Our final day in Kenora started out very cold, so We spent the morning doing laundry. After lunch we went for a hike. Saw some bald eagles and the most beautiful red winged blackbird. However our attempt at getting photos of either was unsuccessful.
Wednesday May 25 we carried on. Stopped at Dryden to get Diesel, and then had lunch beside a pretty lake in a picnic area (one of the thousands along the highway). There were loads of deer on the roadside. Fortunately they stayed in the ditch. Maybe the deer warning whistles we put on the truck really work. We took the bypass route at Thunder Bay, as we have been there before, visiting the Terry Fox Memorial and other sites on a previous trip. About 5:00 we arrived at Birchwood campground, just out of Nipigon. It seemed like a reasonable place to stay for one night. Further they gave us a coupon for 25% off our stay on our return trip. They also had some ground bison in their store. Our campground host warned us that the weather forecast was for freezing temperatures tonight (has anyone seen our lost summer?) We probably won't stay here on the way back, since the power couldn't handle our micro-wave, or so we thought when the circuit breaker on the power post flipped off. However, we found it went off again sometime between 3 and 5 in the morning, again.
After a few stops - Diesel for our very thirsty truck, breakfast for us as well as propane to prevent us from freezing to death overnight we arrived at Sunset Shores RV Park. On the East shore of Lake Superior, just south of Lake Superior Provincial park. The trip was interesting, the drive by the lake is beautiful, and we saw deer and moose. We finally had a beautiful warmish sunny evening, and walked along the shore of Lake Superior for a little while. We are hoping that Wednesday night was the last frost we will see before fall. We had Bison for dinner. It was very good and rivaled any that I was used to getting in Alberta.
Friday morning we awoke to the smell of fresh baked bread. What a great way to start the day. Bringing a breadmaker with us was one of the smarter things we did. I (Joan) have it on good authority (Elizabeth from Canmore) that it snowed there today. As much as I hate the thought, I may have to quit complaining about the weather, At least it isn't snowing here. Further, we heard on the news that the campground we stayed at in High River has been evacuated, due to flooding.
Our GPS has been serving us well. Some days we argue with the GPS lady, but today she navigated us perfectly to the campground. It has helped that over time we are getting better at using it.
On Saturday, driving from Sturgeon Falls to the Ottawa area, when we stopped at a rest area for a bite of lunch, we noticed that a line across one axle was at the wrong angle. We duct-taped it to the axle (what would we do without duct tape?) We weren't sure what the problem was, but the truck had stopped us okay at the rest area, so we carried on. We drove through the outskirts of Ottawa, again having the GPS guide us to a campground in Greely, a suburb just south of Ottawa. On Saturday we drove back to
to an RV service centre which we had passed, to check out what time on Monday they opened. The first one was closed, but the second one was able to give us an appointment to check out the problem on Monday morning.
Since we have been to Ottawa before and done the tourist activities we decided to pass on that.The good news is we were able to get our satelitte TV working, so we could watch the Indy 500 on Sunday, and then the Nascar race in the evening. That was a bit bitter-sweet, as Dale Jr., our favourite driver came within 500 yards of the end of the race, then ran out of gas.
We duly appeared at the RV dealers Monday A.M. The brake issue was just the tip of the iceberg. We need new axles. A recall was issued for the axles on our trailer last fall. We think this should have been taken care of before we bought the trailer. We will be paying for repairs and then when we get home we will be visiting out RV dealer, bills in hand and see what they have to say.
We needed to order the axles directly from the manufacturer (or pay a premium to the RV dealer for doing it). Since it was Memorial Day weekend in the states, where the manufacturer is, we had to wait until Tuesday morning to phone them. Our phone was telling us that we could only make emergency phone calls in this area, so the campground folks were kind enough to let us use their phone to order the axles. It takes 7 to 10 days business days for the axles to arrive from the states, so we decided to stay here until the axles arrive. We don't want to take the trailer on the highway without brakes! We were glad we had bought the 1 ton truck with the trailer package, as it handled the braking reasonably well, but we don't want to stress it out too much.
After arranging for the axles to be rushed (we hope), we went to the nearest Best Buy to find out why we weren't getting phone service in Ottawa. The lady there figured we just needed to 'reboot' our phone, so took the battery out, and then found an option to reset the emergency service only issue. She then showed us how to do this ourselves, should it happen again.
