Mal and Connie's Cross Canada Adventure 2.0

Today marks the beginning of our second cross Canada trip dubbed “The Long Way Across”.

Some of you may recall we did a similar trek back in 2019 while both of us were still working. On that trip, we had just 4 weeks to drive across the northern US States and into Ontario, where we picked up Zach, who freshly graduated from the University of Toronto, and the three of us drove as far as Cape Breton Island and then back home via the Trans Canada.

This time around we don’t have vacation time restraints because we are retired! Well, mostly retired…I have to attend two days of Board meetings in Vancouver in late September.

Last time, we drove away from Ethan and Carissa, and Sam and Leona, who were in Vancouver and towards Zach in Toronto. This time, we are driving away from Zach and toward Ethan, Carissa and our grandson Boden in Bathurst New Brunswick, and toward Sam and Leona in Moncton, New Brunswick.

Today, after saying our goodbyes to Zach and following my virtual Board meeting (same Board), we got on the road and headed toward our first stop, North Thompson River Provincial Campground, located on the Yellowhead Highway.

After leaving home, we headed west on the Coquihalla Connector (5A) towards Merritt. If you followed my blog the last time, you may recall I spoke often about the thirsty Tundra with its big V8 pulling our 25 foot Rockwood Minilite travel trailer.

For this trip we traded the Tundra for a hybrid Ford F150 pulling a 30 foot Rockwood Ultralite travel trailer. While the hybrid Ford is much better on gas around town (11 to 12 litres per 100 kilometres), it’s not stellar when pulling a 30 foot trailer (19 – 23 litres per 100 kilometres). On top of that, the truck is chock full (back seat of the cab included) of goods we are delivering to New Brunswick. We are a little bit heavier this time around.

I realize it is out of character for me but I took it extra easy climbing up the Connector to the summit. Even our friends Andy and Lisa who are camping elsewhere for the weekend, blew by us in their Tundra towing their Rockwood Minilite trailer. As we climbed toward Sunset Main, I watched the gas gauge needle drop steadily and I felt that sinking feeling in my gut. The plan was to refill in Kamloops but I was certain we wouldn’t make it that far. Fortunately, once we reached the summit, the needle seemed to stay put and we even gained some fuel efficiency as we rolled down the hill to Merritt.

When we pulled into Chevron for a refill in Kamloops, I kept wondering why everyone was looking at me funny. When I jumped out of the truck I soon discovered why.

Last year our friend Lisa (Andy) showed us her new bike alarm. Like Lisa we have e-bikes and they are a “hot” commodity these days. I decided to purchase two alarms for our bikes. While they don’t stop someone from stealing your bike, they do draw some attention as the thief moves the bikes and attempt their getaway.

Wise readers will know where this is going.

On Wednesday evening, I loaded our bikes on the back of the trailer and set the alarms. This seemed like a good idea at the time because we were going out to listen to Zach perform as the guest artist with his good friend Anthony D’Alessandro’s Jazz Quartet who visited Kelowna from Toronto on Wednesday pm. When we returned home late Wednesday night, the bikes were still on the rack at the back of the trailer. This morning they were still there.

However, when we left home I neglected to deactivate the alarm. I expect they began screeching out their sounds shortly after we drove away from the front of our house and continued to do so until we arrived at Chevron in Kamloops.

The good news is the alarms work! The bad news is the batteries are likely a little low now and I once again was reminded that I’m getting old and forgetful.

I hope this short story brought a smile to your face. I can hardly wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Bye for now.

After fueling up with cheap Alberta gas, we hit the road at 830am. From Cochrane we took Highway 1A for about 30kms a most scenic drive through the foothills towards the Rockies. We saw incredible beauty across the country but this morning we unanimously agreed there is nothing more beautiful than British Columbia (okay…and a little part of Alberta for the Rockies).

