Awww its Saturday-Travel day for us!

As I awoke today to the peaceful sounds of the early morning~I couldn't help but be amazed at the sights around me. All was quiet and peaceful~the sun was shining with the early morning glow, the river was like a mirror with the clouds reflecting in it-my favourite time of day! This is when I love to sit and reflect, ponder and count my blessings for all that we have; I can do so much thinking at this time when the rest of the world sleeps around me..I feel like it is my personal private-special time of day.

But alas, when the coffee pot gave its final beep to let me know it was ready~ the day begins. Lilly awakens then wakes Tucker and its time to set my special time aside and mother the furkids. After their morning potty, and breakfast its then time to re-enter the world and see how everyone is doing..so its onto blog reading and facebook while I enjoy my coffee. Eventually Rick swaggers out with my good morning kiss..and we enjoy coffee together and plan our day. 

Today we are motoring onto Cape Breton to visit with friends and relatives. I love going 'home' it brings back so many memories of growing up there, some good and some not so good..but thats life right? We left 'Cranberry Campground' in Barney's River (just outside of New Glasgow NS) at noon on the dot. It is a gorgeous sunny day with nice temperatures. The furkids are resting in their seatbelts on the sofa how they love to travel. When they see their seatbelts come out they get so excited one would think you offered them a t-bone steak.

You have to love the CB highlands

A little island all by itself

Rick doing a small repair at the Canso Causeway-our tank door which does not open (screwed shut) the screws must have come loose so he is screwing it shut again..(I knew he was handsome and handy)

Entrance to the Canso Causeway

Gotta Love this sign on the bridge on the causeway~this Bridge swings and turns around to allow boats to pass through

The lakes

The beautiful Bridal Party at the back of the campground having their wedding pics done

This is what we see behind our coach

We arrived at the Arm of Gold campground in the Bra d'Or, Cape Breton at around 3:30pm...the drive was beautiful..the sun was shining..the mountains were gorgeous and we were pretty impressed hauling up over the mountain with ease in Ossumer...now I know why Rick had a DP on his bucket list. Upon our arrival a limo pulled into the campground while we were registering..it was a wedding party arriving for pictures. Only a caper bride would want her pictures done in a hayfield ...I just had to take some pictures also. Which I will upload in the morning when I have the wifi code (currently am on my stick because Rick forgot to get the code when we registered)...the wedding party was beautiful...how nice to arrive and immediately see a 'new beginning'...

As soon as we were setup it was off to my cousins house...her daughter knew we were coming but we didn't tell her as I wanted to surprise her..and boy was she surprised...we spent a lovely evening there visiting the family, eating and enjoying the kitchen gathering (Thats what we capers do ~even tho there are numerous rooms in the house we all tend to visit and gather in the kitchen)..Cape Breton is famous for its 'kitchen ceilidhs' (a ceilidh is gaelic for party)..so between the kitchen and the veranda we caught up on the last couple of years. The furkids behaved thank heavens. Altho tucker did find his way upstairs and tried to nap on one of the beds. There are a couple of nice cruise ships in the harbour which we will check out tomorrow after church. The Sydney warf, marina and boardwalk was alive this evening with people..you would have thought it was July 1st and traffic was heavy for 11pm. I figure the cruise ships were docked for the night. But we were too tired to stop~its been a long day...but a wonderful day. What more could we ask for!

 Have a wonderful weekend everyone -I will upload the pictures tomorrow when I get the wifi code.

Stay safe~remember home is where you park it...

Elaine, Rick Tucker and Lilly

Practicing again

It was another full day of practicing retirement from the time Lilly got us up at 7:30 until now at 9:45PM. We did our coffee and blog reads to start off with~ then had breakfast and eventually got around to packing up and getting "Ossumer" on the road for a short 1.5 hr run to Barneys Island to the Cranberry Campground. We actually took about an hour to set up for some reason in the past it was like a marathon setting up we now do the jacks, water, power, dog pens and mats and then have a sit down in the lawn chairs for a bit before going in to run out the slides, turn the seats etc. Then sit for a bit again and maybe have a coffee then set up the satellite might want the TV tonight.You get the picture this is practicing for retirement there is no rush anymore. Life is Good.
We took a drive out to Big Island late this afternoon its called an island but is really connected to the main land by a narrow sand bar that has a road built on top of . Nice drive and lots a nice scenery.

