Ernesto Arrives as Forecast

Red lawn chairs in a row (taken by Gordon this week)

The campground is pretty full this weekend

This morning was cloudy and cool but at least it wasn’t raining yet. I did my walk around the park instead of on the road and noticed that most seasonal people are here this weekend. Also you will see from the photo that there are lots of tents and tent trailers around. The park is pretty much full this weekend.

Ernesto arrived in the form of rain and some wind just after 12 noon as predicted by the weather forecaster. The plan today had been to go to a corn roast at a cottage down the way from Betty & Garth’s, however with the rain and the corn roast to be held outside, we decided to stay at home and try to keep warm. With the electric heater on, it keeps the cold at bay but we don’t run it if we’re going to be out so unless we put the furnace on it would be very cold and damp if we were out all afternoon and evening.

I had purchased a camp toaster some time ago, I think I wrote about it when I bought it and today was the first time I used it. It works quite well so I had a BLT for lunch. I don’t crave toast very often but today seemed like a really good day for it.

Just before dinner, Gordon decided that we should put the awning up in case the wind picked up during the night. It’s bad enough to have to put the awning up in the rain let alone in the dark too.

I had an accordion file to hold maps and tourist books from different states and provinces which would no longer close so I went through that and disposed of things not needed. I took the maps and put an elastic band around them. Hopefully we’ll be able to carry them in the truck so they will be there when we need them.Other than organizing maps, reading, naps and TV, not much got accomplished today.

Expenses for August

It was cool, sunny and beautiful this morning, a beautiful day for my walk. An older lady with her dog that I see on my walk almost every morning said that I should have a dog to walk with me. I managed to tell her about why I wasn’t walking with a dog without breaking down. Everyone I talk to like this including my on-line friend, Peggi say we should get another one but we’ve decided not to while we’re traveling.

This morning I went into Lindsay to pick up some groceries so I could make my Calico Beans for the corn roast tomorrow night at neighbours of Betty & Garth’s. It doesn’t sound like the weather is going to be very nice. Rain is predicted for the next few days from Hurricane Ernesto so I guess there is a possibility that the corn roast won’t happen.

This afternoon I decided to take advantage of the nice day and the sunshine and sat outside till about 4:30 p.m. Then I came in and made the Calico Beans and put them in the crockpot to cook overnight.

Since yesterday was the end of the month, below are our expenses.

Campground Fees - $594.28

Groceries - $347.16

Laundry - $32.75

Wine/Spirits - $48.45

Entertainment - $9.91

Snacks - $7.50

Eating Out - $117.20

Fuel for Truck - $250.25

Propane - $0.00

Dog Food/Vet etc - $310.66

Repairs/Service/RV/Truck - $94.47

Misc - $414.89

Insurance - $151.04

Internet/TV - $207.96

Cell Phones - $110.00

Medical/Dental - $59.62

Gifts - $50.00

Total for August - $2,806.14

Great month for expenses! This is mainly due to eating a lot of meals at Betty & Garth’s. The vet bills of course were more this month than before. We were charged for two months for our satellite internet as we weren’t charged last month. We’re also now on a two month contract so it’s $10.00 plus taxes cheaper per month. Eating out increased this month as Betty and I have been having lunch out when we go on our shopping sprees. Our Misc. items included purchasing the receiver for our StarChoice TV and I also bought ink for the printer.

September definitely won’t be within budget as I will be purchasing our travel insurance for this winter and we won’t be getting monthly rates as we’ll be staying a week or two in Ottawa and then probably moving elsewhere yet to be determined. There has also been talk of needing new tires for the truck which will also be a big expense. We’ll have to decide if they will last through the winter as I don’t want to have to buy them in the US and pay taxes and duty on them.

No photos today, just relaxing!

A Relaxing Thursday

Today was just a relaxing day. I napped on the couch this morning but as it got warmer outside I moved to my lawnchair and spent most of the afternoon out there reading 'Judge and Jury' by James Patterson. I finished the book and it was pretty good but I'm a James Patterson fan.

