October 2009

View Winter 2009-10 in a larger map

Notice the controls for this New Map on the left side, you can zoom into different areas of the map and see where we are or have been. At Unadilla Georgia for 5 nights

Sat. Oct.31st Again very warm and overcast most of the day, about 85f (30c) not that we mind. I went to Perry for a few groceries, about 10 minutes away, Back home we had a nice breakfast then a bit of local shopping in town. The campground was busy with horsehoes, minigolf, cards games, halloween costumes and even a hay wagon ride. Looks like all had a good time, all seniors! we did not see any children. We sat in the shade for and read for a while, chatted with a few neighbours, then prepared a nice baked salmon and fried rice supper. Its real amazing how you can get used to the warm weather so quick. About 4.45pm Suzie complained it was getting chilly after putting on long pants and a sweater, hmm... yeah it was chilly the temperature dropped from 85f (30c) to 74f (24c) how soon we get spoiled!!! Here is few pics we took coming thru Atlanta, and of a Motorhome (just like ours) towing a Trailer with a Geo Tracker (small suv), Boat, Motor & Trailer, and bicycle on it!!!! He wants to take it all with him, but I do think he is overweight. more pics Fri. Oct. 30th Nice and warm overnight, so much so we took off the heavy blanket and had the windows open all night. Most of today was overcast and a bit drizzly but a warm 80f (27c). This worked out well as we had just discovered a water leak in our coach and I found the source, a flexible kitchen sink drain was leaking in our slide out. I had to remove the stove/oven and pantry to access the problem. John Bleakley Motor Homes in Unadilla had the parts in stock and even told me how to do it. They even called the campground and had me call them back... with more information. They were too busy until tuesday to fix it and even recommended a mobile tech if I could not get it done. 2 years ago they helped us out with parts and service as well. Sure nice to see friendly faces and good service on the road. We would recommend them to anybody in need of good friendly service or repairs. Finally got er done and not leaking (6 hours later). Everything back together, beer thirty arrived (anytime you want a beer) for a bit before cooking up a feast of chicken wings, homemade fries, celery, carrots & dip. Thurs. Oct. 29th 244 miles today Another good nights sleep even with our closeness to a train track. We waited a bit later this morning for the fog to lift, but were on the road by 8.45am. Shorts and T-shirts weather now. The sun was shining brightly by about 9.30am and a good drive thru Chattanooga and Atlanta not a lot of traffic. We stopped at Camping World just south of Macon Georgia to check out the specials and make lunch. Then off to Southern Trails Resort arriving about 1.30pm. Great weather 90f, (32c) sunny and no wind. We quickly setup, including our awnings and enjoyed the rest of the day. With BBQ'd pork chops and boiled potatoes for supper.

Wed. Oct.28th 252 miles today We were on the road about 8.15 am again today after a good nights rest. Driving thru the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee enjoying the lovely scenery and the vibrant fall colours. Stopping for fuel in Knoxville only $2.48 a gallon (.70 cents a litre). We made real good time today, most of the rest areas were closed (under construction). Arriving at the Walmart in Chattanooga Tennessee about 1.10pm, we relaxed on the hot sunny afternoon. 82f (28c) then baked a fresh made pizza from Walmart (after adding a few things) then relaxed for the evening with a tv show or 2. Wed. Pics

Where do people come up with these names???

