Sunday, May 30, 2010

We started the day playing Newfie horseshoes. It's a fun game where you throw steel washers into boxes (12"x12"x 8"). The boxes are 20' apart. In the middle of the open end of the box is an open ended 3" pipe. If the washer goes in the pipe, 3 points. If the washer goes in the box, 2 points. If the washer is close to the outside of the box, 1 points (within the width of the washer). You draw for partners and play as a team toward the final match. There were 30 people playing, and my team won twice and Connie's team didn't win at all. Good fun!

After horseshoes, we took a side trip with Roger and Marcia to Peterborough, ON, to see the 'Lift Lock." You can see in the photo that it's not like a regular lock because it has two 140'X 30' chambers that rise and fall 65' to move boats from one level of the river to the other. We were lucky that a cruise boat was going through the locks when we were there. This lift lock was built between 1896 and 1904 and is part of an elaborate lock system that connects Lake Ontario and Lake Huron.

Our next stop was to visit Gail and Nestor Gulka at their new home in Lindsay. Gail and Nestor are also friends that we met in Texas. They also took us to Tim Horton's and M & M Meat Store. Tim Horton's is a chain of donut/coffee stores throughout Canada and M & M is also a chain that specialize in frozen foods - mostly ready to cook meats.

We ended the day with the Gulka's and the Miller's. We had a cookout and said good bye after dinner. It's amazing what dear friends we have been fortunate enough to meet in South Texas. Tomorrow we are off to Ottawa.

Today we drove to Alpine RV Resort near Lindsay, ON. The first photo tells some of you that we have arrived at Victoria Palms North. Everyone in the picture are Winter Texans. From left to right: Malcolm, Roger, Gail, Nester, Connie, Marcia, Fran, and Doreen. After the reunion, we took a boat ride in Roger and Marcia's boat on Sturgeon Lake, down the river, and to the locks in Lindsay. They had a pot luck in the club house and then a bonfire at Gail and Nesters.
It's so fun to be with our Canadian Texas friends again!

Friday, May 28, 2010

The photo above is of Marcia and Roger Miller at their front door in Thornhill, ON. They have a beautiful home, and Roger has done some very nice landscaping in the front yard.

Today, we went downtown Toronto to the Museum of Inuit Art, the lake front (Lake Ontario), and China Town.

The Inuit Art Museum represents native Eskimo art. The Inuit's live near the Artic Circle in both Canada and the US. If you've ever been to Alaska, you will probably recognize the art. A lot of the medium is stone and soapstone. It's beautiful.

The photo above is of the CN (Canadian National Railroad) tower. The tower is a communications tower, but does have a restaurant and observation section.

We continue to eat ourselves into oblivion! Marcia made us a wonderful turkey dinner on Wednesday night and tonight we are having steaks. Since Toronto has such a diverse population, we have eaten lunch in very ethic restaurants - Greek yesterday and today we had Thai food.

Tomorrow were off to the lake.

Yesterday, Wednesday, we visited Grace and Earl Dodds. We met the Dodds' two years ago in Victoria Palms, Donna, TX. Earl spends some time in the woodworking shop and Connie knows Grace from the sewing room. They live in a beautiful new home near Orangeville, ON and the photo below is in front of their waterfalls in their back yard. The other photo is of the front of their home. We were only able to stay for lunch and a short visit.

Our next stop was at Thornhill, ON, at Roger and Marcia Miller's home. We parked the motor home in their driveway and will be here till Saturday.

Today,Thursday, we toured Toronto and had lunch in the Greek area. We also visited Casa Loma, a castle built by Sir Henry Pellatt. Sir Henry built the castle in 1911 at a cost of $2.5 million. I'm sure, at that time he was one of the wealthiest men in Canada. In 1901, he was chairman of 25 separate companies and controlled 25% of Canada. Unfortunately, after WWI, the Canadian economy took a dive, and he had to declare bankruptcy. The pictures below are of Marcia and Roger at the castle.

More tomorrow. Roger just beat me two games of cribbage, and I need to try to get even.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

We arrived in Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario, yesterday afternoon, checked into the RV Park, and drove over to Bernie and Jane Beleskey's for dinner. They really pulled off a great meal. I know you're not interested in what we had for dinner, but it was so good, I have to tell. Ceasar salad, grilled shrimp, top sirloin, asparagus, baked potato, and rhubarb pie. It was fantastic! Here's a picture of Jane and Bernie in front of Niagara Falls - the Canadian Falls.


Tuesday, Bernie and Jane took us to Niagara Falls, the Canadian side of the falls. We took the ride on the Maid of the Mist and went about as close to "Horse Shoe Falls," the Canadian Falls, as is possible. The bottom photo was shot right when we were in front of the falls. Everyone is issued the blue hooded rainwear. You really need it! The mist is almost like rain and it's cold too.

The photo below is of the American Falls and the small falls to the right is the Bridal Falls. You can see people walking up and behind the falls.

We finished the day with lunch in the town of Niagara on the Lake. It was a wonderfull day and we thank Jane and Bernie for showing us Niagara Falls.

Tomorrow were off to see more friends.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Hello and welcome back to our "blog."

We left home this morning and are on our way to the Canadian Maritime Provinces. We drove as far as Joliet, Il and are staying at the RV park at the Empress Casino.

We stopped in Bettendorf, IA and had lunch with friends, Dan and Bobbi Ford. I hired Dan 18 years ago, and he has been a good friend ever since. Their daughter, Bailey is graduating from high school this year; we got an invitation to her open house but had to visit a week early because of our travel plans. Baily is headed to the University of Iowa and wants to be a doctor! We had a nice visit with the Ford's.

I have posted a picture of my wooden boat that I have been working on for the past year, whenever I'm home. It's a cedar stirip, V-bottom, fishing boat. All I have to do is cane the seats and put two more coats of finish on the inside.

That's it for today. Just a start. Hope you will follow along.