Ontario to Quebec again and back

Friday 31st July
By noon our new floor was in the RV and I was off to the Ottawa Campground while Carol had lunch with her friend Claudia and visited her elderly friend Peggy.

With the RV in a closer spot than Kemptville, we visited our friends Richard and Felicity in Bridlewood.

Saturday 1st August
After a quick Home Depot visit we leave the Ottawa Campground and head across the river to the Lac Leamy Casino in Gatineau to meet Ira and Ann in Rolling Thunder and grab an optimum spot for viewing the fireworks display.

We had the pretty good brunch in the casino and wandered around until supper time and then awaited the International Fireworks competition and Spain’s entry.


For us (Carol and me) fireworks neophytes it was pretty impressive but Carol spent most of it comforting a nervous Buddy in the RV.

After the fireworks we had to wait for the crowds to die down before we could drive off to what used to be the Hull Arena parking lot for the night – no overnight parking permitted in the casino grounds.

Sunday 2nd August
Sunday we woke up in the parking lot of the Robert Guertin Arena that is a great spot for free RV stays. It has a free dump station and water for tour buses. There were several other RVs there over the few days we stayed there.

After a quick trip to Rona we had some quarter round and I started work on the molding round the new floor.


Monday 3rd August
Time for some relaxation and a bike ride around Lac Leamy and up the side of the of the Gatineau River for a few miles without Carol who took Benadryl for a reaction to something and went to sleep.

Tuesday 4th August
We repeated the bike ride this time with Carol.


Wednesday 5th August
The weather was holding up so it was out on the bikes again and this time for a trip round Ottawa , Ira and Ann taking us on a trip round places we didn’t know existed in spite of living there for I don’t know how many years.
Here’s a test for Ottawa dwellers. Where and what is this building:


Here are the intrepid cyclists.


We rounded off the day with more fireworks at Lac Leamy with the German entry which all agreed was spectacular.




Thursday 6th August
We’d had the loan of a mitre box to cut the molding and since we planned to move on the next day and had plans that didn’t include big RV projects, I spent the day cutting all the pieces ready for glueing in at some future date.

That night we drove across the river to the parliament buildings to watch the Son et Lumiere performance.



Friday 7th August
After packing up and visiting the dump station, we headed the RVs back across the river and west on the Queensway to Ashton near Carleton Place to Mike and Janet Simms’ place out in the country. They had graciously agreed to allow us to leave the RVs on their land while we drove in our car to friends Geoff and Bunkey who introduced us to Ira and Ann in Georgetown, Exumas some years ago.

Saturday 8th August
It’s a long way from Ottawa to Tobermory at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula dividing Georgian Bay from the rest of Lake Huron.
With rest stops and stops for breakfast and lunch


it took 10 hours.

However, we arrived to a warm welcome and supper.

Geoff and Bunkey have a cottage there where they are now spending most of their summers . It’s been a work in progress for many years – they did all the finishing themselves – but now it’s pretty much finished and they’re doing a bit of B&B. Their web-site is www.drydockbandb.blogspot.com.


Sunday 9th August
We took a long walk through Tobermory and out to the water at Burnt Point on the Georgian Bay side. It was too hot for Buddy so we popped him in the water for a cooling.


Monday 10th August
Another long walk, this time with a short car ride to a park area and a visit to the famous ‘grotto’ that you can swim out of underwater to the lake. We asked a nice young lady to take our picture:


Lots of very pretty scenery here with clear blue water – cool though.


On the way back we had Buddy illegally off the leash. We had our punishment when Buddy found some poop to roll in and was covered in brown stuff.
This necessitated a wash in a stream to remove the worst of it.

However, he still smelled pretty bad and was relegated to the back of the car on the way home to a full shampooing.

Tuesday 11th August
Another walk between showers, this time to the Lake Huron side of the peninsula and some interesting plant life like this pitcher plant .


Wednesday 12th August
Time to leave Tobermory and face the long drive back to Ashton near Ottawa where the RVs await.

