Photo: While everyone attending the Seaside Magazine celebration was a winner, Sue Hodgson, assisted by Editor-in-Chief Allison Smith and Seaside Photographer Jo-Ann Way, drew business cards for several special gifts handed out during the evening. (Link in footer for additional photos of the celebration).

A Seaside Celebration

A wonderful time was had by all last night at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney as publisher Sue Hodgson and team members of the Seaside Magazine (formerly the Times) welcomed family, friends and business associates to share in an evening of celebration of their new magazine format.

In the words of Sue Hodgson:

“Think of our publication as an extra dimension of our community space, a place where the West Coast culture is treasured and celebrated. We’re here to give you a glimpse of our people, places and ideas and unleash the vibrant energy that our local paradise has to offer.

To ensure we attain the highest level of excellence in serving our community, we want to stay on top of what’s happening. Please let us know when local events are sprouting up or when any other little seeds of local interest might be germinating. It is truly a pleasure and an honour to publish Seaside, and we would like to thank everyone who has welcomed us into their lives with open arms.  (Quote from the Seaside Web Page)

For those yet to savour the pristine photographic and print qualities of this local publication, take a few minutes to link to the Homepage of Seaside Magazine where you will be treated to a taste of the West Coast Lifestyle. For scenes that will entice you to delve a little deeper – Link Here  

With a sip of complementary local wine and an array of succulent morsels catered by the Spitfire Grill, we were treated to musical arrangements by the Archers – Ethan Caleb, Sandy Hughes, Liam McLaren, Liam Moes and Robert McMullen. 

I only managed to catch three of the five in this photo, but it seems certain these talented young men from Brentwood Bay area are well on their way to producing their first record.  Take a a few moments to link to their Crowd Funding Campaign and lend your support as they challenge for their place alongside the Rolling Stones Cover Band, Sheep Dog, and new young voices such as Kristin Hays, Jared Newton and Craig Strickland.
 
On an environmental note, one of the guest speakers, Dave Allan of Rhino Print Solutions, took a few minutes to acquaint the audience with the rapidly changing world of Print Media which has become, perhaps contrary to a widely held public belief, amongst the most eco friendly of industries. If you have an opportunity to listen to Dave speak about the changing status of Print Media, take a few minutes to do so.  Perhaps we can encourage Dave to prepare a U-Tube presentation!
 
Exhibits were provided by several community business owners and representatives, including our very own Lynn McNeill (Expedia CruiseShipCenters, Sidney),  Alysha Yakimishyn (YakimishynArt), and Lucas J. Copplestone (LJCArt). Another family member, Sean McNeill, was on a business trip to Toronto or he would have been present to display his new line of Burg travel watch/phones, a perfect gift for the frequent traveller. For further details link to Burg Canada.
 
A networking event for professionals, by professionals.  Thank you for a great evening.

Harold McNeill
Victoria, BC

Link Here to the Seaside Magazine celebration photos: Facebook Photos

Other Adventures in Sidney and the Saanich Peninsula

Island View Beach: Camping Close to Home

2012 Canada Day Parade Link

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Above: Part of the Crew from New Years: (Guys Left to right) Drew Betts, Pete Patterson, Sean McNeill, Jeremy Nichele,
Joel Sherlock, Daniel Dent, Andrew Dunn
(Girls Left to Right) Jennifer Ann, Fiona Nightingale Harvey, Alysha Yakimishyn, Keira McCreath, Gemma Kyliuk
(More Photos below and in the attached album)

Photo Below: Santa dropped by on Christmas Eve

Well, we caught Santa making his rounds last night on his recently refurbished Harley Davidson (click photo to open). On closer inspection, this guy looked suspiciously like our neighbour Ted, but we could not be sure. In any case, it was very nice of him to stop and spend a few minutes and chat. Seems he was curious as to why we had so many reindeer and elves running around our property among all the Christmas lights.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all
from the McNeill Family

(Link here to 2011 Christmas Story)

Photo Courtesy of Nichele Studios (L to R) Chris, Audrey and Christine LeClair, Lynn McNeill, Kari Walker, Grayson Walker and Harold McNeill, Sean McNeill and Jay McNeill.  Now we challenge you to figure out what is different in this picture from the original?

New Years Comments (From Facebook Post)

It was a great evening of family, friends, fun, food, music and entertainment at the Brentwood Inn as we bid farewell to that wonderful year of 2012 and welcomed with open arms a 2013 that promises to bring just as many new challenges and opportunities as did 2012. You can rest assured we worked very hard to make the transition as lively as possible.

The Staff at the Inn did an amazing job of keeping the crowd well supplied with food and drink while LJC on his non-stop turn-table brought the best of the best in music that kept the dance floor filled. His late evening rap song was a huge hit and demonstrated again just how versatile that young man is.

As added bonuses, Drew thrilled the crowd with his jazzed up Sax and Joel put on a break-dance display that was beyond impossible. Two hours later his friends were still trying to untangle the mass of legs and arms.