Road to Big Island

Tucker and Lilly are also practicing along with us and so far seem to be getting the hang of it pretty good

Cranberry Campground http://cranberrycampground.ca/ is a first visit for us and its not too bad a place but still a work in progress, good WiFi and good cell service all 50amp, nice view of Barneys River, gravel roads, and fair size grass lots.

"Ossumer" at Cranberry Campground in Barney's Island NS

Its off to Cape Breton Island tomorrow with about a 2.5 hr drive ~have to be on the road early no later than 11:30am its all part of the practicing. Cousins came to visit that live in the area so we had a nice 'catch-up"...On the way back from Big Island we took a run into New Glasgow and pick up some groceries ~wow its been a busy day!!

Until the next time stay safe and have fun.

"Home is where you park it."

Elaine Rick Lilly and Tucker

We have left the building!!!

We left Riverview earlier today motoring on toward Cape Breton (I'm going home for a visit :))...I was a wee bit nervous today which I usually am when we have something new going on!! Today was our first trip with the 'brake buddy' in the car...but it seemed to do what it was suppose to do..so all is well..Rick thought I should take the time during our journey to read the manual on the BB ...but I think thats a not need to know situation. I know for a fact he would have read it a minimum of 3 times before he installed it this week. All I need to know is how to hook it up (if necessary) ...I don't feel I have to know how the guts of it works-as long as it does its job I'm happy. I know how to drive the rig, hook up the car to the blue ox, and hookup the BB..so I figure I'm good to go...and yes I also know how to dump tanks if ever necessary...

We are currently parked in Scotia Pines in Truro and then we will be on our way tomorrow to New Glasgow..for a nite to visit relatives..then onto Cape Breton...yipeeee...I haven't been home to visit in a couple of years..

A little tight for parking

I am 'loving ' our new motorhome...I'm not nearly as nervous as I was in the previous MH..Miss Daisy...I think its the perception...I'm sitting back a bit and no longer have my butt parked right up on the dash watching the road run under me...plus this is a diesel so I don't have the engine sounds under said butt...

The kids are bored waiting to go for walk

Well its past happy hour the sun is shining and I'm sure the furkids and the hubby are getting hungry so I should consider something for supper...

take care all~~travel safe

Home is where you park it
Elaine, Rick, Tucker and Lilly

Finally an update!!!

We have been on the go for sure...our daughter and son in law were home to visit for a week from TN...it sure wasn't long enough but better than no visit at all...the housing situation is finally totally finished and our tenants moved in last Friday...after our daughter and son in law went back home we jumped in the rig and took off for a couple of days of R & R...which was something we desperately needed...we have been going straight out since January with the downsizing and renos. We are loving the apartment reno and getting used to living in a smaller space, altho it does seem strange to hear someone living on the other side of the 'wall' in the main house..I'm sure it will take some getting used to, and we don't plan to be here much.

I am currently researching our winter in Fl...seeking out parks etc. We don't plan to stay put for the whole winter~hopefully we will move around every 3-4 weeks..there is still some planning to do...but I'm sure we will get there..when Rick started the renos in January I thought to my self..wow your starting early..but thank heavens we did or we would be way behind now...

Hope you are all having a good summer..we are planning our next trip to Cape Breton..I have family there and it will be nice to be able to visit and not rush back...

