August 29

August 29, 2004

DAY 73

 

 

We went to the house this morning to watch Bud's friend Dominique Bosshart compete in the Olympic Tae Kwan Do competition. Her event was supposed to be broadcast at 11:00 A.M.. It wasn't. It had already been broadcast at 6:00 A.M.. CBC makes it impossible to watch a specific event because what they say they're going to broadcast at any given time isn't necessarily what they actually broadcast. They tape all events and show them after the fact. I guess it's quite hard to stick to the planned schedule. Anyways, Dominique Bosshart lost both her matches and was eliminated from the medals. She won the bronze 4 years ago in Sydney. Bud built a display case for their Tae Kwan Do academy to display her Olympic competition uniform.

Right after lunch, our Escapee friends Ruth-Anne and Tom Huggard arrived. When we were at the Escapees Ontario Chapter Spring Rally at Kingston in June we had invited them to park overnight in the Danelak's driveway when they were driving from Ontario through Manitoba to a family wedding near Edmonton. We had some difficulty getting their trailer backed down the driveway and into position on the circular portion of the driveway, in front of our trailer. One side of their trailer left the driveway and the trailer wheels sunk very, very deeply into the wet lawn. It made a horrible mess of the lawn. I hope Bud can forgive us. Tom's rear wheel drive 3/4 ton Dodge ( not dually ) couldn't pull their trailer out of the deep ruts and back onto the driveway. We had to unhitch his truck, and I hitched our truck to their trailer. Dee-Dee the 4 x 4 dually had absolutely no problem whatsoever pulling their trailer out of the deep ruts on the wet lawn, and back onto the driveway. HA ... 2 points for Dee-Dee.

We spent the day visiting with Ruth-Anne and Tom, having dinner with them in their trailer. Ruth-Anne and Tom were one of the first Escapee couples that we got to know last fall, and we enjoy their company. After supper, we all went for a long walk down the road, including our cat Toby and their Scottish Terrier, Angus. While walking, I "captured" a neighbour's "escaped" border collie, and walked him all the way back to his yard, which was about 1000 feet from where I caught him. Late in the evening Ruth-Anne, Tom, Joanne and I joined Sharon and Bud in the house for tea and cake, chatting until way after everybody's regular bed time.

DSK

August 28

August 28, 2004

DAY 72

 

 

This morning I installed 2 thermometers. One to measure outside temperature, mounted on the outside of the dinette window, the other to measure inside temperature, mounted on the valance around the same window. The King of Velcro strikes again ! The balance of the morning was taken up with the installation of the range hood fan motor, and the re-installation of the systems monitor panel and range hood.

Joanne left to join her sister for a girls lunch out, followed by shopping. I joined Bud for a trip to the Western Canada Aviation Museum. Sharon, Bud, and I drove to the museum, and while Bud toured me around the place, Sharon went shopping. Seems to be a common theme developing here around women and shopping. It was great to tour the aviation museum with another aviation enthusiast. Bud is a pilot, like me. It was when Bud obtained his pilot's license some 20 or so years ago that I was inspired to stop dreaming about becoming a pilot, and do it ! For today, and for 20 years ago, thank you Bud. It was a pleasant surprise to see Bud's name engraved on the Western Canada Aviation Museum's wall plaque recognizing their founding donors.

On the way home, I had Sharon and Bud swing by the Carlson's to see if Dee-Dee ( our truck ) was still parked out front. It was, so I had them drop me off so I could join Joanne, and drive back with her. I visited for a short time, then we drove back to Lorette to feed the cats before we set off for dinner.

We were invited to dinner by Shirley and Darcy Johnson. We joined them, and their children Sheryl and Erik at The Olive Garden. We always enjoyed eating at the Olive Garden that used to be located across the street from our Pet Valu store on Montreal Road in Ottawa, but it closed quite a few years ago. We had a great visit, talking with them all evening about Sheryl's summer job in the Muskokas, her school trip all over Europe, full time RV'ing, and travel in general. Thank you Shirley and Darcy. And Sheryl and Erik. We had a great evening. I particularly enjoyed Erik’s wit, which seems quite remarkable for a 10 year old. “Well, I think I’d better go empty my black water holding tank now.” “I wonder why my milkshake is taking so long ( he says to the hapless waiter ) ... are they grinding the strawberries by hand ?” HA HA HA HA HA HA ! I love sarcasm. Especially from a 10 year old.

At midnight we went to the house to watch Olympics with Bud and Sharon. We expected that TV coverage of Bud’s Tae Kwon Do friend’s competition would begin at midnight. Wrong ! It's scheduled for tomorrow morning at 11:00 A.M.. They stayed up way beyond their normal bed time for nothing.

DSK

August 27

August 27, 2004

DAY 71

 

 

This morning we unhitched the trailer from the truck, and began the task of getting everything dried out and cleaned up from yesterday. Clothes, shoes, jackets, ... everything was soaked and muddy.

After lunch, we went to visit the Danelak's friends and neighbours, Emile and Doreen Peloquin who live a half mile down the road in a log house built by Emile. It's a really beautiful home, on a gorgeous piece of property. In addition to being retired school teachers ( like Bud ) they farm Colorado Blue Spruce trees on their property. Their home is filled with mementoes of their world travels. They're quite the adventurers.

George returned the plates from the van today, so we went into town and mailed all our Ontario license plates back for cancellations and refunds. On the way back I stopped at the local landscaping nursery business to buy some gravel to repair the huge craters the trailer's front jacks made in the driveway. The landscaping nursery business had a couple of 2 month old kittens looking for a new home. I thought Lilly Kitty would appreciate having a companion to grow up with, maybe named Billy Kitty, but Sharon & Bud felt that 1 kitten at a time was sufficient.

Sharon and Bud invited us out to dinner at a Mennonite buffet style restaurant in the nearby town of Landmark. After dinner, we drove around their neighbourhood, admiring homes.

Back at the trailer, I reviewed the mail, and worked on cataloguing our art inventory. Ended the day by watching a bit of Olympics with Sharon and Bud, and playing with Lilly Kitty.

DSK

August 26, 2004

August 26, 2004

DAY 70

 

 

Happy Anniversary, Harvey ! We bought Harvey the fifth wheel trailer 1 year ago today.

That was a sunny warm day in Ottawa as I recall. Unlike here today !

This was probably the most unpleasant day we've had so far on this journey. A very cold day with heavy rain, and plenty of Murphy's law.

When I got out of bed this morning, and started to walk out of the bedroom, I wondered why it seemed as if I was climbing a hill ! I went outside to discover that the front jacks of the trailer had busted through the wet, soft driveway, and sunk. The front of the trailer was almost resting on the ground, and the jacks were sunk a couple of feet down into the driveway. It was a cold, wet job to get the trailer raised, get the truck underneath and hitched, and move the trailer. Now there are 2 huge craters in the Danelak's driveway that I'll have to fix before we depart in a week. The lesson learned here is that I will never again lower the front jacks of the trailer without putting 2 foot sections of 2 x 6 lumber underneath the jack pads to spread the weight over a larger surface. I thought a driveway would be strong enough to support the trailer just resting on the little foot pads of the jacks. Evidently not ! ! !

By the time I got the trailer raised and repositioned, changed into dry clothes, made a few quick phone calls, and ate a really fast lunch, we were already late for our date with the little nieces to go to the Children's Museum. We rushed over to the Carlson's, picked up Lorri and the girls, and off we went for an afternoon at the Children's Museum. What an interesting place. I'll bet it would be even more interesting if Uncle Dan didn't have a splitting headache all afternoon. By the time we finished there, took the girls for a snack / early supper, and battled rush hour traffic back to their place, we were running late for our planned evening chores of taking the trailer to dump the holding tanks, buy some trailer maintenance parts, and weigh the rig.

It was after 6:00 P.M. by the time we got back to the trailer. We prepared everything for travel, and hitched up ... in the cold, heavy rain. Drove to Transcona Trailer Sales with me feeling like the top of my head was going to explode like a volcano. Bought the range hood fan motor to replace the burned out one, then drove next door to GNR Camping World to use their free dump station, and shop for more parts. Headed back, stopping to buy diesel just before we got to the truck weigh scales at the commercial truck Esso station on Hwy.1 at Hwy. 59. I wanted to get the truck and trailer weighed with the truck full of fuel, and the trailer full of fresh water, with the holding tanks empty. Joanne strenuously objected to doing this weighing job tonight as it was getting late, we were already soaked, it was getting colder and windier, the rain was getting heavier, etc.. Did I listen to her ? NOOOOO ! ! !

I weighed the truck and trailer attached, then weighed them again detached. I have needed to know these weights for a year ! Now I finally have them ( along with a pissed off wife ). We sure did get cold and wet !

We got back to the Danelak's at dusk. I had to back the trailer off the road, onto the driveway, down the long driveway backwards, halfway around the driveway circle backwards, and into position totally blind, relying on Joanne's guidance by walkie-talkie. It was too dark, and my mirrors were too wet, for me to see anything. Kind of like flying IFR.  She did a great guiding job, but was drenched . By the time I got the water and power connected, so was I. Our very old rain ponchos need to be replaced. It was after 9:00 P.M. by the time we changed into dry clothes ( again ), returned a phone call to Shirley Johnson, and sat down to a supper of canned stew. Joanne used the 2 cans of stew we keep in the cupboard for an emergency. I guess tonight qualified.

DSK

August 25, 2004

August 25, 2004

DAY 69

 

 

A day of maintenance.

Fixed the leak ( I hope ! ) where the TV antenna cable passes through the roof of the trailer. Removed the range hood to remove the hood fan motor which has burned out. This job sounds a lot easier than it was ! The trailer systems monitor panel is in the range hood, and there's a lot of electrical and electronic connections under there, complicating the removal of the hood fan motor. Plus ... the original assembly must have been done by somebody with hands the size of Amelia ( 3 years old ) with little Barbie doll wrenches or something. Discovered a short circuit in the 12V fuse panel, at the furnace fuse. The plastic housing of the fuse was all melted from arcing, but the fuse had not blown ! Shades of Swissair Flight 111 ! I disassembled the fuse panel with the intent of removing the furnace fuse connector and replacing it, but discovered that the fuse connectors are all embedded in a sealed panel. I cleaned out, and repaired the connector as best as I could. I seem to have eliminated the arcing problem, but I'll have to keep a close eye on it. I sawed, patched, and sanded the hiking stick George brought me from Rushing River Provincial Park. I drove to Lorette's dump to dispose of some bags of garbage and recycling, but it closes at 6:00 P.M. on Wednesdays. Drained and deodorized the kitchen grey water tank. Went into the house, connected the laptop and printer, and printed some documents I will need on Friday. Filled out an application form for a U.S. dollar MasterCard. Unsure how to fill out some of the fields. Employment ? ? ? I'm unemployed ? I'm retired ? I'm self-employed ? How long at current address ? I don't know ! Since I unhooked the trailer from the truck ? Monthly income ? Zero ? As much as I want to withdraw ? Depends on whether the stock market is up or down ?

