Checking out Campgrounds

It's getting very cold around here especially overnight. The geese are heading south so we think we should be going too! Unfortunately we have to wait for a few weeks yet. I saw in the forecast on AccuWeather that they're forecasting snow for this area one day next week. Looks like it will just be snow flurries and will melt but still. It's way too early for that! That also means temperatures below freezing at night. Have I mentioned that I really hate this time of year in a an RV?

Returning to Ottawa at the end of April is always a hassle. Most parks don't open until mid May although Dave here at Tranquil Acres has let us come in early. Tranquil Acres is on a flood plain so part of the area down by the water is often still very wet. Today we were looking for a solution to this problem

First we went north and a bit west to a park called Grainger's Tent & Trailer Park. On our way we saw this field of beautiful sunflowers.

It was a nice enough park and a definite consideration however they have no laundry facilities since they are on septic and the nearest town is about 15 minutes away which means quite a distance for groceries, laundry and the like. He could accommodate us coming in early but only if it was dry enough in the park.

This barn was right across from the RV park. Definitely some nice scenery around the area.



I had heard about a park in the east end of Ottawa but had never gone to see it so that was our next stop. The name of the park is Recreationland. This is a very nice park (FHU) and it's about 5 minutes away from the town of Rockland which has a brand new Walmart Superstore plus various other shopping conveniences. They also have a laundry in the park although it's quite expensive. They also have free wifi which they claim is very good. This park opens often as early as April 10th so we're covered there. We decided to sign up for a month beginning when we return in April. Here is a shot of one of the pull through sites where we would be located. They are quite a good size too. Since it's at the other end of town we'll also have some new places to explore. It takes about 25-30 minutes to come in to the west end of the city where our doctor and pharmacy are located.

This is one of the pull thru sites at Recreationland.

A scene within the park

One of the churches in Rockland

A building beside the church - love the looks of this old house.


After a couple of stops to pick up some supplies at Sassy Bead Company (prices are much better than the bead store in Smiths Falls) and at a grocery to get some grits for Gordon for breakfast, we returned to Tranquil Acres.

It's Getting Cold!

It was 4C (39F) this morning at 8:15 a.m. Brrrrr! But it was sunny with only a few clouds around. I walked, I ran, I did my exercises then after breakfast I vacuumed. Here are some photos from my morning walk.

My tree
I never tire of looking at this scene

In the RV Park


We had a mixed day of sun and cloud but at least no rain and a high of 12C (53F).

After that I got out my beading equipment and made four necklaces. These are for gifts so I'm not taking any photos of them. Maybe I'll take photos later of the people wearing them.

Other than that I'm reading a Lee Child's book called Running Blind.

My stepdaughter sent us some grandkid photos yesterday. Here's a couple from their swimming lessons this summer.

Faith and Grace

Luke and his Dad

Not much going on in Carleton Place, I'm afraid.

This 'n That

Since we got the RV recaulked it seems warmer inside and that's a good thing! This morning was pretty cold so I bundled up and away I went for my walk. I did my exercises down by the little dock here in the campground and then came back to the RV to do my lower back exercises. I took a couple of photos on my morning walk. It was cloudy then so they are kind of dark.




I finally reached Sanderson Travel Insurance in Lindsay to see about our travel medical insurance this afternoon and the cost for Gordon's insurance has doubled from what it was last year and if he has a relapse of his Valley Fever while away it isn't covered. Mine is still pretty cheap though.

I decided this is stew weather so went into town to get some supplies to make stew. I also got some other stuff, of course. You can't get away from a store without buying other things. I stocked up on some beading stuff at the dollar store. Dollar stores in the U.S. don't carry beading supplies so will have to go to Michaels or Walmart. There is a Walmart in Rockport but will have to drive to Corpus Christi for Michaels. Corpus Christi is 30 miles south of Rockport. Here are photos of some of the beads I bought. Each package is $1.00.

