Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer, since August 2006
Another sunny day, and its gonna be hot. So we are up early and over to visit my daughter, son in law and the kids at their rental trailer. Play with the kids for a bit then head to the clubhouse for an adult breakfast at 8:30 (the grandkids already had theirs). A pretty good deal, ham, eggs, toast, coffee and juice only $4.00 while the kids had fun with the toys there.
Another hot summer day. Up early coffee and computing then at 8:00am two grandosns knocked on the door. Good morning Grandad and Gramma, " Mom said you can come over now". Love it , so off we go to their trailer, hang out, more coffee then down to see what time the pool opens. Not until 10:00am so we checked out the craft and bake sale at the clubhouse, lotsa great stuff for sale and to eat. And of course a stop at one of the many playgrounds to play.
big tire
slide
The boys went swimming with Brian then Suzie and I puttered around a bit, got some strawberries and shortcake for desert at supper time.
After lunch "Water wars" in the campground. Joe the manager rides around in the back of his pick up with a huge water gun and a few hundred gallons of water. The kids open fire on them with whatever they have, some have super soakers, water hoses, buckets of water, you name it. The point is to cool down and have fun on this hot humid day. Works just great, everybody that wanted to got soaked did, and cooled down.
Water Wars
Then we heated up again and all went swimming in the outside pool.
outdoor pool
relaxing
Back Home to cook supper on the large BBQ at their rental. Pork chops marinated in cranberries and orange juice, mini potatoes and fresh corn on the cob and strawberry shortcake for desert.
yummy supper
Happy Birthday
Followed by a wagon ride around the resort, Andrew's birthday gift, a campfire and smores. Until all of a sudden it began to rain about 10:00pm. Time to call it a day anyway on a fun filled day at the resort.
Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer, since August 2006
A beautiful sunny day and going to be hot again. So an early start, coffee, computing and walkabouts, then a quick trip to Forest for a birthday gift for my grandson that I forgot to pick up yesterday. Back home we had a bite to eat then off to a used book store, about 10 minutes away out in the middle of nowhere. Rob and Pat had told us about this place and it is quite an interesting a house full of books everywhere, but amazingly pretty well organized. The eccentric fellow running the place knew where everything was, if you wanted a certain author he would go an bring out a whole box full of books. So we had fun selecting lotsa books and ended up with about 20 and a bonus was 50% off all of the already cheap books. I was so amazed at this place that I forgot to take pictures! We will be back again.
Back home Suzie installed a program on Rob's computer then he and I went and got a nice load of firewood only $6.00. Back at camp I split most of it onto small pieces for a campfire later when my daughter arrives at the rental for the weekend.
Had a great nights sleep and this morning juice, coffee, computing and walkabouts. Chatting with some more new neighbors, the resort is filling up pretty quick for the weekend. Before we knew it was time for an early lunch then I drove to Forest for a few errands and some shopping, birthday gifts for two grandsons. And back home to relax in the shade with our books for a while.
Todays weather was kinda hard to figure out, not too sunny and not too hot, or was it hot? As the day progressed it was getting more humid and feeling much hotter. About 5 pm a temperature of about 75f but it really felt like 95f, very humid. After supper we actually turned on our air conditioner.
We are settled in at Rock Glen Resort and the weather is warm again, very nice, but for some reason I did not get a good sleep last night. So I am puttering around, walkabouts, chatting with people but just really dragging my ass. And just can't seem to get it together. So after lunch let's see if I can lay down for a rest. Well two hours later I woke up and felt awesome! An afternoon nap is just not what I do very often maybe once a year, but I guess I needed it.
Now I woke up to a wonderful surprise in the afternoon sky. Looking south is a colorful sky, the clouds have taken on a magical hue.
wow!
Now we read in the shade for a bit then Rob and Pat dropped by for Happy Hour to socialize a bit, and solve some world problems before supper time. For which I whipped up a mess of chicken wings, with my various hot sauces, fries, veggies and dips. Another craving satisfied! A real pub treat, but in a campground under the trees at a fraction of the cost with cold beer and great service.
our wing feast
After supper we joined the neighbors again around a nice campfire, just enjoying another fantastic summer evening.
