A Weekend Getaway!

In our last update, I forgot to mention that while parked at Terri’s, I found some time to check out a couple of chairs we picked up in the spring but stored them until we could get at them. Well, one is in dire need to be redone completely but the other looks like some repair to the caning and then a little refinish work to the wood will make this chair look great! So with a little ‘secret sauce’ and some elbow grease, the chair is ready for anyone to be proud to have in their home. All offers will be considered!

Anyway, we are having a nice visit with my brother, Larry. Back in the summer, I found a rocking chair for sale and asked Larry to have a look at it for me and buy it if it was solid. He did and stored it for us so now I have another project when we are down at the Plantation. I’m hoping to learn a new weave for the back of the chair.

While we’re here, we set up our annual doc appointments to see if we’re ill! We tinkered and tweaked some stuff for Larry and I sanded the rocking chair. Barb worked on editing pictures for her movies and finished a DVD project. We left on Friday for our Ontario ‘winter perch’ then onto Terri’s cabin for the weekend. Terri & Mark picked up a 10’x5’ bow window to replace the old window in the front of their cabin. We offered to help install the beast so fun times lay ahead!

Saturday we were up early and Mark & I were off to the lumber store for supplies. Terri and Barb started the demolition of the old window. It was a time consuming task to get the old window out and down to the RSO (rough stud opening). We found lots and I mean lots of walnuts in the old ceiling and a huge wasp nest under the window sill. We didn’t think to measure the nest but it was about the size of 2 basket balls held together. Here are a couple of links for you. Once the glass was out, we could see what challenges presented to us. The old roof was half rotten and black with mold! Yuck! It was demolished quickly and put in the fire barrel! As we started getting to the RSO, we realized that we needed more lumber to enlarge the opening for the new window and the local lumber store closed in an hour! We quickly made a list and sent Mark on his way to shop! As we continue to remove drywall and get down to the bare frame, we realize that we need additional lumber so I am sent to intercept Mark on his return. The bad news, the road I know was closed and I got lost and ended up at the wrong location! I get back before Mark and we measure the window again and Barb suggests we just remove the plywood end frames and the window should fit!

We carried the window from the barn to the house - about 200 feet! We couldn’t have done it without the girls help. We set it down on the scaffold and see that the window is still too big for the RSO! Hey, why don’t we chisel a ½ inch out of the jack studs? Once that was done, the window went in with a little coxing! Whew, Barb & I are relieved! We feared that we said we could help and the job is relatively easy but after these ‘small’ road blocks, we were thinking that we would have to buy more materials on Sunday, thus covering the window with a tarp for Saturday night! After a very busy day, their neighbors took pity on us and had us over for dinner. We had an enjoyable evening kicking back and meeting new folks. After such a day, we all slept like logs!

Back at the rig on Monday, we went into Waterdown to do laundry and some shopping. We toured around a little to find a better way to and from the campground. Tuesday was a run back to the docs in Markham. I had an 8:30AM appointment so we had to leave the campground by 5:45AM to beat the rush hour traffic. We arrived at the hospital by 7 so we pushed our seats back and caught another 40 winks in the parking lot! I happen to crack an eye lid and saw a lady giving us the once over, I wonder what she was thinking! While I was being run through a gambit of tests, Barb met up with a girl friend from Bell! Wow, Barb worked for Bell 20 years ago, time just zips by! After a short time and dinner with Larry, we parted ways and Barb & I headed home only to get caught up in Toronto’s rush hour traffic. Whew, another busy day!

Another slice of life from a couple of roamers. We wish you all well out there…..

Technology is…..

Well, we arrived in the big smoke of Toronto safe and sound. Our GPS, James (we have James Bond’s voice guiding us) took us on a route that we have not been on before so more colored lines on the map. Anyway, traffic was light until we zipped past Kitchener then into Toronto. We had a little kafuffle when we arrived at Terri’s – both cars were parked in the driveway so that we could squeeze in but not disconnect, so a call to Mark. Oopppsss, he forgot to move the cars. Oh well, nothing too serious so we tried the TV satellite again and again could not acquire the signal! Now, I am really puzzled! We have replaced the receiver, the coax cable and tried a LNB that was working on a neighbors system at Lake Huron Resort. So we made a call to Bell to have a professional come and solve our problem.

