Day Three and Final Day, Slide Cables, Undercoat, Valve Stem - Fixed!

CanAm, London and The Ridge

For some strange reason, I was awake at 4:30 on Wednesday, July 24^th.  That was way too early! I rolled over and saw that Bill was in a semi-wakeful state too. This is where we miss Clemson in a good way as we can snuggle a little closer  and find each other in that King bed. We managed to doze off again until just after 6 when we got up together. He made his coffee and I struck out for my walk.

Sunrise over the trailers at 6:30
This is how they block entrance to the back compound
You can walk in but not drive
That's us, the first Mobile Suite you see

Good morning, CanAm!

Walking along a busy highway isn’t anywhere near as nice as walking along a quiet country road but I felt safe enough with my safety vest on. I only did a mile in total just because of the traffic and some sections don’t have wide shoulders. I made do and enjoyed the beautiful clear sky and fresh 55F/13C temperature. When I returned, I had my tea with Bill and he had some toast while I had some of my high fat Greek yogourt.

By 8 am we were closed up and I moved inside to the lounge with my laptop, phone, book and purse. As the staff arrived for their daily routine, we would chat briefly and they’d go about their day. As much as we are waiting…..I feel quite lucky that we aren’t still working. I watch them and full well remember that daily routine. I can tell when people enjoy their jobs, the smiles on their faces as they meet and greet and deal with everyday issues. I know that a smile is the best way to get through the day. It was always my practice too.

Views from my morning walk
The corn here is really high!
Bullrushes (cattails)
A view at CanAm's front lot
A new planting as the sun rises

I caught up on our friends’ blogs before starting my own post for today. Bill is keeping himself busy this morning by helping Al work on our Suite. Every little bit will help to ensure a quicker departure. Peggy asked him if we’d like to deliver a unit to Port Stanley while we were waiting this morning but because he’s busy now, he declined. Time will tell how long we’ll be here today. Of course, we are anxious to get home but that has nothing to do with the staff here. Couldn't be a better group of people.

And all you'd ever want to know about slide cables
from the inside bedroom view

Around 10, Bill got a call from Jeff at AVF that his engine was delivered today. We knew this would happen but thought it would be later so he finished what he was doing and we drove across town to pick it up. He was just a tad excited. Too bad the other items weren’t also available but they were just ordered yesterday. On the way back, we scooted to Costco to pick up a few dairy products and loaded them in the Suite. I was hungry so had some cheese and walnuts.

Al had started working on our home just before the noon hour, having another health & safety commitment for a new employee so we were hopeful once more that it might be done sooner than later. Bill changed into a work shirt and continued to give him a hand after lunch. Nothing has been done with the tire yet so we wondered about that. The phones are ringing off the wall here at the front office keeping the girls busy so there is lots of hustle and bustle going on.

The house owner across the road has a sense of humour
I love it!

I read quite a bit of my John Sandford book, nearing the end, but that can get tiring so switched to my laptop.  There is only so much time that I can sit on my butt without getting sleepy so around 3pm I gathered my stuff, went out to the shop to check on the progress and put my laptop inside the Suite. Bill was doing some clear caulking on the ‘seams’ (for lack of better word) around the slide-out.

When I told him that I was going out to the truck for a while, less distractions and maybe I could close my eyes for a bit, he said that they were finished inside and that the tire was fixed. Yay! I went in to double check things and between the two of us, we closed things up. Now it was just a matter of waiting for Dan, the tractor driver, to finish a break and bring the Suite out front for us. I opened windows and reclined my seat in Black Beauty and read a bit more.

Mid afternoon we were hooked up
Slide cable replaced by Al, undercoating done by Ben
and some minor but important 'found' issues taken care of
Valve stem on tire tightened
Leaving the big city of London

Bill soon joined me and said that Wendy had brought me out one of the display model gravity chairs. She set it up in the shade and there I was all set until things were ready. What a sweetheart she is! After resting for half hour, we took the chair back inside and I sat in the lounge to wait. When the Suite was ready for us to hook up, I gave Wendy a hug for thinking of me and said goodbye to Karlie. I got to know her a little bit better on this visit and that was very nice.

We were pulling out at 3:40 and I texted Donna. She worries like a Mom so I wanted her to know that things were done and to give her an expected eta. We made a stop in Stratford at our friend, Bob’s, shop to exchange a few things that we had for each other and made it home to The Ridge by 6:30. It didn’t take Bill long to get the Suite parked on the boards that we’d lined up. There is some catchup work to be done, the weeds (not the grass) need to be cut and the garden will need watering. We'll need also to fill up our water bladder since we intentionally travelled with it lower than 20 gallons.

A few pictures on our drive home
So many tiger lilies!
A small 2 or 4 seater takes off overhead
Milverton has the most beautiful town flowers
(hard to capture though while travelling)

The nice thing is that we don’t have to empty a trailer in order to relax so we just opened things up, adjusted the things that bounced around on the roads and highways (!!!) and that was it. Wow, it feels great to be home! 

Yay!
All set up by 6:30

Bill backs up on the boards almost perfectly the first time

Simple supper
Asparagus and Basil soup with some added yogourt and butter
for added fat

It is later than we expected so I didn’t get in to clean the laundromat as planned today but first thing in the morning I’ll take care of that before touching base with Jamie again. This was a good day. Things got done and we had a safe trip back home.

Black Beauty - home with Ptooties
Where she belongs
Good night!

I hope yours was a good day too. Thank you for stopping by!