Day Ten, Home Country Roads

  London, Ontario 

It was 6:40 am on Saturday, Apr. 11th when I first woke up. I went to bed last night with a hitch in my lower back again so did nighttime stretching. It felt much better this morning. 

Good morning!
All packed up ready to pull out.

I got washed, dressed and joined Bill downstairs. He was already in full motion, no grass will ever grow under his feet! We'd planned to leave by 8 and we're packed, hooked up and pulling out by 7:59. We seldom ever miss a deadline. We make a great team. 🥰

The Veterans Glass City Skyway Bridge
Toledo, Ohio

It was a cool night and morning, only 41F/5C under a mostly cloudy sky when we left the park.  We got into I-280N and then soon after, got on I-75N. It was just 20 minutes later that we left the state of Ohio and crossed into Michigan. 

Approaching and crossing
the Ambassador Bridge

A few rough patches of highway and soon we were approaching the original Ambassador Bridge and crossing the Detroit River. No line at all at the border guard crossing, asked 5 easy questions and wishes us welcome home. 1 minute tops.🥰

The sun was showing promise
but didn't win the battle until later in the
morning.

Wanting to visit friends in Wheatley, we followed directions to their place. Because they live on a short dead end street, Bill backed the Suite up about 300' (?) to and into their driveway. 

Across the waters of the Detroit
River, there were lots of vessels.
That is the new bridge coming together
in the background.
F-a-n-c-y!

We wanted to be sure to see Marlene and Benno before heading home. They always make a point of stopping to see us whenever they can and we would be only 30 minutes from our normal route on the 401. It was a really nice visit for an hour and at 11:20 we were on our way to London. 

It's always good to be back on our
homeland.

Gibbs checks our surroundings.

12 noon came and went and I could feel myself dozing off a  bit when Bill asked if I wanted to stop for lunch at the Dutton En Route (aka Service Centre/Rest Area). I knew I was hungry so at 12:30, we pulled off and feasted on Uncle Burger Combos at A & W.

We're so happy to have been able
to stop and see Marlene and Benno
on our way home.

We arrived at CanAm around 2 pm and got into our usual spot out front of their building. This is fortunate for us as it means we can connect to power for the time period we are here. We have a couple of invitations for dinner out so worked out best with our 'hosts' which day was best.

We stopped at an En Route and
took out A & W combos for lunch.
Gibbs enjoying the green grass.

Such a beautiful day! The sun is brilliant in a totally blue sky and even though the temperature hasn't surpassed 10C/50F, it is very nice and was a perfect day for driving. We left the clouds behind in Ohio it seems. 😀🤭

We rested for the afternoon after talking to the service techs about a couple of issues with a slide. At 4:30, we confirmed dinner plans and headed out across the jumbled city. Jim and Sharon have been friends for a lot of years and we'd been invited for a meal and a visit!

Sharon presents us with a pretty table
and a yummy meal.
Love the salad idea!

It was a nice catchup and even nicer when another long time friend, Derrick, was able to join us on time to share dinner with all of us too! It was 8:30 when we all said our goodbyes and headed out. Always a pleasure to see everyone again.

The drive home seemed faster, less traffic, but Bill obliged me by driving past our former home on Metcalfe Cr. Aaaah, it was a nice little house and it looks like it is now being looked after again. 💕 Gibbs was waiting for us when we arrived home and went out for his piddle.

Bill and I bought this home in
2004 and sold it in 2016
when we moved into our
Suite fulltime.

It was a wonderful day! We've had such a sweet  journey back to Canada; it was 12 days ago that we left Park Place RV Park in Quartzsite. Seems much longer! We reached a high of 11C/51.8F (correct, Jim? 😉). Quite nice, actually.

The busy city in lights.
Good night!

Thank you for stopping by! Don't forget Bill's update on the trip here.

Last Night in the United States (Day Nine)

 Stony Ridge KOA, Perrysburg, OH

On Friday,, Apr. 10th I woke up when I heard Bill and Gibbs going out at 6. Sigh*, no need to get up at any given time this morning. 😏 I'm sure I sound like a wimp but it kind of feels like after a work week, this would be Saturday. 6 days of up and at 'em.