Since Roebuck would not allow us to wash the rig or truck, they were truly filthy and deserved a good wash down so I set to do that on Thursday while waiting for the Bell TV tech! Barb was busy making apple and pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. We waited all day and no Tech, I’m sure you can see a little frustration here!

Well, that was Thursday and it was not fixed until Friday evening! Let me try a ‘readers digest’ explanation – they sent a tech to our mailing address then cancelled the order, next order couldn’t find the current location, the phone number, our calling card, didn’t answer them and they couldn’t get their heads around that our system was in an RV! Of course, when I called originally, I made sure the service rep understood that the system was in an RV and that it was not located at my home address and that the contact number would be our cell phone! But when it came to the poor service tech, he was just given the info off the ‘official’ service record, not the tidbits of info from the customer like where he is and what number to call! Anyway, we finally got a nice repair tech to solve our problem – he replaced both coax connectors on each end of the cable and we have TV again! Since we had tried another coax at Lake Huron Resort last Monday, I don’t understand why that didn’t fix the problem then! Oh well, electronics, it can be a mysterious animal!

The weather for Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful so Barb & I decided to borrow Terri’s Mini convertible and take it over to Corrie’s for our family Thanksgiving dinner! We felt like kids again and I’m sure the other cars that passed us thought – look at those old coots in their second childhood! I would like to say that my hair was blowing in the breeze but I don’t have enough! It is great that our family and my brother’s family all get together every Thanksgiving, this was our 26^th year. We all have diverse and busy lives, so staying in touch and seeing all the kids grow, catching up on each others lives also reminds us of how lucky we are! With the weather being so beautiful, we were able to enjoy Corrie’s yard and have a very relaxing day. The kids played in the tree house and had fun being kids!

On Thanksgiving Monday, Barb & I took Kasey (the dog) for a 3K walk and then kicked back in Terri’s back yard and enjoyed the rest of the day doing absolutely nothing! Ahhhh! Terri has a Butterfly Bush in her front garden and the Monarchs are migrating south but they stopped off to get some nourishment! What a site, 6-10 of these orange and black beauties flitting around the blossoms of the bush!

We haven’t done much all week, fed and walk the dog, fed the fish and cut the lawn. Oh, we also did some winter garden prep and cut down some plants for them. On Friday, we went to Mack’s football game in the rain! Mack is a tight end on the defensive line. He’s a big guy and will do well, he understands his job out there and played great. It brought memories back for Barb & me, watching high school football. I was too chicken to play but we went to most games to cheer our playing friends on!

We picked Terri and Mark up at the airport. Terri participated in the Deloitte Habitat for Humanity Adventure in Brazil. After, Mark joined her in Peru for a vacation. The flight was, of course, an hour late so we didn’t get out of the terminal until near midnight! Back at the house, Barb had a cheese and cracker tray ready thinking that they would be a bit hungry and too wired to go straight to bed when we got there! So, a few glasses of wine and browse through their pictures and listen to some stories and whoa, look at the time, after 2AM when we said good night! We hung out on Saturday and took in a movie and dinner. All in all, we had a great time house sitting – except for the Bell service call screw up!

Our nephew was running in the half marathon in Toronto so we decided to go to the half way point to cheer him on. The four of us drove down and got parked and situated ourselves along the barrier at the turn in hopes to spot him when he turns to head back or maybe at the least, he’ll be able to see us! Well, he ran faster than we anticipated and missed him by a few minutes. It was interesting anyway, watching some of the participants as they made the turn for the half and full marathons. Some runners looked fresh and as if they just started while others were dragging a little. You know which group I’d be in! On Monday, the news reported that a 100 year old gentleman completed the marathon in just over 8 hours! Wow! After the race, we all had breakfast and we hitched up and made our way over to my brother’s driveway north of Pickering.

