Arrived Hamilton, wet, rain and a bit warmer.....

Our Location: Walmart, Rymal Road E, Hamilton, Ontario

(again, no pictures, they just won't load)

The wind stopped last night in the oddest manner. It just stopped. One big gust rocked us a bit as I was getting ready to climb into bed and then nothing more. Didn't hear anything, didn't feel anything, and no I wasn't asleep either. It was the oddest feeling when I realized there was no more wind. It stopped so fast it was scary. The rain also stopped but I did hear it pitter patter once or twice through the night but not hard, just a soft sound. 

 

This morning's temperature was 37F/2.7C which wasn't too bad at all. The tiniest of winds kicked up a bit but nothing you'd notice at all. We were out of bed by 7 am and decided we'd pull out this morning as it was supposed to warm up the further we came to the north east. Hamilton was predicting a high of 48F/9 C this afternoon. A quick pack up, checked all the rubber and we were good to go by 8:15 am. 

We cruised along in the slow lane until we reached the next ONRoute at Dutton, Ontario and while Riley visited Tim Hortons for coffee and a couple of timbits, I checked all the rubber once again. It all looked fantastic and soon Riley was back outside with our nice hot drinks, and a wee treat. The temperature was still steady at 37F/2.7C and we continued motoring along. The roads were wet, with a bit of slop coming up, mist appeared to settle over some of the country side which actually turned out to be more fog than mist but it had the same effect, we had to use the wipers sparingly the whole trip. 

As we approached London, Ontario area we made note of some ice still coating the roadside grasses, trees, bushes and some of the fields as well. The temperature was a steady 37F/2.7C here but it didn't appear to be melting. Again the roads were just wet. We also noted traces of snow and slush that had piled up along the roadside due to road cleaning but nothing on the road except wetness. Still fog/mist lingering in the area making it appear to be brightly gloomy if you know what I mean. 

As we rolled along the 401 East bound we waved to our friends Bill (On Our Way), Patsy (Chillin' with Patsy) & Clemson ( no known blog url) as they are still tucked away in the fair city of London, Ontario. 

From London we headed on to Woodstock, then 403 to Brantford which like the 401 was simply wet. The further north east we travelled today the less it seemed as if spring is on it's way. The bare brown fields turned to lakes of muddy water and  cold looking ice patches, the trees remain leafless and barren, the grass while showing hints of green is mostly that mottled brown/black of dead winter. Soon we started noticing more snow in areas that are protected from the wind, such as ditches, tree lines, etc not much but a dusting of sorts. Even further along we noticed more snow in the open areas not just around the tree bottoms or protected areas. Soon the fields were covered with no dirt showing through, just the hint of dirt. A few cornstalks poking their winter weathered heads up through the white frosting proved to us that it was indeed a field and the little stalks shivering  as they stood guard in lines like soldiers. 

As we approached Brantford the rain started to fall, not hard but in dribs and drabs, making things seem promising but disappointing at the same time. Promising because spring rains means warm weather, flowers, etc. Disappointing because so far they have just meant more cold, more ice, less sun, no warmth. Oh, the burdens of being Canadian. 

Again the roads were wet and the sky's dark but the temperature which dipped from a high of 37F/2.7C to 33F/ .5C had jumped back again when we reached Hamilton to the high temperature of 36F/2.2C. So we can't complain, now can we? It's at least figuring out which direction is the right one, so soon it will be pushing higher in the right direction. We found the Lincoln Alexander Parkway to be rough, misty and not quite as busy as I expected. We sailed along the top edge of the city until our exit at Dartnall Road which we took to Rymal Road, thus leading us to our current destination. 

Richard, the girls and I lived about 1 mile/1.6 km from this very store for 20 years. Actually Richard, Courtney and I lived there for 20 years, while Bradey and Riley were born after we moved in to the house. So we know the area pretty well. Riley and I commented a couple of times of the lack of activity around the schools as we came further north east. Turns out the schools were all closed today for a weather day. The thing is we didn't really have any weather. We pulled into the Walmart lot at 11:30 am having been on the road for about 3 hours. We travelled approx 155 miles/250 km . An easy travel day, the weather other than rain was perfect for driving. 

