Happy HALLOWEEN…

Yes, the last day of October!  It is getting cold here tonight… big time!  Supposed to go down to minus seven degrees!  We have had our ceramic heater going, along with our RV furnace!   Aughhh, the joy of RVing!

We took our bicycles out the concession road behind the park this afternoon, and came across this farm house that got right into the spirit!

Just up from the haunted farm house, we came across the giant marsh mellow farm!  They have been growing these marsh mellows here for quite a few years now… and looks like a bumper crop this year!

They stacked some on top of each other they had so many…

They had so many they started to line them all up!

This is a real lousy picture, but late tonight I took these pick of 4 deer that came by to visit the farm next to our RV Park.

Spent the afternoon working on RV stuff as tomorrow we are on the move.  We will take about an hour ride east of here, to Milton Heights RV Park.  It is on of the very few RV Parks in Ontario that is open year round.  We will stay for a week anyways until next Monday when I go to visit the Doctor.  After the Doctor’s visit, we will make a new set of plans for that week! 

Stay warm everyone!

Till tomorrow…

Ohhh…. my aching back!

We decided this morning to simply, “take today off”… why not.

My back has been causing me some grief, so this morning we went for a nice slow walk about 2 Klicks up the road and back.  Not too bad a morning.  We took a quick trip into Staples to return a finance program we bought yesterday that would not load properly.  Judy worked on it this afternoon, while I simply relaxed and watched a movie on TV.  My back is better for it!

We bought a new program called Budget Expre$$.  It is fairly easy to use, and should give us the reporting that we need monthly on our finances.  Judy will now take over the job of watching all our $$$’s as they leave our wallets.  We had been using the finance program on RVer's Notebook, but I have never been happy with the monthly reporting features of this program.  We will see how the new one makes out! Will blog more on this later…

This farmer was taking off corn while we were out walking up the Concession road just north of our park…

After the corn is taken off, they roll up the stalks…

Then there was the case of this little guy trying to cross the road…

So just taking life easy watching the Leaf’s play New York tonight on CBC.  So far, not so good…

Till tomorrow…

Brrrrr…..

Today was just one of those days you cannot seem to warm up for me!  It was raining when I got up and it was cold… stayed that way all day!

Judy went with Kristina and Stephanie over to Guelph to do some shopping.  I stayed at the RV and took life easy… never did warm up though…

Not much of a picture for today, and I tried to sharpen it up, but… not so good.  It was taken this morning as I drove back to our RV along the Sweaburg Road.  The Llamas are on a real nice estate lot with a real nice home… the one with his head up would not take his eyes off me as I stopped to snap a quick pic.  Only had the small camera and had to zoom quite a bit, so that is why it is kind of blurry…

I received an email from Bob Hayes this morning who is on his way to Phoenix, Az.  He is pulling his 5th and has another trailer on behind with his motorcycle.   Judy and I actually seen him booting down the 401 yesterday as we were riding into Woodstock in the morning… it is a small world sometimes… we hope to run into Bob in Phoenix late in November!

This picture was taken along the same road as above, and shows what these people think of Ontario Hydro.  These panels are just being installed.  I would suspect they would be able to sell some of the excess power back to Ont. Hydro.  Looks like a big outlay of funds to me!

That about wraps up today…

Till tomorrow…

Watch out for the attack Ducks…

Last year when we came to Casey’s Park, just west of Woodstock, we were greeted by the two attack Ducks that called the Park home!  This year, no one greeted us, other than the owner looking for us to help fill his pockets with money!

All of a sudden today this happened…

the attack Ducks showed up…   We came home from being out all day, and I got attacked!  They are insane!  They want blood!

Just look how ruthless they are…   the only way I could get rid of them was to throw them a handful of Patra’s cat food!  It worked!  They were happy and let me pass!

Because of our position this year, with being delayed in leaving, we had to make some contingency plans… just in case! 

We drove up to Milton which is just west of Toronto and scouted out an RV Park, that is actually opened here all year.   They protected the utilities by putting each sites taps and drains inside cement culverts and it works!   This place is open to RV’ers 12 months of the year.  Where they are located, they will not get a lot of snow, but will get some!