Take care all...stay safe...I still have pics to upload (trying to figure that out with the new camera)...from Ruth and Kevin's visit...will strive to complete that task...

and remember 'home is where you park it'

Elaine and Rick
Tucker and Lilly

We have Blogger Company July 7, 2011

Today has been a busy busy day ...we found out that Kevin and Ruth and their dog Whiskey were passing through our area...I was spending my coffee time this morning reading blogs...I shot off an email...and warned them we are in reno mess but that they were more than welcome to come park here at our home..as we have hookups...They accepted..I whipped a picnic ham out of the freezer, fired it into the oven to bake, grabbed the vacuum and ran behind the boys (they were closing off the doors to the main house today and theres drywall dust everywhere) popped them off an email saying if you can stand our mess we would love to have them visit. Then I raced off the the grocery store..to pick up some potatoes etc...came back...packed up my linen closet (before the drywall sanding starts tomorrow in our bathroom where they closed off one of the doors that used to go into the main house)...and I've been in high gear ever since..:)

Visiting with Kevin and Ruth

Sherman parked in our spare driveway all hooked up

Sherman and he is smiling

Ossumer in our other driveway

Kevin and Ruth...what a great meeting / visit we all had

Darling darling whiskey what a sweetie she is

We had supper, visited each others MHs and then sat on our deck for awhile visiting until the bugs drove us inside...my neighbours surely think I'm crazy I now have to run from my apartment door to the house door to enter the big house...and I wanted to set up the bathroom in there for them as I'm sure they'd love showers in the morning...so I was running with towels etc...

Their dog Whiskey is a darling almost 16 years old...has a heart problem...tucker loves her giving her kisses and lilly likes her...also...

All in all it was a great day (will upload pics when I have more time)...its so much fun putting faces to the bloggers we've been meeting..thats three couples in the last month...how exciting...

Ok its off to bed for us...they are out in their motorhome, all tucked in for the night..and we were able to share our wifi with them...

Take care all have a super evening..and remember

Home is where you park it...
Elaine , Rick Tucker and Lilly

Update!! July 2011

Well, I haven't had much time lately to get on here and update the blog ~ its been crazy busy...we are finishing up the house...seems like I'm forever saying 'we are finishing up' and I dont' see the end as of yet. But I do see a light at the end of the tunnel..so am hoping that counts for something.

We survived the trip to Ontario, Tucker and Lilly travelled great...and the trip back was uneventful thank heavens. We have been going straight out since our return but we did take the long weekend off and camped up at the cottage in our new to us rig. It was a bit hairy at the Motor Vehicle Branch here in NB getting the rig licensed and registered..apparently we were so excited moving day, we didn't realize (I"m sure they told us)..that the little tab thingy on the peel and stick transit 10 day sticker was the proof we needed to register-I was worried Rick may have thrown it out after applying the sticker..thinking it was the receipt for the transit sticker... We waited in line at the DMV for what seemed like forever only to find out we needed that...the bill of sale etc was not sufficient...back home we came..tore the rig apart (I normally save everything) and finally found it...and back to the DMV we went again..waited in line again..and finally got the job done. Today we had to take it to be NB inspected..so now everything is done complete and we're good till this time next year.

While in Ontario we had the extreme pleasure of meeting up with Dee and Jim, and Sandra and Gordon. It was a rainy wet day but it didn't put a damper on our visit. I just wish the visit could have been longer. Thanks for coming out to meet us folks..As you can see the rain didn't hamper our visit.

Dee and Sandra :)

 Jim and Rick Sharing a laugh

 Gordon taking a pic of me taking a pic :)

 Me Sandra and Dee

 Us ladies again

 Gordon being serious

We also had the opportunity to meet up with Rick's 1st cousin Barb and and her husband Bob at a rest stop in Trenton, ON...they hadn't seen each other in over 40 years....it was another quick but special visit.

After leaving Grimsby, we travelled to White Lake ON..to a resort called Cedar Cove...wow that place was in the middle of no where...twisty and winding narrow roads...what a trip for our first long haul with the new rig...we met up with my cousin and her hubby there and spent four days with them, we drank some wine and had some great laughs and wonderful meals. And I have to add it rained for the whole 4 days we were there non stop.

All in all the trip was a great success but I will sure be glad when we are able to hit the road without time lines...seems we've always crowded so much into such short time spans...

Ok am off to spend some time with the hubby and plan tomorrow....stay safe all~and remember
Home is where you Park it...!!
Elaine

Its a beautiful Morning-Cleaning and shining day!!!

