Been There, Done That

Day 13…we think.  The Beast is still in one piece and is going to get to rest for awhile.  We made it to Grundy in record heat and humidity.  We plugged in and, within just a few short minutes, managed to blow the circuit breaker on the air conditioner.

It was like old home week in the trailer park.  Within minutes we were saying hello to fellow campers Bonnie and Wayne, Mike and Louise and Syd and Lynda.  Syd is really excited about finally getting his 3 bags of Montana dirt, which Nui has been lugging around since last summer.  Just for the record, for those who follow Nui's weather archives, the temps have dropped and it rained last night. 

 And just so Prince doesn't think there's no drama at the park, we were told today that all water in the park has been shut off so the faucets and bathrooms are off limits.  Thank heavens for Class A's.

Prince's wife will be happy to learn that Prince will be returning in almost pristine condition….  a few scuffs but no dents.  The same can't be said of the Beast.

The final task for the trip is to get Prince back to the city since, it turns out, he really doesn't enjoy camping.  His motivation is more geared towards finding ways to get Nui into trouble….I mean adventures.  Staying in one place just takes all the challenge out of that.

You Bet We're Having Fun!

The last stop on the Tour D'Ont took us to Orillia, to visit our youngest sister, Jackie.  We left Oshawa under sweltering heat, which only got worse when we reached Orillia.  Nui has been heard to say that she would never use air conditioning.  She just about tore Prince's arm off getting the thermostat down to 60 when he wanted to cap it at something like 72.  "My Rig, My Rules".  It got so cold that we had to keep the adult beverages in the fridge to keep them from freezing.

This morning Jackie treated us to an awesome buffet at Casinorama.  The food was delicious…. And there was so much of it that none of us could eat again all day, with the exception of a couple of popsicles.  This is good, since it was too hot to cook.

 We made our monetary contributions to the casino gods and headed back to Jackie's beautiful home (which needs a/c and her pool re-filled {eh, Jackie…nudge, nudge}) for a nice quiet evening of TV watching, which has been a rare treat during the tour.  TV is a good thing, since neither of us are particularly interesting.

Tomorrow, we're off to Grundy and putting down roots for the summer.  Prince is looking forward to returning to the city and his wife and family.  Nui is looking forward to swimming in a lake that isn't radioactive.

Living On the Street

We bid the Cornwallians goodbye and headed up Hwy 2 at a leisurely pace, admiring the scenery and almost taking out a kid on a bike.  Apparently, the kids in some of these small towns have not learned that, if you want to show off for a girl, you shouldn't do it a) on a highway and b) less than 10 feet from a moving RV.  I'm sure we took 5 years off that kid's life.

 We arrived at our sister's house in Bath, just outside of Kingston, where (surprise, surprise) more food was awaiting us.  Carm served us a delicious spaghetti sauce, reminiscent of our youth.  And the next day we got enough BBQ's ribs to serve an army camp.  Carm lives in a country club estate, so we were quite surprised that they tolerated us living on the street for 2 days.  I'm sure they were glad to see us go…. We didn't add any value to the properties.

Then it was suck it in, suck it up, pull it out and off to Oshawa to visit our aunt Mary where we had a lovely time.  Even better, she had really great air conditioning, which came in handy because the temp was in the mid-30s, humidity was high and the humidex was at 40.  Even Nui was hot and it turns out that smog and pulmonary fibrosis don't go well together.  We parked for the night at Darlington Provincial Park, which shares lake frontage with a nuclear power plant.  We observed some oddities, such as mosquitoes with large butts, fles with four wings and green glowing mini-bugs that bite really hard.  After a few minutes of these critters, we retreated to the safety of the Beast.  More surprises were In store.  Even though we are only a few miles from Toronto, the internet doesn't work well out here.  On the other hand, we are getting really good radio reception from the fillings in our teeth.

Update:  cell phones don't work out here either.  Plus, we keep hearing the theme from the Twilight Zone.  Jackie….CALL US!

Hopelessly Lost but Making Good Time

Day 6 of the culinary…I mean ancestry tour has come and gone.    We started our day with a visit to

our cousins Tom and Virginia where we had a wonderful lunch consisting of a choice of 2 home made soups and delicious sandwiches.  We dined on their patio overlooking lake St Francis which is part of the St Lawrence seaway.  We would have liked to see the rest of their property including the labyrinth that they built but it was just a little too far for us to trek. Maybe next time.