We said goodbye to our hosts with promises to see them somewhere down south in the coming winter and after a fairly uneventful day, we get back to find our battery has gone flat and the fridge had stopped working. We moved as much as we could over to Ira and Ann’s fridge, cooked some of the previously frozen stuff and through the rest away. Just one of those things.

Tomorrow’s job – find out what’s using so much power.

Thursday 13th August
After a run in the car to Ottawa on various errands and a stop in Costco to replenish our frozen fish collection we drove the RV to Smiths Falls to meet up with Rolling Thunder and do some much needed laundry.

Our overnight stay was in a municipal parking lot that welcomes visitors.


Checked out what flattened the battery and found the fridge’s auto-defrost takes a lot of power. Won’t have that on when we leave the RV for a few days again.

Friday 14th August
Back in my working life we met a fellow called Sandy Twose and his wife Ellen. They went off to Calgary but since returned to build their dream home in Ontario cottage country. We’ve had a longstanding invitation to go visit and so we finally decided to take them up on the offer. So both RVs and our car head off first to Perth to drop off the car in a parking lot, then to Sharbot Lake to pick up a solar controller we’d ordered on the way back from Tobermory and then to Fifth Depot Lake near Parham somewhere in the triangle of Sharbot Lake, Napanee and Kingston.

It’s quite a drive from the highway to their place by RV – 1-1/2 miles of driveway. Before we got to the end we had to stop and cut trees down at either side to get through.

But what a beautiful spot!

We ate our meals in their screened porch of their ‘cabin’ which until more of the house is finished is their only home.


Saturday 15th August
I started the day by installing our solar controller so I can leave our solar panel permanently connected. No power in this place, they are completely ‘off the grid’. They don’t even have running water – a composting toilet is their only ‘facility.

After our work morning, Ira and I canoed across the lake.

We then all cooled off in the warm water. It was pretty hot with Ontario experiencing its first real taste of summer with a 30deg. heat wave.

Then more relaxing with happy hour on the porch. Man this retirement thing is tough.


The days all seem to end with fabulous sunsets.


Sunday 16th August
As mentioned before, they are in the (long) process of building a house. So for Sandy and Ellen weekends are work as Ellen spends the week in Ottawa working.
They have poured their basement and were putting down styrofoam to insulate their upcoming heated floor.

When the floor heating is in they will then be able to move into this area, hopefully for the winter.

Yes, that really is a basement. Concrete poured into a Styrofoam mold.
Carol started doing a fine job cleaning the outside of the RV and Buddy took to going in the water voluntarily for a swim.

Supper was on the porch again and just before Ellen had to drive back to Ottawa we took this group photo.

Monday 17th August
We were supposed to leave on the Monday but it was such a beautiful day and this (apart from the deer flies and mosquitoes) is such a paradise somehow we never left.

It did give Carol chance to finish cleaning the RV and the rest of us to have a swim before a thunderstorm came through.

We ended the day with a movie on the porch – “A Knight’s Tale” with Heath Ledger.

From Florida to Ontario, to Quebec, to Ontario

Tuesday 9th June
After unsuccessfully trying to get valve extensions put on “The Big Easy” as we’re henceforth naming the RV, we rumble out of Indiantown to Hobe Sound to drop off some unused key blanks and head for the I-95 and the north.
First stop was Manatee Hammock campground at Titusville. A beautiful spot next to the Intracoastal

with full hookups (electricity, sewer and water) plus washrooms, swimming pool and free Wi-Fi. I had a swim, really nice thing to do in the heat down here.

Wednesday 10th June
We took an early morning walk to the waterfront with Buddy

and had an early morning visitor

before topping up with propane and gas (8 mpg so far) and heading back to the I-95.

For lunch we stopped at the Georgia Welcome Centre which like all rest stops on the I-95 are very nice places with sheltered picnic tables and washrooms etc.