We arrived Grimsby Ontario at around fiveish local time..and I was glad to see the rig parked...we jetted out looking for a car wash to try get some road grime off the car...didn't find one..but did find wine and some supper...came back to the rig and met up with new friends and bloggers Larry and Marilyn and had a lovely evening drinking wine and visiting with them...lots of laughs and story swapping...we are parked at the campground in fifty points conservation area..what a nice place...beautiful marina etc...
Had a restful nights sleep now today we are cleaning the rig, washing it outside (it is permissible thank heavens that will be easier that bucket washing)..and shining it up to do the trade tomorrow.
Tomorrow is 'moving day'...we pick up the new DP at around noon...so it will be a busy but exciting day. Marilyn and Larry insisted we have supper with them tomorrow evening...how nice not to worry about having to cook and move on the same day...will upload some pictures of our trip so far..when I have better wifi....have a super day everyone..looks like its going to be hot and sunny here...until later ~~remember

Home is where you park it!!!
Elaine

Almost there!!! To Grimsby Ontario

Hi Everyone,
We left NB around 3pm on Thursday and made it to Edmundston for our first night of travel. The furkids were excellent during the drive~in their seat belts on the sofa..we were a bit concerned how Tucker woud travel because he was so little last year he wouldn't remember. Thankfully they have been wonderful little travellers..We left Edmundston Friday morning about 8am heading onward toward Ontario. Crossing Montreal and Quebec was scarier than riding shotgun outside a plane sitting on the wing...alot of construction and I think Quebec drivers assume signal lights is an option on their vehicles-and that passing you on the inside shoulder of the freeway is a god given right.

Yesterday was a long day...we drove for 11 hours and hauled into Brockville Ontario at around 7pm last evening. I was never so glad to hear the jacks descend...and the slides whine their way out. We took the kids for a brisk walk, had supper, showers and literally fell into bed. After a good nights rest we are once again on the road to Grimsby-currently on the 401 and planning on swinging off onto the 407. Thankfully the traffic today is not as bad as it was yesterday. We made a stop at a rest stop center in Trenton on the way by and met up with Rick's cousin and her husband. They had not seen each other in over 40 years~and what a great visit we had.

We hope to be in Grimsby within the next couple of hours...we will be arriving a day early but thats a good thing..it will give us a chance to clean up our rig-shine her up and plan our move into the new one on Monday.

We are planning somehow some way to meet up with Dee and Jim and Sandra and Gordon on our way back..another exciting visit to look forward to...

So until the next time~remember!!!

Home is where you park it!!
Elaine and Rick

Progression~Finally!!!!!-We retire on Friday-this week!! Rick's Birthday June 10

Retirement!!!~~~New Rig!!!~~~Fear!!!~~~Excitement

Hey Everyone.....things are progressing at a rapid pace :)....as most of you know we are all moved into the renovated apartment on our home..and we are readying the main house for rental...we flew to Toronto on Thursday, rented a car and drove up to an  RV dealer Friday in Smithville and spent the day there going over a couple of motor homes we had our eye on (well Rick had his eye on~~ I personally love love love my miss Daisy our gas mh)...anyway the deed is done...we are the proud new owners of a 38' Tropi Cal by National ~diesel pusher... with 28,000. miles on it..three slides 350 cat motor-on freightliner chasis (like I know what thats all about)...sleeps 6, nice stainless appliances (side by side fridge)..and more importantly tons and tons of storage...pass thru under belly storage...Rick is drooling...I'm very happy with the interior storage..not to the drooling point mind you but at the panting stage (I think thats a man thing)..will be making arrangements with the dealer on Monday to hopefully be up there with ours on June 20th to 'move' again...So far all of our rigs have been "girls" so I think its only fitting that this one is a "dude"...now to find a name for him (yes I always name them)...I'm thinking 'osumer'....meaning "more than awesome"...so thats the thought for today...the way things have been progressing at lightening speed who knows what tomorrow will bring....have a super weekend everyone!!! Hope to see you all down the road!! Rick is walking on air...I have buyers remorse! But then again I have buyers remorse whenever I shop!!!!