Getting Ready to Leave Canada!

No rain this morning so I got to go for my walk on the beach. It almost felt like Mustang Island in Texas except I was walking beside a lake not the gulf.

When I got back we got ready to go into Fort Erie to cross into the U.S. and see what the route through Buffalo was like. We stopped at Canada Customs and got my new computer and camera registered as well as our Verizon cell phones and a camera lens that Gordon bought last winter. Then we continued on to Buffalo and drove on 190 till we hit I-90 and turned around (that's not an easy thing to do as there was no exit for I-90 Eastbound and we had to go further, turn around and come back). Traffic was light and hopefully the height at U.S. Immigration will be high enough. No one seemed to know how high it is but a big bus got through.

The Buffalo Skyline on our way back to Canada on 190

Back into Canada, we went to pick up a few groceries and some rice crackers for Gordon that I've never found in a grocery store in the U.S. Once he runs out, he'll have to eat Tostitos. We filled up with fuel so we don't have to go in search of that in the morning then stopped at Windmill Point RV Park just to see what it was like. I knew it was closed for the season so we could only look at it from the road. We definitely have the best park in the area where we are.

An old barn along Hwy 3 just west of Fort Erie

A couple of photos that we took along a side road on our way back to the RV park today

We stopped at the office on the way back and found out that the rates go down here on October 1st just so we have that information should we need it in the future.

I took another walk down to the beach this afternoon, probably my last until next year. It's so pretty here! Here are some photos that I took.

You can see that we had quite a bit of rain yesterday

What A Change!

From summer like temperatures and bright sunny weather yesterday to rainy, damp and cold weather today. As I write this blog the temperature is 9C (48F) having declined from 15C (59F) when I got up this morning. The good news is that the rain is supposed to stop tonight and the sun should be back tomorrow but the summer weather has gone, at least for now.

We had planned to cross into the U.S. today for a dry run to see where we have to go on Thursday to reach I-90 and how much of the city of Buffalo we have to go through. I also need to register my camera and computer at Canadian Customs so I guess we'll have to do that tomorrow as today is a day for staying indoors.

That being said, I did indoor things today, read and worked on my yo-yo quilt, surfed the internet and just generally did not much of anything.

Since I didn't take any photos today, I'll leave you with some taken over the last couple of days in and around Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake.





This is the first time we've used our eavestroughing to hold up the sewer hose. Gordon says it works much better than the slunkie.

Niagara-on-the-Lake (Ontario)

Today I was up before the sun came up to get ready for our day at Niagara-on-the-Lake. Betty and Garth were staying at my friend's B&B called 40 The Promenade. I hadn't seen Sue since she retired from Nortel so it was great to see her again. Here we are pictured below:


Betty & Garth had come from Toronto yesterday to go to the Shaw Festival Theatre. We arrived about 10:30 a.m. and had coffee with Sue. We left our truck parked in her driveway, thanks Sue and drove downtown with Betty & Garth. They dropped us at a restaurant that actually sold gluten free food for lunch called the Irish Tea Room where we had a very expensive lunch for what we got but at least it was gluten free!

After lunch Gordon went to see Fort George, Garth went to buy a paper and to find a place to read it and Betty and I did the shops on the main street. I didn't buy anything finding most things overpriced and also because I have no room. It's a very interesting touristy town with beautiful homes and landscaping.

Here are some photos of Betty and I when we were out shopping. Note the 'hand' I'm sitting on. I also took a photo of the beautiful sinks in the ladies room at the Prince of Wales Hotel.




We met up just around 3:00 p.m. at The Prince of Wales Hotel and then Betty drove around to show us the town. We had been there before but had only driven down the main street. Then she took us back to pick up the truck and we parted ways until we see them next summer.

The plan had been to possibly go to see the Falls for twilight photos but we were both tired and my back wasn't interested in doing any more walking so we came home.

Today was like summer, 25C (77F), bright and sunny but things are taking a turn for the worse tomorrow!

Off to Niagara Falls and the Butterfly Conservatory

Today dawned sunny and bright but still windy. I walked down to the beach again and took a few photos but I have so many photos to post today that I'm not posting any from this morning's walk.

Since today was such a beautiful day with a high of 25C (77F) we decided to go in to Niagara Falls and go to the Butterfly Conservatory. We drove through downtown Niagara Falls and were amazed at the number of people that were there considering we're in off season. We decided not to stop and just headed out to the Butterfly Conservatory which is between Niagara Falls and Niagara on the Lake. It was more expensive to get into this one than the one in Cambridge that we visited earlier this year. There were more butterflies but a lot of the same species that we saw before. We both took lots of photos but a lot of mine are blurry as these little fellows don't stop moving for long! I haven't even tried to identify them so just enjoy the fact that they are so pretty.

