We are in Ohio…..

 

Our Location:

Walmart, Napoleon, Ohio

The weather today was fabulous! Shorts will be a must tomorrow.  

Yesterday was a busy day, shopping, money exchange, visiting Bradey and the boys before heading back to the park. It was a long day.

This morning we started our day at Olympia RV in Flamborough, Ontario. After breakfast we packed everything up, pulled in the slides, put away the power cord had everything ready to travel. We locked the door, leaving the Igloo behind as we headed off to pick up daughter Courtney at the Go Station. The three of us enjoyed lunch near by while catching up. It was a quick visit but we all had fun. We dropped her back at the Go Station just before 1 pm, headed back to the park, hooked up and let the wheels roll. We made the decision to cross into the US instead of our original plan to stay at the onRoute in Tilbury.

The wait at the border was about 20 minutes, a few questions, a quick peek and we were off. The rough roads were not fun but we didn’t have any workers present and folks were flying, we rolled along about 65mph and around 8 pm we pulled into this lot. Thumbs up to stay the night from the Customer Service lady, I called Dad and Sister before having something to eat. 

Tomorrow we will do some shopping before we head out. We are hoping to cross into Central Time and spend the night at a great rest area we visited last spring on the way home. However that’s for tomorrow’s blog. 

Thanks for stopping by, 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

We are getting warmer....

 Our Location: Walmart, Franklin, Tennessee

First, hello there, I didn't forget about you but we've been busy. I'm going to put a number of posts together here, but no photos. 

Tuesday, Oct 11. 

Riley and I left our summer spot about 2 pm. We said our goodbyes and closed up everything until spring. The weather was sunny and coolish. Our first stop was just off the Island at Birch Island to fill up with diesel at about $1.70 per litre. Our second stop was in Espanola to grab some lunch to go. (It's approx 1 1/2 hours from our spot to Espanola). From there we motored on heading north for another 40 minutes before finally turning the Big Dog southward and we have been heading in the proper direction since then. We ended our first day (after a late start) around 4:30 - 5:00 pm just about 40 minutes south of Sudbury, Ontario at a truck pull off. We spent a quiet night, but the rain started before the night ended. 

Wednesday, Oct 12

We were up and on the road before 9, heading southward in the rain, wind and cold. The day didn't get any better until much, much later. The rain stopped around Barrie, Ontario and while things weren't sunny, they weren't dripping either. The 401 and Weston Rd was my first ever accident. The merge space was big, no one was there, I started over and looked ahead, looked back and I seen the little black car coming sideways across the lane and couldn't stop the Igloo from coming into the lane behind the Dogsled. It was a kiss but still not fun. The Igloo has a few scratches and we need a new cubbie panel and lock but everything still functions and works just fine. The nice lady cop arrived and we sorted things out. I swear those folks think every opening is their own personal invitation to get into it as fast as they can and say, "I was here first". In all my years of driving I've never had an accident. About an hour later, we were once again on our way heading through Toronto, Mississauga, Burlington and all the other little towns in the GTA before finally hitting the 403 and scooting on out to Brantford. We found the conservation park, got a nice little pull thru spot ( we were so lucky to leave early, the park closes on Oct 15 for the year, as does pretty much every park in southern Ontario). We headed off to Walmart to get a few last minute things we needed and then off to daughter Bradey's home. We visited with Bradey, David and grandson Auston, but new baby Lincoln was asleep already. The night was cold and the morning was wet with more rain. A few minor things around the Igloo and a bank visit before we headed off to visit with Bradey and boys again for the day. We had an enjoyable day with all of them and left shortly after dinner. It was nice to see them even though it wasn't a long visit. We just couldn't connect with daughter Courtney in Toronto but we will in the spring. Friday morning found me heading to Strickland's Chevy dealer in Brantford for a new air filter and a new bulb in the running light. Complicated thing to put in those pesky bulbs, took a couple of hours but by 11 I was on my way. Did I mention that the wind really, really picked up and the skies opened up, pouring down so much rain that it was unbelievable. It passed in 20 minutes, all while I was sitting at the dealership reading my book. Back to the Igloo at the Conservation area by 11:30, Riley and I hooked up and headed out even though it was a still a bit windy but nothing overly bad like it had been. A drink of fuel in Brantford had us paying $2.19 a litre but the onRoute at Dutton had us drinking at $2.29. I like to keep us on the upper side of half when we travel.  The border crossing was interesting, it was fast for what it was, very few cars at all in the lines but I was waved over to the truck lane. No idea why but it was interesting, never been in the truck lanes at Detroit before. Two nice lady border agents checked out the Igloo and seemed to be all smiles as to the fact that we could get away from the weather, wished us well and sent us on our merry way. We didn't have to pay a toll. How weird. We managed to make our way to Walmart, Wapakoneta, Ohio arriving about 5 pm. Sunny skies, warmer temps of about 55F/12C but still a wee bit cool as the sun went down, I was glad to have my sweater. Parked by the lawn and garden/automotive side, very quiet, excellent place to park.