In one day we passed through Georgia into South Carolina. Amazing, when you think we spent eight days transiting from South Carolina to Florida on Incognita.
We stopped one more time at the South Carolina Welcome Centre before leaving the I-95 for the Tanager Woods Campground. This was a contrast from the previous night which had everything plus traffic noise from the US-1 highway.
Tanager Woods is in the middle of nowhere with full hookup but NO other facilities. But that’s OK for $11 a night. After all we have everything in Big Easy anyway.

Thursday 11th June
Off we go again but not too early. Back to the I-95 and on up through South Carolina with a stop near Florence to stock up on our vitamins and activate our US RBC bank cards.

Got pulled over by the police. Apparently I was driving too close to the shoulder and he wondered if I was sleepy. Anything but, with huge trucks that keep whizzing past just a few feet on the left. I shall have to learn to position the thing in the middle of the lane.

For an afternoon break we stop at one of those huge ‘discount’ stores they have off the highway – RJs in this particular instance. A huge load of junk as Carol said, though we did buy some sweeties.

Our stop for the night was near Roanoke Rapids at a very new RV park. So new they don’t even have half the facilities they’re supposed to. But they did have Wi-Fi.

Friday 12th June
Off again round our usual time of 9 am and into Virginia and the least pleasant part of the trip negotiating the roads around Washington – no rest areas and wall to wall traffic with frequent slow downs and complete stops
Eventually we’re out of there and into Maryland and more pleasant surroundings with a stop for lunch at a scenic lookout that’s the scene of a civil war battle for the city of Washington.
Just after crossing into Pennsylvania we stopped for the night at an RV park that’s actually an RV dealership. They were having a ‘customer appreciation weekend’ with live music (a little too country for us) and burgers and hot dogs – not the thing for non meat eaters.

Saturday 13th June
We had set ourselves a low target for the day’s journey so we had our usual leisurely Saturday cooked breakfast before finally trundling on to the I-81 at around 11 am.

Lunch was somewhere at rest stop in mid-Pennsylvania before we landed in South Gibson PA around 5.

The Shady Rest campground has the most rural setting we’ve been in so far.

We were half way up a mountain in a heavily forested area with a hundred foot drop behind the RV. We put rocks behind the back wheels just in case.
The temperature finally dropped and we turned the air conditioning off and slept totally covered up for the first time in months.

Sunday 14th June
Another leisurely start to the day with a cooked breakfast and then it’s on into New York State and our campsite of the day just outside Alexandria Bay.
The weather is even cooler, no AC required. The locals thought it was a muggy day. Compared to Florida it was arctic.

Monday 15th June
A short hop to the border and we follow signs for “Export Control” that go nowhere. We almost make it to Canadian Customs before we stop and walk back and then get yelled at for walking across the car lanes. Finally we are told to do a U-turn where it says no U-turns and then head back through US Customs. However, the paperwork takes about 10 minutes and we were soon headed for Canadian Customs. That took a little longer with money to pay.
But pretty soon we are heading up the 401 and then to Prospect to park the RV in our good friends Richard and Sarah’s driveway.


Tuesday 16th June – Sunday 28th June
Recovering cars from storage, doctors’ appointments and generally re-assembling the parts of our lives that can only be put on hold for so long.

Monday 29th June
Time to move ourselves on, up with the awning, everything stowed and off we go to Sandy Mountain campsite near Kemptville We were very lucky to get in with the upcoming Canada Day celebrations but signing up for a 10 day stay clinched the reservation.

Tuesday 30th June – Thursday 2nd July
This is one noisy place when the transients are around. Blaring music, screaming kids, drunken adults, not a tranquil spot. Once the first of July was past it quietened down a bit though and we met some very nice people who have a permanent trailer across the way. Lots of people have permanent spots. The trailers or ‘severely modified’ trailers

stay in the same place (it would take a lot to move some of them) and get bought and sold just like a house. Seems a little crazy when the land is owned by someone else.