The GPS lady predicted it would take us 8 hours and 49 minutes to return home. This was almost an hour longer than Google and Apple maps. You’d think the GPS lady would be able to adjust to my driving habits by now. We made it to our home in 8 hours and found all was well. I didn’t expect to see the front yard grass so green and healthy. It seems summer in the Okanagan has been cooler and wetter than normal.

Taking 4 weeks off work to make a trip like ours doesn’t happen without the support of others. Thanks to Matthew our neighbour for checking in on the house 3 times each week, watering Connie’s house plants, picking up the mail and collecting the newspapers (even though we cancelled the subscription). Thanks to my friend Doug for cutting the grass – the place looks terrific. Thanks to my sister Karlene for occasionally dropping by to see that all was well. Thanks also to my team at work for taking care of things while I was away, and a special thanks to Catherine who acted in my place. You are all very much appreciated.

Most importantly, I give my love and thanks to Connie and Zach for being such great travel partners. Connie planned the entire trip and did an absolutely fantastic job. While some days were long, every drive and stop was interesting and memorable. We laughed, we cried (mostly because of the laughter), we listened to each other, we debated with each other and best of all we learned from each other.

Finally, I have to say it isn’t always easy putting up with me and my shortcomings (which are many) but Connie and Zach while frequently exasperated, were mostly patient and always kind. I love each of them so very much. This truly was a bucket list trip and I am so very grateful…and as the shirt says “lucky”.

When we left West Kelowna 30 days ago, I took a photo of the odometer, which read 23,813kms. When we arrived home today, I took another, which reads 38,675kms. We travelled 14,862 kilometres in 30 days!

PS…since I love driving so much, at 5pm I drove Zach and Jessica, a friend from high school, to Mackenzie Lake (just north of Princeton), so they could participate in what is turning into an annual get together at Cole’s cabin. I dropped them off at the dock and they rode by boat to the cabin, which has even less amenities than our trailer. Oh to be young again!

We woke to clear skies and sunshine. When we had checked in, the lady at the campsite recommended we take the train downtown and arrive at the train station no later than 8am. Since it was the second to last day of the Stampede, she said there would be a high demand for free parking at the park and ride.

As usual I was first up and I enjoyed a cup of coffee while Connie and Zach got organized. I’ve been setting the pace on this trip…well at least the daily start time. I expect both of them will be happy to be home and not have me every morning, raising the stabilizer jacks, rummaging around in the storage beneath their beds, disconnecting the power and water too soon, and being an overall annoyance.

We left the campsite at about 815am and 35 minutes later arrived to a mostly empty park and ride. The early bird gets the worm! After purchasing a day pass for the train, we along with 4 or 5 others, who looked equally pleased to be there, began our journey into downtown Calgary. When we arrived, things were underway but far from busy. We stopped by an information booth, listened to the musicians playing in the park and then wandered around looking for a Scotiabank, so I could withdraw some cash.

At 10 am we sat down street side for breakfast and watched the mini parades pass by.

A group of young guys sat next to us getting an early start to their day, downing several caesars, mimosas, etc. The restaurant staff were getting ready for a hot day by loading up the washtubs with ice and beer and around that time the manager noticed Connie was without a hat and gave her this one.

After breakfast we made our way to the Stampede grounds. We wandered through the exhibits, listened to the performers and checked out the rides passing time before heading to the grandstand to watch the rodeo. It’s been years since I’ve been to a rodeo. I loved attending the Black Mountain Rodeo and Falkland Stampede as a kid and had always wanted to attend the mother of all rodeos in Calgary.

After the rodeo, we left the Stampede grounds to eat a little more healthy dinner. Once again we sat street side – this time under the shade of umbrellas because it was hot.

When we returned to the Stampede grounds, Connie and I decided to get a child sized ice cream for dessert. I don’t know exactly what this stuff was made of but I suspect there was little of what resembled ice cream contained within it. I ate a few spoonfuls and then tossed it.

We headed back to the grandstands to watch the chuckwagon races and met up with our friends Dave and Alice along with their son Jordan and his girlfriend Meg.

