better 'shot' of Westminster Abby when I tripped over a curb

In an instant my camera went flying

My IPad went flying

My  backpack saved my back

My camera lens was not so lucky

Lake District

Taken from Edinburgh Castle

Bobby
Legendary Skye Terrier sits at the corner of Edinburgh's Candlemaker Row

A cheeky prankster placed a traffic cone on Glasgow's iconic Duke of Wellington

For my Mom

On our way to Ireland

Belfast

Stone Memorial
Titanic

Through the window

Little shops at a former stable

Serene I thought

National Stud Farm established 1946
Tully, Kildare, County Kildare Ireland

Hand of the statue of the man who founded the farm

Guinness anyone?????

Dublin Ireland

HA

I watched intently as this tour bus shared the road with our bus

WALES

Cardiff Castle

on our way back to England

Roman baths at Bath England


When I came out of the store I brought an orange to give to the fellow but he and his companion were gone
Only the banana peel was there





On a shuttle bus taking us to Stonehenge

Stonehenge

Through a wire fence


Coming into the city of London (England)
Our road trip was just about over

Four days after arriving home to Chatham we picked up our new airstream and headed for another special place
British Columbia

On the road again..........

Wonder what the attraction was for these horses to be surrounding the little house?????

 

Flowers in median at Fairmont Hotel

Whistler

Planted by Jennifer and her gardening team


The bee hotel was filling up
the hotel resides on the roof of the Fairmont

The vegetable garden is also on the roof of the hotel
Jen and her fellow gardeners do a fantastic job

Ah the pugs

Vivian and Josephine O'Rourke

South Side Café Whistler

It is always a must we go for breakfast at the café  when staying with Jennifer

Nikki our best server is there to meet and greet us with her infectious smile

Looks like Joe is 'stealing' a bottle of Tightrope wine

Finnegan loving the outdoors at the vineyard in Penticton

This is the only place where he and  Bing are allowed to run free outside

The newly renovated shack

Pretty spiffy

WOW

and a real kitchen with a stove and cupboards

Doesn't get any better than that!

on the way home

I am glad we are travelling by truck and pulling an airstream rather than travelling by bike and setting up a tent at nightfall

Montana

We were hitting 100 degree weather

SOOOOOOO HOT

The airstream would take forever to cool off with the late sun beating on the aluminum

Even the cows took solace under the shade trees


These folks had the right idea

Watertown SD
Pelican Lake

We took a specific route so we could stop in Watertown to visit with friends Curt and Coleen

It was wonderful to see them

It was at their suggestion we stay at this park which overlooked a lake

GWENDOLYN LOVED EVERY SECOND OF BEING IN THE WATER

She stayed in the lake for a long time walking back and forth

Bobbing up and down

When she got out of the lake she actually came up to Joe and put her chin on his lap
We could read her mind!!!!!

Thank you

Thank you

This is the new airstream

Her name is

'Bunkie'
Same length as Miss Gypsy.....25 foot

All the 'linens' from the cottage Bunkie have found a new home

One smart cow

JULY

Off to good friend's cottage near Perry Sound

The fishermen

Two brothers and a nephew

Evening views are spectacular

Only the best

TIGHTROPE WINE

AUGUST

I was fortunate to spend two weeks at Flagstaff Arizona with our granddaughter Zoe

She then came to Canada for a five day holiday

She asked if we could go camping

Papa picked up Bunkie in Corunna and brought her to Erieau where we camped for a few days

We had a fine time!!!!!!

A lovely wedding indeed

Our niece Jessica married the love of her life Robert

SEPTEMBER

Back to Connecticut one more time before leaving for the west

Joe David and I toured the USS Cole guided missile destroyer

Extremely interesting to talk to the sailors

I was amazed as to how young the crew were

Tea anyone?

Thought this photo would make a beautiful greeting card

David Alice Joe and I had lunch at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme Connecticut
Miss Griswold's home was the center of the Old Lyme Art Colony
The main centre of development of American Impressionism

Finnegan and Bing knew exactly where they were when they arrived at the Schroeder home

Home away from home

Tyko

I'm coming

I'm coming

Finn went outside on his harness to have the opportunity to investigate the birds around the feeder

He did however slip out of his harness

SO

Indoors he went much to his disgust

OCTOBER
back to the west again

Granny's first hockey game
Our Ethan

We had been out for lunch at Liquidity Winery at Okanagan Falls
When leaving the main driveway I spotted this chair in the field
DRIVER
back up please!
I love this photo
It says to me
Come sit with me for awhile

Best place in the town of Okanagan Falls for ice cream

The wine shop

Evening sunset at Tightrope Winery

A dream come true for the O'Rourke family

Guess what night is coming up????

