ALL THREE OF US HAD OURSELVES A LONG 380 MILE SUNDAY DRIVE TODAY

WE TRAVELED SOME VERY SCENIC ROADS TODAY

Up earlier than usual we started a rather non-routine day.  It was all three of us in the Jeep as we rolled out our drive-way at 7 a.m. on the nose heading for a destination 180 miles away through some of the nicest scenery in central Ontario.  It was nearly 25 years ago we were last up into the Muskoka region towing a Prowler travel trailer with our Dodge truck.  We had gone camping at Killbear Park for a week.  This morning we were headed for a town by the name of Gravenhurst in the same area.  Now why would we drive all the way to Gravenhurst today??

OUR LONG ROAD TRIP STARTED OUT UNDER THREATENING CLOUDS  AND A FEW SHOWERS

HEADING IN A NORTH-EAST DIRECTION  SKIES  SLOWLY BEGAN TO BRIGHTEN

BLUE SKIES AND SWEEPING GREEN VALLEYS AHEAD

Well, same reason we've made our last 3 or 4 longer drives in the Jeep.  We headed to Gravenhurst to have a look at an RV.  Kelly had taken a fancy to Winnebago's Rialtas a couple years ago but we had never seen one close up.  She spotted a 2001 low mileage Rialta on Kijiji so we thought we would go see and see if it was 'the one' for us.

SEVERAL LARGE RV DEALERS NORTH OF BARRIE ONTARIO AND THIS IS HEIDI'S

What a beautiful Sunday morning drive we had all the way up into Muskoga's cottage country.  We got to see a lot of scenery we had never seen before and it reminded me of our RV traveling days when new scenery was always so excitingly invigorating and a top priority.  By 10 a.m. we were rolling through Barrie Ontario heading north up the 400.  About 40 minutes later after a few missed turns we were in Gravenhurst looking at the Rialta.  But not before a much-needed washroom break at a Sobey's Supermarket.  This Covid thing has really put an inconvenient damper on folks needing to use a washroom.  Especially we older folks.

ORILLIA IS THE HOMETOWN OF CANADA'S BEST KNOWN SINGER AND SONGWRITER GORDON LIGHTFOOT

ATER NEARLY 200 MILES WE FINALLY MADE IT TO GRAVENHURST ONTARIO

We really liked the European designed Rialta and in both our opinions it's outward and inward design far outclassed the Roadtrek we looked at and the Leisure Van we bought and sold.  It had a V6 cylinder Volkswagen engine known for its great gas mileage.  I found it a very quiet running engine.  But here's the problem.....I could tell the engine did not have the power to be tooling around in the Rocky Mountains and that is a big disadvantage for us if we ever have the chance to go West again.  And VW parts for the Rialta are not always readily available and when they are they can be expensive.  It drove nice but again I think it would have been a touch small for us.  Grrreat for one person but just not quite what we're looking for.

WE HAVE ALWAYS LIKE THE SHAPE AND DESIGN OF THESE WINNEBAGO RIALTAS

YES THAT IS REALLY PURPLE YOU SEE AND I LIKED IT

NOT A LOT OF ROOM BETWEEN THE TWO FRONT SEATS

TWIN BEDS IN THE BACK

LOVED THE BIG SKYLIGHT ABOVE KELLY'S HEAD

A PULL UP AND FOLD-OUT TABLE

NICEST SMALL OLDER VAN WE HAVE EVER SEEN BOTH INSIDE AND OUT

It was 1 p.m. when we pointed the Jeep's nose south and put the pedal down for home.  We were both surprised by all the traffic so I'd say things are really getting back to normal here in Ontario.  Gorgeous drive all the way as we passed by countless photo opportunities.  Rolling hills, valleys, lakes, picturesque farms, and forests for as far as the eye could see in some areas.  We didn't spare the horses and tiredly rolled into our driveway at 4:35 p.m.  A total of 611kms (380 miles) and I enjoyed every mile of it.  Makes me want to get right back out there and travel new roads, highways, and byways again.

TRAFFIC WAS HEAVIER THAN WE EXPECTED IN THIS COVID ERA

PROBABLY ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN RV DEALERSHIPS AROUND

HEY LEN, IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE READING THIS I GAVE YA A BIG WAVE WHEN WE WENT THROUGH:))

JUST THE GREATEST DAY FOR A SUNDAY DRIVE

SAW LOTS AND LOTS OF COWS, HORSES, AND SHEEP TODAY

AND IT EVEN LOOKS LIKE THEY HAVE AMISH/MENNONITE FOLKS WITH RUBBER TIRED BUGGIES IN THESE PARTS TOO

Have to admit we do sometimes ask ourselves why we are looking so hard for another RV when the future is in such turmoil and especially south of the border.  I have a feeling things could very well explode in America this November and the resulting fall-out could last a long time making things very difficult if not impossible for Canadians wanting to cross the border and spend their winter months in the south.  And if this Covid thing continues and possibly gets worse again all Campgrounds and RV Parks, etc. could be closed indefinitely not to mention a whole lot of other things.  Maybe not the best time to look for an RV but neither one of us can seem to shake off that 'hitch-itch' feeling that gets into most every RV'er who has spent time traveling either as a 'Full-timer' or 'Snowbird'.  That feeling of traveling that extra mile to see what's around the next corner just stays with us no matter how hard we try to shake it and I don't know if it will ever go away.  And ya know what, I don't know if I ever really want it to go away anyway.