Tues. Oct. 27th 265 miles today. Temperature mostly about 65 F (18c) We had a good nights sleep, nice and quiet, 2 other rvs and 2 trucks shared the huge parking lot. After morning coffee we got on the road about 8.15am and stopped at the Flying J in Columbus Ohio for fuel. $2.58 a gal (.72 cents a litre). Then we carried on thru Cincinnati Ohio and Kentucky to Lexington where we stopped at a Walmart here around 1.30pm. It was cooler and rainy now so we checked out the store, and our email, relaxed then had roast pork in gravy with egg noodles and veggies for supper, and watched a bit of tv before bed time. When stopping for the night we have preferred the Flying J travel plazas in the past because of them being RV friendly, with sewer dumps, water fills, internet accessibility and a nice clean facilities. This year the way our schedule worked out so far the Flying J's were not located in convenient stopping spots, so we found alot more Walmart Supercentres, (open 24 hours) that allow overnight parking. Plus we have access to shopping, groceries, and hot food if we wish. We now have our own internet, in North America so do not have to rely on outside soures. Mon. Oct. 26th 284 miles today Bright sunny again today. We had coffee, packed up and were on the road by 9.00 am.missing the traffic in Buffalo we traveled along I-90 past Cleveland, then along I-71 It was a nice drive all day, sunny, warm not much traffic, so warm in fact I had to put on shorts and t-shirt (about 75f (23c). About 3.00pm we decided to park at the Walmart in Ashland Ohio. Nice a quiet here with all the facilities, even a Mennonite buggy in the parking lot. For supper I made a hot chicken sandwich with potatoes and carrots, with some homemade zuchinni loaf for desert. Then we watched tv for a while before turning in for the night. Mon Pics

In Cambria New York

Sun. Oct. 25th A beautiful bright sunny day close to 70f (18c). Most of the campground is packing up and leaving, including our friends, John & Wendy, Bill & Barb. We said our goodbyes then puttered around for a while enjoying the nice weather. And relax before hitting the road ourselves tomorrow. Supper tonight was a nice pork loin roast, with potatoes ,carrots and applesauce. Sat. Oct. 24th Sunny and warm in the morning, helping to dry up from the rain last night. We walked about a bit and looked at some of the Halloween decorations, adult and children in costumes, and a hay wagon ride around the campground for a couple of hours. We checked out the craft sale at the clubhouse as well. There was some cloudy periods and wind in the afternoon, but still bearable temperatures. From 4:30 to 6:30 was Trick or Treat time in the campground. Our 3 sites got together and handed out candies to well over 250 kids of all ages. Wendy had made a huge pot of Chili that we all shared for supper (perfect for a cool day). Then later we got a campfire going to take the chill off and sat around it to about 9.00pm when to wood ran out, then called it a night. Sat Pics.

The Migration has begun!!!

Fri. Oct. 23rd Very cold and windy at the farm in the morning. We packed up and were on the road by 9.30 am. It was a windy drive to the border at Lewiston when we arrived at 11.45 am. We had to wait only about 25 minutes at the border. And we got to Lazy Lakes Resort by 1.00pm after stopping for cheap gas, $2.58 gal = .71.9 cents a litre canadian. Here we set up and I went shopping. Deals to be had as usual, rotisserie chicken $4.99. Large bonelesspork loin $7.50, lettuce .79 cents. Beer $13.99 for 30 cans.($42.00 in Canada) 1/2 Gallon wiskey $13.49 ( $52.00 in Canada.) Bottle on Gin $7.99 ($22.00 in Canada). Fresh chickens .59 cents a lb. Milk $1.57 for 1/2 gallon. We enjoy the very cheap living here (keeps our budget in line!!) And a few friends that we have not seen since August! We are here until monday then on the road about 3 days to Georgia for a few nights. We had and early supper of a Rotisserie chicken (with Swiss chalet sauce of course, we brought a huge supply with us!) boiled potatoes and coleslaw. Once John and Wendy arrived they went for supper with Barb and Bill so we tagged along, to chat and visit as it was still pouring rain out. They ordered a special of 50 chicken wings, (with cute itty bitty baby carrots and blue cheese dressing) and a huge pizza with 24 square slices only $35.99, more than 6 of us could eat , lotsa leftovers. Back to camp, still rainy and cold, but 10.00pm so retire for the evening.

