BAYFIELD ONTARIO TO SPENCERPORT NEW YORK…..BEAUTIFUL DAY BUT ‘OMG’ THE WIND!!

“ALL ABOARD’'

We had the big wheels rolling at exactly 9 a.m. this morning but would have been on the road about 10 minutes earlier if I had not first taken a somewhat soggy tumble right into the Park's pond this morning!!!! 

PHEEBS SAYS GOOD-BYE TO SPENCER AND FROGGI WHO WILL BE STAYING HOME AND GUARDING THE HOUSE THIS WINTER

A LAST QUICK LOOK AT OUR KITCHEN AND WE WERE OUT THE DOOR AND GONE

Oh what a grrrrreat feeling it was to hit the Big EEE's ignition and pull that transmission lever down into drive to get those big wheels rolling this morning.   Immediately if not sooner all those months of worrisome waiting and apprehensive thinking were over as we left that old sack of bothersome thoughts to blow around in the swirling road dust behind us.  Weather couldn't have been better as we hit the road in short sleeve shirts with windows down letting Octobers tropical breezes blow right on through the coach.  Heard later temperature records were broken today.    What a beautiful morning for a drive but OMG the big wind gusts we ran into!!

HAD US A NICE LATE SUNRISE LEADING US DOWN THE ROAD

FARMER’S BUSY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THIS GREAT WEATHER

SPOTTED THIS SIGN IN EMBRO ONTARIO THIS MORNING AND OOOPS I SURE GOT THAT PHOTO OF KELLY TIPPED
Exactly an hour and a half after leaving Bayfield we rolled off the Embro Road onto Ontario's infamous 401 heading east.  Our 400 series highways are like America's Interstates with lots of traffic of course.  Slipped off onto the 403 heading for Brantford where Kelly remembered a Tim Hortons on the city's east end.  And yessiree we rolled in for a couple Timmies to go.  Every time when I think I've had my last Tim Hortons coffee for the year another one pops up. 

GEEEEZZZZZ IF THAT ISN’T THE GRUMPIEST OLD MUPPET FACE I’VE EVER SEEN!!

KELLY HAS BECOME QUITE THE TEXTER SINCE GETTING HER NEW BLACKBERRY AWHILE BACK
Soon after leaving Hortons traffic began to thicken up as we approached the megalithic traffic corridor known as the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) which runs between Niagara Falls, Hamilton and Toronto.  Luckily we had an experienced Navigator on board who was able to tell me where to be when.  Kelly has run this stretch of road between Spencerport NY and southern Ontario for the past 45 years.

SPOTTED THE MASTS OF AN OLD PIRATE SHIP GROUNDED AT THE WEST END OF LAKE ONTARIO
We had been bucking tricky head winds as well as gusting cross winds and when on the QEW we saw a big reader board flashing 'Severe Winds' on the Burlington Skyway and we thought 'Oh-No'!!  It's not unusual for them to close this high bridge separating Burlington Bay and Lake Ontario so It was with both hands gripped firmly on the wheel as we tried to keep Libby between the white lines going over the long bridge.  Winds were coming in and hitting us from the west trying their best to dump us off the east side of the span.  Have to admit I could feel my stomach tighten up a bit but we made it up and over the bridge without incident.

KELLY SNAPPED A COUPLE PICS OF STORMY WATERS ON HAMILTON BAY AS WINDS TRIED THEIR BEST TO KNOCK US OFF THE BURLINGTON SKYWAY

WINDS WERE BLOWING SO HARD HERE THEY SHIFTED ALL THE RIGS PAINT FROM THE RIGHT SIDE TO THE LEFT SIDE
Rolled up to the border at 12:45 with only 2 cars ahead of us.  A few more questions than usual as the border fella hung onto our passports.  Kelly has a habit of liking to answer the questions so got out of her seat to stand beside my seat.  She was told to  sit down and it wasn't me doin the tellin:))))  I think she worries old Blabberfingers here is going to blurt out something silly and actually she's not too far off the mark with that.  The border fella then walked around the back of our rig to double check our license plates.  A quick second check of his computer screen and he handed our passports back saying, "have a nice day" or "enjoy your trip" or something like that. 

BORDER WAS NOT BUSY AT ALL

A few hundred yards across the border we hung us a hard right onto the Moses Parkway with the intentions taking the Hamlin Parkway east but somewhere along the way we missed the Hamlin and took highway 18 all the way to Hilton.  What a beautifully peaceful and scenic drive this was.  Hardly any traffic and the Autumn scenery was gorgeously spectacular as at times we followed closely the southern shoreline of Lake Ontario.  I love how patriotic American folks are in displaying their stars and stripes.  Compared to the States it is rare to see Canadians flying their red maple leaf.  This route travels through rural countryside with acres upon acres of apple orchards.  Homes were decorated in their Autumn finery with pumpkins pumpkins everywhere.  The houses looked so cozy and friendly and I saw more neat old barns today than I've never seen before.  One could do a great coffee table book with just old barns and sheds photos along highway 18 between Lewiston and Hilton.  We could even smell the aroma of apples in the air.

