The World Famous Alaska Highway... Mile 0

Up at our normal time around 6:30am yesterday morning. Had to get things done and give the place a bit of a tidy up, because we were having visitors over for breakfast. Doug and Arlene were coming over for pancake breakfast and to give us a few last minute tips around the city of Grande Prairie.

Then, we followed the signs for Alaska!

Before we knew it we were sitting on their back porch having a glass of wine!

On the road again fairly early yesterday morning after a great sleep despite the highway noise. I had read that the Valleyview, Alberta visitors center had good free wifi, and they weren't lying! Not a bad place to park for an hour and get caught up on things.

Then, we headed to the nearby Williamson Provincial Park to go for a walk.

Too close to the highway, but at least it's a nice setting!

Slept fine at the church, but moved early this morning to have our breakfast at the mall using the unsecured wifi coming from Domino's Pizza. Nobody was in there eating pizza for breakfast so it was pretty fast wifi with us being the only ones using it!

Then, we made our way to the Whitecourt Visitors Center located in the Forest Interpretive Center.

Because if you don't ask, you don't know.

We sure are getting lots of daylight as we get closer to June 21st, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. And of course it's even more noticeable as we drive further north.

On Saturday night, the official sunset was at 9:57pm. And then sunrise is at 5:20am! But the interesting thing is that when then sun sets... it lasts for a long time!

Well, that was a different day!

Up and on the road early yesterday. We were trying to beat the moderate winds that were in the forecast, and we were trying to make it to Edmonton by 11:00am or so.

We were not successful in either endeavor.

Into the province of Alberta!

Woke up with a bit of a breeze in the air, and it continued all day. Fortunately, it wasn't a cross wind, but it wasn't a tailwind either! Yes, we had a fairly strong headwind all day. Not good for Sherman's fuel mileage!

But, we had to carry on towards Edmonton. We crossed into Alberta just before 10:00am. Sherman hasn't been to Alberta since the fall of 2007!

We packed things up and decided to search for something else.

Because of the two hour time change related to our flight from Ontario back to Saskatchewan, we both woke up before 6:00am. Might as well get up and start the day! After a bit of computer time, we decided to head to Walmart and do a grocery shop while the store isn't busy.

After that, we went to a heavy truck and trailer place that advertised welding, but it was crowded for parking and I didn't want to hang around. Actually, truth be told I couldn't wait to get started on our trip to Yukon! Besides, the welding job isn't pressing, but I've been wanting to get it done for so long and keep putting it off. I'll keep my eyes open for a small town guy who hopefully can squeeze me in without waiting.

Back in the motorhome!

Lindsey followed with her car while we headed back to drop off the car rental. As expected, the price for a full week with taxes included was $135 CAD ($107 USD). Not bad at all. The rental agent says "How did you find a deal like that?"

Well, I look for deals... they're out there if you look for them.

Then, she drove us to Ottawa airport.

10 Best Israel Beaches

Make your next trip to Israel a beach-tour and be sure to visit some of these ten stunning beaches while you’re there.

Nahariya – Sokolov Beach
Located at the end of Nahariya’s famous promenade, Sokolov Beach is a public beach that is free of charge and open to swimmers. If you are professional surfer, Sokolov Beach is your dream as the waves are known as the largest in Israel.

Haifa – Dado Zamir Beach
For a lovely beach that offers so much, look no further than the Dado Zamir Beach in Haifa. This beach has flower gardens, restaurants, pubs, coffee shops, and plenty of seating areas for relaxing.

Today we return the car rental and head for the airport.

We thought that we were done with work for this year, but apparently not. We spent the morning working on Ruth's father's house. I cut the grass and did the vacuuming while Ruth was cleaning out the fridge and freezer and cupboards of food that either had gone bad, or would go bad over the next few months. We brought a bunch of stuff back to our daughter Lindsey's house for them to be able to use.

Then, it was back to my mother's for lunch and some odd jobs for her.

Another day accomplishing what we came here for.

We had another good day visiting with family yesterday. First on the agenda, we went and picked up Ruth's father in Arnprior and took him out to Wheeler's Pancake House near Lanark, Ontario. It's a bit pricey, but he likes the place and it's good to get him out for a drive in the country. About an hour and ten minutes each way on nice country roads.

Beautiful spring day, with sunshine and a high of about 25C (77F).

Good to get our morning exercise in...

After a rainy Saturday afternoon and evening, the forecast was for clearing skies on Sunday. And, Sunday did end up being a nice day, but the morning was still a bit cloudy and cool.

We had stayed in downtown Ottawa at our son's apartment located close to the Rideau Canal, so we went for a nice walk along the canal in the morning.

Rainy afternoon in downtown Ottawa - Canada's capital city

Ottawa is a nice city to visit, and we like heading to downtown when we're here. Our son has an apartment right in the center, and he was going away for the weekend with his girlfriend to her parents so he let us stay at his place for a night.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the nicest afternoon!

Chester the dog

We stuck around Lindsey and Justin's house for the day, with the exception of taking Chester the dog for a nice long walk. Lindsey went with Sadie on a kindergarten school field trip, and of course Justin was working all day. With the kids in school until 2:30pm or so, we had a nice relaxing day with just us and the big dog.

Not always easy dealing with aging parents.

After we saw the grandkids off to school, we hopped in the rental car and drove up to Ruth's father's place. It's a bit of a difficult situation, and one of the reasons that we chose to come here. He has recently made the decision (somewhat against his will) to move to a retirement home. And his doctor has recently taken away his driver's licence at age 83.