The long and bumpy road

Yes indeed. It was long, raining, cold, and some of the highways were in bad shape with a lot of patching making them bumpy.

We left Canada on October 31st and stayed overnight at the Cinderella Campground in Grand Island, NY. It was wet and muddy but a nice enough place.

As seen while getting gas - people taking their donkey for a walk.
He/she then jumped right back into the trailer.

The next day, we traveled for about 3 hours to Indian Creek Resort in Geneva on the Lake in Ohio which must be booming in the summer as they are just across a beautiful large lake (reminded us of Lake Ontario) and it's a beautiful campground, very well maintained, with ponds - complete with duck food station - nice cottages for rent, etc. Unfortunately, it was deadly cold and ... raining so I didn't bother with pictures.

The reason we stopped at these particular campgrounds was that they are part of the Passport America program which, after becoming a member, gives you 50% discount on camping sites. Every campground handles it a bit differently; some allowing only 1 night at the discounted price, some will let you stay for 2 nights, others for a week, while others don't honour it on weekends or holidays. It helped make our trip down a little more affordable while always being plugged in and with water. Thank God we always had electricity as the weather was so cold it would have been pretty miserable without heat!

After about 7 hours of traveling, we stopped in Rising Sun, Indiana at the Little Farm on the River RV park. This was also a one night stay but they didn't honour the Passport America because it was a Friday night. But it was a really cute place with a nice little store and very friendly staff. It actually didn't rain while there but it was still cold. They have cabins to rent too. We had a tire on the trailer that kept leaking air and finally went flat so we removed it. That is when we found out that our jack wasn't high enough. After deflating the spare to try to make it fit, we finally had to dig the ground underneath so we could slip the new tire on. And through all of this, it was freezing cold! When will we finally hit the warmth?

Our neighbours in the back were three families together and they partied a big part of the night. Not too bad except one woman who kept yelling or howling or maybe that was her laugh but boy, she was loud and annoying. We finally got some sleep.

From there we drove about 5 hours to our next destination where we would stay two days to take a break from the constant driving (not as much for us as for the poor dogs and the cat who were finding it a bit boring - Ally lets us know by resting her head on the back of our seat while moaning). So we stayed at the Tanbark Campground in Dickson, Tennessee which was close to Nashville. It was conveniently located near the city of Dickson where one could find everything needed.

When we arrived at the campground there is a small building where the office is. I parked close to it so as not to block the road (I don't know why I was concerned because the place was quite empty). Our site happened to be just across from this building. So I turned rather sharply and unbeknown to me, took out the wooden retaining wall on one of the flower beds in front of the office. I could see that a woman came over and then I saw Glen helping to carry a railroad tie to the office and I'm still unaware that I caused all that. Thankfully, the wall was rebuilt easily and the man who was looking after the place was super nice. The rain stopped long enough for us to set up and then it rained hard all night long with a tornado warning. The wind was so bad that it pushed the rain under the rubber seal on the main slide and water was coming in like crazy creating rivers on the floor. This happened in the middle of the night. We moved everything so we could bring the slide in and then used every towel we had to dry the top of the slide and the floor and to keep water from continuing to flow.
When our slide is in, it blocks access to the fridge. So the next morning, I opened the slide and it won't go out all the way. What I didn't know is that Glen had left towels up there to soak up whatever water might still come in. So now the towels were jammed on the top of the slide! Glen was able to pull them out of there and we were able to fully open the slide. Phew!

Pretty small sites.

Trail around the large pond.

The next day we went to town and did some shopping while waiting for our tire to be ready (it turned out to have a nail embedded in it). The sun was out and the temperature was more bearable. The dogs got some good walks and were able to relax until our next trip.

Our next stop was in Franklin, Kentucky. We only stayed one night at Dad's Bluegrass Campground but wished we had more time to go to Kentucky Downs, the racetrack of Kentucky Derby fame, and explore the surrounding area with its gorgeous farms. I have been to Kentucky before and know that the countryside is beautiful. Dad's Bluegrass Campground is hard to find as there is only a very small sign and the entrance is right by a Pilot Gas Station so it looks like you have to go through the Pilot to get there (which is what I did). The place is geared for music nights. There is a large covered area with a stage and benches (actually our site was right across it so if there had been music going on we could have listened from our trailer). They had nice showers which we took advantage of since we ended up with bins and a garbage bag full of wet towels in our shower (how did that happen?). The sun actually came out and I sat outside for a while feeling the warmth on my face and just enjoying the moment.

