November 10-12 Journey to Hilton Head SC

November 10-12 Journey to Hilton Head SC

Milton Heights site A22... bye bye!! Nov 10th

Driving NY, Pennsyl, W. Virginia, N. Carolina and S. Carolina

Welcome Center N Carolina... overnight!!

 Heading out about 9am we were a little later than we hoped but very excited to begin a new phase in our journey. Over the last few days we said goodbye to family and friends, but it wasn't too emotional, knowing we are coming 'home' for Christmas. Our entry through the border into the US was seamless and we were happy to be back for while. The journey was long, but switching drivers every couple of hours, makes the time pass more quickly and we enjoyed the views as we drove. The Fall colours were still quite vibrant in many areas. The downer was the number of deer that were the victims of the highway. We stopped counting at 18 and we were sad each time... but it made s more vigilant, especially as dusk approached. We had planned on two nights and three even days of driving, but we motored happily for over 12 hours on the first day and ended up sleeping Sunday night in the parking lot of the North Carolina Welcome centre... far enough off the highway to be nice and quiet and surrounded by red trees. We did pass over the Allegheny mountains in the dark, but we have been there before and know that on the way back in December we will be passing over during daylight hours.  We were warm and safe and happy. The next morning we got maps and advice from the welcome centre and headed out for our second day on the road refreshed and still excited about the journey.

Closing in on our destination!!!

Walmart... Walterboro... overnight in the parking lot

It is amazing what travel does to renew the spirit and remind us how little we really know about our environment. We are like kids exploring the world. Saw an owl just sitting quietly by the road (alive!!) As we crossed the border into South Carolina we both felt a sense of excitement about our new adventure.We decided to take the plunge by staying our first night in a Wall-mart parking lot.... what fun.. we stayed in the parking lot of the Walmart in Walterboro, South Carolina. We were able to stock up on some groceries and our favourite Yuengling beer. There were about 12 other rigs in the parking lot and we, again, felt safe and warm. We were able to run the propane furnace both nights on the road and the batteries handled it without a problem... even cooked up some steel-cut oats in the morning. The next morning, after breakfast, we headed back into the Walmart for a few bits and then slowly packed up, gassed up ( only $3.55 a gallon) and drove the last leg of our journey (about 90 minutes) to Hilton Head Harbour RV resort just over the bridge on Hilton Head Island. We checked in and were given the keys to a golf cart to go and choose from all the available sites in the resort. We found our site 121 and there was no doubt we would be happy there, so we set up and enjoyed some afternoon sunshine, a glass of champagne, cheese and crackers. Happy to be settled for the next 4 weeks. The weather is warm but scheduled to get a little colder in a couple of days ... but still warm enough to put the sweaters and warm coats away for a while. The resort is quite beautiful... palm trees, 2 swimming pools, hot tub, a 5 star restaurant, exercise room, laundry and a marina offering dolphin and eco-tours. First impressions are very positive.

Site 121.. complete with patio set and garden area!!.. CHEERS!

Oct 1 - Nov 10th - Milton Heights Campground

Oct 1 - Nov 10th - Milton Heights Campground
Just a quick over-view of a lovely month in our old stomping grounds in Milton/Burlington. A few days after we arrived we had the sad, but not totally unexpected, news that Uncle Harry in UK passed away (at 95 yrs old). It was a 'no-brainer' that Derek would go over to help his cousins cope for a couple of weeks to sort out stuff and attend the funeral of an uncle that we both adored... he made life tough on all of the 'cousins', (especially young sis G) but most saw through his gruff exterior. He was a colourful, adorableYorkshire lad, with a gruff exterior and a heart of gold. It was a sad and happy time for Derek. In any event he spent valuable time with cuz's Gill and Jackie, what a team! Janice spent the two weeks catching up with friends, going to the movies and spending a beautiful thanksgiving with B and G. The rest of our time 'home' was spent visiting friends, getting ourselves sorted with dentists and doctors and spending some real quality time with Grant and Braden. We caught much of the lovely fall weather. It did get pretty cold toward the end of our stay and we had to take some precautionary measures to prevent the rig from freezing at night. Milton Heights is a great spot and close to all of the 'golden horseshoe. It is a mixture of travellers and 'full-timers" and although there is not much in the way of organized activities it is a clean, safe and relatively 'handy' place to park in the area.
We didn't have the opportunity to do some of the activities we had planned but generally enjoyed the stay. We had the time to plan the next few months of our adventure and looked forward to continuing our journey over the next few months... with a month in Niagara on the Lake over the Christmas holidays.

