Well, I know I said we wouldn’t be updating our blog but we’ve been tricked to travel! A friend asked us to join them on a Habitat for Humanity build on PEI at the end of June. After some consideration and waffling, we decided to do it. Our 13 year old grandson – Mackenzie, is interested in woodworking and we asked him to join us on the HFH build and he excitedly accepted. With the decision made and the plans tentative, we then get an email from the HFH coordinator to say the build was full and we were #2 on the wait list – crap! So not to disappoint, we continued with our plans.

To bring you up to date since our arrival back in Ontario, we stayed at our usual cg in the London area to visit family and friends and attend dental appointments. After, we spent a few days in the Goderich area to see our cousins new park model then off to my brothers yard to utilize his very well equipped wood working shop to do our bathroom reno. We completely removed the vanity cabinet and sink and rebuilt it from the floor up. We also had to take up the new laminate flooring we completed in September to lay down an underlay then re-lay the laminate! We had to go 120 miles north to Midland’s Restore and buy back our flooring. Thank goodness it was still there, $10.00 is cheap storage for five months. Whew…. What a job that was.
Now onto the new cabinet, drawers, top, vessel sink and a new faucet! We’ve learned not to fool with RV plumbing. No matter what you do, it will leak after you’re done!

All work and no play is not fun and one of our new adages is ‘if it’s not fun, why do it’! So we played some too. We accompanied Larry and Doreen to the local dinner theatre and also spent a day on Larry’s cruiser on Georgian Bay.

Since we decided to go to PEI and put down some tentative plans with friends, the first priority was to complete the bathroom reno, easier said than done! We wanted to leave on June 23rd and we finally resolved all the issues by June 21st! Wow, now that’s taking it down to the 11th hour! As we were getting packed up to head east, our ‘new’ plumbing sprung a leak – actually it had been leaking for a few days, we just didn’t know it until I pulled something out of the basement! This will have to be fixed when we get on the road – no time now or we’ll get away late. And it was a good thing too as there was a 5.5 quake in Ontario just after we left. Here is a picture of the devastation it left behind!

The border crossing was no issue and we made it to the Wal-Mart in Malone, NY for our first night. We didn’t see a Home Depot on the way so no hot water at the new bathroom sink! We should be at the Apple Island Resort near Burlington, VT by mid day on June 24th so we should be able to make repairs there. We arrived at the resort around the expected time but had to set up in the rain! It’s a great resort, lots to do and lots of conveniences. We would recommend it to anyone visiting Lake Champlain.

The next day we decided to find a Home Depot and tour the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory just south of Stowe, VT. All was good, the ice cream was delicious and the Home Depot was not far. We took out the RV PEX valve and replaced it with a Shark Bite PEX valve. The fix was very easy and wished we had used this product at the get go and will probably use it when ever we need to ‘touch’ the plumbing in the rig again.

We left Apple Island Saturday AM, heading toward the Wal-Mart in Berlin City, NH. We took Route 2 from Montpelier, VT and had a great drive. The route was very scenic and not busy. Lots of little burbs and some hills but nothing like some of our treks in the west!

This Wal-Mart provided entertainment! After the store closed, cops show up (3 locals and 2 state troopers) and talked down a drunken individual that was being obnoxious. Apparently, the Wal-Mart staff saw the ruckus on their security cameras and dialed 911!

The next day, we lunch at a turn off beside the Kennebec River, just outside Skowhegan Maine. These types of rest areas with a view are few and far between so it makes it a special stop. We arrived at the Pumpkin Patch RV Resort early enough to set up and sit and relax under a beautiful sky and warm temps.

The next entry should put us in New Brunswick. Until next time, be well.