Well we have been at Galvin Bay Resort here for two weeks, itchy feet, let's get going.
So after yesterdays problems we better be careful. We pack up and double check everything and are on the road shortly after 9:00 am. We have 400 kms (240 miles) to travel with a fuel stop in Milton (fuel our coach, the car and us) Suzie took the car and stopped by the farm for mail and met me at Rock Glen Resort about 3:30pm.
Overnight it rained and it poured, normally we don't mind but we are on the road Tues. morning and now everything is all wet, (just the awning and mats) and it rained until mid afternoon as well. After coffees and computing I did a load of laundry while Suzy vacuumed and dusted our small house.
What went wrong today?
1: Internet quit.
2: Took a long drive to fix it.
3: Flood our coach.
4: Burn supper.
1: and 2:
Then we had a bite to eat for lunch and I found our internet system was not working. Normally if there is a problem we just reset our I-Coach wireless system and all is good. so After and hour Suzie called Tech support for I-Coach after a few tests new upgrades were in order for our system. Their facility just happens to be in Lindsay 45 minutes away so we will make a quick in the car. Its 1pm and they close at 3. So we hop in the car heading cross country, raining hard and not familiar with the road and we ended up nearly back here by almost 2pm. Suzie had her laptop so opened up Streets and trips and plotted the new correct course to their facility. We did take a very scenic route but got there by 2:40pm.
Just another wonderful sunny day. Walkabouts and chatting with various neighbours, putter around and read in the shade for a while. Mid afternoon Ron and Karen began to pack up after taking the dogs out in their boat for a swim, so we went over to give them a hand cleaning up and say goodbye.
Nothing cools most people down like thinking about Christmas in July, so today starts off with breakfast with Santa in the clubhouse. First Mark had to go round him up with his convertible golf cart. For us thou we have been having Christmas in December since 2006 in a warm climate very similar to today.
Following yesterday's heat wave with temperatures feeling like 45c (113f) today almost feels cool only 30c (85f), must be getting used to the hot weather. But the sun is shining and it's just wonderful. A few walkabouts the resort, chatting with some fellow campers having a nice relaxing day.
Then after lunch we were able to sit in the shade with our books for a while (love this lifestyle). The temperature was such that we did not even feel the need to go for a swim either, not like yesterday when we spent most of the afternoon in the pool.
Eventually its time for supper and we have some leftover BBQ'd chicken so for a change decided to use it up and try making some chicken quesadillas on our Weber grill. Well as I expected it worked out great, such constant even heat makes barbecuing fun and easy.
Some say it's too hot and unbearable, but I think its not too bad. Our temperatures today reached 34c (93f) or 45c (113f) with the humidity. What's nice about this is we are in a campground, big shade trees, a nice breeze, no hot buildings, cement, pavement or vehicles. Much cooler than the big cities.
The thing thats really nice about this weather is the different ways to keep cool. Sure beats trying to warm up on a cold winter day! Early morning walkabouts and realize it gonna be hot, we make sure we drink plenty of water. Have a nice warm shower, this cools you off pretty good. Wear some light loose fitting clothes and don't do anything too physically demanding. So we can sit in the shade with our books, a light breeze, cool drinks and fresh fruit. Then we can take a short walk to the pool, and soak there, cool down and chat with fellow campers for a while.
where we spent most of the day
Then back to the shade read for a while, more water and fruit, at first it feels chilly, but we warmed up and an hour or so later back to the pool, then before we know it 4:30pm. So back home to change, and Happy Hour evolves as Ron and Tammy, Emile and Monique dropped by to chat in the shade for a while.
Now its time to fire up our barbie and grill a tasty hamburger, with some cold potato salad for supper. We finally did turn on our air-conditioner to cool our house down for later tonight. After supper back outside to read until its too dark then in to watch a bit of tv before calling it another awesome summer day.
Hope you found some fun ways to cool down as well.
A sunny, warm morning we are just loving this weather, shorts, T shirts, sandals, but once in a while we have to do laundry, a couple of small loads today. The storm took out one of the new washing machines the other day in the park, so Suzie sorted it and I took to the laundromat in Lakefield. The one nice thing about here is I can get two loads washed and dried in only 40 minutes compared to 90 minutes in the campground. While in town I picked up a few groceries as well so it was a productive trip.
