Back at the Blog ... after a Year Hiatus ... and on my way back to Florida

What a Year - 2015

I left the snow in PEI March 05 2015, heading south in a 32' motorhome with Ceilidh and Connor - two Great Pyrenees that were awesome pals. With great anticipation and uncertain emotion, I headed west.  This page covers a bit of the 2015 trip ... I had intended to record more, but never got there :-).

Connor & Ceilidh
with Uncle Mac at the picnic.

Driving south in march, I got through to Florida, visited with relatives, went to the 2015 PEI Picnic in St. Petersburg (look for the dogs :-), and started in heading to Key West ... always wanted to go there ... then there was that split second where the attention to the dogs should have been devoted to the road ahead !

Ah nuts. The truck in front, that I had been following for 20 miles, just slammed on his brakes. I wasn't going to stop in time. I veered, and caught about a foot of the left side, bumped the truck ahead about 6 feet, and crumpled in the front end. A write-off. Ah nuts.

Long story short, and two weeks later,
<---- this moved up to this ---->

Amazing difference going from 32' gas engine with one slide to a 40' diesel with a tag axle and four slides.  The 2005 Country Coach is a great cruiser & much easier to drive than the Tiffin Allegro Bus !


So ... on from Ft. Myers, Florida (two weeks of packing up the dogs each day to search RV lots - then find a dog park - before all was ready to go), to Orlando to catch up with Doug S., a work mate I greatly admire, and on to Louisiana to visit with Lawrence Blanchette and a golf tournament in Texas, then on through New Mexico and up through California, up through Oregon.

Wally playing croquet
in Oregon

Missing these guys & Robbie
the cat - bid adieu May '15

Onward into the fray. I had a great visit with Wally "Bubba" and a few games of Croquet in Portland Oregon.

The dogs liked the forested areas around Wally's home ... Portland is truly a wondrous and beautiful City.

I made it through Seattle, and back for the April fools Croquet Tourney and thereafter spent a month or so in BC to sort belongings, wave bye to friends and family, and head back to PEI.

Friends in PEI remained in text and email contact. That was comforting and allowed the windshield to become the true view to the future. On the trip back across Canada and the US, it was surely with mixed emotions but, with few other choices, I was oddly content with this new adventure placed in front of me.

Being that this is almost a year later since then <*smile*> I won't recant many details, but I do recall the Mount Rushmore tourist mecca in North Dakota - indeed an impressive bit of rock sculpture. After a quick tour there, I stopped in to Walmart where the speaker belted out a siren and a voice "Tornado alert - please move to the back of the store". Really ??? Here I left the Moho out in the nether reaches of the parking lot - apparently for the Tornado to focus on. I tapped my heels repeatedly and kept saying "there's no place like home". After a few minutes, the alert was over .... phew. No journey to adjacent counties seeking my ride !!

Rainbow in North Dakota before the tornado

Mount Rushmore ahead ....

Mount Rushmore

I stopped in Toronto for a couple of days for a great visit with JB and Nanc - life long friends whose company I always cherish and enjoy. I arrived back in PEI in June 2015 to begin anew. A whirl wind tour of 16,000 km summarized in one page .... I intended to write more often.

Here I write one year later, in March 2016.    I have been fortunate with the passing of that time - blessed with good friends and I have a lasting respect and love for a lady who was part of me for 30 years ... may she find what she wants, needs, and deserves. There are other kind souls we will meet, and indeed, my heart and spirit have been warmed and elevated by special friends already.

And now.... to a moho trip in 2016 .... I have actually booked some time in Bald Head Island, North Carolina, and Key West,  Florida .... I have some croquet to play.

I will be keeping some google maps and things ... and will link as I go. Here are a couple I have started.

The Trip Planning ... routing and destinations.

Must See Attractions run across on google

Ride along with me.
Cheers
sd

Finalizing the Trip East ... Days 13 / 14 - Québec and Reaching the Salt

The End is in Sight ...   Ceilidh Rides Shotgun
(Click images to enlarge)

Thankfully, pictures tell a thousand words ... so here is a 15,000+ word essay:

Trenton, Ontario was an hour east ... finished parts of middle school there on air base.


We took a detour around Kingston to the seaway side route ... requires extra time and worth the diversion from freeways.








The Thousand Islands route is unique, attractive, and dream inspiring.   Some of the properties and settings are magnificent, some on their own islands.  Hitting Montreal, we found roadways and bridge structures badly in need of repair, but west of the city, was an attractive boating area :

West of Montreal ... on the Trans Canada Highway

We managed to hit a respectable rest stop in the trees east of the Québec City exit and pulled in for the night.  Must have been excited, since both up at 5 and on road at 5:30 am !  Chose again to take a longer route through Québec towards New Brunswick, where we found some interesting towns.

Pohénégamook Québec - on Lac Pohénégamook

Starting to Rain in NewBrunswick - miles through still land

Turn off to Bay of Fundy ... World's largest tides ! 

First Signs of the Island !

Getting Closer !

The Bridge !

YooTooB 

PEI Trip ... Across Confederation Bridge  ... coming to theatre near you

 

I can see the RED Soil ... 

Borden, on PEI side, with Info and Retail outlets

A Nice Welcome back to Island

Welcome to PEI

Rainbows and lobsters.

