Medieval times

Hi everyone

The weather has finally warmed up enough in Ontario's Near North for us to drive all the way back to Lake Nipissing. When we first left Florida and then Georgia it was still so cold up there that we decided to stay in Michigan for some time and wait it out. After all we did not go south for the winter to return to snow flying in spring.

At Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park we had met a nice couple who owns an RV park in Grass Lake, Michigan about 2 hours from the Canadian border and we knew they would be open. That's where we spent a few weeks before coming to Powassan where we stay at our good friends',  Pia and Alfons who just purchased Knowlton Ridge Equestrian Centre. It is a beautiful and very busy place with events every weekend throughout the summer. The first such event that we witnessed was a visit of the Knights of Valor who offered an educational day to schools of the area.

The kids got to see birds of prey and learn about those majestic aviators and hunters. Then the knights came to the arena for some medieval games and jousting competition. What a great thing to watch! Dressed in the garments of the time, the horses all decked out for the event they showed some amazing skills on horseback. Using spears, lances and swords the knights fought for points and honor. I had never known just how hard real jousting is. When a knight gets hit squarely in a duel, the impact is comparable to hitting a brick wall in a car going 60 km per hour! No wonder their armor is as heavy as it looks. When I picked up a piece of armor to help the lady carry it back to their trailer, I was surprised at the weight of it! The jousting ended with one knight getting knocked off his horse, badly denting his helmet when he hit something on landing, and the victor being declared.

It was a great event to watch and we took over 250 pictures. André's camera is ideal for this kind of photography. It lets one choose to shoot several pictures in a row by pressing the shutter button just once. This way you always get at least one picture which is 100% focused or even a whole series of shots showing the progression of an event. We have put such a series into this blog not only to show you this great feature of the camera but even more to give you a little impression of the jousting.

We will stay here at Knowlton Ridge Equestrian Center for 10 more days before hitting the road again. The plan now is to head west and then decide whether to go north (Yukon / Alaska) or south (northwestern US national parks) once we reach Calgary which will be just around the time of the famous Calgary Stampede. We will try to post more blogs along the way now that we are about to cover more roads and adventures again so come back and check out what's happening with us.

André and Sue

@ home on the road

PS: Don't forget to read our other blogs (listed on the side) and to follow us on facebook and our Google Map. You can also check our web site for new pictures.

Getting ready for another trip

Hi everyone

It's been a while since we posted a blog and you might have been wondering what we've been up to. First of all we did enjoy the winter here in Florida. Having our things we like to do we really didn't have a lot to tell you without repeating ourselves. That's the reason for the pause in posts. Now we are getting ready to hit the road again and take another trip.

Though we have put quiet a bit of thinking into our 2013 travel plans, we don't want to lock in to a schedule too much and leave ourselves open for changes of route along the way. The general plan is to go back to Ontario before heading west and back to Crystal River for the winter of 2013/14. A few way-points are set but that's about it for now. The first of these is a stop in Ashburn, Georgia where we will spend a couple of weeks on our way back to Ontario. We will stay at Wanee Lake Golf and RV Resort again and hope to get a lot of golfing in. The great thing there is, that while you stay with them, you can golf all you want free of charge. Another stop is in North Bay where we will take care of some appointments and "housekeeping" issues then we will be headed west. We don't think that we will make it all the way to Alaska and Yukon as we had originally planned because of time. So we think we will go west on the Canadian side and then south to visit some of the great national parks in the US which we have last visited over 20 years ago.

Traveling will be a bit different this time around since we now also have a new family member: Princess is a 18 months old shepherd/collie mix and a sweetheart (you may have been wondering about the picture). We adopted her on March 23 from the animal shelter in Inverness. She is already very well trained and great with other people and dogs and even Hunter and Trapper. It's the cats, especially Hunter, which need a little more time to get used to her. Having a dog of course means daily walks which is really good for the both of us, too. We will just have to adjust driving and stops to accommodate her needs and exercise requirements. But all in all this should be good for all involved.

In the next 7 days we will get everything packed up, hopefully get a chance to wash the fifth wheel, (after being parked under the trees here for 4 months it needs a wash down) and say goodbye for now to some people we've met. Many of them will be back at Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park next winter just like us and so we will get to see them again come December. Meantime we are looking forward to seeing our Canadian friends after a long absence from the North Bay area.

We are back to blogging about our adventures so please come back and check out what's going on.

André and Sue

@ home on the road

PS: Don't forget to read our other blogs (listed on the side) and to follow us on facebook and our Google Map. You can also check our web site for new pictures.

Winter destination

Hi everyone

After having spent a good 2 weeks back in North Bay, we have taken to the road again. The destination: Florida where we will spend the winter. But first we had to make a stop at Sicard RVs where the maintenance department took care of some warranty work on our fifth wheel. They were absolutely great, taking us in the next day and getting things done in a very short time. We were able to cross the border the same afternoon and drove to a nice campground for the night.

The next day we started our trip south and arrived in south Georgia on October 21st. There we stayed at a Golf and Country Club and RV Resort. Sounds very expensive but was not. With our Passport America membership we paid less than $20 per night and that included free golfing. Now we had never golfed before but took the opportunity to try it out. Two of their members not only lent us some clubs but also gave us a one-on-one lesson so we would get off on the right foot. We had so much fun that we decided to give the sport a go and went to get our own clubs and stuff. We also added three more nights to the two we had originally booked and Sue picked up a new web site. She is now working on it and will have it finished as soon as she gets the information and pictures required. The site is for a BBQ competition Team and caterer. They have won first place in all categories in the past and are now preparing for the 2013 season.

Our next stop was in Crystal River at the exact campground where we will spend four months starting December 1st. They even put us on the exact site we will have. We stayed there for three nights and then continued to Fort Lauderdale where we will remain until November 12th. This will give André's mom a few days before we start traveling with her. She will arrive in Florida on the 7th and stay with us for four weeks. What route we will take with her we don't know exactly yet but we will be back in Crystal River for her last four nights.

So much for today. Take care

André and Sue

Somewhere on the road in Canada

PS: Don't forget to read our other blogs (listed on the side) and to follow us on facebook and our Google Map. You can also check our web site for new pictures.