On The Road

As Scottish poet Robert Burns noted: “The best-laid plans of mice and men, often go awry”.  That was our experience last week.

Betty and I had an enjoyable stay camping at the picturesque Pancake Bay Provincial Park, on the north shore of Lake Superior. When we were preparing to leave, I hit the button to retract our living room slide out, and nothing happened. Oh, oh! We had experienced this same issue during the first leg of our overlandish odyssey, when we were in Dallas, Texas. A mobile rv tech was called, and he wiggled some wires and got us back in business. But when we joined the South Texas

Renegades FMCA group north of Houston, the same problem occurred. As noted in a post from that time, a commercial airline pilot and certified airplane mechanic, Rick, troubleshot our system and identified the likely cause of the failure to retract.  He got our slide out in, but advised us to have an rv tech work on it when we arrived at our next destination.

When we got to South Padre Island, we called a mobile rv tech who came to our site to fix the problem. The problem, at that time, was that the slide out failed to NOT work. Yes, that’s a double negative. And it failed to not work every day from then until Pancake Bay, when it didn’t fail to not work. Wow, is that a triple negative, or just a convoluted way of saying it’s

busted? LOL! This time we calledGood Sam Roadside Assistance, being many miles from any populated area, and Darcy, the kind owner of Goulais River Truck & Tractor, got us on the road again. We now have an appointment this week at Hitch House, near Orillia, to have a new slide motor installed.

Just dealing with that issue would have been enough, but NO, there was more! My bbq hose also stopped working, which is a major concern when you love to grill. In this case, Peter and I did the troubleshooting, confirming that both the Weber and the tank were in working order. While checking on-line to see where I could purchase a replacement hose, I found a

review page on the Weber site, which noted that 95% of customers loved their Weber hose. In reply to anyone posting a low rating, Weber listed a 1-800 number to rectify the problem. So I called the 1-800 number, and sure enough, a new, free replacement hose is in the mail to me. (Which is great, except I now have to figure out how to get it from our son’s home, which is our mailing address when we are on the road.)

Also last week, as we were slowly exiting Neys Provincial Park, we discovered

that we had failed to close the upper cupboard where our plates and bowls are kept. The way we found this out was by the horrendous crash behind us, as the Corelle dishes shattered into thousands of pieces on our floor. The sight was most picture-worthy, but in our excitement to clean up the mess before Charlie got into it, we failed to snap any shots. Maybe we could re-create the scene now? Betty says NO!

As previously noted, we began this new leg of our adventure on fresh Michelins, manufactured in March 2018. While we had noticed a slight bounce in our front end between 50 & 60 mph, we put it down to Manitoba’s notoriously bad roads. But when we finally got onto smooth pavement in Ontario, the bounce was still there. I called our

tire store back in Winnipeg, and Rick suggested that one of the wheel weights, used to balance the tires, may have fallen off on the rough roads. So into a Hanover tire shop went our Cruisemaster last week, and it turns out the front tires were mismounted, causing a warped ride.  The tires were turned 180 degrees and remounted, and we are back to smoother sailing.

After a wonderful visit with Bill and Heather – Betty’s brother and his wife – Betty and I are now set up in Rondeau Provincial Park on Lake Erie, visiting Betty’s other brother, Jack and his wife Christine, and friends Rick & Penny – a wonderful

surprise addition. (Yes, that’s the 3^rdRick this post, a new record! LOL) Our Buena Vista add-a-room is up and performed well for a get-together last night, and our fingers are all crossed that we will avoid further mishaps for the next while, but as Robert Burns reminded us:

“The best laid plans….”

Cheers!

There are times when you reconnect with friends you haven’t seen for a long time, and you pick up where you left off, as if you have never been apart. This week was one of those times, as we turned our motorhome south from Espanola, Ontario, and travelled across the magnificently scenic Manitoulin Island to the appropriately named community of Providence Bay, reconnecting with our old friends, Janet and Peter.

