Back in the Groove

We are back on site near Meaford and want to get back to a semblance of normal. We have the 5K walk coming up this weekend and continue to walk on alternate days. Once back, we checked the weather to see if we could expect 3 days of dryness and yes, we get to paint the deck now! It dried in a couple of hours for the second coat so all done in a day but it has to cure for 72 hours. We can get in and out with walking on it so no hardship there.


Our plants were a little thirsty but with some TLC from Barb, they are coming back nicely. I continued with my chairs, trying to get the wood finished so I can start
canning them. We think they will look great. Barb has her sewing centre set up again and is continuing with her placemat project. She has also finished her latest wood carving project and I’m sure you will agree it looks great!


Wednesday, we toured around Sauble Beach and Sauble Falls. It was a first time for us in the Sauble Beach area. We had a picnic lunch beside the falls and watched the kids jumping over the falls into a deep pool (we hope it was a deep pool)! We were surprised that kids were not tubing over the
cascades but maybe that was because their parents were nearby! After our lunch and watching the ‘entertainment’, we went to the beach. As we drove down to it, the mist was rolling in and it cooled
considerably so playing in the sand another day! Our return trip took us through Wairton and back to Owen Sound. We rolled up to a stop light and the vehicle next to us was trying to talk to us…. He wanted to know if we wanted to sell the truck! We said no but he persisted at the next light and asked us to take his number if we changed our mind! That was weird!



The rest of the week we walked 3 Kms (still getting ready for our 5K walk on Saturday), stained between the boards of the deck and used the remainder of the stain on the picnic table. Barb finished up one of her quilting projects and
continued on another until she ran out of thread! We both started some new things too. Barb started carving a plaque to replace our name plaque that has outlived its usefulness. I started weaving the cane on the infamous chairs!

Our neighbor was having problems with their roof A/C and asked for some help. Apparently they had the rig in for service last fall – they had to have a new roof and side put on as he tangled with a booth and lost! Anyway, the RV dealer took the A/C off and repaired the roof and re-installed it. It hasn’t worked since and of course, they said it was tested before it left the shop! With the dealer on the phone with me, we checked all the connections and lights etc. The dealer says the only possible solution was a seized motor! So up I go to remove the cowling and see if it is. After I get all the stuff off to actually see the motor, I see a couple of connections that are not connected and have suspicious feelings whizzing through me! I stick the wiring harness back down into the coach and scramble down and re-connect them into the control board and holy crap, the A/C kicks on! Wow, and it worked when it left the shop!


On your mark!!!!! It is race day and we’re up early doing our stretches – fooled ya’s didn’t I? We were up early so we could get down to Meaford – about a 15 minute drive and get signed in and do some people watching! At 9 sharp, we were all lined
up – runners and walkers and the gun went off! By the time we got a couple hundred feet under our belt, we know we had set a pace that was too quick and it wasn’t long before the ‘shin splints’ were affecting my bride! Barb was in terrible pain for the remainder of the 5K! Our daughter suggested they are caused by dehydration and her mom should drink more water! But you all know the equation, water in, water out! So, we slowed a little and Barb limped along, head down and trying very hard not to give in to the aches! As the KMs ticket by, Barb was determined not to let our donor pledges down and continued to trudge along. To our surprise, we actually beat our normal time of 1 hour, 2 minutes for 5Kms and came in under 57 minutes! Yea Barbie! The remainder of the day was spent on the deck, under the awning, on our duffs staying cool and re-hydrating ourselves!

Well, we hope all is good for you out there……

Life Camped out in Toronto

Friday, June24th, we hitched up the rig and hauled it down to Toronto. Barb & I had some things going on in the ‘big smoke’ and thought rather than commute to and from; we would do some driveway parking at our daughter’s place! After we set up, Mark, Terri, Sandra (Mark’s mom), Barb and I went to Alex’s Grade 8 graduation. All the girls were dressed to the nines and most of the boys had suits on, some with their sneakers! I don’t remember this amount of celebration when I passed into high school! Each student introduced the next student to accept their diploma – it was an interesting way to involve all the kids. Of course, each student had to write their own introduction so there were some funny ones. Afterwards, the students went to their after parties and the adults went to La Veranda for an Italian dinner. It was very nice, having dinner on the sidewalk cafe amongst hanging baskets of plants and flowers.

