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2025 Avant Retirees Canada
  • JudyfromMoody
Jul – Aug 2025

2025 Avant Retirees Canada

A 19-day adventure by JudyfromMoody Read more
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  • Trip start
    July 15, 2025
    JudyfromMoodyTraveler2025 Avant Retirees Canada

    Connecting with Blycker’s

    July 15 in the United States

    We had a non-event flight to DFW. And then unexpectedly we ran into Arlene Blycker and her 2 adult sons, Tim and Jonathan.

    Small world…Big Family

    We also enjoyed 30 minutes “at the Club” before our flight left at 8:30am

    Now we begin our Canada itinerary to visit the retirees in Vancouver area (Abbotsford) and also Hope, BC and then over to Calgary, Alberta plus Saskatoon and Regina.

    I’m ready to get out of this Texas heat. I’m looking forward to connecting with these heroes!    Read more

  • JudyfromMoodyTraveler2025 Avant Retirees Canada

    Arrival back into Canada

    July 15 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    Our AA flight went smoothly. Paul and Jean Sywulka met us at the airport and drive us back to their home to pick up our RV. We did have an extremely longer wait to cross the border.

    Jean prepared a quick lunch for us then we went on our way. This birder cruising was different in a smaller Canadian town of Abbotsford. We stopped at Walmart then continued on to Laurie and Sheldon Rempel’s place.

    We took the Rempels out for an evening meal. Conversation was fun and very informative to hear their story and how the Lord has directed their paths within Avant

    We returned home to have some delicious sweet crunchy watermelon.

    We got to bed at 10pm. L.O.N.G. Day. Exhausted yet excited about connecting with the retirees. or was that has not been published yet?    Read more

  • JudyfromMoodyTraveler2025 Avant Retirees Canada

    Abbotsford Canada retirees

    July 16 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    Wednesday was a F.U.L.L. It started with delicious homemade granola and wonderful conversation around the table.

    Glenn and I left to drive the 45 minutes to Maple Ridge. On the way we stopped at a tire place to fill up the tires. Then I had to go to Dollarsma, very similar to Dollar city store in Guatemala City.

    We had a delightful time with Sharon. I had my first ever Fush Taco. Delicious.We learned more about her journey and work in Mali Africa.

    I was able to track down Frank Ebner and we’ll stop in Hope on Thursday.

    Also we learned where Eva Reimer was living in Abbotsford and we visited with her also. Eva’s brother was Arden Reimer who was the older brother to Viola Reimer Stewart (Glenn’s step mother)

    In the evening, the Rempel’s had prepared some delicious ribs, salad and desserts and sat in comfy lawn chairs in the back yard.

    The conversations were encouraging and God honoring. We told stories how God protected us, challenges while living in a 3rd world country and heartbreaks in ministry. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting Kerrie and her new husband, Martha and Lindsey Chambers plus Alan McCloud and Dan.

    Totally exhausted and totally blessed to meet these Godly folks who served overseas in Mali, Germany and Spain.    Read more

  • JudyfromMoodyTraveler2025 Avant Retirees Canada

    Heading to Kelowna, BC

    July 17 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    Traveling day. But first - we went blueberry picking. Fun! Easy to do. Laurie and Sheldon were great host and we had great conversations and lots of laughs.

    After saying goodbye, we headed to Wal-mart to buy some groceries. The scenery was breathtaking as we wondered along the highway.

    In Hope, we connected with Avant retiree frank Ebner, longtime missionary serving in Austria. It’s amazing that I even got in touch with him. I called him up 2 days ago and I don’t think he really understood who we were but he did say he was living with his daughter. I quickly asked him for her fone number. Incredibly I was able to connect with his daughter.

    We had just a delightful time hearing his story of meeting his wife in Canada with him being Austrian. Frank related stories of Gods faithfulness in ministry.

    Frank handed us a crisp 100.00 Canadian bill. My heart is blessed. He said “thank you for blessing me”.

    We had a picnic lunch on the road side park. We stopped at Tim Hortons for some donuts to share with Paul and Beth.

    Once we arrived at Paul and Beth, they cooked out. They invited 2 other couples to join in on the party. The Garcias are from Mexico and Spain and another couple from Cochabamba Bolivia. Food was delicious and it was fun to meet new friends.

    Glenn and Paul left for a 1.5 hour drive to Midway (near the US border) to rescue one of Paul’s friend that was stranded with a broken down vehicle. Glenn didn’t get home until after midnight.

