August 15 to 21, 2006

August 15, Tuesday, Sunny and warm

Went for a bike ride today with Therese, Christiane, Lise and Val. We were gone for 4 hours on a wonderful trail following the St-Francois river. Made it to the village of St Bonaventure and had lunch there. Afterwards, we returned to our departure point and had a black cloud with rain just missing us. We were lucky. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera so no pictures.


August 16, Wednesday, Sunny and hot

Took the truck in for an oil change and fuel filter change. Washed the rear and front of "Kenzy" (new name for our fifth-wheel, short for McKenzies) and took all the vent covers off as it is going in tomorrow to be re-sealed as it was leaking.
No other events to report....quiet day


August 17, Thursday. Cloudy with some sun

Took "Kenzy" in to Roulotte Lupien to get the seals re-done and check the rubber under the slides as they seem to be leaking. After an inspection, we found out that we had two broken springs. (sound familiar Craig????) We hit some bad road bumps in Ontario and Northern Ontario and I can only guess that it was somewhere there.
We agreed to change all the springs to 6 leafs spring however I have to call my insurance first to see what it covered.

Returned home with Kenzy at the end of the day. Gilles is home tonight.


August 18, Friday, Sunny and hot

Very warm night and humid. Helped Gilles with the house. Put up the siding on the front and some touch up and also installed all the new windows which arrived this afternoon.


August 19, Saturday, Cloudy, humid and warm

Another warm night. Help Gilles some more with the house. Gaetan and Diane showed up after dinner and later on, Andre and Pauline. We had a camp fire. It began to rain a bit later and never stopped until Monday morning. Andre and Co. stayed overnight in our rig.


August 20, Sunday, Rain, rain and more rain.

Managed to work on the house for about two hours before the rain took over for good. Andre and Pauline left around 2 p.m. and Gilles got ready to leave for Latuque later. It is about 3 hours from here and that is where he works. He stays there for the week and usually comes home on Thursday night.

Finally got the satellite hooked-up for the TV


August 21, Monday. Cloudy

It rained most of the night, at times heavy! We left at 8 a.m. this morning to take Kenzy to Lupien and get the springs installed. What a a difference it made in the height. Gained about 3 inches of clearances on the wheelwells. It was ready by noon and we brought it back home. If nothing else, I am getting lots of exercise of backing up in tight spots. Total cost was $800; 400 of which was for labor and taxes.
Called UPS today and had them forward our mail here for the last time. Also made an appointment for Tucker to get a haircut

That`s all folks till next time

Aug 4 to 13, 2006

AUGUST 4, Friday

Another hot and humid day. Went to check on the McKenzie and found the batteries dead so took all the meat over to Ginnette's place.


AUGUST 6, Sunday

Sunny, hot and humid again. The whole gang showed up for a swim in the pool and a pizza. Took the 5er to Ginnette's friends in their driveway and plugged it in


AUGUST 7, Monday

Cloudy and humid. Took the truck to Laval to get the tranny checked...all OK. Went to Andre's place for dinner, had a wonderful time. He has a very nice place.


AUGUST 8, TUESDAY

Went shopping with Therese and took the cell in to be fix as it won't charge. Went to IKEA and bought a computer desk to install in the 5er.


AUGUST 9 Wednesday

Went to Montreal to Place Ville Marie and Place des Arts. Took the subway there. Had a drink on St-Catherine and just walked around. Therese bought a pair of crocks shoe. Went back to her place and had dinner. Peter came over and we had a fire and a few laughs


AUGUST 10, Thursday

After saying good-bye to everyone, we left around 11 a.m. for Drummond'ville. We stopped along Hwy 20 to purchase fuel....$1.20 a liter....bloody ridiculous.( We did get a $4.20 discount total)
Arrived around 1 p.m. at Gilles' place. It's raining so set up quickly and called it a day. Gilles won't be home until tomorrow.





Total mileage: 115 KM; N 45*51' W 73*23" ; Alt.: 437'



AUGUST 11, Friday

Set up sewer and 30 amp hook-up. It pays to have a brother as an electrician. Went to Gaetan for dinner and Andre and Pauline joined us later.


