Visit with Bob and Wendy Riley / Vancouver,BC

We left Tom and Becky's 7/26 after an absolutely wonderful visit. The four of us enjoy one another a lot, it's unfortunate we live so far apart. We could not have asked for better hosts and as you can tell from the blog we had a beautiful setting. The last few days were spent getting ready for the road again. Packing things up and going over the RV.

First day on the road we traveled to Thunderbird campground in Monroe, WA. It was a very nice campground and we met up with friends of ours, Will and Ella, at the campground. We drove that evening with them to meet up with our mutual friends ,Vern and Arlo. We all had a lovely pizza dinner together. It was so good to have the opportunity to catch up with one another. The last time we had seen them was when we were in Palm Springs in the spring.

Above is a picture of Will and Ella and Vern and Arlo and family.

This is a picture taken from the front of the camper at Thunderbird. I forgot to mention earlier that before we Left Tom and Becky's we took a trip over to Fort Clatsop part of the Lewis and Clark park. It was a very interesting afternoon.


We left Thunderbird and traveled to Tynehead campground in Surrey, BC. Our cousins Bob and Wendy Riley live just 15 minutes away. We had a fairly long drive so we spent the first day here getting set up and resting. Bright and early Tuesday morning Bob met us at the campground and took us out touring for the day. There is no way we could have seen what we did in one day by ourselves.


First Bob took us to Grandville Island. We sat by the water and had coffee there and then we took a ferry ride.

One of the many views from the ferry ride.

How's that for a waterfront house!!!!!

I'm sure you can all tell by now I have a real fetish for bridges.

After the ferry boat ride we walked around the shoppes a bit and I've never seen such beautiful produce in my life. What a nice farmers market. Above are Lee and Bob placating the blogger.

Above is another view from the ferry ride.

Everywhere you looked there was another beautiful picture. It was hard to pick out my favorites.

Bob's next stop for us was Kits beach in Vancouver City park. It was in the 90's the day we were here which is very unusual for them. As you can see they were trying to cool off.

Must to something to sit on a beach with this panoramic view!!

After Kits beach we took off to Stanley Park. It is huge. It is to Vancouver what Central Park is to New York City.

At Prospect Point in Standley Park we stopped and had a lovely lunch.
Bob then took us back to the campground where we picked up Nicky and then headed over to Bob and Wendy's house for dinner. This is the first I've met Wendy and I could not believe how many things we have in common. Their dog Tibet and Nicky got along just fine and also had a nice visit. Sure wish we did't live so far away. We had a very nice dinner on the deck with great food and wonderful conversation. Bob and Wendy have no air conditioning and with the temperatures in the 100's breaking all kinds of records I think they are considering getting central air.

Bob and Wendy Riley

Here we go another bridge!!!! You've got to admit it is beautiful. It took Bob about 10-15 min. to get to our campground and before the bridge he said it would have taken about 40min. so Bob really loves this bridge it has changed their lives.

Bob and Wendy's back yard is just lovely. It looks like an English garden and why shouldn't it since Wendy is English and did not move to Canada till she was 10 years old.

what a nice spot for good conversation.

The following day Bob picked us up once again at the campground about 9 AM. He told us he was taking us to Whistler the #1 ski resort in the world. The shot above was taken on the way there.

The drive there was beautiful.

From this overlook you can really get an overview of Vancouver but unfortunately the hot weather just held the smog over the city.
Bob said that Vancouver is one of the three most expensive cities in the world to live in .

Taken from the car on the way there.

Isn't this just gorgeous??

We are now in Whistler Village. We walked around the village looked in a few shoppes and had a very nice lunch. There are two mountains here--Black Comb and Whistler and the two mountains are now connected by gondolas. The skiing trails are used by mountain bikers in the summer so the place was very active with a lot going on no matter where you looked.

Of course, all of the lodging facilities are totally booked already for the 2010 Olympics. There is activity everywhere in preparation for the Olympics. They are working fast and furious on the road that goes to Whistler. Bob was telling us they have I believe 3 cruise ships that will come in just to house security personnel.

I didn't realize till we got home and listened to the news just how hot it had gotten. Would you believe 103 degrees. My brother-in-law Tom is having a good laugh now because when we were is Long Beach I was always complaining about being cold. Well, Tom, I'm not cold now!!!

Bondy cousins July 2009

This is the place we stopped for a bite to eat on the way home from visiting with Lee's cousins. This was the second time we've been here with Tom and Becky and it is absolutely the best fish and chips I've ever had in the states. Jim and Jane this place is a must for you when you visit Long Beach, WA. Becky, Tom Linda, Lee and Cheryl


Tom, Linda, Lee, and Cheryl

Below is a picture of Linda's son-in-law and his daughter Ashley.

Linda and Cheryl and their families were all camping at Cape Disappointment State Park for the week and as you can see the kids were all having a great time.l

This is Cheryl's son, Shag's, dog. A real sweetheart named Zawwa.

This is Cheryl's son Shag a very gifted artist.

Lee's cousin Cheryl

This is Curt making Margarita's at Tom and Becky's house. He's not into camping so he was staying with Tom and Becky. Curt is Linda's husband.

Linda's daughter, Pam, and her husband Roe.

Becky and Linda

Tom and Linda

Sophie's Celebration of life picnic July 2009

This is Lee's Aunt Sophie. She died July 3,2009.

She wrote some of the most beautiful poetry I've ever read. This was not actually a funeral but a celebration of her life. It was held at the foster home where Sophie resided. Lee met up with cousins he has not seen in a long time and we all had a lovely picnic together and were able to spend time catching up with one another.
Above is Peter and his wife Anna

Lee and his cousins

Week-end with the Andersen children

We are enjoying a lovely weekend with Tom and Becky's children. Isn't that front porch just the ideal place for visiting?

You can see where we are parked right here next to the garage. It's a perfect spot.

As it turns out it was sand castle building weekend at the beach so we went down with all the kids and checked things out.

I believe this was the one that won the contest.

Tom and Becky playing with the grand kids

Tom and Becky and the grandchildren
We're missing Holly




This is Izabella, she is Jake and Christine's daughter. What a cute girl and energy like the ever ready battery.

Here we have Jacob who became Nicky's good buddy. Nicky just liked to hang with Jacob and Jacob was doing a great job of playing ball with him. Jacob is Jake and Christine's son.

Here's Jake and Christine--two really great young adults. As you can see, Christine has Jake well trained. These two are the parents of Jacob, Izabella and Holly. Holly was gone this week end so we did not get to see her this trip. Christine is Tom and Becky's daughter.

This is Avery. Such energy defies definition. She is on the go constantly and I believe her parents must sigh a sigh of relief when she finally goes to sleep. Just too cute for words.

This is Ella. What a princess!! She was very afraid of Nicky when she first arrived and by the time we left she had conquered her fear and became Nicky's buddy. Good for you Ella!!

Above are Mike and Megan the parents of Ella and Avery. Mike is Tom and Becky's son.

Izabella and Avery are just the best of friends and it was just so much fun watching them play together.