Going to rest for a couple of days now....

Our Location:  Riverbend RV Park, Pakenham, Ontario

A nice night for sleeping or at least nothing bothered me last night. I fell into bed right around 10 pm and didn’t hear a thing until 5 am this morning. According to sister Jan there were lots of kids out and about screaming and yelling, etc around 11:30 pm. Seems they too were staying at the Walmart overnight. 

Some of the sights as we drove along Trans Canada Hwy 17 East between North Bay and Pakenham in Ontario.

We were all up by 7 am, packed and ready to head out again this morning at 8:30 am. We were happy to leave North Bay behind us in our mirrors and point the Big Dog’s nose east once again. We pulled back on to TransCanada 17 to continue along our way. 

Leaving  North Bay, lots of water around, some rivers, some marsh, some bigger bodies as well.

Lots of little towns dot the landscape between North Bay and the Ottawa area. I won’t try to tell you the names other than the few that stick in my mind, Deep River, Mattawa, and Arnprior.

Of  course fog was constantly seen over most of these bodies of water.

We stopped a couple of times, once for fuel and while we didn’t really see the parking lot accident I certainly heard it. A Chevy Silverado backed into some little Honda car as it sneaked behind to get to the gas pumps. Ironically a police officer was just returning to his own cruiser when the accident happened. Who says there’s never a cop around when you need one? 

Blossoms, lilacs, and lots of green are now everywhere.

Our next stop was a leg stretch in Deep River at a church/school parking lot. We didn’t realize it was a school lot until we read the the bus signs. Didn’t matter we were there for 10 minutes and then gone. 

Some long sweeping vista, road signs are in kilometers, and a bit of rusty looking water tower in Deep River.

A bit of rain, a bit of sun, hot, humid weather and a few rumbles of thunder have been the call for the day today. I believe this weather will now pass us by as we’ve been heading east right along with it but will staying for a few days right here in this park. I do wish we’d have a thunderstorm though that might help the humidity that has locked in around us these last number of days. 

Some of the sights we noticed along the way.

We arrived at River Bend Rv Park in Pakenham, Ontario near Ottawa around 1 pm this afternoon. We parked here last fall when we came for sister Jan’s daughter’s wedding. Brittany and Kevin were married at the end of September and have since left the Ottawa area, moving to Newfoundland where Kevin is now a member of the RCMP detachment in Port au Basque. They are expecting their first baby, a boy, in mid to late September. 

Deep River hosted our rest stop in the church parking lot.

We are parked in J2, not far from where we parked last fall. This spot is closer to the road and near to a marshy area and the mosquito’s are horrendous. We’ve sprayed all the screens with bug spray  and I can tell you we won’t be outside here doing much. According to the park owner they’re waiting for the dragon flies to arrive as they apparently help control the mosquito population. 

Arnprior is where we get off Trans Canada Hwy 17, and head toward Packenham.

I called my dad but had to leave a message as he’s off gallivanting around the country side somewhere. After the message leaving effort I started lunch preparations, we finally finished eating, and doing dishes by around 3 pm. 

I enjoyed this drive for the most part, some great views.

We spent the rest of the day just relaxing, reading and doing a few things to entertain ourselves. Called my dad again to chat, he says it's cold, rainy and windy back on the rock. 

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit.

Until next time… take care, be safe,

Deb

A bit stressful, some rain, some sun, some heat.....

Our Location: Walmart Side Parking Lot, North Bay, Ontario

A pretty sleepless night for all of us, the air was so humid it was almost impossible to sleep. We all were up and moving around by 6 am, and into the store around 7:30 am for a couple of little forgotten items. 

Small towns along the way. Sorry for the mirror. 

A very rainy kind of day.

Rain threatened, rain fell, rain pittered, pattered and finally blew in and out again and again. We left Sudbury around 9 am and only had a short drive but managed to take our time and pulled into the Walmart on Fischer Road in North Bay around 11:30 am. It was at this point things started going a bit side ways. We noticed water coming from the bottom of the Igloo.  I called a couple of places and settled on Northern RV 2850 Hwy 11 N, North Bay, a very short distance away, and we could get right in to be looked at. 

Rain, mist and over cast skies were the order of the morning.

Lots of little towns along the way.

