To use the Las Vegas airport!
Because we're not in Las Vegas any more. Late Monday night, we flew from Las Vegas to Philadelphia, and Tuesday morning we flew from Philadelphia to Ottawa, Canada.
We've had this planned for months.
Why all the secrecy? Well, today is Ruth's father's 80th birthday, and we wanted to be here to surprise him. And even though he doesn't read the blog every day, if we posted it here there was a good chance that it wouldn't be a surprise. So it becomes a surprise for all of you as well!
Sherman, where we left him in Las Vegas.
We had found a private residence very close to Las Vegas airport where we could leave Sherman for a month. Cost was $80 USD ($104 CAD) and we arrived there Monday afternoon.
Got things all closed up, and our carry on bags packed for a month away. Then, we did a ten minute walk to the nearby Las Vegas airport car rental terminal and took their free shuttle bus to the airport!
We had a long wait for our 12:30 am red eye flight to Philadelphia. Then, four hours (and a three hour time change) later, we arrived in Philadelphia at nearly 8:00am and then an hour and a half later we took off for Ottawa.
What's the white crap on the ground??
Flying into Ottawa, we got our first view of Canadian winter. It's been a long time since we've seen this! Temperature when we arrived at 11:00am was -4C (25F). We hopped on the local bus from Ottawa airport for $3.10 ($2.39 USD) and did the one hour journey to my mother's apartment.
Our son Alex lives in Ottawa as well, and he came over for dinner to meet us. Great to see him again...it's been almost a year!
Kevin, and his mom.
We stayed at her place Tuesday night, and then Wednesday afternoon Alex left work early and came back to meet us again. Then, Ruth's brother Colin came down from the village of Galetta (about 45 minutes away from the city) where he lives in the house next door to her father. He drove us up to Galetta, and we all had supper with him and his son Matthew and stayed at his house last night.
It is too funny being right next door to Ruth's dad and he doesn't know we're here!!
So, we're about to call him using Skype, to wish him happy birthday. He'll think we're still in Las Vegas.
Then, we'll walk next door and ....surprise!
It should be hilarious. We'll try and videotape it for you!
So, we're in Ottawa and area for two weeks to visit with family and friends. Then on April 1st, we fly from Ottawa to Nova Scotia where our daughter Lindsey, her husband Justin, and grandkids Cameron and Sadie live.
Lindsey and Justin are going to a friends wedding in Cuba for a week, and we get to look after our grandkids. Really looking forward to that. We've actually had this planned since last year!
Yep, we get to put up with the last part of a Canadian winter for a month. But after all, we're Canadian so we can do it. It's not like it's for six months or anything like that!
Good deal on a top rated Canon black and white laser printer...
What a lovely surprise for Ruth's father on his 80th birthday. Give him our very best. Also, I'm so glad you get to spend time with your grandchildren in Nova Scotia. Cheers! 20 Years From Now Blog
ReplyDeleteThank you for the wishes Dianne, I have passed them along to my Dad and he says thank you very mush for them.
DeleteYes, we are looking forward to spending time with our daughter and her family and hopefully some of that snow will have disappeared by then. ;-)
There's nothing more important in life than family so I am very happy to see you spend some quality time with you families. Thanks for keeping us in the loop, too. Have a great time.
ReplyDeleteYou are so very right gumo and we will definitely be taking advantage of this time that we will have with them.
DeleteRuth, say Happy Birthday to your Dad from Tony and myself.
ReplyDeleteI passed along your good wishes and Dad says thank you very much for them.
DeleteSpring is on its way - but apparently the east coast hasn't heard that part lol. Stay warm!
ReplyDeleteWe agree that the East Coast still is unaware that spring has now arrived! We are really hoping that the weather improves by the time we make it there in a couple of weeks.
DeleteWhat a great surprise for Ruth's dad, as well as your thousands of readers and followers!
ReplyDeleteHe really enjoyed his surprise and so did we!
DeleteWe did a similar surprise for my Dad's 80th and he was thrilled It is something I will always remember. Plus you get the bonus of seeing all of the rest of your families. Enjoy every moment.
ReplyDeleteYes, it will be a wonderful memory in the years to come. We are really enjoying our time so far with the family that we have seen and are looking forward to seeing the rest of them shortly.
DeleteWhat a great surprise! How thoughtful of you both. I still can't get over how somehow our families lives have crossed paths somewhere. I grew up in Perth and most of my family is from Lanark/Ompah area - I'm not kidding, I'm practically related to everyone there!! Have fun!!
ReplyDeleteYep, it was a wonderful surprise for him. He was very happy to see us and we have been so happy to see him as well as some of our family members.