They’ve been to the Stampede many times and have a tradition of betting a twoney on every race. Zach and I ended up where we started but I think Connie walked away with a few more coins in her pocket.

After the races, we said our goodbyes and headed back to catch the train. While we were in the downtown area, a young guy and his friends jumped on. I said to Connie, “I know that guy. That’s Dylan Czink”. Dylan and Zach played minor hockey together a couple of years. He left West Kelowna to study engineering at SAIT. One he and I made eye contact, he recognized me and came over to chat with us. It was great to catch up.

Tomorrow is the last day of our adventure and will be my final blog entry. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have writing it. Until then, I will do my best to get us on the road bright and early tomorrow!

We left Regina bright and early (well not incredibly early). Our campsite was on the east side of the city and while we drove by and read the signs last night, the driver decided to ignore the ‘road closed – local traffic only’ sign and proceed to what he thought was Moose Jaw. After a couple of kilometres on the highway, we appeared to be all alone and the driver got the sense that he’d made a poor decision. At the next available ’emergency vehicles only’ section, he did a u-turn and headed back toward Regina. Turns out this was the right decision.

As we headed toward Moose Jaw, we saw a Shell station advertising gas at $1.15 per litre and we drove on. The next available station posted $1.22, so we kept pushing on. We encountered a little road construction – seal coating – so we were limited to 60km/h for quite a stretch.

We passed though Moose Jaw and stopped to fill up with gas in Swift Current at $1.21 per litre. While not $1.15, it is still cheaper than home, so I was happy to fill up the Tundra. To give me a break, Connie took over the driving until we stopped for lunch at the Saskatchewan/Alberta border. Unfortunately, she got the bulk of the wind and the trailer was ‘a wavin’.

I hopped back into the drivers seat as we headed to Medicine Hat and on to Brooks where we stopped for gas. The wind had died down nicely and from this point on, I was able to make good time, at times pushing the speed to 110km/h.

Overall, it was a pretty uneventful day and we arrived at the campsite in Cochrane about 630pm.

Tomorrow we plan to leave early to drive to the C-Train station to park and ride the train into Calgary to the Stampede.

We left sunny Winnipeg at about 9am. As we were leaving I commented the roads in Winnipeg rivalled those of Montreal. Zach was quick to correct me, as from his perspective Montreal wins that contest easily.

As we journeyed westward, we were met by very strong winds. At times these were headwinds and at other times, crosswinds. Under these conditions, I really missed the Ford 1 ton diesel. Frequently, the wind would catch the trailer and caused it to sway from side to side. The Tundra simply isn’t heavy enough to withstand these conditions and it slows us down significantly.

About 1/2 way between Winnipeg and Brandon, we encountered a mobile home of sorts. As you can see from the photo, it took up most of the two westbound lanes of the highway.

I’ve seen a few homes being moved before but this was a first of this size and vintage for me. I almost drove off the shoulder of the road to avoid hitting his porch roof. I wonder why they wouldn’t have just simply built it on site rather than go to all the trouble and expense to move it. Inquiring minds would like to know.

Shortly after leaving Brandon, we crossed the provincial boundary into Saskatchewan and gained another hour. From this point until Regina there is very little of anything other than flat fields with varying species of crops. We did stop off at a rest area that registered as El Capo on my iPhone weather app. From a moment, I thought I’d passed through a 3rd dimension and ended up in Mexico.

After arriving in the campsite, just east of Regina, we set up and made dinner before driving to downtown Regina.

We walked around the park in front of the legislature and then around the little lake (about 4kms) before returning to the campsite.

Tomorrow we head for Cochrane for a couple of nights before heading home on Sunday. Until next time.

It poured rain (literally) last night. The sound of the rain pounding on the top of the RV and the sound of the CN train whistles throughout the night kept us from sleeping too soundly. I awoke at 4am to the sounds of the birds who seemed to rejoice at the substantive amounts of water poured into, what I understand from the locals was previously, a thirsty land.

