Life's a Roller Coaster

We came back, prematurely, from our bicycle trip. My beloved friend, Bettyanne Albinson, who has been struggling with cancer for nearly ten years, finally succumbed last Saturday. Bill and I were breaking fast on Friday, July 30 in Keremeos at the tail end of our cycle wine tour when we received a call from her daughter, Sharlene, that she was not expected to live beyond the day. So, we cycled into Penticton, bought a bus ticket home, sent our bikes on to Nelson with the tour guide of Wright Wheels Bike Adventure Tours http://www.biketoursbc.ca/(my brother in law), and as the bus didn’t leave until 5pm, we hit a couple more wineries to kill time.

After hopping the bus, we arrived back in Kamloops at about 11 pm and went directly to the Hospice House. There, we were able to say goodbye to her. She was responsive and knew us. She died the next afternoon.

The funeral took place yesterday at the Kamloops Funeral Home. The place was packed and I was the eulogist. The family did a lovely slide show of her life and hosted a reception both at the funeral home and at their home. It was a beautiful day for Bettyanne.

So, again, there seems to be reasons for the delay to Sri Lanka. The loss of a dear friend is tough enough without being thousands of miles away, deprived of the closure a memorial service can provide and our need to be supportive of the family.

If I may shift gears, I will update you on the Visa process. On August 5, we received a letter from the CUSO office in Sri Lanka. They reported to us that they have placed the Jaffna Visa application on hold and are instead making application for us to the Central Provinces of Sri Lanka. Today, we learned that the “Government is imposing a lot of rules and restrictions on these visas. Getting visas for other places is also very difficult now. VSO is trying all our ways. We will keep you informed.” So, needless to say, we are extremely discouraged.

Grumble, grumble. We have two homes, but no home. We have been “evicted” from our present suite at my sister’s home as we had always agreed that when my brother-in-law’s sister sold her home and if their new home wasn’t yet ready, we would need to vacate. Well, guess what? They sold their home and possession date is September 1 and their new place is not yet completed. Our car is falling apart and we don’t want to fix it as we keep thinking we are going to be off shortly. Our tenant is not keeping up the yard work at our home on Sunshine Court and the neighbours are not happy.

In order to solve our homelessness problem for September, we are going to the lake as a home base and we will commute back and forth from there between some planned trips. Our Shelley is getting married September 4th, at Sun Peaks, then we are heading back down to Nelson to pick up our bikes and continue our cycle ride back to Kamloops (should be about 9 days, including a little visit with my sister, Teresa and daughter, Tanya in Nelson). Then, we are off to Calgary to see my son Brett’s new home. In addition, I have some volunteer work for the church that will take us to Cache Creek retreat house for four days and then, with any good luck, we will be off to Korea and Sri Lanka. So you see, we are resourceful.

The bike ride and wine tour we did complete was fantastic. We tasted yummy Chardonnays and Pinot Gris, Merlots and Ports in the beautiful and multiple vineyards of the Okanagan. We consumed most of the purchases in the evening after our riding and therefore, had to hit more wineries the next day for the next evening’s consumption. A Presbyterian minister and his teacher wife, Rob and Kelly Murray, from Manitoba were on this cycling vineyard tour. We had a lot of fun with them. I will post some pictures.

If you ever get the chance to tour Mission Hill, it is worth it to see how wine is actually made. We enjoyed Forbidden Fruits and Ruby Tuesday Vineyard. I loved Blasted Church’s Merlot. In my fantasy world, which my husband maintains will need to stay in my fantasy world, I create a vineyard in Kamloops. He continues squashing my dreams with constant reminders of the cost of creating a vineyard and pointing to our bank statements. In addition, his negativity extends to derogatory remarks about Kamloops soil and heat conditions that, he maintains, are not conducive to growing grapes. That man clearly has no vision. I shall call it: Florian Fields, or perhaps, Chinese Oven Winery. Sigh.

For any of you that may be slightly envious of our bike tour and fancy one for yourselves one day, I have, given my recent experience, advice to offer. The Minimalist Method of training is not the best. Minimalist training guarantees leaving you with sore butts, sore quads, sore and numb hands and perhaps, as in my case, it can result in tipping off your bike (Artie Johnson style from Laugh In).

Another thing, pick a decent bike seat and do not, I repeat, do not attach a gel seat over your bike seat. It results in crushed lips. Gals, you will know what I mean. As I cycled, with my painfully crushed lips, I cleverly invented a new bike seat, naming it the Accommodator. It accommodates balls and lips. I think it will be a hot ticket item. Production on the new bike seat is delayed as the inventor lacks any skill as to how to actually construct a bike seat that accommodates the aforementioned pieces of anatomy.

So, that is where we are at. Not blogging about elephants running wild or wearing Saris or doing wonderful work for the mentally ill, but sitting in limbo. I am angry at the Sri Lankan government. They do not have the best interest of their people in mind. Their people need support and therapy. They do not care; I believe they have much to hide. Bill and I have made a decision. If we do not get out this time, we will be finding a volunteer placement for ourselves in India, Africa or South America. It is time to draw the line.

Five Pictures Below

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