We will have to make plans for next week, before I go to see the Dr. and they will probably be made this weekend.

Tonight I made a special dinner of my favourite, “Manicotti” up.  We invited Chris and Kristina, and Stephanie and Josh out to enjoy dinner and watch the Leafs lose… again!  We all had a great night! 

I was reading Al’s blog from the Bayfield Bunch tonight.  He lost his Key to his Jeep and was not too happy.  Our Jeep only came with one key and when I went to get another, I got the shock of my life… $200.00 for a key!  No wonder I have a weak heart!

Till tomorrow…

The Dog days of summer….

Seems a little late in the year, but today was a dog day of summer…  we headed into Kristina’s as Judy wanted to do some laundry up, and we took Cali out for a walk over to the dog park.

Lots of room in the dog park…

Purina, the Company that makes all the dog food, have a big mill and factory in downtown Woodstock, and the dog park is right behind the factory.  There is no signs or anything, but I am assuming Purina donated the land for the park.

There were lots of dogs running around just having a ball.  Al from the Bayfield Bunch would be in doggy heaven here with his crew of 3. I counted over 10 dogs at the park today, and they all played together real good!

Back at the house, Judy taught Cali how to “shake a paw” today for the first time… she got real good at it! 

Lots of comments on last nights blog with the fancy motor home… seems lots of people want the 649 to come in!

Judy and I have decided to stay where we are at Casey’s Park, just west of Woodstock, until next Monday anyways.  The weather will be good until then.  My Dr. appointment is Monday, Nov. 8, so we will have to work some plans up for next week.  It will depend on the weather, which at least has not got too cold here yet! 

Tonight we had a Canadian Thanksgiving Dinner with Chris and Kristina.  It was nice for Stephanie from down under to experience it.  They do not celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia!  Nor do the celebrate Halloween… what gives?

Till tomorrow…

 

Service day for the RV…

We were up early today to meet a 9:00 a.m. appointment at Forest City RV.   We had planned this service for over a couple of weeks now and we made it in time for them to get going. 

All was going well with the servicing, which included oil and filter change, and new fuel filter for the Duramax Diesel, oil and filter for our Diesel Onan Generator, and a required repair to the running lights that were not working through to the Jeep. 

All of a sudden we had a problem.  When the technician changed out the fuel filter on our main engine, he needed to prime the fuel system.  It would not prime properly.  Apparently our primer pump, which is manually activated, was not working properly… grrrrrr…   It took about an hour and a half for them to figure out how to prime the engine, after making numerous phone calls and google searches.  Our primer pump will have to be replaced at some point in time… always something!

In the end, they got us out of there around 1:30 or so, and all is running good.  My policy is to have the oil changed every 6 months on the Motorhome, regardless of the mileage. 

While we were putting in the morning, Judy happened to notice a nice new Itasca sitting over in the corner of the show room, so she had to take a peek…

It is a 40 foot plus Diesel Pusher, and is very nice!

It had a great leather couch, with that end piece that actually folds up into the main couch when you travel!

With a total of 4 slide outs, there is lots of room in this beauty!  Check out the nice TV, and just below it is a fireplace…(electric)

This TV is only in case you want to watch the Leaf Game while in bed!

A nice little kitchen in case of hunger!

This machine has it all…

And for a mere $274,000.00 you too can drive away in this baby…

You sometimes wonder about all the features, and gadgets they put on motorhomes, and if you need them all or not.  It is certainly a personal choice when it comes to options.  Al from www.thebayfieldbunch.com  is upset about his power jacks and levellers not working properly on his motorhome, and says he would simply not bother with them.  He has had a bad experience with them, whereas, this is one of the best features I like on our motorhome.  I am able to level our motorhome in minutes, right from the drivers seat!  Of course I say this as we have never had any problems with our system. 

Anyways, Judy has something to dream about for the next while.  This was a beautiful motorhome, and life would be great in one of these… however we will plug away in ours for the time being, until the 649 comes in!

Had some real wild weather here in Woodstock area this afternoon, with big winds and lots of rain.  In talking with Shawn down in Tennessee this evening, they were having the same type of problems with their weather. 