Saturday, Oct 15

After a quiet night, which I didn't sleep much we woke up and made tentative plans for the day. Cold this morning, around 43F/6.1C but at least there was no frost. We headed out around 9 am after stopping for fuel at the Murphy's, diesel was $5.49 per US gallon. Pointing the Big Dog's nose southward we just let him run and run he did. We stopped a few times but not until we reached Kentucky, we stopped at two different rest areas that we would certainly consider to be prime spots to overnight in the future. The first is just north of the I-71 cut off, lots of space there, very clean and welcoming. The second was along 1-71 around Bowling Green, KY, also nice and welcoming, good for overnight, very big lots. We crossed into central time right around that same area, it went from 1:30 to 12:30 and we were still letting the big boy go. We debated about Franklin, Ky, White House, Tn or Franklin, Tn for the night. Each Walmart offers overnight parking. We were happy to be through Nashville today and so we pushed on arriving here around 4:30 pm. We've never stayed here before and I wouldn't recommend it for these reasons: it's an exit only, we will need to find a way to get back to the interstate in the morning:, the lot is big but chopped up and not very well suited for anything our size or bigger. Smaller vans, even maybe small motorhomes but we had to angle the truck to get the back end of the trailer in out of the lane.  It's a very busy store. Very warm as the day progressed, our high temp reached 78F/25.5C. No wind and sunny skies. We are happy campers. Tomorrow we plan on arriving at a destination of our choosing to rest up for a number of days.

Some notes for those coming behind us via I-75, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. First the I-75 in Michigan is greatly improved, or at least southbound it is but there is still an ugly stretch near Monroe, not as bad as before but still plenty ugly. Our first sighting of fuel in Michigan (diesel of course) was $5.99. Ohio roads are fair with some rough areas, lots of scored pavement with the top smooth layers gone and just the grooves remaining. Not as good as in years past. Cincinnati is still under lots of construction of course but it's getting better too. Fuel in Ohio (diesel only) ranged from $5.98 to about 5.39. You need to really watch. Kentucky, was well, Kentucky, roads were decent overall with some long rough areas and fuel was running a little less than Ohio with around $5.60 to $5.35. Tennessee roads have quite a few rough patches but Nashville was a breeze with little construction. Fuel was in the low $5's, less than $5.50 but we did sight off in the distance a $4.98 (credit), $4.68 cash (or something like that, with a big difference). Overall there is lots of construction in all states but it being Saturday, we didn't have any troubles. Of course the lanes are narrow, uneven and always squeezing by the big cement barriers with only a hair to spare. The leaves are barely turning yet, a few hints of colour here and there but nothing to speak of once you get past mid Ohio. 

As always when we travel I've been calling my dad to let him know we've arrived safely and where we are. Always nice to chat with him. Today was the gender reveal for nephew Jesse and wife Claudia, a baby girl is expected in March. Congratulations to all. Condolences to the Bowerman family in the passing of Andy on the evening of Tuesday Oct 11. 

So now I think you are up to date and I'll be blogging on a more regular basis now. No photos today as I can't get the computer to recognize the sim card from the camera. I'll work on that another day. 

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

Until next time... take care, be safe, stay healthy,

Deb

Back in Ontario....

Our Location: Woodstock, Ontario

We woke to rain on Friday morning in Oakdale Campground and decided we’d give it a couple of hours to see what the weather would do over the morning hours. If it continued raining we would stay for another day and head out on Saturday, if it stopped we would head out Friday. 

Along our travels in Ohio after leaving Oakdale Campground in Quincy.

 

 About 9 am it stopped and we finished hooking up and headed out. It took us about 30 minutes to get out of the campground and we didn’t dump as we missed the turn and there was no where else to turn around and go back without wasting another half hour. We opted to find a dump station elsewhere. 

 

Flag City and Findlay are the same city.

 We were on the actual road, not just getting to it by 10 am with another destination in mind. Beaverdam and the Flying J with a dump station. About an hour’s drive from the campground and about half way through out travel day. We were happy to be on our way further north and closer to home. The roads were a bit damp but we had no issues. The way to the interstate is never straight forward but windy, twisty and skinny back roads, turn right, go straight, turn right, go straight, you know the way the GPS takes you. We eventually ended up on I-75 Northbound. Bonus, we were going the right way too!!! 

That is the Motor City ahead of us this morning.

 

A stop at the Flying J in Beaverdam, Ohio had us spending $10 to dump our tanks. No complaints, easy in, easy out. Huge parking lot in the back for future places to stay if necessary. The sky was clearing a bit and it was warm, very nice and warm. Not hot but certainly nice spring weather. Within the hour we reached our changed destination. We had been planning on the Walmart at Perrysburg, a suburb of Toledo but opted instead for Bowling Green. Only a few miles short of Perrysburg. Easy to find, easy to park, not the most level place (again not a complaint just a reminder for the future) but still lots of room or so we thought. The reefer truck beside us all night could have parked in another spot but chose right beside us instead. He arrived in time to have multiple choices, and he chose us. Oh well, it’s only one night.
 

Michigan is home to Detroit which is home to the Pistons Basketball team.

 

After unhooking to fuel up which took more time to hook and unhook than fueling took, we were on the road once again around the 8:30 am mark heading north on I-75 and the border crossing. The first part of I-75 is brutal and should be closed until it’s repaired before someone hurts themselves trying to dodge holes. However it was short lived, and before long the roads were much better with only the occasional hump or hole. 

 

Different states but the same painting. Very patriotic.

 

We easily found our way to the ‘ ridge to Canada' exit, and before long we were crossing the St. Clair River after paying our $10 US fee to cross. A bit of construction on the bridge but nothing too major and soon we were in line for customs. Not many in line ahead of us but the guard was taking his time and we waited about 20 minutes to reach our turn. A few questions and we were off to find the 401 East to London. The exiting of the customs area was like driving in Michigan, and we as Ontarian’s should be ashamed of ourselves for letting that particular two car lengths of road get like that. A person could lose a small car in one of those holes and not ever find it again. 

