Canyons, Arches, Bridges and red sandstone....

Northeastern AZ, through Monument Valley, Bridges National park and Cedar Mesa to the town of Moab.  An amazing day, yesterday.  Today Arches National Park, on a par with Bryce and Zion, sandstone, wind, rain and time did its work on creating a landscape  of arches and buttes that is a marvel to your eyes.  We rest in Ontario Oregon tonight and plan to be home tomorrow night, what a trip....

Heading north and home..

Spent a great day of hiking and golfing with sister Donna & Roger.  So heading out to do some canyon gauking and crater walking in southern Utah ....

Zoom Zoom went March..

Time flies when your having fun...  and March has been just that.  Mandy returned from Calgary with some great pics of new Jamieson and lots of fun time stories with our two daughters and son in laws and of course Livia who is just turning two.

Contact info in Mesa AZ

Our mailing address at Venture Out is
Ken Witt
5001 E.Main St.  Box 1186
Mesa AZ 85205
** our site location within VO is
Unit 617 Merlin
** our cell # in Mesa AZ is
480-703-4862
** you can still reach us and leave a message at
604-853-2717 Abbotsford tel #
** email address worldwide......
kwprotek@gmail.com

Opa's take on little Jamieson

Jamieson Nash came onto the world PB (pickleball) court weighing in at 6 lbs 10 ounces. No other contenders arrived on March 1st, just him.  He has been kick boxing and punching for the last couple of months and is in top shape with a determined smile, but toothless.  His family supporters cheered as he popped out, even though the world match was not supposed to start for another 8 days.  We all like a winner and were impressed with his strong legs and the overhead smashing thrust of his strong arms.   The Pickleball community and especially Opa can't wait for him to join in the court fun.  In the meantime he is building stature day by day with the right combination of nutrients from mother Holly.  His sister Livia, and dad Stewart, are his biggest fans.  They are planning a Western Canada fan club, so wait for the announcement to join in celebrating on 27th Ave. Calgary SW.

Grandparents again,, happy days..

Great news.  Daughter Holly & Stewart added a new son Jamison to help sister Livia bring more joy to the family home.  Holly and Stewart went to the birthing centre at 11:30am, Jamison saw daylight at 1:32pm and all were home by 4:45 for dinner.  No messing around in the Stewart Nash household.  Jamison is a healthy 6 lb 10 ounces and is keen to see Nanna Mandy and Nanna Louise Nash who will be a little late getting there because he arrived about a week early.  Mandy comes back to Calgary from Mesa AZ and Louise from Palm Springs CA to help out, the grandpas are continuing to hit little white balls on short grass, and other important exercising pursuits.

Amazing, 3 golds today... Snowboard, Speed Skating and Pickleball

What Pickleball... a gold, yeh Mandy and Ken at VO, just picked up a gold medal for finishing top pairs at 1:15pm.  The crowd went wild, pictures taken and medals awarded as M & K beat out Laurette & Gail in the 2nd match game.  We came home and watched the Olympic Snowboard Gold winner Jayse-Jay and the three  Speed Skating Canucks beat out the USA team,  yeh, hey, gold, "its a great day in The Valley of the Sun, and Vancouver/Whistler BC".

Its a Great Day in the Valley

It seems like I have been living in valleys all my life.  I surmise as pioneers settled it made sense for people to congregate close to a river where water was plentiful.  The other reason was land was more fertile for growing crops and grazing, once the land was cleared.   I grew up in the Ottawa Valley near Pembroke Ontario. I worked in the Ottawa Valley near Ottawa our nations capital.  I worked in Montreal again part of the St. Lawrence River Valley.  We then moved West to the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, and now we are spending the winter months in the Valley of the Sun, in Mesa Arizona.  I guess I'm not a mountain man or a seashore guy but a true Valley Guy.  So it is a Great Day in the Valley wherever that valley is....