AUGUST 12, Saturday

Cloudy and sun with some rain. Today is Steve's birthday. He is Lise's son We had a corn roast and lots of fun. Pauline and Andre slept over in our rig.


AUGUST 13, Sunday

Sun/clouds. Had eggs for breaky then sat around and visited with everyone. All left by 9 p.m. and the rest of us went to bed. It was a great week-end.

This is the end of our first leg. After this, we head out to the Maritimes in September and then south to Florida. Leg 3 will take us to Texas and possibly Mexico than leg 4 will be home.

We took 76 hours driving time to get here (without side trip) , no major problems and lots of fun. Now we rest and visit for the next 3 weeks.

I've added more pictures to our "PICTURE" link, and will keep our log updated at least once a week.

bye for now

July 31 to August 3, 2006

We are now in Montreal with family, actually, I am writing this at my sister, Therese. The weather is great; warm but comfortable although we've had a few days of hot and humid times. Anyway, I am getting ahead so here's the beginning:


July 31, Monday

Got up early and on the road by 9:30 after going to the local park and dump our tanks. The road is quite comfortable with a some section under repair. We hit rain towards the end of the day. Followed Hwy 11 to Hwy 66 then headed towrds Quebec.
Stopped in Lake Larder, East of Kirkland lake, Ontario and about 30 minutes from Quebec. The site we stayed at was hit by a powerful whirlwind the week before( see pictures via our link on the right). At first we thought a plane made a crash landing. It was quite something to see.
Cost of campsite was $20. and we fuelled in Geraldton for 1.049X 41.1 L; Husky at Hearst 1.029X 58L and Cochrane "$1.06 per litre for 52.3L

Miles today: 662 KM. Altitude: 954` N 48*06` W079* 42`


August 1, 2006, Tuesday

Left around 9 a.m. and once we entered Quebec where the Hwy number changed to number 117 and the road became rougher. Very muggy today. Drove through Rouyn-Noranda which was bigger than I thought There was construction on the other side so the Unit became very, very dirty with mud. Fuelled at $1.089 for 110L
Val D`Or was also a pretty place. Verandry Park was over 200 Km long. Nothing to see but trees, some pretty lakes and rocks.
Arrived at Mt Laurier, Quebec, around 3:30 p,m, and set-up for the night " Camping des Barges". Paid $26. including all taxes which is 7.5% here and they add it on top of the GST.
I left to go to town and while there, a big windstorm and rain came through. By the time I got back to the site, it had stopped but not before causing some damages to some of the camper there. I was lucky that my awning never broke as it was extended but it did fold over.
It`s 9 p.m. and all is well. Temp is at 26*. Before the storm, the temperature was sitting at 38*

Miles today 476KM, Alt: 800' N 46* 33' W 075* 24'


AUGUST 2, Wednesday

It rained again overnight. It`s now 6 a.m. and very humid. Left around 9:30 and finally hit 4 lanes and better roads at Labelle. In St-Agathe, we turned north on Hwy 329 and headed for St -Donat and Mt Tremblant where Therese and Michel are camping. My other sister, Christiane, is also there with them.
Arrived at Russel Camping only to find out they don`t allow dogs so we had to stay in an empty field across the street and still had to pay $15. for nothing.
We went to see my sister at her campsite and spent a couple of hours with them. We had a good visit and left around 10 p.m. It rained the whole day and evening.

Miles today: 209KM; Alt: 1296' N 46* 21' W 74* 14' Fuel: 70.9 L at $1.07 and 2 qts of oil



AUGUST 3, Thursday

Spent the morning and part of the afternoon with Therese, Christiane and Michel then left at 2 p.m. We took Hwy 125 south to Hwy 640, East to Hwy 40, west to Hwy 20 then South on Hwy 15 to Longueil where we stayed for 2 nights for $20 each. After that time, Ginnette found us a place where we could park the 5er for free. That saved us a lot.

After setting up, we followed my brother Johnny to his place and met his new partner, Ginnette and her son Frederick. Very nice and receiving folks.

