Speechless

There is no way for me to tell this story without just leading you through it. In our previous post, I mentioned that Terri & Mark invited us to their cabin in up state New York for a golf weekend, kicking back and just cooling our jets to celebrate Barb & I turning 65. As usual on Friday nights, we are all going to meet at the at the Gin Mill for dinner. We had to stop at the Duty Free for a nature break and of course, Terri says “Dad, you can’t pass up this deal – 3 bottles of your favorite for $39.00!” And she was right, I couldn’t. We all arrive at the ‘mill’ and the place was hoppin busy and we progressed toward the back games room. As we start to clear the doorway, we see Pat & Carolyn sitting at a table and I thought, wow, what a coincidence to meet up with them on their travels this far off the beaten track! All smiles and surprise, we move further into the room to say something witty and we now see 4 other friends – John & Di and Ray & Donna and it sets in, this is a set up but Barb & I are dumb founded and completely ‘shocked’ to see everyone there! We were speechless for several seconds and then the party began! Wow, what a time. There was another group of ‘seniors’ at a table behind us and they too welcomed and congratulated us and they were also Canadians. For awhile we were wondering if we knew these people and our forgetter was working now that we are in this new group called Seniors.  Friends of Terri & Mark; Mary and Stavros joined in our celebration even though they were down celebrating their own wedding anniversary. 

What a night at the ‘Mill’!

After dinner and a couple of wobbly pops, I needed to wash my hands after my plate of wings and as I was approaching the washroom door, one of the ladies from the other table also was about to go in so I asked her if she minded that I go in to wash my hands and she held the door for me. To my surprise it was the ladies washroom that we were in – yes, she came in with me and that should have been a hint right? But I thought it was a one washroom restaurant. As soon as I opened the door to exit, her husband was right there to defend her from the ogre but he had a knee brace so I think I could have out run him if necessary. The evening progressed much the same as we left there and went back to Terri & Marks hide-away. Terri went up on Thursday to decorate for the surprise as we were greeted with party decorations. We all continued the party until the early hours of Saturday morning. When we woke on Saturday, the decorations were still there so I knew I didn’t dream about the fun times.

It seems to be a tradition that when John & Di and the cronies are there, the Baily’s flows for the morning coffee, so the morning was happily spent chatting on Terri & Mark’s deck with that ‘sweetener’  near by for the morning brew.

Another nice surprise was the arrival of Larry, my brother  from north Pickering who drove down to enjoy the weekend and celebrate with us. Barb was busy when he arrived and didn’t see him. As Larry was standing near the patio table, Barb came out with another coffee urn and stood beside him and didn’t really see him until he nudged her and then the big hug and welcome. I guess getting old means poorer eye sight!

Most of the crew decided that it would be fun to wander into Ellicottville to browse  through the shops etc. In the heat of the day, John, Larry & I waited on a couple of stores then decided it would be cooler to wait at the ‘Mill’. The rest had a great time wandering through the shops and even purchased a couple of items. There was an art and craft show happening at the end of Main St so the 3 of us caught up with everyone there. Once all rounded up, we decided it was time for ice cream and even our largest – don’t take that as a slam John – critic took part and had one too! After a quick trip to the liquor store, we were on the way to the cabin – hey the beer was getting cold!

After a delicious platter of cheese, crackers and more chat, dinner was served to a bunch of hungry party goers. We were all having a blast and lots if discussion going  on and I’m sure we solved all the worlds problems in one evening. The high light of the night was Barb & I releasing a couple of Sky Lanterns. Mark picked them up in town and are a simple paper like bag with a small flame apparatus attached underneath that we ignited, holding onto the lantern until it inflated and we could feel it tugging upward in our hands. We let go separately and watched it rise up until it disappeared in the night sky. It was an exciting experience. Thanks Mark.