Many years ago (not saying how many…LOL)

Janet and Betty graduated from a Toronto area nursing college together. When Janet secured a position at Foothills Hospital in Calgary, Alberta, Betty visited her there and was immediately invited to join the nursing staff. We moved from Milton, Ontario to Calgary and began what has become an everlasting friendship with Peter and Janet.

Over the years, they moved a number of times, and so did we. They raised a beautiful family, and in my humble opinion, so did we. Being similar ages, our kids grew up together and sustained their own friendships. But Janet, Peter, Betty and I always enjoyed each other’s company, sharing the joys, trials, and tribulations of life on planet Earth.

Now Peter is retired from teaching, and Janet is semi-retired from nursing, and they are settled in an idyllic corner of planet Earth called Providence Bay. Their driveway was long enough for our motorhome, and they graciously allowed us to plug in and top up with water during our visit. Their home is situated a short walk from the beach, and a long beach-side boardwalk provided the perfect location for both daylight and moonlight strolls, as we caught up on the intervening years.

In addition to sharing a longstanding friendship, we also share a common love for food and fine spirits. Betty and Peter are both practiced in wine-making, so we had to sample their wares as we enjoyed Janet’s traditional roast beef, roast potato, Yorkshire pudding, and treacle pudding; and my prosciutto- wrapped asparagus and lamb chops with mint sauce. Food and friendship pair so nicely together, don’t they!

Next week, we are on the road to the east to visit extended family and more friends, while Janet and Peter are flying west to Calgary, to be re-united with a dinner club we were all members of back in the day. (The day being the time when we were all young couples, with young children, in new jobs, and new homes in a new province.) Betty and I will greatly miss that bonding experience, but hope that we will all live long enough to enjoy another dinner club get-together in future.

Our hope and wish is that everyone has the opportunity to share the same kind of everlasting friendship with others. It adds such encouragement and joy to life!

Cheers!

Last night Betty and I were camped by the water’s edge near Marathon. No,

not Marathon in the Florida Keys, but northern Ontario’s Marathon. We were not by the Atlantic, but by Lake Superior in Neys Provincial Park.  While we scheduled this stop in our 4 year plan, interestingly, it’s not what we expected.

We have taken the north shore of Superior from eastern Canada to western Canada, or vice versa, on a number of occasions, although the road south of Superior is much faster, straighter and flatter, and the price of gas is half of what we are currently paying. We are not taking the southern route now, because it would eat into our 182 day limit for annual time in the U.S., and we are planning the U.S. portion of this trip to follow a full drive across the eastern half of our fair nation. If you are in a rush, this northern route is not the way to go. If amazing, beautiful, iconic Canadian scenery is of interest, by all means take the twisty TransCanada!

Somehow, we visualized the stop between Kakabeka Falls and Pancake Bay

Provincial Parks as Neys Provincial Park, near Marathon. But as we passed Rainbow Falls Provincial Park just west of Schreiber, Ontario, we recognized thatspot on the shore of Lake Superior as the campground where we had previously stayed. And as we pulled into Neys Provincial Park, nothing at all looked familiar to us. Turns out we have never been there before! LOL

In any event, we had a nice, large site overlooking the beach and the Great Lake beyond, and enjoyed the company of 2 Iowa couples making the circuit around the lake.

Since there was no cell service in Neys, this post is coming to you from our next stop – one of our favourite campgrounds north of

Superior: Pancake Bay. Just northwest of Sault St. Marie, Pancake Bay Provincial Park has one of the nicest beaches along the lake, with campsites close enough that I am now sitting at our dining table hearing and watching the waves roll onto the sandy beach a few yards away.

So far, this is the leisurely cross-Canada tour we had hoped for, with many great provincial parks from which to choose, and scenic vistas around every turn. With some stops planned, and others spontaneous, spur of the moment opportunities, Betty and I are sure to experience the rich character of Canada’s

natural beauty on this great adventure, and are eagerly anticipating many more unexpected delights.

Cheers!

The sun streamed through our bedroom window at 5 a.m. on our first travel day. In winter I am not usually up before late morning, but as we approach the longest day of the year, the bright morning light coaxed me out of bed by 6 a.m., so Betty, Charlie, Gavin and I were on the road and entering province #2 – Ontario – by mid-morning.

