Finally!!!!  COVID is slowly relenting and we can again get travelling!!!!

June 28, 2021

We are back on the road!!!  It has been a very long winter with COVID rearing it's ugly head, just doing what viruses do - mutating!!!!!  Several variations are now floating about.  They mutate to adapt to changing conditions such as number of hosts it can invade.  Less hosts due to vaccine development means it has to get creative!!!  Hopefully the creativity will eventually peter out and the world will finally be rid to it!

Kevin and I started our travels on June 28th, leaving Point Edward and headed toward Falls Reserve Conservation area about 10 miles due east of Goderich, Ontario.  Lovely place.  We have been here before.

From our campsite to the Maitland River is not a bad hike but it is one I cannot not accomplish right now due to a recent back injury.  I have a fractured spine in 5 places so I cannot walk very far.  Hopefully on our return in early September, I will be in much better shape and can make the journey down to the river.  More pictures to come.  

Tomorrow we head out to Port McNicoll by Midland, Ontario to visit with Keith and Linda.  We also have had to make an appointment at The Hitch House to have our RV awning fixed.  It wouldn't deploy this spring for some reason.  We are close to them so they now get their crack at trying to figure it out!  Kevin, being the wonderful Engineer he is, rigged up a way to deploy it in the meantime.  Gotta love those Engineers!!!!  Adding just a few pics from the internet for your enjoyment!  Stay tuned!!!

MAN............IT IS HOT OUTSIDE!!! - July 10th update

Well, the very hot weather continues and finding a way to cool off is very difficult.  Our friends' air conditioner broke so even they are suffering in the house.  Much too hot in doors so a solution had to be found!  Enter the "Kiddy Pool"!!!!!!

AHHHH, fill it up with the garden hose and nice cold water and place your chairs in a circle around it.  Make sure you have shade provided by your umbrella and you are all set.
Get the beverage of your choice, sit down in the chair and place your feet into the pool!  Instant cooldown!  I am totally surprised at how well this method works. 
On the other hand, there are some of us that find it is just not quite good enough and take matters into their own hands!  Enter my partner Kevin.  He hates the heat.  Here are pictures of both methods for your viewing pleasure!

Travel update - July 9th

Yesterday's journey to Port McNicoll was uneventful except for construction along our route.  That took some quick thinking and on line map review in order to work our way around 2 road closures along Highway 89.  The roads we took were great.  Pavement was in excellent shape.  Very little traffic.  
Port McNicoll is adjacent to Midland, Ontario and is home to the vessel SS Keewadin.  She is the last Edwardian passenger steamship of its type in the world! (Five years older than the Titanic!)

The vessel is currently for sale!  If it is not sold, it will be dismantled and a piece of wonderful history will be lost forever.   The tour is wonderful and the slope inside the ship is even greater than how it appears in the picture above.
Here is a link to their site for more information.
https://sskeewatin.com/

June 25-28th - Camping Season has begun!!!!!

Well, it finally came!  We were so excited (mostly me!) to go to Wheatley Provincial Park along the shores of Lake Erie for our first outing.  We arrived on the Thursday around 5 pm and set up camp. 

It was a beautiful evening.  I always review the weather network while camping so we are aware of what is coming during our sleeping time.  We don't need any surprises to wake up too!!!!  Well, nothing in the forecast for Thursday so that was good. 
Friday morning and afternoon were HOT and clear but around 4 pm we started to hear a constant rumbling in the air.  It sounded like a very heavy truck continuously driving close by with no interruption in the rumbling sound.  It was very strange indeed!  I decided to look at the weather network and there was an approaching storm that was close by but not going to hit us.  I decided to zoom out and take a wider look.  Oh OOOO!!!!  Things don't look good to the west, south west.  Storms are approaching and if you use any weather network's radar, you know that the colour RED
is not a good sign!  In the picture above you see where we put the picnic table over which we put up our shelter.  Well, this was in a VERY LOW SPOT.  Kevin called it a "wadi".
I took a second look and said to Kevin "We had better move our shelter because when it rains it will be in the middle of a lake!"  So we did.  It ended up being way back on a small rise away from the RV.  We decided to bungie it to the ground and to the picnic table just in case a wind came up.