It was a great mix of young, the not so young and dozens of inbetweeners who shared in the evening of merriment.

Thanks to Sean and the crew for inviting us.

Happy New Year to All
The McNeill Family

Broadmead Runners Club

 The Broadmead Runners popped by to have their picture taken with Santa and his reindeer.

 Lynn McNeill, Dianne Mcneill, Michel Payeur, Linda and Bjorn Simonsen get up close and personal with Mr. Claus.

Part of our Happy Crew

A friend we have not met since the World Cup 2007, Sinisha Ivaz (far right), family and friends.

More pictures in the attached album

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Cover Photo (from Web). No this is not Mount Albert Edward, this is the Golden Hind, viewed from Morrison Spire (photo by  Dave Ingram). The Golden Hind, at 2200 meters (7217 feet), is the highest peak on Vancouver Island. This photo is placed here as it will serve as a challenge to Dianne and Michel who will surely stand on that peak in the not to distant future. Perhaps, just perhaps, I shall stand with them. The mountain we set about to challenge on this trip is the somewhat lessor (although not by much) Mount Albert Edward. a respectable 2100 meters (6900 feet). The twists and turns of the trip are documented in this short story of our three days in Strathcona Park.

Link Here for the Mount Colonel Foster Adventure

I am most fortunate to live within an extended family whose quest for adventure has motivated me in every decade of my life. In the recent decade, since joining Facebook, never a week goes by that the details of new adventure by some family member or friend is posted. It is the posts about real life experiences and adventures that serve as constant motivation too challenge life at every turn, not the memes and platitudes that seem to come with such frequency.

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Photo (2012): Five year old Grayson and his Grandpa get set to go hiking in the hills behind his mom’s home in Kamloops, BC. It was during the trek the two hatched their summer plans.  Join us for the Journey Begins.

Dear Reader,

The following chronicles were written during the magical summer of 2012 when five-year old Grayson Edward Walker, along with his Grandpa, Harold David McNeill, his Uncle, Jay Wesley McNeill and a family friend, Bjorn Oscar Simonsen, completed an exploratory expedition through British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. While the trip through British Columbia was relatively peaceful, once they hit the Alberta border, they entered a new and perilous world.

Fighting massive lightening and thunder storms, flooded highways, tens of thousands of monster trucks and flocks of giant, blood sucking mosquitoes hatched in the primordial settling ponds of Fort MacMurray, the intrepid explorers bravely marched across Alberta and into the largely unknown wilderness that is now known as  Saskatchewan, an immense flatland whose name originated from a river the Cree originally called “Kisiskatchewani Sipi“.  In that harsh land the group encountered buffalo as big as barns, tractors that were even bigger and giant, round bales of hay that once set rolling in a land that has become known as Tornado Alley North, farms, cities and towns were placed in immanent danger of being wiped off the map.

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Photo from Painting
View of the Charles Bridge looking toward the main city centre. Paintings, sketches and drawings, such as the one above, depict various scenes around the city. Many are the work of talented young people trying to make their way in life. For a small donation, the artist allows pictures to be taken.

What ever direction you might travel in Eastern Europe, a few days in Prague is a must.  For Esther, Garth, Lynn and I, a four day extension of our Danube trip was barely enough, however we did manage to savour every last second. We would have gladly stayed for another week just to touch upon the many things that still awaited our eager senses but, alas, time (and booked flights) conspired against our wishes. For other travelers we highly recommend a minimum of one week, perhaps ten days if you can squeeze out the time. A three month stay in Prague and the surrounding country would be heaven.

As with many cities and countries in Eastern Europe emerging from thirty five years of war (World War I and II), then forty-one years of communism, peace comes with a cost, but that cost seems worth every penny in hard cash, blood, sweat and tears. Around the world we see these costs being paid everyday for a small taste of that elusive dream we call freedom. (Reference Footnote on Quebec Student Protests).

Photo (Web): This is typical of the foothill farm country through which we passed. Many of the farms along the highway had seen better times.

Our four hour bus trip from Passau, Germany then across the southern Republic, left no doubt this was a country once held by iron fists, first those of the Nazi’s during two World Wars, then during the decades of an equally brutal Soviet communist dictatorship. As we crossed the now open border from Germany, warnings were still in place advising tourists of the danger of land mines in a strip of ‘no man’s land’ between the two countries and at our one stop for refreshments at a small, remote service station, the feeling of being in another time and another place was clearly evident.

While the countryside was beautiful, much as it is in the foothills of Alberta, the mix of worn down buildings, old railway stations and broken shelters, serve as a reminder of those decades of death and brutal repression. A few stark examples of how ordinary people suffered; following the Nazi occupation, it is estimated over 155,000 persons of Jewish descent (86% of the population) died in the streets, at concentration camps or during ‘death marches’ that took place near the end of the war.

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View across the front yard of Leney Place. The story of the Gnome is posted in a footer.