    Beth and I played Rummycube with her granddaughter, Kennlyn. I lost all 3 games. But it brought back fun memories of our time together on the cruise where we first met last year. We would often time play games after dinner and before the show. Plus we introduced the game “Kings corner”.    Read more

  • JudyfromMoodyTraveler2025 Avant Retirees Canada

    Visit with Mandy and Bill

    July 18 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    We had a leisurely breakfast out on the patio at Beth and Paul’s. Beautiful morning.

    We stopped by a Dollarama store to get more stuff for my Retiree gift bags.

    We met up with Mandy and enjoyed lunch together. She and her husband served many years in Ecuador. We answered questions and genuinely encouraged her.

    At the same time, I had a conversation with the Janzens (A Candle in the window friend) who had availability for us to stay Friday night. Plus we had a call going to Bill Koehler who also lives in Kelowna. His wife Rose passed away just 6 days earlier and he was waiting to connect with his daughter about memorial service

    So after a delightful lunch with Mandy, we navigated back over the bridge and found Bill at his new Baptist home. We were able to meet Bill and encourage him in his days of grief. Bill and his wife served many years up at the Bible camp up in Alaska.

    We then stopped by the Janzens and visited with them. Henry was born and raised in Paraguay on a Mennonite farm. We also visited with their extended family who came over for about visit. Tanya served with GMU (Avant) back at Black Forest academy in Germany back in 2000. JSmall world, big family.

    We enjoyed the evening at Paul and Beth’s. Elyshia returned from camp. We all played Rummycube. Can I say that I win 2 games? Then everyone else played “Tens”. I watched. Paul, Beth and granddaughter Elyshia were on our African cruise in 2024.

    Said goodbye to Paul and Beth and we stayed at the Janzens motor home. Short night since we were playing games until 11:30pm.

    Saturday morning, Jean made us breakfast at 6:30 and we were on the road by 7:00am

    Friday was a total Awesome day. It was packed with devine appointments and time for us to encourage the retirees.    Read more

  • JudyfromMoodyTraveler2025 Avant Retirees Canada

    Railway, letterbox, Skybridge

    July 19 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    Most of the morning was overcast and raining. The drive was gorgeous. Tall majestic mountains. By noon the sky had cleared up. We stopped at “the last Spike” where the Canadian pacific railroad line was completed.

    We had lunch at the “Tall cedar boardwalk”. It was like walking through a rain forest. Green. Lush . Also we did a letterbox here

    We pulled into our camp site. Around 5pm Ok. But noticed millions of mosquitoes everywhere. So we decided to drive on to Golden and explore that little town.

    There is a wooden pedestrian bridge we discovered. Then drove over to the Skybridge.

    Thanks to Frank who gave me a 100 Canadian bill - we used it to purchase our ticket. Nice park. Clean. Live music. Reminded me of Frisco Colorado. We walked on a suspension bridge across the steep gorge. I did it! 2 long wooden suspension bridges.

    We returned back to our campsite and Glenn inverted the 12volt to 110, so we never had to open the door and get attack by mosquitoes. You do what you have to do. We watched an episode of 50 states in 50 days.    Read more

  • JudyfromMoodyTraveler2025 Avant Retirees Canada
    1

    Waterfalls, Biker, Lake Louise & Banff

    July 20 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 52 °F

    We slept in the RV snd didn’t even use the showers or toilet at the camp because we didn’t want to have the army of mesquites inside the van if we got out to use the facilities.

    It was overcast when we drove back into Golden. Next stop Tim Hortons for coffee (clink) and to refresh.

    We pulled off the side of the road and watched 50 states in 50 Days video series and to see if the weather would clear up. Kinda.

    It kinda cleared up, then we continued on. We drove off the road and started on a long muddy hike path to some waterfalls. Only made it 1/2 way until we realized the path was getting worse so decided to scrub that adventure. We continued down to Field to Emerald lake. Beautiful.

    As we drove along Trans-Canada Hiway 1, we noticed a cyclist that we had seen at Tim Hortons earlier in the morning. We drove up the mountain then pulled off the side of the road to wait for the cyclist to catch up to us. We gave Tom, from Australia a water bottle and a plastic sandwich bags of the fresh blueberries we had picked with Laurie and Sheldon. He appreciated the water and fresh blueberries. We learned that Tom was cycling across Canada and had left Vancouver just 7 days earlier.

