Brrrrr

8C and POURING rain. Could this mean Edmonton wants us to stay put?
Sorry, but we will carry on. We have a very important evening ahead in Medicine Hat.
Thank you Edmonton and area Jewels for a wonderful time.

OUR JEWELS WENT TO THE ZOO...

Today we were guests of the "Purple Pansies" chapter and enjoyed a delightful Day At The Zoo. There was a light lunch and visits from various animals and their care-givers.
And, once again, after a storm during the night and a chilly start to the day, we enjoyed another beautiful sunny day. Thank you Marlene and all her "Pansies" for hosting this wonderful event. We appreciate all the work you went to, to make this a successful day!

I will post some photos from our day at the zoo below but first, another day, another story to share!
Sue got a ride in from Sherwood Park with Marlene and Lynda arrived from her brother's at the other end of Edmonton. Suddenly, they realized they didn't have the shirts that the ladies were to sign!
After a check of the car, then a phone call, it was determined that when we went to the car to put a load into it after yesterday's luncheon, we were distracted by people taking photos of us and forgot to return to collect the rest of our things. So, the shirts were in Sherwood Park and we were at the Edmonton Zoo.

Thanks to Lorraine's wonderful husband, who drove to the restaurant to collect the left-behind shirts, we once again had shirts for our Jewels to sign... but they didn't give him our pens!
Lynda gave two pens to Marlene who asked someone in the office to trade for permanent markers, and we were in business.

We have some really truly amazing Jewels and they agree to do a 50-50 with each ticket costing $2.00. One lucky winner won about $91 and the other $91 will be given to Kelly to help replace what she lost on her event due to the missing money. We will continue to do this as we travel and do our best to help replace the funds. Money left over will be used in the future for a draw. How that will work will depend on what we raise.

THANK YOU JEWELS for your generosity today!

Signing the shirts

One of our zoo visitors.

LOUISE AND THELMA IN SHERWOOD PARK

Sue & Lynda (Louise & Thelma) in Sherwood Park, Alberta

The sign was from the game we played in Calgary.

Below are a few more photos from the Royal Court.

Well we missed a day - due to no internet and being so busy and when not, we were tired! (no surprise there!) I actually posted last night but perhaps I was so tired I forgot to click "save".  I've tried to post on here using my cell phone app but the posts haven't appeared.
Update - we didn't - I did post - it's on the bottom of the last post! LOL

We had a wonderful drive with good weather, to Calgary, arriving in time to check into the hotel and change clothes and off to the barbecue at Kelly and Carol's. What an amazing amount of work that went into planning this event. Prizes, food, games, decorations, etc.

We played a game where Sue and I had to roll a dice and move around large signs that said "flat tire", "stop for CJCS event", etc. Needless to say, it was a runaway for Lynda and then she just couldn't roll a "1" and Sue caught up and took the lead and won!

There was a fifty-fifty but we didn't win so congratulations to the Jewel who did win. Unfortunately, we're not sure who the winner was.

It was such fun for us to see so many familiar faces and to meet many new ladies whose names we knew, and now there was a face to go with the name.

They had a raffle for some great prizes and of course Sue won a fitness watch, and then she won a $300 Kitchen Aid juicer but Lynda assured her there was NO way that thing would fit in the car. Sue turned it back and another lucky Jewel was the winner. Believe it or not, Sue's luck continued (almost) as she was one number off on the next draw item. That lady is sooooo lucky!!

Calgary Photos:

Our host - Kelly Grant

Louise & Thelma with a collage made by Kelly's husband Mark.

View of Calgary's Olympic Park Ski Jumps, from our hotel room.

We met Kelly for breakfast the next morning for a little visit and it was most unfortunate to hear her report that when she arrived home, she looked in her purse for the money from the raffle sales and there was a $10 bill - only the $10 bill. "Someone" during the evening, went into her purse and removed $300!!!! We were stunned that a sister Jewel would do something so horrible. I had asked both Kelly and Carol if they had managed to break even on the event and they assured me they had but now, Kelly, personally, is out $300.00. How devastating to think anyone would do this to anyone!

At 9am we left for the north and enjoyed a nice easy drive to Edmonton where we found "Headquarters" a restaurant in Sherwood Park, where the Royal Court was meeting. Great name for the restaurant where they meet every month isn't it?

What a reception we had. Elaine Hill the Alberta Regional Rep. had come up from Okotoks and she, Sue and Lynda were presented with roses upon arrival.  I could write more but Colleen Murdock did such as awesome job writing about the meeting that I will take the liberty of sharing her notes with you.

Monday, May 28^th, Headquarters Restaurant

As everyone arrived and said their “hellos”, they received a lovely little crown charm from Lynda and Sue. Once everyone was seated, the head table was introduced. This was followed by a few light-hearted jokes from Lorraine, and a rose was given to Lynda, Sue and Elaine.

