Day One - Not Exactly According To Plan

So, the day started off well.  We were on the road by 930 am.  Great!

Empty site at Doe Lake

All our gear is packed away for the season

We drove to Sudbury where friend Nancy picked us up at Walmart.  We had a great visit and lunch.  Thanks Nancy. (Sorry forgot to take a picture)  We said our goodbyes and Nancy went back to work.   We climbed into the truck getting ready to hit the road except Wayne couldn't find his wallet.  Oh no!  Did it fall out when he bought diesel in Sturgeon Falls or was he robbed?  Wait a minute - don't panic!  We called Nancy and asked her to look in her car.  Yes! It's there.  Poor Nancy left work again and delivered the missing wallet to a sheepish Wayne.  Thanks again, Nancy.

Back on the highway we travelled for another 1 1/2 hours to Spragge.  We're spending the night at the Serpent River Campground.  Made great time and an uneventful trip.  Until I open the RV door.  What's that white stuff on the floor?  Did something break?  The cupboard door opened during the trip and our dishes were flying loose in the RV.  Several bowls broke spreading glass shards everywhere.  When we tried to open the slides, dishes and glass got stuck under and behind the slides.  We gouged the linoleum and had a major cleanup job.  To make matters worse, our slippers were filled with shards and had to be thrown out.  After the cleanup we headed into Elliot Lake in search of slippers and supper.  Do you know that the closest Walmart to here is in Sudbury?  Thank god Elliot Lake has a Zellers.

Just a fraction of the broken glass

Well all's well that ends well. We're back at home in our cozy chairs with new slippers and full tummies.  We had supper at the Fireside Classic Grill.  Very tasty.

Wayne's cappeletti

My half price wings.  Yummy!

Tommorrow we cross the border.

Two More Sleeps

It's almost time!  Thursday morning we head out.  Westward ho!!  And just in time too.  The low for Thursday is 2 degrees.  Yuck!

The gazebo is down, flower pots emptied and outdoor furniture stowed.  We have been very busy getting organized and packing.

Basement Packed

It hasn't been all work.  Last weekend it was Halloween at Doe Lake Rizzort.  The kids went trick or treating throughout the park.  It was lots of fun even though the weather was pretty rainy.  I sat out of the rain under the front of the fifth wheel to hand out my candy.  Pretty silly, but it worked.

Trick or Treat

Even Justin Beaver joined in the fun!

I will update the blog more often as we travel to Nanaimo.  However, I may not always have access to the internet.  This year we are crossing the border at Sault Ste Marie.  We are then travelling through Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington and then BC.  Mostly new uncharted territory for us.

Ta ta for now

August - A Social Whirlwind

This last month has been jam packed with visitors. 

Marilyn and Tom

Marilyn and Tom live in Sooke, BC. We've been friends for over 20 years. They had a grand adventure this summer, travelling from BC to ON on their Gold Wing motorcycle. We'll see you in October when we get back to Nanaimo.

Wayne and Tom - Comparing tummies?

My sister, Kathy rented one of the cottages here in the park. We had a great time. Matthew and his girlfriend, Jovana came up for the weekend. Wayne and I had only met Jovana via Skype. It was great to meet you in real life. You are a lovely girl.

Brunch at Three Guys and a Stove - Yummy!

Matthew and Jovana

We had a great weekend. Lots of laughter, food and wine.  Jovana, it was even fun being trapped with you in the grocery cart storage shed during the torrential rain.  Ha Ha

On Monday, Kathy said that dinner was a surprise and it was being delivered. It drove Wayne mad not knowing what he was having for supper. Turned out that the surprise was a visit from Sheri and Kevin.

Sheri and Kevin

Kathy's tongue same colour as her hoody.  Good wine.

Taking pictures of the ducks from the dock.

The ducks.

Lots more fun, food, wine and shopping.  Did you know that there are at least six gift shops in Burks Falls?  We didn't know this but we do now.  We visited them all.  Also went to Danny's Justa Pasta for supper.  Delicious.  On a return trip to Dwight we went to Henrietta's Bakery, more gift shops and ate a great lunch at the Moose Cafe.  Thanks Sheri and Kevin.

On the 15th of August it was Mom's birthday.  We travelled to Guelph to celebrate at Golf's Steakhouse.  It was great to see everyone and hear all about The Wayne Lewis Family Trip to Europe.  All the luggage was lost, but the trip was great.  Unfortunately Andrea couldn't join us as she had to work.

Lewis Family gathered for Mom's Birthday

The two Waynes

Matthew and Amanda

Wayne, Daniela, Kathy and Dad

Dad with rice pudding - his favourite

Mom with birthday cake

Hope you enjoyed your birthday celebration Mom.  We did.

While in Guelph, Wayne had a followup appointment with his doctor.  He got a clean bill of health re recent procedure and is good to go for five years.

Back at home, we had a visit from Kailey (daycare child) and her mom and little sister, Jaden.  We spent time at the swings and swimming in the lake.  Kailey swims like a fish.  She stayed in the water with Wayne for about two hours.  She even swam to the swim platform and slid down the slide.  We had a great time except that their car wouldn't start when it was time to go home.  Our wonderful neighbours gave the battery a boost and all was well.  Except that Kailey didn't want to go home.  Lol

Kailey, Kristie, and Jaden

Kailey

Jaden

Wayne and I made a quick trip to Sudbury. I had to go to a dental specialist to have a root canal in a tooth that already had a crown installed. I was very apprehensive but it was painless. One more trip to my regular dentist to have the temporary filling in the crown replaced by a permanent one. Man will I be glad to be finished with doctors and dentists. I think we had more appointments this summer than in the previous five years. Hate to think how many more if we were actually sick.

