Wisconsin then down to Florida and the Heat

Thursday 7th October
After finishing the previous blog we packed up and finished the journey to our destination in New Auburn, Steve Krug and Kathy Duffy's place somewhere in the north of Wisconsin.

As we drove up the drive these little signs greeted us one by one (left to right). 

Steve is a joker of the first order.

We got a warm greeting and parked the RV.

We were soon eating lunch outside on their patio with a view.

 In the afternoon we took Buddy for a a walk up the road to the county line and back.

We ate well (as we always do when Kathy prepares food) and talked until a relatively early bedtime of 10 - I'd find out why we needed sleep the next day.

Friday 8th October
We got up before 8 and it's another beautiful clear day in Wisconsin but it is cool.

After breakfast I find out what I have to do to earn our keep.  They had moved their shed to a new location but the roof was not yet re-installed so that was our mission for the next few days.

We both suffered with splinters in the hands requiring drastic action.

Another day of super meals as Kathy tried to use up all their remaining food before they leave to go to their boat in the Florida Keys.

Steve and Kathy are movie nuts so we got to see the The Thirteenth Floor - a strange sci-fi kind of thing but entertaining.

Saturday 9th October
Continued on with the shed and got the boards on the roof while Carol and Kathy did what they like to do.

We finished early for a trip into the closest big centre Eau Clair which is 50m away.  My Nikon point and click camera had died so time to buy a new one.  This time a Kodak.

After some shopping we visited Paul and Cindy, friends of Kathy and Steve from their co-operative days, for some fruit crumble dessert.before heading off to the University to watch a Bahamian movie Children of God - excellent indie film.

Sunday 10th October
A lazy Sunday lying around the house.  And what a house!  They built it themselves and originally they were totally off the grid (note the solar panels).

It was intended to be a co-operative housing thing but that fell apart so at some point they decided to turn it into a B and B.  This is the entrance to the B and B 'wing' which has its own entrance and is connected to the rest of the house only by going down these stairs.

There are three 'suites'.  This  was our bedroom.

and this was our living room.

In the other part of the house are a couple of lounging rooms.

a surprisingly compact kitchen.

Watched lots of movies: The Samurai (French movie with Alain Delon that was redone in the US as Way of the Samurai), intrudced Steve and Kathy to the Big Empty and The Damned United.

Monday 11th October

Back at the shed putting a rubber membrane on the roof and installing windows and doors.  Movie of the day: Unconditional Love with Kathy Bates & Rupert Everrett - thumbs up.

Tuesday 12th October

Even colder in the morning but it still warmed up during the day with lots of sunshine.

Steve's Jetta needed a timing belt change and to save the $1000 the garage would have charged, he decided to do it himself - a braver man than I.

I assisted (by supplying the music) and handing the occasional tool.

Movie of the day: Dinner Games - French movie recently remade (very badly) by Hollywood as Dinner For Smucks.  Why does Hollywood think it can remake a very funny French comedy?

Wednesday 13th October

On with the timing belt but Steve has to wait for replacement belts for a pulley.  It's our last day in this beautiful spot and last chance to capture the lake in fall colours.

We went our to visit Martha and Patricia, friends of Kathy and Steve who live close by.  We had to go in the RV as Steve's car was no longer mobile.  Nice people and they fed us too.

Thursday 14th October

Time to get on the road again and get to somewhere warmer.  So it's goodbye to Kathy and Steve, don't know when we'll see them again but you never know.

Back down the I-39 past Madison and into Illinois and an overnight stay near Utica at Hickory Hollow.

Friday 15th October

On down through Illinois on I-39, then I-74 to I-57 until I-24 heads SE into Kentucky and our next stop in Grand Rivers, Kentucky and possibly the most crowded campsite we've ever stayed in - free Internet though.

Saturday 16th October

Back on I-24 south through into Tennessee and pretty much through the middle of Nashville, into Georgia for a few miles then back into Tennessee and on to I-75 at Chattanooga, then back into Georgia again.