 

After was a warm reception, we got parked and set up – all except for the satellite TV! We have the same problems again! The Bell repair guy mentioned the age of our system so maybe we need to get some new coax! Off to WalMart for a 25 foot roll! As the skies were darkening, I hook up the new coax and Barb says “hey, we got a signal”! How about that, didn’t have to move the dish very much too fine tune for the best signal! I guess 11 years of being hooked and unhooked and suffering in the UV all day, the coax deteriorated beyond being useful!

That is the excitement we have had so far! We hope all is well out there and y’all drive safely……

On the Road Again

I’m sure I have mentioned this before but it’s a little bit sad to watch some of our neighbors pull out for the season. Some are leaving for good and some are traveling. But as we get closer to our departure, we are starting to plan and get excited to move on too!

The weather is nasty here and the fruit trees are dropping their harvest fast. We had hoped to have picked some free apples but now we’ll buy them! It is apple country here in Meaford with plenty of opportunities for fresh apples. This is the weekend for the Scarecrow Invasion and Apple Feast with a parade on Friday evening with a family festival at the harbor pavilion. The town has been busy placing scarecrows everywhere - I mean everywhere! They are hanging from the street lights, in planters, on walls - everywhere!  Well, it rained all day Friday and evening so we did not venture into town to experience this fall highlight! It would have been fun.

Terri, Mark and Alex came up for the weekend. We went down to the fish ladder in Thornbury to watch salmon swim up stream to spawn. We did stop at one of the many road side apple farms to get some fresh apples and Terri picked up some maple syrup and fudge to take with her to San Palo, Brazil for her Habitat build. We found a neat little pub called Leeky Canoe for lunch and some wobbly pops and then had a casual walk around Meaford and the harbor. It was a very pleasant day and the weather held up for us. Holy, look at the time! We have to hurry before the winery closes; we’re going for wine tasting and a sit on their deck and enjoy the view of Georgian Bay with the fall colors quickly approaching. After, we hiked a short distance to the over look I mentioned in an earlier post. The colors are not quite ready yet but almost, it was still a nice view.

 

Our neighbors, Peter and Molly came over Sunday afternoon to chat and ended a great weekend! We traded contact cards and I noticed that Molly’s name is really Marlene! What? Peter calls her Marly but with his British accent, we thought he was calling her Molly! Molly said it was okay, we were the only friends that called her Molly and she said ‘I rather like it’!

On Monday, we drove over to Wellington to visit with our other daughter and pick up our mail. We had some mail arrive that we needed before heading south. On our way home, we detoured to Hastings to meet up with our RVing friends, Pat and Carolyn and had a nice dinner at their home. On our way home, we were stopped by a traffic jam for 30-45 minutes on Hwy 401 and arrived home at 1:30AM! Whew, another long day in the truck! Needless to say, we were not “up and at’em” early the next day!

Barb continues to create new projects for herself and I was busy organizing the basement storage and putting stuff away! I took the truck in for service and found other repairs had to be made before we are loaded up. We had a slashed tire on the inside side wall and in need of a tie rod and ball joint! Wow, it’s like going to the doctor for a physical and coming out having to have major surgery! Oh well, it’s only money and now we feel secure that the truck is ready for another trip!

The weather up here the last days of our stay has not been enjoyable! It has been rainy and cold; just nasty! On Sunday, the weather was more cooperative and we left under dry conditions with some blue sky! Peter & Molly came over to say farewell – they were about the only people left in the park! Traffic was light and the day was good for travel.

We arrived at Lake Huron Resort and started set up and Judy stopped by to welcome us. We are on the same site we have had before but this time we can not find the Bell satellite for our TV viewing! I moved the dish to several different spots but can not locate the bird! A neighbor with Bell TV came out to offer assistance but still no go! It’s getting cold and the rain is starting again and my frustration is rising! We never have this problem – 10 minutes tops normally to find service! Time for a break and headed over to Judy and Larry’s to warm up and have refreshments! We came back before dark and tried again but no success!