Saturday was busy. Terri decided they wanted a Pergola built on the patio. So, the construction begins! By end of day, the plans were made, materials purchased and we had all 6 footings poured and the 4x4 saddles set in. After a few brewskis and dinner, we called it a day. Holy crap, their fish pond
with lots of gold fish and Koi just pumped itself to almost empty and there’s hardly any water left! Panic and surprise fills the air so we have to find out why and add some water so the fish don’t become sushi!


On Sunday, we constructed 2 of the 6 legs that hold the upper structure. Each leg was made from 4 4x4s that sit in
the saddles. But the main event was spending an afternoon on a 31 foot Nonsuch sail boat, cruising around the Toronto harbor. Alan and Karen (our hosts) took us back to Snug Harbor at the RCYC marina for a pot luck BBQ. Our hosts were extremely nice and we met many of their yachting buds. After the BBQ, we took a sunset cruise toward the eastern gap of the Toronto Islands. We found thousands of Cormorants nesting in the trees and were told their poop is killing the trees they are nesting in! On our way back to the dock to drop us off, we saw a man swimming in no particular direction. We approached and asked if he was ok but he did not respond or acknowledge us. We circled a few times trying to communicate
but he did not respond so we called the Toronto marine patrol. When they arrived, he still did not respond and tried swimming away from them. The patrol called for backup and it appeared they were suited up to get wet! We had moved on toward the dock before the setting sun dipped below the skyline of Toronto and do not know the out come of the swimmer – it’s too cool at this time of the year for an evening swim.

Monday, we resumed on the construction project. Barb & I constructed the other 4 legs and with Marks help, we had the skeleton up by the time darkness fell. Tuesday we went to Mack’s graduation dinner in cabbage town. We were not allowed into the school auditorium as there were too many students graduating and the auditorium was only large
enough to seat 750 people so only parents were permitted – boo! We had a fun time and good company and good food at Pappas Grill for the after Graduation Dinner.

Wednesday, we spent the day washing the rig and Barb cut the front and back lawns! We were done when the evening set upon us!

Thursday night, Barb slept alone – Mark & Terri went to their cabin in up state NY while I was at another sleep study appointment. Friday is Canada Day and we’ll be moving on back to Roebuck but not until we put on red something to celebrate our nations birthday! The trip north was easy, not much traffic considering it was a holiday – now that doesn’t speak for the cars stuck behind us on the 2 lane highways!

We rolled in without mishap and were set up quickly. A neighbor came over to greet us and was amazed at how fast we had our TV satellite dish set up. I opened my mouth by offering to help him with his dish. After moving the dish to several different locations and an hour later, he called the tech support line and they gave us the accurate co-ordinates and ding, he had a signal and all was good. Whew, that was frustrating, I’m glad ours is much easier to set up!

Well, that’s all for now and happy Canada Day to all our Canadian friends and happy Independence Day to our American friends …..

The Aches and Pains Continue

We have had Killdeers running around the cg since we have been here. There was a nest on an adjoining site that had 4 eggs in it. The mom Killdeer seemed to have been sitting on the nest forever. They finally hatched Saturday and when I went over, 3 of the baby birds were nestled down into the grass and the mom was squawking and pretending to be injured to lure us away from the baby’s. I don’t think it was 2 hours later and the 3 baby’s were running around following mom! It is amazing! And they look so cute with their tiny bodies and long legs.

You remember I said I’m not a gardener but the laborer – well dig, dig, dig and we’re still not finished! We built a wooden planter for the tomato plants from the left over deck boards! We have a ‘skill’ saw powered by battery and it was fine when new but now the battery is suspehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifct and it just doesn’t do the job anymore. So off to the campground owner to borrow a hand saw again! My shoulders are more than a little sore but before you go and say I’m outta shape, I’m saying I’m outta shape!

The job is done, 2 gardens dug in and the raised tomato garden built and filled with dirt and planted! We checked with the cg owners and they pointed us to some perennials that we could split up for our gardens. After all the digging, back filling and watering, the site is starting to look ‘homey’! After we cleaned up all the scrap wood and cuttings, it was time for a cool one!

Barb & I have decided to ‘give back’ to the Meaford community. There is a 5K walk coming up and we’ve reached out to our family and friends to help support us in our efforts to contribute to the Meaford Hospital. Here is the web site if we missed you on our email and you want to help. We’re taking this serious and are in ‘training’ so we don’t embarrass ourselves. Our normal ‘walks’ are about 2 miles and this one is 3 so we’re confident we can do it!