8 days to departure for Goshen !

DSK

August 24

August 24, 2004

DAY 68

 

 

This morning Bud installed the fold away laptop desk that he designed and built, into the trailer. It's gorgeous. Thank you very much, Bud.

After lunch I helped him lift the rafters onto the new gazebo he's building in the back yard. It's starting to really look like something now that the rafters are on. He used logs / tree trunks cut from his back yard forest as the uprights / beams for the screen walls.

Ran some errands on our way into the city to have dinner with the Carlsons. While Joanne visited before dinner was served I had time to go online and get some work done on the computer. I ordered some stuff online that will take 3 weeks to deliver, so I had to figure out where to have it shipped so I can pick it up. We'll be visiting Sep and Susanna Liang in Kingston in about a month, so I ordered it shipped to them. After dinner I wanted to go for a walk so Joanne and I took Madeleine and Amelia for a walk to a local park for some running and rolling play. The little nieces run and roll ... not me.

Watched a little bit of the Olympics, then Amazing Race.

DSK

August 23, 2004

August 23, 2004

DAY 67

 

 

Today we went with Lorri and her 2 little girls to MacDonald's for lunch on our way to the Fort Whyte Centre. The Fort Whyte Centre is an environmental education centre on the southwest edge of Winnipeg on 200 acres of land with forest, lakes, nature trails, and floating boardwalks on marsh lands. We spent the entire afternoon exploring, starting with the prairie dog colony in "Prairie Dog Town" adjacent to the parking lot. The main interpretive centre building has displays of many animals and birds, that children can touch as well as see. Madeleine and Amelia got to see and feel a bison, wolf, bear, raccoon, otter, mink, fox, etc., etc.. We saw live snakes in glass cases, large and small fish in a variety of different sized aquariums, ducklings in a duck nursery, and honey bees in a glass hive. Outside we hiked all over their marsh land boardwalks and studied ducks, algae, beaver dams, trees chewed by beavers, marsh grasses and flowers, etc., etc.. It was a really interesting place to visit with young children. Too bad it was cold, and raining on and off all day.

We barbecued supper for Sharon and Bud. I wanted to "road test" the barbecue refurbishment I did.

I'm getting eager to move on. In the vernacular of Escapees, I have hitch itch.

DSK

August 22, 2004

August 22, 2004

DAY 66

 

 

This morning I finished refurbishing / rebuilding the Danelak's barbecue. I've always thought it is better to rebuild a large gas barbecue than replace it. Only the "insides" need replacing. The "outsides" last forever. One of the things I did was to replace the thin "stainless steel" burner with a cast iron burner. It's now literally better than new. Should be good for another ten years.

This afternoon we went with Sharon and Bud to see a movie at Cinema City 8. Andrea wanted us to see where she works. Today she was working the box office. We bought our movie tickets from her, and saw Stepford Wives. After the movie, and Andrea's shift was over, we all went for dinner to a restaurant called Muddy Waters at The Forks. The Forks is where the Assiniboine River meets the Red River. When we left Winnipeg 16 1/2 years ago, "the forks" of the Red and Assiniboine was a horrible industrial slum area. Now it's been redeveloped into a trendy tourist area. Muddy Waters is a double entendre. It refers to the waters of the 2 rivers, not the old blues artist.

On the way home, I stopped to refill one of the trailer's propane tanks. After 2 months of use, the first propane tank was empty. I had to go to 2 service stations to get a refill. The first station had propane, but the very young "attendant" was completely clueless about how to refill a propane tank. After watching him stumble through a trial and error process for awhile, I decided to go elsewhere rather than risk him blowing himself and me to Kingdom Come.

When we got back home, I fulfilled my obligation / repaid my debt to Joanne, as promised, by playing half an hour of Humzinger. Gawd I hate that game ! The only consolation was that Bud turned out to be worse at this game than me.

DSK

August 21, 2004

August 21, 2004

DAY 65

 

 

Joanne spent the morning preparing a lunch to take over to her Aunt Elaine, whom we went to visit today. Eliane ( Aunt Elaine ) Soulodre is Joanne's mother's sister, the last remaining member of the life long trio comprised of Joanne's mother Antonie ( Toni ) and her 2 sisters, Elaine and Isabelle ( Aunt Belle ) Allard. No, that's not a typo, her name is the French "Eliane", but ever since I've known her ( about 32 years ) she has always gone by the anglicized "Elaine".

Aunt Elaine is 82 years old now. She's living by herself in an apartment about half a block up the street from where Joanne's and my first house is. She's doing very well for such an elderly lady. She lives independently. She recently had a knee replaced, so she's a bit wobbly as she recuperates from the surgery. Her hearing and vision aren't quite what they used to be. She's still sharp intellectually. Her memory is extremely good. When we arrived, she had set her dining room table quite elegantly. Joanne had prepared fresh pea soup, using green peas picked from Danelak's garden, and a fresh chicken salad served on lettuce. Joanne had baked a cake for dessert, and I made tea, then cleaned up and washed the dishes while Joanne visited with Aunt Elaine. We retired to the living room to show her our Paris pictures on the laptop. I don't think Elaine had ever seen photos on a computer. I don't think she had ever seen a laptop. By late afternoon she was looking worn out, so we left to run shopping errands.

Bought beer at the Marion Hotel, filled up with diesel, then off to Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Dollar Store, and finally, Wal-Mart ... again ! I had forgotten that here in Manitoba beer is bought at hotels. For many, maybe most small hotels, the majority of their revenue must come from beer sales. When I pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot for the second time, I parked beside a GMC one ton turbo-diesel dually, just like mine, but 3 years older. As I was getting out of our truck, the other truck's owners were just returning from the store. We chatted for awhile about our trucks, and RV'ing. They were a couple from Saskatchewan, a bit younger than us, who have been travelling a lot with their fifth wheel since the man "retired" about a year ago from the military. When they bought their truck in Saskatoon about a year ago, it had about the same mileage as mine did when I bought it about a year ago in Perth, near Ottawa. They paid $1000 more for theirs than I did for mine, and theirs is 3 years older, so I guess I got a good deal.  Don't I always ? !  I inherited my mother's ability to drive a hard bargain.

It was a rainy, gloomy day. After we got home, I did a few chores, we had supper, and I began to work on this, today's journal. I think I'll do my daily accounting next, then go in the house to update my blog.

DSK

August 20, 2004

August 20, 2004

DAY 64

 

 

I spent the morning on the computer, preparing correspondence to the Ontario Ministry Of Transportation, and my Ottawa insurance broker, regarding the cancellations of our Ontario license plates, vehicle registrations and insurances. It took much longer than I had expected. There were many interruptions from Lilly Kitty, with requests to play. I obliged her.

While I was taking a short break, to give Joanne access to the computer, I read the front page of yesterday's newspaper. The lead story was about the light snowfall in Winnipeg 2 days ago, on August 18 ! ! ! Welcome home ! At least it wasn't freezing rain. I've had quite enough of freezing rain in Ottawa, thank you.

Sat in the gazebo for a short time with Sharon & Bud when they returned from moving Bud's mother from the Misericordia Hospital to Fred Douglas Lodge. After a very long wait, a space finally became available for her a couple of days ago. Today was moving day. A very stressful event for all concerned.

I worked some more on refurbishing their barbecue, then had Bud show me where the Lorette garbage dump is located. As we drove there, he was dismayed to see the damage to the soy bean crops from last night's frost.

After supper, I accepted Bud's invitation to watch his DVD of the B. B. King Live By Request concert in New York City. Bud and I are both huge fans of the blues.

DSK

August 19, 2004

August 18 & 19, 2004

DAYS 62 & 63

 

 

Wednesday ; Gee whiz ! To go outdoors today here in Winnipeg in mid-August I have to dress like I do in Ottawa in mid-November ! ! ! It's very cold, and extremely windy today. I had to wear a heavy jacket and a toque to work outdoors on the truck this morning.

I returned the truck to Dawson Servicentre this morning for some minor adjustments. When I was an employer, I wouldn't tolerate sloppy work when I was paying somebody $7 to $8 an hour to do it. As a consumer I certainly won't tolerate sloppy work when I'm paying something like $90 an hour for it.

When I got back to the Danelak's I still fussed around with some minor adjustments, to bring the work up to my own nit-picky standards. Old anal-retentive habits die hard.

When I finished fussing with the truck, we went with all the Danelaks to Pine Ridge Hollow near Birds Hill Provincial Park, about a half an hour north of Winnipeg on Hwy.59, although Bud took us on the "scenic route" down country back roads to get there. Pine Ridge Hollow is an eclectic tourist business somewhat like Colasanti's near Point Pelee. A gift shop, restaurant, nursery, playground, petting zoo, small outdoor "bowl" theatre, large landscaped gardens, ice cream stand etc., etc., on a few acres of land. Sharon likes the quirky little gift shop, which struck me, given our recent experiences, as about $287,000 worth of garage sale and flea market fodder. The only thing I thought worth buying was the ice cream shop which was for sale. Lunch in their restaurant was very good. While we waited half an hour beyond our reservation time for our table, I beat Joanne at a game of checkers played outdoors ( in the cold ! ) on the restaurant's porch.

After returning home late in the afternoon, I took a nap, then tackled a pile of incoming mail, while Joanne took the truck to Lorette to buy groceries. It's been quite awhile since she's driven Dee-Dee. Now that her van is sold to George, she has no choice but to resume driving the truck.

After supper, I did some computer work, then we visited with Sharon and Bud until late into the evening.

Thursday ; Last night Toby slept well for the first time in a couple of weeks. This coincides with the first night in a couple of weeks that we've had a bed heater. Our old bed heater died a couple of weeks ago, and last night was the first night with the new bed heater. He spent most of the night under the duvet, snuggled up against my side, sleeping soundly on the heated mattress. Poor old kitty !

Right after lunch, we went to baby sit Madeleine and Amelia while Lorraine had a meeting with her boss. On the way home, we stopped at Joanne's parents' graves for a visit. Visiting our parents' graves gives me an opportunity to focus on my memories of our parents, and "talk" to their spirits, in my mind. When we were leaving Winnipeg on January 1, 1988, to move to Ottawa, her dad was quite upset that I was taking his "baby" away from him. I wanted to visit their graves today to point out to him that I brought her home safe and sound, as I promised.

