Chillin' with Patsy: Last Hop for Home with One Hitch

On Saturday, Apr. 8^th I woke up with a start and looked over to the dresser to see the clock for the time. Woops, it was packed away in the drawer since we were going to be heading out first thing. I resorted to looking at my Fitbit and with blurred eyes thought it was 6:30ish. Clemson jumped off the bed and when I rolled over I could see Bill on the couch at his laptop, fully dressed.

Clear roads with little snow on road sides as we neared Embro for the second time this week

I still felt tired, I was to later find out my sister and I were very busy in her dream last night, no wonder I had to drag myself out of bed. I got downstairs and looked at the clock to confirm the time and it was only 5:35! Oh man! Bill said why don’t you go back to bed, its early. So, I did and Clemson followed me up and snuggled close in beside me.

The clouds were painting a pretty sky

45 minutes was all I needed and I woke up and got moving. We’d decided to just wash, make a hot drink, pack up and get on the road as soon as we could. We were all ready around 7, Bill sitting in the truck when I realized my purse was not in the Suite. Trying not to stress myself out I calmly walked to the truck and asked Bill if it was in there. Now, I am worrying.

Farm fields in their glory before planting

I retraced my steps in my head at the same time as we went through closets and laptop bags etc. Hmm, final conclusion is that it must be inside CanAm’s lounge, left there last night. Oh no, the building doesn’t open until 9 on Saturday, this was going to be a delay. Bill decided that we could drive to the Flying J, dump tanks, fill our 40-lb. propane tank and come back until someone shows up. I felt horrible, first not knowing for sure that it was in there and second, for holding up our last hop for home.

this home in Embro always turns my head no matter what the season

Andy showed up around 8:30 and sure enough my purse was hanging on the coat rack. Within 5 minutes we were on the highway. The sun was bright, the roads pretty clear and smooth and we arrived in Durham around 11:00 am. I took pictures of a few familiar things that I always look for on this trip. Embro is a nice town with some well-kept homes, then Varney with the lot of old cars and oversized Adirondack chair.

Approaching Varney

After turning onto Hwy 4 at the Durham intersection I began to get excited for ‘home’. The snow that had disappeared yesterday in London/Lambeth still remained on the sides of the roads and across some hills and valleys. As we turned onto Baptist Church Road we began to consider that there might be a pile of snow at the end of our driveway but weren’t too concerned.

Bill and I always choose a car when we drive by
Not too much on their lot yet

Large Adirondack, it has been painted over many times

We soon became concerned as we approached 344036 when we saw about 45’ of gravel and then about 10’ of snow drifted up at the gate. Also, on the other side of the gate, another 6 – 8’ of the white stuff. LOL, we aren’t going to get through that! Luckily our truck and Suite together totals about 50’ give or take so we were able to pull onto the gravel and get ourselves off the road.

Took an alternate route through Stratford this morning and saw Dad's building in the distance

We’d need shovels for sure so I dug out my boots and the 3 of us took a walk through the snow up the lane to the sheds to retrieve our 2 garden shovels. And just when we thought we’d gotten away with not shoveling snow for a winter! I texted my sister who was on her way out with her husband to the Acreage, 6 km down the road. I wanted then to know we had a snag.

Things weren’t getting any better, yes, we could clear the entrance but there was no way we could get the Suite up to our usual parking space. We had to rethink and decided to go as far as we could and still be level. We'd worry about moving it when the snow melted. This worked well and by borrowing a couple of Gerry and Donna’s 30 amp cords we could still plug in to power.

Walking up for shovels

The day just got better and better, temperatures soared to 13C/60F and my layers from the morning 3C came off. Beautiful! I had a nice catch up with Donna and Bill and Gerry carried on where they left off in October. We shared a few laughs and stories with a drink before they left us alone to finish our set up. I took a picture but it didn't do them justice so wouldn't post it.

This is our turn around spot...........not today

I stayed out as long as I could and soon it was time to come in and prepare supper. Tonight was beer battered Tilapia fried on the stove and homemade fries in our new little fryer. While I made that, Bill set about setting up the satellite dish. Not much on tv Saturday night so it didn’t matter if we connected tonight or not.

Our boon-docking spot for a couple of nights

Dinner was great, the sunset was pretty and this place is everything I remembered it being and more. The water in the ponds is up and overflowing which pleases us.

The dock is one of our summer projects, still isn't right

Supper was good

Pussy willow tree

Of course, someone has to play in the snow

After last year’s draught, this is so nice to see. Bill was successful and found the satellite by 7:15 pm. Yay! We haven’t watched the boob tube for a week and sometimes you just want to veg in front of it.

this will be our view to the road once we get settled in our spot

A robin welcomes us home

Nature is all around us, birds chirping, geese honking, buds forming and I even discovered many pussy willow trees! I didn’t know what they were last year but they are in bloom now. Talk about childhood flashbacks! I love pussy willows. I am looking forward to getting into our life here for a few months with a visit with my Mom in the morning to start me off.

Clemson wasted no time pulling my coats out of the shed to lay in the sun
"I'm finally HOME"

With one more skip, we will truly be home in the same spot we left on Oct. 24^th last year and it has been an awesome day. I hope you have had a great one as well.