After several weeks of being incommunicado with everyone except by email, we have finally got phone service again! Yay! We are using a broadband service, which works extremely well with cable but not so well with satellite so we now have both: cable broadband and our satellite. For our friends and family who wish to call us, we can be reached at 760/709-9139. Using our cell phones has become increasingly more expensive since we first started our trek and now this will make talking to folks back in Canada affordable. I spent a good two hours calling my children Karley, Jay and Jamie, my sister Christine, Helen and Rosanne and I can't believe how good it felt just to hear their voices for the first time in over two weeks. I cannot imagine how people used to communicate before the telephone, only with letter writing years ago, and I am grateful for something we all take for granted.

We are enjoying the great weather we are having, sunshine and blue sky with temperatures hovering around 30C and we are keeping busy. Rick was recruited this morning to help with tree cutting and cleaning up some sites. We have learned that this place stays afloat because of all the volunteers and they do so many things. They organize all the activities and recreation; run the office, work in the store/snack bar and do the landscaping and overall maintenance, among other things. In return for their service, they are rewarded with free camping making doing the work certainly worthwhile. Though we aren't working as full-fledged volunteers, it may become a role we will take on next year if we enjoy our winter here this year. Having owned a resort in Ontario (albeit a residential fishing one) at one time, we are well aware of the cost of running a tourism operation and see how a volunteer program can drastically reduce a payroll. It is a great way to keep the place in great condition while keeping operating expenses to a minimum and the sense of pride is evident.

While Rick burned calories helping out, I enjoyed a lengthy swim in the pool followed by some time in the hot tub. We are both back into Nordic-tracking and that coupled with swimming, biking or walking should get us both on the right track to good physical health. Between the great weather, fabulous pools, nice people, beautiful scenery AND a telephone with unlimited long distance, life can't get much better!