A Quiet Day at Tranquil Acres

It turned cold overnight so even though I got up late again (8:45 a.m.) it was only 9C (48F) and partly sunny so I dressed appropriately and took off for my walk. Unfortunately there isn’t too much around here to photograph that I haven’t already done.

When I got back and after breakfast, I posted our May receipts so far to my spreadsheet. The replacement of the tires and our weekend trip is really going to put us over our budget this month. However tires is something that’s a fact of our lifestyle and something that we have to be sure are safe. After that I backed up my computer to my hard drive that I bought in Port Aransas and cleaned out one of my cupboards under the sink and lined it with the rubbery shelf liner that RVers use.

The rest of the day was spent reading my book and various magazines that I’ve collected from my sister as well as my RVing magazines that I got when we first picked up our mail at my younger sister’s place.

We went for a walk late this afternoon just around the park but didn’t find anything to photograph so I’m borrowing another photo from Gordon that he took this morning at sunrise.

More Housekeeping

It was sunny and 70F when I went for my walk, later than usual this morning. Yesterday when I walked before 8:00 a.m. there was lots of traffic so I waited till 8:45 this morning and it gave me an extra ½ hour or so to sleep in.

Sun rapidly changed to cloud however I had decided to go into Carleton Place to do laundry today so it didn’t matter. Carleton Place has the cleanest Laundromat I’ve ever been in and I’ve been in quite a few in the last couple of years. One of the managers came in this morning and I complimented him. They also have three couches instead of plastic chairs to sit in. There are no ‘Out of Order’ signs and either Terry or Kelly are in and out several times during the day.

After laundry I stopped to fill our water bottles at Home Hardware. It is apparently the only place in Carleton Place to fill water bottles. However, you can buy water in gallon jugs for the same price so I think I’ll just buy them rather than refilling. When you can refill for a quarter or so in the U.S., it’s worth it but it seems the farther north you go, the more expensive water is – almost $1.00 per gallon/4 litres here.

Two grocery stores later, I was home. I had washed the balloon curtains in our bedroom and that took a while to get them back up, unpacking laundry, unpacking groceries. Too much like work!

No photos today.

Just Hangin' Out

Photos from around the campground

This morning was 16C (60F), damp, cloudy and humid for my walk. The black flies were also out.

This morning we went into Ottawa and went to our chiropractor, Dr. Ken Dick for our first treatment in 2007. I also had to stop and pick up a couple of prescriptions that we were running out of before our medicals on Wednesday. After a stop at Dollarama (a great Dollar Store in our area where everything’s $1) and Bulk Barn to load up on candy we headed back to the RV for lunch.

I sat outside and read until the bugs got me, also took some flower photos around the park. It’s so quiet here right now as we are the only ones here other than the owners.

Our high today reached 26C (79F). We did have some sunny breaks but mostly cloudy.

Molly Maid

My stomach was upset last night so I got up and lay down on the couch and took a gravol. When I woke up this morning I felt better but was very sleepy from the gravol so I went back to bed and got up just before noon! I haven’t done that in years! Felt good though. When I got up the temperature was 25C (77F) but mostly cloudy.

I did a good cleaning of the RV today, wiped down around windows, cupboards (outside and 2 inside that badly needed it), vacuumed, washed floors, cleaned sinks and bathrooms – took about 2 hours.

After that, I just relaxed and read. It was very warm and humid today. The temperature got to 27C (81F). It’s warmer than in Comstock, TX. One of the fulltimer RVers whose blog I read is there right now. It’s only 17C (62F)!

I didn’t take any photos today so I borrowed one that Gordon took on Saturday when we were at the butterfly conservatory.

Back at Tranquil Acres or Home Again!

Saying goodbye to the ducks at Rideau Acres this morning

Our site at Tranquil Acres - we've never been in this site before

What a beautiful day! This morning was 14C (57F) so I got to walk with just a sweater on.

We took our time packing up this morning as we had only a short drive from Kingston to Carleton Place, about 1 ½ hours. We left at about 10:20 a.m. and arrived just about noon. It is so nice of the owners of Tranquil Acres Campground, Shonagh and Dave to let us come in early. They only open on May 15^th this year. This was our very first campground and we come back to it every year. It’s a very pretty spot on the river but gets quite flooded after the winter. We are on one of the high spots well away from the river. We’ve booked in for at least a month. We’ll have to see when we have our medicals next week what other appointments we have to make so as to determine how long we’ll be in the area. I have 3 medical/dental appointments next week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We’ve decided that we will fast the day we go to the doctor and get the bloodwork done right after we see her.

After we got set up, I sat outside in the sunshine and read for a while. The high reached 25C (77F). That’s the kind of weather I like!

Just Resting

Today was very low key. I had a short walk this morning but we had to return the rental car at around 9:00 a.m. After that, we went to Food Basics and picked up some stuff and walked around the Frontenac Mall. It’s mostly a discount place since Walmart has moved out.