 

Crossing the Ambassador Bridge from Detroit, MI to Windsor, Ontario. We pass over the St. Clair River.

 We motored right along on the 401 Eastbound enjoying the sights and the smells of being back home. Our destination was the Dutton OnRoute but after stopping for a Timmie’s we headed back on down the road to Woodstock, just a mere 45 minutes from tomorrow’s destination. Forecast is calling for rain and I don’t want to drive far in the rain so this a much better stop. Not a big lot here but we’re settled in nicely and are looking forward to reaching Bradey & David’s tomorrow. Of course some text messages to family letting them know we arrived back in Ontario and a call to dad were also part of the ‘home’ experience.

We are taking that exit. Going past London but as far as Toronto yet. Those are kilometers on the sign, not miles.

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. I’ll be posting every couple of days for a while as things will be a bit busy.  

They let us back in again!!!!

 

Until next time… take care, be safe,

Deb

Rain, windy, back in Ontario.......

Our Location: ONroute, Tilbury, Ontario

 

(No pictures today, they just won't upload)

 

It was very warm last night when I went to bed but by morning it had dropped 30 degrees staying steady at 47F/ 8C with over cast skies. At 7 am my dad called to ask what kind of weather we were having and telling us they were having snow, high winds, and it was very cold. We chatted for a few minutes before saying goodbye. Riley and I were quick at getting everything secured and ready to roll just at the time the rain started to fall. 

 

We didn't have to go very far for our first stop, only a few hundred feet to the dump station. I will be honest with you, we made it up the first hill okay until I tried to turn to the right then we had a problem. The washed out hill, the new gravel and well you get the idea. For a few feet we were chattering sideways until I stopped, popped into 4x4 and with a little bit of a heavy foot we managed to get up the hill. I left us in 4x4 until we had arrived safely on the very top ridge at the dump station. 

 

Of course, it started to rain again as soon as my feet hit the grass outside the Dogsled door. No worries I'd donned my bright yellow rain slicker and proceeded to sweat as the temps were too warm for a none breathable coat, but the air was wet and the rain drops cold. Oh well, it's only a short time outside, then I'll head inside, change my shoes and sweater, coat, and be ready to the hit the road. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get the water to come out of their hose. They had some kind of valve after the handle on the faucet but the valve just spewed water everywhere except out the end of the hose to rinse the sewer hoses. So I simply turned on the pump and used our own water, a quick rinse, put the hoses away, changed into dry clothes. We were heading out the driveway at 8:10 am. Of course the rain has been coming in waves at this time, now it continues but with a bit more gusto. 

 

Our RV GPS had us wandering around the back roads like two lost sheep. She was basically having us go west for a mile, go north for a mile, go west, go north, etc. I mean really? The Interstate it 12 miles that way, lets just go that way. Finally I just ignored her and off we went finding the Interstate just where I thought it would be, it hadn't moved since last fall. That added at least 30 minutes to our time. I wasn't impressed. I'm going to be chatting with Garmin in the near future, I am not happy and for the price I paid for this thing, it should damn well work properly. 

 

So we finally climbed onto the interstate near exit 103 north, and pushed the Big Dog toward Lima, only 21 miles/ 33 km away. For the entire morning we rolled along at 55 mph/ 88.5 km through the nearly flat state of Ohio. The wind wasn't bad at all when we started out, the rain kind of came and went, never very hard though, I think I only had the wipers on full once due to spray from the truck ahead and beside that seemed to be just sitting on my front bumper and my side door. Not sure why they do that but oh well. I will say the roads were pretty good until we reached the upper edges of Ohio and in to Michigan. It was here that the winds started to be noticeable as well. Michigan is always a nightmare for that stretch around Monroe. I thought for certain I drove over another 5'er that was lost in the hole with just his A/C sticking out. Turns out I didn't, it was just my imagination, but a couple holes were deep enough to get lost in and I was lucky to avoid those ones. I will be driving the middle lane in that stretch from now on though, they'll have to pull me over to give me a ticket before I start driving in the slow lane again until they fix that particular piece of roadway. It's insane. We pulled off at Luna Station for a fuel stop as the prices seemed to be steadily rising, we were seeing only numbers right at or above the $3 per gallon mark. We filled the Big Dog's bowl for $3.09 a gallon. The Big Fella took 22 gallons, or approx 83 liters (1 US Gallon = 3.79 CDN liters). Couldn't squeeze in $50, stopped at $49.50 USD.

 

We reached the area of construction, which of course were shut down today and motored right along. As we approached Dearborn exit the traffic suddenly came to a very fast slow down, a creep along. Within 15 seconds of the slow down I could see the problem ahead. A big rig had jack knifed in the 'fast' lane into the construction lane and just his back bumper was sticking out a bit into the next lane, he wasn't impeding traffic by more than 6" -8". The driver was out walking around but no one else was on scene so it had literally just happened. We didn't see or hear any evidence of law enforcement, medical or fire aid of any kind. We were past the end of his truck within 30 seconds and on our way. Sorry for his troubles but we didn't see it, he wasn't hurt, we couldn't help, so lets get out of the way. No need to gawk, big deal his nose is kissing his A**, he's fine, keep driving. 

