Almost back from the Soo

We left the states yesterday and decided to stop and check out one more campground, this one closer to Brantford. We will need a place to park the rig later in the fall and early in the spring. Most parks around Ontario close up after thanksgiving weekend mid Oct. and don't open until mid May. This park we are checking out just north of Woodstock stays open till the end of Oct. and opens the first of May. Nice little park which is definately an option. We will spend the morning cleaning up and getting the rig ready for a few weeks of sitting. The next time we take it out will be as our home on wheels at the end of Sept. when our sublet on the apartment expires.

Up in the Soo

After a long drive and a two night stay near Sudbury we arrived in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario for the Titanium Owners rally. We picked up a few friends along the way and when we pulled into the KOA we had a convoy of 4 Ti's checking in. By the next day we had about 28 rigs here. The first night campfire we had a local historian give us an overview of the history and attractions in the area. Thursday saw a morning tour of the Ermatinger Old Stone House , Bushplane Museum where we had lunch and a tour of the Essar steel plant, with our good friends Paul and Jane we stopped at the local casino to try our luck with the free vouchers we were given and Sue and I ended up about $100 to the good (at least for now) A wine and cheese was put on by the park owners in the evening and then on to the campfire. whew a busy day. Friday was taken up all day with The Agawa train tour ending with another campfire. Saturday morning it was off to the local farmers market for some homemade wild blueberry pie. In the evening we boarded a bus for St. Joes island where we had a good whitefish dinner then went to the a ghost walk at Fort St. Joseph National historic site..... what a treat really well done and the night sky was spectacular with little ambient light to dull the night sky. Sunday started with a tech talk and open house with the evening seeing us eating again at the pot luck. (we made perrogies) The prize drawing was held after the meal and everyone got a prize ranging from O gravity chairs to door wreaths. Sue and I got a collapsible bucket filled with goodies. Monday we got up early again and headed over the boarder to board a boat for a tour of the locks on the American and Canadian sides. We had lunch in Sault Ste. Marie Michigan and then crossed back over for an afternoon Heritage Tea at a Parks Canada Lock administrators house. Afterwards we stopped in at the casino to donate some of our winnings back and ended the day with another campfire.

Thanks to Mike and Dianne for organizing this event packed rally we will be leaving Thursday to head down through Michigan towards home.

Doug.

up in the air

The move is done....... we are located on the 4th floor of an apartment building in Brantford at least till the end of Sept. then its into the RV to live at least for as long as Sue can stand me. I am exhausted what with purging 29 years of "stuff" packing up the rest, dealing with the emotions of two kids and Sue, moving all the things to storage or into the new apartment, oh and yes dealing with my emotions. To top it off it has been hot hot hot Looking forward to a few days of relaxing.

Homeless

House is sold ....... wow that went fast just 2 weeks on the market. Some tough negotiating but our realter Dave Schouten did a great job. We are happy with the outcome but and it is a big butt (the house not mine:-) well that one is to) we have to find another place to live and pack up everything and move by July 29th. Yikes !!!!! we will rent in the short term then when Sue retires it's full time RVing for us at least for a year. Well gotta go packing to do

What else could have gone wrong?

Well had the open house today and Sue and I worked hard for the last few days getting everything spiffy for the showing. Sue was off to a bridal shower and I stayed around till the Realtor got here, then handed off to him for the 2 hour showing. I went up to visit my father who was alone as my mother was with Sue at the shower.....had no sooner gotten there when my phone rang it was the realtor (Dave Schouten) calling to ask if I knew I had a leak in the basement between the hot water heater and the furnace/air conditioner....... No everything was fine when I did a last walk through 1/2 hour before he arrived. Went right back home to discover that the hot water heater was leaking and it was getting worse........what lousy timing as people were showing up to view the house. The heater was a rental so I called the company and they said they would send someone over. I turned the water off and left again. 1 hour later I got another call saying the repair guy was there and was replacing the tank. Oh well all we could do was tell the people visiting that if they bought they were getting a new hot water heater. :-) Dave also informed me that a lady viewing the backyard got stung by a wasp and that he found the nest on the bottom of a small stool I had near the hot tub. He found a hockey stick and got the stool and nest out of there but a little boy with another group also got stung. What a day ..........Oh well lots of people toured the house hope something comes of it.

Doug.

House is on the market

Well Sue and I have been very busy lately, Sue with work and both of us with getting the house ready to put on the market ....... yes after 29 years here we are pulling up stakes and moving...... well not sure yet where we are moving but it will be a smaller place (house) with less grass to cut. Sue and I want to travel and not be tied down to a house and all the associated "chores", at least for a year or two.

So.... the for sale sign went up last week and we have already had a few people looking. This Sunday we are having an open house so hopefully we will start getting some offers coming in to consider. If anyone is interested the MLS # is 31090 enter it at www.mls.ca

This selling a house thing is a pain however as you never know when someone might want to have a tour soooooo the house has to be kept neat and tidy all the time. I hope it stops raining before Sunday so I can give the grass a good trimming and get the pool cleaned up and looking spiffy. I'll let you know how it goes.

Doug.

Kingston Titanium Reunion

Just got back from the 6th Kingston Titanium Reunion. The weather was changeable to say the least. Rain Rain Rain when we arrived and most of the 40 RVs we had in our group ended up having waterfront property. The Scottish festival they have on Saturday looked like a mud bowl. Sunday things started to dry out and by Tuesday the steam bath was on. Wednesday saw high winds and Thursday brought cool temps. Despite the weather extremes we had a great time. Me for the whole week and Sue on the weekend. Happy hours, pot lucks, dinner cruises, casino trips, hiking and evening campfires were all enjoyed as was the company of many fine friends. I have posted a few pics here

Http://picasaweb.google.com/collindo99

Doug.

First Trip of the summer

I had a birthday celebration for Sue's sister to attend in Erieau Ontario and decided to get the rig out of its winter hibernation. Rondeau Provincial park was close by so rushed all day Friday getting things back in the rig and dewinterizing the water system. Boy it was a long day as I got up at 3:30 am (yup that's in the morning) to watch the royal wedding. Sue had some friends over and we had scones and champagne orange juice. Anyway by the time we got down to Rondeau after Sue got home from work and set up, we were both ready for a long sleep so off to bed at 9:30 .....had a great sleep. Saturday was a great day weather wise and we arrived to help the birthday girl celebrate at around 11:30 am. When we returned to the park we had time to go for a walk on the beach and had a nice fire to end the evening. Sunday morning we awoke to rain and rain and more rain. It finally stopped around noon so we hurriedly packed up hooked up and left for home. Think I'll head up to Morry's to get some "stuff" done on the trailer tomorrow.

Doug.