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 …..