Sunshine and loving it! Just hanging out here enjoying life.

Where are we today ?

New Hamburg Ontario Canada

        I made an earlier posting today about possible good news for Canadian Senior Snowbirds, if you missed it and care to check it out just click HERE. Maybe not everybody is excited about it but does give us more available options if it ever gets passed. We could maybe even travel some northern states in the summer, which would be awesome!
        Bright sunny day today, not much wind and not too cold.  We can handle almost any weather as long as its nice and sunny. While enjoy our morning coffees and computing looked out the window and noticed this squirrel standing on his hind legs by our car. Must have been there at least ten minutes then I figured out what he was probably doing. As you can see the car is pretty dirty and we have driven on back country roads and ice covered roads in the last week. Now here in Ontario when it it snows they spread the roads with a heavy layer of salt. Makes for safer driving, no ice, not too slippery. Great eh? Makes a mess of your vehicles and in three four years they can rust away no nothing and are scrap. Unless you wash them frequently and rust proof once or twice a year. I believe this is the first time our car has ever seen salt covered roads in 11 years.

look closer the squirrel is licking the salt off the car!

         Ok this got me moving, headed off to the do it yourself car wash in New Hamburg and gave our car a real good bath especially underneath.

car is much cleaner now, no squirrels licking

         Then back home to enjoy some sunshine and fresh air. Puttered around in the yard for a while then actually got our chairs out to read, a wonderful day. The Milk truck pulled in again while we were outside and just had to take a picture of this beautiful looking tanker truck. He is here every two days to load up with fresh milk. Just love the graphics.

sunny warm and no wind

         Then for supper tonight I am gonna whip up something quick and easy for us and our host's. They have a meeting tonight at 7 o'clock right after milking and chores. So spaghetti dinner with meat sauce and Gluten free rice pasta, tossed salad and 1/2 a bun (with gluten for me and Suzie). Quick, easy, simple and filling. Its not always easy to cook on the Weber when we are not sure what time we are going to eat. Never know when milking and chores are done and sometimes they have things do do right after supper too.

hit the spot

        We will take this warmer sunny weather any day, and enjoy it. Just wanna thank you for stopping by and enjoying this wonderful weather that we are now having. Hope yours is good too.

Check out the map below to see where we have been this summer

View Summer 2013 in a larger map

Possible good News for Canadian Retiree Snowbirds

Where are we today ?

New Hamburg Ontario

        I was sent this information from fellow rver's and Bloggers Ron and Sharon, that we had the pleasure of meeting this spring in Willis Texas and again in Wapakoneta Ohio. Their blog is here.

        Sounds very promising, mind you us Canadians from Ontario do need to spend 5 months in Ontario to be eligible for our government health care. But to legally be in the USA for seven months instead of six would be a nice bonus for us.

Canadian Retiree Visa Update

Release date : Apr 19, 2013

Dear Snowbirds,

The Canadian Snowbird Association applauds the inclusion of the JOLT (Jobs Originated through Launching Travel) Act in the comprehensive immigration reform legislation filed April 17th in the United States Senate. The JOLT Act is a bipartisan bill which seeks to expand international travel to the United States in order to increase economic growth. One of the provisions found in the JOLT Act, known as the ‘Canadian Retiree Visa,’ would allow Canadian retirees, who meet certain requirements, to spend up to eight months in the U.S., two months longer than current policy allows.

The CSA has been working closely with New York Senator Charles Schumer’s office for the past 18 months regarding the two month extension for Canadian retirees.

Canada is the largest international tourism market for the United States. In 2011, Canadians made an estimated 21 million trips to the U.S. and spent approximately $24 billion.

To be eligible for the Canadian Retiree Visa, one would have to satisfy the following criteria:

• Have Canadian citizenship;
• Be 55 years of age or older;
• Maintain a residence in Canada;
• Own a residence in the U.S. or have a rental agreement for the duration of stay;
• Will not engage in employment while in the United States; and
• Will not seek assistance or benefit.

The Visa will also allow the retiree’s spouse to be admitted for the same duration. Further, time spent outside of the United States, during the eight month period, will not be counted against the Visa holder or their spouse. Real estate investment will not be required to obtain a Visa.

While the CSA remains optimistic, we would like to emphasize that the bill has only just been introduced. The bill must go through committees before it is brought to the floor for a vote. We will keep members updated on the status of the legislation as it progresses.

If you have questions or would like further detail related to the Canadian Retiree Visa, please email us atcsastaff@snowbirds.org or call us toll-free at 1-800-265-3200.

Sincerely,

Bob Slack
President
Canadian Snowbird Association
The Voice of Travelling Canadians
www.snowbirds.org

Check out the map below to see where we have been this summer

View Summer 2013 in a larger map