Sun Sept 29-Mon Sept 30th-Sault Ste Marie-Milton

Sun Sept 29-Mon Sept 30th-Sault Ste Marie-Milton

Lovely Colours at KOA in the Sault!

I am writing this toward the end of Oct... But better late than never.

Derek and Dennis - Good to see him.

We enjoyed our 2 night stay at the KOA in Sault St Marie. We found that they were a bit penny-pinching. We paid for a site (which included up to 6 people, but were annoyed to find they charged our friend $5 to visit us and sit at our picnic table for a few hours to chat... They were un-moveable and, although they have a nice campground, we felt annoyed after we had paid over $50 per night for the site, them $50 for a trailer/tow vehicle weighing service, and purchased an expensive tire pressure gauge. Nice people, but not customer focussed.  Would think twice before going again or recommending. Rant over!!!

Strange sunset on way down to Milton

Camped for the night in Braden's driveway

The weather was lovely, and the colours at their peak, as you can see from the photo. We left there, planning on staying over night part way down, but once on the road, the closer we got to 'home-base', the more excited we got about getting there... so we just kept driving and driving. We had the idea of staying at the Truck stop in Milton, but Braden said we could park in the driveway at his place... so we pulled in about 8pm and were absolutely thrilled to see Braden. We sat down to a quick pasta / meat sauce dinner together and watched a bit of TV before settling down for the night .... happy, safe, cosy, and glad to be 'home'. Ahhhhhhh!!!! Looking forward to getting to Milton Heights Campground tomorrow and settling down for a month or so.

Wed/Thur/Fri/Sat Sept 25-28 - Saskatchewan-Manittoba-Ontario

Wednesday Sept 25^{th –} Swift Current to Grenfell Saskatchewan

LEAVING SWIFT CURRENT

SASKATCHEWAN IS FLAT

BUT HE GLACIAL DRUMLINS ADD A DIFFERENCE

YEAH.... GRENFELL, SASK

Well the Swift Current site was nothing special so we got out as soon as possible in the morning, had an uneventful drive past Regina and began to marvel at the flat grasslands of the prairies. Got to the site at Grenfell about 2.30 pm for a self check in…just a open field of 9 or 10 utility posts and a “please leave $25 in an envelope in the mail slot!” easy drive through site and we didn’t even disconnect the truck. Got the bikes off the rack and cycled over to see Laurette at her home. Well Grenfell sure is a sleepy rural town of about 900. Almost idyllic and friendly folk..I guess it was pretty obvious that we were strangers. What a great visit to chat about the intervening years and life events for us all. So we ordered a chinese take out for Laurette to pick up…too awkward for us to carry on our bikes and we headed back to camp to show off our condo while the three of us munched away. We spent some 7 hours together and still had many stories untold. So good to renew friendships and stay in touch.

  

SUNSET AT THE CAMPSITE

LOOKS ALMOST LIKE A FIRE

GOOD TO SEE LONG TIME FRIENDS ... LAURETTE

Thursday Sept 26^{th –} Grenfell Saskatchewan right through to Dryden Ontario 

WINNIPEG FROM A DISTANCE

STILL A LONG WAY TO GO

After a short drive yesterday we were set for a long one today. We started out at 9.00 am local time and targeted to get to Kenora. We drove through a stormy morning and drifted across the prairies. The TransCanada highway was dual carriageway and two lanes each way the whole stretch, but boringly flat. Just gently rolling countryside so that you could see a couple of miles at most …but it is savannah grassland. In the afternoon we had passed through the storm and we pressed on. Pleased to find that diesel was only $1.18 in Manitoba as in SK. Well we blazed by Winnipeg on the southern ring road and only saw the city from a distance. At the eastern end of Manitoba, we did however spot a huge bald headed Eagle and the vegetation cover now included trees and brush not jut grass.