LAKE ONTARIO OFF TO THE LEFT

WE SAW HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF PUMPKINS TODAY

GUSTING WINDS WERE BLOWING DUST ACROSS FARMER’S FIELDS

HAD TO DODGE A FEW FLYING GARBAGE CANS AS WELL AS A TREE LIMB ACROSS OUR LANE AT ONE POINT

APPROACHING SPENCERPORT FIVE AND A HALF HOURS AFTER LEAVING BAYFIELD

EVEN LITTLE ELMO UP FRONT FELL ASLEEP ON MY HAT ALONG THE WAY
It was 3 p.m. when we rolled up in front of Kelly's Mother's house in Spencerport New York.  This tree lined street is right out of Americas past reminding me of the 50's.  Great to see Kelly's Mom again but when we arrived she was on the phone with some not so good news.  Kelly's sister Becky and husband Norm were to fly in from Florida Wednesday for Norm's surprise birthday party on Saturday but Becky quite unexpectedly had to suddenly undergo some surgery this afternoon so it is unknown now if they will even make it.  We had been looking forward to seeing them here at Kelly's Moms house.

CROSSING THE ERIE CANAL ON A ONE LANE BRIDGE IN DOWNTOWN SPENCERPORT

Leslie and Peter (Kelly's brother) dropped in shortly after 5 and brought some chicken for supper.  Readers may remember Leslie and Peter having been our guests for a few weeks in Congress Arizona each January for the past 3 years.  We may or may not see them again this winter depending on the possible sale of our house.

PULLED UP IN FRONT OF KELLY’S MOMS HOUSE READY TO UNHOOK THE JEEP
Remember me saying about not to worry if you don’t see a post from Tuesday night.   Well it almost happened.  Kelly activated our Verizon account once we were across the border and her computer picked up the Verizon signal immediately.  But not so my computer and it still hasn’t.  I’m using Kelly’s Moms internet connection here in Spencerport.  Kelly tried to figure out the Verizon problem with my computer but so far no luck.  Screen keeps saying something about a DNS problem.  If we can’t get this problem fixed my blog may be under water after Friday night:((

OUR GOOD FRIEND AND BAYFIELD NEIGHBOR BRUCE HAD MADE US A NICE CUSTOM CURTAIN ROD  FOR THE RIG AND TODAY AFTER HAVING A SET OF CURTAINS SHIPPED TO HER MOTHERS KELLY HUNG THEM ON THE ROD….PERFECT AND IT CLOSES THE COCKPIT OFF FROM THE REST OF THE RIG
Oh yes........about that tumble into the Park's pond earlier this morning.  We had everything loaded up, the house squared away and shut down when walking to the rig I heard a "Chugerummm" coming from our front yard frog pond.  I had managed to catch all the frogs these past couple weeks but knew there was one last little guy in there playing hard to get.  I knew if I didn't get the little fella out and moved to the Park's big pond he would not survive the winter.  But what to do, we were ready to go.  Well it was a no brainer of course and off I went to get my net and frog catching bucket.  Minutes later I was lucky enough to catch him & off I went across the road with Froggy in the pail.  Bit of a short steep slope to the water's edge but no problem I've dropped off dozens of frogs there.  Slipped on the bottom of the bank by the water's edge and thought I quickly recovered but as I leaned forward to gently slide Froggy into the water I still had some left over forward momentum going from my slip and apparently crossed the tipping point line and into the pond I went feet first.  Lucky for me it was only a couple feet deep or else Kelly would have found me later floating with the frogs.  I was into the pond up to my knees, my pail had half filled with water and Froggy was nowhere to be found.  Clambered myself out of the water and here's something unbelievable........I had caught a fish.  Yep it's true as stretched as it may sound.   There was a tiny Minnow about an inch long swimming in the half pail of murky pond water.  I quickly dumped the little guy back into the pond and proceeded to scramble my way up the grassy bank and sloshed my way back home.  A change of pants, socks and shoes was in order and that Is why we rolled out at 9 instead of 8:50.

HERE’S MY MORNING FROG POND PANTS AND SHOES DRYING ON THE HOOD OF THE JEEP THIS AFTERNOON IN SPENCERPORT
GROANER’S CORNER:(( A lion woke up one morning feeling rowdy. He went out and cornered a small monkey and roared, "Who is mightiest of all jungle animals?" The trembling monkey said, "You are, mighty lion!" Later, the lion confronted a deer and bellowed, "Who is mightiest of all jungle animals?" The terrified deer stammered, "Oh great lion, you are by far the mightiest animal in the jungle!" On a roll, the lion swaggered up to an elephant and roared, "Who is mightiest of all jungle animals?" The elephant snatched up the lion with his trunk, slammed him against a tree, stomped on him and then ambled away. The battered lion hollered after the elephant, "Sheesh, just because you don't know the answer, you don't have to get so upset."
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“I suspected our new house guest was a terrorist. He asked to sleep on a blow up mattress.”
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There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation.
The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.