After 8 hours on the road, a blown-out tire, and Glen risking his life to change the tire on the side of a very busy highway where the trucks and cars zoomed by (we tried to call AAA but our phone had no service in that particular spot, we arrived in heaven. Or maybe it seemed like heaven because we were going to spend two days there and it was a lovely place. Cherokee Lakes RV Park in Alexander, Arkansas, is owned by an old cowboy who put a lot of love and effort into developing this park on his property. We were told to call when we would be 5 minutes away and someone would meet us at the gate. We almost missed it as there is no mention of a campground but only a sign saying it's a tree farm. Two large iron gates opened for us with a smiling face waiting on the other side. This was the owner's son who greeted us. We then followed him through a beautiful forested area to finally arrive at the office/house. As we pulled in a hawk flew from a bird feeder and perched a little ways further on a post. Good omen.

The site was yet another pull-through (all of them were except the first campground and the last - where we are now) but was tight. The section we were in accommodates people like us that just stop for a few days. The other sections have large sites. But still, there were nice lampposts lining the street so walking at night did not require a flashlight. The area is so well taken care of with all roads well graded and regularly replenished with gravel, plant beds are tended to, and there are two man-made waterfalls to move water from one retaining basin to another. It's all done well and with good planning. Glen liked the old man so much that I thought I might lose him!

Our site was on gravel which is perfect on wet days - no mud to track inside the trailer which had seen enough mud to last for a while. I refused to try to clean before getting to our destination as with every move we take the outdoor chairs in, our stupidly big and heavy wooden table, our bicycles which travel in the trailer so a lot of dirt comes in with every move. But this time it was worse than ever. With all the rain, there was mud. Mud not only deposited itself on the floor but splashed the walls, got on our hands (I really don't understand that one) and then dirtied around door knobs. The outside of our entrance door was very dirty around the handle (I'm kinda blaming Glen as I don't let my hands get that dirty!). Anyway, the place was a mess. We lived in chaos with bins everywhere, even a tire by the side of the bed for a while. But I digress...

Cherokee Lakes had trails in the woods where I was able to let Cheeka run free which she enjoyed so much it was almost sad to see how much she missed it. She would run wildly from Glen to me and back, circling and doing figure eights, her legs moving at warp speed and her face smiling all the while. We heard a lot of birds but didn't see any. I'm sure there is a lot of wildlife there but they were all hiding during our stay.

We were able to purchase a new tire at a Firestone store (very nice people). We're now seeing a lot of Mexicans working in stores and businesses and they are all very friendly and smiling.

Glen talking with the owner.

The main waterfall that the old man built himself.

A view from across the pond.

Some mallards with their weird friend. The black duck (unidentified) had
a growth on his head, probably a tumour, and he did act weird but he seemed happy.

While the others are dead serious, the black duck is in full party mode.

The beginning of the trail.

One bird we saw (not a good picture) and I'm not sure what he is but think it might be a Rose-Breasted  Grosbeak.

The coral of the forest. Different looking mushroom.

Another kind of mushroom.

These white flowers were growing wild everywhere, even on the side of roads.

Beautiful!

Tight spot.

The other little waterfall.

The sand/clay is very red (photo not really showing it).

We were then only 4 hours away from our next stop: Amazing Texas RV Resort in Tatum Texas. Yes! Finally in Texas! But still quite north so no luck with the weather. The lady had given me our site number in case we arrived between 3 and 4 when she leaves to get her boys from school. A cute place with a convenience store, we only stayed one night. Our site was behind the pool which was closed (not that we would have liked to use it!). By now we just want to get "home". So we push forward the next day which ends up to be a 10-hour drive, to get to the south of Texas. We encountered a lot of traffic, detours and what not. It was a very long day. But most of all, I was worried about poor MeMe who has to stay in her crate the whole time. There is no point taking her out as she would not relieve herself or drink some water. Cats are just not like dogs. She was so good, being quiet and not soiling her bed. Amazing!

The trailer has enough war wounds now, including the damage done by the blowout tire which we repaired with Gorilla tape (our new indispensable tool), each one with a different story.

Stay tuned to hear about the rest of our Texas travels.

What have we been doing all summer?

We're back on the blog!

This summer has been busy but our internet was non-existent and we had to rely solely on our phone data which we treasured. Hence the lack of communication through the blog.

We're now on our way to Harlingen, Texas where we plan to spend the winter. But what were we doing all summer?

Well, for one, I got a part-time job by accident. How can this happen? Glen found a job at a Lavender Farm working in the field. After a week of hard labor in very hot weather, and having both hands severely stung by bees (working with the beehives), he just had to quit. His mom had just died surrounded by family (including us) and being the executor of the will, he had to travel back and forth to Burlington a few times. The poor man was completely exhausted! I urged him to quit.

Meanwhile, when he was still working, the owners mentioned that one of the girls just quit and they had to find a replacement. So he suggested me! Without my knowledge! But this job was mainly working in the store and participating sparingly to the production of their lavender products - filling containers, affixing labels, pricing, packaging, etc. I thought it could be interesting so I met with one of the owners who happens to be a Quebecer. Well, needless to say that we hit it off immediately!