 

We pulled up to the Canada Customs lines which are confusing in that they now have lots of truck lanes open but no arrows pointing you to the car lanes, nor is there an RV lane, which there is going the other way at this crossing. I checked the time, 12:15 pm. We found our way to the car lane, 4 folks ahead, we rolled along and were at the booth within probably 4 to 5 minutes. Nice lady asked us a couple of questions and told us to have a nice day. We were across in a little more than 5 minutes. Yeah us!! Welcome to Canada. Home of the Maple Leaf, Tim Horton's, and $1.25 per liter diesel. So that $49.50 fill up would have cost me $103.75 here in Ontario.

 

We immediately began seeing the overhead signs warning of freezing rain in Ontario. The temperatures by this time had reached 37F/2.7C and were staying steady. We discussed a few options and Riley checked out the local forecasts. We decided we'd pull in at the first ONRoute (rest area) in Tilbury/Chatham-Kent. Which is where we are right now. We pulled in against the grass edge, but are leaving the slides in to help keep us warmer and in case we receive some freezing precipitation overnight, it won't stretch the slider topper and we won't have to go up there and knock it off. Plus with the slides in we don't rock and roll so much in the wind. We had our heater going within a few minutes (which requires us to run a hose in the window), and the Igloo is nice an toasty. 

 

I called my dad, we chatted for a bit, he's glad we're off the road for the day and I'll let him know tomorrow what we plan on doing. I don't believe the roadways are the issues. I'm pretty certain they will be sanding, salting and doing all that good stuff over the next two days. The issue I believe will be when one is getting off and on the roadways, ramps, side streets, parking lots, etc will not be as well  maintained as the major road ways will be. So we're going to sit here until late tomorrow afternoon or Monday late morning before heading out to Hamilton. By then every thing should be cleaned up, salted or melted, as the temperatures will rise a bit in the next day. 

 

So there you have it, we are safely back in Canada, although we will be conserving our battery power a bit as there doesn't appear to be much sun in the forecast for a few days.  The temperatures are above the freezing mark and in this area there are no freezing rain warnings posted on the web. Just a bit further along there are of course lots of warnings posted. 

 

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit. I hope you've had a wonderfully safe and productive day. Thanks again for following along. Please feel free to leave a comment if you like, I read them all. For those don't wish to leave a comment, that's quite alright too, I'm honoured that came by to read! 

 

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

 

Deb

 

 

 

We made it....

Our Location: Walmart front lawn, Hamilton, Ontario CANADA

No pics today, I'm too tired to do the editing. Today's post may be a bit more detail than you want to know but it's for myself and perhaps to put some sense to the reality of crossing the border with a vehicle purchased in the USA.  If it helps ease the worries for even one person out there, its worth having written it. I was stressed out about this crossing, the broker made it seem very daunting when in fact the whole thing was quite simple. I'm sure it could have been much more time consuming, difficult and even more expensive but I truly had no problems. If I ever do this again I will be certain to use the truck lanes as it's easier to get to the proper place using their lanes. I would also use a broker again, it simplifies things and you pay less GST using a broker.

Morning dawned in Le Roy, NY with a bit of a cool tinge to the air but nothing we couldn't handle. We noticed the overnight temps didn't seem too much different than the evening temps which meant it didn't drop much in the overnight hours. We've found that when the sun starts sinking the temps drop fast but last night the dip seemed to stop when the sun sank behind the horizon. Maybe that's a good sign!!!

About 6:45 am I rolled over, hopped out of bed (not literally of course) and started my day. Moving day is always a bit of an interesting event. Upon rolling out of bed every morning the first thing I do is make the bed, EVERY MORNING. So as I finish each morning ritual on moving day I also pack whatever items need to be packed away when I finish using them. When I finish in my room, and my bathroom, I move on to the living room and kitchen area. Some things get tossed on my bed, others get put into the sinks, etc. You know the drill, it never takes long but I always do at least a couple of quick rounds just to ensure it's all taken care of. So this morning by 7:15 am I was ready to start packing up outside. Riley takes care of her bedroom and 1/2 bath, she is also responsible for getting her cat into the carrier, moving the litter box and food/water. It's amazing how easily she's slipped into the routine. 

By 7:45 am we were doing the last checks for getting under way. Checking of the lights/signals/flashers is the next to last chore, always one last walk around and picking up the leveling boards, etc storing them in the back of the Dogsled. Then we're off. We hit the road running at 8:04 am with the big Dogsled itching to get going. I will admit I made a mistake. I told Riley to find the Queenston-Lewiston bridge but to avoid the tolls which are on the thruway I-90.  Our RV GPS whom we call Phoebe took us to Rochester and wanted us to go some wild way that I can't remember. I realized we were going too far east and managed to get turned around but couldn't seem to get where I wanted to go. We opted to just go back to the campground and start again, which we didn't really do but you know we headed back on 490 toward Buffalo and took the thruway paying the tolls anyway. I'm always amazed that I never get charged the same price twice when towing. Today's tolls added up to about $20 US. I think that's outrageous for the amount of distance we travelled. With just a car or when not hauling the tolls are much more reasonable but add the Igloo and it's nuts. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. 