I did my best to rest until about 730am when I got up to bring in the awning as the wind was beginning to blow. Shortly after I showered, shaved and checked out the fresh eyebrow growth (it’s coming along nicely). Connie was a dear and got up to perk me a cup of coffee on the outside stove. Thanks to the wind and later (mid morning) sun things were drying out quite quickly. 

I opened up the truck to see how well the tonneau cover kept things dry. Everything apart from Zach’s keyboard (packed inside the original box) and the camping chairs was dry. Fortunately, the keyboard is encased in it’s original packaging so, it remained dry and we laid out the box in the sun and wind to dry.

I decided to take a quick trip to buy propane. Hint, if you want to find a gas station that sells propane, ask someone and don’t trust the GPS lady, Google or Apple. The first gas station I went to didn’t sell propane, so I decided to Google propane suppliers. I chose the first one about 13kms away and drove there. To my surprise it was no longer in business. I then picked the next location on the list (32 kms in the other direction) and proceeded to drive there. 

In the meantime, Zach and Connie wondered what happened to me (I’d been gone for about 45 minutes) and called me to ask what was up. I was somewhere in downtown Winnipeg, a place I’d rather not revisit, and about 10 minutes away from my new destination. Zach’s first question was, “did you ask someone?” Within 2 minutes I found a Co-Op gas station that sold propane and pulled in. A young gentleman with a fine set of protruding top teeth seemed excited to see me (I think he might have been new at pumping propane) as he enthusiastically told me to put the tanks down while he finished pumping gas in a customer’s car. 

Upon taking my tanks to the scale, he took an inordinate amount of time calculating the amount of propane I would need. He seemed to be doing long division. After what seemed 10 or 15 minutes, he handed me a slip of paper and told me to pay the cashier located in the hut nearby. I obediently did as he asked and paid the well weathered lady behind the counter. Upon my return to the young man, he seemed quite distraught. He was pulling and pushing nobs and levers and with exasperation said “I’m very sorry but I’m going to have to refund you the money because I can’t get the pump to work.” Naturally, I was very pleased with the situation and followed him into the hut. He explained to the lady behind the counter the situation and she gave him a sound tongue thrashing for charging the customer before he’d pumped the propane.

Fortunately, another lady emerged from the back of the hut and whispered something into his ear. Upon hearing the news, he bounded past me and out the door and around the back of the large propane tank. Within seconds, he returned to the location of my tanks, reconnected the first and flipped the switch. Voila! The pump began to dispense propane. A great feeling of relief passed through my body and he looked up to me and apologized profusely. “I didn’t know there was a power switch on this side of the tank.” I told him not to worry. I was just relieved to know that I wouldn’t be returning to the campsite empty handed and humiliated even further.

After returning to the campsite, I reconnected the propane tanks and downed a couple more cups of coffee. By this time it was approaching noon and I had a maintenance appointment for the Tundra at 130pm. While I was there, Connie and Zach would tour The Forks. Unfortunately, these two locations are at opposite ends of the town, so we had barely enough time for me to drop them off and make the appointment time.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to experience The Forks but here are a few photos they took while there.

I spent the better part of 2 hours waiting for my truck to be serviced. However, I was very impressed with the level of service provided at Crown Toyota and in particular my service advisor. Darryl. He was a most pleasant and talkative fellow and we got along famously. He was able to pull my service records from Kelowna and determined what I needed and then provided me with a fresh cup of coffee in the lounge while the mechanic worked on my truck. I should point out that Darryl approached every customer with the same exuberance he did with me. This dealership has a terrific employee – one who acts like an owner. If only all employees were like him.

At about 330pm, I returned to The Forks to pick up Connie and Zach and return to the campsite. Zach stayed behind to play his sax while Connie and I went out to pick up some groceries and gas. When we returned, Zach was playing and one of our neighbours, John from Dryden, Ontario popped by to say how much he appreciated the live music.

Tomorrow we head to Regina, about a 6 hour drive. Here’s hoping for dry weather as I’ve heard Alberta and Saskatchewan have had their share of thunderstorms and Alberta a tornado!