Back home to putter around a bit, chat with some neighbors then a bite to eat for lunch. Afterwards we can enjoy a nice shady spot under the trees with our books and of course drinking lots of water.
nice cool spot
Then a nice refreshing dip in the pool to freshen up and back read a bit more before I fired up our new barbie to cook a whole chicken. While it was grilling we visited Emile and Monique across the road, for happy hour, just keeping an eye on our grill. We caught up with each other having camped with them this past winter in Louisiana, Alabama, and Rock Glen Resort.
Emile and Monique
Now according to the directions that came with our new Weber Q100 I placed a whole chicken directly on the preheated grill and closed the lid for one and 15 minutes and there perfectly done was a tasty, moist chicken, no flare-up. Now I am really impressed with this grill, I have never used one that cooked so evenly, especially a whole fresh chicken, and no flareups, this is a quality grill for sure. To round off our supper I made a rice pilaf with lotsa veggies.
perfect chicken
Before supper we actually turned on our air conditioner (it was 35c-95f in our coach). After supper another dip in the pool (did I say I love this hot weather?) then back to Emile and Moniques for a campfire with her daughter and grandaughter.
starting the fire
Now with the campfire going (we don't need the heat) it adds to the camping experience especially for a four year old girl. We chatted and played and when the coals were ready made some spider dogs and roasted marshmallows just to round off a another perfect camping day.
spider dog
Thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoy this weather and keep cool and hydrated, wherever you are.
Another wonderful day, after the a very heavy rain overnight, thunder lightning all is good now nice a fresh. The campground office did loose their two computers and one new washing machine with a lightning strike thou. Its going to be another hot day can't wait. Maybe have to turn on air conditioner later today.
Morning coffees, computing, walkabouts and chat with a few people here and there. Then Suzie and I took a short drive into the Buckhorn Community Centre to check out the Farmer and Craft Market. We were pleasantly surprised at the number of indoor and outdoor vendors since they moved to this new location. A nice small town market.
Community Centre
every Tuesday
nice day
Once back home I fired up our new barbie (just had to try it out) and grill a couple of hot dogs for lunch. Then a walkabout before we relax for a bit in the shade with our books. Quite a few people pulling into the resort today and includung Emile and Monique that we spent time with in Louisiana and Alabama last winter. About 3:30 they dropped by, as did Don and Nancy, and John and Barb, we have another happy hour, everyone getting acquainted and chatting, lotsa fun.
Shortly after 5 they all went home and now I can fire up our new BBQ, for supper. Tonight I want to try some BBQ'd ribs, so 15 minutes in the pressure cooker to tenderize, then onto the grill, with some baby potatoes and zucchini. Then by 6 pm everything is cooked to perfection, even heat and no flare-ups, yes I am impressed with this amazing Weber Q 100, its everything that they claim maybe even better. What am I going to cook tomorrow???
yummy
After supper we were able to enjoy another lovely evening outside reading a bit more before it got to dark, then inside to relax with a bit of tv before calling it a night. Oh and we did not need to turn on the air conditioner today, we are quite comfortable in the country, under the shade trees with a slight breeze, sure beats what they have to deal with in the cities.
Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer, since August 2006
Another great hot day, the campground, the shade trees, even the pool . Morning coffees, walkabout and putter around. I thought its a nice day and I would check out our BBQ, clean it up a bit. As I began inspecting it my thoughts we confirmed, the burner is shot. And the cast iron smoker plate is almost due to be replaced. So rather than spend more money on this grill I researched and found the the Weber Q 100 was on sale at Home Depot and they had 14 in stock at the Peterborough store. So after reading many reviews and on this grill and talking to many rver's that have one, decided that this would be a worthwhile investment, considering our love of barbecuing. Its a good quality, compact enough, reliable and cooks evenly with no flair-ups. The best part was that it was on sale $30.00 off! ($149.00) Now I realize that we might have gotten it a bit cheaper later in the season or in the states, but I really need my grill to cook our favorite foods now. A quick drive to Peterborough and back we now had a new Barbie!!
