Creemore Springs Brewery, Creemore Trail Run

July 6/2013   Hot Humid Day
Our friends have come to camp with us for the weekend and what a treat it was to have company.   Bonnie and Jim are joining us on an excursion to Creemore today to watch our son-in-law run in the 25km Trail Run.     The run is set along a river area and very woodsy and hilly.   So we are getting ready for the run and catch up with our kids Calea/Kevin (running the race) and baby Iyla.

Apparently this is a "fun" run.   Although we are not sure about running 25km(15miles) in an all terrain setting as our choice of fun!   Can you believe Kevin did the 3 am feeding and then came to the race early to take off and even came in 3rd for the 25km???

To round out the fun part we headed off after the race to the nearby Creemore Springs Craft Brewery.   It is a very cute little town with beautiful flowers decorating the streets.

The Brewery has tours and sells their different types of beer.  There several different little restaurants and shops on the main street, it is a great one day destination.

Serious RV from Holland

July 6/2013
One thing that campers do everyday is walk around the campground to see what's new and what's interesting.   It is definitely like window shopping.   Here is a rig that we have never seen before.   This family actually shipped their entire unit from Europe and what a rig it is!  It was a full size transport truck and trailer all reconditioned into a spacious bright blue RV.

Oh and not to worry if you think camping in a truck is a tough life, the back had a drop down ramp where they could drive their Mercedes Benz inside !!!!

Toronto North/Cookstown, Ontario

June 27 to July 27/2013 Summertime weather in Southern Ontario, tends to very humid and it has been.  We are running our A/C to keep out the dampness.

We have traveled to this area to be closer to our four kids that live in Toronto and for a very special occasion,,,, a new granddaughter!
Iyla Skye came into the wonderful world on June 23.

  In the last week we have been able to see her quite a few times as our campground KOA Toronto North/Cookstown is about 25 miles away.  We like this campground for its amenities too and nice big pull thru sites.

 

This is a great central spot for visiting Toronto with our kids and grandkids and doing some nice motorcycling riding on our free days.  You can use this as a base area and head in 3 directions, East, West and North.  We recommend not south as you will be into the Greater Toronto Area before you know it and it is NOT biker friendly riding.

We found a nice twisting road following a river bed and then we dropped down towards Orangeville and followed the Hockley Valley Road.  It seemed "all" the other bikers and bicyclists had the same idea.   We were riding alone and then all of a sudden we came upon a group ahead of us and voila!   There is a ski area so you know the road is going to have some nice scenery.  We stopped in the little town of  Hockley at the General Store and Cafe.   It was a great bite to eat and perfect spot to watch bikes coming and going.

Roadrunner Magazine

We really enjoy Roadrunner magazine and have subscribed for the last few years since we bought our Harley.  Each month It highlights a special 4 day ride where you make a base camp in one spot then ride a different direction making a 4 leaf clover but funny the mag calls it The Shamrock tour.  With the article you get 4 tank maps to take on the ride which you can download to your GPS as well.

At the end of every month the mag posts pictures of avid readers out on their own rides and we made the latest edition!!! August 2013.  Billy is the bottom right corner - it's a pic of him in Prince Edward Island last summer.

Grande Pointe carved statues

June 9 Sunny day high of 80 breezy

We have been out riding for the last two days and it never fails you always see something new.  We met our riding friends for breakfast and stopped in the village of Grande Pointe to walk around these carved statues - really great pieces!

Construction zone

May 30  warm 75 finally!

At our campground we have some action going on and Billy cannot stay away from it!!!  The owners are preparing the infrastructure to bring in four park model trailers of which one is for them.  They will have a gorgeous view of the Lake Erie shoreline plus a view of Rondeau Bay.

Equipment has been excavating and workmen down in trenches pulling in water lines and the next thing I know Billy is missing .....?   As you can imagine "YOU CAN TAKE THE CONSTRUCTION OUT OF THE MAN BUT YOU CANNOT TAKE THE MAN OUT OF THE CONSTRUCTION!!!! 