Here tonight there is a beautiful sunset and I am so grateful. I love sunshine from the moment of dawn until dusk.

We left Thunder Bay…actually Kakabeka Falls, this morning expecting to see smoke from forest fires. Instead, it began to rain about an hour into our journey and continued off an on until we reached Manitoba. It was then it really began to rain and as I sit looking out the window of the RV, it is still coming down like it’s the time of Noah.

We pulled out of the campsite at about 815am. We had a head start today because I decided not to unhook last night. Everything went fairly smoothly until I decided to move the truck forward off the levelling blocks (we were a tad low on the passenger side). All of a sudden I heard a pop. I figured it was Roger, our neighbour from Moncton, but Zach and Connie started waving at me frantically and giving me some incredulous looks. You forgot to remove the wheel blocks! The pop was the sound of the plastic disintegrating as the trailer tire rolled over the relatively new wheel block. You see it’s not the first time yours truly has done this.

Despite this Roger seemed impressed with our progress and suggested to Zach that since we were doing so well packing up, we should come over and help him. Zach replied “I’m really not sure we’re doing that well.”

As we pulled out, we waved goodbye to Roger and his girlfriend, and a few of the Good Sam Club ladies, and made our way toward Kenora, which in fun we suggested is pronounced Nora since the “Ke” should really be silent. At about 930am, we crossed into the central time zone and it became 830am.

The country is beautiful in its own right but it was kilometres and kilometres of the same scenery.

Most of the vehicles on the road with us were other RVs and transport trucks. Any cars or pickup trucks we saw only briefly as they blew by us like we were standing still. We stopped for gas in a place called Ignace and paid $1.41 per litre – the most expensive yet. Had we waited until reaching Dryden, we would have paid $1.28.

After topping up the Tundra, Zach offered to drive and I was more than willing to accept. He drove until shortly after noon, when we stopped for lunch along side the highway and had a bite to eat.

After lunch, I jumped back into the driver’s seat and we pressed on. When we arrived in Kenora, we decided to drive through the downtown (there is a highway 17 bypass) as we needed gas. I was really glad we took the detour as Kenora is situated on the shores of the Lake of the Woods, and the drive through is well worth it.

Within minutes of leaving Kenora, we were in Manitoba and highway 17 became highway 1. It was at this point the rain began to fall and it hasn’t stopped. As luck would have it, the side of the highway heading west is under construction, so we got to drive about 30 kilometres on gravel – oh joy! I know prairie people drive on gravel all the time and when I was a kid, we had lots of gravel roads but honestly, I’m done with gravel. Further, in BC we remove the old pavement and lay down new at the same time. Why can’t this be done elsewhere?

Once through the construction, we were back on pavement and after driving 30 kilometres through the pouring rain, the mud had been pretty well washed off. When we arrived in Winnipeg, the GPS lady direct us to the wrong end of the road where the campsite is located. This meant driving 5 kilometres on (you guessed it gravel…dirty, muddy gravel). I was deflated and close to telling the folks at Toyota tomorrow that they can take the GPS from this vehicle and…

When we arrived in the campsite, the rain was coming down so hard that I got completely drenched simply by opening the window to ask the lady to open the gate (it’s like Fort Knox here). This is what it looked like at the time.

Connie jumped out to run over to the office to register and landed right into a mud puddle. I know what you are thinking. I could have parked in a better spot but honestly the whole parking lot was a mud puddle. When she returned, she was drenched and presented me with a stack of sopping wet campsite papers.

We pulled into our site and debated whether we should set up or just wait it out. We decided to set up, which was a good decision because waiting it out would likely have meant sleeping in the truck tonight.

After we were done, all 3 of us were soaked to the bone.

We changed into dry clothes and agreed to skip the dishes and eat dinner in town. Zach suggested pizza, so we went to BP.

If all goes well, the rain should ease up by mid morning tomorrow. After that we will tour a bit of Winnipeg and then I’ll leave Connie and Zach to explore the town in more detail while I take the Tundra in for service.