We were invited to dinner and a sleepover at the Ablett's in North Bay.  The MacDonald family was also invited.  Kaitlyn and Andrew and Megan and Erin are all past daycare kids of mine.  I forgot to take pictures of the adults at supper - could the amount of wine I inhaled have been a factor?

Andrew, Megan, Erin, Kaitlyn and me

Ablett girls - Bella, Erin, Marilyn and Megan

Thanks for a great visit.  We'll miss you guys this winter.   PS  Took us two days to recuperate.

Doe Lake Campground Rizzort, Site 68 has a new resident.  Welcome Justin Beaver.

Thank you Sarah for bringing him north.  Justin was carved by my dad.  The log he is nibbling on is a real log chewed by a live beaver.  Our neighbour Al found it while out walking.  Thanks Al.  Thank you Dad for this cool carving.  We are having a lot of fun with him.

Wayne and I found time to go on a short hike in Burks Falls.

The trail is called The Heritage River Walk.  It meanders along a portion of the Magnetewan River.  This river is very long and winding.  It eventually empties into Georgian Bay near Britt.  In years past I believe it was a major transportation route for logging etc.

Well, that pretty much covers our month.  In a  couple of weeks we will be heading west once more.  In the mean time I will be busy planning our route and organizing what goes and what stays here or in storage.  Wayne will be busy checking and doing maintenance on the trailer and truck.

It's hard to say au revoir to everyone here in Ontario, but we also miss our friends and family on the west coast and look forward to seeing them again.

July Highlights

I'm falling behind updating this blog.  Having such a good time that I don't want to sit at the computer.  Oh well.  Here are some of the things we did this past month.
Highway construction is marching along. This is our new exit coming from Huntsville. Wayne and I giggle every time we pass by. I took pictures of the business section - all two of them.

Corner Store

Marina and Post Office

I forgot to take a picture of the chip stand. That's it for our little town of Katrine.

Tiger Lilies blooming in my garden.

Our major project for this summer!  We are sorting old photos - scanning and saving them to an SD card.  I've set up a little area in the gazebo that can be used  as a computer area.  Don't want to be stuck inside.

We decided to go on a field trip around the Lake of Bays. First stop Dwight, then Dorset, Baysville and finally returning to Huntsville. Along the way we stopped at a great bakery in Dwight and a dockside lunch in Dorset.

Robinson's General Store.  Imagine boating to the grocery store.

Garrett(one of my daycare kids) and Chris came for a visit. We had lunch and went for a boat ride on the Magnetewan River. What a great day!

Garrett piloting the boat.

It's a goose blockade.

They were stretched across the river.  Didn't move until the last second.  Silly geese.

We have taken several boat tours around the lake. Love looking at the cottages and scenery.

Captain Wayne

Little Doe shoreline

Saturday was the Baysville Walkabout. Main Street was closed to vehicles. Over 125 vendors were set up with food, music, face painting and displays by the fire department. Gail and Andy joined us to enjoy this event. It was very hot but lots of fun.

Gail and Andy

Wayne's Weenies

To finish off our day, Wayne and I went to a community supper. The meal was homemade lasagna, salad, rolls and homebaked lemon tarts. Yummy!

It's been a couple of weeks, so I thought I should update.

We went to Guelph again.  Celebrated Father's Day at Wayne and Daniela's home.  It was a great day - family, food and weather.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures.

Sunday evening Wayne began cleansing as he was having a colonoscopy on Tuesday.  Monday Kathy and I escaped to Buffalo.  We were in search of dresses for the big event.  American stores have a much better selection of dresses.

We drove, ate and shopped, shopped, shopped.  Very successful excursion.  I found 2 dresses and Kathy bought a bunch of stuff.   For supper we ate at a restaurant called "Carrabba's".  Some of the best Italian food we have ever had.

Tuesday, I took Wayne to his appointment.  Afterwards he was very dopey and silly.  Quite funny.  It took 3 attempts to get in the truck on the passenger side.  Back at Kate's he fell into bed and slept for a long time.  He has a recheck scheduled for mid August.

We headed home on the Wednesday.  It rained for about 4 days straight.  We sorted out closets and cupboards.  Chores we save for rainy days.  As the weather finally improved, we enjoyed fires, walks around the area and just relaxing in our gazebo.  I am on the lookout for a 12 x 10 gazebo - reasonably priced with both screen and rain curtains.  It would be nice to have a bit more room inside.

We also went into North Bay.  Wayne had a wisdom tooth pulled.  Are we done with doctors and dentists yet?  No still a few appointments left.  Man, I hope this isn't the way every summer is going to go.

Yesterday was a busy day.  We went to town, did some banking, laundry and enjoyed a good lunch at East Side Marios.  Then back to Katrine Marine to get our boat out of winter storage.  I left Wayne and scooted back to the campground so that I could be waiting at our slip to help him dock.  He installed our bilge pump complete with solar panel to charge the battery.  Then we went for our first ride around Little Doe Lake.  Great to be back on the water.  I still don't have a steering wheel though.

Our neighbours arrived last evening for Canada Day celebrations.  We spent a very pleasant time socializing by the fire, sipping wine or beer.  Today the park is hosting a potluck.  It is always a good time.

Happy Canada Day!