MADE IT TO DRYDEN-BIRCHLAND PARK

By about 5pm we crossed over into Ontario and began to look for the designated camp …The Willows in Kenora. I had called ahead and was told its on Hwy 17 just after 17A rejoins it. The gps co-ordinates couldn’t pick it up and knowing the mailbox number was useless and the one highway advertisement was actually too far past it so we realized some 20km on from Kenora that we had missed it. Well at that point we just kept going and 90 minutes later just before dark hauled our weary selves into Birchland Campsite in Dryden. Again basically just a serviced field but they had internet  (having warned me it probably wouldn’t work) so we were happy. We actually reheated the Chinese leftovers for dinner! Had an early night and set ourselves up for another long day tomorrow.

  

Friday September 27^th Dryden to somewhere between Thunder Bay and Marathon called Neys!

MEMORIAL TO TERRY FOX- NEAR THE SPOT HE STOPPED HIS RUN

IT IS A BEAUTIFUL SPOT NEAR THUNDER BAY

YES FALL IS IN THE AIR

TOP OF LAKE SUPERIOR

 Got off to a later than planned start, actually we slept in. Packed as quickly as we could, but still didn’t quite get going before the thunderstorm hit. Left the site about 9.30 and set off a little wet in the pouring rain…first time this year! that that has happened! Filled up at $1.35..welcome to Ontario. Ugh. Drove south toward Thunder Bay and the weather broke about two hours into the drive. The scenery around Thunder Bay became much more lush with firs and deciduous trees and much more prolific vegetation. In Thunder bay we stopped by the Terry Fox memorial and were both choked up seeing such a significant memorial and great tribute to perhaps Canada’s greatest athlete and modern day hero. Shortly after getting back en route we passed mile 3339 where he had to stop his Marathon of Hope. We had researched and found a small campsite at Neys right on Highway 17 just west of Marathon and that was the target for tonight. The camp has 14 sites a small convenience store with a lunch counter, a hunting outfitters shop and an LCBO agency. Ah yes it was awarded Ontario small camp of the year in 2011. It’s called Neys Lunch and Campsite.  We arrived as expected at 7.30 pm and set up then wandered into the lunch counter for home made bacon burger and fries and chicken fingers. Good solid comfort food with more fat than we have eaten all week…. it was excellent.  No disappointments.

VIEW AS WE DRIVE

ONTARIO IS BEAUTIFUL

CAMP AT NEY'S LUNCH AND CAMPSITE

SATURDAY SEPT 28TH - NEYS TO SAULT STE MARIE
We got up and headed back into the diner for a full cooked breakfast... because we could!!! Afterwards our guts were questioning our wisdom.. but once in a while you just gotta get down and get greasy!!!!

Southbound on #17 - the road to the Sault.

We continued to discuss our sanity as we drove south closer to 'home'. Our goal was to get to Sault STe Marie and we made it in good time. As we drove we couldn;t help admiring the beauty of this province. It is truly amazing. Lake superior and the surrounding area, ablaze with the colours of Fall surprised and delighted us on every turn of the road. We stopped at the Agawa visitors centre and learned much about the history of the area, watching a couple of short videos, and treating ourselves to a break in the drive. We are pretty much set to stay an extra night in Sault Ste Marie to catch up with another (band) friend who moved up here a few years ago. We arived at the KOA and were very happy with the campsite. Clean, friendly and good for a couple of nights.