We spent 7 days there and had a great time meeting the family and going for dinner at each`s place. (see pictures in link)

Miles today 209KM Alt: 122' N 45* 51' W72* 23' Fuel is $1.17 and 1.20 for $100 as I fuelled twice and only took on $50 each time. I can`t believe the high price of fuel here. Actually higher than up North. Doesn`t make sense.

July 21 to 30, 2006

We've had a wonderful time in Geraldton but all good things come to an end.

Some of the highlights have been golfing, Val going for a airplane flight with her brother ( see link to pictures), bicycling ( a lot) and kayaking. There are a lot of lakes to explore around here. I love my new kayak.

We've only had two days of rain and the rest of the time it has been hot and humid. Today, (Sunday, the 30th), is warm but not hot....comfortable. We took drives around and explored the neighborhood. Val did some shopping with her sisters.
Heard from the Tate's and Morgan had a baby girl which is fantastic for them. This gives Morgan and her husband the couple and I am sure it will make gran-ma very happy too. One for each of them(Pat and Rick)!!!

Yesterday, we went on a scavenger hunt where we were given a list of things to do and get. It was a riot, especially after when everyone got together to show off their finds. We were given two hours to get all the items and some were quite bizarre, like finding a magazine from 2000, man and woman wearing curlers, going to the local bar and dance around the pole (had to take a movie of it) and Val performed our dance. Sexy!!
Afterwards, everyone sat around the campfire and enjoyed a few drinks. We got home around midnight.
Today, we are loading everything, doing a wash, and getting ready to leave tomorrow.
See you on the road and don't forget to look at the pictures....lots of new one

July 18 to 20, 2006

July 18, Tuesday

It was cloudy this a.m. but cleared in the afternoon and with it, the temperature went up. Washed the truck and the 5er and relaxed in the p.m. Very windy today. Winnipeg is showing its true color

Aunt Nellie and her daughter, Sharon, showed up and we had them over for dinner. A pleasant evening and they left at 9 p.m. after saying our goodbyes.
To bed by 11.p.m.


July 19, Wedn. Sunny with cloudy period and a strong wind from the west.















Up at 7. am., packed and on the road by 9:15. At 9:40 a.m. we crossed the centre of Canada @ 096*47'. Longitude. There was a big sign but saw it too late and couldn't stop in time.
At 1:30 p.m., we stopped in Dryden for lunch. Scenery consist of trees, trees and more trees. Also as we entered Ontario, we started to see more rocky formations on the side. We also took on fuel in Dryden. No more cheap fuel....Went up to $1.039
Arrived in Thunder Bay at 6:30 local time ( we moved the clock one hour ahead just before arriving in Thunder Bay) Couldn't find the WalMart so stayed at a campsite for $23.
Called Geraldton to let them know we would be there tomorrow.

N 48*29" W 89*11", Alt: 839' Miles: 740 km Fuel cost:0.959 in Winnipeg &
1.039 in Dryden, Ont.


July 20, Thursday, Sunny and windy
















Up at 08:30 today. We have a short drive to make. Fuelled again outside of Thunder Bay @ 1.04/L The further north we go, the more expensive fuel is.
We turned on Hwy 11 north and had the wind right on the nose. Followed Helen Lake for a while then slowly made our way North-East towards Geraldton. We passed 3 small villages and otherwise, it was a very boring scenery and rough road for the next two hours.

Arrived at our destination at 3:45 p.m. Not much has changed since our last visit. We saw strike pickets, a new grocery store and otherwise, same old, same old!

Everyone came to the house to say hi to us and then we had dinner with Dori, Paulo and their two daughters, Ashley and Christine.

We will be here until July 31 or August 1 at which time we will leave for Montreal. (1100 km away) We hope to do a lot of biking and kayaking in the next week.
The other big event is that we got our mail and in it, a bunch a cheques we were expecting. We're rich again!!!!!

N 49*43' W 86*57' Alt: 1127' Miles: 270 km Fuel cost: 1.04 in Thunder Bay & 1.17 in Geraldton