Sorry (being Canadian I say that a lot) that I missed posting yesterday. It was my annual immune system over reaction to seasonal allergies. It seems every year I have one horrible day, where I’m pretty much dysfunctional due to my sneezing and watery eyes.
I blame this on the two guys cutting the grass in the campground in Montreal – I’m probably being unfair – as I woke up stuffed up. While everything went pretty well packing up, by mid morning my sneezing started (ask Zach what he thinks about my harrushing and why dad’s can’t sneeze quietly). By noon I had gone through one box of Kleenex and Connie cracked open a new box when we stopped at one of the OnRoute stops in Ontario.
I drove the whole day. Zach wasn’t feeling great due to a swelling in his cheek and Connie wanted to avoid the crazy 401 traffic – which it was – so I grinned (not really) and powered through. We reached the east side of Toronto mid afternoon, which was the start of rush hour. What should have taken only a couple hours took several as we drove through the city to Milton.
The campsite here is lovely and when we arrived, I was anxious to unhook and call it a night (the perfect patient that I am). When we went to disconnect the trailer, the electric jack wouldn’t work. So Zach and I did what they say shouldn’t be done – jack up the trailer using the scissor jacks (we had to disconnect the truck, so we could drive Zach to Oakville and pick up some of his stuff).
My nose was running, my head and eyes ached and I was miserable, unhappy and a general pain in the you know what. However, we made it work and soon we were on our way to Oakville and the Dias home. Chris, Michelle and the kids had gone to the cottage in the Muskoka, so he stayed in the house alone and Connie and I returned to the campsite. When we returned, I quickly showered and crashed. Connie sat outside for a while – it was very hot (34 Celsius) and humid – and I slept in the air conditioned trailer.
I awoke this morning feeling much better – it’s amazing how this reaction happens so quickly and then disappears. After my morning coffee, I opened up YouTube (this is one of the miracles of the Internet age) and found the solution to my jack problem (it seems many others have had this). I was able to disassemble the entire jack but I was in need of a vice and pipe wrench. Fortunately, the campground maintenance guy gave me access to his shop and within 5 minutes, I had achieved the most difficult part and began the process of fixing the jack.
At 11 am I had everything ready to put back together but needed to run to Canadian Tire to buy some grease (can never have enough of this stuff). While I was there I picked up a few more things – I’m the desirable Canadian Tire shopper always finding something else I can use while I’m there.
On the way home I discovered a car wash! Wow! Québec doesn’t seem to have any of these. I turned in and gave the Tundra a much needed wash and then returned to the campsite. Connie had spent the morning doing laundry and packing up 1/2 of Zach’s stuff. I got right to work on reassembling the jack but had to take a few breaks due to thunder storms with heavy rain and a little hail. Connie was kind enough to make us a bite of lunch and by 1pm my jack was back in working order – cost $5 in grease and a few hours of my labour (much cheaper than $275-$375 for a new one).
Zach had texted Connie before noon to say that he was headed to Toronto on the train to meet up with his friend Griffin Vona and that he expected to be back around 330 or 4pm. He was taking his bike to the downtown and we planned to pick him up at Bronte Station (near Chris and Michelle’s) when he returned in the afternoon.
After lunch we went for a quick trip to pick up groceries. We’ve discovered that Ontario doesn’t want people to drive pickup trucks because the parking lots (slots and lanes) are designed for SmartCar width cars…sheesh! After returning to the campsite to unpack the groceries Connie received a text from Zach that he was on his way to Bronte and we should meet him there in 45 minutes.
I plugged the coordinates into the GPS lady and she said 30 minutes. We left the campsite and the GPS lady took us on what must be the most indirect route to Bronte GO station – seriously this GPS lady is getting on my nerves. Three major highways (the 401, 407 and 403 (the latter are toll highways) and a complete circle – at least as far as I could tell. We arrived late but Zach was patient as usual.
After picking up Zach we returned to Chris and Michelle’s to pack up the rest of Zach’s stuff. Meg (Margaret – Chris’s Mom) was there having returned with Maple (the wonder dog) from the cottage, and we had a lovely but short visit. She was telling us they had a wonderful time at the cottage. The bottom floor had flooded, so four bedrooms were unable to be used. Regardless the Dias family and 8 other families (couples with 3-4 kids) had come to stay there in the past week. Meg said while it was crazy busy they had such a wonderful time. Meg is such a wonderful person and has been so kind to Zach. It was hard saying goodbye and I found my eyes starting to well up with tears as I looked in the rear view mirror to see her stand in the driveway and watch us while we drove away. This family will always hold a special place in our hearts.
When we returned to the campsite, we began packing the remainder of Zach’s stuff. We are now officially full (trailer and truck are now at capacity). As we were packing up an older couple stopped by to chat. They said – you folks have come a long way. We got to chatting and they told us they have 2 sons who live in BC (one in Whistler and the other in North Van). They both love Kelowna – who doesn’t? She grew up in Austria and loves the mountains, so BC is a draw to her.
We have met some very nice people on this trip and I have to say that I love Canada! I love the country and the people and I think this is the best place on earth.
Mal and Connie's Cross Canada Adventure 2.0 