Till tomorrow…

Race Day…

Missed yesterday’s blog… too long a day and with some complications…

Will make up for it all today!  Stephanie completed the 1/2 Niagara Fall Marathon!  An amazing feat… even more amazing when you are there to witness it!   I have never seen a marathon live before, and it is my opinion that some people simply push themselves too hard on race day! 

People get bussed in to the marathon.  This is the 1/2 marathon starting gate… lots of runners!

That is Stephanie in the middle under the start banner… set to go!  This event draws runners from all over the world to run!  

The Niagara Falls Police did a fantastic job of controlling the parkway for the runners.

These guys left first and were just flying!

Here is the lead pack of the 1/2 marathon…

Lots of runners…

Lots of spectators to cheer on the runners… here is Judy, Kristina and Chris…

Stephanie is waving at her supporters!  The Niagara Parkway is an incredible place to hold the marathon.

This horse never even raised his head to look at the runners… see if I yell for horses next time I’m at the track…

This guy was in the middle of the runners… what a fancy machine he had!

Local boaters on the Niagara River taking in the race…

Check this out… the guy with the bunny ears is a pace bunny.  He ran the 1/2 marathon at a pace of 2 hours, 15 minutes.  Runners could gage their own race based on his pace!

This guy ran the full marathon and won!  Look at his time on the clock!   That is 27 Miles!  Yikes!

Stephanie crosses the finish line in a very respectable time of 2:29 and 34 seconds… a great run for her… she wanted to finish under 2 hours and 30 minutes and she did!  Ata go Stephanie!

Kristina congratulates her pen pal at the end of the race… Stephanie is wearing a silver warm up blanket given to the runners when they finish…

Yes, you get a medal when you finish1

What would a trip to Niagara be without a picture of the maid of the mist…

and of course the falls.  This picture we took from our lunch table at the falls restaurant! 

After the race and everything was over, I ran into some problems, and had to head to the Niagara Hospital and consult a doctor.  I was released at about 11:30 last night, and Judy and Kristina were there to pick me up from the Hospital. All is well.

This will result in me going up to Bracebridge shortly to meet with my specialist in early November.  This will also delay our leaving for the USA, which was scheduled for tomorrow morning.  More on this in later posts…

All in all, a great day for a race!

Till tomorrow…

 

Back into London…

This morning we decided to return to the scene of yesterday’s crime, so we headed back to London to do some exploring…

London is a very nice City that I have never really spent much time in.   When we attended the John Labatt's Centre for the Hockey Game, I noticed a nice indoor market across the road and thought Judy would like to visit that.  It is a great spot with free parking no less on Saturday’s!

This is the outside view of the market… there is even an underground parking lot!

Inside is full of little shops like these…

Kristina liked this sign below that we found at a booth that sold specialty coffees.

We picked up a bottle of Ontario Maple Syrup to give to Stephanie to bring back down under with her…

We sat on the upper level and enjoyed lunch and took some high rise photos of the market…

This evening we enjoyed a great dinner at Chris and Kristina’s.  They hosted us and Chris’ parents along with Cathleen, Chris’ Sister.  Very enjoyable!

Tomorrow Stephanie is running the 1/2 marathon at Niagara Falls, so I will have to check and see if the water is still flowing…

Till tomorrow…

St. Jacobs…

This morning we picked up Kristina and Stephanie in Woodstock and headed to St. Jacobs, a quaint little tourist type town just north of Waterloo.

We enjoyed a nice lunch and then toured a museum on the immigration of the Mennonites many years ago… it was interesting and well done.

The main street is full of shops and restaurants… quite a place…

They made corn brooms here in this shop…

They sold everything here…

The town was started around this mill…

St. Jacob’s is the home and Head Office of Home Hardware.  The Company started out being called “Hollinger Hardware”… here I am checking out our namesake store.

The girls found this fall display…

Tonight we were treated to an OHL Hockey Game in London.  The Knights were playing against the Oshawa Generals,(they lost in OT) and Chris’ Father had tickets for the Corporate Box in the arena.  He is a Lawyer with the  “Siskins Law Firm” in London.  We had a great time enjoying a good game and lots of food and refreshments…

A very busy day overall, and I am ready for bed!

Till tomorrow…