Monday brings us rain all day but we still try again to find TV service but still nothing. If we hadn’t found an American TV service satellite, I would have thought we had ‘other’ electronic problems! So, time to call Bell! Well their help was next to zero! We did the few things they suggested but still nothing! Time to go back to Judy and Larry’s, they are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for us and Anne and Gerry. Arriving we met their neighbors Art & Lorraine who were over for Happy Hour.  They are very nice people.  It was a nice afternoon and evening with lots to eat and conversations abound!

Tuesday, we tried again to get TV service but still no go. We went off to Goderich to buy a new satellite receiver and while there, toured the devastation from the Tornado that hit on Aug 21^st. I can’t put what we saw into words. I hope these few pictures do justice to the damage and toll inflicted!

Back to the rig to see if the new receiver ‘fixes’ our problem. NO! I still can’t find the signal from the bird. Only 1 more day and we’ll be in Toronto and we’re sure we’ll have service from Terri’s driveway! Back to Judy and Larry’s where we headed down the hill to the beach and we were very happy we made it up without a lot of puffing.  Our 5K walks really helped us get into better shape.  Judy & Larry invited us to stay for supper since we are heading to Toronto in the morning and after a pleasant evening we headed home.

 Hoping all is well where ever you are…..

ps: happy now John? Sorry for the delay but the Satellite TV has been driving me more crazy!

Summer Comes to a Close

It is wind down time. The campground is almost deserted and really quiet! The weather has cooled off dramatically and we find ourselves being busy inside. Barb is working on sewing projects, restarted our family tree search and creating some DVD projects. Me, well after watching Barb doing her thing, I’m too tired to start anything! Well, that’s a fib, I’m continuing to scan our photo albums and scrap books! Every now and then, I’ll see a picture that is too cute not to share so I’ll send it out to our daughters with a cryptic comment! We all have a laugh and it is fun!

While I was scanning some pictures, I came across a picture of my mother with friends. I googled the name of her friends and found their family tree! I sent the tree owner a message and waiting to hear back from them. We hope this will provide us with more leads to my mom’s lineage. It’s these little victories of genealogy that keep us hooked! Barb is using a family tree maker from My Heritage and it is really comprehensive. We’re hoping to publish this online so maybe we can get more input from other family members.

 

Barb helped a neighbor with her new sewing machine and I started our departure count down by checking air pressures, adjusting as required and giving the truck a good scrubbing on the inside. Soon, we’ll start putting our outdoor furniture and decorations away. Getting ready to head south always brings mixed emotions, saying farewell to new friends we have met this year but always looking forward to meeting more along the way!

Another neighbor wanted help re-leveling their trailer. So Barb & I gathered up our bottle jack, wood blocks and ground tarp and headed next door. This is the new trailer that was delivered and the delivery guy did not do even an adequate job for the customer! So, we managed to get it sorted out and leveled the way it should have been when delivered.

It’s been a slow quiet week here but we manage to keep busy. We wish you all well out there….

The Ignition Switch Twitch…

Both of us are amazed that we have not felt the desire to move on this summer! Usually, after having the jacks down for about 5-6 weeks, we are ready to move on down the road for more adventures. But this summer, we haven’t had that feeling – until now! Could it be that we have been busy doing and being focused and not wondering what was waiting around the next bend or over the next hill? Could it be that we are in a nice campground that’s not making us wonder why we’re here? Could it be that the summer is nearly over and our thoughts are wandering to our venture south to our ‘new’ ERPU site at the Rainbow Plantation? I can’t think of any more ‘could it bes’ so let’s chalk it up to the end of this chapter in the summer of 2011 and it’s time to turn the page!