Back at Sharon's, it was time to "crumble" the wild sage we brought home a couple of weeks ago. It smells great. I'm eager to try it in hamburgers, or soups, or stews, etc..

We hitched up the trailer, and drove it into the city, to dump the holding tanks at GNR Camping World, an RV dealer on Dugald Road with a free trailer dump station. It's been a week since we emptied the tanks at Grand Beach. We're not sure exactly how long it would take to completely fill our black water holding tank, but a weekly emptying seems prudent.

For supper, Bud started a fire in their back yard "chiminea", and we had a weiner roast. Afterwards, we sat around the "camp fire" and chatted until midnight. A cold night, with a clear sky filled with stars. I think the night sky here is more vivid. Maybe less air pollution than back in the industrial heartland of Ontario ?

DSK

Photo test

This is a test of my journal's ability to accept my photos.  Readers ; please advise success or failure of viewing.  Thank you.

DSK

August 17

August 16 & 17, 2004

DAYS 60 & 61

 

 

Monday ; Took the truck in to Dawson Servicentre first thing this morning for a safety inspection. Went to Village Insurance ( my daily visit ! ) to discuss the insurance and retail sales tax implications of me buying the truck from my own company, or leasing it from my own company, etc.. Nice enough people at Village Insurance but they're not really up to speed on these sorts of issues. I left them with some research to do, and they were to call me when it was done. That never happened.

Went shopping with Joanne after lunch. Sheesh ! Wal-Mart. Dollar Store. Value Village. Toys 'R Us. Canadian Tire. Zeller's. Sobey's. Another Dollar Store. Beer Store.

Invited to Carlson's for dinner and to watch last week's episode of Amazing Race which Doug taped for us while we were at Grand Beach. Thanks, Doug. After Madeleine's and Amelia's argument about whose hiking stick was whose was resolved, I "hiked" with the nieces down their street to the corner. We "backwards hiked" all the way back to their house. It takes a long time for a 3 year old to walk backwards for a city block.

Tuesday ; Picked up the truck this morning from Dawson Servicentre. It had passed the safety inspection. Went to Village Insurance and resumed the discussion about me buying the truck from my own company vs. me leasing it, etc.. Did what had to be done, and got the truck registered and insured.

Andrea's boyfriend George paid me for the van. Thank you, George, and good luck with the van. I hope it serves him well. I remember how exciting it was to be his age, and buying a vehicle for the first time.

The afternoon was spent doing a bunch of desk work, preparing letters on the computer, printing them, faxing them, etc..

I manned the barbecue for supper, while Joanne helped mow the Danelak's lawn. After supper I did some refurbishment work on the Danelak's barbecue. I'm either going to refurbish it, or replace it. It's seen better days. Haven't we all ?

Finally ... 9:00 P.M. ... Amazing Race. Goodbye, Mirna and Charla. < sniffle >

DSK

August 15

August 15, 2004

DAY 59

 

 

We slept late this morning, as Toby was feeling ill during the night, and woke us up frequently. Poor old kitty. I spent what was left of the morning finishing up my investment file updates. Not very good stock market performance over the last 8 weeks, since we started this adventure ! Our "nest egg" has declined in value over $30,000. Joanne thinks we should just spend it faster, to reduce the risk of just losing it in the stock market. Somehow the logic of that escapes me.

This afternoon we went with Sharon and Bud to see / explore St. Malo Provincial Park about 50 km. south of here on Hwy.59. Sharon wanted us to see it as she thought it might be a good place to take Madeleine and Amelia. She was right. Nice park with a good beach and great playground areas, nice campground ( although I suspect that the Carlson girls may not really be too eager to go camping again ), lots of short hiking trails, a snack bar, mini-golf, etc.. Perhaps it would be a good choice for a day trip. Just outside the park, we stopped at a craft / gift store Sharon wanted to visit, where we bumped into Joanne's cousin, Jacqueline Gosselin, and her husband Régis. Jacquie and Joanne are the same ages, and grew up as childhood friends as well as cousins.

We explored the "scenic route / back roads" on our return drive to Lorette.

After we got back "home", Bud came into the trailer with the partially completed folding laptop desk he is making for the trailer, to measure and fit. It's looking really good. It's going to be a beautiful and extremely functional addition to the trailer.

After supper, it was back to the computer for the rest of the evening. Accounting, journal, letters, etc..

DSK

August 14

August 13 & 14, 2004

DAYS 57 & 58

 

 

Friday ; Spent most of today making phone calls hither and yon about vehicle safety certifications, vehicle registration in Manitoba, vehicle insurance in Manitoba, drivers' licenses abstracts from Ontario, vehicle insurance histories from Ontario, etc., etc., etc. ! I don't recall having to deal with this much bureaucracy when we moved from Manitoba to Ontario 16 1/2 years ago. I wonder why it seems worse moving from Ontario back to Manitoba ? Must be that in Manitoba the automobile insurance is administered by the Provincial Government.

In the evening, we went to 2 Folklorama Pavilions. First, the Belgian Pavilion in the Belgian Club on Provencher Blvd. Joanne's father was Belgian, and a member of the Belgian Club. After a dinner of Belgian food ( including beer stew, of course ), and watching the ethnic singing and dancing entertainment, we went downstairs to see some old men Belgian Bowling. It's a very interesting game, somewhat akin to dry land curling, using heavy discs called Bollens. I gave it a try, under the guidance of a couple of friendly old guys. After that, we crossed the street to the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain where the Caribbean pavilion was located. Another Pavilion where the 8:15 P.M. show was full, so we had to wait in the outdoor beer garden for the 9:45 P.M. show. Maybe a good thing, since there was a false fire alarm during the 8:15 P.M. show that forced an evacuation, and disrupted the show. I wonder if Dixie-Ann, the limbo dancer from Trinidad was the cause. She dances the limbo under a flaming bar. A very low flaming bar ! I ate some Jerk Chicken Wings that left my lips burning for quite some time afterwards. The entertainment was great. In addition to the flaming limbo dancer, there was a steel pan orchestra comprised of about 8 steel pan players, ranging in age from about 10 to about 70. WOW ... what a performance ! There were also a dance group from Grenada, a senior women's singing group from Jamaica, a pair of bongo drum players from Brazil. Who knew that old women from Jamaica could wail like that ?! Who knew that young women from Grenada could shake it like that ?!?! I sure like the spirit of the Caribbean.

 

Saturday ; Today is mail catch up day. Finally our redirected mail from Ottawa has arrived. Until now, our redirected mail from Ottawa / Cumberland has been sent back because the Post Office’s redirection address stickers were incorrect. We got that sorted out last week, and now 8 weeks of mail has arrived all at once. A mountain of overdue bills, junk mail ( sorry ... ad mail ), pet industry magazines, etc.. Boobheads !

Spent the whole afternoon and the early part of the evening working on updating our investment records. I've just now received in the mail all the documentation relating to the investments purchased with the proceeds of the sale of our Ottawa house.

Accepted Sharon's invitation to dinner. Barbecued Salmon and 2 types of holuptsi ; regular and sour cabbage. I'm catching up on 16 1/2 years of no home cooked Ukrainian food.

Spent the evening on the Danelak's back deck, then in the gazebo, drinking a bottle of Australian Riesling wine, received as a gift from our friends Erbon and Lorraine Dickinson shortly before we left Ottawa. A well travelled bottle of wine. Thank you, Erbon and Lorraine. It was a good bottle of wine. When Bud and I finished the wine, we started in on the 2 jumbo bottles of Heineken beer Bud had. Finished those in no time. Bud was telling me about his Tae Kwon Do sparring experience with the local woman from Lorette who is on the Canadian Tae Kwon Do team at the current Olympics.

Suffice to say the work Bud was going to do on the folding computer table he's making for our trailer didn't get done tonight. Neither did my investment records get completed. Hey ... Rome wasn't built in a day < BURP >.

DSK

August 12

August 12, 2004

DAY 56

 

 

Ahhhhh ... back "home" in the Danelak's front yard, the Grand Beach vacation over. Everybody survived.

We all had a good time, I think. The weather wasn't great, but improved steadily from beginning to end. Today was actually sunny and warm for awhile in the early afternoon. We repeated our regular morning routine ; Uncle Dan showered first thing, then took Madeleine and Amelia to the playground while Lorraine and Joanne went for showers. Amelia is capable of doing things on the play structure that were beyond her capabilities a few days ago. Way to go, Amelia. She's nicknamed Amelia "I don't need any help" Carlson. We incorporated some frog hunting ( of course ) into our playground session. After lunch, we packed up for departure, then went over to West Beach for the afternoon. Amelia played in the sand at the water's edge with Uncle Dan and Mom, while Madeleine played in the water with Aunt Joanne. We goofed around on the beach for a couple of hours until the sun disappeared behind clouds and the wind picked up a bit. Then it began to cool off rapidly, so we left the beach, bought some hot dogs and fries, and ate a snack in the picnic area before beginning the drive home. Amelia was having difficulty staying awake already.

Once again, I drove the truck and trailer, while Joanne drove Carlson's van following. Lorri is uncomfortable driving on the highway. An hour or so driving south on Hwy. 12 and Hwy. 59, and we're back in Winnipeg . I headed east to Lorette on Hwy.1, and Joanne headed west on Hwy.1 into the city to take the Carlsons home, and pick up our van.

By the time I had the trailer parked and set up ( slides extended, stabilizers down, etc. ), and had visited briefly with Sharon and Bud, Joanne was home. Sharon provided us with supper to take back to our trailer. MMMMM ... beef and barley soup, and beet leaf and barley holuptsi. Thank you, Sharon. You’re a good “big sister”.

After supper, I planned and prioritized my “to do” lists for the next week or so, then downloaded and enhanced my photos from the Ukrainian Festival in Dauphin. It's approaching 10:00 P.M. and I'm sleepy ! Those little girls tired Uncle Dan out !

DSK

August 1 to 11

August 1 to 11 were entered previously.  Scroll to beginning of "older entries"

DSK

July 31

July 31, 2004

DAY 44

 

 

Happy Birthday to my brother, Russell.

WOW ... young, old, ... skinny, fat, ... tall, short, ... they can all polka here. And, without exception, quite well, I might add. I feel so left out.

Woke up early this morning ( too early for me ), so that we could catch the shuttle into Dauphin, to watch the Festival Parade on Main Street. The Festival Parade is a really big deal here. Most of Dauphin comes out to watch the parade, as well as many local farmers, and people from nearby towns. It was a great, small town parade.

We waited close to an hour for the shuttle van to pick us up, right where it dropped us off. It never showed up. With considerable annoyance, we set off down Main Street, headed out of town, with my thumb stuck out, hitchhiking. Here we go, middle aged, affluent, semi-retirees, hitchhiking in Dauphin, Manitoba. Bitaemo !