Overnight was about 22c (70), windows open and a nice breeze, my kind of weather! By 8:00am it was getting much warmer and an intense sun. You can just tell its going to be a hot day. Morning walkabouts before it gets too hot then stock up the fridge with cold water, beer and watermelon.
In the resort we chatted with Ben and Lynn, have not seen them since last year and also with Mike and Vera, who we met at Pilot Knob Resort in southern California. Such a small world for us rver's. After a light lunch I got busy bucket washing our coach in the shade, thoroughly enjoying this hot summer day, no aches no pains, drinking lots of water cleansing my pores without the need for a sauna. Then a warm shower and relax in the shade with my honey and a good book, cold water and an ice cream cone.
About 4 o'clock John and Barb came over for happy hour so we shared a few more stories and cool beverages then its time for supper. Tonight was an easy tasty one, we heated up some left over lasagna I found in the freezer and a refreshing tossed salad.
Another sun-drenched day on the forecast, with temperatures about 32c (88f) just loving it. A light breeze and large shade trees its another perfect summer day. On my morning walkabout I chatted with Larry and went back to check out the work he has done on the garden walkway by his seasonal site. Last summer he spent the summer moving the huge boulders to create a walkway near the fence past their campsite. Then he planted some wild flowers and a bit more landscaping.
he created the walkway by moving the boulders
Larry and his nice garden
Then I ran a few errands before puttering around. Mary next door had a new trailer delivered on friday and her daughter and son in law Mike were helping her move her stuff in from her other rv. Then Mike was attempting to set up her satellite dish so she could watch tv. He had never done this before so I volunteered to help him. I was on my way to help John set up his dish anyway. A little fiddling with Mary's set up, checking cables and finding out the trailer was not wired for satellite tv, so we bypassed the connection and all is now good, Mary is happy. After this we continued to John and Barbs trailer to help them set it up their dish and very quickly got them a good signal, just had to put their dish on another site because of trees. I use this fantastic website for finding the co-ordinates on all satellite dishes "Dishpointer".
The satellite dish set-ups done, we returned home to relax and read for a bit, before returning to John and Barbs for "happy hour", we haven't had one for quite a while. Its nice to just sit, relax and chat for a bit, do some catching up then back home to cook supper. Suzie even got to play with their dogs for a while as well.
Hi my name is Pepper
Suzie and Hank
Now back home to fire up the barbie for a baked potato, mouthwatering prime rib steak with mushrooms and onions and fresh broccoli for a satisfying supper.
a delicious supper
Once again after supper we can relax outside and read on a lovely warm evening in the good old summertime.
Its friday morning and the sun is shinning, blue skies and warm temperatures, another awesome day! Walkabouts, chatting with neighbours and watching people pulling in and setting up on their favourite site. We don't much care for the site specific reservation system the new owners have implemented, some of the nicest sites sit empty all week because someone has booked them for two nights. We are here for two weeks. Also again some of the nicest sites are being taken by seasonal campers that they appear to be really pushing, we will see what happens in the future with this resort.
A bright sunny day up early as usual coffee, computing and walkabouts. What to do today, do we have a plan? No, let's just enjoy the weather. Pick up a few things at the store and before we know it time for lunch.
I looked around the coach and remembered our sliding mirrored closet doors need adjusting. So lets take them apart to see what the problem is. I took off the one bracket that was causing trouble and sat outside to inspect it. When we did this our neighbours behind us dropped by to chat for a while and get acquainted. They are new to rv'ing and had a lot of questions to ask, so we helped them sort out a few things and showed them how to scan for tv channels at new locations. Once they left I got back to repairing the closet doors, and reinstalled them only to find out the other door now has the same problem. While working on this our friend Larry dropped by to chat with Suzie while I kept at the problem, then before I knew it was all reassembled and working like new! Now I can sit and chat with Larry too. We grab a beverage, relax and look at the time it's 5p.m, soon time to start supper, as our shrimp thawed out we chatted a bit more.
A great nights sleep, warm, windows open and fresh air, yes its nice. Morning coffees, computing and walkabouts, checking out the resort and enjoying the sunshine. A bit later a trip into Buckhorn, just because, I love the magic of the small towns, scenery and friendly people.
