An Evening Out

Can you believe a month from today is Christmas? It just doesn’t seem like it with all the sun and nice weather. Even with the Christmas decorations in the downtown area when you’re brought up with snow at Christmas, sun and heat don’t do it for me. Not that I miss the snow and cold weather at all!

I called Mustang Island State Park and they have lots of openings contrary to what it showed online and staying a week didn’t appear to be a problem. So I guess we’re going there tomorrow. It will be nice to be so close to the ocean (gulf).

Gordon went out this morning to do a last run at photographing the Missions and when he got back I went in to WalMart and H.E.B. (a Texas grocery) to pick up last minute things before heading out tomorrow.

Last night they had a lighting ceremony on Riverwalk to turn on the Christmas lights so we decided to go tonight instead hoping there would be less people. NOT! The place was packed. It was such a beautiful mild evening we decided to have dinner at one of the restaurants along Riverwalk. Most were lined up with a 40 minute wait but one restaurant was getting them in and out and we only had about a 3-5 minute wait. So we had dinner at The Original Mexican Restaurant & Bar. I had a salad and I have to say that the Asian salad I had for lunch at McDonald’s at half the price was much better! However the atmosphere was much nicer on Riverwalk so we took some photos and looked in some shops and enjoyed the beautiful weather!

Below are some of the photos I took this evening.

Fog, Housework and Meeting People from Home

This morning's fog over the field behind us

It was mild enough last night to sleep with the bedroom windows open. It was foggy this morning though and the fog was coming in through the windows so we closed up so things wouldn’t get damp.

Since we’re leaving on Sunday, I decided to get the laundry done this morning. Our plan is to stay at Mustang Island State Park for a week and there won’t be laundry facilities there so unless I go hunting for a Laundromat it will be a while before I’ll be doing laundry again.

Another beautiful day after the fog burned off so I sat outside for a while again. We also met up with another couple from Ottawa who had left their card in our door yesterday while we were at the potluck. They are also heading out Sunday but they are going to Mexico for the winter.

This afternoon Gordon went to take some more photos of the Missions so while he was gone I vacuumed and washed the floors then just read and watched TV. While we're at Mustang Island, a lot of sand will probably be dragged into the RV. We will be just over the dunes from the Gulf. We haven't booked it yet as we hate making reservations too far in advance but as of now, that's the plan.

Happy Thanksgiving and Yummy Potluck!

It was a bit foggy this morning but quickly turned into a bright, sunny day.

We showed up at our potluck with our covered dish. Unfortunately the Rocky Road bars didn’t set very well so I didn’t take them as they would have been too messy to eat. They weren’t missed however as there was lots of food and lots of desserts. Quite a few people attended, I thought there would be more though. We sat at a table with a group of people from Mission, Texas which is in the Rio Grande Valley and one couple from Albany New York. His wife was from Chile. She has been in New York for 18 years and still is very difficult to understand. The food was excellent and we both stuffed ourselves. I didn’t go near the dessert table as the main course was so good.

When we got back to the RV, there was a card in the door from another couple who are also from Ottawa that want us to drop by. I wound up sitting outside for a while but then came in and lay down to read. Next thing I know, I woke up and it was nearly 5:00 p.m. Turkey does make me sleepy!

No further plans for today so will do my posting early.

The photo was taken at the potluck of our table. All the people are looking the other way as there was a football game on the widescreen TV.

Shopping and Potluck Prep

Photo taken by Gordon

The Torch of Friendship (La Antorcha dela Amistad)

Representing the longstanding friendship and roots shared between Mexico and the USA.
Tower of the Americas in the background.
Photographed in San Antonio, Texas USA

We’re so lucky! It’s another beautiful sunny, warm day and tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer!

This morning I ventured into the outskirts of the city where there is a couple of WalMarts, Target, Big Lots etc and spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon doing girlie things like shopping. I didn’t buy all that much except groceries but it was nice to get out on my own and see what I want to see without tying Gordon up all day. I got back around 2:00 p.m. long before rush hour hit.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the U.S. and our campground is having a potluck. We are each to bring a covered dish and a dessert. Since Gordon has celiac disease, I always make something that he can eat so I’m making my usual potluck Calico Beans and for dessert, my niece, Danica’s Rocky Road Bars except I made them with butterscotch instead of chocolate as Gordon can’t eat chocolate. I’ll put the crockpot on overnight as the potluck is at 11:00 a.m.