DeleteToo funny, we have been through Perth and Lanark areas many times over the years. It is so pretty around there.
Well, this blog post made me smile this morning! What a wonderful surprise and thanks for sharing with all of us. Nothing better than making memories especially with family. Enjoy those grand kiddos!
ReplyDeleteConnie in PA ;)
So glad that we could make you smile Connie and Barry. It put a smile on all of our faces here too! We will certainly enjoy every minute we have with our families and friends.
DeleteWow! nice surprise for us and Ruth's dad!! Happy birthday Mr. Dad...and have a good one!!
ReplyDeleteI have passed on your Happy Birthday wishes to my Dad and he says to say thank you very much for them.
DeleteI'm glad you pulled it off! :)
ReplyDeleteWe are happy that we pulled it off as well, he said it was definitely a complete surprise. :-)
DeleteHow fun! Way to go! Have a great visit with your families! Grace (in Tucson)
ReplyDeleteWe will thank you Grace!
DeleteWhat a great surprise , enjoy our Candian spring now should be warming up for you real soon.
ReplyDeleteIt was a great surprise and we have all been enjoying our time together. So far we aren't having a hard time with the weather but then again it's only been a few days that we have had to deal with it.
DeleteEnjoy your visit home! What a nice surprise for your Dad. An abbreviated winter is an excellent way to remind yourself of how much you love being snowbirds!
ReplyDeleteHe was so happy to see us and we are happy to be here to see our families.
DeleteYes, you are totally right about appreciating our life as a snowbird, and believe me we sure do! ;-)
That's awesome. Eighty only comes around once, and you pulled off an excellent visit. Spring is around the corner, but it's still a wee bit frigid around here. But you'll be partying, so who cares?
ReplyDeleteThanks, I think we did a great job pulling it off too! So glad that we could celebrate this big milestone with him.
DeleteWe are dealing well with the weather so far. ;-)
What a great surprise for his birthday! Must be quite an adjustment weather wise:)
ReplyDeleteYep, we were happy with how the surprise went. Yes, it is pretty chilly here but we are dealing with it well.
DeleteWow! Organisation again...I look forward to his reaction and your future travels....wonderful surprise for sure.....
ReplyDeleteYes, it certainly took a bit of organization but we managed to pull it off and he was definitely surprised.
DeleteWhoooHooooo! I hope you get a picture of his face when he sees you! Happy Birthday!
ReplyDeleteOur son Alex took a video, it isn't the best but hopefully it captures the look on his face. I passed your wishes to him along and we said to say thank you very much.
DeleteWOW....what an awesome surprise! Can't wait to see your dad's face when he sees you two. Enjoy all the visiting and the grandkids. That will be so much fun.
ReplyDeleteYep, it was a great surprise! Looking forward to visiting with all our families and especially this the grandchildren is a couple more weeks.
DeleteCan't wait to see the video. Too cool!
ReplyDeleteKevin has to work with it a bit first. Our son Alex took it with his phone and it didn't work out as well as he would have liked it too but hopefully it will posted shortly.
DeleteGood for you you sneaky things. Sounds like wonderful family time coming up. I'm sure Sherman is very sorry to miss it all.
ReplyDeleteWe are sneaky aren't we?! ;-)
DeleteI am sure Sherman is happy to be further south in in the nice warmth rather than up here freezing away like crazy.
Wow, how neat is that! Make sure someone is standing behind your Dad! Last time we had a surprise party for someone roughly that age they literally fell over backwards!! What fun for you all!
ReplyDeleteWe have a video and hopefully Kevin will have it posted soon. Luckily my Dad didn't have a heart attack or fall over from the shock of seeing us, instead he was just all smiles.
DeleteYou've been in Mexico toooo much. You need to SMILE when you have your picture taken with Mom. Ha! Ha! Have fun with the family. Neat surprise!
ReplyDeleteKevin usually beams from ear to ear. I think this time he was imitating his mom's family portrait look. BTW, love the trampoline in her apartment!
DeleteYep, Dugg is totally right, Kevin usually is beaming, not sure why he is looking so serious in this picture. She uses that trampoline on a regular basis as part of her exercise program.
DeleteWhat a sneaky plot you pulled off! Kudos to you for giving Ruth's dad a wonderful surprise. :c)
ReplyDeleteYep, we had to keep lots of people in the dark but we were able to pull it off. :-)
DeleteYou guys are just the
ReplyDelete*** BEST! ***
KarenInTheWoods and Steveio
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(Blog) RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com
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Thanks Karen! We are happy to be back sending time with our family and friends.
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