After about 10 minutes of walking backwards with my thumb stuck out, a different shuttle van from the Festival stopped and picked us up. The driver recognized us from yesterday, when we went in his shuttle van to the Ukrainian Heritage Village. This evening at the grandstand show, I bumped into the shuttle van driver who drove us out to Dauphin, and was supposed to pick us up, and confronted her about not returning for us when and where she said she would. She said she did, but couldn't find us !

The evening grandstand show was interrupted about 9:00 P.M. by a brief thunderstorm, lasting about 15 minutes. Everybody left the grandstand area, and sought cover. We returned to our trailer to change jackets, and get umbrellas. When we returned to the grandstand area, about 200 dancers and other performers, all in full costume, were mopping up the wet stage with paper towels, while the Festival Choir stood out in front of the stage, in the first few rows of bleachers, and sang, without benefit of amplification. BRAVO ! The show must go on !

After the grandstand show ended, we wandered over to the secondary stage, where the Festival house band, Kalabai, was playing, and the crowd was dancing up a storm. We sat and listened to the music, and watched people dance polkas until we became tired, just from watching.

Are they born here knowing how to dance like that ?

DSK

July 30

July 30, 2004

DAY 43

 

 

WOW ! Day 1 of Canada's National Ukrainian Festival. It feels like I'm "back home". Like I'm finally back amongst "my own people" after a long absence. A society of thick men with no necks. Women who spontaneously burst into polka. People who can dance the Kolymayka while holding drinks in their hands.

I can't decide whether to buy the t-shirt that says "I'm a UFO ... Ukrainian From Ontario" or the one with the logo from the reality TV show "Ukrainian Survivor ... Out Dance ... Out Drink ... Out Eat".

Had borscht, pyrohy, and holuptsi for lunch. Had borscht, pyrohy, and holuptsi for supper. Think I might have borscht, pyrohy, and holuptsi tomorrow. I'm a little out of touch, though, after so long away. Even the old women and little children can scarf this stuff down faster than me. But I'll be back in Ukrainian shape quickly. Even after only 1 day, I had to undo my belt to be able to sit comfortably at the evening grandstand show after supper.

Wonderful dancing and music, all day long. And well into the night ! As befits our culture and heritage ! I was particularly impressed with the Riding and Dancing Cossacks who enter and leave on galloping horses. At the end of the evening grandstand show, when all entertainers were invited back onstage ( or nearby, for those on horses ) for the finale, the Cossacks stood at attention on top of their horses, holding flaming torches, for the singing of the Ukraine National Anthem.

DSK

July 29

July 29, 2004

DAY 42

 

 

First song I heard on "Aboriginal Radio" this morning ; "Riding Around In Our Indian Cars". I'm beginning to like Native sense of humour.

Woke up late to another very cold ( for July ), cloudy, misty rain day. Took our time getting ready to leave as we were only about an hour away from Dauphin, where we were headed for Canada's National Ukrainian Festival. Drove North on Hwy. 10 through Riding Mountain National Park. Passed a black bear on the side of the road, and a few minutes later, a coyote. Pulled over onto the shoulder, and watched the coyote hunting in the tall grass for awhile. Amusing leaps onto his prey, whatever it was.

Arrived at the Ukrainian Festival site, about 10 km. south of Dauphin. Very well organized check in. Set up on our campsite in the fairground type camping area. Wandered around the festival site, which opens tomorrow. What a great venue ! The main stage is a 10,000 seat amphitheatre built into a hill side, with the huge stage at the bottom of the hill. From the top seats, you can see out over the top of the stage to miles and miles of farmland. Very impressive !

Decided to drive into Dauphin to check out the pre-festival street fair and dance. Arrived in town about 5:00 P.M, as the street fair was ending, and preparations for the evening's street dance were getting underway. Bad timing ! Walked a couple of blocks over to the Bank Of Montreal, to pay the MasterCard bill. Bank Of Montreal closed a few minutes ago. Bad timing getting worse ! Second month in a row that paying the MasterCard bill is turning into an ordeal.

Bought some groceries, then drove back out to the edge of town where the big mall was. Went to Wal-Mart. They didn't have what I needed. Went to Canadian Tire. They didn't have what I needed. Sheesh !

Drove back to festival site. Made supper. Walked around with the cats. Quite cold ! Friendly people. Chatted with the old Ukrainian guy from Minnesota who is here with his old Ukrainian buddy from Texas. I’ve never heard Ukrainian spoken with a Texan accent. No wonder I didn’t quite catch his welcome “Bitaemo”.

DSK

July 28

July 28, 2004

DAY 41

 

 

DAMN ! Missed half of last night's episode of "Amazing Race" because I was wrong about the starting time.

This morning's weather report on "Aboriginal Radio" ; "kinda crappy and cool". Boy, I'll say ! Cold, cloudy, windy, occasional misty rain. The evening was so cold I could see my breath. Too cold for July.

Started the day by finishing up the rest of my maintenance chores. Went up on the roof of the trailer and fixed the bathroom skylight. Fixed a kitchen drawer which keeps coming open when we travel.

After lunch, we drove around to see all the rest of the campground, then over to Wasagaming to explore the village on foot. Nice resort town. A few upscale lodges and restaurants. Quite a few gift and souvenir type stores. Plenty of snack and treat places. Went to the National Park Visitor Centre. Lots of taxpayer dollars being spent there ! No wonder the fees are so high.

Drove out of the park, and 5 km. south to Onanole to mail a letter. No Post Office in Wasagaming. Bought a few groceries in Onanole. I remembered that the husband of one of Joanne's breast cancer friends was wearing a cap from Onanole when they came to our recent open house / garage / yard sale in Ottawa. He was amazed that I actually knew where Onanole was.

Drove back to the trailer, read the newspaper, took a long nap. Too cold to do much of anything else. For supper, barbecued salmon on a cedar plank for the first time. Interesting. Made a campfire and sat around for awhile. Needed a sweater and a jacket !

DSK

July 27

July 27, 2004

DAY 40

 

 

Spent the entire day on chores. Started by reconciling and paying the MasterCard bill, a chore that becomes more complex each month, it seems. We now pay for almost everything with MasterCard, so there are a lot of transactions to reconcile. This month, some of them were in U.S. dollars, adding to the complexity. There went my morning.

Right after lunch, I started on removing the problem wheel off the trailer, and examining the new brakes, and the re-greased bearings. Everything seems okay. There was evidence that the plastic hub cover did indeed melt off, but since I can't find any obvious problem, maybe I just overheated the new brakes and / or the bearings inside the hub by not re-adjusting the digital trailer brake controller inside the truck, after the trailer brakes were repaired. I phoned Transcona Trailer Sales service department to advise them of the melted / missing hub cover and the missing bearing dust cap, and made a service appointment for next Tuesday, when we return to Winnipeg.

Applied Velcro to the outside door restraint which I replaced a couple of days ago. I think the old one broke off because it flaps around in the wind while we're on the road. Hopefully, holding it down against the trailer with a tiny piece of Velcro will solve the problem. I have become the King of Velcro since buying this trailer.

Adjusted the trailer brake controller's output level and synchronicity level, back to the original recommended settings. Sawed the barbecue cedar plank Sharon gave me yesterday morning into 3 pieces. Glued some little wood screw caps that fell off back onto a dining chair and the dining table. Spent some time cleaning up all the glue off the dining table and a placemat, after I knocked over the glue bottle, which I had removed the top from. I didn't notice that I had knocked the glue bottle over for a few minutes, so lots of glue oozed out ! Fixed a cook book spine with duct tape. Removed everything from one kitchen cupboard and installed double sided tape underneath the non-slip matting we installed before starting this journey. I have been working on this for awhile now, cupboard by cupboard.

Finally, after many months of procrastination, we both sat down to fill out the multi-page application forms for the Workamper position we have tentatively arranged for next January and February at Desert Haven Animal Shelterin New Mexico. Prepared digital photos of us and the rig to send to Desert Haven by e-mail, in conjunction with the hard copy applications we prepared today and will mail tomorrow. Sent a change of address notification by e-mail to a magazine subscription.

 

Unbelievable ! The song on the radio right now is about a Mexican Ukrainian girl called Cochita Kowalski. Title of the song is "Ai, yi, yi, yi yi, chiKIE chiKIE" ( Ukrainian word for "wait" ). Only near Dauphin, Manitoba, home of Canada's National Ukrainian Festival ! The radio station I have been listening to since arrival yesterday is "Aboriginal Radio". Motto ; "Real People, Real Radio". I don't have a clue what that means. Part of the time, they are speaking in a Native language. The disc jockey's name is "Coyote". Not John Coyote, or Bob Coyote, just "Coyote" ! Must be the Native equivalent of our white man's "Doc & Woody In The Morning". At least Coyote isn't saddled with a goofball, sidekick moron. Example of Native humour ; "What did you do with your treaty cheque ?" "Went on vacation." "Where ?" "Dollar Store." HA HA HA HA HA !

Am typing this as I barbecue supper. After supper, I will raise the TV antenna, and adjust it in hopes of receiving a viewable picture from the network that broadcasts "Amazing Race".

DSK

July 26

July 26, 2004

DAY 39

 

 

Toby woke me up early this morning, because he was feeling ill. The cat vomit all over the rocker / recliner made that obvious. Prepared everything for departure, then visited with Sharon, Bud, and Andrea, in the gazebo for awhile. Left about noon.

Drove west on the Perimeter Highway around the south side of Winnipeg, then west on Hwy. 1 to Portage La Prairie. Turned northwest on Hwy. 16 through Neepawa to Minnedosa. Stopped in Minnedosa for some groceries, and discovered a problem with the street side rear wheel of the trailer, the one that just had extensive brake work done. The plastic hub cap was missing, the wheel bearing dust cap was missing, and the hub was too hot to touch ! I assume the plastic hub cap melted off. I'll take off the wheel tomorrow and inspect to determine if that's what happened to it. The wheel bearing dust cap either wasn't replaced after the brake repair, or was replaced improperly, and fell off. Perhaps it was blown off by excess heat build up ? This is frustrating and discouraging. What do I have to do / how much do I have to spend to get the trailer properly repaired ? ! I tried to buy a wheel bearing hub cap in Minnedosa, but couldn't get one the right size.

From Minnedosa, turned north on Hwy 10 to Riding Mountain National Park. Discovered at the park gate that I have to pay $10 per day park user fee in addition to the $30 per night camping fee. That's 40 bucks a day for camping. That's outrageous ! We will not be camping in a Canadian National Park again !