Living it up in AZ…

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Patriots Day & Silver Smithing

I was inspired this morning at our VO church service.  It was Patriots Day with the Canadian & USA flags being drummed into the service. The veterans from the different Armed Forces divisions were asked to stand and be acknowledged.  The oldest one was 93 yr old lady Jesse (WASP) who piloted airoplanes across the Atlantic during the 2nd World War.  We sang the grand old songs like The Battle Hymn of the Republic, great marching and rallying calls to motivate troops and supporters of the cause.  Many a tear was shed as memories and spirits were lifted with pride of country and thankfulness to the veterans who served.
The Olympics dominated the week with great excitement in watching amazing achievements and heartfelt disappointments, but always with pride of our Canadian athletes.  Go Canada Go....
I joined the Silver Smith club this week and made good progress in fashioning a ring for Mandy.  Precise work but most rewarding in creating something unique out of a flat sheet of silver.  80% complete, looking forward to the look on her face when mission is accomplished and it slides onto her finger.....

Back in the high Palms of V.Out

This body a'nt what it use to be, hate to say that out loud, but its taken me a few days after my arrival back from Calgary to get my bones going.  It is amazing how our mind says charge ahead, get it done, and our body doesn't want to keep up the pace.  I so enjoyed working with my new son-in-law Justin on his basement project. Back here in Venture Out Mandy had my itinary filled with Valentines activities, Olympic watching, pickleball ladders and scambles and getting caught up with friends.  We miss not being in Vancouver for the Olympic functions but spent last friday evening at an opening party sponsered by Burnaby's sister city Mesa AZ.  The Hopy stadium in Mesa had snowbird Canadians welcomed by 2 retired Mounties, a torch carrier and the major of Mesa plus a giant screen where we watched the opening cerimony.  Lots of red and white, and even Tim Hortons coffee imported from Burnaby to make us feel at home and belt out our O'Canada.  It was a time to stand proud as our Canuck atheletes entered the stadium back in Vancouver and the giant flame was lite.

Day 5&6 - Calgary - go Saints....

We called on all manpower reserves on Saturday.  Travis, Stewart, Jacob, Sarah, Justin and myself made a giant step forward with paint, assembling Ikea cabinets, putting up drywall and cleanup.  I was let off the premises for Sat. night, thats twice since I arrived, to relax at the local pub with wings and Greek salad, that Justin is a real hard taskmaster.  Sunday was openhouse & superbowl day for friends and family.   We relaxed, enjoyed the game, snacked, hydrated and played with the kids, all boys (5 under age 6) except our Livia who was the star of them all.  The house worked well for entertaining lots of people, a prime candidate for future holiday celebrations...
The highlight of the week was Sarah receiving a scholarship for exceptional grades in her Masters program at Athabasca University, proud and happy we are....

Day 3&4 - Calgary

Primed two rooms, cut trenches in concrete floor for sink drain, hauled dirt & dumped concrete outside. Orgainized the electrical.  And best of all, had a visit from granddaughter Livia.  She is so talkative now, knows her colours and can recognize words in some of her story books, a real smart gal. 
It seems like time is flying by there is so much happening in this home.  Ikea run, Home Depot run, helping to pick out tile, carpet, paint colours and more priming.... 

Day 2 - Calgary NW, Highland area...

I'm exhausted, after my 1st full day.  Loading the pickup for a dump run, second time handling that the stuff we demolished yesterday.  Cable guy arrived, 30 some 2 X 4s down the cellar stairs, got 26 of them straight and true in semblance of doors and walls.  Did some electrical work, puddied wall holes, sanded same, pick up odds from Home Depot.  Great dinner with both daughters and looking forward to seeing Livia tomorrow to break up my morning.  Oh, and before bed, a number of pictures to hang, my eyes are drooping and my legs wilting Taco the pussycat will guide me, to my oh so sweet bed....

Day 1 - Calgary renos started

Within an hour of arriving in Calgary I had a sledgehammer in my hand and was demolishing a basement wall.  Even though we only had about 3 hrs left in the day, Justin and I managed to clear out the unneeded walls, dump the mess outback, clean up the floor and design how the walls, doors and kitchen cabinets should look.  A good start on day one....we were both pleased...  Sarah was busy finalizing the last pages to an online assignment due tonight at 11pm, such is the life of young working couples in 2010...  I'll sleep well tonight, not sure how a full days work tomorrow will complement these aging muscles.