 Full of food and the same pioneering spirit that fuelled our forefathers, we were off to follow the ancestral trails.  This is not easy as towns around here appear to have 3 or 4 names that are used at random and none appear on google.  A government conspiracy?…we don't want to go there. For example, Lancaster appears to be Glengarry, until you pass Lancaster and arrive in Alexandria, which is also Glengarry.  And not to be fooled, Glengarry becomes Fassifern, which we're sure is a name they just made up today.  The sign did look new.   We never did find Glen Robertson, although we are told that it is Alexandria which is, of course, Fassifern or Glengarry.  Even with all of their trickery, we managed to find two of the churches that members of the Prieur family were baptized in.  One of them, St. Raphael, burned down in 1970 but the ruins are spectacular.  It was built by Scottish settlers in the 1780's.  We then  
went looking for St. Alexanders in Lochiel, which is of course both Glengarry and Fassifern….maybe.  We managed to find it, but only because we took a wrong turn.  By the time we found it, we just had time to take a photo of the church and turn around and head for home which is in Lancaster/Glengarry/Cornwall/ Summerstown/Charlottenburgh and may or may

not be in either Ontario or Quebec.  Glen Nevis remains lost in the mist of eastern Ontario…. Some have seen it, but it seems they move it a lot, because it is never where they left it last time.  Someone should look into that. 

Tomorrow we are off to find Prieur Honey, which is sold but we have no idea in what town or even in what direction.  Then it's off to visit our sister in Kingston.  We're pretty sure we know where she lives.

This Ancestry Work is Fattening!

What a great couple of days we've had.  On Monday, we visited our cousins Pat and Gaetane in their beautiful new home in Rockland.  They feasted us with bbq'd pork, potatoes and broccoli and, since it was Gaetane's birthday, we also enjoyed some really great birthday cake.  Pat's brother Raymond came by later to say hello and we had a fun evening getting caught up on all the family events.  There was even a phone call from "matante GoGo", Pat and Ray's mom who lives in Sudbury.  Motorcycle buffs will drool with envy when they hear about Pat's garage, with a specially made ramp leading to an enormous basement workshop.

Oh yes, we also stopped along the way to do some ancestry stuff.  We found the church we were looking for, which has been renamed.  Makes it a bit tougher, but hey, we're tough people.

 

Yesterday, we were in Cumberland to visit friends Andy and Francine.  Another spectacularly beautiful home with a gorgeously landscaped hot tub/pool.  We spent several happy hours, bobbing in the warm salt water, enjoying some adult beverages.  All of that was followed by dinner of steak and lobster, asparagus and finally fruit flans for dessert.

 

This morning, we were off to visit another cousin, Sue.  We spent some time catching up on family events and said our goodbyes as we had to pursue still more ancestry stuff this afternoon…or so we thought.

 All of that came to a screeching halt, when the Beast got mired in several inches of bog, at the campground we selected in Cornwall.  It took a couple of hours and a tow from a large backhoe, to get us unstuck.  Once we were, we immediately headed for the nearest provincial municipal park where we managed to get a gravel pad, although it is all uphill.

Needless to say, dinner tonight was a bit of a let down…. Kraft dinner.  Ummmm…….KD!

Once installed, we called still more cousins, Tom and Virginia, who came out to see us for a couple of hours and have invited us for lunch tomorrow.  Yay!  The eating continues.

 We're beginning to think that the focus of the Tour D'Ont should change from ancestry to culinary.

Rain Delays and Culinary Adventures

We woke up this morning to dew that was so heavy it was coming down in drops.  Lots of them.  Needless to say, after a hearty breakfast, there was nothing left to do but get caught up on our napping.  This is something we do quite well.  Once we checked that task off the list, we took a tour of Voyageur Provincial Park, looking for the showers.  We drove for a half hour and finally went to the ranger station for directions, only to be told that the showers were less than 100 feet from where we are parked.  We zigged when we should have zagged.

