We are nearing our last full month in our summer spot.

 

 

 Our Location: 

Summer Spot, Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada

The temperature this morning was in the single digits on the Celsius scale, a mere 7C/ 43F. It warmed up as the day went on, just like the desert, although not nearly as quickly nor as high. It turned out to be a nice day and just like the desert, started cooling off quickly as the sun started it's descent. 

Sunrise, August 21.

 

I thought I'd share a few pictures today, as I have very few words to share. 

On a ride to the Sugar Shack I stopped to take the bottom three photos in the above collage. We call it 'going over the rock'. There is a trail that wanders around through the trees, it runs past all of the favoured maple trees for spring tapping. There is also another one that runs along the fence line to keep an eye on anything that might fall across the wire. The top left picture was taken upward toward the Igloo from the bottom of the pit, within a few weeks the leaves will be turning and the colours will look amazing. The top right picture was taken about half way up the side of the hill on a very steep roadway. As kids we used to toboggan down that hill, we banked the corners and enjoyed a fast ride down. The walk up was always difficult.  

    

                

A bit of colour in the greenery.  Some seeds getting ready to drop and get set for new growth in the spring.  There is much beauty here and I some times fail to see it, kind of like not being able to see the forest for the trees kind of thing. I guess writing an odd post now and then helped me realize what I've been missing. Thanks to my good friends Deb & Tom for giving me a little push to drop a post now and then.

 

 

 

 

Jason has been busy over the summer working on the lake property. So I thought I'd post a few pictures to remind me of the progress between old and new.  The top left picture is how the old cabins currently sit in construction to becoming one cabin which they will use while building their new home and possibly be turned into an Air BnB at some point. The middle right picture is the inside of the right cabin.  The outhouse, bottom left, is the only thing that hasn't been touched in any way. The two water pictures were just nice pictures. 

 

 

 A note of congratulations to our friends Linda and Randy, and their son Micheal and bride to be, on the birth of a son Weston on July 29. All are doing well and the proud grandparents are extremely tickled!

 

 

 Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the few pictures!!

Until next time...

Take care, stay safe, 

Deb

We're finally home.....

Our Location: Summer Home, Tehkummah, Ontario

A few very cold, wet and dreary days at Buttercup Ridge, but also one really nice day that helped to dry up some of the water, and the constant wind also helped with that but still soggy and muddy. We had to re-level once and would have had to so again if we stayed longer. We didn’t do much over the last remaining days but managed to do a few little errands.  

Toronto sky line, circle K (who knew we had 'em in Canada), and getting closer to C & M's.

We had one remaining goal while at Buttercup Ridge and that was a trek into Toronto to visit oldest daughter Courtney and her hubby Matt. They live on the east side of downtown which meant we didn’t have to go all the way through the city. Toronto like any other major city is just busy all the time. Except for the DVP (Don Valley Parkway) the traffic flowed relatively well with only a few slow downs, so we were fortunate. The DVP was stop and go the entire way, lucky we weren't going too far. We spent a few hours visiting C & M, catching up and just enjoying their company. It’s always wonderful to see my girls and their other halves but they lead very busy lives and so we keep our visits short.

Courtney & hubby Matt. Courtney, Riley and Matt.

We decided we’d pull out on Monday, April 29 and head north due to the incoming bad weather. We decided it’s better to be high and dry in our summer location even if it’s a few degrees cooler, it’s only for a couple of days. So with that in mind we pulled out of Buttercup Ridge around 8 am  on a bright and sunny Monday morning. 

 

Some sights along the way.

A leisurely drive along ON 7 to ON 12 North brought us to the small town of Orilla, and from there we hopped on ON 400 North bound for the rest of the day. A stop in Parry Sound due to yet another issue with the rear tire on the Igloo had us at Seguin Automotive Repair at Exit 214. Darcy and Dave both agreed it was a wheel bearing issue. I watched as Dave pulled it apart and made note that the wheel bearing was loose but otherwise in perfect condition. Now how could that be? Both sides had the same issue but only wear on one tire. Hmmm…. I think there may be another issue but I’ll have that dealt with in the fall on our way south again. I know the perfect place in Hamilton to have it looked at. So Dave reset and tightened the wheel bearings on both rear wheels, replaced a tire and checked everything else. They could find no other issues. We only went a few minutes down the road and pulled in at a Walmart. We called it quits for the day. It was now mid afternoon. 

 

Strawberry Channel (top L), Hwy 6 S (top R), Hwy 400N (bottom L), Hwy 69 N (bottom R)

Morning found us up and on the road by 8 AM with a mostly sunny sky above and the decision to bypass our regular stop in Lively to visit friends Randy & Linda. We instead opted to go all the way through to our home spot, we'll be visiting with Randy & Linda on Sunday at their camp on the island. A stop in Espanola for fuel, a dump station and a few groceries would be the last stop until we were parked in our spot. 

A single turbine blade for a wind turbine. I think I heard they are 90 feet long.

At 2 pm Riley was opening the gates to let us on to the farm and by 3 pm we were up the big hill, turned around (which is always a bit of an adventure) and with the basic set up complete. Not a bad amount of time for us. We pulled on our shoes and headed up to see Dad for a quick visit. He was surprised to see us, he hadn’t been home when we came by and so didn’t know we had arrived. 