I had a nice Father’s Day, 2 of our daughters called to wish me well and Terri came up to see us with her husband Mark and her step daughter Alex. They arrived early afternoon and brought dinner and beverages. We tested out our new deck and played Ladder Golf. It was a fun visit.

Barb’s quilting group back at the plantation has received sad news about one of their members. They are building a prayer quilt via long distance and each member has to send a quilt square with their signature and one of the ladies is assembling the finished quilt. Well, with our postal strike, Barb wants to make sure it gets there so we’ll see what happens after our government forces them back to work. We’ll know more by the weekend and we may have to use UPS or Fedex. While we were in Owen Sound to check out these options, we decided to try out their bike trails – recovered rail lines. The trails are ok but there are no places to park to access the trail. After driving around tracing the trail, we finally found a place to pull off the road so we could unload the bikes from the back of the truck and get going! Well, it’s been awhile since we straddled these ole bikes and we cut our tour short! We did manage to get in 5Kms though and as you’ll see by the trail, we had some nice views of the Sound.

Tuesday morning brought us our planned 5K walk to be ready for the big day on July 9. We thought we were walking slower today but actually shaved a minute off our time! Whoopee! When we got back to the rig, we collapsed in the lounge chairs under the awning and let our bodies catch up to our exercise! After, we set about doin our stuff – Barb finished another pine needle basket and then started working on her quilt project, I cut the grass and put a coat of varnish on the chairs. We bought some opaque water based stain for the deck but we can not put it on if it is expected to rain within 72 hours so that will have to wait. That is it for now.

Keep well where ever you are….

Aches and Pains of a Seasonal Site

As I write this post on Sunday morning, it is 54F (13C) and misty – so we are completing the TV project we started in Dec ’10 when we lost all of our electronics to a power surge. We are sanding, staining and varnishing the ‘wall’ we built to hang the new TV on. This is keeping us busy and inside, away from the nasty weather outside.

On an adjoining site, the neighbor is moving his unit out and wanted to sell his existing deck. Barb & I scoped out a plan for patio slabs and decided to make in offer that would be the same $$ as the patio slabs. Our neighbor was a little reluctant at first but I managed to finagle a deal that suited us both and now we have a ‘new’ deck to move and set up! It’s a little rough around the edges but with some of Barb’s TLC, it will look marvelous and get us up off the ground if our summer is going to be like this!

I apologize to our loyal readers for not posting but this morning (Friday, June 17) we are both very stiff and sore from lugging, digging and building a deck for our summer RV site! I am also busy on the 1^st pair of chairs we brought back from Western NY. They needed sanding to remove some of the old finish in the cracks and crevices of the spindles then stained a nice red cherry colour. Barb is busy setting up her sewing centre and started to make some new quilted placemats that a quilting buddy –that’s you Ann - from the plantation shared with her. In all this activity, we are still keeping an eye on the new baby bunnies. They are scampering around here and looking too cute!

 

After our ‘regular’ activities of the chairs and the sewing, Barb & I set about disassembling board by board, the deck from the other site. The previous owner was going to have his trailer moved by now so we could get the campground’s front end loader in to it, hook up and move it to our sit. But the other trailer hasn’t been moved yet and it is inconvenient to walk over there with our cocktails to sit on our deck – I might spill some and that is not an option! We started this all on Monday and by Wednesday, we were designing as we went and building our ‘new’ 8x18 foot deck. By Thursday evening, we were admiring our workmanship with beverage in hand! And I have the chairs with their first coat of varnish on and Barb is 1/3 complete on her placemats! Whew, we’ve slept well these past few nights! So, now onto some other ‘yard’ work here, flower gardens and something for tomato plants! Stayed tuned for the fun – I’m not a gardener just the laborer!

 

Hope your well where ever you are and happy Father’s Day to y’all….

Who Said we're Not Travelling

Wow, a lot has gone on since our last posting! Barb & I traveled into Owen Sound to look at some garage sales that advertised lawn mowers for sale. The first one started at noon and was easy to find but no lawn mower. The guy selling was about as friendly as a fire ant hill! After browsing around his ‘stuff’, all we got from him was a couple of grunts when asked about a lawn mower – that I was sure he had advertised! Anyway, onto the next stop but it didn’t start until 2PM so lets do lunch and some other shopping that we needed. This garage sale was supposed to be multi family so we had high hopes of finding what we needed. Oppss…. We couldn’t find the place. Our GPS took us there but still couldn’t see the sale. The damn GPS was correct, we couldn’t see it as it was down a hill and up a longish driveway and hidden by a hedge row! Anyway, after a few twists and turns, we get back to it and found a weed wacker but no lawn mower. We do have an ace up our sleeve! Mark has offered his push-real type mower for us – now that sounds like way too much exercise for me so we thought we would find a cheap gas mower for the job, but to no avail.

