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

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

This week on the rock in the middle of Georgian Bay.....

Our Location: Lakeshore Rd N, near South Baymouth, Ontario

We’ve been keeping out of trouble and busy for the most part. The days are spent doing nothing in particular but yet we manage to get a number of things accomplished by the end of the day. A major accomplishment for me has been to get the nose cone de oxidized and at least one coat of wax on, which I managed to finish up this morning. I’d like to put a couple more applications to it but that may have to way for a bit, but at least it’s a good start.   I also managed to get a new propane detector installed. This required a bit of work as the new one required a hole, instead of just mounting on the wall. I have one more fair major project I’d like to do before we leave on Wednesday but we’ll see if I manage to get accomplished. I have the part purchased and just need to exchange the old for the new. So half of the battle is complete at least and I’ll have it with me so I can possibly do this while we’re away.

 

When I say I walk over the rock, along the fence line this is the trail I take.

The bars that you see in the bottom picture are across what used to be the 'old road' way back when my dad was a youngster growing up here.

There are now 10 cows in the pasture. The picture on the top right corner is the end of the trail over the rock, one walks out to the old orchard, and the view is the back of the houses (Dad's, brother Rick's) and the pasture where you see the cows. The bottom left road is our only way out of the location now without opening a gate, we use the cattle guard in stead. Bottom Right is also what was the 'old road' which is now gated but we still use it here on the farm from time to time.

We’ve been doing a bit of visiting, a bit of puttering and like I said, keeping busy. The weather has been good, nice and warm, with a couple of days actually warm enough for shorts and t’s. We’ve had a couple rain showers as well, but we need the rain, everything is dry, even with all that snow melt it’s still dry. The leaves are still coming out, but the bright lively greens are more the norm now. You can see them off in the distance and where once was a dull dreary, drab landscape is now filled with lush green in vibrant shimmering displays. Tulips are plentiful, reds, yellows and a few whites as well. The daffs are starting to dull and turn brown as the flowers are almost over for another year. The dandelions are popping everywhere, the honeysuckles are out, wild strawberry blossoms are starting to show themselves as are the small violet wild flowers abundant in our wooded back yard. The yellow Marsh Marigolds are evident along the road sides but I haven’t seen any Lady Slippers yet. Ferns and Fiddle Heads are also starting to show off their delicate designs as they appear in various places.

 

Welcome to Dad's house. The drive shed (not originally here in 1927, dad bought it from elsewhere and reassembled it here), the old garage, the house and the wood pile (which is actually in the pasture above). This is the house where I grew up. Brother Rick's house can't be seen from this angle but he lives just a few hundred yards on the other side of this house in what used to be my Grandfather's house (Dad's dad).

These pictures show the driveway leading to our summer location. It's a pretty steady uphill climb, we put the Dogsled in low gear and have lunch while we climb. No just kidding about lunch, but we do use low gear, the hill is steeper than it looks.

I’ve witnessed a number of deer in various places on my morning walks, but all fairly significant in size, no fawns are noticeable so far. We’ve had one quite close to the Igloo walking up the drive/path before hurrying off into the wooded areas nearby. The spring scent of skunk has also been whiffed a couple of times but no sign of the critter yet. We haven’t seen any porcupines yet either which we usually see at least one each spring but since we aren’t in our usual spot that could account for that. A dull coated fox strutted across the road in front of me the other day on my walk, soon winter coats will be shed and they will once again be glossy, sleek and beautiful. The rabbits are plentiful once again this year, the robins, cardinals, junkets, chickadee’s, humming birds, blue jays, as well as numerous other birds are also making themselves known. Wood peckers are hard at work in the  area as well. 

This is our current spot. The nose cone isn't yet shiny, shiny but at least it's not that awful oxidized white colour either.

 

A couple of walks through the sugar bush, over the rock along the fence line hasn’t netted us any morrells, not even a hint but it has found tons of black flies and a few mosquitoes as well. One needs a black fly jacket/cap with mesh screen if one plans to be in the wooded areas for any length of time. The black flies seem almost to come through the screen door later in the evening, so we’ve been closing it up by 8 pm. One of the drawbacks of northern Ontario is the bugs. 