It's only $1.00 for this box of stones and each has the attached ring so it goes on a chain or becomes part of a necklace.


When I got back to the RV I got the stew on the stove.

No rain today and we actually saw some sun although our high was only 11C (52F).

Yesterday we talked to the campground owner, Dave about staying here next year. The campground is going to be pretty much seasonal starting next year so we're thinking of reserving a site as seasonal to be sure that we'll have a spot here. They open around May 15th and close around October 14th but they could accommodate us coming in as early as May 1st. We would either have to stay at Rideau Heights where we were in the spring for the first few days when we return to Ontario or stay as far away as Mallorytown or Kingston about 1 1/2 to 2 hours away respectively as there are campgrounds there that will be open. More thinking to do......

Thanks to everyone for your kind comments on yesterday's blog.

And the decision is.....

I woke up to rain on the roof. I did my indoor exercises but no walk this morning.

Today was the day Gordon saw the specialist. Good news! The fungus has shrunk, he's off the medication and we're good to go south! Such a relief!

Now I have work to do:

• Getting travel medical insurance
• Buying 6 months of our prescription drugs
• Stocking up on stuff we can't get in the U.S.

But we're going south!


On our way home we went by my first condo, here's a photo of it.

And a couple of photos in the country on our way back to the RV park.

End of Month Expenses - A Bit Scary!

September Expenses

We had a lot going on this month in preparation for hopefully being able to leave for the winter. The big expense this month was getting our fifth wheel in shape. It's now four years old and has never been inspected. We've had to do some things on the road, like get our microwave replaced, we had a slide that wouldn't come in when we were out west in 2006, things like that but it's never been checked over.

When our dealer checked it, we did have at least one leak but now it has all been recaulked so it's good for at least another four years (let's hope). The caulking done at the factory was less than wonderful.

We also had to purchase the new sticker for the truck plates, took the truck in for service, a new 500 GB hard drive etc. so a hefty month. We also had some medical/dental expenses that aren't covered under our extended health care. We did pretty well in the grocery category though!

Enough of that. October will be another expensive month if we are going south due to fuel prices and as we'll have to buy our travel medical insurance if we're going as well. Hopefully it won't be as bad as September and once we hit Texas at least campgrounds will be cheaper.

Gordon goes to see the Infectious Disease Specialist tomorrow to get the results of the CT scan of his lung so we should know tomorrow if we're going south or not.

I spent some time today making two necklaces and restringing some bracelets that I made over the winter that I didn't like or didn't have enough beads on them. Here are a couple of photos.



It started to rain shortly after lunch, pretty heavy at times. It looks like this is the weather we are having here for the rest of the week. High 14C (58F). We had a short stint of sun this morning but it was very short. Gordon scurried out to get some photos while the sun was shining.

More Errands in Ottawa

Not much happened this morning, went for my walk, did my exercises, yadayadayada. This photo is from my walk.



After an early lunch we went in to Ottawa. I had to drop something off at the lab for the doctor, then we went to the Arboretum to see if the trees were changing but not much happening there so stopped at the Ornamental Gardens. There are still a lot of flowers in bloom which is amazing considering we've had frost already but some of them are looking a little worse for wear. Here are some photos.













We stopped to get a few groceries then went to Best Buy to put in some time as we were going to my sister's when she got home from work at 3:30 .m. We sat for a while and watched one of their big flat screen TV's. It made Gordon start thinking of where we could hang one in the RV. NOT!

By the time we arrived at my sister's she was home so we chatted a bit, picked up the mail (including my voter registration card), filled our water jugs and Gordon gave John (brother-in-law) a ride to the garage to pick up his car then we were on our way. We ran into a bit of rush hour traffic but as soon as we got out of the city we moved right along. We did take some back roads to get home though rather than taking the highway.

Today was cloudy and chilly reaching a high of 13C (57F). This week is supposed to be cloudy and rainy. Oh joy!

A Very Lazy Sunday

We got to a pleasant 20C (68F) today although most of the day was under cloudy skies, there were a few peaks of sun around mostly in the late afternoon.