 

 

 

After breakfast on Sunday, Larry, Pat & Carolyn decided to head back home while the rest of us had another coffee! So not to lie to us about a golf weekend, Terri, Mark, John & Barb & I went to the driving range to smack some balls. Terri even gave a few lessons; one to John and one to Mark.  The white things were flying everywhere but we had fun anyway. Then we got to enjoy watching Terri hit balls.

We met the rest of the crew at the EBC for lunch. Do you see a pattern here? Anyway, we were out on the patio and still having a great time not to mention ordering a beer sampler so we could all try the beers brewed here. Unfortunately, Mark had to go to work on Monday so he had to head back home while the rest of us broke out the Mexican Train for a round or two!

 

Wow, what a great weekend celebrating  our ‘coming of age’! Now my main issue is to find out why retailers only allow seniors a discount on 1 day during the week – Wednesday let’s say. But we’re only talking 10% here so why can’t the retailers give a senior their 10% every day they are shopping? Anyway, Barb has pushed me off my soap box so I’ll wrap up here but not before we say thanks to everyone that came to join us and of course to Terri & Mark for pulling off this wonderful surprise party.

Did Anyone see Where August Went

Wow, zip and it was gone! We started the month by touring the area Barn Quilts which tell a story of the regions activities  during the War of 1812. We finally got the boat wet on Christi Lake Conservation area, checked out few more waterfalls in the area and Barb cleaned up a few quilt projects.

 

 

  The memorable moments in August started on Barb’s birthday. We enjoyed her favorite breakfast then jumped in the boat and zipped around the lake again. Terri and Mark insisted on taking us to dinner to celebrate Barb’s entry into the special group of people. They hosted us at Spencer’s, on the waterfront in Burlington, a very nice eatery. They presented Barb with roses and a gift basket from Laura Secord. Barb had an Elk burger and I had a Buffalo steak – the food, atmosphere and the company was fantastic. It was a wonderful day.

 

 

On Sunday, we asked all our kids to gather at Christi Lake to help celebrate both our birthdays – mine is only a couple of weeks away. We took our boat and Terri & Mark brought both of theirs so we would have  enough  for all to have fun on the water. The weather was perfect and Barb & I went over early to select the perfect picnic spot that was close to the beach area for the grandkids. We got busy decorating the tables and getting the BBQ set up. We didn’t have any time to kick back before our kids started to arrive and the party began. Swimming, boating – well some of the older grandsons couldn’t keep the canoe up right - enjoying the company and of course, have lunch. Barb took Terri’s kayak out for a spin and zipped down and back on the lake like a pro! Even the Golf Ladders got some exercise. It was great fun and a nice celebration but as always and too quickly, the day comes to a close and the clean up begins.

 

 

To slow things down a little and do more touring, we set out to Norfolk County to view some more Barn Quilts. Our tour took us over to Nanicoke, one of Ontario’s largest electric power generating stations and a deep water port for the Erie Steel Works.  Port Dover is always a cute little port town where thousands of ‘bikers’ converge on Friday the 13th. We stopped off at the Kernal Peanut farm to get some fresh peanuts. And yes, John, we did mange to find a location to get an ice cream cone.

Barb & I even hit the driving range a couple of times because Terri & Mark invited us down to the cabin for a golf weekend and we did not want to embarrass ourselves on the course again – the last time we golfed with Terri and Mark, we hadn’t played for about 18 months and both of us had a hard time breaking 100. This was going to be fun and we were both looking forward to the ‘golf getaway’ and hopefully regain some of our golf skills! That weekend came and went by so quickly and I will regale you with those activities in the next posting so stay tuned.

Hope all is well where ever you are…. 

Where Does the Time Go!

It’s been quiet here. Barb has been working on a few quilting projects and I have fixed a couple of items that have sat long enough. All this ‘work’ and no play makes us boring so on Tuesday, we finally got the boat wet. We put in on Christi Lake, a conservation area close to our campground. We had a nice ride and left the boat inflated to make it more convenient for next time.