We at least get a deal on camping for a week at a time. Nothing like a deal to make us feel better. It looks like we should be able to keep busy in the area for a couple of weeks and it looks like summer has arrived now, as it hit 30 C this afternoon.
Tuesday 31 May 2011
Tuesday 24 May 2011
Week 4
Our last day in Regina was a busy one, for 2 old retired people. We went swimming in the morning at the Sandra Schmirler rec centre. Joan appreciated the warm water. After picking up Dominique from school, we met Karen for Dinner and then attended the Archbishop MC O'Neill spring concert put on by the choral group. Dominique is one of the 200 choral members.
Thursday we headed East. We did not have any camping reservations as we did not know what campgrounds were open due to the Manitoba floading. One canmpground we had thought of as a possibiltiy was completely under water. I suspect that KOA will not have a banner season. The rivers in Manitoba are still very high. The Assiniboine was almost to the underside of some of the bridges, water in some of the diversion canals was lapping at the underside of the bridge. The Red River was overflowing its banks. Some of the roads heading off the highway were closed because they were completely under water. We just kept heading East until we got well away from rivers. We camped at Rock Garden Campground in Richer. Our intention was to stay one night, but as it was the Thursday before the long weekend, and the campground had had a cancellation, we stayed for the next 3 nights.
Friday was a lazy day, John went for a swim (a couple of laps) in the pool at the campground (water was too cold for Joan). Joan surfed the internet to see what was available for camping further down the road - no decisions made. Actually we decided to play it by ear. In the afternoon we went into St. Anne to go to the farmers market, but it is too early in the season, so the market was not open. (The story of our life). Saturday we had a interesting visit to the Mennonite Heritage Museum. Learned a great deal about the Mennonite history. Had lunch at the museum restaurant, a delicous traditional Mennonite meal.
On Sunday of the long weekend we headed into Ontario. Stayed In Kenora at a campground overlooking Lake of the Woods. On Monday we did a walking tour of Kenora. Here is the boat we rented
and the fish we caught
Of course it was too small so we threw it back (and if you believe that, do I have some property to sell you.) After our walk, we waited for the campground to almost empty out, and then moved across the lane to a site beside the lake, which had the added bonus of being able to get a line on the Shaw Direct satellite. The Wi-fi reception is iffy, but Joan feels the TV is the priority.
Thursday we headed East. We did not have any camping reservations as we did not know what campgrounds were open due to the Manitoba floading. One canmpground we had thought of as a possibiltiy was completely under water. I suspect that KOA will not have a banner season. The rivers in Manitoba are still very high. The Assiniboine was almost to the underside of some of the bridges, water in some of the diversion canals was lapping at the underside of the bridge. The Red River was overflowing its banks. Some of the roads heading off the highway were closed because they were completely under water. We just kept heading East until we got well away from rivers. We camped at Rock Garden Campground in Richer. Our intention was to stay one night, but as it was the Thursday before the long weekend, and the campground had had a cancellation, we stayed for the next 3 nights.
Friday was a lazy day, John went for a swim (a couple of laps) in the pool at the campground (water was too cold for Joan). Joan surfed the internet to see what was available for camping further down the road - no decisions made. Actually we decided to play it by ear. In the afternoon we went into St. Anne to go to the farmers market, but it is too early in the season, so the market was not open. (The story of our life). Saturday we had a interesting visit to the Mennonite Heritage Museum. Learned a great deal about the Mennonite history. Had lunch at the museum restaurant, a delicous traditional Mennonite meal.
On Sunday of the long weekend we headed into Ontario. Stayed In Kenora at a campground overlooking Lake of the Woods. On Monday we did a walking tour of Kenora. Here is the boat we rented
and the fish we caught
Of course it was too small so we threw it back (and if you believe that, do I have some property to sell you.) After our walk, we waited for the campground to almost empty out, and then moved across the lane to a site beside the lake, which had the added bonus of being able to get a line on the Shaw Direct satellite. The Wi-fi reception is iffy, but Joan feels the TV is the priority.
