Late Sunday afternoon, I stood up from the dinette and twisted my right knee. Have no idea what I did, but I could not stand on that leg. The pain was excruciating. Either I have torn another cartilage or pulled a tendon. R.I.C.E treatment along with analgesics and an uncomfortable night in bed. It was marginally better on Monday and I continued with the treatment. The emphasis being on REST. Today my knee is much better. I am going to have to see my knee doc as this is the knee I had arthroscopy on a few years back. I see a knee replacement in my future.
Today is a damp rainy day and we did not venture out too far. It is interesting watching the big rigs move out, to be replaced a couple hours later by more big rigs. What I have learned is the most of these full timers are members with various camping membership groups. Resorts Of Distinction, Adventure Outdoor Resorts, Coast to Coast, Western Horizons etc. Different memberships have different rules as to how long you can stay at one place and how much you pay. In Coast to Coast we paid $499 and we have an annual renewal rate for $89. We can stay at their resorts for 1 to 2 weeks at a time. There are not a lot of resorts in Ontario, but there are lots in the US. we received free RPI membership which includes Thousand Trails. Affiliated membership resorts are Good Neighbor, Western Horizons among others that I cannot remember at the moment. I will fill them in later!
In all this coming and going of full timers rigs, people get to meet other campers and somewhere along the line, they will meet up again at other resorts. They do a circuit, moving from resort to resort to comply with time in and out rules. Inevitably you get to meet the same people at different places. A community on wheels. Most of the rigs are fifth wheels as they are the most spacious. I prefer the motorhome pulling an economical car behind. I cannot imagine sight seeing in a honking great gas guzzling truck, even if I have to have a little less room in my home. I have no desire for a fifth wheel.
By evening today, my knee is a whole lot better and I can actually walk around a bit. Popped over to George and Sue to ask more questions re Internet access and satellite etc. They have been on the road for 5 years, so they have a lot of information to offer.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
The summer of '11
I can't believe it is so long since I last posted! Either we have been too busy or having too much fun! Now let me see, what has been happening simce I last posted??? I am going to try and post more often. I met someone today, where we are camped at the moment (Galvin Bay, Buckhorn) who has given me fresh enthusiasm! Thanks, George!
We got back to Ontario at the beginning of April. We had flown from California to Dulles and my sister met us at the airport and drove us back to her house in Keedysville, Maryland. We stayed a couple of days there and then drove "home" to Ajax. The motorhome was in storage in Moodie's Motor Inn. It was so good to be back in our home on wheels! Surprisingly, she started up first try and we moved to a spot at the back of the storage area where there is a power outlet, water and a sewer. Being so early in the season, the water was not turned on yet, but Michael managed to get some water and filled the tanks. Cedar Beach was not open yet, so we had to stay in Moodies for almost 2 weeks. I object to paying for camping when we have a seasonal site up in Stouffville! We took a couple of trips up to Cedar Beach and realized that we would not get the Seneca into the site we had booked last October, so we had to find another site. There were not many available, but we did find one which had no tree in front and had an open view to the South West sky for the satellite.
We moved happily onto our site on April 13th and started getting settled in. Luckily we were able to sell the shed that we built on our site across the road, to the family who took over that site. We found a better shed at Rona and spent a weekend putting that up. The next thing we built was a deck. The deck is just 7 4X8 modules, pushed together. We put a gazebo onto the deck, put in some plants and flower boxes and we are set. We have met some really nice people who live on our "street". I will post photos as soon as I have access to the Internet on my MacBook. I am making this blog entry on my iPad. I should look into getting the photo connector for the iPad.
The July long weekend we camped with friends at Saugeen Springs RV Resort near Hanover, where we camped for 3 days (at an exorbitant $50 a night), but we did have fun tubing down the Saugeen River. After the weekend we proceeded on to a Coast to Coast resort called Lake Huron RV Resort, just north of Goderich. We really enjoyed those 5 days. The resort is on the West coast of Ontario. Views of Lake Huron are expansive and the sunsets are staggeringly beautiful. We took the time to do some exploring in the Saturn. The other campers in the park were very friendly. We are booked to return toward the end of August.
