Saturday May 23, 2009

I was up before 8 this morning, only 9C (48F)! It's the end of May for goodness sakes. The long range forecast isn't showing any really warm temperatures coming up either. I wore gloves! Anyway, I had a nice walk and run along the Appleton Side Road. Not too much traffic being it's Saturday.

Pretty flowers around the RV park




After breakfast, I made the bed, showered and cleaned the bathroom.

We left around 11 a.m. and went to the Gluten Free Day at Rainbow Foods. They have people there with gluten free food samples so it's always fun to try them. We didn't buy anything this time. Then we stopped to pick up my purse that I had repaired and then to a new computer store so Gordon could buy another hard drive so we should have enough back up devices now. I hope!

Gordon suggested we stop and hike a trail but there are soooo many mosquitoes and it wasn't a very nice day, mostly cloudy so we came home the scenic route and I took a few photos.

Nice log barn

Some photos of the Jock River



If you're ever really bored, try this site. I always liked to do this when I had the real thing. Somehow the online version doesn't have the same satisfaction. LOL I came across it this morning at bored.com while I was waiting for my husband to get ready to go into Ottawa. Amazing what you can find online!

I had another long nap this afternoon.

Friday May 22, 2009

I got up later this morning, the sun was gone and showers were in the forecast however we only got a few spits of rain. I had a nice walk down the country side road and I'm glad that I'm now back into my running. Whatever I'm doing, my cholesterol was lower than last year and my doctor said that whatever I'm doing, "keep it up"!

After breakfast I changed the bed and got the laundry ready to go into Carleton Place. There is no laundry here at the campground. Carleton Place has one of the nicest, cleanest, most comfortable laundromats that I've seen in all of our travels and the pricing is still fairly reasonable (for Ontario).

After laundry, I stopped at a couple of grocery stores and actually found nectarines! Bonus!

Then it was back home to unload everything and have lunch. Then Gordon decided he wanted to go into town to look for a small hard drive for the enclosure he has so we went and stopped at the camera shop where he is looking into a new camera. The guy at the camera shop said that Walmart or Staples might have the hard drive so we went there but no luck. We'll have to look next time we're in Ottawa. We also took a little drive around the area to the Jock River and then to the little town of Appleton.

The Mississippi River in the town of Carleton Place

Pretty flowering bush

The Falls at the Dam in Appleton

Tonight we're having the chef's platter of leftovers for dinner and fresh cantaloupe!

Thursday May 21, 2009

It was warm enough last night to sleep with a window open so I took advantage of it although I only opened the window on my side.

Up early again this morning to do a partial repeat of yesterday. I walked along the paved road this morning and got some running in as well. I left early for Ottawa and took the scenic route in. It takes longer but the highway is under construction - they're making it limited access 4 lanes. I arrived in plenty of time. I had broken my purse when I was in Texas and bought a cheapie to tide me over so finally remembered to take it in for repair today. Will pick it up next time I'm in Ottawa.

Arrived at the periodontist in lots of time. They are so nice there. Pam, the hygenist is a wonderful lady so that's overwith for six months.

I came straight home as the weather was so beautiful and took my lunch outside to my lawn chair. A photo of the view from my lawn chair is above.

I was wiped out from three mornings of getting up early so I had a long nap this afternoon. Too bad to waste such a nice day but the body needs what it needs!

Tuesday May 20, 2009

I was up early again this morning due to appointments in Ottawa. However I wanted to go on my walk this morning being my first morning back at Tranquil Acres. When I stepped out the door it was starting to rain but I decided to carry on. It didn't amount to much. It was nice to have some flat land to walk on for a change so I also got some running in. I didn't have much wind left after climbing that hill at our previous campground.

We did get some rain later in the morning.

We headed out to Ottawa for my appointments around 10:15 a.m. Gordon was going to get a haircut while I was at the periodontist. I packed a lunch as I only had an hour between appointments. When I arrived at the periodontist office the door was locked. Never had that happen before, I knocked-no answer, I phoned-left a message, I went next door, they thought he didn't work at that location today so I called their Orleans office and guess what? My appointment is for tomorrow at 11 a.m. A senior moment?

So if the periodontist appointment is tomorrow, is the mammogram appointment also tomorrow? I tried phoning but couldn't get through so we drove over there and they couldn't find my appointment in the system. This was not shaping up to be a good day. But they booked me for 1 p.m. anyway which was my original appointment time.

So we went to First Choice Haircutters and Gordon got his hair cut, then we had our lunch and was back for my mammogram. Ouch! That hurt! Glad that's over for another year.

After that we headed to our chiropractor. We didn't have an appointment but he was able to take us both right away so we're all cracked up now.

Then we stopped at Andrew Hayden Park for some photos.

Keeley Falls

Lighthouse on the point

We saw lots of goslings but this family had 18 of them!

One of the paths in the park

On our way back to Carleton Place, we stopped at our RV dealer, Vos Trailers Ltd. to make an appointment to have our water pump looked at since it hasn't worked for about four months now. We have a couple of other things to get looked at as well so our appointment is set up for that.

Then we stopped at Dwyer Hill RV. They used to be an RV park but have switched to a parkmodel park so we wanted to see what the deal was there. You buy your park model and pay them rent for the land, currently $395/month which includes property tax, water, road maintenace etc. Kinda high, I thought.

The rain stopped shortly after noon and by the time I came out from my mammogram the sun was out and we reached 24C (75F). It turned into a beautiful day!

When we got home I sat outside for a while and went next door to meet our neighbours as we're both here about the same time. They were here last year too. It was such a nice afternoon to be outside!