These pictures are from in and around the small town of Manitowaning (Manitou - wan - ing). The speed and distance signs are in KILOMETERS, 80 km = 50 mph for our non metric friends.  The town sits on edges of  two bays, and the only land mass that connects the largest Indian Reservation  (Wikemikong  pronounced Wik - em- i- kong or Wiky for short) to the rest of Manitoulin Island. The small peninsula of land juts across the water for a short distance which effectively divides north and south bays, the northern bays reaching into the North Channel and the southern bays reaching out to Georgian Bay at the South Baymouth Ferry dock. Wiky takes up the entire east side of the Island but joins only in this one small area.

 

Main street heading into Manitowaning. Views of Manitowaning Bay at the end of Main Street. Some spring tulips, a barn quilt for Al, which isn't on a barn but an old garage. A sign that is more at home in the USA than here in small town Ontario, Guns and Pawn, it has only been open about a year now.

 

I haven’t been feeling quite like myself the last number of days, not sick, but not really well either, no energy, a headache, nauseous, even a bit on the dizzy side . Wednesday morning after coffee time at Dad’s I cut my walk short and hurried home to spend some quality time hugging the big white throne. After that I crawled under two fleece blankets and didn’t hear a sound until shortly after noon and when I woke up I was still snuggled under both blankets. The 3 hour nap seemed to help but I spent the rest of the day in my chair reading, resting and nibbling on some crackers. A bit of a fever kept me trying to figure out if I was hot or cold for the rest of the day. Back in bed by 9 pm under all the blankets and when I woke at 5 am Thursday morning I felt like my old self again. Hopefully whatever it is has passed. This morning Dad was feeling a bit off so I’m sure it’s something just going around.

 

Some of the lovely new green leaves we seen along Highway 6 and Bidwell Road.  Aunt Shirley lives on this stretch of Bidwell Road, in fact the last picture will find her house down near that cross roads you can see.

 

Talked to my friend Linda for a bit, she’s at Camp and enjoying the time there. They’ll be there for a week or so and hopefully we get up to visit before we head out on our own adventure at the end of the month. Also had a text from sister Jan, her laser eye surgery went well and she appears to be doing good. I couldn’t take her Wednesday as I was just not up to it. 

 

I love these two road pictures. The first picture is taken as we approach what is called Ten Mile Point from the north side. It's on Highway 6 and has a small scenic pull off with a spectacular view out over the North Channel area and off into the MacGregor Bay/Kilarney  area on a clear day. The second picture is actually taken from a back road after leaving my aunt's house and heading out to the small bump of Sheguaindah (Sheg - a- win- dah) which straddles Highway 6. The road you see in the top part of the picture is the road from the first picture.  If you look closely you can see the white patch. Of course next time I'll take the picture in reverse, showing the view from Highway 6 to the side road. It's just a neat view. The last picture is the small trading post/gift shop at the top of Ten Mile Point.  Ten Mile Point is located at approx the ten mile mark between Manitowaning and Little Current. Sheguaindah, also a reservation is located on the Little Current side of Ten Mile Point and stops/starts depending on your direction of travel at the bottom of that big long hill in the first picture.

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. Today’s pictures are varied over the last few days. They range in location from Sheguiandah to Lakeshore Rd N. They include a walk over the rock along the fence line, our summer location driveway, Dad’s place, along with some beautiful views from around Sheguiandah, Ten Mile Point, Manitowaning and the roads we travelled to get to those places.  I hope you enjoy the views!!!

The views from Ten Mile Point Look Out. If these pictures look familiar it's because we had a couple of quick pictures on our way home this spring that shows ICE out there completely locking up some of the islands.

 

Until next time….

 

Wild strawberry blossoms, small purple violets, honey suckles, hens & chicks, ferns and fiddle heads, along with our Innushuk.  The hens & chicks survived the winter in our rock garden, and the snow didn't knock Rocky Innushuk down, the others are all signs of new growth for a new spring.

 

Take care, be safe,


Deb

 

 

 

 

A busy week....

Our Location: Lakeshore Rd N, near South Baymouth, ON

The last number of days have been busy with various errands, jobs, and visits. We’ve travelled a bit to place like Espanola, Little Current, Manitowaning, Mindemoya and Tehkummah but we have yet to visit the little hamlet of South Baymouth. We will though and I promise to remember to take the big camera instead of just my phone.
 

Waiting for Dad at the bank in Little Current. Ahead is a small glimpse of the water front, which is the North Channel.