Back in Cow Town - Calgary

Catching a flight to Calgary this am to spend a week with Sarah & Justin.  Will be the gofer and handyman with some renos in their new home basement.  I will miss Mandy but will have lots of hugs from my Calgary girls, and Super Bowling with the guys..

Pickleballing at VO

Sat. both Mandy and myself were in Scramble PickleBall Matches. We were teamed up with another player, at randum, and then play the best of 3 games to determine if you move up. We had A & B level groups. I bombed out with my partner but Mandy made it to the bronze level, great games to watch. Sunday we had a mini Tournament with Mandy again rising to Bronze in the B level. My games where very close with 2 point difference in the 3 games played at the A level, so no trophies for the cabinet for me. All in all, a great weekend of PB....

Church service, PBall and Flea Market

9:00 am each Sunday is our non-denominational church service at Venture Out.  We have some great speakers with inspiring messages.  The offering each Sunday goes to local charities and orphanages.  After the service is coffee and chat time, which gave us an opportunity to meet new friends Don & Joan Brodie from Brucefield in southern Ontario.
Next, PickleBall court time to get the bones and joints moving and then it was off to a giant Swap Meet to see a pelathary of stuff, most of it made in China, of course.  A quick visit to Costco and home to watch our favourite Tennis channel,.

PickleBall fun…

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Moving day, back in Calgary…

Congratulations to our newly married daughter Sarah and son-in-law Justin as they take possession of their new home in NE Calgary today.   Now the fun begins, moving, new purchases and of course renovations.  Ken is flying to Calgary on Feb. 2nd for a week to help,  Justin the builder, with the renos.  Also a good chance for Opa Ken to get some hugs from 22 month old granddaughter Livia, Holly and Stewart’s daughter.  Holly is expecting baby #2 in March, so Mandy will make a trip then to help out.  What a joy to have both daughters in one city.

People….

One of the real joys of being at VO are the new friends we make and the activities we enjoy with them….. 

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Mesa Arizona weather…..

Click for Mesa weather report

Here a week....

Well it seems we have been here a month with all the activities that are going on and we are involved with. The most interesting has been the weather as in 3 days we received over 50% of the rain for this year. Rainfall is usually 7-8 inches a year but last yr was only 4.5in so this is a real blessing. I know the rest of North Am. has also had strange weather but being liquid is always better than that white stuff. Our elevation here is about 1400 ft above sea level, just north, a 2 hrs drive to Flagstaff it is 6000 ft, so 2-3 ft of snow was a real surprise to Flagits.
Our VentureOut park had the Phoenix regional Pickleball Tournament here for 3 days this wk. As in Camelot it only is allowed to rain at night at VO and that is what it did tues and wed. night so PBallers had sunny skies during the day to wack that 26 hole wiffel ball across the net. Mandy is learning to fine tune her poolhall and sewing skills and I have been busy with PBall, kabitzing with one and all and generally having a relaxing 1st wk, so Life is Gooooood - LG

Settled in, almost......

We have had 3 full days at VO since we arrived on thurs. We played PickleBall a number of times, got in some country dancing and attended the VO church service today. With all the activities (86) available, we can only get involved in so many. We will be/are involved in PickleBall, Electronics group, hiking, biking, golfing, sewing, square dancing, investment club, friday night country and ball room dancing and some computer classes, plus others we are considering. I will be helping out in some of the computer and investment groups. This evening at dinner Mandy and I filled our daytimers with this weeks activities. My sister Donna and her husband Roger will drop in this week for a taste of VentureOut life and stock up on supplies as they spend time in the high country of Sadona, north of Pheonix, an amazing place to hike in Red Rock country. We just spoke to our daughter Holly and granddaughter Livia who are visiting with their inlaws in Palm Springs. So keeping caught up with friends and family is part of our weekly routine. We are expecting a number of friends from Abbotsford to drop in during our time here.
LG -Life in Gooooood

