Last Full Day in Canada, Clean Laundry, Propane Fill, Happy Hour with Friends

I was awake at 6 on Saturday, Oct. 27^th after another great night’s sleep. I don’t remember waking at all through the night. Bill was still in slumber but by 6:30 we were both awake and rising. Clemson slept on until after I had sorted the dirty laundry and we’d both had our first brew. Sleepyhead, but we are so pleased when he sleeps through the night like this.

Small but adequate laundromat in Arkona

Bill loaded the basket into the truck and we drove into Arkona Laundromat. It was right beside the Can Fuels so he walked the 40 lb. propane tank back for a fill. I picked up a couple of lottery tickets, trying to get lucky once more in Ontario. You just never know and we had a Canadian ten spot burning a hole in our pocket.

Just $2.25 for a wash so a bit cheaper than Durham

Unfortunately, one of the tickets was for Wednesday’s draw so if I win, I’ll either send the ticket home to my ‘ever-trusting, reliable, dependable, unfailing’ sister, Donna to cash it in and hold the $ for us (I know she’ll probably read this so you know where I’m going with that!) OR we’ll hang onto it until we return. They are good for a year from draw date.

The laundry was done, folded and in the truck headed home before 10 so that was a couple of jobs well done and in good time. We put the clothes away and I swept through the Suite before closing it up in the morning. It was 10:30 when I started a breakfast of bacon and eggs. Bill got into his book and Clemson joined him in the recliner so I gathered the garbage and recyclables and walked them up to the bins.

Small library but lots of good books to choose from

I stopped in at the library once more with my list of ‘read’ James Patterson and David Baldacci books. I knew I wanted The Whole Truth for sure, since we hadn’t read it and it was on my list. I picked up a couple more as well, that is why they are there. Melinda was cleaning up at the clubhouse so we chatted for a bit while I perused the novels. We will see them later for Happy Hour.

Quite the paint job on this Smart car
Makes you look twice

Pat and Rob texted around 11 to let us know they were on their way. Yay! I hope the rain isn’t steady for their 3-hour drive. It is 42F at noon hour and fairly calm outside. Although it rained for most of our morning hours, it has currently stopped. The sky is a solid blanket of white so we aren’t holding out for too much dryness today when the forecast calls for 80% precipitation. No matter, it is our last full day here and we’ll take advantage of whatever comes.

And in the darkness of night, I can look out the window, and there
are our travelling companions right next door

Bill finished his Michael Connelly book, The Overlook with Harry Bosch so I plugged the Kobo in to charge it before he starts a new story. I’m still reading mine but about half way through. It is so captivating! 

this is the mini 100 pc. puzzle Brenda and Randy gave me

At 2 pm we noticed our ‘buddies’ pull in and drive around the block to their site next door to us. Bill went out to greet them and give Rob a hand getting into the spot. Pat came inside with me to stay warm until it was time to go help set up.

And here it is finished
I actually enjoyed it very much and it fits on our coffee table!

At 3 they both returned and Ron and Loree followed soon after for our Happy Hour. Gerry and Melinda arrived as well with their granddaughter and the house was full of friends! It is bittersweet because it is so nice to see them all, yet we are saying goodbye for the winter. 

As you can tell, we never have any fun at our Happy Hours

All 8 of us have plans to pull out for warmer destinations within the next 2 weeks. We’re hoping to cross paths with Ron and Loree somewhere near Lake Havasu so our ‘goodbye’s at 5:30 were ‘see ya laters’ instead.

Melinda, Clemson, Gerry and their Granddaughter

Bill and I had planned an easy peasy supper of grilled cheese sandwiches. I had made up my brother’s Caramel Apple Dip for the last 3 Granny Smith’s we had and I also made up a mayo, mustard, olive oil dip for the last little peppers too. 

Yup no fun happening here

They either needed to be eaten or tossed and they got eaten. Mostly by me, but that’s okay. I fried our sandwiches and boiled up the last 2 eggs we had for egg salad sandwiches. They would be our lunch break tomorrow as we move on. Thanks again, Rob and Pat, for the suggestion.

Bill took a picture of all of us for me
Clemson and the baby were paying attention too

Bill told me to sit and finish my post so we could relax tonight and he did the dishes. After making the sandwiches, we sat together and I could feel the excitement welling up inside me. We’ve planned this trip all summer with our good friends and it begins tomorrow. We get along so well with these two and Rob and I tease that I know how to tell him off if he is getting on my nerves and he says he knows how to deal with me. It will be a hoot, I’m sure of it.

Clemson was quite content in between Ron and his 2nd Mama, Pat

This has been a good day. Not a great day for walking but a great day for everything else. I hope you have also had a great one.

Simple but filling supper for our travel 'eve'
Good night all!

Thank you for stopping in and please join us as we pull out in the morning and begin our 3^rd winter journey. Your comments are always a great surprise to me.

Another Dull Drizzly Fall Day, Propane Topped Up, Priceville Post Office Business, PVR Afternoon

Clemson slept right up against me all night so not only was I warm, I also felt strapped to one position. It was just before 7 on Tuesday, Oct.2^nd when we got up for the day. My fingers automatically hover over the S for September until I realize it isn’t so anymore. We have moved onward. The countdown is rushing at us like a freight train. We had our tea and coffee together, getting some blog reading done and then Bill took the 2 40-lb tanks into Durham for propane.