Arriving there I chatted with a few fellows, explaining my problem and listening to hear the magic words, “ Yes we can help you right away.” And they did. Claude kept us company off and on over our entire stay, his son is the manager and Claude was helping out. Joe, a Kiefer Sutherland look alike was our technician along with another fellow who came to help after Joe had introduced himself. Long story short, we had a crack in the sink drain where it goes through the floor, it’s been leaking for a while but nothing on floor to indicate this leak. They repaired the leak, replaced a missing bolt on the awning and I purchased two screens for the hot water heater cover and walked away for $236 CAD in about 2 hours. I was very happy it wasn’t something more major. The underbelly will dry out eventually and hopefully we have no more issues. Thanks again fella's at Northern Rv in North Bay. 

Of course we had construction to contend with in a spot or two as well.

Along with the speed up, slow down of small towns dotting the road sides.

We headed back to Walmart, parked once again at the front of the lot near the main highway, started making lunch when a nice gent and his lady stopped by to tell us we couldn’t park there or we’d be ticketed. We hadn’t seen any signs but he pointed ONE sign out and sure enough it wasn’t at the drive we’d come in. We were going to go inside and ask anyway but decided that after lunch would be soon enough. Knowing we’d have to pack up and move once again did nothing for my headache or appetite and as soon I’d finished I headed inside to ask about parking. 

One of the many farms along our journey today.

Luck is still riding with us as we were informed we couldn’t park in the front lot but in the side lot overnight parking is most definitely allowed. So for future reference the parking lot across from the TD Bank is the one to use. 

Looks like a sod farm....

Contact with my nephew Allan found we weren’t going to be able to get together for a coffee after all. Oh well, perhaps another time.

A few sod farms in the area....pretty isn't it?

We headed out to North Gate Mall which is attached to the Walmart, for a look see. I have found what I think may be the solution for us regarding internet however I’ll have to think about it.

Love the sod farms....

The day has cleared up, the rain seems to have gone, and the sun has once again made an appearance. A chat with my dad had us hearing of high winds, downed limbs and a great deal of rain overnight and in the morning hours. The afternoon turned sunny, less windy and warm for them.

Small town Ontario.

So there you have it, our second day out. I can tell you we’re certainly enjoying our selves even though it’s been a bit stressful today. Everything worked out well for us and we’re yet we’re looking forward to moving on tomorrow to the Ottawa area. We’ll be staying put for a couple of days in that area, maybe getting rested up and perhaps even doing a bit of sight seeing. 

On the side of the road way...

Thanks for dropping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.

Blurry but lots of water on both sides of the ride here to North Bay.

Until next time… take care, be safe,

From our old spot, we moved to the left of the yellow end of the building, and to the front of the TD bank over there.

Deb

Appointments, apologies, and a longer stay....

Our Location: Walmart Front Lawn, Hamilton, Ontario

 

(sorry no pics today)

The overnight was cool but then again it's April in Canada so it could have been a lot worse. The day started off cool as well but eventually warmed up to about mid 50F/10C with a wind off the lake which of course makes it seem like a few degrees cooler. 

We had hoped to be departing Hamilton late this afternoon but it wasn't in the cards. We'll be here a couple of more days, had I known we'd be here this long we would have parked at Fifty Point Conservation area with full hookups. However this at least gives us a chance to use our new solar panels, which we had installed in early January in Georgia. It's the first that we've used them and we're still used to dry camping with out them which means we are a bit stingy on turning on lights instead of using our LED lanterns, etc. I know it sounds odd but it's true, we are so used to doing things a certain way when we dry camp that it's difficult to change. I have no doubt we will but it's just odd to find ourselves doing things without realizing we don't have to be quite so diligent  about it. 

Our morning started off with a trip to the storage unit where we will be returning tomorrow for a bit more work. We are combining two lockers into one and will hopefully get that finished tomorrow. We worked there for a couple of hours and managed to accomplish about half of what we started out to accomplish but half is better than none. After a couple of hours and the amount work we were both tired and ready for a rest. 

Back to the Igloo by 11 am we were just relaxing when the local Gynecologist office called to discuss forwarding Riley's paperwork to the new referral. Long story short with some trepidation they convinced us to come down to their office this afternoon and they would see her TODAY but that the doctor felt it was somewhat of an urgent matter. Explaining we had two appointments this afternoon and couldn't possible reach the office before 4 pm they assured us that would be fine, they would be there until all patients were seen by the doctor. We added that appointment to our list. 