Buckhorn
Back home puttering around a bit, chat with a few neighbours then we can relax in the shade, then the sun, then the shade, then the sun with our books for a relaxing afternoon. To hot in the sun and too cool in the shade.
Today is going to be sunny and hot! At 7:am its 22c (70f) and over 32c (90f) later on, now thats how I like summer. We had our morning coffees, computing and chatted with our hosts Dave and Sharry-lynn, thanking them so much for the parking spot, tasty supper and a great visit. Have I mentioned before that it sure is nice to visit friends and relatives, especially when we can bring our own house along and park in their driveway.
We were on the road by 10:00 am and had a nice relaxing drive to Galvin Bay Resort only 106 kms (64 miles) just south of Buckhorn Ontario. Cottage country north/east of Toronto.
Up early as usual in downtown Toronto after a good sleep in a huge king size fluffy bed. The view out our window is of the Toronto City Hall a short distance away and the hustle and bustle of a city just awakening 17 floors below us.
After the overly expensive breakfast (free to us thou) we are on the road heading along the Gardner Expressway and north on the Don Valley Parkway/ and hwy 404 for about 40 minutes to my cousins in Aurora to retrieve our house, and thank them for the great visit and convenient parking spot. We hooked up our car and drove a couple of miles to park in the large Walmart Super Centre, to check email, relax and update yesterdays Blog with a nice breeze thru our open windows. It's a hot day about 35 c (92f) and we are loving it.
Happy Anniversary to us, to Suzie, my wife, my companion and amazing friend! We met 21 years ago and got married 18 years ago today and what an amazing 18 years they have been! From not having much money and working hard, now being retired, living in our rv fulltime since 2006 and still not much money but boy are we having a ball. Together 24/7 with less than 300 square feet of living space and we are still together. We won't have it any other way. Travel North America, follow the sun, meet so many interesting people and visit friends and family, keeps us busy.
To celebrate this event we decided to go a see the Donny and Marie Show Live in downtown Toronto and it just happens to be a matinee on the day of our anniversary.!
heading downtown
Donny and Marie
We bought the show tickets quite a while ago, then decided to book a room in downtown Toronto. Now trying to find a reasonably priced room in Toronto is not and easy task, but thanks to my daughter Kim we got a deal. There was a sell off of a room deal on WagJag for the Toronto Hilton and we bought a package deal. $169.00 for the room for one night sound like a deal? Well the room is usually well over $200.00 by itself. With this package we got a $25.00 gift certificate for the Eaton's Centre, (we used that towards supper). Two complementary alcoholic drinks at the bar in the hotel. ($10.00 each) and a breakfast buffet for each of us $28. 00 each. We are not used to city prices, so we actually got the room for $68.00. Pricey food and drinks but thats the way things are and we did enjoy the whole deal!
Toronto Hilton
We had a nice mini suite on the 17th floor over looking Nathan Phillips Square ( the new city Hall) and we could even see the old city hall as well. The theatre was right next door so was very convenient. We had phoned my son Ken and his girlfriend Jane (they live downtown Toronto). They agreed to meet us after the show and we could walk together to the Eaton's Centre and Mr Greeenjeans restaurant and bar for supper. Here we enjoyed some beverages, chatting and a delicious meal.
Afterwards we walked about some more along Yonge street, and Dundas Square, past the Bus Terminal and back to our hotel. Its been a while since I was in this area, I worked at the Toronto Bus Terminal from 1967 to 1970 when I was transferred to the Kitchener terminal. Ken and Jane walked us back to our Hotel then they just hopped on a street car and returned home.
Ken took our picture, CN tower in the background
Jane took a picture of Ken taking a picture of us
Sure was nice to have them join us for supper on our anniversary! We enjoyed our free drink at the bar then retired to our room and watched a sunset behind some skyscrapers in the big city.
Monday morning we are up early as usual and went for our free breakfast buffet, retrieved the car from the parking garage and back to Aurora to pick up our house. And you know something as nice a time as we had we missed out tiny house! And campsites in the country.