We have kinda gotten out of our normal routine for no reason. Barb has been busy working on a couple of projects that I can not mention here just in case someone is reading this. But she has finished one project – 8 bears have been born from that fur coat we showed you a few entries back. They are almost too cute but they are for sale so if you want one, send us an email to reserve yours today! She is also restarting the family tree project that had been sidelined when we could not trace my mother’s lineage back. We are using a neat tree building program from My Heritage Family Tree and helps inputting and tracking. Ancestry.ca had a special on where you can try out there service but of course there are strings and we’re not sure yet. We’ll use our family first for history etc then maybe…

The bathroom is 98% completed now. We replaced the paper holder and had to modify the cabinet where the old one was so the new one would fit. Some wood bought, some stain slapped on and some varnish and when assembled, I was ¼ inch short! Crap, and I left my board stretcher at the house so cut, stain and varnish a new piece and by the time this entry is published, it will be 100% complete! It’s always fun when I’m working on something!

Our neighbor, Peter and Molly bought a new trailer and Barb & I have been busy helping them with modifications and additions to make it ‘their own’. I put his Max-Air vent hoods on and helped take out a couple of cabinets they didn’t want – I’m good at demolition! Barb provided Molly with some ideas and helped me with another pair of hands. I’m busy doing nothing and there’s Peter, cutting our grass! I gave him a hard time of course, accusing him of not liking our shabby chic lawn next to his new trailer. Finally, he said he’s doing it to repay us for our help! Nice!

Barb is putting the finishing touches to some nice Christmas gifts that are going to be a hit. I am starting a big project of scanning some of our memorabilia that we have accumulated over the 44 years of wedding bliss.

We’re ‘talking’ to friends about this winter and whom to expect at the plantation and when. It is exciting to make plans with friends that you can meet on the road! Oh, we just got an email from our friends Dick and Karla in Minnesota. I hope you can remember us talking about how good friends they have been to us when we visit them. They are opening their ‘retirement log cabin’ as a B&B! So, if you’re interested in a little down time to recharge your batteries and experience the north woods of Minnesota, check them out at www.redpinepointbedandbreakfast.com. Dick and Karla are wonderful people and you will feel welcomed and comfortable. I hope you look them up.

Enough for now and we wish you well out there….

It’s Coming!

Well, it’s that time of the year again; the leaves on some trees are actually starting to turn. The soy bean fields are nearing harvest as they turn gold! The nights are cooling and dew is heavy most mornings! Time has gone by in a blink and it is hard to believe the summer is backed up in memory! Our time here at Roebuck Campground is ending which takes our thoughts of our future travels. We’re excited to know we have a winter site waiting for us and not having to worry if there are sites available or what the campground is like. Get ready Rainbow Plantation, here we come!

I know, get back to the present. We’ve done another 5K walk today and then into Owen Sound for some groceries and to the fabric store for supplies – not for me but Barb is onto another little project while I continued on finishing the bathroom trim and cut the grass. Tuesday was more of the same, Barb was finishing a set of napkins for Terri – a small gift to celebrate their pergola project behind their house and I fastened down the bathroom trim.

We decided on a road trip into Waterdown to inspect Olympia Village campground where we might use for the month of Oct/Nov before we head south. They have been working on some new sites (they are the ones that called us 3 days in advance to tell us they couldn’t accommodate us on the long weekend in May and how we ended up in Meaford) and we wanted to ensure we could fit and it would be adequate for us. It was a 3 hour trip for a 15 minute tour but I now have peace of mind that we don’t have to go to Golden Pond in Ingersol again! It was one of the few campgrounds that are open year round but their electricity is flakey and the water is undrinkable but they always treated us good! We went to Terri’s for dinner and to present her with the ‘custom’ napkins. Thursday we moved slower than normal and didn’t get home here until after lunch and couldn’t get motivated to do much.

Friday we drove up to Tobermory to celebrate my birthday. It’s been 30+ years since we have been there and it hasn’t changed too much except for the large homes. We had lunch on a patio overlooking the harbor and watching some of the world go by! After, we strolled through the harbor and wandered into a few gift shops. Oh, also had to stop for an ice cream! As we were heading out, the Chi-cheemaun ferry from ManitoulinIsland was just arriving and it’s always a treat to watch the ship as it lifts the bow to let the vehicles off!