Nice and sunny but a bit breezy – high around 17C (62F).

When we got back I lay down to read and of course, fell asleep. Still tired from the weekend, I guess. Had another walk this afternoon. That’s it for today.

Tree in blossom

Wild flowers

Rally section of the campground - lots of new sites put in last year

Home Again!

Gordon got up for sunrise and went down to the pier in Cobourg and took some photos around the Cobourg East Pierhead Light. For a photo, click here. We didn’t rush to get around this morning. When Gordon went out this morning and started our rental there was a ‘check engine’ light that came up so we called their 1-800 # and they told us to keep driving it that there are all kinds of sensors and stuff that could be causing it. We had breakfast at the hotel, had an hour’s worth of internet time in our room and left around 10:00 a.m. We checked out most of the little parks in Cobourg and we definitely want to go back to the RV park in their downtown area sometime, not because of the parks but it’s just a cute little town (city).

We drove along Hwy 2 till Napanee through all the towns but didn’t see all that much that was worth photographing. At Napanee, we took the 401 back to Rideau Acres. It was sunny and beautiful all the way. Can’t tell you the temperature as our rental didn’t come with all those conveniences. We sure missed the cruise control, temperature gauge, mileage and compass gauges that we have in the truck! Small cars apparently don’t come equipped with cruise control. My sister has a mini Cooper and it doesn’t have cruise either. Can’t imagine being without it now we’ve had it for so many years in all our vehicles.

When we got home, our RV was fine. It’s something we worry about when we leave it which isn’t often. This weekend was a treat, having a hotel room, eating out a lot and not having to tow!

After unpacking, I lay down on the couch to read and decided I needed a nap so moved to the bed and slept for nearly 2 ½ hours. This having a good time makes you really tired!

Thanks for the comment on yesterday’s blog, Laura & Steve. Yes, I did indeed wear a hat (the only person at the wedding that did). One of the older gentlemen commented on it on the way into the church. He remembered when ladies always wore hats to church. I still like hats however there’s not much room for storing such items in an RV nor is there room to wear one while riding in a Hyundai Accent!

A Very Busy Saturday

We were up at 6:30 a.m. today to get packed and ready to head to Kitchener to attend the wedding of my long-time friend, Laura and her significant other, Steve. We left Toronto around 8:00 a.m. and arrived at Laura’s church shortly after 9:00 a.m. The wedding wasn’t till 10:00 a.m. so we just sat around and waited. When we went into the church Laura and Steve were there dressed in their choir gowns. They are both very musical and I guess had been singing before we arrived. We got to say hi and give hugs and then we were seated. They had a string quartet playing in the church until the wedding started and they were VERY good. They also had a choir comprised of choirs from both of their churches and again they were VERY good.

My husband described the wedding as traditional but unique. How often do you have a string quartet at a wedding? How often do the bride and groom go from the choir back to say their vows then back to the choir and so on? One of the three ministers was Laura’s cousin and he was the minister that married them. They also had the pastor of the church and the pastor from Steve’s church. Very well done Laura and Steve! Be happy!

We had told Laura that we wouldn’t stay for the reception as she needed to know by April 20^th and we didn’t know what the weather would be and if it was below freezing at night, we would be heading right back to Kingston to be sure our pipes didn’t freeze in the RV. If it was a beautiful day, the plan was to go to the Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara Falls and stay overnight there leaving for home on Sunday and visiting some of the little towns along Lake Ontario on the way home.

Plans change as they so often do. On our way to the wedding we saw a sign for a Butterfly Conservatory at Cambridge so on our way east on the 401 we stopped at the Information Centre and asked about it. It is smaller than the one at Niagara Falls but also closer. The drive to Niagara Falls would have taken 2 hours putting us there sometime around 2:00 p.m. and we hadn’t eaten so we decided to go to the one at Cambridge. It’s called Wings of Paradise and is very well done. They had lots and lots of butterflies of all kinds and colours. A couple of them even landed on my hand and a few landed on our hats while we were walking around. We spent a couple of hours there and then started east getting off the 401 at Port Hope and driving through Port Hope and then on to Cobourg. Both are very pretty little towns and worth a trip back. There is an RV park right behind the beach in Cobourg that is owned by the town. It’s not open yet but we walked through it and it’s within walking distance of downtown. I had heard about it from someone at the coffee klatch at Double M in Lindsay last year so it’s definitely a place we want to stop at for a few days at some point.

We were both tired and it was getting on to 6:00 p.m. so we stopped at the Best Western in Cobourg and got a room, had dinner in their restaurant and then back to the room for the night. They have high speed internet but Gordon is using it right now so I’ll post this when I get a chance.

Thanks to Betty & Garth for dinner and allowing us to overnight at their place and also thanks to Bonnie for coming for dinner to see us. It was a great but tiring couple of days!