Tuesday found Riley and I securing a new family doctor in Mindemoya as our Hamilton family doctor retired and we don’t care for the new fellow. We’ve slowly been switching things to the north and have now joined with Dr. Maryna Harelnkava at the Manitoulin Health Clinic.

This is the local OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) building. No town cops, just provincial and Native ones on the Island.

Wednesday we travelled to Espanola with Dad as he wanted to do some grocery shopping, and we too managed to find a few items we could use. Isn’t that always the way though? You don’t need anything and $50 later you leave the store. The ride is about an hour and a half from where we’re located, we must cross the swing bridge in Little Current and continue along Highway 6 north bound through a couple of reserves.  We travelled through Birch Island Reserve, Whitefish Falls Reserve and weaved our way through the rocky outcroppings of Willisville and passed into Espanola just before 10 am. We managed to pass the time at a few stores, lunch and before we knew it we were home by 2:30 pm. Not a long trip but a nice slow pace and a few laughs along the way. 

My view of the morning sun as it greets the day.

Thursday  had Dad and I travelling to Mindemoya to have his 2 week old hearing aid back at the hearing clinic there. Seems they have to send it out to be repaired, and it’s only 2 weeks old. I’m not sure what to think about this little issue but we’ll see how long it lasts when it comes back. We did a few little errands while there in Mindemoya as well. 

This fella and his partner (she's in the ditch among the weeds) may be nesting in this location. Lots of marshy areas here.

Friday has us visiting Aunt Shirley during the morning and sister Jan on our way back home.  We also stopped at the local body shop where my long time friend Blaine did his magic on a stone chip we picked up over the winter travels. 

One of my morning walks, I walk up to the bend in the road which is where our gateway is located.

Taking a few minutes most days I’m also working on the oxidization issue on the nose cone and hopefully will have it finished by Monday and be able to apply some wax to bring the shine back. We shall see how that goes though. I’ve been walking a bit more now that we are back, although the mornings are pretty crisp still but I’m sure they will get warmer soon. The snow and ice are now all gone, with no signs of lingering any where. A walk over the back trail to the Sugar Shack didn’t find any Morrels in the spots I noted them last year and I think it’s too dry. Hard to believe with all the snow they had here but the ground is dry and crunchy in places. Rain in the forecast for tomorrow so hopefully we get a nice gentle rain over the evening and night. It would be most helpful. 

This is taken from our regular parking spot, as you can see we're quite a bit lower down.

Our Canadian long weekend is about over with today being Monday. Rain on Saturday had us doing some inside chores and reading. Sunday found me finishing up not quite all of the nose cone, about 15 more minutes should complete the oxidization removal and then I can apply a couple of coats of wax and be finished with that particular job. We have a few things planned for the week and hopefully a bit of warmth finds the wind/breezes that are constant here on the rock. Things are starting to show their spring colours more and more with daffs, tulips, crocus, and hyacinths showing their bright spring colours. 

We normally park right back there along those rocks and trees on the right. In fact you can see the outline of the out door mat we use toward the left of the picture.

With the long weekend comes the cattle into our little piece of real estate. They should arrive today and be here for summer pasture. All of the gates are now closed, and we will start being more aware of the things we leave outside. Cows will chew anything, we’ve been fortunate enough to only lose the occasional solar light to their destructive ways over the years so we can’t complain. 

You can see the lake from here, but we don't park this high. That's our fire pit down there below on the rock.

So there you have it folks. Nothing exciting but we’ve been busy. I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

Quite the view from up here but we can't get this high with the Igloo.

Until next time… take care, be safe,

Walking across the old orchard you can see the back of my brother's house, my dad lives to the right behind that tall pine tree. You can barely see the David Brown Tractor on the extreme right but Dad's there splitting wood for next winter's heat.

 


Deb



(A note: I've found that posting a daily blog right now just isn't possible as my mornings are too full and the internet speed at night is disgusting so I'll be posting when I can, I'll try for once a week but who knows. I'll be catching up with everyone's posts at some point but I can't tell you when. I hope you all have a wonderful summer!!!!)



 

Getting caught up.....

Our Location: Lakeshore Rd N, near South Baymouth, Ontario

I know I've been a bit of a sluggard but oh well, that happens from time to time. We've been busy doing a number of things and are almost all caught up to where we should be now. 