We were told when we asked about parking here that Walmart doesn't own the lot and can't give permission but others have stayed. If the owner of the parking lot wants us to move they will have to tell so. There are no signs and so I'm happy here for the next couple of days. I have an appointment in the morning with the Rheumatologist and we have dentist appointments Thursday late morning. I want to have the tire on the Igloo replaced, the spare tire put back where it goes and we need to do a few other little things as well. I need to have blood work done as I forgot about it last month. Oh well, the worst that will happen is the good Dr. Bobba will tell me how important it is to have it done. The best that will happen is he won't mention it.  Since he asks the same 6 questions and I give the same 6 answers I doubt it's imperative but I'll have it done quickly here. 

So there you have it, our travel day. We have a few more to go before we reach our summer location but we won't be heading there for some time as they are still getting winter weather. About a foot of snow fell on Manitoulin Island over the course of the last 24-36 hours. They had some hail, sleet, freezing rain, snow, ice pellets and just about anything else that could be tossed their way. When I spoke to Dad this afternoon he said it was starting to rain. The snow is too wet to push with the quad, so the big tractor blower will have to be used to move it. It's mid April for goodness sake, this isn't appropriate weather at all. 

A quick HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my brother Rick today. We enjoy the visits we manage with him and his lovely wife Barb, along with their children and grandchildren during our stay at our summer location. Rick is always helpful when I ask for some help with things or advice about something. It'll be nice to see him and Barb along with the children, grandchildren when we get back to the island. So Happy Birthday big brother. We hope it's been a fantastic day!!!

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate them all. If you don't wish to leave a comment, that's okay too and I hope you enjoyed the post. 

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

Deb

Wind, rain, flat tire.......

Our Location: ONRoute, Tilbury, Ontario

A cold night outside but not too bad inside, we were tucked under our covers and only noticed the cold upon getting out of bed. We both slept in my bed, opting to keep the slides in so there would be no accumulation of ice should it happen. It was a lucky move, we had a bit of ice to be sure but it appeared to be from the cold wind, instead of the freezing rain part. 

For some reason the internet connection wasn't good last night. It showed four bars but was very slow. The pictures wouldn't up load  at all.  It took a long time to even post the blog and nothing else would load after that, so I gave up after about an hour. This morning it worked great for a while but is once again showing signs of not working so well. Oh well, it is what it is, the phones work great and that's what matters most. 

We needed to partially open one of the slides this morning to get the dry cat food which we forgot to take out yesterday morning. Since that is the side with the hose in the window I needed to go out to ensure nothing happened that shouldn't happen. I'm glad I stepped outside. A thin layer of ice was over the handle, and the steps but not the off wind side of the walls. I did however notice a flat tire just as I stepped down on the ground. The front tire on the Igloo is completely flat. So we will be here until tomorrow for certain. 

We got the cat food, pulled the slide back in and I began the process of calling the auto club at 8:30 am. I very rarely ever use it but it's nice to have when we need it right? The nice lady that I spoke with, whose name happened to be Deborah, was very pleasant and friendly. Hm.....now the problems are starting. First she can't locate the ONRoute address to send someone. That is resolved within a few minutes. Good to go right? No, another problem.  It says my contract has been cancelled. Not possible, I paid back in November. Further digging show's it's been transferred, but closed in Southern Ontario, since it was moved to Northern Ontario when I contacted them about moving. Okay, Deborah will call N. Ontario CAA to get the information to send someone to us. Some issue on that end, Deborah will continue to look into and call ME back when she has the answer. Within 5 minutes she calls me with yet another issue. They don't open until 10 am. Now I have to call back after that time. So here we sit waiting for 10 am so I can call back and get this thing moving forward before the day ends.

 I will condense this at it took most of the day to get the job accomplished. Numerous calls, discussions, and information were exchanged which still didn't seem to be correct even by the time the job was almost complete. The first fellow to arrive had trouble finding us, his jack wasn't big enough and they had completely screwed up the information. Second fellow called, laughed when I told him the weight and said he couldn't help me but he'd let dispatch know. Eventually two dispatchers were needed to complete the task and at 3:30 pm on the dot, 2 nice young fellows from Kaltire showed up and were gone within 10 minutes, everything fixed and we're ready to roll when the afternoon comes tomorrow. 