It only took four guys, three chain saws, one chipper, two hours and a bit of bush whacking, to clear a spot as close to home as we could get for our first “Camping Close to Home” experience of the 2012 season.  While driveway camping is “ok”, it just doesn’t feel the same as being surrounded by trees and a bit of grass especially when you look out from your bed at night.  It struck me this spring that I could do better than the driveway, so checked out the angles, trees and shrubs to find the best use of our smaller property.

After two days work this past week, the trailer was moved in, fireplace set up, BBQ moved from the back deck and we were ‘good to go’ for our first BBQ of the season.

As those who live in Victoria know, this week-end really kicked in the feeling that summer is finally on its way. Along with our friends Linda, Bjorn, Sandy and Ron (Sandy and Ron over for the week-end from the Lower Mainland to visit the Island Boat Show in the Inner Harbour), we settled in for an evening of wine tasting, hamburgers, potato salad and corn on the cob. Given the weather we have had over the past few months, it was a treat to sit outside by the fire without feeling one was going to develop hypothermia with those frigid winds blowing in off the water.

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Photo: Holland America was the first cruise ship company to take a crack at the lucrative Las Vegas market with planned trips by the newly refurbised MS Westerdam this coming fall. This was made possible by building a giant canal from San Diego to the heart of the strip in Sin City. As with the Panama Canal this was a major undertaking that will surely become a big hit with the cruise companies.  When they complete the planned extension to Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico in 2018, it will add a whole new dimension to the world of crusing.

Hello Friends and Friends of Friends.
A short description of the various stops and photographs from this
amazing adventure are now posted below.
(Scroll to “Narrative and Photo Gallery Links” Below)

 L

Left to Right: Anne, Herb, Lynn, Esther, Garth, Patty, Doug, Ron, Sandy,
Gloria, Jim, Bjorn, Linda, Harold (Absent while on leave for a cruise
through the Canadian Rockies, Roslie and John, Lib and Larry)

For the full set of pictures of the Viva Las Vegas pre cruise party held at the McNeill’s
on September 16, 2012.  LINK HERE

Looking for a little adventure?  Thinking you might like to extend this coming summer by almost two weeks at the beginning of October?  Well, think no more.

Join these fun loving couples: Esther and Garth Dunn, Patty and Doug Cassels, Linda and Bjorn Simonsen, Ann Skelcher and Herb Craig, Sandy and Ron Hall, Gloria and Jim Arnott, Lib and Larry Lohr, Roslie and John Gold (welcome Visitors from Australia),  Lynn and Harold McNeill, as they climb aboard the recently renovated MS Westerdam for an historic cruise that will take us from Vancouver to San Diego (with a brief stop in Astoria, Oregon), then on to Las Vegas for our final 3 nights.

This 10 night package includes 4 nights cruising, hotels in San Diego (3 nights) and Las Vegas (3 nights), transfers, and flights from San Diego to Las Vegas and return to Vancouver.

Itinerary
30 September: Sail from Vancouver at 4:45 pm
1   October: Astoria, Oregon
2/3 October: At Sea
4-6 October: San Diego
7   October: Fly from San Diego to Las Vega
7-9 October: Las Vegas
10  October: Fly from Las Vegas to Vancouver

We will be staying at the Holiday Inn on the Bay in San Diego and the Excalibur ($10 more) in Las Vegas, (The Luxor and Harrahs are two alternate options you may choose from with this package for no additional charge).

Package price begins at $839.00 for an inside cabin (under $1200 with all taxes and fees) – based on double occupancy (other stateroom categories, as well as single and quad rates, are also available).

Patty and Doug have taken advantage of similar re-positioning cruises before and have found them to be of excellent value, with a great itinerary.

If you would like to join with us this fall for 11 days of fun and laughter, please contact Lynn as soon as possible. (With such a great deal, space is limited, – several other itineraries have already ‘Sold Out’.) $250 per person deposit is required to hold your space- refundable up to 90 days before departure.

Contact Lynn by phone, email or Facebook
Office:250 656-5441   Email: lynnmcneill@cruiseshipcenters.com
Harold Contact: harold@mcneillifestories.com

September 17, 2012: Special Bookings:

World Premier of the Musical “Allegiance” a new American Musical at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.

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Entrance to the Benedictine Abbey in Melk, Austria (hdm).

When preparing stories for the Travelogue Section, a question often arises in discussion between Lynn and me as to how much “social comment” or “opinion”, would be appropriate within the context of the story.

For example, when travelling through Steyr or Linz, Austria, our travel guide told a story about a 15,000 seat church built in a nearby city back in the 16th or 17th Century. It took 70 years of sacrifice by the 20,000 residents of the city to pay for the structure as no fund assistance was forthcoming from the Monarchy (the Hapsburgs). It seemed to me that many of the poor would have dedicated their entire life toward the building of that single structure, a structure that would sit largely empty over the centuries. 

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