So I happily worked at the Prince Edward County Lavender Farm all summer and enjoying every minute of it.

But they kept me busier than expected. I found that I really didn't have much time to do much else than work, laundry, walk the dogs on the beach (I know, such hardship!), cook and clean (someone's got to do it!) and sell the campground's 50/50 tickets which go towards activities like free lunches, dinners, etc. The lady who used to sell the 50/50 tickets was not well last year and had told me that she wasn't going to do it anymore. Turns out she passed away this summer, never coming back to the campground. I felt so bad that I volunteered to do the job. The problem is that it takes half a day to go around 2 streets (short ones) as everyone wants to talk. It's nice and I made a lot of new friends but sometimes I really didn't have the time to chat but it's hard to say no.

We also tried to do a few improvements to our "home".  We started by removing the carpet on the slide and replacing that with vinyl flooring. Soooooo much better than stupid carpet! It was a fairly easy job after removing the millions of staples used to keep the carpet in place. The workers who put these trailers together must be trigger happy with the staplers!

I then put up some wallpaper which went up really easily except that afterward, it started peeling off the wall (only in a few spots). I had made sure to sise the walls beforehand and then generously applied glue and the paper, being a bit stiff, was really easy to manoeuver. I finally used 2 sided tape to stick it back to the wall as adding more glue didn't work. Now there are a few pockets of air where it didn't stick so well but all in all, it was an improvement to the dreary brown.

I also painted the sliding door to our bedroom to look like a barn door. I had seen that in a lot of renovations in magazines where people would add a sliding barn door to a modern interior so I thought: why not? We added an electric fireplace to help with heating the trailer when we don't necessarily want to run the furnace. I love seeing the dancing flames when the lights are down in the evening. We bought a very comfortable chair to replace one of the yellow kitchen chairs we had. It's a butterfly chair, quite deco, and we can actually wash the fabric it's made of. So far none of the dogs have used this chair so it's our "hairless" chair to use when we're wearing black. Perfect!

I have painted the entertainment unit a creamy white which I also used to paint all the cabinetry in the bedroom. I used the same wallpaper (yes it peeled there too) on the brown wall and the sliding door on the bedroom side. We're lightening up the place! Another improvement was to add a foam slab to our sofa seat, remove the uncomfortable backs which I replaced with pillows, and recover the whole thing. I admit that I went a little crazy on the fabric and will replace the body with a solid colour in the future. The good thing is that it is all removable and washable! And a lot more comfortable!

One big job we did was scrape the deck of the remaining peeling paint it had and use an opaque light grey stain to cover it. What a difference!

I also got a lot more dogs to groom from the campground. It kept me fairly busy on my "days off".

We got to see some new to us birds and attracted Orioles to our campsite with grape jam (a tip I got from my friend Helene).

A Brown Thrasher

Northern Flicker?

Cliff Swallows
In the Spring, they gather mud to build their nests.
Glen won a second place award with this photo.

Bohemian Waxwing?

King Bird

Yellow Warbler

Beautiful female Red-Wings

Tree Swallow?

Rough-winged Swallow

This year's crop of goslings

Oriole eating jam just by our deck

Glen and I at Presqu'Ile Park

Sanderling

We went out for lunch a couple of times. Once at the North Docks which sits on a bay. They even had a Vegan BLT sandwich! But the best place was the Inn on the Lake located by the lake on the mountain. Such a beautiful place to have lunch! It feels European. The food was good and the service excellent. We definitely want to go back!

North Docks

Inn on the Lake - you can see the lake in the background.

Inn on the Lake

Miller House is across the street from the Inn and is also popular.

We had the pleasure of having our grandson William over for a full week! We had a lot of fun with him!

William and Cheeka are best friends

Cheeka adores William and won't leave his side.

In the pool

Visiting grandma at work

Relaxing on the lake

Enjoying the beach

Our beach

Movie night with popcorn

The boys enjoying the big waves

Yep! It was all good!

And last but not least, my little cheeky Cheeka braved the water and the waves to swim out and retrieve a stick! I am such a proud Mama! She who wouldn't even step in a puddle gradually got braver and started to retrieve in the shallow water. I then took out with me in deeper water to swim (always following the treat I have in my hand like the proverbial carrot in front of the horse) and finally she went out by herself and swam out to the stick. She got so brave that she didn't even mind the waves!

There she goes!

The dogs sure enjoy the beach!

Here is Ally following her new friends

On the dunes

As you can see we had a pretty busy summer, hence the silence on the blog.

But now we're on the road again just starting our journey down to Texas. Our first stop was on the States' side of Niagara Falls at the Cinderella campground. A small campground beside a motel, it is decent enough but was very wet and muddy which did quite a number on the interior of our trailer. I've decided not to worry about it and clean like hell when we get to our destination!

Our waterlogged site at the Cinderella