Even the turbines are mostly invisible in the drizzle

We know this will be the expensive month, trying to keep the Suite warm and our toes as well. Oh well, it is what it is. It is nice to see that there will be a bit of a warm up starting tomorrow and lasting for a week. That will also help with the heating costs. The best part of the forecast is when it shows sunshine as that is a spirit lifter, for sure. When Bill got back, he had a few outside jobs to take care of but I was yet to be encouraged to go outside.

Greek yogourt waffles and bacon

I’m missing my long walks but the rain is keeping me at bay for the moment. It feels like I’ve fallen off another wagon, not of my own volition. Before we knew it, it was 10:30 and I could feel the gnawing pangs of hunger so mixed up a batch of Greek Yogourt pancakes for breakfast. We’ll have to have bacon since I’m pretty sure the freezer is not harboring any mini sausages. Instead of pancakes, I used the waffle iron and they turned out good that way too.

Priceville Post Office

We cleaned up dishes and Bill headed back outside. He was completing small jobs left, right and centre. I wasn’t doing much of anything with the exception of getting more book pages put together. We took a drive to Priceville around 2:30 and set things up for our mail to be forwarded once we leave the area. It gets re-directed to my sisters in Hanover. She monitors what comes and informs us of anything that looks like it needs attention. Nothing too much to worry about.

The cost to have things put on Hold is exorbitant so we do it this way and also know stuff isn’t just sitting somewhere for 6 months. It is expensive enough to do this at $135 but it is worth it to us. We drove back home in the drizzly day and I felt better for not being ‘out there’. It isn’t a pleasant day at all even though it did warm up to 54F/12C, it sure didn’t feel like it. We had a snack of cheese and crackers to tide us over until supper and I made myself a tea.

I guess it wasn't the best summer for Rose of Sharon's
Only 1 flower and we almost missed it because of the rain

I took a peek at my tomatoes and the plants themselves are looking pretty rough but other than a couple of dropped green fruit, they were hanging in there. They need sunshine to perk and ripen them up. Supper will be simple with farmer’s sausage, carrots and either rice or potatoes so the rest of the afternoon we sat watching programs that we had recorded over the last week. This was the perfect day for boob-tubing.

I hope you have enjoyed your day and I thank you for joining us today.

Last Day in This Paradise, Walkabouts, Propane, Pool

We were up to welcome Tuesday, Nov. 7^th by 6:30 so had slept in a wee bit later than our previous mornings. We did our reading and had our morning coffees before Bill got out the materials needed to wash our outside windows. Man, they were dirty! He had the step ladder off when I thought it was a perfect opportunity to sit on our patio in the sun. Nothing like watching someone work. Well, I actually didn’t even do that, I read my book.

Saying goodbye to the Park clubhouse

A great place to have breakfast and other occasional meals together
or for simply playing cards

At 10 o’clock Bill took our small 20 lb. propane tank from the Weber to the fill station right behind us and stood in line. There were quite a few tanks dropped off but if you stand and wait, they serve you first. Worked for us. Our tank was outdated, not surprising, but here they are only 5 year refillable where at home they are 10. Even at home it was outdated this year. The price was right though at $2.50/gallon.

The Propane Station

The friend from Kingston in the Solitude the other night stopped over to chat with us after getting his tank filled. Nice guy and we exchanged cards this time. They are heading to Lake Havasu and Bullhead City over the next few weeks, just like we are, but different spots. This morning Bill called AOR and got a couple of reservations made for us so we are a little on the books (aka scheduled) now and know where we’ll be and when.

I'm not the only one who enjoys the sun

After a second tea, I closed my book and wandered back to the Main Office to buy stamps. She doesn’t have a lot so I bought what I needed to mail a couple of post cards. Then I stopped in to check out the round puzzle but there has been slow movement on it since I left it and still no books that strike me as ones I wanted to read. Back home, Bill had finished the windows and was enjoying a coffee outside as well, with Clemmy.

We had some excitement today at the park

A motorcycle cop

 Such a beautiful day today, sitting in the sun here at 17C/63F  feels like 80F at home. So nice! I brought my laptop out to the picnic table so I could start my post and continue to enjoy the day while Bill was working. Next, he checked on the Suite tires. We’re pulling out in the morning so we’ll be doing the overall check outside, dumping tanks and securing the inside before we leave. We are going from one park to another so we don’t need to fill our fresh water tank.

Ambulance

I went to the pool after having some banana and yogourt for lunch and had a nice conversation with another rv’er. She and her husband are from Michigan and are here for the winter. Talking to her makes me even more grateful for the life Bill and I are able to experience. She is a recovering cancer patient going for one last chemo treatment tomorrow and looks as healthy as I do. Very, very nice lady. I wish her well.

It was beautiful at the pool

Tonight, for supper we are warming up our leftover steak and I’ll make up a salad on the side. That should do it. I didn’t take many pictures today so I’ll make this short as I believe pictures encourage you to stick with me! It has been a good relaxing day for me. Sometimes it is good not to have things going on, we all know that. With an hour and a half before supper, I walked up to the clubhouse and worked on the circular puzzle once more. I was really making progress so hope someone else carries on. For me, being a full-timer, I love that I can still get my puzzle fix.

Thank you for stopping in. I’d love to hear from you if you have time.