Wednesday was a busy day for us, Barb needed to renew her drivers license and  health card so I took the opportunity to update the sticker on the truck. Mark’s mom was in town so Mark invited us over for dinner and hey, a free meal, we’ll be there. The rest of the week was dampened by the rain but we certainly needed it. The wet weather outside encourage us to get even more accomplished indoors – Barb and her sewing and me – well, no chairs to cane so I guess I’ll take the top off the job jar.

While I was sitting contemplating the head on my beer, I can’t believe how time has passed. It seems like yesterday that we were arriving back in Ontario with plans to visit friends in Michigan and at the Finger Lakes in New York but now all that is history. We were anticipating the visit from John & Dianne and now that too is in the past. It seems like my loving bride and I  just tied the knot and we are still on our honeymoon. I can’t believe that we retired in 1996! And most of all, it is hard to believe that we have been on this ride of full timing for 12 years. Wow, where does the time go – it seems to zip by when your having fun!

We’re now becoming ‘seniors’ and I know all to soon that too will be in the past but at least with this milestone we will be eligible for our ‘seniors discount’ not to mention we are on that preverbal slipper slope!

Hope all is well where you are….

200 Years

There is a lot of ads on the TV and radio about the war between Canada and the USA back in 1812. Wow, that was 200 years ago and our borders are still fairly open. I don’t normally write about political stuff and your wondering what this blog is about – we still are in our RV, enjoying all that both our lands offer. You can read more on the war of 1812 here.

When John & Di were down, Di gave Barb a newspaper article about the ‘Patchwork of our Past’. It is a Barn Quilt Trail that was created to tell a story of the events during the War of 1812 from a woman’s point of view. Barb & I still try to set one day aside each week to tour our area in search of wondrous scenes or adventures that are in abundance around our lands. So, Barb went online and downloaded more information into her Kindle and we set off to find and tour this Barn Quilt Trail in our area.

Click here to view that  web site for this trail. Each Barn Quilt has a narrative that explains the Quilt. We decided to do this trail by area and started on the area closest to us – Brant County.

Here are some of the pictures of this art. We hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed finding them.

 

 

Thursday was the monthly Escapee Chapter 18 luncheon  held at the Manchuria Garden in London, a Chinese buffet. Lots of camaraderie and of course food. We ate with John & Di, Jack & Barb & Ray & Donna – I’m sure you remember those names. Anyway, Barb had to get a wheel barrow to get me out to the truck as everyone there held me down and forced me to eat too much! I had arranged for truck service – I could go on another tirade here and moan about the goofyness of getting an E test on our diesel engine since all they do is observe the exhaust for 5 minutes while the engine is running and then ding me $39.00 but I won’t. While we waited for the truck service, we met up with Ron & Vicki – long time friends,

Vicki was Barb’s neighbor before we married. We had an  enjoyable couple of hours visiting. Back on the road home and we decided to take the ‘scenic route’ and what do we find? More Barn Quilts! What a neat surprise.

These are not part of the war of 1812 story but interesting just the same and their story can be read here.

This weekend is the Civic Holiday here in Canada and the park will be full again. We try to keep our heads down and don’t do much as the ‘worker bees’ get out on the roads for a holiday. But there was a huge garage sale event in St George on Saturday and we had to go and try to find more rocking chairs for me to cane. I’m sure we hit almost every street in this small community in search but none were found. Garage sales are the ultimate in recycling, moving your junk to someone else so later they can put it in their garage sale!

With that pearl, I will let the dust settle on this posting. Hope all is well out there…..

Company’s Coming

Quick, hide, they’re coming! Ahhh, we can’t. They have come to join us here for some chit chat, a few brewskies and maybe some laughs. That is John & Di, Ray & Donna (aka crusty) and Jack & Barb, fellow RVers that enjoy getting together. John managed to reserve 3 sites side by each and after they roll in, we all exchange grand hellos and hugs. Barb & I leave them to set up and await under the awning. When John & Di pulled in, we could see something hanging down below the trailer that didn’t look normal – we’ll get to that later.

