We took up residence on the lot we had purchased in Leoville and met our neighbours. Two were from outside the area and had no relatives in town - most unusual- as it seems that everyone is related to someone here!! We started calling this little "click" of ours "the out of towners". Not very original but fitting!! Both were from the Saskatoon area and decided to move here to Leoville for the hunting, fishing and forest trails.
I worked off and on for the summer and it was a great experience. I met a lot of the town folk and enjoyed getting to know them. The residents at the home are all unique and it is quite a change for me - caring for the same people all the time. All in all, it was a good experience and I look forward to helping out again in the spring.
John's leg has come along nicely all summer. It still has a bit of swelling at the ankle and it aches a lot but all in all, it has healed well. John still limps, but I am sure that will lessen as more time passes.
John managed to buy a few more vehicles this summer - Yea - the last being a Jeep which we have fixed up and is now in the trailer headed for the warmer weather of the Arizona desert.
Having left Saskatoon on Wednesday, we headed to Outlook to pick up the jeep where it had got a new "used" motor and what ever else it needed to make it a reliable vehicle - not sure if it is there yet!!
We picked up the jeep on Thursday, then spent the night at a roadside campground along Hwy 4. There is still snow on the ground but it is getting warmer!! Hogan, I am sure, can't wait to get to the warmer weather!!
We spent Friday night a few miles from the US border as there were two football games on TV so we had to stop early to watch them.
This brings us to today, Saturday, October 30/2010 ........... let the adventure begin ...........
We crossed at the Port of Monchy and the same border guard (from last year) was there to greet us. He had remembered us from last year and we were soon on our way. We had planned on stopping in Hilger to see some of the folks we had met last year, but first we had to stop for fuel in Malta and, if by chance there was a car wash handy, the bus was in dire need of a wash. This being done, we headed south. We had travelled about 10 miles when the bus lost all power and we were stopped on a highway that was definitely not made for any kind of roadside breakdown. There were no shoulders to pull over on to and the road was windy with many a double solid line - not good for vehicles who wanted to pull out and pass this stalled bus!! Did I say something about "let the adventure begin"? This is not what I had in mind!!
It is a good thing that John is a rather handy kind of guy because he had the bus running again in no time - we have wiring issues and once we get to Hilger he can get in there and fix what needs to be fixed. The bus stopped three times between Malta and Hilger and only once did it stop where there was an actual pull out where semi trucks were to chain up for the icy roads. At least we didn't have to deal with lousy roads too!!
We eventually made it to Hilger (hours after we should have been there) and were surprised to see that the pioneer bar was closed and a for sale sign on the building. Down the street was the Rainbow Bar so off we went. Nice bar and it too had some history to it. The bartender Stacy told us the story of the painting on the ceiling as I had commented on it. Apparently the owners wife, who was an artist, had started painting the design that was on the ceiling and had been killed in a horse accident. She had not finished the whole ceiling but had managed to get a good piece of it done so for all intents and purposes ( as a legacy to the artist) the ceiling was considered complete. It was very fitting I thought.
We managed to get a hold of George, and he came in and had a couple of beverages with us. It was good to see him and his dog Jack and we caught up on the Jeff and Mary news, the demise of the Pioneer and what was new and exciting in his life. He looked good and it was great to see him again. He had been following the blog and was rather concerned when I had stopped writing on it during the summer. He had wondered if something had happened and for that I had to apologize as I had not even thought about that when I stopped witing it. Anyway, it was great to see him again.