We arrived at the Queenston-Lewiston Border area around 11:15 am. With the construction going on there finding our way to the export office wasn't signed quite as well as I think it should have been.  I wasn't completely sure where it was so I jumped out of the Dogsled, asked a fella on the US Incoming side of the barrier while I was standing on the other side,  the US Outgoing barrier. (When approaching the lead up to the Duty Free building (this building is on the right) off on the left there is a road that leads to  building beyond the cement barriers, you need to turn left and cross in FRONT  of the incoming cars at the border check booth (these cars haven't yet entered the USA as they have to talk to the Customs officer in the little booth), going left in front of the building to where the big rigs are parked on the EAST side of the building. DO NOT go behind the building, it is for trucks being X-RAYED) He pointed me in the right direction, told me which door to go to etc. Nice fella. Another fella came along as I was pulling in to the area, pointed me in the direction of parking for big rigs and before I knew it I was shutting down the Dogsled, gathering my papers, passport and wallet, heading inside. Easy, peasy, go thru the red door, follow the hallway signs, end up in EXPORT, two nice fella sitting behind their desks not doing much of anything, one asked a lot of questions and before you know it the other one is coming out to check the vin number. He okays that, tells me to have a nice day. Took less than 10 minutes. I asked him if I should go thru the truck lanes on the other side but he didn't know, said if I did and it was wrong they could call him up and yell at him. I laughed, he grinned and I thanked him for his help and told him to have a great rest of the day.  (Leaving the parking lot, look for the sign that says TO CANADA with an arrow pointing to the left or west, take that road, it will merge into the traffic heading over the bridge)

 

Back into the Dogsled, across the big bridge on which there was only a single lane Canada bound due to some kind of watering/washing of the bridge surface about half way across. It was odd, just some guy hosing down the middle of the bridge, no one else around.  Weird. Past the slow down but decided to head  on in with the cars, just in case they didn't feel like yelling at the other guy. ~laugh~ Talked to the fella at the little  booth, explained about importing the truck, he wrote up the yellow slip, sent me to the parking area which ISN'T set up for a smart car hauling a bicycle never mind a truck with a trailer of any length. Parked where he told me and entered the building. The nice lady in there started chatting about non commercial vehicles, I explained it is a personal truck but it will have commercial tags as all pick ups have them, you can't get a truck tag that isn't commercial as far as I know. All four of my trucks have had commercial plates. I explained about the broker saying I needed to go to visit the brokers office first. She checked with another person in the office before informing me I needed to go around to the back of the building. Another officer came out to my truck told me where to get around the building and park, he even came round a bit later to ensure I had found my way. I thanked him for his help, we locked up the Dogsled and headed inside.  (Canada Customs building on the right, commercial vehicles, brokers, big rigs are reached by going to the end of the building, turning right and parking in the big lot behind the building. Go thru the glass doors at TRUCKERS ENTRANCE, brokers are upstairs to the right down a long hallway. Find the right broker suite, give a name, collect the paperwork, go back down stairs to the IMPORT office, step inside to the big long desk, find the IN BOX, drop your paperwork in the box and go back outside the doors to the waiting room. They will call your name when it's your turn. When you are ready to leave (you may have to go back out to the waiting room and wait some more) you return the paperwork to the brokers office, they give you what is YOURS, and your done. When you leave you will still have to pass thru the PAY booth but customs is finished. You can go to the duty free shop from the broker level of the building).

We climbed the stairs to the brokers office, picked up the paperwork (which I didn't need to print out after all even though the original guy told me I had to print it out), went back downstairs, dropped the stuff in the inbox in the import office, we headed back out to the waiting room. Chatted with a nice fella hauling cars, said he'd been there since 8 AM it was now pushing 11:30 am, said he'd been called in twice already. So I'm thinking this isn't going to be fun. We chatted for about 15, maybe 20 minutes, they called my name, I went inside, they handed me my paper work said, "You're good to go." I grabbed it, headed back to the brokers office upstairs, gave them what they needed, came back down, slid out the door and we were free to go. It was just about Noon. Took us less than an hour to do the entire thing. I can't tell you how easy it was, how relieved I was and how good it felt to be finished. ~laugh~ 

I called my dad right away as I knew he would be worried. He of course wasn't home but I left a message anyway. Jumped into the Dogsled, turning the nose toward Hamilton and we headed out. We enjoyed the drive along the QEW, it was uneventful, a bit windy but otherwise very calming and pleasant. The leaves are starting to pop out here, the waters of Lake Ontario were choppy and churning with white caps quite visible. We pulled into the Wally World, tucked ourselves up against the curb, checked with Customer Service, we were given the green light to stay for a couple of nights and hurried out to have some lunch. We were unhooked, and finished lunch by 2:30 pm. Shortly after 3 pm we were back inside stocking up on a few things that didn't buy in the US as they are about the same price but actually cheaper as there is no exchange here. Riley headed for the Tim's while I brought home the groceries. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon doing a few little things, calling a few people, reading and just kind of settling down a bit. My dad called around 7 pm and we chatted for a quick couple of minutes before he had to go which was fine as it was time to start dinner. Tonight we added a few more things to an already made but frozen 4 cheese pizza. Popped that into the oven and shortly there after we were enjoying piping hot pizza. 

After dinner we pulled out the Yahtzee game for a bit. I can tell you that Riley is such a little stinker, she rolled TWO Yahtzee's in one game. Can you guess who didn't win that game? ~Laugh~ I did roll a Yahtzee in the second game though and I even won the second game!!! I was glad we called it at a draw, I'm sure I wouldn't have won another one. ~laugh~ 

After that it was off to our own ends of the Igloo to do what we do to amuse ourselves every night. So there ends the busy day and the crossing of the border with my new to me Dogsled. It was an excellent day, I have absolutely no complaints, I'm happy to be back in the beautiful province of Ontario, and before long we'll be visiting with middle daughter Bradey and her partner David. I'm tired but it's a good tired. 