Clifton Hill, Niagara Falls, Ontario

The Skywheel (new since we were last here)

Me in front of the Niagara Falls Tourist Bureau with all the beautiful canna lillies in the background


Lots of Butterlies

When we left there we stopped at a few of the lookouts on the Niagara River Parkway, then drove by the Falls again on our way back home.

Look at all the people at the Falls

I sat outside and read for a while when we got back and had just come in and gotten my nails done when we had a visit from one of our readers, Jim Watson who lives nearby. Jim just retired last week and is heading out shortly to visit family in Minnesota and then south for the winter. Jim is another reader of rv-dreams.com (Howard & Linda) as well as coulsoncastle.ca (Rick & Susan). Thanks for dropping by, Jim. It was nice to meet you!

Lots of Waves

We had high winds and rain for the first part of the day today. Luckily it stopped just long enough for me to go for my walk this morning and almost as soon as I got in the door it started to rain again.

About the only thing I got done today was coloring my hair. I went darker to a medium ash. It's pretty dark right now but it will lighten up with washings.

The rest of the day I read my book. The sun came out mid afternoon and Gordon had gone out to take photos so I set out for a walk myself. I walked down to the beach and took some photos. With the high winds there were quite high waves considering it's a lake. Sure looks and sounds like ocean though! The wind was so strong it was blowing sand in my face. I walked along a path that I've been looking at and wound up behind the little mall then continued on and back to the RV.


Not a very exciting day today!

Rain, Windy and Interesting Skies

When I got up this morning it was raining with a bit of thunder and lightning so no walk for me. Instead I surfed the internet, then read.

We needed to get fuel for the truck and a few groceries so we drove into Port Colborne and Gordon parked at Food Basics so I could get the groceries while he walked down to get photos of the Welland Canal. The Post Office is just across the street so I mailed the photos of Betty and I in the big chair to my younger sister in Ottawa. So Margie, they're on the way! Then we got fuel and returned to the rig.

This is the start of the Welland Canal. No ships coming through while we were there.

After unpacking the groceries, I took off by myself to Fort Erie to pick up some things. It rained most of the time I was out but no storms. The wind is rather strong today as well. It was balmy again though at around 21C (70F).

When I got back, Gordon was just leaving to walk to the beach as the rain had stopped so I went with him and took some photos of the waves on Lake Erie and the interesting skies.

A Day Spent at Home

Today was another cloudy, warm day. We had a couple of hints of sun but that's all it was. This morning I walked down to the beach. The only units that have a beach view are the park models as you can see in the photo below along with a couple of other beach photos. The birds in the photos are Canada Geese.





The remainder of the day I spent reading a Kathy Reichs book and making yo yo quilt blocks.

Yesterday a couple of big mohos came in and parked behind us so we no longer have a nice view of the quarry but we don't often keep the window screen on the picture window open anyway as it glares on the computer screens.

I was trying to get a photo of the sun over the trees here but the sun doesn't show up except for the sunspot on the fence. Pretty yard though!

Errands in Fort Erie (Ontario)

There was some rain overnight but it was just cloudy and warm 16C (61F) when I left to walk this morning. I took my camera with me today and took some shots around the campground as you will see below.

The morning sky

Wetlands near our campsite

More of the wetlands area

Ducks in the wetlands

Late this morning I left to go into Fort Erie to run some errands. When I got our medication for our trip, I didn't get enough of one of Gordon's so I had called my pharmacy in Ottawa yesterday to see if there was any left on his prescription and if I could transfer it to Fort Erie. They responded in the affirmative to both my questions so that was my first stop this morning. I was thinking he would have to go to a doctor in the U.S. to have it prescribed there but luckily I had no problem transferring it to Fort Erie. The next thing I wanted to do was find out if we could get a flu shot so I went to the Walk In Urgent Care Clinic. They just got the flu serum in today so when I returned home, Gordon and I went back and got our shots so that's something else we don't have to get while in the U.S. Here our health insurance pays for it. I also had some items to pick up at Walmart like Gordon's favorite rice crackers and some other things. I also made a stop at the local Bulk Barn and got some Reese's pieces, Gordon's favorite candy.

We stopped again at Crystal Beach, Canada's Southern Coast (according to their sign) for a few photos. I took one that reminded me of the Outer Banks in North Carolina.

A Day for Housework

It was 9C (49F) this morning as I set out for my walk. Yesterday when we drove around the park I noticed that there was a walkway that went along the quarry so today I walked all the way around the quarry. It took about 20 minutes and was a nice walk. I like this place as it has all sorts of places that you can walk. I even saw a nature trail not far from our site this morning so maybe I'll check it out one morning.