This is the gate way to our summer location. If you look you can see the Igloo right in the middle of the picture. It's not our regular spot but it's a nice one for a few weeks.

The weather has been very nice, a bit cool and hovering around the freezing mark in the mornings but it reminds me of the southwest with it's vast change in temperatures, so in my mind, it doesn't seem as cold in the mornings as it would if we'd spent the winter in the southeast where the overnight temps don't dip too much from the day time highs. 

South Bay/The Narrows as this stretch of water is referred to. The far shore is the reservation known as Wikemikong or Wiky.

The ice has finally disappeared in the bay and the air is starting to heat up a bit more each day. We're happy to say that the leaves are popping, the flowers are starting to show themselves and the daffs are out in full bloom. The grass is greening up, the Manitoulin Flamigos (sand hill cranes) are squawking and strutting around and I've seen a robin as well. Spring is here. 

That is snow there folks, still a bit here and there where the sun can't really get at it to melt it yet. That driveway you see leads down to the view of the water in the picture above.

Managed to get a quick visit in with nephew Jason and his lovely bride Leah. It's always a treat to visit with them, they are adventurous young people and enjoy every season to the fullest but Jason's love is winter and his sledding adventures. Leah also enjoys them but quite to the same degree as Jason. They are currently planning a trip to BC in January which will see them hauling their sleds out there for a month. They plan on driving through the upper states to reach BC. Not a drive I would want to make in January but then again, being young has it's advantages I guess.

The Lion rock is just down the way from our gateway, and yes that is snow on the other side of the lion.

A few more aches and pains than I've had over the winter has slowed me down a bit but with the warmer weather I'm hoping they subside some as they usually do. Sometimes typing is not pleasant on the fingers/hands joints but I guess that's why they make the good drugs I just need to convince myself to take more of them I guess. Oh well, it is what it is and tomorrow is a new day. 

That is straight snowfall, not plowed or heaped.

Friday found us heading out to the little hamlet of Mindemoya, a very busy little place even in the winter. Mindemoya has a small hospital, numerous dr's, a grocery store, a laundromat, a Service Ontario (where we can get things like drivers licence, plates/sticker for vehicles, health card updates, etc. like a government one stop shop), a library, pharmacy, and a few other little shops and restaurants. We arrived with a lot of laundry, the renewal papers for the Dogsled's plates, and of course a list of a few groceries for us as well as Dad. I will say within 2 hours we were finished all of those chores and heading home. Not a bad morning at all. 

We usually park in the area in the middle of the picture where you can see that gravel like patch but instead are parked off to the right side of the picture on what we call the green, which is actually quite a bit lower than our usual spot.

We spent the rest of Friday and Saturday puttering around doing a few little chores and just enjoying the 'home' feeling. A bit of visiting, morning coffee time, and getting in a few little strolls as well. 

We're parked here for a couple of weeks instead of going to our usual spot, it was pretty soft further up the hill in a couple of spots.

So as you can see nothing exciting but quite relaxing and enjoyable for us. We are hoping to get another project in the works before too long but we'll need a carpenter for this particular job but I'll keep you posted as to how that goes. 

The birds catch the up drafts that seems to always be here and they coast for a long time. There are usually two or more but today only one was floating along. At the bottom middle of the picture is the road we take to get to our summer spot.

Today's pictures were all taken with my phone as I have been strolling along and revisiting some of my favourite spots. I promise more in the days ahead. Our summer location is located very close to the shore of Lake Huron/Georgian Bay in what we refer to as the pit. It was once a large and booming gravel pit but hasn't been used as such for about 40 years now and so no longer looks like a barren waste land of rock and mud. The views while not spectacular from this spot are still very nice in our opinion. 

We take the road  to the left that is tucked up behind that row of cedar trees in the middle of the picture to get to our location. The road straight up the middle of the picture is the interior farm road to Dad's house. This is the height we are currently parked at, not too high up but it's a pretty good view.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed the visit. I still couldn't load pictures to the previous post of our trip through the Parry Sound/Sudbury area, so perhaps I'll just add them to an upcoming post. I will also be getting caught up with you my friends in the up coming few days.

From the dining room window you can see our usual spot which is about the middle of the picture. That road  in the foreground is actually quite steep and is also quite a bit lower than it looks. We can't come up that road with anything but an off road vehicle.

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

For now this is our view from the steps facing north.

Deb