Of course, no one from Ontario would call it anything but province #1, and if you are from Toronto, then anything outside the metropolitan area is subservient hinterland. LOL (Betty, having been born and raised in Toronto, finds that last line to be too edgy & offensive, and should be edited out. But we lived in Alberta when the National Energy Program was introduced, and the reactionary sentiment was “Let those eastern b…s freeze in the dark!”)  But enough of petty provincial politics. On to our journey of discovery!

We had set the bar low for our first day of travel, and exceeded our expectations by blowing past our first scheduled stop – Kenora, Ontario – by 10:30 a.m. After passing rock, trees, and water, then trees, rock, and water, then water, trees, and rock, we arrived at the beautiful Kakabeka Falls Provincial

Park, just outside Thunder Bay, Ontario.  Our large, quiet campsite is nestled nicely in more trees, and we can hear the water cascading over the rock in the background.

In the park is a dog beach, where Charlie

 

enjoyed his favourite game of chase the stick. I should make this paragraph longer, to accommodate all the pictures of his comings and goings, but oh well…

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the beach, we went to the mighty falls, bringing back memories of our visit here with our niece, Amy, when she was just 12 and Valerie was 2. Today Betty and Charlie are pictured on the boardwalk where Amy and Valerie were seen many years before.

 

Not to be left out of the action, Gavin insisted on having his picture taken at the falls, both upstream and downstream. As the water thundered over the edge, Betty & I also got in front of the lens at this most photogenic location.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s another bright, sunny day, and we will soon be heading out on the twisty, turny TransCanada Highway that leads up and down and around the north shore of Lake Superior – one of the GREAT Lakes, on the southern border of a GREAT province: Yours (and ours) to discover and enjoy!

Cheers!

Betty & I are preparing to embark on the next leg of our Overlandish Odyssey (or Oh, Oh, for short – the sound you make in anticipation of something about to happen, and you don’t know the result… LOL)

Our inaugural journey was a great learning experience, but we know we still have more to discover, as Ontario license plates suggest. When we packed for our first trip, we asked ourselves “What will we need for the next 5 years on the road?”. On return, we found we had packed much more than we needed, so our question now is “What will we need for this leg of our journey?”. Fortunately, our family members are gracious enough to store items we are not taking, but may need in future.

As Betty has indicated, reconnecting with family and friends has been the sweetest and best experience of the past month. It’s been great to have individual and group dinners – a couple of them are pictured here – and to attend other special events in our grandkids lives during this short stay.  We know those times are what we will miss most during our travels, and already look forward to seeing their continued growth in character and interests on return.

This month has also provided the time to ensure a safe foundation and good under standing for each of us. Charlie’s

nails have been cut as he received a fresh grooming yesterday. The Smart car has tire pressure transmitters that can be monitored from inside our coach, along with a new set of all weather tires, replacing both the winter and summer tire sets previously alternated. (We’re not intending to need winter tires much in the next

few years. LOL). The CruiseMaster has a fresh set of Michelins – manufactured in March 2018. (We had been told by many over the past 3 years that our tires were past their best before date, so are finally glad to have a safe base on which to roll down the road.) And of course Betty & I have both experienced fresh pedicures yesterday, so we all exhibit that good under standing. LOL

In addition to taking the CruiseMaster in for an oil change, water pump upgrade, and general check-up, we took the time to organize our interior storage a little better. We re-organized our basement compartments, and added a closet and additional work and storage space to the back of our bedroom. Previously we had a

lazy-boy type recliner in the space pictured, but never used it for anything more than holding dirty clothes. Two of the attached pictures show the cupboard under construction and the finished product, with enough room in the closet for a full-sized set of golf clubs, if I find them in that Florida flea market next winter. LOL

Finally, we can report that we more or less successfully attached the Carefree of Colorado add-a-room that we purchased in Oklahoma. I say more or less, because there is still maybe an hour’s work left to finish what is promoted as a 15 minute install. But that will be for another day. Today we have almost everything tucked away, and will soon be washing Charlie’s nose prints off the windshield so we can see where we are going tomorrow.