We stopped for the night in Adairsville and met Berry and Cherry.

 who were having trouble with their car.  He's from Yorkshire and she's from Herefordshire.  Berry, the 80 yearold campsite owner and I went off to the local auto parts store while the ladies went food shopping.  I bought a wireless camera backup set for the RV.

Sunday 17th October

Carol has relatives in Villa Ricca which was not far away so we decided to visit them.  However, the RV front brakes started to make a bad noise so we went looking for somewhere to get them looked at.  On a Sunday that proved to be difficult.  Either they didn't have the parts or they couldn't get the RV in their shop.  So we ended up in the Wal-Mart parking lot to spend the night until we could go to a brake place on Monday morning.

Carol's relatives came to visit US there:

Left to right is Tim, husband of Kimberly, Kimberly and then Kimberly's grandmother Elizabeth, otherwise known by Carol as Aunty Betty who Carol hasn't seen in 30 years.

They stayed for a couple of hours and then we were left alone but were sooned joined by other RVers.

Monday 18th October

We found a great place to get the brakes fixed.  They replaced the brake pads and machined the rotors in two hours and charged us $150 - amazing.

The day before, Tim had noticed we had a low tire which turned out be shot so we spent the rest of the day replacing that and then heading back to the same campsite we'd been in two days before.  Bery and Cherry were still there.

Tuesday 19th October

Back on the road but back to the tire place to replace the spare which was anything but usable.  Back on I-75 we went through Atlanta, past Macon and into Florida to stay for the night.

Wednesday 20th October

The final leg on Florida's Turnpike to West Palm Beach and a few days with Ira and Ann.

Finally we're somewhere warm - maybe too warm.

Thursday 21st October

Big day shopping.  First though, it's way too hot for Buddy's coat length so he got dropped off first.  Then propane for the RV, computer stuff from Comp USA and then a Costco run.

Back at Pet-Smart we find that Buddy has a tick and it's become infected so he had a short visit with the resident vet and he got some antibiotics.  But he seems much happier without all the hair.

Friday 22nd October

Mostly hanging out round the apartment doing computing stuff and using Ira's new highspeed Internet while the girls do what the girls like to do.

Beer out on the patio is kinda nice.

with views of the complex.

Saturday 23rd October

Took a trip out to the movies and went to see The Social Network - most excellent movie.

Sunday 24th October

West Palm Beach has weekly free concerts in the park downtown next to the Intracoastal Waterway.  

This week it was Christopher Cross if anyone remembers him from the 80's.

 

He and his band were very good.

Monday 25th October

It got really warm so it was another indoors day.  But there's always something interesting going on outdoors.

Running up to the end of summer

It’s been a while I know but it’s time for an update.

Wednesday 11th August (cont.)
Did a little swimming (all but Carol) but got Buddy in for a short time.

Thursday 12th August
Pretty much spent the day doing the blog before our hosts returned from their golfing trip.  Had another swim with Sandy.

If you need water at Sandy and Ellen's this is how you get it.

Friday 13th August
Started the day with blueberry pancakes and maple syrup made from maple trees on their property.  Well let’s put it this way, they allow a local sugar bush to harvest their maple sap and then with maple sap from other places around the sugar bush makes the syrup.

After a cloudy start to the day Ira and I took what’s becoming our annual canoe trip.



Found this interesting creature on the back of the Rv.

 

We had another swim before another fabulous supper with Sandy & Ellen.



Saturday 14th August
It was a cloudy start to the day but it cheered up later and we got a visit from our friend Richard on his mighty Vespa.
‘


Did some RV work in an attempt to stop it leaking around the TV Antenna.

Sunday 15th August
We set off at 9 in the morning to Tobermory in our car with Ira and Ann.  We had breakfast at McDonalds where Ann was told off by another customer for taking too many napkins!!   Our American friends are always amazed at how Canadians tell each other off.  Do that in the States and you’re likely to get your head blown off!!!!

Lunch on the road just like last year.
 

We arrive at Geoff and Bunkey’s to find there’s a mix-up with the dates and that they’re supposed to have B&B guests that night.  So we head off for some excellent local whitefish and chips in town.