I didn’t take any photos today so borrowed one from Gordon.

A Cruise on the Riverwalk

The days here are carbon copies of each other, sunny and bright with clear blue skies. The sun seems much brighter in Texas than it does at home. I talked to my sister, Margie this afternoon and she said they have had 52 days of cloudy weather in the last 76 days. The sun shone today for a few hours for the first time in ages. We’ve been really lucky in the weather department since we hit Texas!

Today we didn’t do much until this afternoon when we decided to go into town and take a Riverwalk cruise. As I mentioned a couple of days ago, the Riverwalk area is very pretty. It’s lined with buildings, trees and flowers and is a horseshoe area that flows through downtown San Antonio. It has become more well known as a tourist area in San Antonio than the Alamo. See some photos below that I took on our cruise. The actual cruise boat is a barge as you can see in the photos. Our tour guide “Murray” was a good ole boy originally from Tennessee. He was full of jokes and tidbits as well as interesting information about Riverwalk and the buildings surrounding it. If you’re interested in the history of Riverwalk, click here.

Nothing Happening Today!

I woke up in the night last night, couldn’t sleep so moved to the couch and read, then fell asleep again. I never feel up to par if I don’t sleep through the night so didn’t get my walk in this morning even though it was another beautiful, bright, sunny day.

I sat outside for a while and watched the butterflies flying around. They are lots of butterflies here in Texas, I read some but mostly just enjoyed the day and the fact that I’m still feeling better.

Late this afternoon Gordon went to take some more Mission photos. I asked him to pick up something for his dinner as I didn’t feel like cooking. There’s a burger place right close to the campground so he got a burger there.

Not much happening here today!

Another Sunny Texas Day!

Here's a Christmas tree that I saw on our drive today

Gordon took this photo of me yesterday when we were doing the Mission tour

And the good news is – we both feel better today! I even went for a walk this morning which I haven’t been doing consistently for the past week. Gordon went out to The Alamo before sunrise to get some photos.

Another beautiful day, sunny and 75F (24C) with a light breeze. I sat outside and read for a while. We had to do a WalMart trip today so got groceries then came back and after unpacking them we drove into the city and looked around. We were going to tour the Botanical Gardens but it was already 4 p.m. and they close at 5 p.m. So we’ll have to leave that for another day.

Some Sightseeing in San Antonio

It was another beautiful sunny, warm day! We left this morning to do some sightseeing, stopping at two old missions, the Espada Mission and the San Juan Mission and then heading downtown taking a short walk on the Riverwalk.

It reached 75F (24C) today, pretty much perfect!

Tonight Gordon went to downtown San Antonio to take some photos.

Sunset taken right outside our RV

Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio

San Antonio River taken on the trail behind the San Juan Mission

Me sitting on the stone fence in front of the Espada Mission

The Espada Mission

Moved to San Antonio

This is our RV in the middle across the "Five Acre Lake" fishing pond

This is our site at Braunig Lake RV Resort

I took this photo of a butterfly that landed near our RV before we left Austin this morning

This morning was sunny and 38F (3C). It was warmer in Ottawa! Definitely time to move on!

It’s too bad neither of have felt better while we’ve been in Austin. Consequently we didn’t see as much as we would have liked. I’m glad we got out to see the Capitol building and the downtown area although I would have liked to see the Warehouse District of downtown and the Lakes more close up.

We left Oak Forest RV Park at 10:35 a.m. under sunny skies and 52F arriving at San Antonio about 12:45 p.m. under sunny skies and 75F. We had to do some maneuvering

to get the RV in the site with room to park the truck as the site isn’t as long as some. Sites here are also quite close together. Fortunately we’re on the end and there’s no one beside us for the time being. We have a view from our living room and patio of the fishing pond.

After we got set up we walked around the park to get the lay of the land. It’s quite a large, spread out park and has a really nice pool and spa. It’s not as nice as Oak Forest in Austin nor is it as cheap but it’s home for a week!

Today is Our Last Day in Austin

Sunny but only 45F (7C) this morning! Gordon took the truck in for service early this morning. I stayed behind and did some internet stuff and watched some TV. He got back about 10:30 a.m.

We didn’t do much again today. I guess you can tell we haven’t been up to par this week but we’re moving on to Braunig Lake RV Resort at San Antonio tomorrow anyway. I’ve booked us in for a week there.