I have half heartedly being looking for a casual job in an Obstetrics unit somewhere, but as there are so many cutbacks in the health care industry I doubt that I will find anything. No-one is hiring. Just thought that I could supplement our pensions for some extra stuff for the Motorhome, like solar panels etc.
We got back to Ontario at the beginning of April. We had flown from California to Dulles and my sister met us at the airport and drove us back to her house in Keedysville, Maryland. We stayed a couple of days there and then drove "home" to Ajax. The motorhome was in storage in Moodie's Motor Inn. It was so good to be back in our home on wheels! Surprisingly, she started up first try and we moved to a spot at the back of the storage area where there is a power outlet, water and a sewer. Being so early in the season, the water was not turned on yet, but Michael managed to get some water and filled the tanks. Cedar Beach was not open yet, so we had to stay in Moodies for almost 2 weeks. I object to paying for camping when we have a seasonal site up in Stouffville! We took a couple of trips up to Cedar Beach and realized that we would not get the Seneca into the site we had booked last October, so we had to find another site. There were not many available, but we did find one which had no tree in front and had an open view to the South West sky for the satellite.
We moved happily onto our site on April 13th and started getting settled in. Luckily we were able to sell the shed that we built on our site across the road, to the family who took over that site. We found a better shed at Rona and spent a weekend putting that up. The next thing we built was a deck. The deck is just 7 4X8 modules, pushed together. We put a gazebo onto the deck, put in some plants and flower boxes and we are set. We have met some really nice people who live on our "street". I will post photos as soon as I have access to the Internet on my MacBook. I am making this blog entry on my iPad. I should look into getting the photo connector for the iPad.
The July long weekend we camped with friends at Saugeen Springs RV Resort near Hanover, where we camped for 3 days (at an exorbitant $50 a night), but we did have fun tubing down the Saugeen River. After the weekend we proceeded on to a Coast to Coast resort called Lake Huron RV Resort, just north of Goderich. We really enjoyed those 5 days. The resort is on the West coast of Ontario. Views of Lake Huron are expansive and the sunsets are staggeringly beautiful. We took the time to do some exploring in the Saturn. The other campers in the park were very friendly. We are booked to return toward the end of August.
I have half heartedly being looking for a casual job in an Obstetrics unit somewhere, but as there are so many cutbacks in the health care industry I doubt that I will find anything. No-one is hiring. Just thought that I could supplement our pensions for some extra stuff for the Motorhome, like solar panels etc.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Camped at Lake Huron Resort
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| Site 210 |
We camped at Lake Huron resort from July 3rd to 8th. It is a Coast to Coast resort and so cost us only $10 a night. The resort is very nice and very clean. The views over Lake Huron are second to none and the sunsets are spectacular. The only problem is that you have to walk down a very steep pathway to get to the "natural" beach. Of course that means that you have to slog up the hill coming back. Nevertheless, we liked it and will be going back toward the end of August. We met some lovely people there and spent some very pleasant evenings sitting around a campfire getting to know them.
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| Looking down the road from our site |
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| Treed road to the view site |
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| View site |
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| Lake Huron from the top of the cliffs |
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| Nice site #210 |
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| The beach |
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| Halfway down the path to the beach |
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| The rest of the path down the hill. |
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| Incredible sunsets |
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| Bird on a branch |
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Two days to go!
Well, we leave Oceanside on Thursday morning. We have to get to LAX by 11:00 am, so what we are doing is going tomorrow morning to pick up a car at the airport and driving it back here. We will then take Virginia's car to the Chateau and on Thursday morning we drive back to LAX, return the car and then get the shuttle from Budget Car Rental and take the shuttle to the airport. Hopefully the traffic won't be too bad. We will be able to use the high occupancy lanes and that will help a lot!