The guests don’t turn up so there’s no problem and we watch telly until bedtime.

Monday 16th August
Geoff and Bunkey are planning to do a New Zealand/Australia trip this winter so we sat around talking about that most of the morning, the four of us throwing in travel and sight-seeing tips. But in the afternoon we visited the local thrift shop and bought more stuff!!!



Later in the afternoon a couple that Geoff and Bunkey met while hiking the Bruce Trail dropped by and ended up staying for supper.  He’s Irish and she’s Asian Indian – not a combination you meet too often but a really interesting and fun couple.

Tuesday 17th August
Bunkey was really quite sick so the rest of us left her in peace and went off do to some walking in the local provincial park.



We went down into the famous grotto.  The light patch is a tunnel to the outside which you can swim if you have the nerve.
 

It’s a beautiful area


but absolutely swarming with tourists.



Wednesday 18th August
Time to take our leave and we do the long drive back to Sandy and Ellen’s.  When we got there we found they had other guests in the form of Peter, Sandy’s first Boss and his wife Patricia.
They stayed for supper and it was another house full.

 

During the night I didn’t feel so good but after an hour I was OK again.

Thursday 19th August
Time for Ira and Ann to depart for points further west so we said goodbye knowing it would be probably a couple of months before we saw them again in their place in West Palm Beach.

While making breakfast I had another ‘turn’ so Carol drove me the hour’s journey to Perth Hospital where I spent the day in the Emergency room while they checked me out for a possible heart attack.

Turns out there was no heart attack and I found that the problem I have (RBBB) is absolutely nothing to worry about, it just messes up ECGs.

When we got back we met Ron (Ellen stays at his place in Ottawa during the work week) and had supper together.  Didn’t feel so good so went to bed early.

Friday 20th August
Woke up feeling fine as we packed up to leave.  We badly needed a dump station for the RV so we stayed in Silver Lake campsite as it costs just to use the dump station anyway.  We were shocked by the price.  For a site with just electricity it would have been $50 without the over 65, 25% discount.  The place had a significant number of empty sites on a weekend in August – no wonder.   We’ve never paid anything close to that for full hookup in the US.

Saturday 21st August
After another episode in the night I decided that maybe I should knock off the coffee for a while.
We drove over to Prospect to stay with Richard for a couple of days.  Carol & Richard went to Mike & Janet Simms's party at night but I gave it a miss.

Sunday 22nd August
Had a great breakfast at Royals in Richmond – one of the best breakfast places.
It was a cold day so Richard lit a fire and we sat around all day computing etc. and watched a movie of Sandy’s called” Einsten and Eddington” – illuminating.
No more problems - must be the coffee.

Monday 23rd August
Drove Richard to the dentist and picked up some movies from the library.  We watched” Role Models” at night – not a popular choice.  Not the world’s greatest movie!!

Tuesday 24th August
After taking Richard to pick up his Mini from the shop and a lunch at the Mongolie Grill – it’s a few years since we did that – and went to see “Inception” – what a fabulous movie.

Wednesday 25th August
Driving around with Richard shopping.

Thursday 26th August
Time to move on and visit Lena and Peter, the horse people.



Friday 27th August
Did some patchwork on the RV exterior and we watched “The Ghost Writer” at night with Lena and Peter and their daughter Shannon – pretty good adaptation of the novel.

Saturday 28th August
Peter had set himself the weekend task of opening up the front of one of his barns to be able  to park another vehicle in there.

  

So I helped him rip off the siding and then install beams to support the roof.

Sunday 29th August
Carol did some RV cleaning while I finished the patching job and then took an ATV trip around the property.

Here’s one of the horses fooling around.

 

It was work again for Lena and Peter the next day so they went to bed early and we retired to the RV after supper.

Monday 30th August
Time to leave and head for our storage and start the process of condensing our storage requirements.
Did hope to fill with propane in Kemptville but we found that the Ultramar station was all torn up so I had to drive almost to Ottawa for the fill-up.
Installed ourselves in the storage compound yet again.