Day 3 - Arrived safely at VentureOut in Mesa AZ

At 4pm today we checked into, what is to be our home for 3 months, in Mesa AZ . We left Hurrican in Utah at 8am in order to enjoy our sunny adventure through an amazing Zion Canyon scenic drive. The pink, red and white sandstone hills and deep cutout ravines & valleys give the 40 minute ride through Zion a vision of natures handy work over 1000s of yrs. The Escalante limestone Steps began in the Bryce Canyon area of mid Utah. Water, wind and time shaped the southerly extention of this wear & tear of mother earth through the Kolob Canyons, Zion Canyon, Glen Canyon and finally the mother of all canyons, the Grand Canyon of Arizona. Our trip took us east to the town of Kanab, then Page through rolling vast mesquite covered landscapes on route 89 down to Flagstaff on old route 66, now #40. Our elevation was between 6500 and 5000 feet above sea level. The ground was sprinkled with snow but the hwy was bare, with few semis to hinder our cruising at 60 - 75 m/hr.
We charged south on #17 from Flagstaff with elevation dropping as we approached Phoenix (about 2000 ft). The landscape changed from ponderosa pine to large Mugo pine to desert cacti. About 45 minutes south of the turnoff to Sadona (beautiful redrock country) we saw our 1st Sajuaro cacti, then tedibear, pricklypear and ocotilo cacti. We roared by the Outlet Malls on the outskirts of Scottsdale to Mandy's disappointment and managed to evade the state troopers who were out in force, a sunny warm day. Ah "the valley of sun" we have arrived.

Day 2, Idaho and Utah behind us....

Bedded down in the small town of Hurrican Utah tonight, extreme south in Utah near Zion Nat.park. Mandy and I share 2hr shifts of driving with Mandy and Lulu (gps) doing a great job of navigating, Mandy loves picking the route and talking back to Lulu who can be overbearing with calls for U Turns when we deviate from her chosen path. We stuck to the main hwys of #84 through Boise in Idaho and down into Utah through SaltLakeCity and then #15 south to Hurrican.

Day 1 - Washington & Oregon behind us...

Our US border person was concerned we were leaving Canada for good at 7:10am, when he saw the luggage we were bringing. But once over the border we covered 920 kl in 10 hrs to overnight here in Ontario Idaho. We left I-5 at Bellevue Wash. and headed east and south on Hwy 90 through the hay region of Ellensburg WA, apple region of Yakima WA, wine country of Richland WA, the onion growing area of WalaWala WA, and then it was rolling grass & cattle grazing country covered with a skiff of snow in the high country of Oregon over the Columbia river and into sunny Idaho. The Super 8 Motel is our preference at $55/night and of course wifi, hot tub & fitness rm. We were thankful the highway was not busy and we experienced every kind of weather in that 10 hrs, except snow, thankyou... LG-Life Is Good

Our Mesa Arizona contact info...

Our mailing address at Venture Out is
Ken Witt
Box 1186, 5001 E.Main St.
Mesa AZ 85205
** our site location within VO is
Unit 617 Merlin
** our cell # in Mesa AZ is
480-703-4862
** you can still reach us and leave a message at
604-853-2717 Abbotsford tel #
** email address worldwide......
kwprotek@gmail.com
The golf clubs, walking poles and pickleball rackets are in the trunk and its poring rain outside... we are just about ready to roll... LG-life is gooood

Moody blues, grizzly greys and turbulent puddles, its time to leave...

The last number of days has been spent meeting with friends and family before our 3 month getaway. And also communicating with friends who want to stop in to Venture Out in Mesa and experience our winter play ground. Tomorrow we stuff/pack the car, check our list twice but not before a final coffee gathering farewell with Frank & Esther Martins. Sometimes it seems we are leaving for years but our ties to Abbotsford are strong and we value each friend dearly.
We have choosen two routes to Mesa so as we approach 1/12 we keep our eye on the weather channel to see if I-5 or #90 through Utah is the road to travel, time and distance will determine our ultimate route...

Road trip coming up...

Spent time today mapping our highway route from Abbotsford BC to Mesa AZ, using MS Streets & Trips. It says we need 3 days, 2hrs and 37 minutes to make the 1623 mile trip. The trip planner lets you put in the speed, the route choice, start & stop time each day (8-5pm) pit stop time, so a great tool for planning a road trip.
We leave in 7 days so the piles, lists and last minute planning is coming together. Our stay will be for 3 months, mid Jan to mid April/10, we are getting excited.