The open road-almost at Sault Ste Marie

Tuesday Sept 24th – Cochrane, Alberta to Swift Current Saskatchewan

Tuesday Sept 24^{th –} Cochrane, Alberta to Swift Current Saskatchewan

Alberta can be flat

After a disturbed cough-filled night we were up a little later than planned and finally under way about 10am. The drive along Hwy 1 was uneventful, but quite interesting. We saw a camel in a field in Saskatchewan… honestly!!! It was there amongst some cows… The conversation went like this:

South Saskatchewan River

Janice: Hey wait a sec is that a….

Derek: CAMEL!!!!

Janice and Derek…. HUH???!!!!???

Where is the camera when you need it most?

ANOTHER PROVINCE on our journey

Yes definitely Saskatchewan

Anyway... after a couple of pit stops to switch drivers, we ate lunch en-route and arrived at Trail RV Park in Swift Current, lured there by their website that said they had wifi, even more boosted when the person at check in gave us the password and told us that they had increased the signal strength throughout the park…. We happily set up and had supper before settling down to update blog and catch up on emails….. NOT!!! No internet…. A teasing network shows up… but no strength… And no one around to throttle… ah well.. such is life on the road.  Turns out the electric supply is a bit 'dicky' too.. thankful for the surge protector. An early night will do us good anyway…. Looking forward to catching up with another long-time friend  tomorrow in Grenfell Saskatchewan… gotta be 20+ years… and none of us will have changed!!!!! Even a bit!!!! This is such a big plus in our adventure – catching up with friends, many we have not seen in years.  In case anyone out there is wondering… we are still having a blast and happy and grateful to be able to take this amazing journey. Stay tuned. 

Monday Sept 23rd - Friends, and getting ready to move.

Monday Sept 23^rd – friends, laundry and packing

Hugs are always welcome!!

Is he cute or what??

Image of her Dad and Mom) - SO adorable!

Today we tidied and sorted the condo a little and put some laundry in before Luka, Dean and Eliza arrived to share some coffee and treats with us and see our condo. We had a lovely visit and I think they were surprised at how  un-cramped and comfortable the ‘condo’ is.  We parted with promises to keep in touch. I wanted to kidnap Eliza, but she seemed to be so attached to Luka and Dean, that I let the thought pass!  We spent the rest of the day tidying and doing laundry getting ready for a LONG drive tomorrow.  hopefully make it as far as Swift Current Saskatchewan… we’ll see how it goes.  We chatted with Derek and Lin on Skype, to see how their journey home was and also to my sister Sue in UK and her husband John to  catch up with them. Derek picked up supplies while Janice updated the blog. We are hoping to get to Ontario without needing to do any major shopping.. just quick overnight stops on the way.  Although the days are still quite warm, there is a real nip in the air in the late afternoon and it is getting quite cold at night.  We may be getting the electric blanket out.   Janice’s  feels somewhat improved today… thank goodness. Still stuffed up, but not nearly so drained. 

Site 61- Bow Riversedge RV Park

Derek in his RAVEN LUNATIC t-shirt

Sun Sept 22 - Farewells and hellos - Calgary, Alberta

It was time to say goodbye to our dear friends. What a great time we had with them and how lucky we are to have had their company this last couple of weeks on our journey. We spent much of the day sorting and packing. Derek and Derek and Lin went out for a bit of shopping while Janice nursed a full-blown cold. Feeling quite ill today. Undaunted we relaxed outside in the sun and chatted until it was time to leave for the airport. After we dropped them off (with a few sobs) we went to the house of an old University of Guelph friend of Janice’s, who we have kept in touch with over the years. Luka and her lovely husband Dean and their absolutely beautiful 8 year old daughter Eliza made us feel so welcome and we caught up on each others lives and were treated to a fabulous home cooked meal, served meticulously by Eliza. We swapped tales of jobs, travels etc and Janice was able to forget for a few hours how yukky she felt with the cold. What a great evening. When we got back to the ‘condo’ we felt a bit sad not to see Derek-2 and Lin there, but happy that we had such a great time with them for the last two weeks, and also happy to have had a lovely welcome from Luka and family. 
Forgot to take photos today.