Around 5:00 p.m. Gordon decided he had to go into town to Bulk Barn to get some candy. He’s a candy fiend and he says he’s been without any for several days. While he was gone I whipped up a meatloaf for dinner.


That’s about it for today!.

Today’s photo was taken by Gordon a couple of days ago at sunrise.

A Day's Outing with Betty and Garth

This is the card that Betty & Garth gave us for our anniversary and our photo.

See the little chipmunk peeking out from the crack in the sidewalk? There were at least two of them that appeared to be living in that crack.

Gordon, Sandra, Betty & Garth with Sandy Lake in the background

Today was partly cloudy and cool 13C (55F) when I went out for my walk. The plan today was to go to the cottage and take a boat ride over to Catalina Bay Resort where they have a restaurant called Crocodile Bill’s for lunch. It’s located on Big Bald Lake which meant we would have to go through the locks at Bobcaygeon.

Since it was quite cool this morning we dressed in layers and headed for the cottage. Sturgeon Lake however had other ideas for our day as it was quite choppy. Sturgeon is quite a large lake and is often quite choppy which meant that the chances of us getting wet were very good. Before we arrived Betty and Garth had decided that we would not go by boat but would take a road trip. Bummer! Oh well, another day for the boat! Too bad we were dressed for boating!

We headed out and stopped at a couple of restaurants in Buckhorn to see if they could accommodate Gordon’s diet. One looked promising but it wasn’t on the lake. We headed toward Sandy Lake, a pretty glacial lake about 5 miles from Buckhorn and on the way back stopped at a place called Six Foot Bay. Garth had played golf here at one time. It’s a pretty area, has large cottages on the water and an RV park as well as a restaurant which had a huge plate of nachos that Gordon could eat. The food was very good and Betty paid for our anniversary (which is November 5th but we will be somewhere on our way south by then).

We then headed to Curve Lake which is on an Indian Reserve. They have a Pow Wow every year in September so we drove to the area where they have the Pow Wow and it looked like they were participating in a mini Indian Ceremony for CHEX 5:30 News as they were there with cameras. We took a few photos before someone told us we couldn’t take photos of an Indian Ceremony. It was quite interesting watching them do their dance. We then stopped at the Whetung Ojibwa Crafts and Art Gallery. I bought a couple of little bracelets there but there were some really pretty Indian blankets and lots of art and jewelry of all kinds as well as moccasins and all sorts of gifts. From there we went to Young’s Point, a little town on Clear Lake. Lock 27 is at Young’s Point so we walked across the lock and around the little town area a bit and then came back and looked in their Trading Post while Betty and Garth had some Kawartha ice cream. After the huge lunch we had I can’t imagine where they put it! They sell everything there from clothing to furniture to stuffed lifelike looking cats. Nothing called to me however so I managed to escape without buying anything.

From there we headed back to the cottage where we took our leave of Betty and Garth and headed home, both of us very tired again!

Shopping in Lindsay and The Canadian Shield

It was cloudy this morning and since I was spending the day shopping with Betty I decided to forego my walk to see how my back lasts throughout the day without the morning punishment. I do find that walking quickly doesn’t bother my back nearly so much as strolling along and stopping to shop or just standing, that really kills it.

I met Betty at the Lindsay Square Mall and looked around there and the plaza with Dollarama and then shopped Kent Street. We had lunch at The Grand in Lindsay and sat outside on the patio. They have probably the best taco salad I’ve ever eaten. I bought a butterfly book with the gift card I got when I left Breconridge and I still have some $ left on it.

I got home around 5:15 p.m. My back is killing me so skipping my morning walk didn’t help!

No photos taken today so I have included one I took yesterday of part of the Canadian Shield.