Other great news is that we got word that we have a site at the Plantation in Alabama! After our rejoicing, we needed to get the contracts signed and finish the deal! We had to find a Notary Public to witness our signatures. Often, a bank can do this but they need to know you for more than 6 months. So hey, our son-in-law (Mark again) is a lawyer and Notary so lets go into Toronto and see our daughter and her husband and maybe if we ask nicely, he’ll stamp it for us! So, if we’re planning a 200+Km trip why not go to St Thomas and get our Mexican Train fix with John & Dianne! And if that gets arranged, I might as well get the needed truck service done! Wow, lots of organizing but worth it to get Mark’s signature, visit with John & Dianne who we haven’t seen since October last year and looking after our vehicle!

We had a very nice visit with Terri & Mark. To pay for his signature, I helped Mark change the head lamps on Terri’s VW bug. What a job that was. I think the lamps were the first things down the assembly line and then they built the car around them! In the mean time, Barb, Terri and Alex planted her planters and pots to add the finishing touches to her landscape – nice job ladies! We heard from Alex that they won the senior soccer tournament and are heading to the ‘City’s’ tournament for the finals, yea, way to go Alex. After a shrimp and scallop dinner, we headed off to John & Dianne’s, albeit a bit late. We arrived around 11PM and sat up till near 3AM chatting and catching up!

The next couple of days with them went by in a blink. We played lots of Mexican Train, ate lots and also had a few beverages! Tuesday afternoon came too quickly and we were headed back to our campground.  Must admit this is the best B’n’B we were at this week.  We set the GPS for home, it was easy but seemed to take us a little out of our way by 20-30 minutes but it must have read our minds because we needed to go into Owen Sound’s WalMart anyway so it all worked out!

Wednesday brought a sever thunderstorm through here midday. We only lost power for a short time but other areas around us were hit much worse. The weather seems to be the topic of conversation this summer. The heat broke and we were able to sit out after the storm passed.

Not sure what tomorrow will bring but we hope you are well where ever you are and safe from any bad weather that seems to be all around!

Bumps in the Road

May 28^th, not much to do now, the owner is away for a few days so we take our walks around the campground looking at potential sites that we might like to move to. It’s a slow process coming up with a short list, especially when you don’t really know which sites are available! We’ve got a short list now so we wait until Curly returns!

May 30^th, we’re off into Meaford for some grub and stuff. Holy crap! The tire pressure monitor is squawking! It’s telling us we’ve got a flat on the rig – now what! Using my handy dandy tire gauge, the pressure monitor is correct – less than 20 lbs left in the tire! Wiggling the valve stem indicates that it is defective. Is this the icing on the cake of our first seasonal site since 2006?

After all the analyzing, we continued on our way into Meaford. We stopped at a chip truck in the marina for lunch – I know, I’m a big spender! We wandered around the marina and out to the break water. The water up here is beautiful and clear! We watched some boats come and go and eyeballed this BIG yacht moored here. It probably costs my monthly pension cheque just to start it! We collected our grub and headed back to our rig.

June 1^st, after removing the flat tire, we make a day outing in Owen Sound. I went to the blood donor clinic, we got the tire repaired – a steel valve stem this time and more groceries – it’s too bad we have to eat, we’d have a lot more disposable income if we didn’t! June is going to be a busy month, we have 3 grand kids graduating from elementary school into high school and 4 grand kids birthdays! After all of today’s excitement, I’m too tired to put the tire back on and I was sure it would wait for me for mañana!

June 2^nd, we’re moving today to our chosen summer site here at Roebuck Campground. As you can see by the photos, we didn’t exactly pick a good pull thru site. The exit leaving the site was on such an extreme slope that we both were nervous about reconnecting and then pulling out! We were both a bit anxious for this day but we thought we had picked the best ‘dry’ site when we came in here a week ago!