Tuesday 17 May 2011
Week 3
On Friday morning we drove to Kindersley, Sask and stayed overnight at the Regional Park. It was okay but won't hit our top 10 places to stay list. While we were setting up, our phone went off. To answer a cell phone, you only have to be smarter than a cell phone don't you? After 2 calls that we were unable to answer, we downloaded the phone instructions from the internet and voila, we now know how to answer the phone. Instead of just pressing the phone symbol on the screen, we have to scroll it to the right. Every day is a new learning opportunity.
On Saturday, we ignored the GPS instructions taking us through Saskatoon to go south to Assiniboia. We need to do a bit of research on preferences for the GPS. It doesn't like to take us on minor highways that don't have a lot of facilities for trucks, so it sometimes takes us the long way around. However, we do appreciate the way it shows our progress towards our destination. At noon, we parked the trailer in front of the Cadillac Community Hall for a lunch break. The spot was so level, it was tempting to stay there for the night. Usually it takes a bit of manouvering, parking one side of the trailer up on blocks, and adjusting the the trailers legs to get anywhere close to level.
We arrived in Assiniboia, and parked next to Joan's sister's place. We discovered that we had enough space in the trailer to comfortably seat 7 people, since John can't stay in their house very long due to the cat. We had a good visit with Carol and family, and were able to catch up on laundry without having to spend time in a laundromat.
The wind started blowing dust across the prairie, giving John the sniffles for a few days (so far). We are hoping that will improve once we get into the trees in western Ontario.
Monday morning we left Assiniboia, heading for Regina. Fortunately, the wind was more or less behind us heading north for most of the trip into Moose Jaw. However, once we turned east toward Regina, it was pushing pretty hard on the side of the trailer. We took it easy, and the truck handled it quite well. It was interesting to see how much the trees around the farms along the road helped give us short breaks from the wind.
Here is a picture of our new home taken by John's dad while we were in Bowden.
Thursday 12 May 2011
Week 2
Finally getting around to adding another post.
We spent a week, and a bit, in High River getting things ready.
One of the main things we needed was to get my final cheque. I thought I had arranged to pick it up at the office on Wednesday. When I showed up, I found that they had mailed it registered to our old address, just before I checked to see how I could get it. With the expiry of my company e-mail, I didn't get the e-mail saying that it had been mailed. Our old address had been forwarded to our son's place in High River, so we checked every day to see if the card to pick it up had arrived. When nothing showed up by Friday afternoon, I left a voice-mail to have it traced. On Monday, I finally had an e-mail conversation with the office, and we arranged for it to come to the office on Tuesday. That worked, so the final piece was in place to free us to move on.
In the meantime, we had talked to a few people in the campground, and found that 3 out of 4 preferred Shaw Direct for satellite TV, because the service was better. We bought a dish and receiver, and a tripod, and hooked it all up. Then we went over to our son's to call Shaw Direct to get an account. In the process, we were informed that they could not send out a technician to get it all working because they had to give a 90 day warranty that everything would work, and since we would be moving shortly, that wasn't possible. Back to the trailer to see if everything worked. No signal. Went back to the reseller, and explained what was happening, and he told us not to use the satellite cable connection on the trailer, as it was probably split, so we wouldn't get a strong enough signal. Back to the trailer. Still no signal. Then I took the equipment back to the reseller to test that everything was okay. He was able to get it working, not without some effort. Back to the trailer. Still no signal. I figured it must be getting blocked by the trees, so moved it 30 feet away. Finally, a signal of about 35. Moved back about 10 feet, and got a signal of 75. Sucess!!
Hopefully this experience makes it easier to set up each time we move to a new campground.
On Wednesday morning, we packed up everything in its place in trailer, and Joan drove us on our way north to Bowden, to visit with John's parents for a couple of days. We arrived in Bowden just before lunch, and stopped at the campground at the rest stop on the highway, only to find out that it was closed. Over to the town office to find out why May to October didn't mean it was open. It doesn't open until the long week-end in May. We recommeneded they update the listing in the campground guide to be more specific so people wouldn't figure May meant all of May. We found a campground a few miles up the road in Innisfail, and got the trailer set up there before heading back to Bowden for supper.
The next morning we were hoping to go golfing with John's dad, but the wind was too strong for a round of golf. We settled for 3 games of bowling at the senior's time in the Innisfail bowling lanes.