So oh, oh, here we go again!  Watch out for us on the road as we continue our overlandish odyssey.

Cheers!

It is lovely to be back in Manitoba. I have to say it actually brought a tear to my eye when the border guard said welcome home.  Travelling is a passion for Graham and I ( and Gavin and Charlie) but there is a warmth in my heart when I return home. Hugs and kisses from family are the best!  Nothing quite compares to the wee arms of grandchildren and the somewhat larger arms of their parents. (Somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind I remember them as little children).

I have also been blessed by amazing friends and it is such a treat to get together for lunches and dinners and catch up on each other’s lives.

I have posted some shots of wee Gavin as he returns to his home , where he hangs out with his road buddy Betty Boop, and a special visit with his twin McKenzie and her friends! D

As the title of this post indicates, Betty, Charlie, and I visited state #11 on our overlandish odyssey – Minnesota – and are now home, although home is a relative term: Our door mat says “Home is where the welcome mat is”, and it moves regularly with our mobile tiny house. For the purposes of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, we are completing form 8840 this month: a “Closer Connection Exception Statement for Aliens”, showing our home is in Canada more than the U.S.A.  But of course our main experience of home comes in reconnecting with our children and grandchildren this week. It’s great to be home again!

For those who are counting, our original plan took us through 9 states on our inaugural journey. But the tally so far adds 2 more: We visited Missouri on the way south, to open a U.S. bank account there. And we visited Minnesota on the way north to have our slide-out toppers replaced. Our previous toppers had been ripped in a high intensity windstorm in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the Minneapolis Camping World was the closest location with the time to install new ones this week.

After we left Oklahoma, we drove through Kansas and Missouri, stopping for the night at a rest area just over the Iowa border. We then made our way to Myre – Big Island State Park, just over the Minnesota border, where we spent the evening and night in an almost deserted campground.  Following dinner we

invited another couple (Jim & Kim) to join us as we watched the sunset over Albert Lea lake. Being from Minnesota, they told us how the weather had changed dramatically in the past 2 weeks. There had been a blizzard with 2 feet of snow everywhere. Now there was just the small patch of snow and ice showing in the attached picture. Other than seeing snow on the top of a distant mountain at Alamogordo, New Mexico, it was the first snow we had seen since December!

Also noticeable in the attached pictures is the lack of foliage on the trees and ground cover. It’s always interesting to go back in time, as we leave the warmer southern regions where the grass is green, the trees are dense with leaves, and the flowers are in full bloom. As seen by the attached pics, the trees are still bare as they await the warmer spring weather that will soon embrace us.

Before visiting Minneapolis Camping World, we spent the night at a Boondockerswelcome.com location in Buffalo, Minnesota. Our hosts there have a beautiful home on a large acreage overlooking a lake, and we spent a nice evening on their back deck, chatting about past travels, future trips, and dream destinations.

Our last night on the road was in the Walmart parking lot in Fargo, North Dakota, and we are now set up at the Town & Country Campground in Winnipeg. This evening our kids and grandkids will join us for an impromptu pot luck dinner at our “home”, featuring lots of hugs and kisses.

When we crossed the border into Canada yesterday, the smiling border officer greeted us with “Welcome back!”. Yes, it’s great to be home again!

 

Cheers!

If anyone is still wondering: Yes, we made it up the hill at the Palo Duro canyon in Texas. Betty videotaped the potentially fateful feat, but we’re still not sure about posting video on this blog. So we’ll see if we can add a couple of pics taken from the Smart car as it followed the Boy up. The plan was, if I started to roll backwards, Betty would catch me with the Smart, putting on the parking brake to prevent us both from cascading over the sheer cliff face. Fortunately, we didn’t have to implement that perfect plan, and are alive to tell the tale! LOL

Before we left Amarillo, we made the slight jog westward to Cadillac Ranch, an art installation showing big finned cars that presumably got caught by the wind going up or down Palo Duro canyon, went over the cliff, and all landed face down in a nearby farmer’s field.  Not sure if

that’s true, but hey, you gotta tell your kids something about the risks of riding in big finned cars!