 

All set up and the catch up begins – we haven’t  seen Jack & Barb since the Escapee Escapade at Goshen in 2010 and Ray & Donna last fall. You can review last years antics here. So we had a lot to talk about, a lot to laugh at and good times all around. Conversations were carried on through dinner and soon the dominos were broken out for an evening of Mexican Train for 8! Playing 8, the game can move quickly but the scores can get high quickly but the fun and laughs are often.

We all have our own ‘normal’ morning routines  but we soon collect at Jack & Barb’s – they have a ‘Patty O Room’ enclosure which helps to keep the bugs away – for a coffee enhanced with Baily’s! After a couple of cups, that kinda reduces your desire to do to much else but we get the bikes down and load everyone up for a tour around the campground. It’s not too big a ride, maybe 3 Kms if you do all the  roads but we get back to our camp sites all ready for another beverage.

 

It’s time to investigate what is hanging down on John & Di’s trailer – holy crap John, it’s nothing too serious, it’s just half a leaf spring – the helper springs have completely disappeared! The front axle only has the spring set attached to the front shackle, the rear half is gone so not too much holding that axle in place – one good bump and….. So a plan is set – we’ll take off the broken parts tomorrow and the guys will head off and get a new leaf spring and replace it. It should be an easy job once we get the old set off – what’s that saying? ‘It’s never easy’!

It was Mexican Train each night after a dinner. Thanks to Jack & Barb for setting up their screen room so we could play out doors at night.

 

 

Today is fix it day. The first challenge is to get the old hardware off the trailer. We had blocks of wood everywhere, several jacks and a little guy to go under the trailer – yea Jack! The going was a little slow getting the old nuts loose and pounding the bolt plate off etc. Jack & John did all the heavy lifting while the ladies, Ray & I sat in the shade keeping an eye on the hard workers. By 10:30, all the old stuff was off and we were in the truck heading to the local RV shop to find a new leaf spring. No luck there except they did tell us where there was a parts distributor that does retail. We tried Princess Auto first but no luck again so off to the other guy. By now we have been out a couple of hours but John & Di didn’t want to stay for the rest of the summer so we had to carry on and get the parts.   

Back at the site now and it shouldn’t take long to put the new spring in. There I go again, nothing is easy right? We had to take the rear tire off to equalize the rear spring and give us more room to get the new spring in. All bolted into the shackles but we can’t get the ‘U’ bolts to line up – oops, we were trying to use the wrong bolt holes – now it should be easy! Damn, we still can’t get the spring to set correctly on the axle! Holy shackle batman, we mounted it upside down! The shackle bracket has to be up, not down. Off comes the stuff again so we can flip the shackle bracket up and now it all fits together almost like we knew what the hell we were doing! Wow, put all this stuff away and bring on some beers!

We had our dinners together and tonight Jack & Barb hosted a fish fry after we completed repairs on John & Di’s trailer. They brought approx. 130 perch filets that they caught over a couple of days of fishing last week. They tasted great and we all had a big feed. Wow, thanks Jack & Barb.

 

The visit ends all too soon – I’m sure we could have found other problems on our other trailers to work on! Oh, we did. Donna was telling us her hot water had a terrible smell. Dianne came up with some bleach so, using the pump and the winterizing hose, we pumped bleach into the hot water tank to sanitize it. Now, I think next visit, we’ll have a list of items that we need done!

So, Friday morning our buds are hitching up and heading home. Barb & I host a ‘hitch up’ breakfast, not because we are nice, we just wanted to be sure they didn’t have a delay in leaving LOL :0)! Kidding of course. Our life is back to normal once again, Barb’s sewing centre set up and I get to get at some of our own trailer projects.

Wishing you well out there….