Tuesday 31st August
Dentist day for me so it’s a trip to Kanata and Ottawa.  It’s such a warm evening we sat outside for a while after supper.

Wednesday 1st September
It was time to build more shelves so the morning was taken up with loading up with two by fours and the necessary hardware.
It was so hot we decided to head for our local campsite a day early.  Had a great swim when we got there and wow, the luxury of air conditioning.

Thursday 2ndSeptember
While Carol went shopping I worked on the shelving.  Still very warm, no wind.

Friday 3rd September
It was still very warm but lots of wind.  After a morning building more shelving, we drove to Kanata to have lunch with our longtime friends Richard and Felicity who we didn’t get to see much of this year.
Back at the RV we packed up and made our way to Richard’s for the long weekend.

Saturday 4th September
Some shopping in Carleton place and in the evening, introduced Richard to Judge John Deed (excellent British TV series).

Sunday 5th September
Richard’s daughter Katherine, husband Scott and Richard’s grandson Conner came over for lunch and we had tandoori salmon cooked in the Big Green Egg.

Monday 6th September
Back to the storage and shelf work.

Tuesday 7th September
Got up at the crack of dawn for an appointment with a dental implant surgeon then back to the storage for some box moving and sorting.
No TV that night for us due to almost continuous thunderstorms.

Wednesday 8th September
Carol had an appointment in Ottawa for new glasses so we took the opportunity to get rid of some stuff at value village.

Thursday 9th September
A rainy day but the sorting continued.

Friday 10th September
Time to visit our friends in Montreal, so after leaving the RV at Lena and Peter’s we drove the car to Ken and Cheryl’s.  Ken & Cheryl’s daughter Jessica had just announced that she and Mike are getting married so Cheryl and she were off out looking at places to hold the reception.

Saturday 11th September
Hanging out in Montreal.  Met Ken and Cheryl’s son Jeff’s ‘girlfriend’ Shannon.

Sunday 12th September
Went to that other great breakfast place – Eggs Frutti.
Later in the afternoon we said our goodbyes and went the short distance from Cote St Luc to NDG to visit Nick and Eve who spent a few days with us on the boat in Marathon last year.  Since we hadn’t seen them since then there was lots to talk about.

Monday 13th September
Since Nick and Eve both work at home we had a day with them and then drove back to the RV in the late afternoon.

Tuesday 14th September
Back to the storage area with the RV while Carol shopped.  Then over to the local campsite to stay for a night.

Wednesday 15th September
Time for my ‘annual’ ear checkup while Carol went for lunch with friends Claudia and Lynn.

Thursday 16th September
More box moving after a trip to hook into the Internet at our local coffee bar ‘Brewed Awakenings’.

Friday 17th September
Moving furniture from one storage to the final one.

Saturday 18th September
After a day of moving we went to visit our friends Ruth and Keith and Sammy and Yasmin..
We went to a Sri Lankan restaurant – something different and most excellent.
Afterwards they treated us to a micro concert in the basement with ‘the Family Anderson’.  Sammy took up guitar a couple of years ago and is already very good and handles the singing.  The ever adaptable Yasmin plays bass, Keith plays a second guitar – he bought a beautiful new Gretch – and Ruth plays keyboards and provides the drums.  They make a really nice sound.  Afterwards Sammy and Yasmin played some accomplished piano for us – a talented family.  Why didn't I take a picture???

Sunday 19th September
Storage work!!

Monday 20th September
A trip to the dentist with what I thought was toothache – the dentist disagreed.  Thought it was sinus.
Storage work.

Tuesday 21st September
While Carol went to get her hair done I built a bit more shelving – it’s getting close.

Wednesday 22nd September
After dropping stuff off at the Sally Ann I took a trip to Kemptville hospital emergency to see about the increasing pain in the side of my face.  After deciding they don’t think it was a heart attack (?) they don’t know what it is and give me a prescription for something to squirt up my nose.