I think I mentioned before that this is a really nice RV Park. They even ask for suggestions! The only things I could think of are they need wifi installed throughout the park, not just at the office and recreation areas. They also could use an ironing board in the laundry room. They are getting ready to put in a doggie bath which is a really nice thing to have. I've only seen one other one at the Lakeland RV Park in Lakeland, FL. If there was one in other parks we've been to, I missed it. The staff were very helpful even looking up and printing directions from MapQuest (even though they weren't very good directions), the thought was there.

It was a nice sunny day and we got to a high of 66F (19C) but it got cold last night 45F (7C) and is supposed to be colder tonight. Time to move on!

Danica will be happy to know that I mastered my first game of Sudokhu on my PDA today. It was actually the first game I played on it. Here’s the proof! Unfortunately it’s blurry. My camera doesn’t do well on close-ups of this nature.

A Very Windy Day in Austin!

It was 56F (13C) and windy when I walked this morning but the sun was shining and it’s pretty much always windy in Texas but last night during the night and this morning it was mostly coming in gusts, enough so that it knocked the internet satellite dish out of wack but with some tweaking it was back. This had to be redone several times during the day. Amazingly the TV satellite wasn’t knocked out.

This park is pretty much perfect. The only real thing we’ve found is that they don’t have wifi throughout the park. You have to go to the common areas if you want to use it but since we’re in a site close to the office, I can sometimes reach it from the RV.

Finally tonight the wind has gone down.

Didn’t do much today except the laundry. Gordon made an appointment to take the truck in for service tomorrow and we still don’t know where we’re going on Friday yet so stay tuned…..

No photos taken today so I’m featuring one that Gordon took of Luke and I when we were at Michelle and Eric’s.

What a Beautiful Day!

Yeah! Bob Chiarelli is no longer Ottawa’s mayor! I’m so happy that Larry O’Brien got in! Maybe Ottawa will finally see much needed changes.

It was 71F (22C) when I got up this morning. I went for a short walk but didn’t feel much like it. I did feel better though.

We both needed an outing and we needed lubrication for our slides so we found out where the closest RV dealer is and headed there to get what we needed. We found out they have an RV park on site for $20/night. The sites are really close together though but it’s an option since we have to leave here on Friday, just in case we’re not ready to leave the area. After that we stopped at the SuperWalMart to pick up a few items and then headed home for lunch.

This afternoon after a nice leisurely shower in the campground showers (they are very nice), I sat by the pool for a while. I was alone there most of the time. It was such a beautiful sunny day and around 80F (27C). I’m also happy to be feeling better! Today's photo is the view from my lawnchair at the pool.

Neither of Us Are Feeling Well

Today I woke up to mostly cloudy and 64F (18C). I did go for a short walk but neither of us have felt all that well the last couple of days so we haven’t been anywhere or done anything. It’s nothing severe, I just have a mild nausea but I’m still hungry. Go figure! Anyway, sorry for the short posts. Hope we both feel better soon!

It was sunny and warm today, too bad we couldn't enjoy it. Gordon did go outside a couple of times to fix the TV dish and to walk in the live oaks.

We Spent a Quiet Sunday at Home

It was 46F (8C) when I got up for my walk this morning. I think that’s the coldest it’s supposed to be at night for the next week. I think it got to a high of 74F (23C) today with mostly sunny skies until later in the afternoon when it clouded over.

I finally got to sit outside in my lawnchair this morning and Gordon came out and set up our satellite TV. They have free cable here but we’re paying for StarChoice so we may as well use it. A couple of our neighbours stopped by to chat.

This afternoon we spent resting and relaxing so not much to report today.

Happy Birthday John!

This is the pool at our campground

You can see our truck and RV in the distance

This is our site at Oak Forest RV Park

Happy Birthday to our brother-in-law John!

We also take this opportunity to remember those who fought in previous wars and are fighting in wars now to keep us safe on this Remembrance Day.

We slept with the windows open last night. The temperature dropped a lot during the night so it was only 48F (9C) when I got up this morning. This RV park is all paved streets so it was nice to walk this morning for a change. There is a grove of live oak trees that is part of the park and that’s where the dog walk is. They also have a fenced area for dogs which is always good for dogs to be able to run around off leash. Bib would have liked it.

This morning we went to the local SuperWalMart and got some groceries. On our way there and back we looked around the area a bit just familiarizing ourselves with the area. I meant to buy a map of the city while I was there but since it wasn’t on my list, I forgot. Gordon went to the office this afternoon and signed us up at this park until Friday. They have someone coming in Friday so we’ll have to move on then.