Dumped the holding tanks on the way into the campground, then set up camp. Short rest, then fed the cats, and it was time to make supper. After supper, we walked through the campground, to the cottage area, to the Clear Lake / Wasagaming village commercial and beach area. Walk was much further from our campsite than it appeared on the campground map. Returned to our campsite at dusk, sat outside with Toby and Teddy for a short time, then put them back into the trailer when 2 little bear cubs came romping down the road in front of our campsite. Watched the bear cubs romp on the road for awhile. Wonder where their mother is ? Joanne doesn't think we should stay outside to find out.

DSK

July 25

July 25, 2004

DAY 38

 

 

Slept late this morning. Must have been tired out from too much birthday partying. More likely tired out from too much being Uncle Dan to 2 little girls. Spent quite a bit of time redoing some of the trailer brake wiring repair work. I dislike when somebody feels it is necessary to use half a roll of electrical tape on each wiring connection.

Doug and Lorraine, and their 2 girls, Madeleine and Amelia came over late in the afternoon to see the trailer. I played around this park like yard with the girls for the afternoon. Late in the afternoon, Doug's sister Tannis, her husband Scott Hewitt, and their 2 young children, Brooke and Mitchell, arrived to see the trailer, and join us for supper. Brooke and Mitchell are approximately the same ages as Madeleine and Amelia. I am truly mystified why 4 young children, from the city, when presented with an opportunity to romp and play in this huge, rural, park like yard, on a warm, sunny, summer evening, want to be indoors colouring, or watching videos ? ! I was amazed that 4 young children could go inside the trailer, and come back outside, so many times, in such a short period of time !

Sharon and Bud joined us for our picnic supper outdoors beside the trailer, when they returned from visiting Bud's mother, who is over 90, and not doing so well these days. After the Carlson's and Hewitt's left, I sat in the gazebo for the rest of the evening, having Bud serve me Crown Royal and Diet Cokes.

Remind me not to have children !

DSK

July 24

July 24, 2004

DAY 37

 

 

Started this sunny warm day over coffee in the back yard gazebo with Sharon and Bud. Worked on finishing the installation of the two plumbing roof vents started yesterday. Loaded the software for the cell phone data cable. Connected to AOL to send and receive e-mail ... through the new cell phone ! ! ! WOO-HOO ! ! !

Went to the Carlson's mid-afternoon to help Lorraine prepare for Doug's surprise 40th birthday party tonight. I and the little nieces set up the lawn furniture, cleaned all ( most of ) the Spiderman spider web spray string gunk off the lawn, blew up balloons, and hung little birthday decorations all around the house and yard. Manned the barbecue. Spent the evening watching Carlson family dynamics ; Doug, his parents, his 2 sisters, and 5 children aged 2 to 5. Quite different from my family's dynamics. Interesting to sit on the periphery and watch.

Happy 40th birthday, Doug. You're a great husband and father.

DSK

July 22

July 20, 21, & 22, 2004

 

DAYS 33, 34, & 35

 

 

Tuesday ; Went shopping this morning at St.Vital Centre for a new cell phone and service. MTS Mobility, Telus, and Rogers. Confusing ! Decided to discuss with Joanne's sister, Lorraine, and her husband, Doug, to get their opinions. Went over to the Carlson home after shopping, to have lunch, and visit with Lorraine, and her two young daughters, Madeleine, age 5, and Amelia, age 3. When Doug came home from work, he and I worked on bringing in artwork from our van, unpacking it, and hanging it in their home. This is how we will be "storing" most of our artwork, by displaying it in either the Carlson ( Joanne's sister's ) home, or the Danelak ( Dan's sister's ) home. Joanne prepared dinner while Doug and I worked on hanging art. After dinner, Joanne read to the little nieces, and prepared them for bed, while Doug and Dan continued working on the art. Finally, at the end of the day, we all watched episode 3 of The Amazing Race, a reality show we all enjoy.

Wednesday ; Took the trailer first thing in the morning to Transcona Trailer Sales on Dugald Road, for brake service. We've known since early in this journey that there is a problem with the electric brakes on the driver's side rear wheel of the trailer. Dropped off the trailer, then drove to Kildonan Place on Regent for more cell phone shopping. Decided on MTS Mobility, despite Doug's and Lorri's advice. Sorry, guys, but thanks, anyways. Don't you hate when people ask for your advice, then don't follow it ?

Around lunchtime, Transcona Trailer Sales phoned with the bad news. Quite serious problems with the one wheel and brake. Routine maintenance recommended on the other three. Bill will exceed a thousand dollars ! Took the truck for an oil change. Ended up not only with a lubrication and change of oil and filter, but changed the air filter, and flushed and refilled the automatic transmission fluid, front differential fluid, and transfer case fluid. Another huge vehicle maintenance bill ! Truck and trailer should both now be in excellent condition, for continuing out journey. Transcona Trailer Sales needed the trailer to remain overnight, so we had to drive back there to get toiletries and fresh clothes out of the trailer.

Had dinner with Sharon, Bud, Andrea, and Andrea's friend, Daryl. Snapped at Daryl after dinner over his irritating, immature behaviour. Angered Sharon a great deal, who thinks it's not my place to bark at her daughter's friend, in her home. Fine ... point made and taken. Move on !

Showed Paris pictures to Bud and Sharon late in the evening.

Thursday ; Had to be at Carlson's by 9:30 A.M. to babysit Madeleine and Amelia, while Lorri went to a work meeting / presentation. After lunch, went for haircuts, then to pick up trailer. Minor additional problems pushed bill up to $1200 and 1 damaged tire needed replacing. Dumped holding tanks. Went to tire dealer. New tire adds $200 to day's maintenance costs < big sigh >. Went to truck wash on Marion Street to try ( unsuccessfully ) to wash bugs off front of trailer. Should have known that truck wash across the street from the Stock Yards would reek of manure ! Bought some groceries and cat food in Southdale, then back to Danelak's yard, arriving after 6:00 P.M.. What a long, hard day. Fixed the fridge drain hose. Replaced the exterior door restraint. Had a late supper. Checked vehicle fluids. Filled water tank. Set up new phone 120V charger in trailer and 12V charger in truck. Did some computer work ; maintenance records, journal, etc..

DSK

July 23

July 23, 2004

DAY 36

 

 

Started the day by unloading the rest of our artworks from Joanne's van. Visited with Bud in the gazebo over a cup of coffee. Recruited Andrea's boyfriend, Georges, to help carry the art into Sharon's basement. Spent some time talking to Georges about the possibility of him buying Joanne's van. Sent him off on a test drive with the van. He seems excited about the prospect of buying the van from us. He seems like a nice young man.

Had lunch. Took a short nap. Haven't been doing that much lately. This unemployed phase of my life seems much too busy to allow me the luxury of afternoon naps. Spent the rest of the afternoon installing the 2 new plumbing roof vents on the trailer. Didn't quite finish before I had to start cleaning up to be on time for the Danelak barbecue party to celebrate Andrea's graduation from high school.

Evening was spent visiting with the Danelak's friends. Last guests didn't leave until 2:00 A.M.! We didn't want to appear rude by leaving the party before the other guests, since we sort of live here now, so we stuck it out until the very end.

DSK

July 19

July 19, 2004

DAY 32

 

 

Left Rushing River Provincial Park this morning, on the "home stretch" quite literally. Extreme difficulty getting out of the campsite, and campground. I can't help but notice that almost no rigs the size of ours are in the Provincial and State park campgrounds, opting instead for the "big rig" friendliness of the privately owned campgrounds. The Provincial and State park campgrounds just don't seem to be designed to handle rigs as big as ours.

Stopped in Kenora for groceries, and diesel fuel. Crossed the border from Ontario back into Manitoba. After 16 1/2 years, welcome home !

Arrived at my sister Sharon's home late afternoon, in Lorette, just outside Winnipeg. Spent the rest of the day visiting with Sharon, and her husband Bud. Met their new 10 week old kitten, Lilly. Introduced Lilly to Toby and Teddy. A traumatic experience for all concerned. Stupid cats ! Sat in the backyard gazebo all evening visiting and eating fresh strawberries, waiting for their teenage daughter Andrea to return home from her part time summer job around midnight.

Nice to be "home" ! It's been a long journey.

DSK

July 18

July 18, 2004

DAY 31

 

 

Ahhhhh ... the sound of loons calling to each other across Dogtooth Lake, as we sit by our campfire. Rushing River Provincial Park !

This morning we walked to the campground office to pay for another night at Blue Lake Provincial Park. The attendant told us that our campsite was rented for that night, and so we would have to move to another site if we wanted to stay another night. Joanne decided that if we had to do all the work of retracting the slides, disconnecting from power, etc., to move over a few sites, we might as well just leave Blue Lake and go to Rushing River Provincial Park, my all time favourite. So ... off we went.

First, I spent a couple of hours doing some maintenance work on the trailer, replacing the plumbing roof vent that broke off yesterday, and removing the cell phone antenna and wiring installed by the trailer's previous owner. We refilled the water tank, and set off for Rushing River Provincial Park about 100 km. west on Hwy.17 towards Kenora.. We stopped about halfway there, at a lakeside picnic / rest area, to have lunch, and fish for about an hour.

Rushing River Provincial Park has expanded somewhat since we were last here, 17 or so years ago. The site we were assigned, no.263, at the far end of the newer side of the campground, was quite difficult to get the trailer into. Aren't they all ? ! ? At least the site had plenty of blueberries to pick, as well as a few very sweet wild strawberries. Oh, boy. Blueberries in my Frosted Flakes tomorrow morning. I was trying to remember when was the first time I was here. I remember walking with my baby brother Russell in the rapids of Rushing River, and he lost his little baby shoe, so it must have been the summer he would have turned 2 years old. 1963 ! 41 years ago !

DSK

July 17

July 15, 16, & 17, 2004

DAYS 28, 29, & 30

 

 

Thursday ; Left Rainbow Falls Provincial Park, and continued driving west on Hwy.17 following the north shore of Lake Superior to Nipigon, where the highway turns south, following the west shore of Lake Superior to Thunder Bay. Saw a moose on the side of the road. Joanne didn't see it. Stopped at a mall coming into Thunder Bay to buy some groceries and supplies, then drove to the home of my cousin, Helen Petersen, and her family, husband Bruce, daughter Carey, and Carey's Golden Retriever, Skyler. Haven't seen the Petersen's since I flew myself to Winnipeg and back a few years ago. Joanne hasn't seen them in a very long time ; probably saw them last at my father's funeral. Spent a very pleasant afternoon and evening visiting with them. It's always a real pleasure to visit the Petersen's.

Friday ; A full day of relaxing, and visiting with Helen, Bruce, Carey, and Skyler. Introduced Skyler to Toby and Teddy. She had never been exposed to cats up close before. She did just fine. What else would you expect from a Golden ? Toby wasn't too thrilled about having his face licked by a big dog.

