Road trip

Whew! Two days of driving 7am to 6pm, and we were not even out of Ontario yet! It took from Monday morning until Thursday noon to get to Daughter #3 (D3). The scenery was stunning (if wet) in Northern Ontario. The lowest gas price in Thunder Bay was 143.3.
We saw only one moose and had a close encounter with a deer just over the Manitoba border. Thankfully, both deer and truck survived with no damage.
Gas prices dropped in Manitoba to 124.9, although our gas mileage got worse because of the high winds. The land flattened out before Saskatchewan and it seemed we could see for miles!
D3 was happy to see us and threw a party in our favour. One chap had lived in the Yukon and it was great to get information and input from him on the next step of our journey. We will be camping in Northern Saskatchewan with D3 and spouse this weekend, so we will probably not have any WiFi until we get back. And, of course, it's starting to rain.

W

Hwy 17 Northern Ontario

Saskatchewan

Our truck is packed to the rafters...literally.

Everything is now loaded into the truck and on the roof of the truck. There is only one concern that need to be addressed...I ran out off space for Wendy's suitcase with her 8 pairs of shoes or is it nine?. I am not willing to give up the canoe and paddles for it though. oh my, what a dilemma...

Anyhow, the Avalanche is loaded and we are sad to be officially leaving daughter #2's place today and our two other daughters in Ontario. We will travel the next three days to get to daughter #3, then we're off to spend next week-end camping up in Northern Saskatchewan with daughter #3. Finally some fishing...With Wendy's newly acquired knowledge from daughter #2 on how to post pictures with our blog, hopefully the next post will have pictures in it.

stay tune,

B

OK. Rain, already.

Here we are approaching the end of week 3. This has been a very wet spring, but at least we are inside. The trailer is parked, cleaned, and packed away for the months we are in the north-west. Repairs for the dropped parts will wait until the early fall. We have sorted through our clothes (again!) and picked the minimum that we need for the trip. Next comes the big job, packing everything into the truck and having necessities like food and a change of clothing accessible. Definitely not a Wendy job! We have debated taking the short-cut under Lake Superior. Going through the border with a well-loaded truck should be interesting, anyway! Daughter #3 (D3) is excited to see us, and we are eager to get there. Hopefully Monday is a good day to leave Ontario, 'cuz rain or no, we're outta here!

W

Two Daughters Down...

It is Saturday am. We had a very busy but satisfying week with Daughter #1, and are preparing to move. There is a family day planned with my siblings at my sister's farm, and we would like to get there this morning.
9am - hitched up the trailer in a steady drizzle
9:30 - pulled out of our parking spot in the side yard, but the bottom of the trailer did not clear the bump up to the sidewalk
9:35 - picked up cylinder storage pod and entire electric front stabilizer bar from the street and stored in daughter's garage.
11:00 - got to a Flying J to dump the grey water sewer from the trailer
11:15 - walked 1k in steady rain to buy a new sewer hose to replace the one in the cylinder storage pod we left in daughter's garage
12:30 - find out new sewer connection doesn't fit.
12:40 - throw caution to the wind and decide to drive to sister's, anyway. It's bound to be better weather tomorrow!
1:20 - get to sister's in pouring rain to park in (blessedly) dry storage. Changed out of very wet pants and shoes.

Despite the damp early start to the day, we had a great family time with lots of food and wine. Except now they are predicting rain all week...

W

Day .... 10?

Yeah, so it's easy to forget what day of the week it is when you no longer have weekends. It would be nice if we also didn't have work, but at least we are seeing physical results. We are helping Daughter #1 do work around the house. That'll stop B from complaining he doesn't have enough maintenance work to do. If we haven't blogged, it's because we have been so busy. We've moved from Ottawa to Marmora (look it up) and haven't stopped since. Next week, we'll be at Daughter #2, and still busy, repacking everything for our "holiday" trip to Alaska. I'm kinda getting used to living in a trailer, and will probably object to the tenting the trip will require. On the other hand, it will force us to put away all the boxes we still haven't unpacked :)
Maybe next time we blog, it will be from a more exciting place than Ontario.

W

Day Two..More Rain.....

How does someone fit one's worldly position in 280 sq. ft. of space without tripping all over the boxes? This was what we literally had to do last Sunday, stuff boxes, suitcases, tool box, etc. and the whole kitchen sink into our trailer and figure on ogranizing it as we go....not.

We are surely enjoying our time with our daughter in Ottawa this week. It would be even nicer if it is not so wet and cold. They are calling for snow on Thursday, luckily we are spending a full day at Le Nordik spa (massage hot tub and swedish sauna).

Next stop...Lily's place in Marmora. Don't know what adventure awaits us. Being jobless does have its merits and benefits.

B

Day One: Rain?

Well, this adventure thing is a lot of hard work! Learning the intricities of hitching up, towing, and then hooking up - in this lovely thin, constant rain - sometimes I wish I was a little younger, stronger, and longer in the memory department. But we managed to get to Ottawa and we are now parked in a little place called Hither Hills just south of the city.
Deadlines, not something I had associated with retiring, still loom as we need to pick up passports, supplies, and necessities that we didn't know we needed, before we try to move again.
Ottawa is a lovely place, and we're hoping we get a chance to enjoy some of it in this very short week. If not - we can always plan to come back and stay longer!

W