Lorraine presented a small travel case to Lynda and Sue, which contained some travel “necessities” (diarrhea remedy, band aids, hand sanitizer, a flashlight, laundry soap, ear plugs, eye masks, breath mints, etc.)

Their car is decorated with road trip signage and is packed to the rafters, and they said they want to stay in Alberta, just because of the gas prices!!

Lynda shared some excellent stories about their trip so far. Apparently, Sue has phenomenal luck when it comes to draws and contests and wins more than her share. They were guests at a wonderful event in Calgary, organized by Kelly Grant, and Sue continued her winning ways. The event was a huge success but, unfortunately, the proceeds from the event were taken from Kelly’s purse. There was no way of knowing who was responsible but it is a sad reminder that we always need to be diligent when money is involved.

The Chapters were introduced, and everyone enjoyed chatting and visiting during the meal. Kudos to the staff at Headquarters for handling such a large group and not imposing a gratuity amount.

Marlene Dahl went over the details for the Teddy Bear Picnic tomorrow, and also won a door prize generously donated by Elaine Hill.

Myrt Lowrie, from the Garnet Girls in Fort Saskatchewan, won $31 in the “purple purse” draw.

Lynda and Sue presented Lorraine with a gorgeous crown pin as a “thank you” for organizing the lunch.

Before everyone left, they signed tee-shirts that Lynda and Sue had made as a keepsake. Lynda’s has Thelma imprinted on the front, and Sue’s has Louise. The back of each shirt says “Road Trip 2018”.

Marlene won a prize

Myrt won the money!

Lorraine, our hostess

Signatures on the shirt

Notice "Lady Canada" front and center!

and we're off for a new adventure!

Well it's been a busy day!
First, here are a few photos from yesterday that Sue took in Revelstoke...

With Marla and Sandra

We began by packing up the car and more than one person noticed the car and commented on what we were doing and how great it was. Yes, it IS a wonderful experience.

We met with the Begbie Babes of Revelstoke for breakfast then were on the road by 10am as planned. Thanks ladies for getting up early on a Sunday to come and cheer us on as we begin our journey. We each have a t-shirt and at each stop we are asking the Jewels to sign it. We bought fabric marking pens but they were useless so we tried permanent markers but they weren't much better so we managed to finally find extra fine permanent markers later, in Canmore and they sort of work. What we need is the old fashioned laundry markers that your mom used to put your name in your clothes when we were little.
Another beautiful day with light traffic!

Leaving Revelstoke at 10am

This is a photo of Rogers Pass and the sign by the red truck says "watch for bears"

Louise took a photo of Thelma taking a photo.

I was here exactly one year ago today and took a photo of the Rogers Pass sign but it was missing this year as there is a lot of construction going on there right now.
Below is my photo from last year...

and to my eye there is less snow than last year at this time in the Rockies.

We stopped in Canmore, just missing my brother who was headed home to Edmonton by a few minutes. We went looking for the permanent ink pens and lunch.  We stopped just outside Banff to take some photos. We should have gotten one of "Louise" at Lake Louise! 

Thelma and Louise in Banff

Back on the road and we were at our hotel in Calgary by 4pm giving us time to check in and get settled before heading to the party.

What a party! Kelly Grant and Carol Burnstein were hosts to Sue and I and many Jewels. We had a lovely dinner - a barbecue with chef Mark (Kelly's husband) and a visit from "Don Cherry" (below) 

Below is the cake that was shared by the Jewels 

and our hostess,Kelly

who made special "crown" cookies, with help from Carol, for everyone. Thanks to Mark too, who helped with all the decorations such as the collage above, and the games and decorations.

The back of the cookies.

Thelma and Louise in front of the collage made by Mark for the party.

Making new friends

Sue and I can't thank Kelly, Mark and Carol enough for all they did to make today a very special day. We got to see old friends and meet new ones, share stories and laughter and games and good food.

It reminds us how special all women are and what fun it is to get together! And the gifts and prizes were unexpected and amazing!

Sue won a big $300.00 Kitchen Aid Juicer but turned it back for someone else to win as it was just too big to fit into our over-stuffed car!! Louise beat Thelma at a fun game where we competed against each other by tossing dice and moving to positions marked "ran out of gas", "flat tire", "stop to shop" etc.

Another wonderful day. As we returned to our hotel room, we thought for those who have never been to Calgary and never seen it, here is a photo of the Olympic Ski Jumping Park, which is across the street from us.

And with that we say good-night. Tomorrow is another very busy day!

For those who are interested, this was the gas price when I filled up the car before leaving Kelowna. Tonight I filled the car again, this time in Calgary, and it was 1499 - a  little less but not a lot less.