Dinner on the deck at Sou'West Bar & Grill

House 'n home in grand shape and the 'journey' continues...

Thanks for reading

Out on boats, Stanley River Days, lawn planning .... another day.

Astrid 'n Steve

Our Journey East ... Days 9-12 in TO

Greetings ... Tardy in getting the last few days online ... :} 

Spending a few days in our old haunting grounds was a welcome respite for Aug. 1 - 4, 2013.  Didnt know what to do but relax, sample the wines, and eat well :-)    Thursday night was a gathering to celebrate a birthday in the crowd.... how's that for timing ... BDay and 'Retirement' day on July 31.... Lobster bisque and Lamb Roast to die for.!

On the Friday night, John 'n Nancy 'n Alissa (daughter) 'n Steve headed north to Orillia to take in a throw-back concert ... the Happy Together Tour 2013.   

Astrid couldnt get past driving hours more, so stayed behind to catch up on Top Chef  online.

Dr. John Baird ... Culinary Artist

Al's Perch and a coupla Scallops

It was quite a show, and well enjoyed.  Although we arrived a tad late, due to the delay and commotion caused by Al's Lake Erie Perch.   Awesome fish and thoroughly enjoyed :-).   

When we arrived at the Orillia at the Casino Rama , it was a treat to hear some old classics.   I recalled, foggily, that my first big concert was in 1973 with Three Dog Night ... (Chuck Negron ... one of the 3 dogs) ... so my first and last involved them !

• The Turtles: “Happy Together” and “She’d Rather Be with Me”
• Gary Puckett & The Union Gap: “Woman, Woman” and “Young Girl”
• Chuck Negron: “One (Is the Loneliest Number)” and “Joy to the World”
• Mark Lindsay: “Kicks” and “Hungry”
• Gary Lewis & The Playboys: “This Diamond Ring” and “Count Me In"

Saturday morning included a trip down to the old Evergreen Brickworks market, off the Don Valley @ Bayview where the youngest Dimond entrepreneur purveys her Gourmet Ice Pops... Thank goodness for dogs in this world (think 'Three Augie Night'!)  Rather impressive pace of frozen delights crossing the counter to the lineup that lay beyond. Grabbed some fresh cheese, herbs, pops, and headed north and east, back to Pickering.

Janet ... Augie's Mom and Purveyor of the Finest Gourmet Pops

After a swim, a delightful evening was spent with Jack Baird, Dr. William Baird, and family ... it has been a long while, too long, and a most memorable opportunity to chat and enjoy.  

Back on the road again sunday, Aug. 4, in the a.m. ..... try for 9 am ...

Cheers

Astrid 'n Steve 

Our Journey East - Clarks Mills, PA and Day 9 into Toronto

Astrid and I spent a very enjoyable respite in Clarks Mills, Pennsylvania with the Heckman's ... one of Astrid's on-line gaming acquaintances.   Al and Kathy were a delight and we had a nice visit, great food, and we took away some recipes to try (we think we did .. Astrid may have left them there ! ha ) .... Al is quite the chef and a fisherman to boot, so fresh was the 'flavour' of the day... and the special brown beans were to die for ...

Zoe, their blue healer dependent, was excited to meet Connor and Ceilidh ... Connor not terribly impressed with the licky kisses :-)  ... Zoe was eager to show them her yard ... 10 acres of freshly mown lawn !

(Click images for enlargements.... )

Meet and Greet - Kathy, Astrid and the hounds.

New Friends ....

Zoe Heckman - Host

Welcome rest for the moho.

Many thanks for the short visit, it was definitely a port in the travel storm :-)   Great to meet fantastic people.   Up and back on the road in the late a.m.  ... with some Lake Erie Perch in the freezer  ... out the country roads up to Erie, Pennsylvania.  Astrid decided to grab a short sleep on the way, and we veered on to the Lakeside route for a ways... nice to have some scenery to view ... vineyards and ports on Lake Erie, south shore.

Port at Dunkirk (I believe)

Vineyards ... south shore of Lake Erie

Travelled for about an hour on the shore side route, then ventured up to i90 toll road and made it in to Buffalo and Niagara Falls area ... pic below over the many bridges with the Falls spray in distance.  Astrid overlooks the gorge as we cross the border ... once again we were lucky.  Notwithstanding about 45 minutes in line, the actual crossing took less than a minute !  Another nice border guard ... we must look harmless :-)

Spray from Niagara Falls in middle of pic ... over bridge in Buffalo, NY

View over the Niagara Gorge ... welcome back to Canada

Electricity Generating facilities for Niagara Falls.

Once in Ontario, we zoomed along and decided to get on the Toll 407 highway ... it was choked up with traffic as well ... stop and go .... and we are to pay for this ?   I checked on-line and the supposed toll with be $100 !! ... there will be something to say about that ... red lights not good.  Blood from stone?

Finally arrived at John & Nancy's place ... had a wonderful lamb dinner with Lobster bisque starter ... unreal after a long journey :)   Janet (sis) and Mel joined us for a fabulous night of chatter, good food, and wine.  We and the dogs get to relax a little by the pool ... and the travelling motion subsides.  Nice to be still for a coupla days.

We'll camp out here till likely Sunday, Aug. 4th, then head east.

Check out the route on Google Maps ...

Cheers for now...

Astrid 'n Steve