    Glenn share with Tom about the 2019 Neil Tomba ride we were apart of, the YouTube Listening Road series and then Glenn’s 1976 bicyclist to South America .

    Next stop was another huge roaring waterfalls. The road had 3 sharp hair pin turns. Glenn loved it. We wanted to have a picnic here but it started to rain. So we had our picnic inside the RV.

    We also stopped where there was a spiral train tunnel. Quite unique and interesting. We stopped where 3 rivers come to a roaring junction. Beautiful. Again it was raining and overcast.

    As we continued, we crossed over into Alberta, the next state (province over). I know the Canadian Rockies are majestic and breathtaking. However it was overcast and raining hard mist of the day. So I bought some postcards and will take those memories with me.

    We stopped briefly at Lake Louise and then drove by the famous Banff Springs Hotel. We refueled in Canmore, then drove down the Main Street to get 2 waffle ice cream cone.

    We are staying just north of Calgary with A candle in the Window folks. We went to bed at 11pm. Monday we plan to get to a Dodge dealership snd have the back breaks checked out.    Read more

  • JudyfromMoodyTraveler2025 Avant Retirees Canada

    RV there yet?

    July 21 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F

    Monday, we left our Candle in the Window location and headed to a Dodge dealership. To have the breaks checked on. We were directed to another dealership who was able to help us.

    So I sat in waiting room, got caught up on my emails and texts messages. We then took a courtesy ride to a local mall. Nice place. We got our steps in. I found a bath and Body Works store that still had the 75% off. And with the exchange rate, I hit the jackpot.

    We had pizza at Boston Pizza and we watched an episode of Ryan’s 50 states in 50 days. We got back to the dealership and continued on our journey to Okotoks where the Clements live.

    It was raining most of the day. Cold and chilly! We decided to eat dinner (cabbage roll) and then take Don and Jan out for breakfast the next morning. We enjoyed our talk around the table and reconnected on mutual friends. We slept in the basement room. Nice and excellent.

    Tuesday morning we headed to Saskatoon Farms for breakfast, nice omelette that we shared.

    Then a drive to Three Hills, famous for Prairie Bible Institute where Virginia Swartzendruber attended. We called and talked to her while sitting in the parking lot.

    The yellow fields are Canola. It will be harvested in several weeks to make canola oil.

    We had a picnic lunch inside of the RV (cause it was raining). Then to Red Deer- another Candle in the Window place. Nice family. We had cabbage roll {Again}.

    After supper we joined the family in dining through a chorus book. The BMA (Bible Memory Association-Making Melodies songbook. I shared about my camping experience in Louisiana. Small world Big family!

    We stayed in the private basement room. The only drawback, the bathroom was upstairs. So at 10pm, midnight and 7am Glenn walked me upstairs to potty. No complaints. Glad for a nice bed and new friends.    Read more

  • JudyfromMoodyTraveler2025 Avant Retirees Canada

    Largest Mall & Egg

    July 23 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    Today we left our Candle in the Window place by 7am. Filled up at Flying J.

    And literally as we were driving we made an impulse decision to explore the West Edmonton Mall, one of the largest mall in North America complete with indoor amusement park, theatres, ice rink, indoor swim park and hundreds of stores. We roamed.

    We arrived before the stores opened and watch hockey practice while having coffee and donuts from Tim Hortons of course.

    We leisurely walked the entire mall, only one level switching levels occasionally. We walked through the food court, watched children play and listened to multiple languages.

    Fun place to explore. Yes, I got my steps in.

    Edmonton would be our farthest point on our travels. Now to head east towards Saskatoon Saskatchewan. We’ve driven over 5,000 miles.

    We stopped in Vergeville, Alberta to have a picnic lunch and view the large Ukrainian egg. It is approximately 25 feet by 18 feet. Beautiful design. We even fit d a letterbox behind the CN train. This was a great road stop for sure.

    As we drove towards Saskatoon we made several phone calls to pass the time away. Kathy orcutt and also David and Jan Craycraft who were also on the road heading to KC and Ohio. The road was straight and long.    Read more

  • JudyfromMoodyTraveler2025 Avant Retirees Canada

    Visiting the Jake & Dorothy

    July 24 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    We got a little more organized and then headed to Jake and Dorothy’s place just north of Saskatoon Saskatchewan. But first we needed to get the RV WASHED.

    We pulled into an automatic location, but the employee said we needed to go 10 blocks down the road to a hand held wash location. 12.00 dollars later, the RV was sparkling clean -at least on the outside.

