Dad, November 2017

 

Early in the month of November Marie and I flew down to Florida for four days to visit with Dad. We drove to Plattsburgh airport in New York after a quick visit with the kids in Montreal, arriving late at Lyn's that night after picking up our rental car at St Petes. The next day we went out to see Dad, the day unusually hot even for Florida this time of year. We met up with the owner Barbara at the family care home she and her husband run. He was sitting in front of the big screen TV, dozing, when she took us to him, and, as he wasn't expecting us, was quiet surprised. We took him out to his favourite spot in the sun by the swimming pool afterwards and he appeared well and glad to see us. He told us he was very happy in his new surroundings. Lyn and Don had moved him from the Grande assisted living centre in Brooksville where we had last seen him to this quiet location close to Weeki Wachee. He enjoys the obvious peacefulness and the fact there are only two other residents with him, is eating better and gaining weight. Lyn had given us a doom and gloom story of how he had only a few months left to live but he seems much healthier than when last we saw him and happier too.

 

arriving St Petes, Florida

Brenna

 The next day we took Dad to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park twenty minutes away. He was glad to get out and quite happy to have us spend the afternoon pushing him around in his wheelchair.  He was very interested in seeing the variety of animals there native to Florida, especially Lu the 6000 pound hippo (the only exotic resident) who had just turned 57 and is the oldest living hippo in captivity in North America, the alligators, and the many birds. We missed the manatee display but it was hot (91 degrees!) and Dad was ready to return home. When we first arrived at the parking lot we had the opportunity to take the train to the park and the boat back. It was a slow and peaceful 15 minute cruise on the still waters through the forest where we spotted ducks and turtles sunning themselves and I think it was the highlight of the day for Dad. While we were in Brooksville this time we had the opportunity to also take him out to lunch and we could tell he looked forward to getting out again. On one visit we spent time talking about his brother Harry and his family and his children's children so I decided to make a family tree chart so he could see the names of all his grandchildren and great grandchildren. Our four day visit went fast and after saying goodbye again we spent one more night with Lyn and Don before catching an early flight home. We had promised Dad we would be back and hopefully he will still remember us as well as he did this visit.   gws

Lu



 

 

Dad and his family tree

Brenna

me by the fire with Lyn

Road-trip September 8 - October 8, 2017 (Day 27 - 30)

Georgian Bay, Ontario

From Sudbury we took highway 69 south, following the waters of Georgian Bay to Parry Sound. This town is known as the home of Bobby Orr but it is interesting  that it also has the world's deepest natural freshwater port. From here we picked up the 400 to Barrie. Then it was a scenic drive cross country through a dotting of small villages until we reached Erin. It was here that Debbie, Richard's first wife was buried and since her passing in 1988 we had never visited her gravesite. We stopped and made inquiries at Butcher Funeral Home who gave us the name of the graveyard, only two minutes away. They couldn't pinpoint the grave location but we found it after a short search, brushed away some leaves and old flower petals from Mother's Day and said a prayer. We left a little sadder but glad we had had this opportunity after so many years. Guelph was just a half hour away and we met up with Richard in the shopping centre parking lot across from his brand new condominium, still in the later stages of completion. His condo was large and bright with a lot of windows and he had made it distinctly his - airline posters, model cars and lots of magazines and DVDs. Rich took us out for supper at Romero's Restaurant, a casual place serving a variety of tasty Mediterranean cuisine, then we retired and spent the rest of the evening enjoying some of his Kraken dark spiced rum and a hockey game.

dinner with Richard, Guelph, Ontario

After breakfast we said goodbye to Rich, planning to see him again this fall, and got on the 401 for the madhouse of Toronto. We were hoping to get to Christina's place in Embrun for supper. We stopped for a few treats at the Big Apple in Colborne, halfway between Toronto and Kingston, a favorite stopover for everyone driving the 401 east or west. Anything apple can be found here from the famous pies to apple cider but get there early to avoid the bus crowd. We finally got to Embrun a little later than planned but Christina had kept supper warm for us. We spent the next day with her and Damien who, since we had last seen him a month ago, was close to walking. We went to the nearby park where I had him in stitches on the swing, amazed how much of a little daredevil he was on the slides. Reluctantly we had to say goodbye and by noon were back on the road, this time the 417 to Montreal, our next planned stop before getting home.

