As the journey continues

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"She says": As we sit here in a Flying J truck stop in London, ON I bought 24 hours of internet so I could start catching up on this blog. Ontario is a very interesting Provence. From lakes that look like the ocean to horse and buggy on the highway and beautiful fall colors. We went to Callander, ON to visit Jose and Pat who we met last year in Mazatlan. We spent 4 days with them and had a terrific time. They have a beautiful home and they welcomed us warmly. Breakfast with their coffee chums every morning and sitting on the deck watching the squirrels and chipmunks as Pat feeds them with peanuts. The weather was beautiful for most of the days with sunshine and not too cold. They took us to the park on the lake which is 5 minutes away and we rode a carousel and a cute little train. It was fun and then ate Poutine from a food truck. It always makes everything more fun when the sun is out and it isn't too cold. But when the sun goes down it did get colder. You can tell it is Fall. the colors of the leaves are beautiful.

When we left Pat and Jose's place we drove to Orillia, ON to a Provincial Park, called Six Mile Lake. It was a clean park, but all it offered was electric hook up for $41 per night. But it was a nice setting and we were meeting other friends, Bob and Marjorie for a couple of days. They couldn't meet us until Thursday and it was Monday when we got to the park, so we had some time to look around. We went to the Iroquois Cranberry Marsh owned by the Wahta Mohawk community. It is 68 acres and I was totally amazed at how cranberries grow. You can get more info if you go online to www.iroquoiscranberries.com. I did not know the cranberries grow in these marshes and when harvest time comes they flood the marsh and vibrate the water and the cranberries come to the surface and then they skim off the berries to harvest. Very interesting. We enjoyed just looking around at the area. Then Bob met us and we parked the 5th wheel in their storage place and we went on their boat to their cottage. Well it is more of a summer home than a cottage. It was beautiful. The day was warm, so we sat outside overlooking the bay and it was so peaceful and so lovely. Our friends, both Pat and Jose and Bob and Marjorie spoiled us. Thank you to you all. We headed out Saturday morning, planning on going to an old ship and take the tour, but it was so cold and windy and we got going on the road and just said forget it we will do it next time we are in the area. So that leaves us to here, Sunday morning in London, ON at the truck stop. Gerry has gone to get fuel and stuff and I am typing this blog. Our trip so far has been great. Lots of visiting.......so now we are on our own and heading into the US today. Our plan is to head to Nashville and then into Alabama area then over to Atlanta, Georgia to meet Jason and Jenny for a few days to have Jaden's birthday on the 30th of October. Then onto Texas to meet our friends to cross the border into Mexico.

"He says": What seems upper most in my mind (of what little there is)is the change in geography as we slowly cross Canada; from mind numbing VERY BORING flat expanses of farm and prairie landscape to a gentle shift from huge expanses of grain or grasslands spreading to the horizon to a slow shift into small hills of rolling broad leaf trees, interspersed with lakes and small potholes. The country is very noticeably surrounded by majestic rock and outcroppings splashed with blood vessels like veins of multi hued colours that rise and twist the various faces of rock work you see everywhere. Like a giant bulldozer the glaciers of long ago pushed the prairies flat and deposited all the rocks and outcropping of soil into Ontario; very majestic.

The whole of the Northern Shield is an amazing landscape and you never tire of the ever changing landscape. Probably the only good thing to be said about prairie travel is its flatness means we are getting good mileage ( 13MPG); as Sue puts it I am a little anal about all this mileage stuff but I diligently mark mileage and fuel costs as we head East. I can't say enough about how great it is renewing aquaintences with old friends; we have truly met some great people in our travels in this vast country and are always overwhelmed by their generosity. Many laughs and much discussion of past adventures and all look forward to meeting in Mexico. We had found out Hose was voting for a candidate and party in the coming election (THE WROONNNG PARTY!!!!!) so I did a sign up of the opposite party and stuck it on his trailer; good fun and lots of laughs....Hose is too big to argue with....he will beat me very severely and the old adage of "I can run faster scared than you can mad" doesn't work as he will merely wait at the house for me to return.........

They gave us a tour of the area, met some of their friends and Hose took us to the entrance of where he used to work for NORAD and the military; complex was 500' underground and was similiar to the American's Cheyene Mountain complex. With the now pinpoint accuracy of ICBMs the canadian complex is shut down and is now above ground. Peering through the fence surrounding the entrance way gave me an odd feeling as Hose said we are on camera and though it is abandoned it is still watched by the military....made me think of those shows about the cold war and military underground bunkers.

Left early and will see them in Mexico in Nov. Headed into south west Ont. and met Bob and Marge; climbed aboard their boat and skipped across a lake to their cottage and were amazed at this "cottage" as it is an amazing house seemingly plucked out of a architecture magazine. We were treated like royalty and were given a boat tour of the surrounding lakes and byways in this amazing area...can't say enough about the beauty and desire to paint the landscape.

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Photos

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It was rainy and miserable, do you think Gerry was having fun yet??????

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The lakes are like an ocean.

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These signs are all over.

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Now we know what they meant. Amish people.

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This was the carousel down at the park near Pat and Jose. This is two fun loving "young ladies" enjoying the ride.......

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This was the train that Pat made us go on......she didn't want to but if I had to go so did she...Gerry was made to go too....

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Canada's version of the American's Cheyene Mountain ICBM detection centre; now obsolete with the accuracy of the new weapons. Very much a Dr.Strangelove movie feeling...500' underground detection facility that Hose worked at and now closed up but still watched; smile for the camera

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Pat would throw peanuts in the shell over the railing on their deck and the squirrels and chipmunks would come running..

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Here we are at Six Mile Provincial Park.

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Just pictures of the park we were in. It was very nice with lots of fall foliage and the lake was a nice touch.

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This is a picture of the cranberry farm. Unfortunately where we were we couldn't see the harvest. These marshes in the distance are where the berries are growing and when they harvest the fill them up with water and vibrate the water until the berries come to the surface.

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This is what the marshes look like with the water in it and the berries are at the top.

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This is Bob and Marjorie's place...their cottage.

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This is the view from their deck.....

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The livingroom looking toward the kitchen.

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The dinningroom.

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This view is further back to show the whole room. Up those stairs is a loft. Beside the stairs is the master bedroom with on-suite. Down the hall behind the stairs is another bathroom and the guest bedroom. Both bedrooms have a glass door to the outside deck. And overlooking the bay.....beautiful....

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Here is a view from when we were getting into the boat. They were taking us for a tour around the bay.

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It was a little chilly..........

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Some of the houses around the bay. This one was huge... They had their own island to themselves.

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And this is their dock with their boat....on the other side of their island.

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Rock formations around the bay. It was very rocky all over the land areas.

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Another little island.

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Our last day...

Comments

[Barry]

Looks like your having a lot of fun , good for you guys
Nice blog enjoy it .

[Don]

Great trip
Thanks for keeping us up to date on your adventures and sharing your pics! We miss you guys ... Love and hugs