Saturday ; Had breakfast with the Petersen's, then departed late morning. Continued northwest from Thunder Bay on Hwy.17 , through Ignace and Dryden. Passed from the Eastern Time Zone to the Central Time Zone. Shortly after we left Thunder Bay, Joanne saw something fly off the roof of the trailer. When I checked it out late in the day, I discovered that one of the plumbing roof vents had become so brittle from exposure to sunlight, that it had cracked and broken completely off. Will try to replace it tomorrow, as I have already bought three replacement plumbing roof vents. I saw a couple of weeks ago that they were brittle and cracking, and required replacement.

Joanne saw a bear on the side of the road. I didn't see it. Moose beats bear. I win !

Was planning to park for the night at the Wal-Mart in Dryden, but Joanne wanted to continue on to Blue Lake Provincial Park, a beautiful park we have been to a few times, but not for over 16 years, at least. Only a few sites available in Blue Lake's campground. Assigned a site that was too tight a squeeze for a rig this size. Couldn't drive in forward, despite the fact that the site was a "pull through". Tried to "jackknife" it in backwards. While Joanne carefully watched the trailer,and my driver's side outside mirror was close to a tree, and hidden in leaves, I backed the rear corner of the truck into a tree. The corner of the bumper was scratched, and the sheet metal on the rear corner of the truck, under the tail light was scratched and dented ! I'm very unhappy about this incident, but trying hard to be philosophical about it. With all the tight spaces I'm trying to manoeuvre this huge rig in and out of, I'm sure that this won't be the last time that a tree or some other obstruction jumps out and "bites" the truck or trailer. Nonetheless ... grrrrrrrrr !

Fixed the scratches and dent as best as I could, made and ate supper, then walked with the cats to Blue Lake beach, just as the sun was setting on the water. Gorgeous ! What a beautiful place this is. Joanne remembered that in the early years of our married life, we once engaged in some shallow water “activity” in this calm water, sandy bottom lake’s swimming area after dark one hot summer night many, many years ago. Yes, yes ... I remember it well !

Walked along the beach to the amphitheatre to see tonight’s park movie about the history of the development of Ontario’s Provincial Park system. It’s been at least 2 decades since we’ve attended a Provincial Park’s amphitheatre presentation.

DSK

July 14

July 14, 2004

DAY 27

 

 

A lovely, warm, sunny day. This is a really nice place. We are at Rainbow Falls Provincial Park, which is on Whitesand Lake, where it empties over Rainbow Falls on its way to Lake Superior a short distance away. This morning we walked all around the campground, then hiked over to "West Beach" and on to the Rainbow Falls Hiking Trail alongside the falls. Lovely. Reminiscent of Dogtooth Lake and Rushing River, my favourite campground, near Kenora. The afternoon was spent doing some maintenance chores. I changed a tail light assembly on the trailer, while Joanne continued removing PET VALU logo decals from her van. Late afternoon we walked over to "East Beach" where I removed my socks and shoes, and walked along the shore in the shallow water, with soft sand underneath.

Three times today while walking we observed female ruffed grouse, with their young. Interesting to watch. Mom stands tall, guarding the little ones, as they feed on vegetation. She "coos" to them softly to call them closer when she perceives we are a threat. Alternately, she stands tall and visible, or crouches low, and moves so slowly she is almost invisible.

Great barbecued chicken and squash for supper. We're experimenting with barbecuing different vegetables, since we use the barbecue frequently to prepare suppers. Long, peaceful campfire. Daylight until 10:30 P.M.. Walked to the comfort station in twilight, without flashlight, at 11:00 P.M..

DSK

July 13

July 13, 2004

DAY 26

 

 

When I flew myself from Ottawa to Winnipeg and back, a couple of few years ago, in Cessna 172 C-GCVO, the two places that caused me grief were Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. It was the same on this road trip from Ottawa to Winnipeg. Remind me to remove Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie from my list of places to re-visit.

The truck was ready by 10:00 A.M. this morning. The GM dealership's service department was able to remove the exhaust manifold crossover pipe from the exhaust manifolds with only one bolt breaking. They drilled out the bolt and re-tapped the threads, adding about an hour to the bill, which was $255. A hell of a lot better than Canadian Tire's $1630 !

Picked up the truck, filled it with diesel, while Joanne bought groceries and filled the van with gas, drove back to the campground, hitched up, dumped the tanks, and we were on the road by noon. From Sault Ste. Marie north along the east coast of Lake Superior to Wawa, then west along the north shore of Lake Superior all the way to Rainbow Falls Provincial Park just past Terrace Bay and Schreiber. A long, hard day of driving, to get about 2/3 of the way from Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay.

DSK

July 12

July 12, 2004

DAY 25

 

 

Canadian Tire phoned first thing this morning with an estimate. Right manifold, left manifold, and crossover pipe ; $1630 plus taxes < GASP >. Phoned some muffler shops from the pay phone. Phoned the GM dealer. Decided to take it to the dealer. Went to Canadian Tire to pick up the truck. Now the story changes ! Seems since I didn't authorize the $1630, they might as well give me the real story. What is necessary is the crossover pipe worth about a hundred bucks, and an hour of labour. They might break either or both of the manifolds when trying to remove the old crossover pipe. Maybe ! The manifolds are about $400 each, with about 3 hours of labour to install each. WELL ! Big difference between $169 and $1630, isn't there ? !

I took the truck to the dealer and told them to change the crossover pipe without breaking the manifolds. They will try, but suggest there is a 60% probability of breakage. Better odds than Canadian Tire's "can we have authorization to do $1630 worth of work, please".

If removal of crossover pipe doesn't break either manifold, truck will be ready tomorrow

( Tuesday ). If manifold required, parts will have to be ordered. Probably not ready until late Thursday < sigh >.

Stocked up on groceries, did a teensy bit of maintenance on the trailer, but can't do much. Tools are in truck, at GM dealer. Joanne spent afternoon peeling PET VALU logos off her van with fingernails. I couldn't stand to listen, so I went to send e-mail at campground office. Had a heavy thunderstorm that lasted about 15 minutes. Sun before. Sun after. I miss that. Ottawa's rainfalls aren't like that.

DSK

July 11

July 11, 2004

DAY 24

 

 

Well, today was certainly a lot better day than yesterday. The only redeeming value in yesterday is in using it as a lesson in how to survive "one of those days".

YESTERDAY ; We left Sturgeon Falls fairly early ( for us ) and drove west on Hwy.17 heading for Sudbury. Made a stop at a native craft shop in Wahnapitae to buy me a belt I desperately needed ( don't even ask ! ). At Sudbury, we left the highway to enter the city and find a TD / Canada Trust. No problem. Deposited a personal cheque to the company account. A bit of a problem. A non-resident depositing a large personal cheque drawn on an out of town credit union, deposited to an out of town company's out of town bank account ... on a Saturday. A tad suspicious, from the bank's perspective. Understandable.

From here, things went downhill rapidly. As we pull out of this mall's parking lot, the trailer door swings open. Joanne failed to close it properly. Fortunately, before I'm even out of the parking lot, people are shouting at me about the trailer's open door. Then, as I turn out of the mall back onto the road towards the highway, Joanne is stopped by the traffic light. Since she knows I'm returning to the Petro-Canada by the highway exit to buy diesel, she doesn't bother to advise me on the 2 way radios we are using to communicate from vehicle to vehicle, that she has separated from me. Halfway back to the exit, and the Petro-Canada, I turn into the Canadian Tire to buy something, unaware that Joanne is not right behind me. When I realize she's not there, I call her on the radio, but she's out of range. I go in to buy what I need as she zooms by on her way to the Petro-Canada. Finding me not at the Petro-Canada, and unable to contact me on the radio, she executes our "separation" contingency plan. She uses a credit card at the pay phone to phone me on the cell phone, having to make a long distance call back to Ottawa to reach me on the cell phone just as I am finally pulling into the Petro-Canada, having finished my shopping at Canadian Tire. Suffice to say an argument ensues !

Now ... to begin to add insult to injury, it turns out I am unable to buy diesel at this station, as it is a station exclusively for commercial truckers, and I obviously do not have the correct commercial trucker Petro-Canada "Petro-Pass" card that activates these fuel pumps. More "argument". I storm off in the truck and trailer, headed back into the city on a quest for diesel. Joanne unwisely decided to wait at this station, and not follow me ! This causes much, much more "argument" later. I drive into and out of 3 stations, none of which have diesel, with no one to assist me in and out of tight spots with this 47 foot long rig ! ! ! I drive back to the Petro-Canada to re-unite with Joanne, and, of course, "express my displeasure" at her decision not to follow me back into the city on my search for diesel. I continue to "express my displeasure" for about the next 24 hours.

I storm off down the highway, finally finding diesel at the next little village down the road, filling the tank with over 119 litres, in a 128 litre tank ! ! !

We stop for lunch, and more "arguing", a couple of hours later, at Blind River. Shortly after leaving Blind River, the exhaust pipe blows off the exhaust manifold on the truck. I pull over to the side of the road, and check things out. Doesn't look good. With this exhaust pipe or maybe turbo-charger pipe blown off, the performance of the truck engine is poor, to say the least. And the noise ! WOW ! I limp along to the next town, Thesallon, and find the closed "one horse" GM dealer. I decide this is not likely to be the best place to try to get the truck fixed. I limp along to the next town, Bruce Mines, which has no GM dealer, but has a nice municipal campground. Joanne insists we stop here for the night, and figure out the best course of action. We get some laundry done, I fish a bit off the very nice municipal dock ( first time fishing in over 10 years ), and we figure out where the big GM dealer is in Sault Ste.Marie, and find a nice private campground near the GM dealer.

TODAY ; We leave Bruce Mines after we finally finish yesterday's "arguing", and limp along about 80 km. to Sault Ste. Marie. The private campground is very nice. We unhitch the trailer and head over to the GM dealer to drop off the truck for early Monday service, but decide instead to leave it at a nearby large Canadian Tire service dept. for servicing early tomorrow. We spend the afternoon wandering around the campground, fishing in their private, stocked lake, and lounging around their hot tub. I guess there are worse ways to wait for vehicle service.

DSK

July 9

July 9, 2004

DAY 22

 

 

Well ... we are now officially homeless. WOO-HOO ! ! !

Woke up to a sunny, warm day, something we haven't seen much of since we've been back in Ottawa for the last 4 days. Finished up inside the house, got the van fluids topped up, and air put into the tires, and we were ready to "hitch and go".