This afternoon we drove around Austin some more. We drove up Mount Bonnell, the highest point in the city to see the skyline of Austin and around the Colorado River as it runs through the city. We also drove around the downtown area and to the Capital building then tried to find Town Lake. We saw it between buildings but didn’t find out where we could actually get close to it until we found the Tourist Bureau where we also got some maps. Austin is quite a pretty city and very clean for a large American city.

Just before sunset, Gordon went out to take some photographs. He went down to Town Lake and got some photos of the Austin skyline at night with the buildings reflected in the water. To see his photos, click here

We Move From the State Park to an RV Park

Photo taken at McKinney Falls State Park

It was a very hot night! We didn’t run the air but had the bedroom windows open and the fantastik fan running as well as my little fan that I run every night regardless of temperature. This morning when I woke up it was still shorts weather, but cloudy so I went for a walk around the park loop. I haven’t been walking as we’ve either been traveling or there’s been no place to walk (like at Shell Lake). Today we had to move from McKinney Falls State Park so I made a reservation at a local campground, Oak Forest RV Park, about 12 miles away. This morning we did some looking around McKinney Falls State Park and found the two waterfalls there. They aren’t much at this time of year as waterfalls go but the area around the falls is very pretty.

We hooked up and moved to Oak Forest RV Park this afternoon and got settled in. This is a very nice campground. We haven’t been in one like this probably since Catalina in Desert Hot Springs and the best part is it’s Passport America so it’s half price! We’re in a pull through and we can see the satellite. There are beautiful complete washrooms with huge showers, a pool and hot tub and we’re on a concrete pad. I hear a lawn chair calling me in the very near future!

I really liked being in the State Park and being out in nature but this park is VERY nice! We may stay here for a week.

We need to get a good map of Austin and get oriented. There are things to see here, of course, being the state capital but there are also some scenic areas but we need a map to find our way around the city. It’s a lot bigger city than we thought.

It got to 91F (33C) today so we’re no longer complaining about the cold. It’s nice to have the doors and windows open again although we did run the air this afternoon. There’s supposed to be a cold front coming through tomorrow to drop us 20 degrees. The high for tomorrow is supposed to be 69F (21C) but it gets back up into the 80’s next week.

So, we’re here in Austin, enjoying the weather. Couldn’t be better!

Leg 5 - Mount Pleasant to Austin, TX

This is our site at McKinney Falls State Park

We left Mount Pleasant this morning at 9:50 a.m. under cloudy skies and a temperature of 68F (20C). Along the way we had both sun and cloud but by the time we reached Dallas it was sunny and hot and we had to turn on the air conditioner. I had the window open some of the time but it was quite windy today. We were battling headwinds all the way. Luckily we only had to go around the Dallas bypass this time and only about ¼ of the way as we were coming in on I-30 and leaving on I-35E so from the time we got on the bypass to the time we got off on 35E it took about 30 minutes. We saw lots of construction all along our route.

Something of note is that we saw our first palm tree in Waco, Texas. It was one of those little squat ones but a palm tree all the same. With the weather and the humidity, it now feels like we’re in the tropics.

Our plan today was to stop at Austin at a state park called McKinney Falls and stay for a week. We arrived at the park around 3:00 p.m. however they could only give us one night as they are full for the weekend so our plan is to find another park in the area and come back on Sunday. By the time we got set up it was nearing dark so we didn’t get to see much of the park but we did see quite a few deer. It’s nice to stay in a state park for a change. The sites are larger and there’s more nature around. Of course we have to have our creature comforts so the internet satellite got set up. As we’re only staying for one night, we didn’t bother with TV.

It was a horrendous drive today, lots of traffic and big cities. Gordon is very tired so he’s off to bed early. I’m tired too but not the same kind of tired so my plan is to try to watch Gray’s Anatomy. Although we can’t get it with the aerial, I can get it on my little 3 inch portable. Just hope the batteries hold up!

Finally ! Leg 4 of our Southern Trek!

It was foggy when I got up this morning so we didn’t rush to get underway. Thank goodness I was feeling better. We were both ready to get on the road! We left Shell Lake Campground at 9:40 a.m. and headed west under sunny skies. By the time we had packed up it was warm enough to ditch the coats at 52F (11C). It was sunny and got continuously warmer as we made our way west hitting a high of 86F (30C) after we crossed the border into Texas.

