3 generation movie date

What a nice surprise! Jon called Mom to suggest we go to a movie. Cathy had a Mary Kaye appt. in Springville, where Bigfoot is currently located. Coming down from SLC with Jon were his sons Kevin and Michael. We had not had the chance to see any of this family since we came down from ID. Yes we should have taken some fam pics. Sorry
Could we find out if Avengers was playing nearby? Neither boy had seen the movie. That Marvel flick had been on our to-see list for a while. Luckily, Avengers was playing in Provo--only one showing, an early afternoon  matinee, which would fit in everybody's plans. It was a fun experience for Mom. She loves going to movies with family. It was a treat for her to sit between a son and a grandson. Below are a couple of thoughts about this film.

First of all Avengers is a comic book extravaganza. The filmmakers, obviously a bunch of comic geeks, gathered several heroes from Marvel comics and films: Thor, Captain America, The Hulk, The Iron Man, Hawkeye and Black Widow. And they wove together an appropriately epic story of how these special characters might come together as a super team (named The Avengers). How about to save the world and the total of humanity? Sounds about right.
The down side for the PG-13 rating included some very evil villains, a lot of apparent violence and some terrible destruction of this and that and New York City.
The upside for us was well written witty dialog for the heroes as they interacted with each other. And we were impressed by the quality and quantity of special effects, to the point that the film could almost be categorized as an animation.

Becca, Mom and I enjoyed the film as did the boys. The Hulk scenes were among our favorite, We all would have liked more scenes with Pepper Potts, The Iron Man's close friend. Look for a sequel or two or three.

Carson's First Goal

                                                                      He Dribbles!!!

He Shoots!!!

HE SCORES!!!

Actually this photo was taken after the game, which explains the snacks he's holding

Proud parents pose with Carson who scored the first goal of his career (last year and this year). His team, "The Hawks" consist of boys and girls 4 and 5 yrs. old, who play with enthusiasm and intensity. Their style sometimes resembles a Rugby scrum with all of these little players, except the two lone goalies, surrounding the ball moving it willy nilly up and down the field. Goals often come as a surprise to everyone and a delight to all of the parents and grandparents on the sidelines. Super fun to watch

When Carson kicked his goal, he turned to look at his sideline fans, including Gramma, and pumped both fists in the air. Very proud. Very special.

Lily's track meet

Somewhere in Canada, my trusty computer became jammed up--I think that's the correct label. Anyway that but the brakes on our blog efforts. So sad. Our family is blessed with several computer savvy members (but none in Quebec). Both Ganon and Jon have spent patient time with us. While we are up in Rigby we have Eric Reynolds. Amanda, his business manager said, "Eric can fix that." Eric is a professional IT guy (or is it TI guy)? Anyway he graciously spent some tech support time with my sad old computer. We really appreciate his time and talent.  If you are reading this post, we are back in business!

On Saturday 7/7 Lily was invited to participate in The Hershey's Idaho State Meet. I had a good location to record Lily's event, the 50 yard dash for girls ages 7 & 8. Lily is in the third lane from the left. She is in a blue shirt.

This was a big event with boys and girls from all over Idaho competing in a variety of track events. Someone said some 600 youth were there. We understand that the winners can go on to the culminating event in Hershey, Pennsylvania. 

Lily is a strong runner as were most of the girls in her heat. But we won't be going to PA this year.

No matter. The big thing was to be able to cheer for this sweet athletic granddaughter. You go girl!

Oh Canada!

Today was our day to go to Canada, a "cornin funtree". Well, Canada isn't too cornin. But Quebec boasts its French language. Gramma, our most excellent navigator, positioned us about 100 miles from the border. She wanted us to have a short drive to leave time at the border crossing, where the Mounties might want to have us unload Bigfoot, while they confiscated all of our milk products. Gramma has been very unsettled about these possibilities. The drive from Farmington, Maine on Hwy 4 north, connecting with Hwy 27 north was stunning. Below is a typical view we had along the route. We passed the famous ski resort of Sugarloaf

As we reached the border, this ominous sign greeted us

The customs building was modest at this Woburn crossing into Quebec, and there were no lines. Trucks and RVs were directed to the left of the facility

Even with our limited French, we knew what this sign meant.

The actual process was very pleasant. Our  Canada Border Services Officer (not Mountie) asked a few questions and took our passports, took them into the office and did whatever they do in there and stamped them "Woburn". As friendly as he was, these guys were prepared. They were wearing bullet proof vests. He didn't have us unload our belongings, didn't ask to come into the rig (Becca was ready, all dressed, sitting with her seat belt on), nor did he ask one question about food. Take that back. He did say "other than food and personal belongings, are you carrying anything else". That was it. Nothing about milk or Gramma's cheese. He asked about alcohol and tobacco. I said, "No, we're Mormons. Please don't hold that against us" He smiled. He asked about weapons a couple of ways, listing pepper spray and stun guns. I decided to come clean. "I carry a pocket knife" "Switch blade?"he asked. I got out my little pocket knife to show him. He laughed. 

After he returned our passports and wished us a nice trip in Canada, I got back in the cab and started the motor. Gramma said softly and sadly, "I ate all my cheese".  I laughed and laughed. When we got about 50 miles from the border we stopped for lunch. Gramma gathered all of the cheese she hadn't eaten yet, and ate it as we drove. She was determined that the Canadian thugs were not going to get her cheese. I hope she won't get sick.

Canada welcomes us with this sign

At this crossing is Lac-Megantic. This is where our friends from Mesa live. As we drove the 30 miles to the lake we were very impressed by the well kept homes and property.

Gramma found an RV park for us. To find it we drove on Hwy 161 to Hwy 263. We immediately felt the burden of not being able to read the street signs in French.  A literacy lesson. Gramma got us to "Baie des Sables, Lac-Megantic". It's a nice place. I paid for it in Canadian dollars. Well my card paid for it. It will be an adventure to handle the different money, litres, km, etc

P.S. With prompting from Heavenly Father, we found and fixed the problem with the steps. It was a broken battery connection. Apparently the constant jarring of the rig on the road frayed the connector causing an intermittent hiccup. Amazingly, I had an exact replacement in my tool box. It is a strange little cable I have been hauling around for several years. Coincidence? We don't think so.

On the road again

Last evening (5/31) we  bid aloha to Meg and her girls. We had a nice visit.

This morning we pulled the chocks, left Derry on I 93 N to 101 E to I 95 N. On the turnpike we crossed the bridge over the river that serves as the State Line into Maine

New Hampshire's motto is "Live Free or Die". Maine's motto is "The Way Life Should Be"

The day was beautiful, mild and sunny. Maine's forests are thick and deep. We stayed on I 95 until we got to Auburn, where we took Hwy 4 N, which became 4 and 2. In Farmington, Gramma found us an RV park named "Troll Valley". We hope there is no hidden meaning.

Here is Bigfoot for the night. We are relieved to be here. We had a few problems. The steps are acting up again. (You can see the emergency step ladder.) Sigh. Somewhere along a rough stretch, Gramma's printer and many of her things were tossed on the bed. Last but not least, the bathroom faucet turned on and our "gray water" holding tank backed up and we got some water on the floor. Like a "regular" home, problems happen.

Tomorrow, we plan to continue north into Canada, eh? In our preparation we read Canada doesn't allow visitors to enter with any dairy products. Gramma is not happy. The Mounties may have to wrestle her to take away her big chunk of cheddar cheese. Stay tuned.