We bought new tires for our bikes and once they were installed we went cycling again for the first time in about ten years. As we were intending to go some places without having a car we knew we would be needing better transport than Shank’s Pony.

Friday 3rd July – Sunday 5th July
Leaving the RV behind in a field at the campsite, we head off to Montreal for a weekend visiting our friends Ken and Cheryl even though Cheryl was suffering from a rather nasty sore throat and cold (more on that later).

Whenever we visit Ken and Cheryl and family - not forgetting Guiness - we watch lots of movies and usually get to go see one too. No exceptions on this trip (“Up” was the movie – in 3-D yet – great!) though we did get to bed somewhat earlier than we used to – getting old?

We got to participate in their Sunday family BBQ with daughter Jessica and boyfriend Mike, Son Jeff and friend Sadie, plus Cheryl’s mom and her Uncle who was celebrating his 92nd birthday. So it was burgers and sausage for most and veggie burgers for some.

Monday 6th July
From Montreal it was back to Ottawa, more specifically Orleans, where we stayed overnight with our Newfie friends Denis and Madeline.

Tuesday 7th July
Over to Sandy Mountain Campsite to pick up The Big Easy and then we’re off down Highway 43 to Cornwall and a lovely spot by the river at the big civic complex there to meet up with Ira and Ann and Rolling Thunder.

Wednesday 8th July
No early start for these RVers. But eventually we were on the way to Drummondville for the Mondial des Cultures festival. In their praiseworthy wisdom the city fathers of Drummondville open up the school parking lots and permit RVs to park 24/7 for the duration of the festival. There are no facilities but they do have a free dump station so it’s a good deal and you can buy a ticket for all days of the festival for $25 if you buy in advance of the start.

Thursday 9th July to Friday 17th July
Our enjoyment of the festival is somewhat tempered by the fact we both came down with the cold that Cheryl had but we still got to see enough to justify the entry fee.

The town gives over a prime spot by the river for the annual festival.


Standout performances for us were:
Singer guitarist Harry Manx, shown here with his weird cross between a guitar and a sitar,

The Paraguayan dance troup with these ladies who dance with up to seven bottles balanced on their heads,

the Serbian dancers, the Georgian dancers, Cameroon singer and guitarist Idy Oulu and Florence K.

Not forgetting the fireworks displays too.

We also did some cycling which felt great after many years of abstinence.

Saturday 18th July
We’re reluctant to leave before the end of the festival but we have tickets for Jennifer Warnes at the Ottawa Bluesfest on the Sunday. So after a visit to the dump station, we’re off back through Montreal to the Ottawa Municipal Campground where we’ve booked a week’s stay on Corkstown Road on the way to Kanata.

Sunday 19th July
We have tickets for the Bluesfest, so with camping chairs in hand we headed for the show and get almost front row seats for some really good entertainment.
We’ve forgotten what these guys were called (it was a fuse of two very different outfits) but they were very entertaining.

We really went for Jennifer Warnes and her exquisite backup band.

Monday 20th July to Sunday 26th July
We spent a very wet week in the campground. It’s a very bucolic spot with lots of trees

and quite a bit of privacy compared to what we had previously experienced.

However, did it ever rain causing very damaging flooding in nearby Glencairn and we had a river flowing through our site as evidenced by the mud left behind.
We of course were high and dry unlike most of the other campers in tents probably having their annual vacation washed out.

Monday 27th July
On the road again and it’s off to spend a few days in the compound where our storage units are while we try to sort out our stuff and attempt to reduce it some. Also the RV has to be certified as fit for importation, e-tested and safety checked before we can get it registered with Ontario plates. The nearby Canadian Tire is one of the few places capable of doing this.

Tuesday 28th July to Thursday 30th July
The certification and e-testing was done but they had no forms for the safety check so we had to wait until Thursday for that and we finally get the RV back at 9 o’clock at night.

Then it’s over to the Georgia Carpet parking lot for them to install laminate flooring.