Our site at Mount Pleasant KOA

We stopped at the Welcome Center where Gordon took my photo (shown above), picked up some pamphlets and continued on to Mount Pleasant, Texas where we are spending the night at the Mount Pleasant KOA. It’s a nice campground with free cable TV and free wifi (which doesn’t seem to work). Since the wifi doesn’t work, Gordon set up the internet satellite.

The drive was uneventful, lots of truck traffic in this area. Most of Arkansas is flat, agricultural land with some forest area and some hills south of Little Rock.

We’re happy to be back where it’s warm. We went out to get groceries after we set up and no coat needed, only short sleeves. While we were out, we treated ourselves to dinner at Wendy’s. I really like their salads so I had the BLT salad and Gordon had his burger (sans bun) and chili. Now we’re back to watch some cable TV!

Onward for Leg 5 of the journey tomorrow.

The Flu

I was sick overnight, consequently we’re still in Heth, AR but hoping to move on tomorrow. Nothing got done today other than me trying to recuperate so this is today’s post!

A Rainy Day in Heth, AR

It was pouring rain this morning so we’re here for another day!

In last night’s blog I mentioned the Peabody ducks but didn’t elaborate that much and since today there’s not much to say, I decided to elaborate as this draws a huge crowd making it very difficult to see the ducks leave their fountain. Since I couldn’t get close enough to get photos of the ducks last night, I located a video that someone took of them. To see it, click on this link.

The decades-old tradition of the ducks in the Peabody fountain started back in the 1930s. Frank Schutt, general manager of The Peabody® Memphis, and his friend, Chip Barwick, returned from a week-end hunting trip to Arkansas. The men had had a little too much Tennessee sippin' whiskey and thought it would be fun to place their live decoy ducks (it was within the law then for hunters to use live decoys) in the beautiful Travertine marble fountain in the lobby of The Peabody. Three small English Call ducks were placed in the fountain and the reaction was nothing short of enthusiasm. Thus began a Peabody tradition that has endured and is now firmly established as an American icon around the globe. After 80 years, the marble fountain in the hotel lobby is still graced by five North American Mallards and their ceremonial March of The Peabody Ducks still takes place daily at 11am and 5pm. At 11 a.m. the ducks waddle from their home atop the Peabody Hotel followed by the Duckmaster into the elevator and on the red carpet through the Grand Lobby and into the Italian Marble Fountain where they swim around for the day until 5:00 p.m. comes and the ceremony is reversed. Each time, there is a ceremony and the tradition is explained to the crowds that line the lobby and the mezzanine. This is tradition in all Peabody Hotels which are located in Memphis, Little Rock and Orlando.

I wasn’t able to get close enough to take photos so I’ve found some on the internet to feature here.

By the way, we’re now in the Central time zone so we’re an hour behind Eastern.

Other than having a long nap and getting the laundry done, that was my day!

We Celebrate our Anniversary in Memphis

Happy 16^th anniversary to us!

Blues City Cafe where we had dinner

A "drive by shooting" of Graceland

Trolley on Main Street

Gordon and I with the Hernando de Soto Bridge in the background. This is the I-40 bridge that takes you from Memphis into Arkansas.

This morning we hung around the RV not doing much. My sister, Betty called to wish us a Happy Anniversary and we chatted for a while. This afternoon Michelle also called with anniversary wishes. We signed up for another day at this campground and tried to set up the TV satellite dish. What an ordeal! We do have a signal but it isn’t very strong.

This afternoon we drove a bit around the area where the campground is located. Not much here except fast food and truck stops but I did find a post office. Then we headed into Memphis on SR70 which is the original road prior to I-40 being built. We drove around Mud Island, did a drive by of Graceland and then parked and walked around Beale Street. We had dinner at the Blues City Café which is supposed to be famous for its ribs. Gordon took a chance and had the ribs and I had catfish. In my opinion, I’ve had better in both cases. Then we went to the Peabody Hotel in time to see the Peabody ducks leave the fountain and march into the elevator and go away for the night. This is repeated in the morning when they bring the ducks back to the fountain. Too cute! After that it was nearing dusk so we took some photos around Beale Street (the local Bourbon Street of Memphis) of the neon lights, then headed back to the RV.

It was fun to do something different for our anniversary!

Leg #3 of our Southern Trek

Shell Lake Campground at Heth, AR. Shell Lake is behind the trees

Sunny and 32F this morning. Definitely an improvement. It didn’t get as cold as they forecast last night. I even heard birds singing this morning. Haven’t heard that in ages!

