'On Your Left'

We are back in the States visiting our children and grandchildren for 2 months. Before we left I was asked if I was going to blog about our trip ... my first instinct was 'no' ... I use Instagram a lot now as a way of letting our family know what is 'new',  'exciting' or 'interesting' in our lives!! Secondly I am self-conscious about blogging and I am always surprised that anyone might be interested in what we are doing ... but for those people who are ... I am blogging again for you.

We are loving being back in Windsor .... it is such a peaceful and easy town to be in ... a wonderful place for some respite. The weather is not too hot ... not like last year and it is sooooo good to be away from a NZ winter! I feel like it has been grey and cold for a long time in Christchurch. Our autumn seemed a lot colder to me and the days were grey, usually autumn is warmish days, with amazing long evenings, spectacular skies and amazing colours all round as the season changes from warm to cooler . Our summer was rubbish ... there were hot days but not consistently. Our winter has not been that cold but it has felt long, so having a reason to escape to the Northern Hemisphere seems like such a privileged thing to do and I am very grateful that we can ... thank you to the Wright Brothers. Lars and Roxcy were so excited to see us and Chris gave us such warm, welcoming, hugs when we arrived we felt very moved by their loving welcome. We have adventures planned ... another road trip in our RV, this time across Canada and back down into the States and a visit to Yellowstone Park to introduce Lars and Roxcy to Yogi Bear. They are excited!!  Pete was a little concerned about the distance, approx 6000 MILES round trip, and the cost of petrol (8 mpg), I have reminded him that our relationship with Lars and Roxcy is a short term relationship ... one of two things is going to happen ... either we will die or they will get sick of us so we need to be in while we are still alive and not too boring to hang out with.

Things have been really busy in our house leading up to our departure ... we have had a new kitchen and flooring installed, which I LOVE! This kitchen has been 2 years in the dreaming, 6 weeks in the making and 2 days in the installing. I found it really hard to leave, I know first world issue! As you can see there is still finishing to happen ... the rangehood is being installed by Rod while we are away and when we return we will need to choose tiles for our back splash. I know I have said this many times ... but our kitchen has exceeded my expectations ... I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT! I cannot believe the transformation of our kitchen space.

On our way out we stayed a night with Mack, Ite, Elizabeth and Livia in Auckland ... this is Livia, 2, nearly,  having a bath ... she is soooo cute and has some wonderful expressions ... like this one I managed to catch. She is adorable, feisty and fun. She loves her Dad ... where ever Mack is Livia is not far behind.

Here she is Elizabeth ... born to be 'Queen' ... she has just turned 5 ... going on 15! She is so much fun ... and beautiful, her gorgeous brown eyes, amazing hair and as Marg would say a confident disposition.

Pete loves hanging out with his children and grandchildren ... he is happy to just be in their company and not be doing anything. I think they are very lucky to have Pete ... he is always interested in them and what is happening in their lives.

We have left drab grey and the onset of snow and have come into colour. These colours are spectacular and remind me a little of India in their boldness and depth.

Our first walk around Lake Runnemeade. Such a beautiful night and gorgeous sky as the sun was setting. It looks like some of the beavers on the lake have gone ... I noticed only one beaver house this time, maybe they have shifted to the other side of the lake. We had a lovely walk listening to the local night life of the lake.

Anyone who knows Pete will know that he is really good at buying the 'best in class' for cars that are 20 years old and often need time, attention and money. Our RV is no exception to that tradition. When we bought the RV we knew that it had a leak over the drivers cab and needed to be repaired ... Mike bought the fibreglass replacement when we bought the RV and it has been sitting in Mike's garage over the last year ... when Mike collected our RV out of winter storage repairing the leak for this year's road trip has been the number one task to complete. He and Jason have done a fantastic job ... we could not have done it without them. Our repair is now complete and all we have to do is clean up the debris and get packed and we are ready to go.

Before we flew out Mike called and asked us if we would like to do the annual "Prouty" ride. The Prouty is a fund raising event for Cancer Research and care of cancer patients ... they raise millions of dollars each year through this event, which includes a walk, kayaking, cycling and golf. We rode the 20 mile circuit ... there were some steady inclines involved not hard or demanding, but steady. We rode Mike's and Chris' new road/mountain bikes and Mike and Chris rode their tandem, towing Roxcy and a friend in the Weehoo. This was our training ride ... the day after we arrived and there were some rather demanding hills on this training ride.

Here is our Prouty team with Jason our cheering coach ... Lars and Jason drove in the car cheering us on. Lars was taking lots of photos ... some of which I will post. We rode for Kerry and also for Rob, Pete's brother ... who has been gone for 6 years ... we miss him!

One of Lars' action shots ... when we started cycling Pete suggested that we keep up with Mike and Chris ... that was never going to happen ... they have twice the power and speed ... two doing the work of one. A courtesy of the cycle ride was every time a rider came up on the left hand side of another rider they were to say 'on your left' ... we heard that a lot. We got to say it a few times ... 'on your left ... maybe' on the incline parts.

A finishing line shot by Lars ... I am in the lead ... not that I was competing with Pete, but good to cross the finish line before him.

There were lots of tents at the finish line with lots of free food, drinks, information tents and craft tents for the children ... this is some of Roxcy's creations.

I had to post this photo that Lars took ... I am not sure if he was taking a photo of the scenery or the lamp post ... he loved sitting in the car yelling at us as he went by.

Get a load of this guys eyes ... he LOVES Top Gear and will sit and watch back to back episodes. I have to admit they are very entertaining and a very clever show. He and Roxcy are also very keen on Spartans ... an extreme team obstacle course, American Ninja Warrior ... an individual extreme obstacle course ... we have only been here a few days and we are into it already.

We all went out to a Habatchi Japanese restaurant for dinner on Saturday night ... it was kind of fun ... the chef cooked our food in front of us ... he was entertainin ... he liked to squirt water into peoples mouths, well we thought it was water until we had our first squirt full and discovered it was Rice Wine ... I didn't like it at all, very strong!

I found this amazing Marmalade Jam ... it is divine ... the best I have ever had. I am going to have buy more to take home. Yummy!