Visit to Moose Jaw

To celebrate my arrival in Saskatchewan, Terry took me on a mini-vacation to the Temple Garden Mineral Springs Spa Resort in Moose Jaw. It was fantastic!!!! I'm sure our suite was larger than some of the houses we had looked at in Regina!

The hotel has a huge indoor pool of mineral spring water piped from elsewhere in Moose Jaw. For a non-swimmer, that was my kind of pool - people lounge rather than swim. The water level at one end of the pool was about knee height and very gradually deepened to neck height and there were various jets around the perimeter of the pool as well as mini walls and pillars at various spots throughout the pool. These structures had built in seating, as did the perimeter of the pool. At the deep end, the water was much warmer as there was a narrow passage way connecting the indoor pool to the outdoor pool. It was nice and sunny and the temperature was actually starting to get warm. A few people were actually stretched out sun bathing!

Our suite had a jacuzzi for 2 which filled with mineral water. The 2-night package also included breakfast each morning and full body massages for both of us. Boy did that feel good! My muscles were so tight that the hour was used up with just my feet, legs and back - no time for the neck or arms as Terry was able to get done.

Didn't see alot of Moose Jaw. The hotel is in the downtown area, but it seems that Moose Jaw is a town that still rolls up its street on Sundays. Many of the stores and restaurants were closed when we ventured out on Sunday looking for somewhere to eat lunch. The hotel was serving Sunday brunch and the casino across the street didn't have a restaurant - only pre-packaged sandwiches in the lounge. A couple of restaurants on the main street were also closed on Sunday. We ate at the first place we found open: a chinese buffet...the food wasn't that great, but the price wasn't bad - so I guess you get what you pay for.

With the difficulty we had trying to find a place for lunch, we decided to have Sunday dinner at the hotel's restaurant Harwood's. It was a fantastic meal - we shared appetizers (escargot and stuffed mushrooms) and both had a steak. For dinner Monday night we went to an Italian restaurant, Cordova Bistro, we had seen on the main street but was closed Sunday's. Our meals (Shrimp Alfredo and Peppercorn chicken) were great there too.

Earlier in the day on Monday when we were exploring the shops along Main St, we stopped at Deja Vu Cafe on a side street for a break. They offered dozens of flavours of milkshakes, but I had my traditional chocolate. Terry was more adventurous and ordered a raspberry one, but changed it to black raspberry when the waitress informed him she was out of raspberry. The shakes were great - thick but still able to suck it through a straw.

We went to the casino Sunday and Monday - no great wins but then we didn't gamble a lot either. On Sunday we turned $40 into just over $47 and Monday we turned $25 into 10 cents. The casino was extremelly small - one room and an alcove in addition to the lounge. A lot of different machines from what we have seen before but nothing that got too excited. The casino wasn't very busy and only aware of one person getting excited about a win.

On the 45 minute drive between Regina and Moose Jaw, we found that there were actually some hills! The highway was the usual flat but off at the sides were the occasional small hill! The landscape also looked strange - the usual open flatness broken by a small formation of trees - almost always surrounding a house. When returning to Regina on Tuesday, we were still miles away from Regina, but could see the 'skyscrapers' of the downtown area.

I certainly felt spoiled and pampered after 2 days at a spa. Back now back to reality and getting the house in order.

After we returned to Regina, we went shopping to get groceries and some stuff for the house. When we returned, there was notices in our mail box that my parcels had arrived and were now waiting at a nearby postal office for me to pick up. Great! Just what I need: more boxes!

Settling in

Spent Friday reorganizing some things and emptying some boxes while the satellite was installed. Now have tv again! Will take some getting use to with the 2 hours time difference between the show times I'm familiar with and when things air here. Just seems strange to watch 6 o'clock evening news at 4 in the afternoon. Dinner for Friday date night was Sushi and Terry's favourite restaurant in Regina.

Terry & I finally got to see the latest James Bond movie together. It had been released in the theatres last November just after I had visited Terry in Regina and it left the Kingston theatre just as Terry had arrived in Kingston for Christmas. Bought a copy of the dvd when it was released a few weeks ago and waited until I got to Regina so I could watch it with Terry.

Need to get some baskets, etc to organize things in closets and bathroom vanities. Until then things are in various piled or stashed willy nilly out of sight. Was spoiled with numerous drawers in the vanity in Kingston.

Terry spent much of Saturday emptying boxes in the garage and rearranging things. I worked in the house trying to sort out or rearrange some of the things that Terry had emptied from boxes. Cooked my first meal (well, actually it was a re-heat of the left over Chicken Normandy and fried potatoes Terry had cooked Thursday night).

On Saturday evening Terry dug out the mattress & box spring for the guest room and dragged it upstairs. We then switched Liz's chest with the chest that goes with the guestroom bed, as well as moving the matching dresser upstairs. Due to space limitations, the movers were told to put most of the furniture in the basement. A lot of the boxes ended up there as well rather than the specified bedroom. Oh well, it will give me something to do...but I first have to redistribute the stuff that did end up in the bedrooms.

I HAVE NOW OFFICIALLY MOVED WEST!

Arrived in Regina this morning. Left bright sunshine in Toronto (I left Kingston before sunrise) to land in the pouring rain in Regina. But at least the plane was able to get through the thick fog and land - unlike Terry's last flight to Regina when he was redirected to Calgary.

Will have LOTS to do getting the house into order. Terry may have emptied a fair number of the moving boxes, but left things on the tables and floors for me to decide where things should be housed.

My car was picked up yesterday morning to be transported to Regina. I was able to stash many of the household items which hadn't got included in the moving van for one reason or another. Remains to be seen whether the car or myself will arrive in Regina first.

Terry positioned the hot tub at the head of the driveway (only flat surface not still snow covered large enough to hold the hot tub) and filled it with water on Saturday. He wasn't able to connect the hose to a hot water laundry tap as he did in Kingston, so he had to use cold water from the lawn service exterior tap. Water temperature: 43F. But by Sunday evening it had got to a warming 70 something and by Monday evening 100F. Not bad: 2 days to go from frigid to probably useable. By this evening it should be at the temperature (104 or 105F) for this time as year because as soon as you take the lid off, the outside temperature quickly cools the water down to 100F or lower. When the snow finally disappears (July???) and we can see what flat level surfaces are available in the back yard (or whether we need to create something), Terry will empty, reposition and refill the hot tub to a more private area closer to the back door.