Good morning!
Not a sunny start but
a warm, relaxing start.

Bill was making his coffee when I woke again at 7:25. I knew he wanted to be on the road by 7:30 so I came downstairs to say goodbye, as did Gibbs, and he was off to Toledo for his RC Expo. One member of his old flying club, Forest City Flyers was going to be there, but other than that, he would be alone.

Gibbs searches for good smells
in the leaves.

He knew what he was going for and so is always happy on his own if that is how it works out. Gibbs and I did our stretches, got up, dressed and I came down for my tea. While having that, I watched a couple of videos online before getting washed and dressed for my day.

Taking a breather behind
the Suite
Gibbs doesn't understand the
selfie countdown. 😂

Leisurely. Sigh* 🤭 Much to Gibbs' dismay, I got the central vac out from under the bed and did a thorough job of vacuuming upstairs and down, reaching under the slide-outs as far as I could (which isn't far) to capture the dust bunnies that traveled with us from Arizona.

These extra long sites are
wonderful for big rigs.

We went for a walk around the park and to drop the garbage off and got caught in the huge rain storm of about 25 light drops of rain. It was expected to storm yesterday afternoon but nothing came of that either. The sky looks like it could rain at any time but nothing yet.

I only saw one of these
Grape Hyacinths 
but one is enough for a picture!

By 10:30, I was hungry enough for breakfast so fried an egg, added cottage cheese (thanks Kim!) and rolled it up in a tortilla. Oh my, quick, easy and tasty. Bill texted just before 11 that he was on his way home and within 20 minutes, drove up. Gibbs was happy to see his Daddy. Yes, I was too. 💕

Kim suggested cottage cheese 
on a fried egg so I tried it.
Yum!

We relaxed until lunch time, had a wee bite and drove into Perrysburg (about 10 minutes) and picked up a handful of things at Walmart. I wanted to get more of our 0 or 1 gram carb bread before crossing the border. They don't have this brand at home. We had luck and came out with 3 more loaves. 👌

Driving through town, that
sky looks menacing.
We never did get the rain Bill said
Toledo got earlier.

We went in to Dollar Tree to check on craft items and came out with a new idea for my quilling. We also needed a greeting card for a grandson's birthday. Bill took advantage of a cheap(er) diesel price in town too, paying only $4.89/gal instead of over $5 everywhere else. 

I didn't see any interesting wood
patterns at Dollar Tree but
these printed canvas boards could
prove to be fun.

He also picked up a jug of DEF which Walmart was out of. By the way, he did find the item he wanted at the show so was truly a happy camper! We sat down and figured out what we'd purchased this winter, which didn't amount to much, and he and Gibbs dozed.

He has no interest in Miss Piggy
while traveling but sure loves her
back here in the Suite.

While they slept, I had my shower and made a cup of tea. Gibbs and I went for a walk earlier when Bill filled a propane tank up near the park office. Handy to have and now we're topped up for the next few days. It's going to be needed for a couple of weeks for sure.

I couldn't get a good picture,
but the American Cardinal visited 
next door.

Bill had his shower and I made some adjustments in the fridge jars, moving cans of pop out into the half empty carton in the 'garage'. Boxes are a great idea, and I plan on picking up baskets for next fall's travel. I appreciate the suggestions and will just see what works for us best.

Supper. Bill finished the fries
from the freezer.

With being fulltime, we have everything.....not just a few months worth of food items so it's a lot to secure for travel days. Not many more to go though this spring, yay! Supper was very good. Air fried sausages, leftover hamburger helper and Spanish style cauliflower rice. 

The sun tries to make an
appearance.

One little piece of peanut butter and pecan fudge for dessert. We watched tv until bed time with a hope to get moving early in the morning. This was a nice day and to finish it off, the sun has tried to make an appearance just in time to set. We only had a high of 63F/15C with a drop off overnight and tomorrow.

Our sleepy boy,
Apr. 10, 2024.
Good night!

Thank you for joining us!