We’ve moved sites….

 

Our Location: 

Valens Lake Conservation Area, Flamborough, Ontario

Site # 144

We both slept really well last night. I will admit the tree coverage here makes it darker, plus our tinted windows adds to the dark.  By 11 am we were out walking the roads looking for a brighter site. We found several we liked better than the dark, sloped site of #175. I drove up to the office to ask about moving to one of several other sites, however the only one available for our whole stay is #144 , which worked fine, it was on my list. It has some sunlight but is much less in the trees, more level and just a nicer spot. Not first on the list but not last either. In less than 45 minutes we were packed, hooked, towed, parked, unhooked and set up.  We are happy once again.

As you can see things are very tight in Valens Lake Conservation Area.

A boardwalk over a fast flowing stream.

The new heater connection works great, we used it this morning for the first time. It heated the Igloo fabulously. We do need to find a way to keep the heat downstairs though. In Igloo 1.0 we had a curtain that we could hang at the bottom of the stairs, it worked great. We will have to figure out something for this rig as well.

Auston walking the beam.

Riley and I headed out this afternoon to spend more time with Bradey and the boys ( this of course means David, as well as Auston and Lincoln). Auston is taking gymnastics and we thought we would go watch. Yesterday we offered to pay for whatever take out they wanted for dinner tonight, and it was delicious. From a little Greek place near by, it is one of their favourite places.

Lincoln enjoying a sucker.

A very Happy Birthday to my brother Rick, he celebrates tomorrow, the 16th but I may not write a blog tomorrow so I will get my wishes in today. Rick is of course, my oldest and only brother. He lives next door to my dad, in what once was my Granddad Bill’s house. It no longer resembles that house, but the old house is still part of it. Rick is a generous, kind, helpful fella, always helping someone. He has a quick smile, is blonde, and blue eyed like me. Although I’m sure his blonde is white, while I’m still blonde! Happy Birthday brother! Below are some his first creations over the winter, all scrap metal, parts and pieces.

Happy Birthday wishes to cousin Daisy, celebrating today.  Daisy and my father are first cousins, his mom, her dad, were siblings. Daisy and her husband Robert are fabulous people, very active and community oriented. They live just a little down the road from our summer spot.

Thanks for stopping by, I won’t be posting everyday until we start travelling again, which should in 5 or 6 days. We still aren’t back to home dirt yet, another 380 miles/620 km. We will break the trip into at least 2 days, possibly 3. We shall see.

Until next time…..

Take care, stay safe,

Deb

We have arrived at Buttercup Ridge Farm....

  

Our Location: 

Buttercup Ridge Farm, Roseneath, Ontario, Canada

The last few days have been busier, colder, wetter and although windy, not windier than the desert. We settled into Valens Conservation Area for 4 nights. It was only supposed to be 3 but with snow/rain mix we opted to just stay put. It is not a park we will ever go back to for a number of reasons but mainly because there are too many trees. I like trees but I like a wide space to make a turn with more than a foot spare on one side and 8 inches on the other. The Igloo kissed a tree and I take responsibility for it, not much damage, knocked a marker cover off, and put little scuffs in a few places. Ah the joys of tight spaces. 

County Road 9, but this isn't the steep hills.

Very little new green out there in the country side.

We visited with daughter Bradey, hubby David and their two sons, Auston and Lincoln. The boys are growing quickly and are full of energy. We visited twice over the days we were in the area and the last day we just stayed home. The weather was not fun and I had no desire to go outside at all. While out and about in the little city of Brantford, Ontario I managed to slip into a TD bank and fix the pin # on my debit card that hasn't worked since Feb. That was a relief. 

We are coming up the drive at Buttercup Ridge.

It's a bumpy ride but the grass is very green.

