Hit the Road, Jack…

Dontcha come back, no more, no more, no more, no more.  Hit the Road, Jack.  Dontcha come back no more.

I woke up singing this today.  And I really wanted all of you to sing along with me.  I haven’t been able to get it out of my head all day.  Always nice to bring your friends along with you when you have a in your head song, right?  I knew you’d agree.

And today we did just that.  Hit the road, I mean.  Texas is calling.  And it’s getting downright cold in Canada.  Time to head south.

So today begins the travelogue of our trip south.  Not that you’ll get an update every day or anything.  In fact, the way things are around here, you might not hear from me again for a month and a half.  But I’ll try to do better than that.  Emphasis on try.

Day One is brought to you by……. trees.  I have 7,324 pics to show you today.  7,323 of them are of trees.  Ha.  Scared ya, didn’t I?  I really only have 76 pics.  Doesn’t sound so bad now, does it?  But if I’d told you in the beginning that I was going to show you 76 pics of trees?  See how tricky I am?  And I won’t really make you suffer through 76 pics of trees.  Because frankly?  When you take pics out the window of a speeding motorhome?  Some of them just aren’t that good.  The oops, just missed that group of really great trees ones far outnumber the good ones.   I’ll try not to bore you too badly.

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Honestly?  Some of the very best trees were right at our summer spot.  Here’s one last shot of the trees just behind our motorhome.  I actually took this pic on Friday afternoon.  Such a great view every morning from my dining room window.  And I use the term “dining room” very loosely.  It is a motorhome, after all.  Dining room, kitchen, living room….. kind of all one room.  Just sayin’.

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Panda hasn’t quite decided that she likes being a traveling kitty.  The minute we start the engine, she hides under the first thing in sight.  This time it was the dining chair.  She prefers the stationary motorhome living.

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We passed lots of these signs.  I mean it is Canada.  A Tim Horton’s on every corner.  Or every exit.  We tried not to stop for one last box of Timbits at every one.

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Our new travel companions.  Our maybe I should say Yellowstone and Texas Bears’ new companions.  Captain Bullmoose and Bucky Beaver.  Aren’t they just the cutest things?  Love their Canadian Mountie hats!

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The bridge crossing the Ottawa River into Ottawa.  You can see the tops of the Parliament buildings.  It was a bit hazy in the early morning time.

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We considered a “Living Colour Tattoo” along the way, but then thought better of it.  Even though we are being very leisurely in our return to Texas trip, we really decided we couldn’t take the time for this.

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Some of the trees were mostly golden and yellow…..

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And some were very, very red.  I think the red ones were my faves.  Many times there was a nice mix of all the colours together (notice the spelling – when in Canada….), but of course those were the pics that whirred by too quickly and I just missed them.  Look at the blue of the sky too.  It was a perfect day for traveling.  And we took the scenic back roads.

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It took us through the rolling hills of beautiful farm country.  One farm we even got to see up close and personal.  Thanks to the GPS.  Those things are just wonderful for getting people lost.  Or taking them to dead ends.  Just ask Pam about the time we trusted hers in Talkeetna, Alaska!  It’s a good story and she’d love to share it with you.

Anyway, today when we were nearly at the campground where we had a reservation for the night, our lovely GPS (and I use the term “lovely” quite loosely) lead us to a road that was more like a path through the cornfield.  I mean it was grassy.  I wish I’d taken a pic of that.  Maybe we can let the GPS lead us there again to get a shot?  Anyway at that point the choices were 1) unhook the tow car to be able to back up to turn around or 2) drive through the lovely farm there and use their driveway for a big turnaround without unhooking the car.  Guess which one we chose?

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You got it!  This lovely watchdog who was very ferocious and protecting the place (not) came out to greet us.  Well, he DID stand right in front of the motorhome and Dear Hubby made me get out and get him out of the way.  He kind of hated to run over the greeter dog.  Not very friendly when you are borrowing their driveway.  And the dog nearly knocked me over, jumping on me because he was so excited to see someone.

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Here’s the lovely house.  A sweet smoky gray kitty ran out to say hello too.  And there was also a goose and a frog.  I almost stepped on the frog and thought it was a grasshopper.  Until I looked closer…. nope, a frog.  The garage doors were open, but there were no cars or people in sight.  Ahhh, the trusting country life!

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See how ferocious the watchdog was?  Not.  And after a few more pats, we continued on our way.

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And this is our campground home for the next few days.  Just outside Toronto.  And just look at the big trees.  Oh, how I wanted there to be trees at our summer home!  There were.  They just weren’t near our campsite.  But we have a huge one here.  Right outside our window.  Panda had a really fun time sitting on the table looking up into the tree after we got settled.  I hope there are some birds in it for her to watch tomorrow.

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So for the next couple of nights you can find us here.  On Maple Lane.  Looks like these trees need some cold nights before they are going to be able to compete with the colours we had in Mirabel, Quebec.  And tomorrow we are heading into the big city via the subway.  Another Toronto adventure.  You remember the last one, don’t you?  I bet this one will bring even more blogging surprises.