We will spend the day in Bowden, then leave tomorrow, aiming for Kindersley, Sk. Now slowly working our way east.
We spent a week, and a bit, in High River getting things ready.
One of the main things we needed was to get my final cheque. I thought I had arranged to pick it up at the office on Wednesday. When I showed up, I found that they had mailed it registered to our old address, just before I checked to see how I could get it. With the expiry of my company e-mail, I didn't get the e-mail saying that it had been mailed. Our old address had been forwarded to our son's place in High River, so we checked every day to see if the card to pick it up had arrived. When nothing showed up by Friday afternoon, I left a voice-mail to have it traced. On Monday, I finally had an e-mail conversation with the office, and we arranged for it to come to the office on Tuesday. That worked, so the final piece was in place to free us to move on.
In the meantime, we had talked to a few people in the campground, and found that 3 out of 4 preferred Shaw Direct for satellite TV, because the service was better. We bought a dish and receiver, and a tripod, and hooked it all up. Then we went over to our son's to call Shaw Direct to get an account. In the process, we were informed that they could not send out a technician to get it all working because they had to give a 90 day warranty that everything would work, and since we would be moving shortly, that wasn't possible. Back to the trailer to see if everything worked. No signal. Went back to the reseller, and explained what was happening, and he told us not to use the satellite cable connection on the trailer, as it was probably split, so we wouldn't get a strong enough signal. Back to the trailer. Still no signal. Then I took the equipment back to the reseller to test that everything was okay. He was able to get it working, not without some effort. Back to the trailer. Still no signal. I figured it must be getting blocked by the trees, so moved it 30 feet away. Finally, a signal of about 35. Moved back about 10 feet, and got a signal of 75. Sucess!!
Hopefully this experience makes it easier to set up each time we move to a new campground.
On Wednesday morning, we packed up everything in its place in trailer, and Joan drove us on our way north to Bowden, to visit with John's parents for a couple of days. We arrived in Bowden just before lunch, and stopped at the campground at the rest stop on the highway, only to find out that it was closed. Over to the town office to find out why May to October didn't mean it was open. It doesn't open until the long week-end in May. We recommeneded they update the listing in the campground guide to be more specific so people wouldn't figure May meant all of May. We found a campground a few miles up the road in Innisfail, and got the trailer set up there before heading back to Bowden for supper.
The next morning we were hoping to go golfing with John's dad, but the wind was too strong for a round of golf. We settled for 3 games of bowling at the senior's time in the Innisfail bowling lanes.
We will spend the day in Bowden, then leave tomorrow, aiming for Kindersley, Sk. Now slowly working our way east.
Monday 2 May 2011
Retirement Day 1
We picked up the trailer on Saturday morning, and as someone suggested to me, it's a good thing that we weren't going too far.
The first problem we had was that the truck's trailer brake controller was only for electric brakes, so didn't work with the hydraulic brakes. However, they had a tech take care of that problem fairly quickly. Then, before we even got to the campground in High River, Joan realized we didn't get the keys for the RV. After we got the trailer parked, Trever drove me back to Calgary to get the keys. They were waiting at the desk for us, so the salesman realized as well.
Trever and our grandson's helped us load up the stuff we had left in their garage, and then came over to help us get settled.
We managed to get things in some semblance of order, and took them out for a celebration of our eldest grandson's 15th birthday, then watched the Amazing Race at their place (no TV or internet connection in the campground).
Later that evening, I tried to get the water running on the water pump, but nothing was coming through.
On Sunday morning, we had the campground host take a look, and he noticed that the water strainer on the line into the water pump had been broken off (frozen, or tightened too hard).
This morning we took the trailer back to the dealer. They had somebody get on it right away. He replaced the strainer and set all the valves to the right position so that our water was working, and checked it all out. He also found that a fuse in the truck had gone, so we had no left turn signals on the trailer, and took care of that as well. We picked up a pair of mirror extensions while we were there, and managed to install them ourselves. We were back to the campground by about 2:30, so had a quick nap. Nice to be able to nap on a Monday afternoon.
We just found a coffee shop with WiFi, so here we are, checking our e-mail and updating our blog.
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