When I got back and after breakfast I got the laundry ready and went over to the park laundromat. It's $2 to wash and $2 to dry. Quite expensive although the Ottawa Municipal Campground in Ottawa is the same price. A lot of the dryers are 'out of order' as they are closing down the park for the winter in two weeks and one lady (I use the term loosely) had taken nearly all the dryers having just finished her washing when I arrived. I said Hello to her and she ignored me! She loaded her dryers and left so when I went to put my things into the dryers there were only three available. Her dryers stopped and still she wasn't there. I waited nearly 10 minutes then emptied one of them and put my laundry in. About 5 minutes later she came back. I was sitting outside reading my book but I could her the dryer doors slamming so I walked back inside thinking she would confront me about emptying her dryer. I was ready for her but again she just ignored me. What a b****! Anyway, she left. I got my laundry finished, folded, home and put away.

I had my lunch while reading my book. After I finished the book, I made stew for dinner as it's something we haven't had in a few weeks.

Since I didn't take any photos today, here are a couple that I took yesterday.

A pretty tree at Fort Erie

Ducks at Crystal Beach

Not much else to report today! We might go in to Fort Erie for sunset this evening but I'll save that for tomorrow if it happens.

Port Colborne and Fort Erie (Ontario)

Here I am with the Buffalo, NY skyline in the background

Here's the Peace Bridge that will take us from Ontario to NY State next Thursday on our way south!

Sunrays over Lake Erie (taken from within our RV Park)

This morning after my walk and breakfast we drove to the little town of Port Colborne to get some groceries. The only interesting thing about the town as far as I could see was that the Welland Canal runs through it so we so two ocean going vessels going through. The Welland Canal takes the ships from Lake Erie into Lake Ontario. We came home and unpacked the groceries. I read for a while and then the sun came out so off we went again.

This time we drove in the opposite direction to Fort Erie which is where we'll be crossing into the U.S. next Thursday. We drove around the town for a while. It seems that there's pretty much everything there that we need including a Bulk Barn! For those of you who aren't familiar with Bulk Barn, they have all sorts of product in bins. You can take what you need out of the bin and it's weighed at the cash. They have everything from candy to nuts to flours including gluten free flours to teas to spices. I really miss it when we go to the U.S.

While in Fort Erie we found the actual Fort that was built by the British in the mid 1700's. Gordon found it interesting but I'm not much for history. I did take a photo of it as you will see below.


On our way back we drove toward Lake Erie through the little town of Ridgeway and to Crystal Beach and Pleasant Beach. Then drove around inside the RV Resort when we got back. There are literally hundreds of park model homes here grouped into little communities and lots of them overlooking either Lake Erie or the Quarry. There are some nature trails around within the RV Park. Hope the weather keeps improving. I'd like to check them out!

We're at Sherkston Shores RV Resort (Ontario)

Here's our site at Sherkston Shores near Niagara Falls, Ontario

And this is the view from our back window

And the view from our side window

We left Double M RV Resort at Lindsay (Ontario) at 9:10 a.m. It was bright and sunny and about 6C (43F). Luckily it didn't get as cold last night as was forecast although the roof was icy! The traffic through Toronto was steady but not too bad. We did lose the sun traveling through Toronto and although we saw another peek of sun on our trip towards the Niagara Region on the Queen Elizabeth Way by the time we arrived at Sherkston Shores it was cloudy again although the temperature did reach 15C (59F). We made a couple of wrong turns which cost us an extra half hour otherwise we would have been here in almost exactly 3 hours. As it was, we arrived at 12:45 p.m.

This is not an easy campground to find your way around in and they don't guide you to your site as some campgrounds do. Eventually a nice gentleman in a golf cart found our site for us and after that the set up as uneventful. Although the site is blacktop with a concrete patio, it's not level so we had to put two rows of levelers on our left side. We're in a pull thru site - 100 ft long and the sites themselves are a very nice size. We have a view of the quarry out our back and side windows at least until someone comes and parks behind us. Maybe another time we'll ask for a back in on the quarry. There's a beach as you will see from the photo below. Not that it's important at this point in the year.


After we were set up we walked around a bit. The washrooms close to us are closed but there are others not that far away and they're heated! Trust me, that's nice for showering at this time of year.

We have 50 amp full hook ups for under $19/day. In the summer they run more like $80/day so this is a real bargain! So, we're here until at least October 25th when we plan to leave for Columbus.

Cold and Wet Today!

It wasn't raining this morning when I got up so I went for my walk. It was cloudy so I didn't bother with the camera. So of course I saw more blue jays. How do they know when I don't have my camera?

This morning I made a few more yo yo quilt blocks. Here's what I have done so far.

Betty stopped by on her way back to Toronto briefly, then I read for a while.

Gordon went out to get the tanks dumped in preparation for our departure tomorrow to Sherkston Shores RV Park near Niagara Falls, Ontario. While he was outside I prepared a double batch of corn bread for dinner.

Some weather sites are calling for -3C (27F) overnight so I doubt we'll get away very early tomorrow. We'll have to wait till it warms up.