Anyway, not having a 4WD truck, I slipped a little backing up the hill to get under the rig to connect and had to try a couple of attempts but got it! Now all connected and slowly pulling forward with only a little slippage in the loose gravel and part way down the hill, the truck tailgate touches the underside of the trailer! STOP Barb yells! Okay, now what? We can’t back it out as planned when we pulled in; the gravel is too loose to allow that. Forward and down is the only way off this site for us! Barb & I discussed a couple of what ifs but decided to try digging the gravel away from under the rear truck tire so it would drop the tire down which we hope will drop the bed of the truck down, away from the trailer. The trailer wheels were still a ways back from the crest of the hill so it shouldn’t move too far. Hey, it worked! Now to watch to see if the front of the truck bed touches the trailer when the trailer starts down the hill and the truck is going up a little as we maneuver onto the access road! Wow, was that close, the back of the trailer just missed hitting the top of the hill! We’re free again and moved to our chosen site. It is level and dry now and a cinch to back onto! We’re all set up but look at the hayfield we have! Our next challenge is to get a lawn mower or should I say a hay combine!

Our neighbor was up cutting her lawn and told us to help ourselves to her push mower if we need/want to cut our lawn – apparently she thought we needed to tidy up our site too! As our neighbor is cutting her yard, she shrieks and stops cutting to find a nest of very small bunnies in her path! Luckily, one of the bunnies moved or she would not have seen them down in the deep grass. They are too cute, the campground owner put a ‘flag’ in the ground to mark their nest so no one else will harm them accidentally.

Back to setting up and getting settled. We’ve found some garage sales for Friday in Owen Sound but that will be another adventure we’ll cover next time. Until then, we hope you are well where ever you are.

Tour'n About

Thursday, May 19^th, Barb & I pick the best day of the week and took a driving tour into Niagara Falls. We take the parkway drive along the river from Ft Erie and the views and scenery were not disappointing! As we arrive at the Falls, it is quite busy considering the earliness of the season and the recent weather. We carry on down to the Whirlpool and stretch our legs and have a look see. It’s also busy here but with patience, we can get to the rail to view down into the gorge!

On our route back, we divert into Welland to nose around and we managed to get more pictures of local murals depicting their history. It was strange driving under the Welland Canal. On our way out, we went under it again but with a freighter passing by at the same time – now that felt strange!

Friday, May 20^th, this is Victoria Day long weekend here in Ontario and the campgrounds jack up their rates so we decide to head to Terri and Mark’s large driveway in Etobicoke, Ont. We arrive by lunch and fit the rig in the spot with lots of room left for our 3 vehicles. Terri is working from home and Mark left work early and we have a late lunch before they head off to their cabin in western NY for the weekend. We have plans to help them with their gardens but the rains over the weekend keep us inside.

Saturday, May 21^st, was a beautiful day. We drove through Toronto, along the waterfront on our way to Corrie’s. There were many Torontonians out and about, enjoying the waterfront by bike, skates, jogging or walking. After a delightful lunch on the deck, Mack and I worked on a small electrical project for Mack’s new bedroom!

Wednesday, May 25^th, Barb & I drove out to Freelton to visit with some ole’ RVers that we have known for 10 years. We met them while camping in the Peterborough area during our first year of this adventure. They have bought themselves some sticks and bricks and have their motor home for sale so we wanted to go over for a visit. They are both doing well and Kay is excited about having herself a craft room! They said they actually enjoyed shopping for furnishings etc to fill the house!

Of course, the day wasn’t finished as we headed to Woodbridge to met Terri and visit Sam with her new baby girl.  My, she is so beautiful and so much hair.   Sam also gave us a tour of her new home and we met her mother-in-law. 

Friday, May 27^th, this is another moving day today. We leave Terri’s driveway and head up near Meaford to our summer parking spot at Roebuck Campground. The drive up was through some rain, fog and then it cleared as we approached Meaford. There is lots of standing water here, the sites are soaked and the ground is really soft! We try backing into our assigned spot but due to narrow roads, we sink the rear wheel of the truck into the muck and we’re stuck! We have to disengage the truck and trailer and reconnect from a different angle and pull the rig back onto the road. Instead of trying again, we decide to use one of the over night pull thrus. We get in but as we try to back up to attempt to level the rig, I again bury the truck rear wheels! So, we’re here until it dries a little. Before we put the slides out, I washed the mud off the trailer – it’s easier to do with the slides in and they were really caked with muck! After we set up, I washed the truck tires as they were in a worse condition. If you don’t get the mud out when fresh, you won’t get it out at all! It’s been a frustrating arrival but the set up went smoothly and we’re home again!