Damien, Embrun, Ontario

We stayed two nights with Fernanda and the kids because on Saturday Phil dropped me and Amy off at the Atrium le 1000 downtown for one of her friend's birthday parties. We were there for over two hours and I think Amy was on the ice for almost the whole time, except for coming off for pizza and cake. She grows more confident on her skates each time she laces them up and hopefully William will take to it as much as she does. I took her home on the metro which she loves, riding in one of the cities new trains. The next morning we went out to a breakfast place Phil had discovered before packing up one last time for home. The peak of the fall colours were past when we pulled into our driveway but it was still pretty and we were welcomed with sunny skies which had been the norm since we had left 30 days ago. We had done 11,857 kilometers (7367 miles) without any incidents, close calls or problems with the truck and except for the $2400 diesel fuel bill the trip would have been a bargain. We were very pleased to see none of he house plants had succumbed while we were away and, except for the grass which needed cutting, nothing looked out of place. It was nice to be back and to be able to sleep in our big bed again, look out over the hills and put my feet up but winter was around the corner and we still had lots to do before the cold and snow descended for the next five months. Welcome home indeed!   gws 

Amy and friends, Atrium le 1000, Montreal

breakfast Sunday morning

See you in another month Grandpapa!

leaving Montreal

La Patrie, almost home

home !

Road-trip September 8 - October 8, 2017 (Day 23 - 26)

Saskatchewan is probably a nice place but I couldn't live there. I need to see mountains or hills or woods, not tomorrow's weather looming on the distant horizon. I suppose the northern part of the province up their near the rugged Canadian Shield with the coniferous forests, rivers and lakes would be appealing if it wasn't so darn cold. But when you are driving on the Trans Canada you only think of how far you still have before Regina, and then suddenly you're through it and counting down the kilometers till you hit the Manitoba border. We did almost 700 klicks that day and the sun was setting when we approached Brandon, looking for the Bry-Mar campground. And what a treat it was after such a long haul. The owner was probably the nicest person we had encountered on our trip and made us as welcome as if we were staying the night in his own home. 

somewhere between Swift Current and Moosejaw

Reed Lake, Saskatchewan

Bry-Mar RV Park, Brandon, Manitoba

 If you look at a map of Manitoba you'll note that all roads seem to lead to Winnipeg. I'm not sure why. The next day, Sunday, the 1st of October, as we approached the outskirts of the city, we decided to look for a garage that might be open where we could get a much needed oil change. The truck had given us no problems and I wanted it to stay that way. We were just past the change oil date and still had 3000 kilometers to go so I thought it prudent to get it done at the first opportunity. We were lucky to find a Mr. Lube open and we were back on the road by lunchtime. As we crossed into Ontario later that afternoon the rain that had been threatening for the past hour began and continued all the way to Dryden, our stop for the night. The campground, the Northwestern Tent and trailer Park, was run by a Swiss couple, friendly and forever apologizing for the bad weather. It was actually only one of four days of rain we encountered on the whole trip.

downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba

The Northwestern Tent and Trailer Park, Dryden, Ontario

Happily the weather improved the next morning as we made our way towards Thunder Bay and Lake Superior, stopping to view the Sleeping Giant in the distance before heading north to Nipigon where the highway split, the northern section going to Hearst, Kapuskasing and Kirkland Lake, our road going east to Sault Ste Marie where we come full circle. We crossed over the Nipigon Bridge, still being repaired after last winters failuree when, through a combination of design and installation deficiencies of several key components, the steel decking of the bridge lifted almost two feet. This caused up to 1300 trucks to detour through the US each day till it was fixed, effectively breaking our only link between east and west Canada. We were waved through and like any of the numerous other highway construction sites we encountered on this trip there seemed to be more chiefs than Indians and I wondered if anything was actually being done.

the Sleeping Giant, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Nipigon Bridge, Nipigon, Ontario

We continued on through some pretty rugged country, following the northern shoreline of Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world, until the town of Marathon. We found a campground (Neys Adventures) that obviously catered to the rough and tumble crowd (hunters, fishers and the like) who didn't mind a bit of dirt and dilapidation. It was mostly deserted but just off the highway (we had passed it 20 kilometres back thinking their was something better available in Marathon). So finding nothing there open (I should have guessed when all the Provincial Parks we had passed all day were closed for the season) we had to retrace our steps back another 20 klicks and hope the reviews were not as awful as they sounded. It was not to be. The washrooms, smelling of mold and God knows what else, were in need of a major cleaning and upgrading but I took the plunge and showered as best as I could without physically coming into contact with anything. Marie smartly declined. 

Neys Adventures and Black Bear Outfitters Campground, Marathon, Ontario

It was a fairly nice morning when we left the campground, driving back to Marathon and inland away from the lake for an hour or so until we came to Lake Superior Provincial Park, stopping near the beach at Old Woman Bay. It felt like we were by the ocean, the waves crashing on the sandy shore as we let Ben run while Marie and I enjoyed the fresh wind coming off the dark blue water. Then one more stop for lunch by the lake and we were through Sault Ste Marie and back on the route we had taken going west, following the North Channel of Lake Huron now to Sudbury and overnighting again at Carol Campsite, where we had stayed over three weeks ago. Tomorrow we were going to detour south and follow Georgian Bay to Barrie, then through the countryside and back roads to Guelph. We were looking forward to our first visit with Richard in his new digs there.   gws

Old Woman Bay, Lake Superior, Ontario

pee and lunch break, Lake Superior

Carol Campsite, Sudbury, Ontario