 

A huge thank you to cousin Craig for his wonderful information in helping me to get thru this process. It was as easy as you said it would be. Thanks again. 

 

Welcome to George and Susie from Our Awesome Travels. I've been reading their blog for a few years and have enjoyed their travels. George and Susie winter in the southwest most winters and I've enjoyed reading about their many adventures both there and here in Ontario. George prepares the most amazing things on his Weber Q, and I've taken many ques from his posts which has led us to enjoy some amazing things on our own Weber Q. Thanks for the tips George. I hope you enjoy your visit here, thanks for stopping by. 

Thanks for stopping by, it is most appreciated. Nothing too exciting but it keeps us entertained. ~laugh~  I hope you enjoyed your visit, feel free to leave a comment. Until next time...be safe, take care...

Our last full day here at The Ridge.......

Our Location: Frost Ridge Campground, Le Roy, NY

(all pics taken with my phone)

Cool over night but it warmed up nicely today. The warmth was welcome but the wind made it cool at times throughout the day. We had sunshine all day which also helped to brighten up everyone's mood around the place. The gloom and doom seems to have lifted and happy, smiling faces seem to be norm today. 

We started off today cleaning as tomorrow we'll be pulling out so our cleaning day would have been messed up. We gave extra attention to some things as it may be a while before we have shore power again. We're undecided about where we're going when we arrive in Hamilton tomorrow. With only two appointments left, one Tuesday, one Wednesday we're thinking we may head out late Wednesday afternoon to miss Toronto traffic. If we leave after 5 pm we should be good to get north of Toronto to one of the service Ontario locations where we can stay the night.  However I'm getting ahead of myself or  my fingers can't type fast enough to keep up with my mind. ~laugh~ Since we are looking at only two nights in Hamilton I'm debating about just putting the feet down at the local Walmart instead of getting all set up at 50 Point Conservation area. We'll be busy doing stuff in the city anyway which will mean a 20 minute drive each way to 50 Point Campground. The Walmart is located close to everything we need to get to. We stayed there three nights on our way south (I hadn't realized 50 Point was still open) and we managed just fine. So all things being what they are I think we may just do that again. 

Interesting sort of chimney on this fire pit (sorry for the rainbow, sun was shining thru the trees)

I'm so easily lead off track when I type, I started off talking about changing cleaning day and look where I ended up!! ~laugh~ Some days it's tough being me. Cleaning was accomplished in a short period of time of course as there really isn't too much to clean. I did however tidy up a few cupboards later in the day, just kind of refreshing my mind as to what is in them and what we may need when we return to Ontario. A mental shopping list of sorts I guess. Plus those particular cupboards hadn't been straightened up for a couple of weeks. 

We opted to head out for a bit of a walk after cleaning was finished, neither of us were hungry so we delayed breakfast, or in fact actually skipped it as we didn't eat upon return as we had planned. We once again walked up the 'tractor/atv' road to the top of the ski hill, along the top but instead of stopping at the open area across from us and heading down we continued along the top of the ridge heading south. The country is very nice, lots of steep hills, an abundance of trees, and with the new growth not quite out yet you can still see around the area a bit. We managed to walk the ridge all the way to Oatka Rd which butts up to the campground property. The way down was pretty steep but with some help from me Riley was able to navigate her way down the somewhat steep and at times slippery slope. It was quite a good walk in that it used up a great deal of energy and also  helped to get us once again used to walking trails and bush roads which we haven't done for at least a year. 

Wonder if this is an apple tree of some sort?

Back home at the Igloo I spent some time puttering outside doing a few chores but will leave all the hook ups for tomorrow. I don't want to get to the border during rush hour as I'm certain the place will be a bit busy at 8 am when the office we must visit opens. I'd like to get there between 9:30 and 10:30 am which I think will work best for us. I'm assuming 1-2 hours at a minimum and 3 - 3 1/2 hours at the most. After that I'm hoping for smooth sailing to Hamilton. 

Among the outside chores I accomplished today was fixing our propane tank holder in the back of the Dogsled. We carry a small 25 lb tank for the BBQ and heater and the holder I bought was just a bit too tight to make it sit properly, so I managed to break the tray out of the bottom which allows the bottle to sit more firmly in the ring. I also managed to use my handy dandy cordless drill to punch a hole in the bed liner of the Dogsled that allowed me to tie the rope holding my step stool higher in the box so I can reach it (the rope) while standing on the ground. Thus making my stool once more accessible to me for working around the box loading or unloading, hitching, etc. Being less than tall has it's disadvantages. ~laugh~ 

There must have been a dozen of these birds, vultures, buzzards or something on the ridge top today

I tried reading outside for a bit but it was just too chilly for me. We had the big door open though, it was nice out of the wind. The windows opened allowed the Igloo to cool off to much so they didn't stay open long either. We really are Canadian but we just can't seem to manage the cold. 

After that it was time for me to make lunch and once again I made a large garden salad, chopping up tonight's dinner veggies at the same time. I also made a salad for tomorrow, as I have no idea how long it will be until we can have some lunch. If we have something ready perhaps we can head outside and grab something quick while we wait. If not we can find a spot to pull over after crossing to have some lunch. This way we don't have to prepare anything and if necessary Riley can eat hers while we travel and I'll just have to wait until we manage to find a spot. We will both definitely have breakfast tomorrow. 