1. Things I accomplished today:
2. Went for my walk/run
3. Did my exercises
4. Had a long nap
   
5. Made 2 necklaces

Here's an interesting site for you to check out, click here. It's one stop shopping, so to speak.

And that about makes up my day!

Finishing Up

It had started raining when I went to bed last night however when I got up this morning although it was cloudy it wasn't raining so away I went for my walk/run. I started to do my exercises down by the river but then it started raining or sounded like it. I think it was just dripping from the trees, however I came back to the RV to finish my exercises.

This morning was very busy! After breakfast I decided that since the living room looked so good, I should complete the rug cleaning. It's not the cleaning, it's moving stuff and putting it back that's tiresome. Anyway, it's all done now and looks so much better. My eyes feel better already! I finished up just after noon, had a nice hot shower and a change of clothes and decided to relax for the rest of the day.

Early this afternoon I went out to take a photo of the tree I've been watching change colours. It's really changed the last few days. I noticed it when I was walking this morning but hadn't brought my camera. So here it is. Click here to see what it looked like on Tuesday the 23rd. The light wasn't very good today so I'll have to take another photo when the sun comes out.


A view of the river and trees through the old tree.


Pretty red leaf on green grass


My sister from Toronto called this afternoon and we had a long chat. I gave her the answer to the October Where Are You contest.

I also made scalloped potatoes for dinner. I haven't made them since Ellie's potluck in Tucson last winter. It felt like that kind of day.

Drudgery

It was cloudy this morning with a lot of mist around but I decided not to take my camera on my walk, hence, no photos taken today.

After breakfast, I changed the bed, got the laundry together and in to the laundromat in town. That was done before lunch. Then I got some groceries and went on a quest to find something to clean the carpets with. I didn't get what I want but did get an automotive carpet cleaner which is supposed to be good. It's made by Turtle Wax and called Oxy Power Out. It's not a dry cleaner but it didn't take long for it to dry and the rug does look much better. I only did the living room today. Now I'll have to wait and see if that helps my allergic reaction. I do have a dust allergy. The dining room and bedroom will follow in due course (when I have the ambition or I find out that it really helps my allergies).

Other than that I lounged around and read. While I was out I went to the library and got more books so I have enough to read over the rainy weekend.

Today's photo was actually taken on our drive yesterday. It's a pretty church near Philipsville, ON. The red spire can be seen for miles!

RV to Dealer and Road Trip

Up this morning shortly after 6 a.m. We had an appointment at our RV dealer to get the RV caulked and were to be there between 9 and 9:30 a.m. We actually arrived shortly after 9 a.m. After the RV got unhitched, we left it and took off for a scenic drive.

First stop was in Franktown (Lilac Capital of Ontario) for a photo of St. Paul's United Church. It has a very unique and interesting steeple and bell tower as you can see from the photo below.


Then we stopped for breakfast at the greatest breakfast restaurant in the area. It's called The Roosteraunt. There are all sorts of figurines, stuffed roosters, pictures of roosters, rooster towels all over the restaurant.

We had gone last year and since we were in the area decided to go again and it didn't disappoint. It's always good when a meal agrees with Gordon. While there we parked near the locks and walked around a bit. I had seen a bead store downtown (Bead Buddies) and since I didn't go to Sassy Bead Co yesterday and it's going to rain this weekend, I decided I should get my crimp beads. They are much, much more expensive there than what I paid at TMG-Beads in Cameron last month so that's all I bought. I priced their crimpers - $36.95 - no, thanks.

The Falls in Smiths Falls

Pretty flowers in the park at Smiths Falls


While I was looking in the beading store Gordon walked around a bit. There is a little RV park right on the Rideau Canal called Victoria Park Campground so he went in and got some information. Their sites are large enough for us and some of them back right on the canal. No problem with a clear view of the south either and it's a short drive or a long walk to The Roosteraunt!