We haven’t managed to sell our Walker Bay dinghy that we used before we got the inflatable for down south, so we load it on top of the car and take it over to Richard’s to leave out in the garden.
Afterwards we drove to Portland to visit Harry and Barbera.  Harry and I used to work together and he still acts as our accountant.  We spent the afternoon and evening with them and then drove back to the RV.

Thursday 23rd September
Took a bunch of paperbacks to a local book store and got $21 and a couple of books out of it,

Friday 24th September
Another day to go to Sandy Mountain Campsite.

Saturday 25th September
Friends of friends, Paul and Suzanne, recently emigrated from the UK and are looking for furniture.  We had decided to give them our king size bed since we hadn’t sold it.  They showed up as promised and took it away – one less thing that wouldn’t fit in with our reduced storage.
Carol went for an X-Ray and to pickup her new glasses while I put the finishing touches on the storage.

Sunday 26th September
Filled up the car with more stuff for Value Village

Monday 27th September
Drove to Ottawa to drop stuff off at Value Village and visit the doc who gave me a prescription for antibiotics.  Did some shopping and headed back to the RV.  We’d been trying to sell our sectional sofa unsuccessfully but Richard had offered to babysit it for us so we stuffed some of it inside the Subaru and another part on top and took it there.  It didn’t fit in the room he wanted so it went in his living room – not a good fit.

Tuesday 28th September
While Carol did laundry I drove to Kanata to have lunch with my old partners Bob and Harry.  In the afternoon we made a couple of trips to the local dump to get rid of stuff that nobody wanted.

Wednesday 29th September
The storage project is complete, everything we still own (besides a few things sprinkled around at friends like the two Richards) is in a 10 by 20. 

We loaded up the remaining piece of sofa into the car and said goodbye to the compound and headed for Richard’s again.

Thursday 30th September
Carol has a cold!!!  Drove to Carleton place in the Miata – not done enough Miata driving this year – and got her some cold stuff.  It’s frigid outside and Richard has a nice warm stove.

Friday 1st October
Hung out around Richard’s

Saturday 2ndOctober
Someone came and bought the sofa.  Didn’t see that happening at that late stage. Took the Miata for winter storage to North Gower and ran around doing a few last minute errands.  When we got back Richard’s softball end-of-season party was still going but soon ended.  I did the tire pressures on the RV and checked the oil etc.  and after supper we went to bed early to be ready for the start of our next big trip.

Sunday 3rd October
We were out of there by 8:30 and after a McDs breakfast in Smiths Falls we were heading down to Kingston and the 401 and points west.

We passed Toronto by early afternoon then London and then took the 402 towards Sarnia.  By the end of the day I was thoroughly into Carol’s cold and we stopped in Strathroy at Trout Haven campsite for the night.




Monday 4th October
We were only an hour or so from Sarnia and the US border but we didn’t get too early a start and when we go to US Customs and Immigration we were in trouble.  Turns out the US doesn’t like you to spend more than six months there.  We got told to park the RV and then go inside with all the rest of the unfortunates.  The guy really didn’t like the fact we didn’t own a house in Canada which meant we had no ties there (to him anyway) and when we told him that we intended to leave the US in December for the Bahamas in our boat he just didn’t get that at all.  After searching our RV and removing tomatoes and an orange he finally let us go ‘this time’.  Quite a relief, you don’t ever want to be turned back at the border.
We drove on into Michigan and stayed at Leisure Valley campsite near Decatur, MI.

 

Tuesday 5th October
Carol laid down the law and made us stay a day to let my cold dissipate.

Wednesday 6th October
Onwards again through the top part of Indiana, into Illinois, past Chicago and up into Wisconsin which turns out to be quite hilly.  The temperature had risen quite a bit and we had to turn on the a.c. for the first time in weeks.

We stopped for the night near Portage, Wisconsin at Sky High Campsite.

 

It is on the top of a hill.




And also has the most sophisticated trailer we’ve ever seen.

 

We both agree, Wisconsin is a beautiful state of rolling hills, grasslands and trees.