Pulled out of the driveway right on schedule at noon. Goodbye 1308 Quigley Hill Road. Had to drive into Orleans to withdraw some cash from the C.S. Co-op Credit Union. Just as we arrived in Orleans, about 10 minutes after leaving home, Toby had a defecation "accident" inside his pet carrier. Normally, Toby and Teddy are in the truck with their pet carrier doors open, so they are free to stay in their carrier, or sit on Joanne's lap, or sleep on the truck rear seat, or floor, AND ... have access to the litter box on the floor behind the front seats BUT ... since Joanne is following me on this trip in her van loaded with the artwork we are taking to Winnipeg for storage, we put the cats inside their carriers, and closed the doors, so they wouldn't try to climb onto my lap, or under my feet, while I'm driving alone. Poor Toby. We cleaned up the carrier, and him, and continued.

Drove west through Ottawa, on the Queensway, taking an hour and a quarter to cross the city ! Finally, out of the city, west on Hwy.17, through Arnprior, Renfrew, and Pembroke, before stopping at a roadside rest area for a very late lunch. Oh, geez ... now Toby's had a urination "accident". Now both his "blankies" need to be laundered. Decided to try driving with Toby left alone in the trailer, and Teddy in his carrier in the truck. That seemed to work well. Stopped in North Bay at a TD / Canada Trust to deposit a personal cheque into the company account, right after the lawyer phoned to say that the proceeds from the house sale were deposited. WOO-HOO again ! Now I can transfer funds around, and prevent about $265,000 worth of cheques from bouncing. DAMN ... the TD Bank in North Bay closed 45 minutes ago, at 6:00 P.M.. Have to make sure I get to a TD in Sudbury tomorrow morning. Leaving Toby alone in the trailer worked so well, that after we fed them, we decided to try it with Teddy as well, so into the trailer he went, with Toby, and away we go from North Bay. Joanne is getting tired of driving, and doesn't want to go much further, so we stopped for the night in Sturgeon Falls. Pulled off the highway, and spent the night parked at the far end of the empty parking lot of the Sturgeon Falls Community Centre, a recreation centre / arena / swimming pool / curling rink complex with baseball diamonds and soccer and football fields. Seems like a reasonable place to "boondock" for the night. Walked to the supermarket next door, bought supper, and tomorrow's lunch, made and ate supper, and took Toby for a walk around the baseball fields to pamper him after his traumatic day.

DSK

July 8

July 8, 2004

DAY 21

 

 

Well ... what a nice send-off from Ottawa. As we were preparing supper, the sun broke through the clouds, minutes after a light rainfall, and produced a beautiful rainbow. I considered it our farewell gift.

Met with Bill MacQuarrie, our lawyer, to sign papers, turn over keys, etc. for the sale of the house, which takes place tomorrow. Gave away our guest room bed, and Joanne's desk, to our next door neighbours, Pascal and his wife Jackie. Stocked up on groceries, packed the artwork into the van for the trip to Winnipeg, loaded some firewood into the back of the truck, took the last few items left over to the Salvation Army, took my crutches ( from an injury during a ski trip to Whistler on my way to my brother Russell's wedding in Vancouver many years ago ) for donation to a senior's agency that wants crutches, went to the last store we owned, PET VALU 234 Westgate to buy a new harness for Toby ( which they didn't have in stock ! ) and to say goodbye to Barry ( our former employee ) and Bobbie Sue the budgie.

Went into the forest behind the house to say a final farewell to Nikki the Bichon, and Butterball the budgie, both of whom are buried back there.

Retrieved and ( finally ! ) sent e-mail, plugging into a phone jack next door at Pascal's. Been having a real annoying problem with the laptop making frequent, random attempts to dial up AOL since I loaded the Wi-Fi software yesterday. Pascal took a look at it to see if he could solve the problem. He couldn't.

Worked late into the evening on the computer, on finances. YIKES !

DSK

July 7

July 7, 2004

DAY 20

 

 

What is it about Ottawa's weather ? For 16 days we were away from Ottawa, and every day was sunny. We've been back in Ottawa for 3 days, and it's cloudy and grey sky most of the time. It's no wonder I'm depressed here !

Spent much of today at Roger Gran-Ruaz's office, my investment broker, planning with him how to invest the proceeds of the house sale. Ran some errands, including buying the extremely heavy concrete septic tank access hatch broken by the septic tank cleaner yesterday. Bought some trailer repair parts at Ottawa Camping Trailer, near Boucher Precast Concrete where I bought the septic tank cover, way down Bank Street / Hwy. 31 south of the city.

Spent the evening working on the fiscal year end management bonuses and remittances, followed by installing the new Wi-Fi wireless network access card I bought, to enable me to connect to the Internet at Wi-Fi "hotspots". I feel hopeless and helpless when it comes to dealing with computer technical stuff. I have no way of knowing if this card works, or doesn't work, or if the installation went correctly, etc.. What I do know is that since I installed this card a short time ago, my AOL software keeps trying to "dial-up" AOL, at random. < SIGH > Another problem, for another day, I guess.

Good night !

DSK

July 6

July 6, 2004

DAY 19

 

 

Met with Eric Pryor, our accountant, to clarify the remittances required to be made for income tax and Canada Pension Plan when our company "pays" us our fiscal year end management bonuses.

Mowed the lawn for the last time ! Threw out my lawn mowing shoes !

Cleaned the pool. I love having a pool, but it certainly is difficult to keep clean when in a wooded setting like this yard.

Bonsoir la visite !

DSK

July 5

July 5, 2005

DAY 18

 

 

A long day of chores and errands, most of which go quite poorly. Nothing but frustration and irritation, eventually leading to an evening of depression.

DSK

July 4

July 4, 2004

DAY 17

 

 

Left Ivy Lea Provincial Park about noon, driving east on the 1000 Islands Parkway, until it reached Hwy. 2 and Hwy. 401. Hwy. 401 is no treat, so continued east on Hwy. 2, the slow, scenic route, passing through all the towns and villages along the St. Lawrence, like Brockville, and Morrisburg.

Stopped for a very late lunch at the picnic park on the waterfront near Upper Canada Village. From there, headed north on Hwy. 31 back to Ottawa, arriving home by 6:00 P.M.. Spent the evening getting organized for the chores and errands facing us this week, doing some pool maintenance, and tossing out whatever was left in the house, as tomorrow is garbage day.

An entire day of sniping at each other for anything and everything ! What an unpleasant day !

DSK

July 3

July 3, 2004

DAY 16

 

 

A hot, sunny day. Travelled from Wellesley Island State Park in New York to Ivy Lea Provincial Park in Ontario, on the Canadian side of the Thousand Islands, on the St. Lawrence River. A distance of 20 kilometres. Took over 2 hours ! Crossing the International Border isn't getting any quicker !

Set up at Ivy Lea, walked around the campground a bit, had lunch, then drove into Gananoque 14 kms. away to replenish groceries and supplies. We ran our fridge contents down to almost nothing for crossing the border, in each direction. Meats and fruits can't be transported across the border, in either direction, apparently.

Ivy Lea seems to be quite popular with the recreational scuba diving crowd. Didn't know that recreational diving was so popular with the chain smoking Quebec biker crowd !

Bought some stuff at Canadian Tire that resulted in some "home improvement" work on the trailer when we returned. Balance of afternoon spent sitting outside in folding chairs watching Toby and Teddy enjoy the great outdoors. They're beginning to behave a little better outdoors on ropes in the campsites, although they both still seem inclined to eat grass until they vomit. Only after they accomplish that can they begin to relax and enjoy the scenery.

Made great barbecued burgers with mushrooms, and potato salad for supper. Ate outside at the picnic table. What a beautiful, warm, bug-free evening. Took the cats for a little walk. Chatted with a family of cat lovers from Cornwall. Took the cats back to the trailer, then we walked at dusk to the dock. Sat on the dock in twilight, watching the late fishermen in their boats returning to wherever. Remembered how much I miss this ; sitting on a dock at dusk, etc.. It's been 15 years or more since we've done these sorts of things. I want it back ! Must stop procrastinating about buying a fishing license ... soon.

DSK

July 2

July 2, 2004

DAY 15

 

 

Today was a sunny, hot day. Tried out the trailer's air conditioning for the first time. Worked great !

Had a bit of a problem finding a campsite for tonight. Not surprising, I guess, since today is the Friday of the biggest long weekend of the summer, on both sides of the border.

Left Selkirk Shores State Park and drove north on N.Y. Hwy. 3, following the east coast of Lake Ontario. Stopped at Wescott Beach State Park near Sackets Harbor on Henderson Bay. No campsites available for tonight. Continued north on Hwy. 3 until it met Interstate 81 at Watertown. Stopped at a Sam's Club store adjacent to a Wal-Mart, to see what it is. Just like a Costco or Price Club. Had to manoeuvre the rig in and out of 2 gas stations in Watertown that didn't have diesel, finally finding diesel at the third station. Extremely difficult ; certainly is developing my rig handling skills in tight quarters.

Continued north on I-81 to the New York State Welcome Centre at the Thousands Island Bridge. Stopped to find out if any of the many State Parks in the Thousand Islands area have available campsites. Staff at Welcome Centre clueless. Thanks for the help ! Picked up the brochures for all the State Parks in the vicinity, and started phoning them from the payphone. Found a few campsites available at nearby Wellesley Island State Park, so off we went, in a big hurry.

Nice State Park on Wellesley Island. Nicer than Selkirk Shores last night. Not as nice as the Ontario Provincial Parks. Went for a short walk, followed by a very long walk, exploring the campground. Decided to not even unhitch, since we’re only here for 1 night. Maybe the unhitching and rehitching process is unnecessary work for 1 night stops.

Hot afternoon, and long walk, inspired Joanne to a long, late afternoon nap, a very rare occurrence for her. I did some office work, and photo work on the computer. Barbecued chicken for late supper, followed by another short walk at dusk to the boat dock and back. Another fine day ! Sort of hate to have to return to Ottawa tomorrow or Sunday. Lots of work to do, and only 5 days to get it done. Van muffler replacement, trailer brake repair / adjustment, trailer roof vent replacement, lots of e-mail to catch up on, a Mastercard bill due, and I haven’t even received the statement yet, meet with accountant re : fiscal year end of 3 companies, meet with investment broker re : investing proceeds of house, etc..

I’m sort of getting accustomed to this retired / unemployed, full time traveller lifestyle. Don’t want to go back !

DSK

July 1

July 1, 2004

DAY 14

 

 

HAPPY CANADA DAY !

Well ... what can I say about the weather ? It's another sunny, warm day.

We left Rock Point Provincial Park and headed east on Hwy.3 following the north shore of Lake Erie to Fort Erie. We crossed the International Border on the Peace Bridge over the mouth of the Niagara River, into Buffalo, New York. Shuffled off to Buffalo, so to speak !