There he is having a ball in the middle of the trenches and equipment. 

Here is the unit now put together; it came in two pieces.  The fellows put it together in four days.  There is a surprising amount of room inside; close to a thousand square feet.  The company is from Hensall Ontario - General coach. 

Quilt by me + quilt show St. Jacob

Weather in Ontario this spring has been trying .... Very cold.  A few warm days but mostly cool and cold at night.  I put away the electric blanket the other day and sure enough it got close to freezing a few nights for the US long weekend so I pulled it back out!

This winter I was inspired by all the ladies quilting at every campground and the Suwannee Valley Quilt store we visited in Trenton, Florida.

When we came home we gave the baby quilt I made to our new granddaughter coming this summer.  So I can post a picture now since it will no longer ruin the surprise!  I have found a new hobby:)

This week we planned on taking a motorcycle ride to St. Jacobs to see the quilt show but the weather was too brisk alas the car was our ride.  Here are a few of the magnificent pieces of art.

In the church you could view the show and then downstairs it was tea and cookies.... How civilized!

And even one for the car... How nifty.

Lake Erie Coast

Weather. Cold cold late spring.  Nights in   low 40's high 30's.   April 15 to May 15 has been unusually cold.  My friend called me from London on Mothers's Day and said she saw snow flurries!!!  So naturally we have begun to wonder if we slept through summer and woke up in the middle of Fall:)

Our drive from Erieau to the farm takes us through the fruit orchards on hwy 3 and every tree is out in full blossom. So stunning; imagine being a honey bee you wouldn't know which bloom to go to first.

Interstate ride home & first blog entry from the I Phone

Warm days and nights 70's plus and sunny for driving
This is a short and sweet entry till I get the hang of posting from this super device:)

We are sad to leave Alabama but responsibilities call us to head home.
Our first night was a stop in Sweetwater, Tennessee at the Koa.  One thing about KOA kamping it is consistent.  You can always get a big pull thru and it's usually easy in and out.  This was just past Chattanooga and we definitely need to put this area on our list to stop and ride with the motorcycle. Ah the list keeps growing even though we have seen so much in the last two years!
Next morning we were off about nine in the morning and even though we could make it home to Ontario today we just don't drive any farther than when it becomes mid afternoon.  So another good night at a KOA in Wapakoneta , Ohio.   Now I know you are thinking in 150 miles we could be home so why not keep going?  Lesson learned.... Getting into a site after dark can be tricky and we try not to look for trouble it seems to find us easy enough!  Tomorrow will be an easy day - short drive to the Ambassador Bridge then stop at the farm to hug Mom & Dad ( yeah they made it through another winter) then find our new site for the spring in Erieau.  

Wonderful owners there offered to turn on the water and power for us.  Southside Marina and Rv Park.  Its right by the public beach and years ago it was the spot where the coal yards were with the big ships... there is a bit of history here and its close to the farm for us and still on the water.  Come out for a ride to see us soon:). Hope everyone had a good winter.

Gulf Shores, Alabama

Weather consistently warm high 70's to 80's and nights in the 60's

Flowers are in bloom along all sidewalks

 A couple of weeks have already flown by while staying in the Gulf Shores and we realize we need to think about heading home!

Soon our extended health care coverage will be running out and we need to file our income taxes in Ontario.  Well and then there will be doctor checkups, dental, hair and a small pile of mail that will be sitting at the farm for us to go through.   Funny when you live in a motorhome you would be surprised how very little snail mail you do receive.  We don't really have any bills to speak of... insurance and licenses that come annually and that is it.  We get all credit card, satellite tv, investments, cell phone via the internet.  Mom and Dad will be happy to see us back in the neighbourhood and we will be glad to see them too:)  They have wintered well again with us away.