Meet Skiddles

Cool dudes

Check out the back splash Joe installed in the shack

Good job Joe

NOVEMBER

Arizona here we come

First night on the road

Oregon

We were at a campsite that was in the middle of a field

HORRIFIC WINDS

The airstream actually rocked back and forth

One could say it lulled us to sleep

Or

Not

Day trip to Jerome from Flagstaff

Hot chocolate for Miss Zoe
Had lunch at the Asylum Restaurant
The 'building' was once the United Verde Hospital

Papa Joe

Come on Papa

Give us a laugh

Yum Yum

The candy store

Maybe the last rose of summer?

DECEMBER

Yay

Another hockey game

Northern Arizona University team

We stayed at a KOA campground only eight minutes from the Browning home
Pretty good eh!!!!!!!!!!!

An early Christmas present arrived

Rod surprised Stephanie with an English Lab puppy

His name is

BRUCE

Bruce has stolen Kelsey's heart


We left the KOA campground at Flagstaff and came down to Canyon Vistas RV park for two weeks
We stayed in the  'temporary' area
In the background you can see the park
We used to live up the street!!
We had a lovely afternoon and evening with SD friends Curt and Coleen
Always warms the heart when we are together

We went on a hike to Box Canyon with the Canyon Vistas Hiking Club

Our friend Ken came along too

These mountain goats appeared at the top of the mountain

Hello to you

It didn't take long for the hikers to leave us behind

We just poked along at our own speed which was fine with us!

Ah.....my ol' hiking boots

If these boots could talk

They'd tell a wonderful story of beautiful Arizona trails and mountains

Joe's tilly hat and my ball cap have been on each and every hike since we started way back when

Here we are in real cowboy country

Gotta have some humour in all of this!!!!!!

I'll leave it to the readers to come up with something

OK

This lady hiker was getting tired

I felt like a little kid thinking

Are we there yet????

I was starting to get cranky so told the boys I would walk ahead

and

I did

We finally came to the parking lot

Our truck sure looked welcoming

We had driven 12 miles in on a dirty bumpy rocky road and knew we would have to do the same going out but I set my mind on lunch at the Greek Restaurant at Florence
so I was all set to go

Thanks to Ken for lunch

Ken building a rock castle

We had a great lunch and were back on the road heading to Gold Canyon

BANG

ROCK AND ROLL

The truck had blown a tire

Good job Joe keeping the truck on the right side of the road

Luckily no oncoming traffic was coming our way

We called AAA right away

They were terrific

Kept checking on us to see if we were ok

Would you believe 10 Sheriff cars went by but no one stopped to check on us?

Three fellows stopped to see if they could assist but we told them AAA was on the way

About an hour and a half later the welcoming AAA driver appeared

Here is Ken assisting

Lots of laughs with

Ken reading articles from the local Florence newspaper to keep us occupied and leaving silly messages for his wife

What can I say

One more adventure

We went out past Tortilla Flats to find a century plant so Joe could cut the stalk in order for him to make a hiking stick for Thomas' (Rod's nephew) Christmas present

Merry Christmas

Tree along side the highway heading  up to Flagstaff
Back up to the KOA campground

Christmas morning with all the Brownings

So many laughs Christmas night as the family played a crazy game

This little guy has really grown
Such a sweet gentle puppy

Sweet Zoe
We had hoped to stay to celebrate Zoe's 21st birthday January 6th
however
A window of 'weather opportunity' came along so we had to take it

We had a wonderful Christmas with the Browning family

Thank You

Kelsey and Beau are engaged to be married
Our family is very happy

December 26th

Time to go home

Driving along the highway towards New Mexico

We 'booted' it home

First night Texas

Second night Missouri

Third night Chatham

HOME

Wishing our family and friends a happy and healthy 2018

PEACE