From there we set Miss Pinky to take us to Delta, Ontario. Gordon had been there a few years ago helping a friend close down his cottage for the winter. There's another campground there that we checked out called "Lower Beverley Lake Park" but it's quite expensive considering it's out in the middle of nowhere.

The Old Mill in Delta - if I had been quicker I could have gotten a photo of a blue heron flying by.

The trees were very pretty.

This was a cooperative dragonfly

What a beautiful, sunny day. It reached 26C (79F). Today was better than a lot of days we had this summer!

Have you ever seen a cemetery in the middle of a corn field?

By then it was after 2 p.m. so we decided to head back to the dealer and when we arrived the RV was ready. After we paid the bill (oh my goodness, heart attack!), we got home and found out our water hose is still leaking. Gordon tried putting a washer in but that didn't work so we had to go out and buy a couple of new hoses as we need about 35 ft to reach the tap in this site.

Now we're both exhausted and looking forward to a hot shower!

Just a Beautiful Day!

I was up at 7 this morning and actually got some photos just after sunrise while I went for a short walk. It wasn't too cold this morning so I didn't have a problem dragging myself out of bed.

I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 10:15 a.m. so I got ready and left the RV around 9:10 a.m. and since we were down to 1/4 tank I stopped and fueled up before arriving at the doctor's office about 10 minutes early. I had my last colonoscopy in 2004 and the doctor had said she wanted me to have one every 5 years so I wanted it booked for early May 2009. Thus the appointment today. I have no idea why I had to go in but I did need another prescription for my eye drops so got that.

After I was done there I went back to the Carlingwood Mall as they were having a craft sale there and there were some things I wanted to look at including some beads. I wound up buying a couple of strands of chip beads at $3/strand. That was a good price and the chip beads look good for the invisible necklaces. I also bought some at our great Canadian dollar store, Dollarama. Now I need some crimp beads. I had planned to stop at Sassy Bead Co. as well today but decided that could wait for another day. I ran a few other errands while at the Mall and then headed back to the RV park arriving around 12:30 p.m.

Today was such a beautiful day, sunny with a nice breeze and 24C (75F). I sat outside for a while and then walked around the park. The only real noise was from the road and that is intermittent during the day. The rest was the squirrels, chipmunks and birds making themselves known. It was very pleasant to sit there and listen to them for a while.

Today was nicer than most days we had this summer! I tried to have a nap later this afternoon but couldn't sleep, imagine that!

Errands and Appointments in Ottawa

It's soooo hard getting out of bed on these cold mornings. No walk this morning as we were getting ready to go in to Ottawa. I didn't even do exercises since we had a chiropractor's appointment at noon. Both of us had dental appointments at 2 p.m., mine at my periodontist and Gordon at the dentist. They're both in the same building so we make them for the same time.

We left just after 10:30 a.m. and had to stop to pay for a new hard drive that Gordon purchased from his friend, Leroy (where I bought my computer last August). The hard drive we bought in June quit on us and it's not something that Gordon will return even if it is under warranty due to all the stuff that's on it.

This tree has changed its colour quite a bit since last time I took a photo of it. To see my last photo, click here.

After that, we went to our chiropractor's appointment. My chiropractor told me that after my adjustment today I have the body of a 29 year old and I even look like a 29 year old! Ha! Ha!

We went to Carlingwood Mall and had lunch at the Carlingwood Restaurant. Actually we both had breakfast, then on to Bulk Barn to buy a few things. We arrived at our dental appointments early and my hygenist actually took me early today for my cleaning.

We had to stop to pick up some corn wraps (tortillas) for Gordon on the way back. There's only one store that carries them now. Sure hope they keep stocking them! Then back to Carleton Place. I decided to go for my walk when I got back as it was so beautiful, a sunny 22C (72F) this afternoon.

When I got back I finished my Debbie MacComber book. Looks like I'll have to do a library run soon!

Photos today were taken on our way back from Ottawa and on my walk.