A SLEEPY LITTLE TRAVELER TODAY

GROANER'S CORNER:(( An 8 year old girl went to the office with her father on 'Take your kid to work Day'.  As they walked round the office she started crying and getting cranky.  Her father asked what was wrong.  As the staff gathered round she sobbed loudly, "Daddy, where are all the clowns you said you worked with?"
-----------------------
My uncle was crushed by a piano....His funeral was very low key
=================

DIABETES DRUG METFORMIN RE-CALLED AND MORE CHANGES TO MY EATING HABITS

I am back into my warm T-shirts, long-sleeve flannel shirts, and light jacket again and that is all perfectly fine with me.  I don't mind this cooler mid 50's weather at all unless of course, we have a cold drizzly rain falling on us.  And that is exactly what we had falling on us this morning:((

A SLIGHT SATURDAY MORNING DRIZZLE ISN'T STOPPING THIS FARMER FROM DOING  A LITTLE SPRAYING

COULD THIS MACHINE BE DRIVING DOWN A ROAD OR THROUGH A FIELD??....NOPE, NEITHER

IT WAS MOVING ALONG AHEAD OF THIS MACHINE IN LINE WITH SEVERAL OTHER MACHINES AND A COUPLE PICK-UP TRACKS WITH ONE LEADING AND ONE FOLLOWING

IT WAS A RAILROAD WORK CREW HEADING OFF TO DO SOME RAILWAY WORK

IMAGINE THAT....A TRUCK ON THE RAILS BRINGING UP THE REAR

Wanting to have a look at a few solar lights for our front flower bed by the road Pheebs and I rolled up to Goderich's Canadian Tire Store this morning.  I was surprised at the heavy traffic on highway eight leading into Goderich's east end and the amount of vehicles playing 'bumper cars' in the large parking lot areas of Canadian Tire/Walmart/ and Zehrs Supermarket.  It was like everybody was so happy to be out they were mad about it.  Crazy!!  Found a few solar lights and quickly got the heck out of town.  Had planned on a walk this morning but not in the cold drizzling rain.  

SPOTTED THIS 59 OR 60 PLYMOUTH AT GODERICH'S DOWNTOWN TIM HORTONS

THE ALGOMA BUFFALO WAS IN THE PORT OF GODERICH THIS MORNING

SPOTTED THIS FACE IN A GROVE OF TREE EARLIER TODAY

Home again around 11 I stayed in out of the dreary wet weather.  Even had to flick on a small electric heater under the computer desk  for a short while to take the chill out of the sunroom air and would you believe 6 hours later skies cleared, temps came up, and I had to have my fan blowing on me.

NICE TO SEE THIS OLD BARN UNDER RESTORATION

AND EVEN A BARN BLOCK QUILT

THIS BARN IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER FROM OUR PARK

PRYING OFF THE OLD BARN BOARDS

Friday I mentioned about making some rather drastic diet changes to my eating habits these past couple days.  Based on a no-nonsense video (Dr. Eric Westman at Duke University) we watched and the credibility and common sense expressed in that video and the fact they were not looking for money I set about immediately making changes.  One of those changes started with my morning shakes.  I replaced the skim milk with unsweetened Almond milk, only a quarter of a banana instead of a half, no more apples or carrots in my shake and I have doubled the Romaine lettuce and celery.  Four shakes of cinnamon instead of two and a quarter scoop of Whey protein powder instead of half.  Shake still tastes great and I may even drop the quarter banana.  Ocean Spray has a recommended diet Cranberry drink and I have switched to that for my go-to hot weather drink.  I mix it with water.  Two parts water and one part Cranberry juice.  No more potatoes, bread, or corn, etc.  Increased my water intake as well.  I am determined this time to rid myself of this excess weight I carry around with me every day.  No wonder my legs are complaining so much.  I have made other cuts and changes as well which I may mention in future posts.  Thanks to reader Ann for the above helpful website.

 

A FEW CREATURES IN OUR FLOWERBEDS TODAY

NO CREATURES HERE....JUST OUR FRONT YARD FLOWERING WEIGELA BUSH

Also, by the looks of what was said on May 29th 2020 by the FDA about the diabetes drug Metformin and recent contamination problems I had maybe better not be getting my hopes up about that drug helping me.  You can read about this now re-called problem drug HERE.  Thanks to Sandra Merrikan for this heads-up.

KELLY'S BEEN ADDING MORE COLOR TO OUR FRONT FLOWER BED BY THE ROAD

Nice afternoon walk back through the forest for Pheebs and I.  A different forest now with roads bulldozed through it but at least the whole forest hasn't been wiped out yet and we'll continue our walks for as long as we can along roads where only a short while ago forest trails once meandered along.

A WINDING FOREST TRAIL ONCE LED THROUGH HERE RIGHT TO MY FAVORITE TREE WHICH ONCE STOOD  DOWN THERE AT THE FAR END

PHEEBS STANDS ON THE SPOT WHERE MY TREE ONCE STOOD

YOU CAN SEE HOW THE ROAD HAS GOUGHED THE EARTH DOWN ABOUT FIVE FEET

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A hungry lion was roaming through the jungle looking for something to eat. He came across two men. One was sitting under a tree reading a book; the other was typing away on his typewriter. The lion quickly pounced on the man reading the book and devoured him. Even the king of the jungle knows that readers digest and writers cramp.
------------------------
 Son: "Dad, did you go to Church when you were little?" Dad: "Yes son, every single Sunday." 
Son: "I thought so. Bet it won't do me any good either."
==============