Black Beauty Dressed in White, Last Day in Ontario, Pizza Supper

Stratford, Ontario

I woke up on Friday, Nov. 1^st around 7:30. Bill was up earlier, around 6:30, and that didn’t surprise me. We had a later night than usual so I also wasn’t surprised that I’d slept a bit longer. Stupid dreams though! So many stories mixed up in my head had me shaking it when I sat up. I joined Bill with my tea at the table and opened my laptop to finish my post from yesterday.

Yeuch!! That's what Black Beauty is saying too!

We caught up on what our blogger friends were doing and it is so nice to read that many are on their way to the sunny, warm southwest. Some are already in California, Arizona and Utah, posting beautiful ‘get your butts down here’ photos. Thank you for the encouragement, guys! We’re coming! Waking up to snow this morning was not unexpected, I could really feel it in the air last night when we returned home. It makes me even more excited to move.

Next door, you can see the snow on the roof and grass

Black Beauty had a covering and the roof and grasses next door were white. Guess where I plan on staying most of the day? We were low on water so Bill’s first project was to drain the last dregs and top us up from Bob’s shop supply. We just need to have about 35 gallons in the tank today and for the first few days of travel. We will have full access to water and dumps on Monday night for a few days.

Bob and Bill removed the 2 bad tires

I think I forgot to mention that our gas hot water heater is working again. We think something jarred it on our drive here to Stratford as Tuesday morning it was piping hot. We can use the electric heater here but are at least happy that it works on propane. Bill had some toast and went out to take care of things. Bob arrived around 9 and set about his tasks as well. They needed to remove two of their tires to take them to the dealer for replacement.

They shouldn’t be, but even though only 2 years old (on a new trailer!!) they are cracking already. He’ll do that today and bring them back for reinstalling. Why would a dealer put 2-year-old tires on a brand-new rig? Cheap, that’s why. Once that is taken care of, they will be good to go. Jo-Anne is busy today with last minute things at their house, wanting to leave it clean and tidy.

I like that Bob had someone make a bracket for his step ladder too
He had commented on ours and wasted no time have one made

Bill and I took a drive to the outskirts of town, just a couple of kilometers from us, to Walmart where I picked up some buns and crusty bread for our sandwiches. Bill topped up Black Beauty with fuel at the Canadian Tire pumps and then ran into the store for some truck cleaning supplies that he was low on. We were back to the Suite by 11:15 and I finished the little job I was working on. I had pulled out my gray accordion folder for storing all the receipts and campground info for our trips south.

A bullet proof coffee was called for today

Skimming through the receipts from 2018/19, I discarded the old ‘evidence’. I also updated my little record book where I record those expenditures from beginning to the end of our trip. These ride in the truck with us for easy access. I also keep an 8 ½” writing pad with rough details about when we leave each day, what stops we make, the temperature and our arrival at the day’s destination. With that done, Bill and Bob had decided they were to head out.

After Walmart, we fueled up

They stopped at Tavistock at the house so Bob could have lunch and then drove to Delhi with the old tires in the back of the Dodge. I proceeded to make sandwiches for tomorrow’s drive and Bob, before he left, teased me about being organized. It’s true, I find it helps keep my stress level down. When they were made, I wrote out the short list of food that we had in the fridge. We’ve done that for each year we cross the border to answer the guard’s queries. Again, helps the stress level.

And then some shopping in the store

That was it! I don’t think there was anything else to do. Just a few things to put away that we’ve used this week and we’ll be good for morning departure. So, I turned the tv on and pulled up the recorded episode of This Is Us and watched it. Unfortunately, we didn’t leave the satellite on while in Mexico so we’ve missed what happened on all of our shows last week. Oh well. Instead of turning the radio back on, I skipped down in the PVR list and brought up the recorded Highwaymen on PBS.

My accordion folder for keeping all receipts

 This is music I love not to mention how much I enjoy Willie, Kris, Waylon and Johnny. And I can skip through the PBS chatter during commercials. While it was on, I read my book. It is good and I’m already half way through it. That doesn’t mean I don’t stop when certain songs are being played. Like Willie’s Always on my Mind and Kris’s Why Me Lord? I did get a few good chapters read and then around 3:30 got a phone call from Jo-Anne that the guys were on their way.

I record each expenditure in this book
Everyone has their own system

Okay, that means the tires were ready for them and we will be moving on as planned in the morning. I decided to have my shower now, rather than wait until after supper. Speaking of supper, Jo-Anne also invited Bill and I to join them for pizza in the Redwood tonight with their kids who are coming to say goodbye. Cool! That saves me thinking any more about our meal. After my shower, more catching up on my blog post and then biding time until Bill got home.

This one works for us

The clouds were breaking up a bit and there was some blue sky showing to the east and west so we should have decent weather overnight. If my hair wasn’t wet, it would be a good time to bundle up and go for a walk. Bundle up for me, is layering. I try not to don the heavy winter coat if I don’t have to. Long socks, long sleeves, hoodies, wind breaker and poufy vest – that’s me. You get the picture. No point in dragging the big coat out when I shouldn’t need it after Sunday.

Selfie in my layers

Bill walked in just after 5 so they were back with 2 tires. While they worked on that, Jo-Anne and Higgins came in and sat with me for a few minutes. Before they arrived, I realized that I was feeling hungry so had a few pieces of cheddar to tie me over. Around 6:00, I asked Jo-Anne if there was something I could do to help her, she had quite an overwhelming job ahead of her. Unfortunately, it isn’t really the kind of thing where someone else can help.

The clouds were breaking up

The sun was trying to break through

 She had containers and tubs of food and bathroom supplies etc. that only she knows where to put them in their 5^th wheel. I was with her only briefly before their son, daughter and their families arrived with pizzas for supper. We all congregated in Bob’s shop around 6:30 and shared them together. I’d never met any of them other than their son, Sean/Shawn/Shaun and as you can tell I never did get the spelling of his name. LOL

And most importantly the snow melted

The tires went back on quickly enough

The 3 little ones had fun running around and working on the foam puzzle of the United States that I took in for them. I offered Danielle, their daughter, the last 4 tomatoes from my garden. A couple had a bit of ripening to do but it was something that we could not take across the border. Thank you, Danielle for taking them and I hope you enjoy the sandwiches! The pizza and fries were delicious but the invitation to join the family was the best part.

The pizza came from Shakespeare Pizza
and it was yummy

There was enough room for everyone 

The little ones were putting the puzzle together
the best they know how

It was nice to chat with Danielle and Greg

We said goodbye shortly after 7, so they could spend some alone time with Mom and Dad, and came inside the Suite for the rest of the evening. Before supper, Bill and I swapped out our Canadian debit and credit cards as well as Canadian cash for the U.S. equivalents in our safe. There are also grocery, pharmacy, fuel and department store cards that get switched out too. Our passports came out as well so we are ready for morning.

Grampa Bob watches the little ones do the puzzle

Grams Jo-Anne approves of the pieces put together

And here is a special moment for Bill and I

Bill had his shower before bed to save time in the morning. Then, I sat and read my book. We have a folder of information on the campsite bookings for Bob and Jo-Anne but if not tonight, we can give it to them in the morning. It is nice to get the addresses in each of our gps units. This was a great day, and final things got taken care of. I hope yours was good and your snow disappeared throughout the day as ours did.

The last Ontario sunset for a few months
Good night!

Thank you for stopping in for the last Ontario visit. Your comments mean a lot to us.