The Canadian Shield is the largest of Canada's 7 physical regions. This area completely surrounds the Hudson's Bay in the shape of a horse shoe. It mainly is rock that was once mountains millions of years ago. Through the process of erosion, water, ice, glaciers from the Ice Age, and wind wore down this rock so that it became flatter. Over these millions of years rivers, rapids, trees like the fir, pine and spruce love it here but the shallowness of the soil wouldn't work for plants that have a deep root system. lakes and valleys have been carved out by the force of nature. All these beautiful sources of water add to the tourism and recreation (camping) industry but at the same time it sure made it difficult to create a transportation system. When all of the erosion was finished, the rock was very close to the surface. As a matter of fact there isn't a great depth of soil. Trees like the fir, pine and spruce love it here but the shallowness of the soil wouldn't work for plants that have a deep root system.

Petroglyphs Provincial Park

McGinnis Lake in Petroglyphs Provincial Park

This is the building that houses the petroglyphs.

This is the Village Inn and Spa in Lakefield where we had lunch at their pub called The Thirsty Loon.

This is me at The Thirsty Loon (taken by Gordon).

Today was bright and sunny again. I got up at 8:00 a.m. and went for my walk. It was 19C (66F) so it was quite enjoyable. I actually jogged for a short way.

This morning as I mentioned yesterday, the plan was to go into Lindsay for the groceries I didn’t get yesterday as the store was too busy. However, it was such a beautiful day we decided to go for a drive as we haven’t seen much of the area this month (on our own). So we headed generally northeast stopping in Lakefield for lunch at The Thirsty Loon. We walked around Lakefield and got some maps and information at the local Chamber of Commerce.

Then on to Petroglyphs Provincial Park. We had stopped there last year but there was no one in the booth so after paying $9.91 (???? Not $10.00, go figure) we headed to the petroglyphs. It was a short walk from the parking lot but on our way there were signs saying that this was an Indian spiritual area therefore we couldn’t take any photos. We weren’t impressed! They have built a steel and glass building to house the petroglyphs so I took a photo of that but was disappointed that we couldn’t take any inside. The petroglyphs were quite good. Probably better than the ones we saw in New Mexico but there was no problem with taking photos there.

After that we stopped at McGinnis Lake which is also within the park and took some photos there. It was very pretty and reminded me of Pink Lake in Gatineau Park.

Stony Lake is apparently a very pretty lake in this area but it's hard to actually see it as there are cottages and trees that surround it but Gordon did hike down to a public beach and got some photos so you’ll have to go to his site to see them. Click on the links on the right. By that time, my back was finished for the day.

We started to head towards Buckhorn but it was getting late so decided to turn around and return home through Lakefield and Bridgeport again so we arrived home just before 6:00 p.m.

Lousy Weather Today

Today has been a lousy day weatherwise. I did manage to get I a short walk this morning between rain showers. On top of the rain it’s been very humid and misty for most of the day.

It was in the plan today to get the laundry done. For it only being a week, I had lots of laundry so trucked on into Lindsay to the Laundromat I was at last week. Again no one was there till I was packing up to leave. The one bad thing about this Laundromat is no washroom. I thought maybe since it’s also a gas station that the convenience store would have one but the cashier said that he had let someone use it and they put paper towel down the toilet and it was plugged. So after my clothes were in the dryer I went over to Loblaws to use their facilities. Not too convenient but the washrooms in Laundromats are usually not very clean anyway.

After laundry I stopped at National Grocers and picked up a few things. Checked out the new Dollar Store in that plaza. It’s more like a department store than a dollar store. I was going to hit Food Basics too but the parking lot was full. Then I remembered it was Sunday and the place would be a zoo so I decided I’d go back in tomorrow.

This afternoon we also had to dump the tanks. The sewer is too high so the sewage doesn’t flow properly out of the hose so it’s a two person not-very-nice job and the sewer is quite a ways from the RV so we have to use two hoses connected. The connection usually leaks so we use a plastic bag to catch the leakage. Also not nice!

After that we headed to the campground showers. They have a lot of water pressure so I find it good especially for rinsing my hair.

The sun did come out around dinner time so hopefully tomorrow will be nicer.

We spent the evening watching Pirates of the Caribbean.

I didn't take any photos today so borrowed one from Gordon that he took when we were near Carleton Place.