This Diary - An Up-front and Personal Look of Fulltime Life On The Move has been published weekly since 2001
SPECIAL NOTE; Next weeks post (20 October) will not go out till Monday 23rd. We are visiting family and they have offered their driveway for a parking spot. Our dish will not be set up and it takes to long to send this out using my cell phone.
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Hi All: Fall has finally hit southwestern Ontario. Nights are cool and although days are sunny and bright between 10 AM and 3 PM – mornings are dark and damp – definitely not my favourite type of weather – it is time to head south. On a beautiful day if we take a drive someplace, as 3 PM approaches you can feel temps changing and the day coming to a close even if it may not get dark ‘till 7:30. Trees are dressed in a multitude of colours but what we found interesting this year is the leaves on many trees have only turned colour in patches. I have never seen this type of colour change. Some trees are still green while others have already lost their leaves. I am sure there is a technical explanation for all of this but it really doesn’t matter. I only noted that it is so different.
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OUR ROUTE (& COSTS) TO THE SUNNY SOUTH
Thursday we are on the move again to new destinations. Our route south this year is taking us in a varied direction. In brief, we are overnighting at the London Flying J (if you’re in the area and want to meet for dinner send us an email).
Our border crossing is Wednesday morning (we hope we will not run into a long line of cross border shoppers mid week); that night we stop at Travel Inn Resort, Hartford Michigan ($8.00 per night with RPI membership club) and the weekend at John’s sisters place in Chicago for a belated Cdn Thanksgiving feast.
Monday we are at Honey Bear Resort in Litchfield, Illinois (RPI - $8.00) and the 2 nights following we are at Sam’s Town Casino near Robertsville Mississippi for $15.00 p/night. Next stop is at our C2C home-park in Monroe, Louisiana for 4 days – (with the basic plan we bought, we still pay $8.00 p/night even if it is our home park. Send me an email to webmaster@rvliving.net for more info). Route this year is via Hwys 55, 20 and 35 to Texas.
In the Rio Grande we are booked from 1-7 Nov at Edinburg RPI park for $8.00 p/night followed with a reservation at Casa Del Valley from 7 Nov to 7 Dec using a Sun RV Resort coupon for $149.00. Not sure where we are after that.
Why I am relaying all this is so others can see it is not difficult to travel at a reasonable price. OUR CAMPING FEES TILL 7 DEC (49 DAYS) WILL TOTAL OF $287.00 OR AN AVERAGE OF $5.85 PER DAY. Yes to receive the RPI savings we did buy into C2C and RPI membership camping, but we did so for a low basic bare bones price of $514.00 for first year and $250 (RPI & C2C and park dues) for every year thereafter. We can exit the program for a very low amount anytime we wish. Send me an email if you want detailed explanation of our package. Other Discount Parks systems for Rec USA and Happy Camper are also reasonable – see details at www.rvliving.net/home.htm
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OUR WEEK IN REVIEW
Thanksgiving MONDAY, everything was closed so we used the day to play catch-up.
TUESDAY our day began with had eye exams. We wanted to wait till John’s appointment with the eye specialist about the fuzzy image of his left eye was over – thankfully our eye Dr’s office was able to fit us in on a cancellation. It’s been 3-years for me and for some reason I was convinced that the ‘font’ used in phone books and on the Atlas was becoming smaller. I’ve had a very difficult time reading anything for the last while – would not admit my glasses needed updating.
Oh well on THURSDAY, thanks to a one-day stop at Lenscrafter I can see once again. John had no Rx change so he will wait till next summer after his Retina is repaired to get his glasses changed. My new ones are not as neat looking as I wanted (I need no-line TRI-focals for distance, computer and reading) because of so much correction they couldn’t fit it all into the new fancy narrow coloured ones. Oh the joys of getting older.
On WEDNESDAY we drove 2-hours to our storage unit in Owen Sound – our stuff has been there for the past 22 years – I am sure I no longer need most of it but I have no place to spread it out before disposing of half of it – so we simply keep it there. Our fees are at such a discounted rate that it is not worth moving elsewhere. We only visit it twice per year when we off-load the LUXOR and to pick up stuff we off loaded last year. We also stop at the Ahren’s family cemetery plot (John’s family) in Hanover to remove the beautiful headstone saddle to drop it at the florist so it will be ready for next year. Cindy’s Flower Shop in Hanover did such an awesome job of last year’s saddle – one of the prettiest one we’ve had - we let her refresh it for next spring. We usually stop at our Financial Consultant – also in Hanover. One long day covers a lot of ground. Katie, our elderly dog comes with us for the usually picturesque drive – unfortunately it rained all day.
THURSDAY, good ex-RVing friends Marlene and Frank invited us to lunch in their newly renovated house. It is a beautiful place and lunch was decadent. These two provide lodging for several worldwide students who flock to London for their education at the many colleges and universities in the city. These two provide home to four students at a time and when I say home I mean just that. They not only provide meals and lodging, they take on the complete roll of substitute parents for the young adults in their care. Thanks for a great visit.
FRIDAY we drove to Toronto (Mississauga) for the day to attend the ORVDA RV Show at the Congress Centre. WOW!!! RV’s sure have changed over the years. There are now micro-mini models that any car could tow – a comfortable option to setting up a tent just for an overnight stop. These small units would also be dry and warm during fringe seasons. On the other side of the coin we also saw a variety of compact motorized units all the way up to high-end gas/diesel powered motorhomes. A vast selection of very beautiful classy huge fifth wheels – some with as many as 4-5 slides - were also beckoning. Dealers even featured a number of used units. Posted show prices ranged anywhere from $2-$300.00 per month to a purchase price of $6-$700,000 .00 up. There was something to suit any lifestyle, budget, wants and desires at this show. BUT much the same is available at most shows.
If you’re in a market for a NEW unit – visit an RV show to see the latest. You will be pleasantly impressed at what the industry has to offer. I send a very special ‘Thanks’ to ALL the Diary readers who took the time to stop me to say Hello – thanking me for the info I send each week. You guys made John’s and my day – we thank you from the bottom of hearts. It was also nice to know who is on the other side of a name. Great to see the crew from so many dealers, clubs and professionals that we have worked with over the years. Since we no longer attend a lot of RV Shows - unless we are working them that is - but we had a ball. A good trip from London to Mississauga on a picture perfect day was the icing on the cake.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
That’s it for this week. Saturday night John and I attended the belated Cdn Thanksgiving dinner at the Chalet Rec Hall – we chose not to stay for the dance – but will next time. Braemer Valley RV Park (Woodstock, Ontario) is such a wonderful Gem of an RV Resort; we are very comfortable here - residnets have made us feel so welcome. Tonight we met many of our new neighbours. Spending next season here should be fun. At least we know when we go down east in July and August our site will not be rented out while we are away like it was at our last park. We are still annoyed he did that. Take care guys.
Those heading south this winter; be sure to Travel safe and stay away from those orange barrels and 'roadgaiters' (discarded truck tire treads). P&J
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