Thoughts on Southern California:
Wonderfully warm and sunny most of the time. We did have a few rainy, cool days but there was no snow except for when we up Mt Jacinto!
EXPENSIVE! I don't have an awful lot of areas to compare with, but it does seem quite an expensive place to live. Gas has been creeping up slowly and now sits at $4.05 a gallon. I suppose this is still cheaper than Ontario, but it seemed expensive. Food is about the same as Ontario, but there some things which are cheaper, e.g. Milk.
Luckily we did not need the services of the medical community as we stayed healthy, but I can imagine it can be quite pricey, going on what Virginia pays for medicines and doctor's visits, even though she has insurance.
Housing is very pricey, with almost nothing available under $400,000 to $500,000. Most houses cost a lot more than that. Of course there are some places that are under that price, but you they are very few and far between.
The ocean....loved it, even though we only went down to the beach a few times. I am sure if we were closer, we would be there more frequently. We did not come down here to spend a lot of time on the beach, but to help Virginia and that we did do.
We did a few day trips and one long weekend trip. Loved seeing the different areas, from ocean and beach, to desert, to mountains and snow. You really do have it all! And it is not a huge long drive to get there. Our trips to LA showed us how much money there is in this part of the US. No wonder it is so expensive to live here.
All in all, I think the trip here was hugely successful. Virginia is now pretty much settled in her new home at the Chateau at San Marcos. Michael did a huge amount of work on her new place and on the house in Oceanside. We have made plans for when we return at the end of the year, either staying in the house and storing the RV at a local storage area, or we will be staying in the RV, hopefully at a nearby California State Park. We love it here and will be back.
Thoughts on Southern California:
Wonderfully warm and sunny most of the time. We did have a few rainy, cool days but there was no snow except for when we up Mt Jacinto!
EXPENSIVE! I don't have an awful lot of areas to compare with, but it does seem quite an expensive place to live. Gas has been creeping up slowly and now sits at $4.05 a gallon. I suppose this is still cheaper than Ontario, but it seemed expensive. Food is about the same as Ontario, but there some things which are cheaper, e.g. Milk.
Luckily we did not need the services of the medical community as we stayed healthy, but I can imagine it can be quite pricey, going on what Virginia pays for medicines and doctor's visits, even though she has insurance.
Housing is very pricey, with almost nothing available under $400,000 to $500,000. Most houses cost a lot more than that. Of course there are some places that are under that price, but you they are very few and far between.
The ocean....loved it, even though we only went down to the beach a few times. I am sure if we were closer, we would be there more frequently. We did not come down here to spend a lot of time on the beach, but to help Virginia and that we did do.
We did a few day trips and one long weekend trip. Loved seeing the different areas, from ocean and beach, to desert, to mountains and snow. You really do have it all! And it is not a huge long drive to get there. Our trips to LA showed us how much money there is in this part of the US. No wonder it is so expensive to live here.
All in all, I think the trip here was hugely successful. Virginia is now pretty much settled in her new home at the Chateau at San Marcos. Michael did a huge amount of work on her new place and on the house in Oceanside. We have made plans for when we return at the end of the year, either staying in the house and storing the RV at a local storage area, or we will be staying in the RV, hopefully at a nearby California State Park. We love it here and will be back.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Almost time to go.
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| Snow on the mountains on the way to Palm Desert. |
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| The pool area at the hotel in Indian Wells |
Our stay in California has been wonderful. Most of the time we have spent helping Virginia, my "American" mom. We helped her settle into her condo at The Chateau in San Marcos and also cleaning and painting and fixing the house in Oceanside.
We also did a few very nice day trips in Southern California, such as a day in Sea World, a trip to San Diego to go on the USS Midway and a visit to the Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma. We also took a 4 day trip up to Indian Wells and Desert Palms. All very enjoyable and successful.
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| Filling in the applications for a volunteer position as camp hosts in San Elijo, California |
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| The view from the campground. San Elijo State Park |
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