    We were warmly greeted by Jake and Dorothy. They gave a cute 2 bedroom townhouse with nice sunroom and garden. We showed them our house (RV) first then they showed us their home. Dorothy made a nice lunch. We all took a good afternoon nap, then headed to Kelly’s grave site.

    We have known the Fehr’s since our first term in Bolivia in 1986. Karen and Kelly were class mates. Their 2 older girls, Karla and Kendra were several years older than Ellen.

    Jake drove us through the old country roads explaining where aunts, uncles, cousins and other family members lived and worked on the farm. Next stop Bergthal Mennonite cemetery.

    We spent some time at Kelly’s grave site. Kelly was electrocuted back in 2002 when he was only 18 and fixing to graduate from High school. Karen had just arrived from Texas to visit with her classmates from HS when the tragic event happened.

    We prayed. We cried. We remembered Kelly. Still in our hearts and minds as an 18 year old although he would have been 41 today.

    We continued through the county side - stopping for delicious homemade cinnamon rolls. We returned to have Jake cook out on his bar-b-que pit.

    Nice day to be with my friend Dorothy.    Read more

  • JudyfromMoodyTraveler2025 Avant Retirees Canada

    Meeting Betty 101 years

    July 25 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Dorothy and I woke up early to do our normal Friday morning Bolivian ladies Zoom call. Only Virginia shied up. Linda was at Jenise’s place and Beverly was working.

    After our zoom call, we headed to A&W to meet up with Jean Barsness who served with GMU back in the day, was a GMU board member and taught many years at Briarcrest. She’s a legend in the missionary community. She spoke of revising a book she write many years ago. You can just feel the passion she has for the lost. Jean’s son and daughter-in-law from Frontier, SK were in town and joined us for the coffee time.

    The conversation around the cup of coffee was uplifting and encouraging. Jake and Dorothy reconnected and loved sharing the moment with her.

    We then drove through town, stopping for popcorn and icecream near the fancy hotel.

    Afternoon was filled with a nap then back out again, this time to visit with Betty Friesen. The oldest living avant missionary. 101 years old. Betty and her family served in Mali for around 50 years. She looked great. Spoke slowly and had a sense of humor.

    Her daughter and Son-in law in law lives a few blocks away and enjoyed our visit. After a sunny 1/2 hour afternoon visit outside, Harv and Karon Matias guided us through the unique senior citizen home where Betty lives. I handed Betty a gift bag and sent greetings from the home office and expressed our appreciation for the many years of service.

    After singing the benediction together

    Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
    Praise Him, all creatures Here below;
    Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
    Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
    Amen

    Betty belted out a wonderful prayer for us all. I am blessed to have met Betty. She is a senior Saint and loved child of God. Thank you Betty for your years of serving overseas and being a light in the darkness.

    For dinner, we celebrated at Olive Garden. Soup and salad. Glenn was given a complimentary cheese cake for his birthday. Then we stopped at Twin Peaks Creamery for some homemade ice cream and a game of corn hole. Such fun. Weather was nice.    Read more

  • JudyfromMoodyTraveler2025 Avant Retirees Canada

    Happy 70 bday Glenn

    July 26 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    Glenn turns 70. He went to a men’s breakfast at a local church with Jake. Then Jake drove thru the back country roads. I slept in and then caught up on some computer work.

    Dorothy served us a delicious Canadian ham sandwich for lunch. We all took a nap. That’s 3 days in a
    Row. Naps.

    Dorothy and Jake treated Glenn for his birthday at The Berry Farm. Beautiful flowers. Restaurant and plant stores full of hanging baskets of fern and flowers. We had purogy for supper. It was like a gloried dumpling with cottage cheese filling and top with gravy.

    We stopped by Karla’s place and visited with her and the children. Karla is about 5 years older than Ellen. It was great to see Karla and hear about her journey.

    Our stop at the Fehr’s place was relaxing and rejuvenating. So glad we came all the way here and to see the Avant folks especially meeting Betty who just turned 101.

    Happy birthday Glenn. 70 years old    Read more

  • JudyfromMoodyTraveler2025 Avant Retirees Canada

    Prairie and Teddy Roosevelt Park

    July 28 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 64 °F

    Sunday morning we woke up and started our long long road trip home. We stopped in Davidson for a coffee break at Tim Hortons. This town had a huge coffee mug and cup.