Interstate 190 around the south side of Buffalo, to Interstate 90 heading east. Past Rochester, to Syracuse. BIG EVENT ; Joanne drove the rig for the very first time, 29 miles from one rest stop to another on I-90 between Rochester and Syracuse. She did exceptionally well ! Congratulations !

Turned north at Syracuse onto Interstate 81. North on I-81 until we exited for groceries at the village of Mexico, N.Y.. From Mexico, northwest on Hwy.3 to Selkirk Shores State Park on the east coast of Lake Ontario. More expensive than Canadian parks, and not quite as nice.

As I am typing this, an ambulance and fire rescue truck are attending to some medical emergency at the campsite across the road from us, administering oxygen and loading into the ambulance a 30'ish something woman who weighs about 300 pounds, as her 400 pound male companion waddles around looking worried. Have another Big Mac, sweetheart. Would you like fries with that ?

Who said that ? I must have driven too much today !

DSK

June 30

June 30, 2004

DAY 13

 

 

Gee ... another warm, sunny day. Got up early, had breakfast, had a cup of coffee, went back to sleep. HA HA HA !

Spent most of today doing trailer and truck maintenance chores. Mid-afternoon, went for a long walk on the beach. The beaches on the north shore of Lake Erie rival those on the west coast of Florida, on the Gulf Of Mexico. Soft, white sand, clear warm water. Mild breeze, just enough to cool the blazing sun.

Walked along the beach all the way to Rock Point, hence the name of the Provincial Park. Rock Point is ... well ... a rocky point, with lots of fossils visible. Returned to the trailer to sit outside in the folding chairs for awhile, eating a snack, then we brought the cats outside for some fresh air. They seem to have come to expect a daily outing since we have been living in the trailer. Took Toby for a slow, leisurely walk, allowing him to explore around the campground while connected to us with a long rope.

Made supper with Joanne. We're a good team. We're having a lot of fun doing this, and really enjoy being with one another. I cooked my famous fresh pickerel recipe, with the fish we bought yesterday in Port Stanley.

I'm typing this right after supper, as I continue to procrastinate working on our three companies' fiscal year ends. Guess I'd better go start. ( SIGH )

DSK

June 29

June 29, 2004

DAY 12

 

 

Another sunny, warm day ! Left Rondeau Provincial Park this morning and drove east on

Hwy. 3 following the north shore of Lake Erie. Last September when we attended the Escapees Ontario Chapter Fall Rally we drove through Port Stanley, and wanted to see it again. Port Stanley is a quaint, little fishing village. Drove through town, and parked in the beach parking lot. Walked back up the main street about a block, stopping in 2 fish stores whose back doors open onto the fishing boat wharf. Bought fresh pickerel for supper tomorrow, some frozen pickerel for another time, some smoked whitefish for lunch tomorrow, and a special treat to share with my sister's family when we get to Winnipeg.

We need to clean out the fridge before we cross into the United States on Thursday, and apparently fish in the freezer will be allowed, while beef and chicken will not.

Decided to splurge and have a restaurant lunch at a little fish and chip shop beside the fish stores. WOW ! Fresh ! Had battered, deep fried pickerel with cole slaw and fries. Joanne had yellow perch with cole slaw and fries. She decided it's the best fish and chips she's ever had.

Bought some groceries after lunch and hit the road again. Stopped in Tillsonburg at a PET VALU to buy dry cat food, and Wal Mart for everything else we needed. Onward !

Arrived at Rock Point Provincial Park by 7:00 P.M.. Set up, fed the cats, walked down to take a look at the beach. Strong wind, high waves ... rather cold on the beach. Back to the trailer to prepare supper. Turned my back for a fraction of a second, and in the blink of an eye, Toby is under one side of the dining room table scarfing down my piece of pickerel left over from lunch, while Teddy is under the other side of the table scarfing down my smoked whitefish. As I type this, I look over to see Teddy sleeping upside down on his Drop & Flop bed, looking like ... well ... a very contented kitty who has just had smoked whitefish for dessert.

DSK

June 28

June 28, 2004

DAY 11

 

 

Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law Lorri.

Today started out cloudy and cool, becoming sunny and warm late in the afternoon. We woke up very late. Finally ... we get to sleep late. The RV Club rallies had us up pretty early every day.

Phoned Lorri to wish her Happy Birthday. Phoned Camping World in Detroit to cancel our appointment for service on the trailer tomorrow. It can wait. I'll have to try again myself to identify the source of the leak into the bedroom cupboard under the TV antenna before taking it in for service.

Went to the park's visitor centre right after lunch, and from there, hiked the 1.4 km. Tulip Tree Hiking Trail. Drove over to the marsh area, and hiked 2 km. down the Marsh Trail to the observation tower looking out over the marsh and Rondeau Bay. Seemed like a lot more than 2 km.! Went back to the trailer, sat outside in the folding chairs for awhile to rest our sore, tired feet, then went in for a nap before supper. Nice work if you can get it !

Joanne made a cherry crumble dessert with the fresh cherries we bought yesterday. Cooked and ate supper, then took Toby and Teddy for a beach walk. Toby liked it so much he walked along the water's edge, allowing the little waves to wash right over his paws. Teddy spread his toes wide, extended his claws, and had a look of terror on his face. WATER ! LOTS OF WATER ! ! Away from the water's edge, he did enjoy flopping over and rolling in the sand.

Back to the trailer to set up the TV antenna for the first time, to watch the election results. Surprisingly good reception, on quite a few channels. Did some accounting while watching the early results.

This is exactly the sort of day we are striving for in this lifestyle.

DSK

June 27

June 27, 2004

DAY 10

 

 

Didn't get around to writing my journal yesterday. Might be impractical to do it every day. We'll see.

Yesterday started with a catered breakfast, followed by 3 seminars until noon. The first 2 seminars were good, and the third one wasn't, so we left part way through. Went back to the trailer and did a little bit of maintenance ... fixed a tail light on the trailer, etc.. Had lunch, then went to watch the group games for awhile ; horse shoes, bean bag baseball, and rung ho ( I think that's what it was called ). Checked out the craft instruction ; petit point, and making a beaded tea light holder. Rung ho was slightly interesting, so we watched for a few minutes, then wandered over to see the 2 fifth wheel trailers, class A motor home, and 2 class B van campers on display by a local RV dealer.

Nap time !

Supper was another fancy, multi-course catered affair. These kinds of meals, while parked in a 5 star golf club, country club, and RV resort, are not exactly roughing it. Chatted with a full timer widower, and a couple from Quebec. Invited them back to our rig for Crown Royal when the loud band started playing country music. The Quebec couple slightly over stayed their welcome, so it was too late to write my journal.

Today was the best day of this adventure so far. Warm and sunny again ! Catered, big breakfast, followed by short rally wrap-up comments and thanks. Hooked up, and headed out by about 11:00. Drove to Leamington for shopping. PET VALU franchised store in Leamington out of stock of dry cat food we use ! Poor service by fat, young woman who was trying hard to not have to come out from behind counter to serve customers. Joanne tempted to intervene with advice when other customer was getting refund for unsatisfactory clippers, but stifled herself. Clerk had no clue what to recommend to customer who was eager to spend more money on clippers that would meet her needs. Went to Wal-Mart and A & P for the rest of our groceries and supplies. Getting better at manouevering rig around in town.

On the way out of Leamington, stopped at a road side stand and bought fresh vegetables, and cherries. Stand run by an old Mexican. Very visible presence of Mexicans around here. Seems as if Mexicans have been coming here for generations to pick tomatoes. Leamington is the tomato capital of Canada, with a huge Heinz factory in town. Guess the Mexicans work hard at the jobs that we white Canadians don’t want to do, until they have brought their families here, bought nice homes, started businesses, etc. Another sad commentary on Canadian society’s work ethic and motivation.

Was surprised to see quite a few oil derricks around here.

Drove along the north shore of Lake Erie to Rondeau Provincial Park. Was only going to stay until tomorrow, but after seeing what a great park this is, we’ll be staying longer. Superb, soft sand beach, with warm clear water. Large, level, shaded camp sites with good privacy. Went for a long ( much longer than intended ) walk / hike. Maybe some day soon I will contemplate bringing insect repellent and / or sunscreen when I go out. DAMN !

Fresh corn, extremely fresh salad, great steak for dinner. Walked with the cats over to the laundry building at dusk to do some laundry ... and, of course ... munch on clover until we puke !

This place, with nature in all it’s beauty, is much more “our kind of place” than a 5 star private RV resort like the one we just spent a few days at, which is sort of like the high density housing version of RV’ing.

DSK

June 25

June 25, 2004

DAY 8

 

Today was a cloudy day that became sunny by mid-afternoon. Started the day with a group bus tour to Point Pelee National Park. Point Pelee is the most southerly point in Canada, on the same latitude as Northern California. It's a nature preserve / refuge for migratory birds and butterflies on the north shore of Lake Erie. While wandering around doing some bird watching, Joanne found a blackberry bush / tree. MMMMMM ! ! !

A bit of confusion on departure this morning due to overbooking, so we had to drive our truck, following the bus to Colasanti's, about halfway to Point Pelee. The bus dropped some of the people off for the day at Colasanti's, and we got on the bus for the rest of the way to Point Pelee, leaving our truck at Colasanti's. On the way back from Point Pelee, when the bus stopped at Colasanti's to pick up the people that had spent the day there, we got off the bus to pick up our truck. Colasanti's is a floral and garden nursery / petting zoo / entertainment arcade / mini-golf / banquet hall / restaurant / ... ! Some businesses sure do evolve eclectically.

After visiting Colasanti's, we drove a short distance back towards our RV resort, and stopped at the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary. This is the former residence of Jack Miner, now his foundation's bird sanctuary. Spent some time hand feeding the geese and ducks. Cool !

Needed a nap when we got back to the trailer. I'm exhausted by this RV Rally lifestyle. These old folks wear me down.

Supper was a huge affair. All rally participants, over 200 people, in the resort's community hall. Thick, juicy, barbecued steak with all the trimmings, including all the entries in the bean bake-off competition, followed by pot luck dessert. Geeezzz ... over 100 different desserts ! Bought a couple of items at the Silent Auction. RV businesses donated a bunch of RV products for auction, with all proceeds to the Canadian Cancer Society. Got shoved and severely chastised by an old guy with a cane who took exception to me reaching around him to write my bid on a bid sheet.

Which reminds me ... we prefer the Escapees Rally and members to the Explorers. This is a much larger event. Over 100 rigs compared to less than 20. Much less intimacy. Much less socializing. Much, much less friendliness, as evidenced by being shoved by some old geezer who got up on the wrong side of the bed. Although ... I'm sure there are those who would suggest to me that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

DSK