In New Hamburg until Friday

Thurs. Oct. 22nd Over cast, windy and cooler most of the day with a few light rain showers. Now this is the kind of weather we want to leave behind. A few last minute errands today for me, Suzie did our laundry, dust and vacuum the coach then putter around a bit bit. I experimented with a new recipe for BBQ'd pigtails and pork ribs for supper accompanied by sauerkraut and a rice pilaf. The meat turned out just great, (melt in your mouth, fall off the bone, sticky, tasty). Our last feast of ribs and pigtails for at least 6months. Then home to bed and ready to hit the road tomorrow. Wed. Oct. 21st. Rainy and overcast in the morning but pretty mild. We went to Kitchener for some appointments then stopped at my mother's for a visit, pizza for lunch, and adjust her computer. From here we went to New Hamburg to adjust Suzie's father's computer then back to the farm to get ready for supper. Suzie's mother, father and grandmother came out and we had an awesome pan fried fish dinner (fish caught by her father), with rice, beans, fresh bread and fresh baked apple pie for more than a dozen of us a nice send off before heading south. Tues. Oct.20th What a beautiful fall day!! The sun is shining, its warm, not too windy, almost nice enough to make us want to stay here. But it will get cold , there will be snow & ice, and freezing temperatures, and that's something that we don't enjoy anymore, so we will be heading south and following the sun very soon. Quite a few of our friends have already left and are on the road making us a little anxious and ready to get the tires rolling. We did have a friend Karen, her dog (Fiona) and her mother drop out for a nice visit and say good bye to us, wishing us well over the winter. She brought a fresh home made Zucchini loaf that was delicious. I BBQ'd some hamburgers and sausage for lunch with potato salad and coleslaw on the side. We chatted for a while then they headed back home to avoid the Toronto rush hour. Supper this evening was chicken wings and fried rice. Mon. Oct.19th At Kim's this morning and Brian was off to work at 7:30, then she and Kaitlyn took the boys to school and back home to have a coffee with us before we hit the road about 10.00am. It was a good drive and missed all the Toronto rush hour traffic, stopping at the service centre to make a sandwich for lunch then stop in Ayr to fill with propane and disconnect the car so Suzie can rush off to the farm and make sure there is room for us to park. Once set up I went to Waterloo for a quick chiropractic adjustment, then back at the farm to cook supper of BBQ'd smoked porkchops, garlic sausage, rice and mixed veggies. Sandy took Dennis his supper to the field as they were busy combining beans until midnight.

In Aurora visiting Grandkids

Sun. Oct. 18th Bright and sunny today even quite a bit warmer. We played with our grandkids and visited with Kim and Brian for a while. Then I went with Brian and the boys for their swimming lessons. It sure is nice to see them doing so well and having fun in the pool. With some of the leftover ham I made a huge pot of ham and bean soup for lunch. Afterwards we puttered around inside and out with a walkabout, raking leaves etc... Then supper was a nice treat of Swiss Chalet chicken, a card game with the boys and bedtime.

Sat. Oct 17th A nice fall morning cool and sunny. We packed up the coach and headed to Aurora to visit my daughter, son-in-law and 3 grandchildren, our first grand daughter 12 days old. Arriving about noon we set up in their driveway and visited for the afternoon. I was able clean and carve a pumpkin with the 2 boys (5 & 3) a nice fun time. For supper I cooked a bone in ham, and my cousin and husband brought over a nice bean salad and scalloped potatoes, then homemade apple pie and ice cream for desert. This was a nice visit for all, a chance to see the new baby girl, and help Kim out with supper.