The tire had a separation issue and went flat over night instead of blowing apart on the road. How lucky is that? So the spare tire is on, the tire in need of replacement is on the back of the Igloo and when we reach Hamilton I will have a new tire put on the rim and placed on the Igloo, putting the spare back where it belongs. They were young, sweet and very helpful. I was certain to give them a nice tip for their troubles. 

Over the course of the day I discovered where the cold draft was coming from that seems to have been an issue since we arrived here. The closet slide in my bedroom is blowing cold air like there are huge holes in the wall. The entire outer edge of the slide has a cold wind coming in whenever there is a gust outside. Explains why it was so cold up stairs last night. The slide is on the wind side. I thought closing it might help but it didn't do anything at all. So I've stuffed the offending areas with some blankets and towels which seems to have fixed the issue for now. I'll have to look at that as well when the weather gets a bit nicer. For now I'll just keep tucking the things around it when we are parked. 

The weather has of course been rainy all day but it's been a bit warmer, not nice by any means but a bit warmer. Hopefully by tomorrow the wind lets up and we can move ourselves down the road to Hamilton by afternoon. I'm looking forward to getting there, getting a new tire and having things put back together. We are also looking forward to seeing daughter/sister Bradey and her other half, David while we are in the area. Dinner Tuesday night with the two of them will give us a chance to get caught up.

I chatted with my dad twice today, we discussed the weather both here and there. They are still in the midst of a storm as well. He's quite a bit further north than we are but he says they've had it all, ice pellets, snow, sleet, freezing rain, rain, and when we talked the last time it was still snowing and of course the issue is the wind. Makes it very difficult to see with all the snow blowing around. 

I also chatted with my friend Linda, who lives a bit further north than my dad. She said they had just started getting some weather and they hadn't had much of any weather even though a lot of snow had been predicted. We chatted for about an hour, catching up on a few things. I'm looking forward to seeing her and her hubby Randy within the next month. We'll be making a stop close to their home on our way to our summer location at Dad's. 

Around 6 pm daughter Courtney called to say hello and we chatted about our upcoming visit at Buttercup Ridge. I'm looking forward to seeing her so  much, it's been a while since we've actually physically spent time together.  She and her hubby Matt will be coming out to spend a couple of days with us!! I'm very excited!

After that I finished the book I was reading, Sue Grafton, R is for Ricochet. A pretty good book, not quite the same as the other letters of the alphabet but I enjoyed it anyway. I'll start a new book tomorrow some time. 

The temperatures are hovering pretty steady I think a few degrees above freezing here in Tilbury and it appears that by tomorrow afternoon all of this nasty stuff should be behind us, the ice will hopefully have melted, and all things will be good from here on out. 

Again no pictures as it's just too slow to load them. I think there are so many folks on their phones and such here at the ONRoute that it's the reason every thing is so slow. When not many folks are around it's pretty fast. Riley spent some time inside the ONRoute building today during our tire changing experience so she was out of the cold  and reported that the building was running on back up generator power. She commented the lights flickered off and on a number of times as well. I know that parts of Manitoulin Island were also without power for some hours today, but not where my dad is located. Further to the north and west from his locale. However a cousin out the road called to ask my Dad and brother to come out to remove a tree that had fallen on the house. However it hadn't actually landed on the house, it had slide down the side of the of it. So no roof damage but some scraped up siding. Parts of Toronto were having trouble with flying ice as it blew off power lines, tree branches, etc. A few downed limbs were also evident in the area in which daughter Courtney lives.  Definitely not a nice weekend here in Ontario, pretty much any area you look at had nasty wet weather and strong NE winds. Winds will calm considerably over night at last look. 

So there you have it. A real eventful day in our little neck of the woods. Glad we were sitting still for it. I hope you've all had an excellent day, that you stayed warm, dry, and unharmed where ever you may be. Tomorrow will be a better day I'm certain. Thanks for stopping by, please feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate them all. If you don't wish to leave a comment, that is also just fine, I'm still happy you dropped by for a visit. 

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

Deb