Until then, I will be humming the words from Eddie Rabbit’s song: “I love a rainy night. Such a beautiful sight. I love to feel the rain on my skin, feel the rain on my lips.”

This morning I awoke early and went outside to make a cup of coffee and pack things up. Our neighbour from Victoria had already left, heading east towards Newfoundland. Our other neighbour and his wife were enjoying a cup of coffee and breakfast, while their chocolate labrador puppy waited obediently for his owners next command.

The dawn had brought a light dew and the air was fresh and clean. It took very little time for me to get things put away…at least as much as I could while I waited for Connie and Zach to finish up inside. I decided to dispose of the garbage and recycling. Upon my return I spotted a massive Elite trailer being pulled by a single axle Freightliner truck (of the tractor trailer Freightliner). It is quite interesting to see the variety of recreational vehicle combinations. Our current neighbour, Roger from Moncton, is pulling a small tent trailer behind his Honda Gold Wing motorcyle.

Our trip today was mostly uneventful. We made better time than expected, despite the fact we went through more road construction and single lane traffic than any time previously. Shortly after leaving Sault St Marie, we stopped at the Pancake Bay Provincial Park on the shores of Lake Superior. It was a beautiful spot, the sand was clean, and the water cold and smooth as glass.

The remainder of the day was dedicated to driving apart from 3 stops for gas and a short break for lunch at a picnic spot on the Depew River.

We experienced a few more hills today, so gas mileage took a hit. For the most part, the highway follows the shoreline of Lake Superior. In the afternoon, the skies became increasingly smokey and by the time we reached Thunder Bay, the smell of smoke was in the air. The fires are north west of here, so we should expect thick smoke tomorrow as we make our way to Manitoba.

When you book a campground on-line, you can never be certain in what type of campsite you will end up spending the night. Photos posted on-line are often quite different than what you find when you arrive. Tonight we are staying in Kakabeka at a Good Sam approved site. I would describe it as a mix of a scene from the Trailer Park Boys and a Kampground of America. We are situated on the border between the two.

After dinner, and despite the head shaking and ‘Oh Dad’ comments from Zach, I decided to go visit some of our neighbours. Roger is right beside us. He is 71 years young and is crossing off one of his bucket list items – to drive across Canada on his motorcycle. Joining him on the trip is his girlfriend and the two of them sleep in a tent trailer that is about 4×5 feet. This made me recall the guys teasing me when I brought my camper to work on the Alaska Highway – “are you planning to bring the girlfriend up Mal?” Roger tells me that it’s small but comfortable and all he needs (the girlfriend wasn’t there, so I’m not sure what she thought). “The Gold Wing pulls the trailer (about 1,000 pounds fully loaded) with little effort”, he says.

At 845pm a group of 12 campers has assembled around a campfire in a site infront of us. I dropped by to ask where they were all from. “Thunder Bay”, they respond. “We are here for 2 weeks”. What I say? You drove a whole 26 kilometers to camp here? They then asked me where I was from and I got the typical response…”you’ve come a long way.” They asked me to fetch Connie and Zach and pull up some chairs in front of the fire. I thanked them and said I’d share the invite.

It turns out they are local chapter members of the Good Sam Club. Every summer, they camp together somewhere every two weeks. One of the ladies tells me they are not straying too far these days as they are all getting a little older. I guessed they ranged in age from early sixties to late eighties. I mentioned that my Mom turns 94 this month, to which in unison they responded “good for her”! I said that I encouraged her to stop driving at 90. One fella, who I learned was 87, was quite perturbed with me. “Why? I want to know why you would do that?” He was driving a 38 foot motor home across from us. My comment seemed to fan the flames of an outstanding debate between the campers. As things began to escalate (particularly between the ladies and the men), I decided it was a good time for me to exit, so I bid them goodnight.

Tomorrow we head for Winnipeg. I’ve booked the Tundra in for an oil change on Wedensday as it’s now well overdue having travelled some 10,000 kilometers.