We at the Farm In New Hamburg

Fri. Oct. 16th Nicer day today mostly sunny and up to 60f (15c) the majority of the day. I picked up Suzie's father's computer from the repair shop and took it over and reinstalled it. Works just like new (maybe better). I picked up a few things in town and back to the farm to bake an apple pie (for saturday) and prepare a huge shepherds pie (with fresh roast beef shredded) and a tossed salad for supper, and carrot cake for desert supplied by Suzie's mother. To feed all the workers today. Dennis, Greg and Levi were bringing in corn silage, and Suzie, Beattie and Sandy stripping paint from an old door, Shelly with the chores and milking, then Stacey and Mark dropped by for desert. Thurs. Oct. 15th More frost again this morning and cold overnight. We ran a few errands today and puttered around. Then went to my daughter Jessica and Jays house for a very delicious supper of baked salmon, rice, perogies, and a spinach salad. Afterwards we had a nice birthday cake that we took for Noah's (our oldest grandson 6 years old in November when we are gone). We also took his early birthday present. He looks forward to this every year. We played with him and Lincoln (2) for a while and carved a pumpkin for halloween (so much fun), it was a very nice visit. On the way out Noah said see you after Christmas when the snow is gone!!! Grand children make this all worthwhile and they grow so fast. Wed. Oct. 14th Cold fall weather, but no snow, lots of morning frost thou, causing the crops in the fields to turn yellow almost instantly. Soon time for Dennis to get on the land and harvest the corn. Also the time of year for lots of fall colours in the trees. I had my hearing devices tuned up and adjusted, hopefully will cause no problems for the winter then took my father-in-law's sick computer to the clinic for a tune up and maintenance work. We puttered around for the rest of the day, and for supper I made some shrimp fried rice, BBQ pork egg foo young and a feast of chicken wings. Tues. Oct. 13th Ok only 9 more sleeps, then we are on the road heading to warmer climates. Today's weather was cold, sunshine, rain, cloudy, and even a few tiny hail stones coming down. Today I had a few errands to run, New Hamburg and Waterloo. I stopped by mothers at noon for lunch and had a nice visit, while here I also installed a keyed lock on her storm door for an added measure of security. Back home I picked up Suzie and we went to her sister and brother-in-laws' house for a delicious supper of melt in your mouth steaks, roasted potatoes, and ceasar salad. Followed by a very nice visit. Mon. Oct. 12th "Happy Thanksgiving" (in Canada) Lotsa frost this morning. Cool and overcast all day about 45f (7c). A good day to do more research, relax and putter around outside a bit for some fresh air and exercise. Then a nice supper of hot turkey sandwich, sweet potatoes, rice and a fresh beefsteak tomato. Sun. Oct. 11th Cold morning with a bit of frost. We puttered around for a while, then went to Suzie's parents at noon for a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. About 20 in all including the recently born twin girls. We took a picture of 5 generations of girls, from the twins, to their mother, Grandmother, Great Grandmother and Great-great Gramma ( 94 years old). For the afternoon we sat about chatted and played card games and enjoyed the fellowship of relatives. Later a light snack for supper then home to the farm for the night. Picture Sat. Oct. 10th Was a mostly sunny day today, but still a bit chilly. This is the day that I have a get together with most of my family here at the farm. This year we did use the large kitchen at the farmhouse to gather and enjoy our food, a roast turkey, buns, salads and desert. When the sun shone it was quite nice and we were able spend a bit of time outside and have a nice get together, before we head south for the winter. Supper tonight was a bit more turkey and salads. Fri. Oct. 9th Rainy all day today so a good day for a drive to visit our new 4 day old granddaughter in Aurora. (what were we thinking driving thru Toronto and area on the friday of Thanksgiving weekend?) The traffic was pretty good on the way there, we arrived at 12.30 noon and had a nice visit and left about 2.30pm to return to New Hamburg again we got lucky with the traffic, all the tie-ups were going the opposite direction, so we made good time again, sure beats sitting for hours tied up in traffic. Then back home we had BBQ'd porkchops, rice and a salad for supper.

Me and Kaitlynn

Thurs. Oct. 8th Up early this morning and Suzie and I went for doctors appointments in Kitchener then back home. We puttered around cleaning up the yard and more gutting the house with help from Suzie, and her mom, dad, Dennis and Sandy, later as I was cooking our Turkey for saturday and at the same time we cooked a chicken for supper, with sweet potatoes, and squash, yummy, then turn in for the night. Wed. Oct.7th Woke up and it was cold, rainy and very windy, and our day to move We took our time getting ready and waiting for the weather to change a bit. Not much luck so we were on the road to New Hamburg, only about 1 - 1/2 hrs . The wind was mostly at our backs so not too bad driving. We arrived about 12:30 and rinsed the mud off our coach (still a dirt road into the farm). After set up Sandy had a nice lunch for ham,eggs, and homefries for us. We puttered around helping demolish the living room getting ready for insulation and new dry wall. (the stone walls are over 2 feet thick in this 150 year old farmhouse). Supper was spaghetti squash with a nice thick meaty spaghetti sauce.