Top - along ON 12 N heading toward Orilla. 2nd-snow/ice on ON 400N, 3rd-water in the farm fields Hwy 17 E. 4th one of the many little inland lakes with ice along Hwy 6 S.

Back home for a light snack, a bit of reading and around 7 pm we climbed into the Dogsled to drop in for a visit with my brother Rick and his lovely wife Barb. Son Jason wasn’t there at the time but is around for another day.

So there you have it, our last few days. We have now arrived home and over the next week will set up our Igloo for the summer and begin enjoying our time with more family.  

 

Top Left- town of Espanola. Bottom- crossing the river into Espanola, Top R, snow in the bush along the way.

A belated Happy Birthday to two nephews, Allan and Jesse. Allan was 35 way back on April 21, and Jesse turned 23 on April 28. Allan is my sister's only son, and Jesse is my brother’s youngest son.  Jesse and girlfriend Claudia just bought their first house and moved in 2 weeks ago. So a congratulations to them on that as well.
 

Crossing the swing bridge onto the Island. The North Channel which flows under the bridge above.

Thanks for stopping by, I’ll do one more update before I stop blogging for the summer months. I just don’t seem to have the time to do a blog while we’re here. As I type this it is raining, today and tomorrow will be rain events on both days but after that the good weather starts and we are looking forward to it.

Until next time… take care, be safe,

Deb

Heading out on our new adventure......

Our Location: Walmart Front Yard, Sudbury, Ontario

The last few days have been busy as we’ve been preparing to depart on Wednesday. A number of chores including propane regulator changed, laundry done, visits with various folks, and just a number of things to accomplish. 

These are the roads to and from friend Linda's Camp in the Providence Bay area, they include Blue Side Road with it's ONE LANE bridge, as well as the Manitou River on the Government Road.

Today Wednesday May 30 found our temperatures reaching 84F/29C on the first day of our newest adventure. To say it was hot would be an understatement but the humidity is what was so difficult to handle. The morning started warm at 6 am with temperatures at 57F/14C and just continued to rise. 

Welcome to the wide spot in the road that is Tehkummah. (Tack - a - ma)

We finally pulled out of our temporary spot on the green at 9:30 am after coffee time, a walk, showers and packing up, hooking up and heading down the hill. A quick stop at Dad’s house to say our see you in a month or so and we were off to the hamlet of Manitowaning to pick up my sister Jan as she’s coming with us this time. A stop at the local Information booth/used book stop to drop off some books, then on to sister’s house to load up her necessaries before pulling out around 10:15 am, leaving her partner Rick behind to mind the house, garden and cats. 

The small town of Mindemoya, we do laundry here.

The day would be a short one for us, our destination about 2 hours away. Only one stop for a top up of the Big Dog’s water bowl at $1.29 per litre (approx 4 litres to a gallon, you do the math). 

This turtle was crossing the green where we were parked. Only one we noticed.

We passed through Sheguaindah, Little Current, Birch Island, Espanola, McKerrow and past our usual turn off at Lively (Linda and Randy are at Camp) and motored to Sudbury and Mr. Walton’s front yard. We arrived before 1 pm and were unhooked and headed out to the blood lab, bank and Cosco for a quick couple of errands. We managed to have a quick lunch at Cosco before coming back home. 

The road during part of our travels today. Included as you can see are the blossoms just now showing themselves. Also the 'other' view but this one coming down Ten Mile Point hill toward the town of Sheguaindah.

The afternoon passed with us running all the fans, having all the windows and vents open seemed to keep the heat at least manageable but a shopping excursion into Walmart for some groceries and a few little things helped us cool off a bit. Sis and I  finally retreated outside to the shade of the Igloo as the heat inside wasn’t abating much but it was much cooler outside.

The town of Little Current located on the North Channel is the only gateway that allows one to drive onto Manitoulin Island. The Channel is accessible by a swing bridge that opens during the summer months, every hour on the hour for 15 minutes as needed to allow marine traffic to pass. Riley managed to snap a picture as we crossed the bridge, a picture of the North Channel that leads out to the waters of MacGregor Bay/Kilarney area. Another picture into the North Channel shows a large cruise ship docked at the down town docks of Little Current.

Here it is 7:35 pm and outside has cooled off some, hopefully the night time air cools off as well so we can sleep. As we sat outside Darren from Winnipeg, Manitoba sat with us and chatted away for an hour or so.  Darren and his wife Joan (whom we didn't meet) are parked behind us in a Class A motorhome. Around 9:30 pm we three ladies journeyed back into Walmart to just wander around and finally came home at 10 pm when the store closed for the night. The air is cooling off but it's still pretty warm. The three of us are finding it difficult to get to sleep. 

Highway 6 North, this is part of the drive between Little Current and Espanola. This particular stretch is called the Willisville Hill.

Thanks for stopping by. Today’s pictures are just some of the views out the window as travelled over the last few days including today. 

This is an extremely steep grade which finally gets us to the top of the above mentioned hill.

Until next time….. take care, be safe,

Deb