In the picture above you can see the dining shelter way back behind the RV.
We just got finished cooking supper on the campfire and doing the dishes when all "hell" broke loose!
Man did it rain and it kept raining!  It drove us inside the RV for the remainder of the night.
Next morning I looked out and where the table used to be was now "Lake of the Woods!".  Glad we moved it!
Saturday cleared up just in time for getting the campfire rolling for supper.  Again, we just got finished cooking and cleaning up and down the rain came.  This was short lived so we continued to stay outside under the awning and play cards.  Round 1 came and went and then round 2 hit.  With it came the wind so we were driven inside once again.  
Sunday ended up being quite nice so things dried out just in time for pack up and heading for home.
So much for our first outing!

June 19,2020 Update - YIPPEEEE!!!! Camping season begins!!

What can I say......camping season begins Monday for transient camping in Provincial Parks and Conservation Areas included in Phase 2 of our provincial re-opening plan.  Finally!!!!  I can hardly wait until next Thursday!  Can you tell I'm just a bit excited!!!  Look out Wheatley, here we come!  This weekend will be prep time for our motorhome which my son has affectionately named "Enterprise".  I wonder where he got that idea from??  We need to fill the water tank and sanitize the system, flush out the lines and then refill the water tank again.  We need to check the water heater, on board generator and make sure the truck components are in tip top shape.  Then we are good to go.  More to come regarding our first camp of the season!

An Update for All

June 4, 2020
Hello Folks!  Well, here we are in month 3 of physical distancing and no hugging as a result of a little virus named Covid-19.  Things are very slowly returning to a new normal for all of us.  Each province is taking it's own path and speed at loosening restrictions based on how they are managing to flatten the curve and keep it that way.  We are a long way from going back to the way things used to be.  It is unfortunate that the planned family reunion in Saskatchewan had to be cancelled for this summer. 

The border between Canada and the USA remains closed to other than essential services and workers.  Based on that, I finally decided to cancel all of our camping reservations that would have seen us in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnisota and North Dakota.  Provincial Parks remain closed for now but some Conservation areas have opened to seasonal campers only.  Showers and bathrooms remain closed and no transient camping yet.  But I do see a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel.  Hopefully we can at least get to Wheatley Provincial Park at the end of the month for the 3 days I have booked.

Kevin continued to go into work almost every day during their forced shutdown to make sure everything was in ship shape when they went back to work.  They have now been open 2 weeks and it appears his retirement may be put on hold.  He has agreed to at least take some time off this summer so we can do some driveway camping and visit some friends, always keeping in mind the physical distancing.
 
I don't know about all of you but I now find it an automatic reaction to put on my mask before getting out of my car!!!  To me it is as normal as doing up the seatbelt!  My, how things change and it is amazing how we can adapt.  I also find myself unconsciously giving people distance and feeling uncomfortable if someone gets too close to me!!!  Just a little weird!!

So, time and Covid marches on.  Someday someone will make the discovery of a vaccine to fight off this virus only to probably have another one rear its ugly head someday in the future.  I hope every country in the world is taking notes for the future and we won't see this happen again.....at least in my lifetime!

Take care everyone.  Stay healthy.  Go get tested if you are over 60 and immunocompromised.  Remember, you are only negative until you come into contact with someone who is positive and asymptomatic so keep your distance!

March 22, 2020 Update

Compared to our world one month ago, we are all living in a different world today.  Thanks to Covid-19, we all are having to adjust our lives, daily and on an on-going basis.  We all need to adjust our habits and begin to live with the new "normal".  Social distancing is a must and this is very difficult for a person such as me - a hugger!!!! No more warm embraces to say 'Hello'.  No more handshakes, high fives or fist bumps.  With all the Ontario Provincial Parks being closed during this crisis, our camping plans are put on hold for now.  We haven't cancelled anything because this is going to get better, eventually.  We still hope to travel out west later this year to the family reunion which has been planned for a year.
I am sure that all the full time RVers out there have hunkered down and are staying put for the time being.  All I can say is what everyone else understands.......WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.  Nature is speaking to US world wide,  we had better pay attention.
Stay safe, keep your distance, check on neighbours and your loved ones.  Hopefully my next post will have a better outcome.