We left Cave City about 9:15 a.m. at 46F (8C) and arrived at Shell Lake Campground at around 2:30 p.m. This campground is west of Memphis on I-40 on the way to Little Rock. Again, it’s not much of a campground and it’s right at an interstate exit so there’s lots of truck traffic. It was formerly Lakeside KOA. Shell Lake looks very pretty in the sunshine and 65F (18C). Hopefully there won’t be any possibility of us freezing tonight.

We were trying to decide tonight if we wanted to stay over an extra day and see some Memphis sights including Graceland but we’re both too tired tonight to make a decision. Rain is coming in for Sunday afternoon and Monday so if we stay here one day, we’ll probably have to stay for two and leave Tuesday. We’ve decided to wait until tomorrow to make the decision.

2nd Leg of Our Southern Trek-Columbus, OH to Cave City, KY

When I got up this morning although the sun was shining it was only 20F (-7C)! It’s warmer in Ottawa! We had to wait to leave until the temperature got above freezing so the plumbing wouldn’t freeze so we pulled out of Alton RV Park at 10:17 a.m. The temperature was 36F and continued to be 36F until we were on the Cincinnati bypass then it rose to 41F (5c).

Our site at Singing Hills Campground

The high for today on our travels was 53F (12C) and it was 51F (11C) when we arrived at Singing Hills Campground at Cave City, KY. We arrived at 2:50 p.m. Central time. The campground isn’t much but it’s Passport America so it cost $14.00 for 30 amp service. We only got electric and water as we’re only going to be here one night and they have a dump station anyway. We were set up by about 4:00 p.m. Central (all times from now on will be in Central time). We averaged 13.5 mpg on this trip of 324.4 miles. We’re only a couple of miles from Mammoth Cave here but we’ve both been there before so it won’t be one of our stops. This is just an overnight. We’re hoping to stop somewhere southwest of Memphis on I-40 tomorrow night.

Got Our Truck Back!

Today was bright and sunny when I got up at 8:00 a.m. but very cold at 26F (-3C). I went for my walk anyway and with the sun out it wasn’t too bad.

About mid-morning Gordon called the dealership to see if the part had come in for the truck. It had but the truck wouldn’t be ready until afternoon. So much for my hopes of getting out of here today so around noon I went and paid for another day.

Mid-afternoon we hadn’t heard anything about the truck so we took a drive over there and they were just out test driving it, so we returned the rental car and Enterprise drove us back to the dealer where we paid our deductible and picked up the truck. We then took it for a little spin around the area to be sure it was working okay. Everything seems to be fine. The guys at Trader Bud’s Westside Dodge were really nice and very helpful and we’ll go back there for service if it’s needed when we’re in the area. It’s really close to the campground.

While we were out driving around there was a really pretty sky with sunrays, photo above. Also featured above is a photo that Gordon took of me holding Luke. He has it on his web page as well but for those of you that don’t check his web page, I thought I’d put it up on mine as well. If you want to check his web page and don’t know where it is, click here.

Best Laid Plans

Big Larry gets taken to the Dodge Dealer on a flat bed

This morning was 36F (2C) when I got up at 7:30 a.m. Gordon still hadn’t returned from staying with Michelle and the kids. I decided to start to prepare for leaving this morning instead of walking. Gordon coasted (literally) into the campground just before 9:00 a.m. The truck had stalled out just before turning into the campground. He said he had had some problems with it on the way here. So, it was on the phone to the ERS who got us towed to the local Dodge dealer who determined it was a fuel pump (covered by our warranty less our deductible) and they couldn’t get the part until tomorrow so we now have a rental car also courtesy of our warranty and will be staying here in Columbus for at least tonight and probably tomorrow night.

This afternoon after we had some lunch I took off in the rental car to go to WalMart to get some groceries as I had almost cleaned out the freezer before we crossed the border. Sure was nice driving a car for a change! When I came out of WalMart it was raining but it was more like sleet so rather than go anywhere else I decided to come back to the RV.

It’s going to be 27F (-3C) tonight and down to 21F (-7C) so it would sure be nice to be able to get out of here tomorrow although I don’t think we can drive far enough tomorrow to outrun the cold.