    We continued on to Regina to visit Shirley B. however she wasn’t home. We did leave a note on her apartment door. Then one last stop at DollarRama. It’s the Canadian version of DollarTree.

    It was just straight two lane road to the Canadian/USA border. Then straight to Williston. We stayed at A Candle in the window folks in Williston, ND

    North Dakota is under-rated. It was beautiful.

    Monday, we left in pouring rain. We drove thru the Teddy Roosevelt national park. We saw bison, buffaloes and wild turkeys.

    Again, driving dew south on 2 lane roads. We stopped at a small town for a picnic in the park. We watched the machine work in the fields to make bales of hay.

    Then a very scenic ride through Spearfish, Deadwood, Leads and Sturgis South Dakota.

    Mark and Carol Kohl were our host in Box Elder. I’ve known Carol since Moody days.

    We found 2 letterboxes on our drive on Monday.    Read more

  • JudyfromMoodyTraveler2025 Avant Retirees Canada
    1

    Mount Rushmore

    July 29 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    Breathtaking. Check this off my bucket list!

    Drive thru 3 narrow tunnels on Needles hiway. Clouds rolled in.

    Picnic inside the RV with Mark and Carol.

    We made a quick last minute decision to drive directly to Frisco, Colorado and spend Wednesday riding down Vail pass on our bicycles and then continue on to Kansas and Oklahoma. And TEXAS

    As we were driving south on I 25, we called up Joseph and Patrice to meet us at Cracker Barrel for coffee. We’ve known the Villegas since our days at GPBC in the 80’s.

    Next stop Lazy Bear Lodge in Frisco, Colorado. We have several bicycles in David and Jan’s garage that we like to ride down the mountain!    Read more

  • JudyfromMoodyTraveler2025 Avant Retirees Canada

    Bike riding Vail Pass

    July 30 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 50 °F

    Glenn put the 2 bicycles in David Craycraft’s pick-up truck and we headed up to the pass. There was new construction of the Rest area there.

    I thoroughly loved riding my bike downhill. Glenn said later “do you think we are getting too old for this?” My reply, absolutely Not!

    After bicycling down to the Lazy Bear Lodge, we got in the RV and drove back up to the pass to get David’s truck. We put the gear away and loaded up the RV.

    We pulled into the Walmart parking lot so Glenn could take a zoom call with Bob and Q about the upcoming trip to Guatemala.

    We continued west towards Hesston Ks. We spent the night at Virginia’s. And we got to see Evie!

    On our way out, connected ever so briefly with Ruth snd Bob Nash and their grandchildren in Wichita Kansas.    Read more

  • JudyfromMoodyTraveler2025 Avant Retirees Canada

    Driving home

    August 1 in the United States ⋅ 🌩️ 93 °F

    After a full day on the road from Colorado to Kansas, we continued on towards Dallas. We eventually ended up staying at a hotel in Gainesville.

    There was an electrical storm as the sun was setting. Power flickered. Then around 10pm our room got extremely hot. It was 86 degrees. We needed to move to another room.

    So at 11:00pm, we packed up our luggage, CPAP machine and phone chargers and settled into a much cooler room.

    Friday, we drove on into Dallas and picked dad up. I needed to drop off 2 cross-stitch projects for the State Fair of Texas competition. We took dad to Aldi after the State Fair. We enjoyed lunch with dad then headed onto Tyler by way of Rick’s lake house.

    So at 6pm we finally returned back to Eagles Nest home. We left on May 30 and returned on August 1

    H.O.M.E.
    8,581 miles in our RV
    9 weeks on the road to the Pacific Northwest
    55 retired missionaries visited
    30 different beds
    14 different states
    3 Canadian provinces

    May 30 - August 1
    Our trip was filled with many appointments in visiting the retirees. We had great conversation learning about their ministry, the families and their compassion to share the Good News. We also were able to see many landmarks such as Carlsbad Caverns, San Diego zoo, Yosemite National Park, Crater Lake, Lake Louise, Banff National Park and Mount Rushmore. We were able to do some fun stuff such as tour of the Jelly Belly candy factory and the Boeing Assembly factory. We had countless road side picnics and managed to navigate large cities like Los Angles and Seattle and road along the historic Pacific Coast Hiway 1.

    We were deeply blessed by visiting these retirees who have served in Africa, South America and Europe. I thank the Lord for their dedication and service. Being able to encourage these retirees is the best job in the world.    Read more

    Trip end
    August 2, 2025
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