Moved to Tranquil Acres, Carleton Place, ON

I was up about 7:30 this morning - moving day! I did the 'up the hill' walk for the last time. I took my camera but didn't take any photos. I was hoping for deer but it didn't happen.

We had breakfast and got things ready to move and pulled out of Recreationland around 10:30 a.m., partly cloudy, 16C (60F), proceeded through Ottawa on the freeway and arrived at Tranquil Acres near Carleton Place, ON around 11:30 a.m.

We're here!

The owner showed us a nice site if we were interested in signing up for seasonal but we went with our regular pull through for now. It also appears that we have really good wifi here!

Our site

I have mixed feelings about Recreationland. For some reason I didn't feel 'at home' there like I do here at Tranquil Acres. Recreationland was ok, nothing special and although the owner says he has great wifi, it worked sporadically. I think the main reason was that it's so far from the west end where my sister lives and our medical professionals are located. Anyway, we won't write it off as we might need to stay there again.

We never did get together with David & Lise. It just wasn't the kind of weather this past month and with our medical ailments and appointments, there didn't seem to be time to get together. It seemed that we were out traveling a lot, probably because we were so far from where we needed to be! LOL But after arriving here and getting set up we took a walk around the park and felt.....at home.

The water is higher than we've ever seen it here. Usually this is more swampy. Now it looks like part of the river.

Road through the park by the water

The big old trees are falling in the water due to erosion

Me on the swing

Apple blossoms

Carpet phlox

Entrance to the park


Anyway, we're here in the west end for at least a month and probably longer as Gordon has a medical appointment on June 29th. After that, we'd like to head west to Lake Superior. While we're here we need to get our water pump fixed and have some other things done at our dealer. I also want to go in to my former office even though my boss is no longer there. Bummer! I want to meet up with a few friends as well and I still have some medical/dental appointments so this will be a busy month too.

I had put Pork Adobo in the crockpot and I made some rice and Carrots Cosmopolitan. Here's dinner!

Happy Victoria Day!

For Canadians (except Quebec and Nunavut), today is Victoria Day which means that this has been a long weekend. It is also celebrated in the U.K. and the Cayman Islands. Victoria Day is also known as May 2-4 (as in a case of beer) since it is celebrated on the Monday before the 24th of May. It is the celebration of the Queen's birthday.

I did my 'up the hill' walk this morning and even took my camera.

This is taken after you get up the hill.

This is the view as you approach the top of the hill

And as you start down the hill

This is the RV park from the hill, we're the second on the left

This is the Double DD Ranch - they board horses and give riding lessons

Today we went to Petrie Island. Gordon had been told about a trail near the entrance that we didn't know existed. Earlier there were Horned Owls there but they've now moved on. It's a pretty trail near the Ottawa River with lots of ferns. The trees are getting green now even though we've had record low temperatures this month. We saw lots of small birds, the most interesting of which was the Baltimore Oriole. I haven't seen one since I was a kid. Gordon got some good shots but they were too far away for my camera.

Here's Gordon's best photo of the Baltimore Oriole. Isn't he pretty?

Just across the highway from the RV park is this little barn on the Ottawa River and today this horse was standing right in the centre of the barn door.

Evidence of beavers here

Violets

Cute little red squirrel with bright green ferns in the background

Trail

The end of the trail (at least till it dries up)


Lots of beautiful green ferns around

Chipmunk - they were pretty elusive today but I did manage to snap this one before he got away

When we got back Gordon went to the office to let the owner know that we're moving tomorrow. A couple of hours later, the owner knocked on the door and said not to dump our tanks as there is a blockage in the sewage line. Sure hope it's fixed before we leave tomorrow. They can't get it fixed today due to the holiday apparently.

I spent some time this afternoon making Pork Adobo which we'll have for dinner tomorrow night. I was also on the internet looking for RV parks on the east and north side of Lake Superior. There aren't many private parks but lots of provincial parks which means trees and narrow roads but beautiful scenery! I'll have to check further into it when and if we head that way this summer.

Today was a pretty sunny day but we only got up to 17C (63F). I'm still fighting allergies. Today I'm stuffed up and my eyes have been blurry all day. I've tried four different eye drops and nothing's working!

It will be a quiet night, we're moving to Carleton Place tomorrow.

Sunday May 17, 2009

It was sunny this morning but 5C (41F) and windy so I dressed for March weather instead of May weather and did my 'down the hill' walk today. I wore my Arizona baseball cap as they sit farther down on your head so don't blow off in the wind as easily.

Gordon had left early to photograph tulips. Tomorrow is the end of the tulip festival here but there will still be tulips around for a while. He was pretty cold when he got back and he said it was difficult photographing tulips in the wind.

I went out to pick up some milk and a few other groceries. I've had a hankering for Pork Adobo. I had gotten the recipe from Deb Kendall this winter when we were in Texas. This time I won't put any extra salt in it. I'll do it in the crockpot so we'll have something to eat when we move on Tuesday to Carleton Place. So I got the pork, the milk and even found peaches but no nectarines.

I spent a while online chatting with Dee and my niece, Danica, then left to go and make some gluten-free banana bread. I had bought some all purpose flour in the U.S. and wanted to give it a try and this cold day seemed like a good time to try it and it turned out really tasty! In fact, it's the only photo today.

Since that turned out so well I made a gluten free tuna and pasta dish for dinner. It was again really yummy although I bought it in a box at Raisin Rack when we were in Columbus, OH. Sure wish I had bought more!

While I was gone I left my computer backing up my photos. On my return it was finished and Gordon had installed a backup program for me to use from now on so I proceeded to delete all the photos except for 2009. I also needed to do a cleanup on Iphoto (Mac photo program). I had deleted photos before but it had left blank thumbnails so I found out how to get rid of them so now it's squeaky clean!