October Expenses

Campground Fees – 743.54

Groceries – 595.44

Laundry – 25.00

Wine/Spririts - 32.95

Entertainment – 11.20

Snacks – 9.87

Eating Out – 72.58

Fuel for Truck – 545.51

Propane – 99.19

Repairs/Service RV/Truck – 123.40

Misc – 366.49

Insurance – 157.03

Internet/TV – 258.75

Cell Phone – 227.39

Medical/Dental – 192.37

Gifts – 151.83

Total - 3612.54

We paid more for campground fees this month as we were staying for shorter time periods. Groceries cost more due to stocking up on items we can’t get in the U.S. Of course our fuel costs were higher as we starter traveling. With some reminding our internet satellite company finally billed us for last month and this month. I had to buy a new cell phone as I dropped mine and broke it. Misc is higher this month as I did a bit of splurging. I got my hair done and bought some new sneakers. I also bought some Christmas gifts before I left home.

I had guesstimated our budget for our months in Ontario as $3600/mo. We did much better than this for most of the months so I’m pretty happy with the overall total.

A Day Spent With Family

This is Michelle, Eric, Grace, Luke and Faith with her back to the camera. She didn't want her picture taken.

Here's Grandpa and Luke

And Faith with the giggles

And smiles from Grace

L to R - Michelle, Faith, Grandpa and Luke

Another cloudy day! I think it’s following us! It was 59F (15C) though when I went for my walk. Not a lot of places to walk to here. The sidewalks are in poor shape so I walked around a new subdivision just east of us. I’ve missed walking the last few days.

Late this morning we went to Michelle & Eric’s and spent some time with them and the kids. Luke was all smiles for his Grammy and we got to surprise Grace when she got off the school bus. Faith was her cuddly self for a while but she’s been sick so she spent a lot of her time watching TV. We were both exhausted so earlier this morning we had cancelled our trip to Dayton and Cincinnati so we didn’t get to see Ian, Tracy and their kids or Gordon’s sister, Carol and her husband, Rick. Carol and Rick might come and see us when we’re down south this winter.

It rained most of the day today, much like we’re used to so our sunny reprieve of yesterday was over.

Tonight Gordon went over to stay with Michelle and the kids as Eric has to fly out of Cleveland in the morning. I stayed at home to keep the place warm and be sure the furnace works as it’s supposed to be colder tonight.

I’ll be late posting our October monthly expenses as I’m still waiting to see what Sun Life will reimburse as far as our prescription expenses for the six months we’ll be gone this winter.

The First Leg of Our Trip South

We left the Mallorytown KOA this morning at 7:45 a.m. under sunny skies. It was a long trip – 11 hours from door to door with 4-15 minute stops for a total of 598.1 miles. Originally we were going to overnight at Erie but we reached Erie by 2:15 p.m. and decided it was too early to stop so continued through to Columbus. Luckily we had called ahead for a reservation at Alton RV Park as she is nearly full.

On our trip we kept watching the temperature and we hit a high of 74F (23C) just before Cleveland. It continued at that temperature till the sun started to set and it is still 57F (14C) at 9:40 p.m. It’s so nice not to be bundled up in fuzzy slippers and gloves while sitting in the living room. We don’t even have the heater on!

We have quite a day lined up for tomorrow. We’re seeing all of the family tomorrow and then heading out on Wednesday morning for points south. I probably won’t post tomorrow night as we’ll be back late and very tired.

I took today’s photo of the sunset as we were traveling south on I-71. It’s been so long since we’ve seen a sunset with all the rain!

Our Last Day in Ontario

We had really strong winds overnight. It was forecast yesterday that we would have gusts of up to 100 km/hr so the RV was being buffered about. The wind is supposed to get worse during the day today so Gordon took down the internet satellite as we have free wifi at the campground and it’s pretty good and fast. That will be one less thing that we have to do tomorrow morning as we want to get away early. It looks like the only nice day to get out of here.With the wind, the water in the campground is drying up. The winds are coming from the west this morning so if we had gone today we would have been driving right into it for almost the whole way with the exception of going south on I-81.

I took a short walk around the campground but it was just too wet and muddy. I spent most of my time trying to walk around or jump over water puddles.

Most of the day we spent relaxing. Gordon went into Brockville to fill up on diesel at 86.9 at the Canadian Superstore. When he got back we went to the campground showers and this time they worked. We also dumped the gray water tank but since we don’t have any water at the site to backflush that’s all we did.

Tonight I’ll get the inside of the RV prepared so we can get on the road early tomorrow.