Saturday August 1, 2009

This is our third beautiful sunny day in a row! It's about to come to a halt though as rain is expected tonight and into tomorrow morning but just maybe, the weather forecast is wrong? Could that be?

Boats at Couchiching Beach Marina


This morning I tackled the bugs on the nose of the RV again. I thought since the front was low I might be able to reach the top of the RV at the front and get that washed too but even with the washing brush on the hose, I couldn't get right to the top with any elbow grease to get it really clean. I had several suggestions on Facebook that I use a Bounce dryer sheet to clean the bugs off but I used Pfab. It does a great job. I'll try the dryer sheet another time. I did try it a few years ago in Desert Hot Springs but didn't find it did a very good job.

Dog tied up in the sun on the sidewalk in Midland, luckily it wasn't too hot out


After the RV nose washing job, I took a nice long shower - it's so nice to have full hook ups again! Then I got out my lawn chair for the first time since we've been here and sat outside and read and had my lunch.

Gordon got the new barbecue put together this afternoon and thankfully it works!

Duck takes a dive at Couchiching Beach


I had two more dreams last night that made me wake up more tired than when I went to bed so I had a nap this afternoon. I don't seem to dream as much in the daytime.

I didn't take any photos today so those featured today are some I've taken this week.

Gordon has updated his journal, to read it click here.

Friday July 31, 2009-July Expenses & Stuff

July Expenses

Well, finally a month where we actually came in under budget even with our traveling. I'm very happy with this month's total.

Today was another beautiful day sunny with some cloud early in the afternoon and 26C (79F) with no rain, that's 2 days in a row with no rain, almost a record this summer!

We had to go in to Orillia to get a new barbecue this morning as our old one had rusted out. We finally found one at Canadian Tire. I picked up a few groceries while we were out as well. Then home for lunch and a nap.

Mid afternoon Gordon started putting the barbecue together and found out it was missing a part. Don't you hate that?

Anyway, this afternoon was the Hawkestone Farmer's Market so we briefly stopped by there then headed back to Canadian Tire to exchange our barbecue.

Farmer's Market - there was a little more to it but not much and I didn't see anything I needed

This time we checked it before leaving the area and it seems to have all it's parts. Since we didn't have the barbecue to cook the chicken that I had gotten out of the freezer yesterday, we decided to go out for dinner but was still early so we went to Couchiching Beach Park again.

A duck in a flap

Gazebo in the park

Wet zinnia - they had just watered them

A wooden boat on the Couchiching



There was an amusement park there today.




When we left there we headed to Kelsey's and had a nice dinner there. I thought we could celebrate since we were under budget this month!

Here are some photos I took earlier in the week 'around the RV park'.

This is the main road. There are half circles on each side of the main road where the seasonal sites are.

This is one area of seasonal sites

Purple clematis

Tent area

This is one of the larger seasonal sites

A smaller one

A vacant one - this is a nice large site too - kind of pie-shaped

Laundry room

Ladies rest room - if you go through the door at the end you get to

the indoor pool

Here's a photo of the map of the campground.

That's our day!

Thursday July 30, 2009 - Wasaga Beach and Midland

Today was a beautiful mostly sunny day with a high of 24C (75F). I had a nice walk around the RV park.

After breakfast we got ready to go for a drive.

We headed south on Hwy 400 to Barrie and then west to Wasaga Beach. Wasaga Beach has over 8 miles of white sandy beach (the Mexico Beach of Ontario). We found a place to park $4 for the day as opposed to $15 at the Wasaga Beach Provincial Park. There is no street parking in the beach area. Once parked we walked the short distance to the beach.

Here's one of the paths to the beach.

And here's the beach!


We walked around for a while then back to the truck to get our picnic lunch. You can access the provincial park and make use of it's facilities from the beach so we found a picnic table, had our lunch then walked back to the truck along the beach again.

Time for our next stop - Midland, another little town on Georgian Bay. What a pretty town! It's very clean and well presented, has a nice waterfront and lots of hand painted murals, thirty in all. Here are a few of them.



First we walked along the harbour area. It's a busy harbour.

We saw this huge yacht. Must be worth a few sheckles. It looked brand new as there was no name on it and it was shiny.


The goose at the harbour. Wawa isn't the only town in Ontario that can boast having a goose.

Then we went to the Information Centre and picked up some brochures. We were lucky to finally find a tourist bureau that had someone in it who actually knew the area and was able to tell us things about it. Since it was almost mid afternoon at that point we just walked around town. We'll have to go back.

These colourful chairs caught my eye.

We wandered into a few shops but didn't buy anything.

Then we walked back to the harbour as we had parked there and headed for home. On our way we stopped at an RV park that we think would accommodate us on another trip to this area. We're both impressed with it and would like to come back.

Once home, I had a nap!

Wednesday July 29, 2009-Big Curve Acres Farm

9When I woke up it was pouring rain so I didn't rush to get up. It came down for most of the morning so I didn't get my walk in till just before lunch. I took a bunch of photos around the park but I'll post them another day.

After lunch we went to the Big Curve Acres Farm which is only about a five minute walk away but we drove since we were going to get fuel after and also because you never know when it will start raining these days and we don't want to get the cameras wet!

The cost to get in was $5 per person. They had goats, rabbits, horses, chickens, a few peacocks, a little pot bellied pig and some llamas. You could walk around in the pen with the goats. I took lots of photos but animals aren't always cooperative.

The horse and pony wouldn't get far enough away from the fence so I could get a photo without the fence in it

Kid having his lunch

Another kid resting in the sun

Llama

Peacock - they have moulted and lost all their tail feathers but they're still beautiful


Little brown rabbit
A handsome fella

Donkey and goat

A Fancy Chicken


Goat smiling at me

After that we went and got fuel at 81.9/litre. That's the lowest we've paid since we've been back in Ontario.

Now I smell like a farm so it's off to the shower for me!

Tuesday July 28, 2009

The weather is still 'unsettled' but it's been that way all summer. We did reach a high of 28C (82F) though so it's warmed up a bit. I had a nice walk over to the Big Curve Acres Farm. We're hoping to go over there one afternoon so I'll report on it then.

After breakfast I got my ingredients together and made a batch of gluten-free Blueberry Muffins. They turned out pretty good but it's been so long since I did much baking that I forgot to dredge the blueberries in flour so they all went to the bottom of the muffin. Oh well, they taste good! While they were baking I reorganized a couple of shelves in my pantry.

After lunch we went into Orillia to replace Gordon's duck boots as his were leaking and he had big cracks in the soles. That done, we headed west toward Georgian Bay. We found a few spots but it's actually a sound off the bay rather than the bay itself. Anyway, here are a few photos that I took.

A farm along the way
Pretty pink wildflowers

A view of the sound

Fishing at the Government Dock

Very pretty church at Waubaushene

View from the beach at Waubaushene

Walking out to the overlook at the sound

Rain coming in