On the way back, I had a ‘bright’ idea to see the ‘Devil’sMonument’ – I had read a sign on the way up and thought it might be interesting. It was only 19Ks out of our way – we’ve traveled further for less! Anyway, after turning off the highway and no more signs to follow, we gave up after 40 minutes of very rough road. There was supposed to be the Cabot Head Lighthouse  along the way but we didn’t find that either! Our GPS was of no help! We did get to see some very nice cottage/homes and magnificent vistas of Georgian Bay and the beautiful blue waters! We didn’t get to see what we started out to see but we still saw beautiful sites anyway and made the side trip worthwhile.

 

Wishing you well out there…..

Fun Times in a Small Spaces

This past week has been fun! We started out by removing the bathroom vanity so we could start taking up the floor – again! Of course, you can’t remove any trim without breaking at least one piece but we did better than that, we broke two! So here we are, trim off, door off and the entire floor up. There is no room to do any cutting inside so we have to dodge the rain to cut outside! I’m sure you’re picturing the fun, drawers pile throughout, a door standing some where, trim and floor strips stacked neatly all the while we carry on in our rig! The good news is we found the source of our squeaks – the sub floor was too big and was rubbing in various places so with my handy little jigsaw, we did some trimming and glued and screwed the sub floor back down but not before we had to run out for more glue. The head contractor – (me) didn’t calculate enough! This can’t happen once we move to laying the laminate so I picked up some extra just in case! According to the directions on the floor glue, it had to be left for 48 hours before use – hey it’s our bathroom floor, how can that happen? Use the ‘public washrooms? Not!

So now we start to relay the laminate. Barb is our laborer here! She is down on the floor dry piecing it as she goes to ensure I am handing her the correct one – she knows me too well! It is going great until we get to a straight wall section and we realize we’re off just a smidge and the strips are not quite fitting! Thank heavens the glue doesn’t set too quickly and we are able to move it just enough to get us back on track. We’re sure you are chuckling as you try to imagine us two oldies working together on our hands and knees in the small space of our bathroom! We finally get the last piece in place late Sunday night and sit for a beverage before heading off to bed.

We decided to improve the drawer slides from the originals and went uptown! The bad news is the drawer openings have to be cut larger so the new drawer equipment will fit! We just have enough room on the vanity face to do it and the drawer fronts will still cover! The drain needs to be altered so the drawer slides will reach the wall for the top drawers – oh such good times! It’s never just a simple task! As I’m working on the wall brackets for the drawer slides, I notice a drip coming from the sink tail pipe! Now what? I finish the drawer slide wall brackets then disassemble the sink drain, clean everything and reassemble it to find it still leaks! Disassemble again and take off the new putty and re-do it again – with a little more this time and all is good now.

Now the moment of truth – fitting the drawers back in and see how they slide and if they close properly! They slide great but with too little resistance, what’s going to happen when were going down the road and have to brake? The fronts don’t line up 100% so I have to tweak the wall brackets for better alignment. To make the install seem a little easier, I tried installing the wall brackets on plywood and then attached the plywood to the wall. Wrong! It was more work doing it my way! After some experimentation, I finally got all brackets adjusted and the drawers are working great. With all this fun stuff, Barb even got all 7 bears assembled and ready for stuffing and jointing when the parts for the arms & legs arrive!

Sunday, while Irene pounded the eastern seaboard, we woke up to no water! The park had a major leak and had to shut the system off while the owner dug a huge pit to find the problem. I helped him hand bomb some clay back in the hole for him to stand on while he fixed the pipe. He found a small sharp piece of shale that had worked its way through the plastic water line! Unbelievable!

In the afternoon, Barb & I hiked about 2kms from our site to an overlook that looked toward Meaford and the waters of Georgian Bay. We will be sure to go back later when the leaves are turning, I’m sure the colors will be spectacular!

We hope that if any of our readers were in the clutches of Irene that they escaped without harm. We wish you well, wherever you are…..