We left Milton about 9am. The skies were clear and the sun was shinning – always a great way to start the day.

Within a few minutes we were on the 401 heading east (yes east, before heading north). Traffic was light on the 401 and also on the 407…perhaps because it was Sunday. When we reached 400 north, we decided to stop at the first OnRoute to top up the Tundra and grab a coffee. There was a Starbucks so I was able to get an Americano (unfortunately no Clover at these sites).

After a quick stop we continued north toward Barrie. Zach wasn’t entirely certain but he thought when he rode with the Dias family to the cottage they took the 400 for part of the journey (their cottage is near Huntsville on Mary Lake).

After reaching Muskoka and Parry Sound, 400 ended and highway 69 began. We continued on until we reached Sudbury when we turned on to Highway 17. The Muskoka is pretty…little lakes everywhere. I can see why people who live in the Greater Toronto Area want to have a cottage there. We stopped for gas just south of Parry Sound, the home of Bobby Orr. I wish we had more time to explore these places but we must be home within a week and our 8 to 9 hour driving days are already long.

Just south of Sudbury, we saw a small black bear cub eating berries on the side of the road. After reaching Sudbury, I mused why anyone would settle here – I’m presuming mining? My friend and colleague Gaston lives in Sudbury and I recall asking him one time if he drove to Toronto to catch a plane to Boston or Vancouver. He laughed and told me they flew. Today, I understood why – 5 hours of driving. We passed by quickly and continued on to our destination of Sault St Marie.

Driving through Sault St Marie was interesting. One needs to be careful to make all the right turns to avoid ending up in the USA – Michigan. There were several previous business establishments boarded up, which makes me wonder if this community like many small towns in BC is struggling to sustain its economy.

After one more stop for gas in a place whose name escapes me, we pushed on for the Sault (pronounced Sue). About 30 minutes south, we passed this fella.

We arrived right on the GPS lady’s time into the KOA campsite and saw a young cow moose munching grass (didn’t snap a photo – sorry). The campsite is very nice and it even has a high pressure RV wash! If we had more time, I’d be in there – for those of you who know me and my OCD, it’s killing me not to wash off all the bugs. We quickly unhooked, met the neighbours. One guy and his two young boys is from Victoria and headed for Newfoundland and the other is from Markham and headed to Brandon. They left their trailers hooked up for an early departure tomorrow morning.

While Connie prepared dinner, I ran into town to gas up the Tundra. When I returned dinner was ready and we sat down to a lovely meal of pork chops, mixed vegetables and new potatoes, followed by dessert – Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice ream with maple liqueur.

After dinner Connie and I chatted…well she chatted and I attempted to listen. I mostly heard what she said but at some point I confess I stopped listening. It was a crucial point as she said “your wine has tipped over!” I was looking at my iPhone and said “hmmm.” She then raised her voice and said “your wine is spilling on the ground!” I jumped to attention but too late, all but a swallow had spilled. Connie used this as another learning opportunity for me. “See”, she said. “You never listen to what I say.” I responded, “I was listening.” Oh really? At this point I must have pushed the Siri button on my iPhone as she immediately blurted out “I’m listening”. To this Connie and I laughed hysterically. Siri responded by saying “I’m glad you find this funny.”

Meanwhile, Zach decided to reorganize the back of the truck. I had mentioned in yesterday’s post that we are very full now. I was skeptical that he could make more space. He responded with “you are always skeptical of me.” I protested…”not always!” In any case, I retreated to the trailer and began writing this blog entry. Shortly thereafter, Connie summoned me to come and see Zach’s masterpiece. He had done it! Everything was fitting inside the back of the pickup, with room to spare. He said in TPB fashion, “Dad, I’m not normally one to say I toad-a-so but I *** a toad-a-so!” I admitted my defeat and apologized for my skepticism.

Time for sleep now as we have another long day of driving . Tomorrow we will make like a tree… to Thunder Bay

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.