Anyway, on to the main focus of this post. We are now in Blake Shelton land, otherwise known as Oklahoma. We haven’t seen him or Gwen Stefani, his main squeeze these days, but have been on the lookout from our campsite at Lake Thunderbird, at the south end of Oklahoma City, to Camping World at the extreme north end. It seems like a very long drive, even with most of it on the Interstate, but many miles are past white fenced ranches on beautifully undulating land.

We had tried to make reservations for Lake Thunderbird State Park, but were unable to as our arrival date would have been less than 5 days away. The reason we couldn’t book more than 5 days in advance was the same reason you may be seeing back-to-back posts now. Being at the bottom of a deep canyon, I had NO cell phone or Wifi reception, so was more or less disconnected from the outside world until we got back above ground level. I had no idea I was such an addict! (Bet wrote this last line during her review prior to posting)

As it turned out, we were able to find a 50 amp full-service site on a level

cement pad, immediately adjacent to the lake, for the “senior citizen” rate of $28./night. Having spent so much time in the desert, it’s been great to sit out by the lake and watch a variety of boats go by. Surprisingly, some of those boats are quite large for what appears to be a relatively small body of water.  As they pass our campsite, we train our binoculars on them to catch a glimpse of Blake and Gwen, but nothing yet…

We’ll keep you posted!

Cheers!

Somehow, on most of our trips we fail to see a lot of wildlife. This particular journey is no exception. Despite big yellow signs on the roadside, advising us to watch for deer crossing, moose, bear, elk, pelicans, whatever… they generally see us before we see them, and go the other way.

There have been a few exceptions, and this post pays tribute to the wild side.

 

Ok, to begin, here’s the little jackrabbit that ran past our site in Lake Pleasant, north of Phoenix. Another exception is all the wildlife we saw in the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Otherwise, the desert in New Mexico and Arizona seemed empty of wildlife during the day. Despite lots of holes, we have seen no snakes, squirrels, chipmunks, or prairie dogs on this trip.

Apparently Betty saw a roadrunner, but didn’t have her camera with her at the time. They must be out there somewhere, because there are hotels, bars, cafés, and even a famous cartoon featuring the elusive scrawny animal. She also saw a skunk at the campsite next to ours last night, and I saw a raccoon having dessert in the dumpster when I was dropping off a deposit the other day. In both cases, no camera…

As might be expected, the most wildlife we saw was at the Grand Canyon, where deer, moose, and elk actually did cross our path in small and large numbers. Only one picture, though…

 

 

Just in case you’ve never seen a jackass, these donkeys run wild in Lake Pleasant Park. Oh yes, we saw a craven at the Petrified Forest National Park, and a cardinal at our campsite in Palo Duro Canyon. While on the subject of birds, this gaggle? (gobble?) of wild turkeys kept coming by our site at Palo Duro, to ask if it’s thanksgiving yet. One of these days I might just have

to borrow a gun from one of our local Texas cowboys, and make like a pilgrim. LOL.

Well, as you can tell, this is a pretty lame, short post. We still have another week before we get home, so maybe the wildlife is all waiting to say hi at the big yellow signs that

still lie ahead. Or maybe they just can’t read!  LOL

Cheers!

Betty & I are just south of Amarillo, Texas, at the Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Unlike Arizona’s better known canyon — where you can look but not easily touch — Palo Duro is much more accessible, while still being extremely dramatic. It brings to mind the old family favourite hymn we sang on Sunday: “Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy hands hath made…” It may not be bigger in Texas, but it’s still pretty big! More on that later.

After we left our free site at Levelland, Texas, we drove the short distance to Lubbock, where we paid due homage to the shrine for Buddy Holly at the appropriately named Buddy Holly Center.  The center chronicles his short life (22 years) and even shorter career (18 months), showing memorabilia from his childhood, and teenage friends & influences.  It obviously highlights his 25 hit records, with music that lives on and resonates with new generations.