We are At Rock Glen Resort in Arkona Ontario

Tues. Oct. 6th Then weather can't make up it's mind. It was supposed to rain all day, but was sunny mostly with only a few light sprinkles here and there. Today we got all of our grandchildrens christmas gifts wrapped after a quick run to the store for a couple more. We did our laundry and dust and vacuumed our coach before leaving tomorrow. About 4.pm we had a nice visit with Mike, Trish and daughter Jordan, by their fire, chatting and wishing each other well over the coming winter. Supper tonight was a hot chicken sandwich with mashed potatoes and broccoli with cheese, great comfort food for a cold, damp windy night. After supper another neighbour, (Forrest) dropped by to wish us well in our travels and a nice gift of some supports for our aluminum lawn chairs that he had made. Mon. Oct. 5th Warmer and sunny for most of the day today. Today's wonderful world of technology. We just had the birth of our 1st Grand daughter, 4 grandsons and now today a girl! At 8 am my daughter Kim posted on facebook that she was in Labour. I made a comment "what hospital?" and she replied. Later in the morning another posting "Happy 2 announce Kaitlyn Elizabeth @ 8lbs 2oz,!!! ". Well there ya go in labour and still updating her Facebook account to keep us all informed , almost like being there. In the past I always thought most women were too busy having a baby to even talk to people, my how things change. Apparently she was posting via her cell phone. And now she will be going home the next day by noon. With all this excitement I still managed to enjoy a bit of outside weather, scrub our mat clean, and lube our locks, hinges, leveling jacks, steps, tow bar etc.. Chat with a few neighbours and even BBQ a nice prime rib steak, baked potato and fresh local corn on the cob for supper. Another great day!!!!!! Sun. Oct. 4th Overcast today with a few rain showers here and there. After a morning walkabout I took my air compressor over to Forrest's trailer to air up his tires, getting ready to put it in storage for the winter. I puttered around for most of the day, outside when it was not drizzling, doing a bit of clean up and another coat of wax on the front of our coach, (keeps the bugs from sticking). Inside did more research and some reading. For supper I picked up a frozen pizza and topped it up to make a yummy meal. Sat. Oct. 3rd Cool and rainy off and on most of the day. In the afternoon about 2:30pm a neighbour (Forrest) was having a birthday party for his wife Elsie (80 years old!). A bunch of us about 25 or so gathered around a nice campfire, celebrated, chatted with snack foods. There was a swirling wind off and on and quite a bit of sunshine but all in all was a nice fall day for the most. Then the BBQ was lit just as it began to rain. So out came the umbrellas and under the awning for a bit until it stopped with a beautiful rainbow, then we enjoyed more campfire, hamburgs, hotdogs and yummy birthday cake until the rain began again around 7.00pm, time to go home anyway it was getting darker an cooler. Sat. Pics. Fri. Oct. 2nd Rain again all day.... so we did some computing again and research then went to London (about 40 minutes) finished our Christmas shopping for the grandkids after lunch. Back home I prepared an nice supper of a roasted chicken with dressing, mashed potatoes and broccoli with cheese sauce. While a neighbour Debbie dropped by for a visit, bring some fresh strawberries and fresh baked rolls very yummy. After supper we read for a while then watched a bit of tv. Thurs. Oct. 1st A cool morning with a bit of frost, but the sun came out and was shining most of the day. We did some computing for a while until it warmed up enough to go outside. Chatting with a few neighbours was nice after a few days of rain, then we sat in the sun and read for a while. The temperatute got up to about 70f (22c) so was quite nice with only a few cloudy periods. Supper tonight was pork schnitzel topped with melted cheese, sweet potato fries and peas. Afterwards we read for a bit, then off to the clubhouse for darts, another night of fun and fellowship.