Along the coastal highway in Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Perdido Beach there are the most beautiful high rise condos.  This one always draws me in.... can you imagine the views from these suites???  The building appears to be completely glass all around.

We met some very experienced RV'rs in the park who recommended this dive of a place to eat seafood down in Perdido Key so away we went to find out.  Oh my their were not kidding it was a dive however the food was quite good.  Shrimp and Crab Bisque with lots of hunks of seafood in it and Royal Reds that are a early spring shrimp that are only caught from the gulf around to the outerbanks in very deep water - up to 1/2 a mile!  They are very red when cooked and extremely sweet.  They serve them in one piece so the eyes are giving you a once over, ha ha.... and then you peel them and dip them in butter, just like a tiny lobster. 

Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World

March 31/2013   Sunny, 77 , low of 64

We were out for lunch today and riding up towards Mobile when we decided to stop at the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World.  We see them all over on the interstates but had never been to one.  This is a BOYS AND HIS TOYS kind of place.  Our friend JJ is an avid fisherman and we know this is like Disneyworld to him.  So why not go in and see what is so special?

Smoking hot Dune Buggy

Well first of all we could not get inside without sitting on all the outdoor toys!!!

And we will take one of these~~~

And one of these !!!!!

And one of these!~~~~~~~  ok this is crazy

Gulf Shores, Alabama

March 23 till?   79 and sunny, 61 at night
We remembered a beautiful RV park we stopped by briefly last winter and decided it would be an ideal spot to come back to in one travel day from Hot Springs, Arkansas.  Weather is supposed to be quite warm so we are happy.  Bella Terra RV Resort.  It is ownership style class A motorhome park (no fifth wheels, trailers) and you will find the prices very interesting.  Lakefront lots sell for $160,000, Pull Thrus at $150,000.  Just like owning a condo you purchase your lot and also pay a monthly $190.00 home owners fee to keep up the amenities.  We could not fathom why you would buy into this however; it is all sold and the owners rent them out to any transients via the office administration and internet on line bookings.  At that price we would have to stay every winter for the next 25 years to break even*?*    We asked our neighbours who own their site what brought them here... their story was they lost their home in Hurricane Katrina.  They decided to relocate here with a brand new motorhome and purchased their lot.  They are late 60's and Full time RVers.

clubhouse, infinity pool, hot tub

our pull thru (no trailer allowed they took it to a separate area)

 

lot for sale at $180,000 has 1 bedroom cabana + galley kitchen + bathroom

landscaped back in lot

Billy in the hot tub

Cold Canadian Air???

March 23/2013  Thursday & Friday only high of 52 and cold at night 35 - and rain
OK so we understand March can come in like a lion and out like a lamb but it feels like it is going out like a lion too!   When we came to Hot Springs we thought it was with the Spring season which was beautiful for the first 4 days.  Then the Weather channel warned us that the Cold Canadian Air Mass was funneling down very low into the US and was going to stay down for the next few weeks.  Living in an RV is also living half outdoors.  So a couple days of inside is acceptable but then we miss being outside.
We looked at the forecast for the next 10 days and it was not going to be much warmer than 50's during the day and getting near freezing at night. 

Interstate Map

 Then it hit us like a revelation "wait a second our house has wheels!!!"  We don't have to sit and patiently wait it out.  To help us look at the big picture of roadways we had our USA Interstate Map and decided that within a day of traveling we could be back in warm weather.

campground file folder

So next out comes all our campground information.  We keep an indexed folder with all the campgrounds we have visited as well and any info we pick up at the Welcome Centres, filed by state. It's still nice to leaf through when you are toying with a plan.  Billy likes the paper and I surf the web and many of the camping APP's we have for our IPhone.  Within half an hour we had a new destination :)

Gulf Shores of Alabama here we come!  As much as we love the Ozarks for motorcycle riding in the spring it will have to wait till our next opportunity to venture back this way.

p.s.  Camping Apps needs a blog page soon.  I will work on that posting.