Oh Canada…we are off again!

The summer is flying by and we are off again on another adventure.  But first…what did we accomplish this summer in our never ending quest to make the Blue Flame even better? 

How about a new coffee maker?  The Blue Flame came with an under-counter mounted drip coffee maker.  It works, but I am the only coffee drinker and I usually only have one cup.  I love the Keurig in our house.  But there isn’t any room for it on the RV counter top.  How about a mini-Keurig?  Ok…but where to put it?  Fortunately, I have a husband with woodworking skills.

BEFORE – The old coffee maker was out of the way. We used this for inspiration.

AFTER – Jim built a shelf that securely holds the mini Keurig. Plus I got a bonus paper towel holder! This is working out great!

If you know Jim at all, you know he is a voracious reader. He will have multiple boxes of books to take on a trip with us. He reads a book, and then swaps it at a campground library for another book. Instead of boxes of boxes, how about a bookshelf?

VIOLA! Jim put a bookshelf across the back of our bedroom. It has a tall lip at the front edge to keep the books from falling off. It was sized to hold both paperbacks and hard covers.

The new shelf is working out great. Get rid of those boxes!

Another Adventure

It is now time for another adventure. This Fall we are heading to Canada. Starting in Ontario, we will go north of Lake Superior and drive west across the continent. Once we hit the Pacific Ocean, we’ll head down to Washington State and finally to Portland, Oregon to see Callie. After a visit with her, we will then head east. Our schedule is being driven by the firm date of October 1. We have to be in Grand Forks, North Dakota by then because Jim signed up to work the Sugar Beet Harvest again. If you aren’t familiar with Jim’s previous stint as a sugar beet truck driver, check out these blog posts.

beet-harvest-in-the-red-river-valley

sugar-beets-are-everywhere

sugar-beet-wrap-up

We weren’t sure of our departure date, so we didn’t make any reservations ahead of time. We left Wednesday, August 1. Once we got into Canada, we started making phone calls. It turns out Monday, August 6 is the “Civic Holiday.” That means every Canadian has a long weekend and every campground is full. Uh oh.

We did find a campground in Mount Forest that could take us Wednesday and Thursday nights. Friday night they had nothing. But the wonderful campground staff SQUEEZED into a spot and let us dry camp for the third night. See the picture below to see what I mean by “SQUEEZE.”

This is what happens when you don’t realize it’s the “long August weekend” and there are no official campsites available. You end up squeezed between the storage shed and the campground office.

The campground is full of seasonal sites (i.e. RVs that never move). We stuck out like a sore thumb. Jim was sitting outside our rig on the bench trying to read, but he had a lot of interruptions from people stopping by to check us out!

Canadian Trivia Time

What do the Canadians call their “Dollar Stores”?

Looney Tooney Plus. At least that is what this one is called. For those NOT familiar with Canadian money, the one dollar coin has a Loon on it. Thus its nickname is a Looney. When the two dollar coin was next introduced, it was naturally called a Tooney.

We have been told by Canadian campgrounds that they have “water and hydro”. Say what? We finally figured out they meant water and hydro-power electricity (generated by a hydro-dam). I.e. “water and electric.” That was a new one!

Canadian pennies don’t exist anymore. All purchases have the total rounded up or down to the nearest zero or five. So my $2.86 purchase only cost me $2.85. But my $15.39 purchase cost me $15.40. What am I going to do with all the Canadian pennies I’ve collected over the years? <insert smirk>

Cell phone plans have improved greatly since we last spend time in Canada. In 2014, I had nothing through Verizon. Fast forward to 2018 and I have unlimited talk and text and 500 MB of data a day. That is making online trip planning a lot easier (assuming we are in an area with cell service)!

Today

Today we are headed up to Tobermory and Georgian Bay. We have reservations on the 7:00 a.m. ferry tomorrow to Manitoulin Island. Since we are self-contained, we are going to spend the night in line at the ferry terminal. BUT…we can’t get in line until 8:00 p.m. So for now we are sitting about 60 miles south in a Home Depot parking lot. It’s entertaining watching people slow down and stare at us as they drive by. Plus the Home Depot has free WiFi useful for activities like posting blogs!

Home is where you park it.

It’s a tad warm out, but there’s a good breeze coming through the open windows. I’ve got a craving for ice cream. I have some with us, but I’m not sure I want to dig through all this to get at it.

Yes, I packed our freezer full. I know, they HAVE grocery stores in Canada. But I had a bunch of food I didn’t want to leaving sitting in the freezer for 3 months!! I think we’ll have to plan our meals based upon what’s in front!  That ham steak is coming in handy for keeping everything contained!

Next stop (and blog), Manitoulin Island.  But for now, maybe I’ll wander over to the McDonald’s at the other end of the parking lot and buy a McFlurry.

4 thoughts on “Oh Canada…we are off again!

  1. dominiquefeather

    The talents you two possess are never ending!!! Off on a new adventure . I remember you saying you were headed to Canada but I didn’t realize it was the start of your winter travels .

  2. meoneill

    Additional upgrades….what about the new matteress & quilt on the bed?!?! You tooted jim’s Horn but not your own!
    Have a great holiday on Monday! Hope the McFlurry was yummy.

    1. Corinne Post author

      Aw shucks. Yup. Basically a new mattress and a new quilt. I forgot to pull the old quilt out of the cupboard. Oops. I could use that storage room.

      Never got the McFlurry. And still haven’t dug far enough into the freezer to find the ice cream. I am trying to make meals with BIG things out of the freezer. I had better find a dish that uses lots of frozen peas. 😉

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