 

Lunch was a quick bowl of soup, not the best soup as it came out of a can but it was good for a quick fill up and warm up as well. We both kind of just relaxed for the next hour knowing the rest of the afternoon would be busy. Climbing in to the Dogsled we headed up the hill to see our fantastic dentist, Dr. Larry Yaksich. He's actually retired and sold his practice but still comes in a couple of days a week, we lucked out having him there today. He's been our dentist for many years and we always feel like family when we are there. The ladies in the front office are amazing, MaryAnne and Lisa work magic slipping folks in for appointments and truly make us feel as if we're their best friends. It's a gift they have and it serves them well. Lisa is recovering from a battle with cancer and is doing wonderfully, she looks great, her usual semi short, spiky blonde locks are extra short, extra dark and curly. MaryAnne is always her usual chipper self, quick with a smile, a quip and sparkle in her eye. Truly these two women are special people and we're very lucky to know them.  

Our appointments went well but we need to return tomorrow morning as they are going to fit Riley with a mouth guard for sleeping. She's having some issues with her jaw clicking at various times. Dr. Larry thinks the mouth guard may help with that problem. He says its from clenching/grinding her teeth while she sleeps. I wonder if it's hereditary as Bradey also has the same issue. 

From there we headed back down the big hill to Hunter Avenue East, coasting to a stop in front of Dr. Dube's office at about 3:50 pm. Putting a couple of bucks in the meter (paying time ends at 6 pm) we headed off for Riley's appointment. The office was full with a few folks sitting outside as it can quickly become hot in the waiting room with too many people. We waited for about an hour and a half before being shown into the room. After discussing the problems with ultra sounds and office visits with Zena on the front desk, next with Rosemary the nurse, we received many, many apologies for the troubles and were assured it's not the norm. Finally after about 20 minutes of sitting in the little exam room the doctor made an appearance. We once again discussed the issues and were assured that it wouldn't happen again. In fact the doctor wrote specific notes on the file regarding HER expectations of how this should be handled. So we'll see how it goes. Eventually we finally got down to the issues. The cyst on Riley's right ovary has grown larger and needs to be taken out. It is showing signs of twisting and is the reason she is having so much discomfort and pain at times. Dr. Dube requested specific blood work, some standard, some specialized  that we have to pay for ourselves. She wanted it down as quickly as we can, so we're having it done tomorrow. Dr. Dube is going to refer Riley to a gynecologist that the doctor knows personally in North Bay. She is also requesting an MRI from this doctor. The referral request will go out tonight from the doctor herself. So we can't fault the lady for not picking up the ball and getting things moving for us. After the blood work and the MRI they will decide the best course to take. In 2 weeks I'll contact Dr. Dube or her nurse and get the results from the blood tests (specialized test take a bit longer than regular tests).

 

We finally left the office at 6:25 pm and headed home. Both of us were extremely tired but glad we went, it's helped answer a number of questions and also helped to ease our minds about exactly where things should to go in the near future. Riley is somewhat relieved and I think given a couple of days she'll be more so once things settle down a bit. Riley dislikes answering the questions that are asked in these situations and will just look at me indicating I should answer them. It's difficult enough for her and at this point I'm more concerned with just getting the information delivered to the doctor than about encouraging Riley to speak for herself.  I know sometimes it seems as if I'm overbearing but at this point in the process I think Riley has enough stress without adding any more. 

 

We stopped at the pharmacy on the way back to the Igloo but only picked up my script as the doctor didn't think Riley should continue with her script. It was a quick in and out which surprised us both as it usually takes a while. 

 

Home sure looked pretty inviting when we arrived but we headed off into Walmart to buy dinner instead of cooking. We were both just too tired to think about cooking never mind actually doing it. ~laugh~ Of course we're both stress eaters and so we didn't really make good choices but that's okay, it's one meal and we all need comfort at times. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

 

After we finished eating it was time to do the dishes that have been accumulating and so armed with the knowledge that we HAD to do dishes it went pretty quickly. Truly it wasn't THAT bad, everything managed to stay under cover in the sinks, so if you visited you would never know we had a sink full of dirty dishes. ~laugh~ 

 

After that chore was complete I called my dad to explain we'd not be seeing him as early as I thought. I explained we had a few things come up that were going to take a few extra days and didn't want him to worry when we didn't show up in the next day or two. He assured us that next week is going to be quite chilly up there on the Rock and staying here a bit longer isn't a bad idea. I've looked at the long range forecast and since we'll be approaching mid May shortly the weather is promising to be nicer and nicer. We can handle that!!!!

 

After that it was a matter of heading in our own directions and doing our own thing. It feels good to just kind of unwind and settle down. 

 

So there you have it, our day here in Hamilton, Ontario. Appointments, apologies, and some work. Tomorrow we have a few things to do that will keep us busy for the day and out of trouble. So on that note, until next time...be safe, take care...