We came down this steep hill side nearing the end of our walk today

The campground has been a busy spot today, people coming and going, a few people doing some repairs to the decks, patios, etc in or around their units. Another fella had Greg (one of the owners) come by with the little tractor and knock down his small metal shed, crunch it up so he could put in the back of his pick up and clean out his spot. He's leaving the campground due to a trailer issue, something about not winterizing it and trying to get the insurance company to pay for it's complete loss. I didn't listen to closely to the story. 

The flood water is slowly receding but it's taking time. Everything is certainly green and lush or ready to burst in to flower or leaf at least. The sunshine today helped with the water as well. The wind of course helps everyday. The daffs are starting to lose their fresh crisp look but the tulips are starting to show their eagerness to bloom. The buds are getting bigger with a few hints of colours along the seams, it won't be long now. A true sign of spring, don't ya think? 

A sure sign of  spring

I finished my book this afternoon, I forget what it was called. ~laugh~ The problem with an e-reader is that I don't always see the 'cover' like you do with a book. When the e-reader isn't on, it' s closed like a book cover but without the title and author name. I'm starting a new book, Spare Change by Bette Lee Crosby, I'll let you know how it turns out. I'm saving a couple of actual books for up north when I can sit outside and hold them in my hands, but for now the e-reader has given my hands  a rest which is a good thing, they've been aching a fair amount the last few weeks. 

Riley is responsible for dinner tonight and I get the night off from cooking. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know we're having pasta/veggies and some left over chicken but I have no idea what she will be doing with it. I'm looking forward to it though, as we all know meals we don't have to cook ourselves is always best. ~laugh~ 

This tree is right outside our door

I was looking at a few pics taken earlier here and I'm amazed how fast the leaves have come out and the colour of green in the distance where before there was none at all. Amazing this season of spring, isn't it? Life renewed, a rebirth, a new birth, all signs of promise, hope and better days ahead. It's a special time of the year and each year I enjoy it immensely. 

Dinner was good, Riley combined a number of smaller pasta shapes, added the mixed veggies I chopped earlier, added some diced up left over chicken.  She didn't combine it, but layered instead with salsa on the side. It was good with a hint of garlic in the veggies. We followed that with some peaches. Good dinner. 

I can now grab the rope to get to the stool.

Quick clean up, showers, and early to bed tonight. She even headed out to the dumpster in her jammies. She hustled, telling me it's much nicer inside than outside. ~laugh~ After that she headed off into her room. She, like me, is looking forward to getting tomorrow behind us and the next appointments finished. I asked her if she'd like to stick around Hamilton for a few more days but she's in a hurry to get north. The one thing she's mentioned missing over the winter is the solitude that we have in the summer months. I  miss that myself at times but I don't think I missed it as much as she did. She's very much a loner and enjoys time spent on her own. She has done amazingly well this past winter season being out of her comfort zone, meeting new people, going new places, seeing new things, trying new foods, trying new activities, and all the while maintaining an even keel.  I'm so proud of her and her accomplishments!! 

There is pasta under there and soon cheese will be on top

So on that note, I'm going to end this rambling post. Sorry I just can't seem to keep my mind in one train of thought, it wants to wander off in various directions. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. Feel free to drop by again. Until next time...be safe, take care...

 

Out and about today......

Our Location: Frost Ridge Campground, Le Roy, NY

(all photos taken with my phone, even the blurry ones. The phone takes great close still pics but not so crisp distance or moving pics)

Cool weather these last few days with more rain, rain, rain, and yet more....rain. The flooding has returned to about the same level as when we arrived. It seems almost like deja vu in reverse. As we will be pulling out on Monday. The nights have been much cooler than we'd like but we're toasty here in the Igloo. We turn on the propane heater thru the day as well to help push away the dampness that seems to invade after days and nights of steady rain and drizzle. The wind, did I mention that? Well it's still here, blowing constantly and at times it's strong enough to make the Igloo shudder. 

Taken Tuesday, April 18 on our way BACK to the US after a day in Ontario

It's been a lazy couple of days here with not much happening. The Custom's broker has been s-l-o-w-l-y sending me instructions for the upcoming crossing. I mean one a day for the last number of days. Print this, print this, READ this, etc. I waited until today to find a place to print all the emails and forms necessary for the crossing. However on top of that I spent some time on the phone this morning with one of my favourite cousins who is a long distance hauler and he basically told me exactly what I have to do, where I have to go and what to look for. He made it seem so simple, not at all like the custom's broker. Apparently it's a common custom's broker trait, making things sound really complicated and they can't answer a direct question no matter how many times you ask it. ~laugh~ Thanks again Craig, I do appreciate the pep talk and the help, made me breathe a lot easier!!! Looking forward to catching up with you in the next few weeks or so.

A fairly long line but it went pretty quickly

After my chat with cousin Craig, Riley and I loaded ourselves into the Dogsled and headed out to the public library in Chili, Ny, a suburb of Rochester. Now I can hear all of you out there saying Chili, but it's not, it's pronounced  CHAI - LIE. Fooled me too. ~laugh~ One of the nice librarians pointed out the pronunciation. Another very helpful librarian helped me print things out as I'm not a window's person but love my Mac. I in turn helped her to learn that they cannot print a 'Pages" document, nor can they print right from Hotmail unless one uses the library computer. She helped me to remember all the reasons I love my Mac and hate windows. Seemed like a fair trade to me. ~laugh~

This guy and his dog were checking most cars.