This morning we hooked up and pulled out before 10 AM, stopped at the dump station and headed out EAST bound toward Toronto. We had a little mix up and had to do a couple of loops to get on to the 401 East and while I would normally drive all the way on the 401, we opted for the pay highway #407 for a couple of reasons and so we rolled along easily on the top of Toronto and by passed all the traffic. It was a smooth ride and we followed the highway to the end where we connected with County Rd 9 which we took all the way to the end of the laneway here at Buttercup Ridge. The far end of CR 9 is not one we enjoyed, too many steep hills and slow downs at the bottom of those hills for our liking. We will remember that next time, we hope. 

I would love to park right there but I don't know if all of the equipment is out of the barn yet.

So instead we parked here, but the ground is soft and we may have to readjust after a day or two.

We arrived here about 12:30 pm, found the place we wanted to set up and started settling in. Judi, Dennis and Janet's niece came out to chat for a while. She and Winnie her dog were off for a walk and not long after her mother Jackie showed up. We haven't chatted with Jackie yet. Judi is living in the house for the next number of months as Dennis and Janet will not be returning home from California this year for health reasons.

The view out the window.

The farm house, Judi and her mom are up there.

Cold is how I would describe the wind here in the rolling hills of Northumberland County. Mostly cloudy skies and temps around 55F/12C but the wind makes it colder. We are settled in for at least 10 days, possibly more, so I won't be blogging every day, we won't be doing anything worthy of writing about. Just a couple of notes to add, Rick (sister's partner) is home again, doing okay and apparently feeling some better. Welcome home Rick. My brother Rick celebrated a birthday on Sunday, and our cousin Daisy celebrated hers the day before on Saturday. Happy Birthday to both folks, we are pretty certain they had a good day!!! An early happy birthday wish goes out to nephew Allan who celebrates on the 21st. Allan is my sister's only son! Happy birthday Allan.

 

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

Until next time...

Take care, stay safe, 

Deb

We are safe and sound in Ontario......

 

 Our Location: 

Valens Conservation Park, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Our morning was an early one, we were on the road at 6:50 AM, I know that because we looked. We enjoyed the Mercer County Fairgrounds and would stay again. We enjoyed it, it was a relaxing few days. Next time we would actually get out and tour Celina, but this time was strictly resting. 

We noticed this truck back at Quail Ridge Rv Park, in Huachuca City, Az.

And this one was in Fry's parking lot in Sierra Vista, AZ.

This morning's sunrise as we headed East.

We did see the sun later in the day.

The roads were pretty good over all, a few rough patches but not too bad. We had easy sailing to the border and the crossing was easy. A few questions and we were on our way. We crossed back into Ontario by 11 AM. We stopped a few times but not for long. 

Daffs in bloom at a rest area in Ohio.

We were only in the state for a short time.

We crossed the Ambassador Bridge.

The St Clair River.

There were lots of folks out on the water.

On the 401 East at MM 224, near Woodstock we had our first ever blow out of a tire on the Igloo. It was an interesting experience, no one was hurt but we do have some damage at the wheel well and along Riley's slide, one of the side markers is gone and apparently the Igloo isn't covered by CAA, who knew that? Not me. So I had to foot this bill myself. Kal Tire came after a two hour wait, and we were on the road again within about 20 minutes. Officer Stephen showed up and waited with us for about an hour before she was called away. We appreciated her assistance very much. Anyway all is well with us, we drove for another 50 minutes to reach Valens Conservation.  It's a big park and lots of trees, not someplace we would stay again. The roads are very narrow and the trees too close to the roads and the entrances to the sites. Our site is particularly odd, we had to turn around as the power receptacle is almost in the site beside us, we barely reach the post, if we hadn't turned around we couldn't have reached the outlet.

Back in Ontario, the grass is greening up and the leaves are almost visible.

The roads were pretty good. Excuse the dirty windshield.

Not our best day.

Tomorrow we are going to visit grandsons/nephews, daughter and her husband. We are looking forward to it very much. 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've all had a good day. 

Until next time....

Take care, stay safe, 

Deb