 Our travels then took us to Thurso, Quebec for dinner and a fun evening with our cousins Isabelle and Hubert, their daughter Lise and her kids Kim and Krista.   For dessert, we were introduced to "Marie Fendues" , a fried bread served with molasses.  This is a Markstay delicacy that apparently they have been trying to keep secret all these years J  Shame….this recipe belongs on a cooking show!  Lise also shared some of her famous recipes, which we will not divulge.  All we can tell you is to go to her event hall/gift shop/bake shop/egg farm near Thurso on weekends.  And don't be surprised if Thurso becomes the next "pitchfork fondue" hotspot east of the Rockies.

 Day 3 is coming to an end.  We found one cemetery and have some good leads thanks to Isabelle.  The rains have subsided and the life boats have been put away.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.  We're hoping it's not the tornado that they announced for Sudbury earlier today.  We know how mobile mobile homes can get in those kinds of wind. 

The Tour D'Ont.... And We're Off

Off we go into the great unknown…. Well, at least the not so well known, at least to us.  Our first stop was the booming metropolis of Markstay, formerly known as Prieur Central.  It was odd not to have people standing on their doorsteps waving at us - which is a memory we have from the days when we visited our relatives as kids.  Back then, we had no sooner turned the corner into Markstay when the grapevine announced our coming.  Auntie Bea would be outside, waiting for us.  The houses are still there, the old homestead is now a golf course.  Not much else has changed though.

 Our next stop was Deep River where we indulged in Mocha ice cream and Nui managed to score what is probably the most expensive bottle of vinegar in Ontario.  However, it's in a plastic bottle and she is content with the purchase.

 Off we then went to Pembroke and the 400th Anniversary of Samuel de Champlain.  We're not really sure what the festivities were going to be but it seemed to involve a lot of running.   It was a nice park and we were greeted this morning with a marathon race.  We were tempted to join, but we had to suck it up, suck it in, pull it out and head for Hawkesbury.

 

One last thing about Moses Lake

I forgot to mention just how beautiful the lake is.  I'm sitting here watching the water and enjoying the sunset. 

Patty, from Pier 4 RV Resort, has been exceptionally nice (she was last year too).  She put me right on the water, and took the time to re-open the office to get me Chris' phone number (see previous post).  She even offered to bring a ladder to help me duct tape the awning if Chris couldn't fix it.

Very nice people out here in Moses Lake.  I would definitely recommend this place for a visit.

The Beast Appears to be Cursed!

Okay…. I know that there are a lot of people who don't think I should be travelling alone.  Apparently the gods have received the message because something out there is trying hard to keep me in one place.

 First, the Skagit River bridge fell down.  That was a bad omen.

Then, there was the leak under the sink.  I have a water filter and the cartridge is leaking - a lot.  Naturally, you have to have a PhD in plumbing to be able to repair it.  Right now, there's a plastic dish under it, catching water.

So last night, I hear a hiss coming from under the sink.  When I looked, there was black, oily water dripping everywhere.  There was an inch of it in the cupboards.  Something blew…don't know what and I sure as heck don't want to experiment trying to find out.  Thanks heavens I have the water tank system, although I'm sure that's the next to go.  I was so grateful that Paul was there - he grabbed everything and took it to the washroom to rinse it off, while I soaked up the mess.  Wish he was coming with me...he's both ornamental and functional (usually not at the same time).

Then this morning, coming through the border, I hear a crunch and find out that I've clipped their pole (and why don't they make those spots bigger!?  Stupid border people).  Anyhow, just cosmetic damage but it was a bad entry into the US.  The border guys were pretty cool about it - didn't even charge me for repainting their pole.  Maybe they were afraid I'd sue them for putting the pole in the Beast's way.  Plus they were all really cute.  There's always a silver lining :-)

So, after very little sleep, no food (still haven't had time to buy any) and 7 hours of driving, I arrive at Moses Lake, grab a cold adult beverage (thank you Paul for buying it!) and look at my poor dinged up, scraped up Beast……. And notice that the awning looks funny.  Sure enough, it is sheared off from the retaining pole!  WTF!!!

Then I walk back in and the entire antenna control has fallen to bits.  Not that it matters, since I can't get the TV to work anyhow.

Seriously, I'm getting p*ssed off.  Chris, the RV repair person and our rescuer from last year who fixed the shower, is going to fix everything tomorrow.  He is such a nice guy….and if you are ever in Moses Lake, contact Chris Cooper for ALL of your repairs or to buy a new RV (which is beginning to sound like a good idea). 

Good thing I'm fond of the Beast because, if it was a horse, I would shoot it.

Sigh….