The Center describes other musicians who influenced Holly, as well as the influence he had on his contemporaries: “As the band’s (Buddy Holly and The Crickets) popularity gained momentum, they toured the United States and then traveled to Australia and the United Kingdom in 1958. This was their biggest, most successful tour. Buddy Holly and the Crickets influenced some of the greatest British bands and artists, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Elton John. In fact, The Rolling Stones first hit was “Not Fade Away,” a Buddy Holly song. Elton John wore unnecessary glasses to be more like Buddy.”

Of course all of that ended the day the music died. On Feb. 2, 1959, Holly was on a short flight between Winter Dance Party tour stops near Clear Lake, Iowa, when his chartered plane crashed, killing Holly, “The Big Bopper” Richardson, and Ritchie Valens.  Waylon Jennings was supposed to be on the flight, but gave up his seat to The Big Bopper, who was sick with the flu.  Tommy Allsup was also slated to be on the flight, but lost his seat to Valens in a coin toss.

If you’re interested in music and the guitars Buddy Holly played in his short career, it’s worth the trip to Lubbock.

Ok, to the main focus of this post – the Palo Duro Canyon State Park, just south of Amarillo, Texas.  BTW, before I get too far, someone said “If you’re ever in Amarillo, you need to go to Edes Custom Meats.”  Well, being steak lovers, Betty & I stopped in for a butcher shop tour, a sampling of their local jerky, and of course, an opportunity to pick up some premium steak.  Being a custom shop, staff will cut your steak to your specifications, with a board showing cuts from ½ inch to 2 inches thick. I really wanted to go for the 2 inch steak, but Betty insisted that would be more of a roast. In any event, this post includes a picture of the 1-½ inch steak that Betty and I shared last night with prosciutto-wrapped asparagus and a nice bottle of Valpolicella. (For those who have read this blog before – yes, we have had this paring in the past, and we will have it again, as there is more steak in the fridge and freezer. LOL)

After traveling across a stretch of Manitoba-like bald, flat, prairie, we approached a Texas State Park entrance, where we again took advantage of our annual pass, purchased in Galveston at the beginning of January. Almost immediately we began to drop into the bowels of the earth, with the thought in both of our minds “Oh sh-t, what have we gotten ourselves into now!” LOL.

The grade is extremely steep, and appears to go down forever, with switch-backs all the way down the side of the canyon wall. Of course we are now at the bottom thinking, what goes down must come back up. But will our old Boy really make it all the way to the top again? Stay tuned, because we don’t know the answer to that question yet. LOL

As with the Grand Canyon, we’re not sure it’s possible to overdo it with pictures. We have taken dozens already, but will try to cull them to a manageable number for this post. The difference, as earlier noted, is that we are actually IN the canyon, rather than just looking at it from the rim. Our campsite has amazing views in all directions, some of which are posted here.

There are also many hiking, biking, and horseback riding paths throughout the Park, rated from easy, to moderate, to difficult. Today’s hike was an easy one, with Charlie, past a cowboy dugout built into the side of a hill. Check out the cowgirl looking out. LOL.

Speaking of cowboys, we didn’t intend to attend the Cowboy Church, which we passed on the way back from Amarillo the other day, but went to the Crossroads Country Church instead for Sunday service. One of the things that struck us was the rows of cowboy hats on the walls leading to the sanctuary. We wondered if they were maybe decorations – until after the service when the men started grabbing them and putting them on as they left!  I just had to sneak a picture as we were leaving. Unfortunately, at that point most of the hats had been picked up, but here are some that were left. Not sure if it’s only in Texas. LOL.   BTW, the service was on Matthew 25, focusing on visiting those in prison, so the message was a very nice coincidence, if you believe in coincidences…

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, we sang “How Great Thou Art”, and continued to hum it as we wandered through the woods and forest glades, hearing the birds singing in the trees; looking down from the grandeur of lofty mountains; and seeing the brooks, and feeling the gentle breeze. It was another great day as our souls sang!

Cheers!