The town is a nice little spot about 15 miles away from the campground, not a busy place but with a local Timmies and a Wendy's as well, unlike in Ontario they aren't in the same building. We stopped at the Walmart Supercenter to grab a pizza for lunch but they didn't have any  cheese only pizzas in the little pizza heated tower. They offered to cook one for us, we agreed and waited around for about 15 minutes only to be asked by a different person what kind of pizza I had ordered, I explained Cheese, hmmmmmm....want to guess what happened next? ~laugh~ Yep, they didn't have any cheese, just pepperoni and meat. I'm still trying to figure out why the lady at the counter told me it wasn't a problem to cook us a cheese pizza and then didn't tell us they didn't have one. ~shaking my head~ Needless to say, we didn't get a pizza. 

We'll be on the other side of this fence Monday heading INTO Canada

One of the most interesting things we noticed in the town of Chai -lie, was pink trash bins. The big rolling kind that are placed at the end of the driveway for dumping. These trash bins we the exact colour of pink used to promote breast cancer awareness. We must have seen at least a dozen spread out in various places throughout the little town. Must have been special order of some kind. They didn't appear to be 'painted' such as pink over or blue or green, but appeared to be the originally colour. What an interesting idea.

Fuzzy but that's where we're heading in the next week or so.

Our drive thru the country side was interesting as the blossoms are coming out, the water is high and laying in fields everywhere, we even seen a Tulip Tree in full flower. Amazingly pretty tree, but we didn't get a picture we were flying past and couldn't get the Dogsled stopped in time to take a pic without causing an accident. We opted for an accident free day. ~laugh~

Note the water puddles, lots of rain, see the pink trash bins?

Last night's dinner was a change of pace for us, we tried a new recipe and thought it was pretty good. We had Salsa Potatoes, made like Scalloped potatoes but with salsa instead of milk. I also added some Parm Cheese during the baking and some grated cheese after the baking process. It was very good, the salsa gave it a bit of zing to the taste. We had Honey Pecan Chicken Breast along with Rosemary Mushrooms/green beans. It was pretty good. Tonight's dinner will be different as well, Ham Steaks (which we've never had), Garlic Mashed Potatoes (with chicken broth instead of milk) and Italian Steamed Veggies. I think it's safe to assume we're back into the cooking mode again. ~laugh~ 

Timmies doesn't look quite right but it's still a Timmies

I talked with middle daughter Bradey today for a few minutes. We are tentatively getting together for dinner on Tuesday night. Not sure where or exactly what time but it'll be nice to see her and David again. It's been a while!! She's looking forward to her Honey Roasted Peanut Butter. ~laugh~ 

Rear entrance to Wendy's

Dr. Dube's (the OBGYN) staff called me yesterday regarding the message I left on their machine. When I explained the nightmare we've had trying to get ultra sounds and appointments accomplished she was very sympathetic and offered to squeeze Riley in next week but Riley said no. She's not interested in seeing this doctor, she's lost confidence in the whole bunch of them, staff and doctor. The lack of professionalism and competence by the office staff speaks volumes and Riley just doesn't think it's worth the emotional upheaval to book the appointment and possibly or not possibly see the doctor and what if she needs another appointment?  So I explained the best thing the office can do for Riley is to forward ALL the findings and test result to the new OBGYN when contacted. We left it at that.

Pretty nice back here

Dinner was fantastic, we both enjoyed the ham steak but found it to be salty. I think I would soak it next time, maybe change the water a couple of times as well to try to get rid of at least some of the salt. It's one of the reasons we don't eat a lot of ham, we find the salt is overwhelming in taste.

Water laying or in this case running in the fields

We have a few errands tomorrow and we're both looking forward to getting the last of the shopping handled before we start packing up things. The freezer is full of a number of items that are much cheaper here than back home. We can buy a big bag (8 cups) of grated cheese blend for about $9 here and back in Ontario it's $14 for the same bag. We bought a number of extra pounds of butter as well, along with some sauces we can't get back home. We like the ground turkey here as well so we've added a few of those too.

See the water around the trees

When we finally get across the border we need to go thru all of the goodies we've purchased and sort them out. We bought some things for both Bradey (David) and Courtney (Matt) that I know they like and can't get in Ontario. Bradey will pick hers up but Courtney is in Switzerland so I think I'll have to leave it with Matt's sister Amy. However Courtney will give me an answer I'm certain. ~laugh~

Well tended grass and gardens in Chili

After dinner did a quick clean up then pulled out the Yatzee game. About half way thru the game I forfeited to Riley. ~laugh~ I couldn't roll anything, barely getting doubles on any roll. ~laugh~ She was rolling huge numbers and big scores. I folded, I admit it. ~laugh~ She laughed and laughed. Of course I did too!!! I told her another night my mojo will be better. So we'll have to wait for another night to find out.

Tonight's dinner.

She's off doing her thing and I'm busy doing this so the place is pretty quiet now. The tick tock of the clock is the loudest noise in the Igloo. We're looking forward to more of these nights in the near future as well. With a zillion stars overhead and perhaps a campfire with some wood smoke in the air. Hmmmm...it is looking promising, isn't it?

Some blossoms on the trees

A birthday wish goes out today to my oldest nephew Allan, who's birthday falls on this day. Allan is my sister's only son and lives in North Bay, Ontario. Happy Birthday Allan, may this day bring only good things your way!!

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to comment. Until next time...be safe, take care...