I’ll try not to make you wait a whole month to hear about them.

Hugs,
Barb, 58º at 1:00 am – I really do need to start getting to bed earlier!

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Trees, Glorious Trees

Remember I told you the trees were changing before my eyes?

Sept 18

September 18, 2013

Sept 26

September 26, 2013

I rest my case.

Hugs,
Barb, 47° at 2:00 a.m. – forecasted high 70° and sunny.  Perfect.

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The Party’s Over

Well, if you call laundry a party, that is.  Because look what they’ve done to my laundry room…..

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They’ve boarded up the windows!  No cold breeze blowing through here today…..

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No need to crawl into the dryers for warmth.  Soon, I think, the door will be boarded up too.  And winter will be here.  Summer is definitely a thing of the past.  One last trip to the laundry room for me.  Before the polar bears take over.

I’m told, however, that my friends in Texas have a laundromat party planned for when I get home.  They don’t want me to miss my laundry room.  Ha.  What do they know?  I plan to hug my washer and dryer when I get back to Texas.

But I’m also in charge of bringing the Timbits.

Hugs,
Barb, 66° and glorious sunshine!  The trees get prettier every day.

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It’s a Good Thing I Don’t Drink

I have an addictive personality.  I just decided this today.  Did you know you could decide to be an addict?  Not really.  I guess it was more of a discovery on my part.

I am addicted to Candy Crush.  I blame Sally.  Who tells me I should blame her Dear Hubby.  Who doesn’t even play it any more and deleted it off his device.  What an enabler he is!  There are CC addicts all over the world, all because of Sally’s Dear Hubby.  I bet he didn’t know he could wield such power.  If you don’t know about Candy Crush, do not, I repeat DO NOT try to find out.  It’s evil, I tell ya.  It can take over your life.  You’ve been warned.  I need an intervention.

I’ve been addicted to Words with Friends for a long time.  But I can justify that one.  It keeps me connected with all my friends.  And I’m happiest when I’m connected with all my friends.  Even when they play two 7 letter words in one game and make me crazy.  You know who you are.  And one of these days, I’ll forgive you for that one.

I’m addicted to email.  Again – can you say connected with friends?  When you are living in a far off foreign country, email is a very, very good thing.  Don’t mess with my wifi.  If you know what’s good for you.

I blog all the time in my head.  All the time.  So even though you certainly can’t tell by this blog lately, I guess you could almost say I’m addicted to blogging.  Because I am writing those blogs in my head continuously.  Just sayin’.

I’m addicted to Inklingo and kaleidoscope stars.  Like I didn’t already have nine projects with me in the motorhome this summer to work on.  Yes, nine.  Most of them hand pieced things.  I was very optimistic at the beginning of summer.  Obviously.  And I have one of them finished.  You read that right.  One.  I blame Candy Crush.  And Words with Friends.  And email.  And kaleidoscope stars.  And anything else I can think of.

So all I can say is…. it’s a good thing I don’t drink.  Well, except for that tasty margarita wine that Pam made me drink back in July.  I don’t think it counts.

Candy Crushing my day away, while watching the leaves turn colors out my window,
Barb, 63° and raining

It's a good thing I don't drink

P.S.  Seriously.  I swear you can almost watch the leaves turn.  Is that like watching paint dry?  There are bright golden trees outside my window today that I’m sure were green yesterday.  It’s amazing!  You Texas friends have no idea…..

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A Fish Out of Water

Yes, that’s what I am.  I mean, I’m a Texas gal, living for the summer in the outskirts of Montreal, Canada.  Do you know what the Mexican food section looks like at the grocery here?  Pitiful, I tell ya, pitiful.

At least from this Texas gal’s perspective.  And worst of all?

They have never heard of Rotel tomatoes.

Yes, my Texas friends, you read that correctly.  I searched and searched for them.  And it appears that Rotel just didn’t think they had a market for their wonderful product in Canada.  Either that or they didn’t want to repackage it with French on the label.  But don’t get my friend, Cathi, started on that one.

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And this is what the Mexican food section looks like at the grocery here.  And WalMart.  Didn’t I tell you it was pitiful?  It appears that the people of Montreal have not learned the finer points of Mexican food and only eat tacos and salsa.  At least the ones near the grocery in my neck of this Canadian woods.

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Because this is what I’m used to in Texas.  Mexican food ingredients that stretch on down a long row.  Yum.  My mouth is drooling just looking at this picture.  Yes, dear Montreal friends, all that you see in this pic is Mexican food ingredients.  Like any of them are reading my blog.  But if they are, they should really know what they are missing.

And especially Rotel.  If I were them, I’d be on the phone right now, calling Rotel and demanding that they sell it in Canada!

But this gal?  Not to worry, my Texas friends…….

A Fish out of Water (7)

….. because all these cans came back with me when I went to Texas in July.  In fact, they put me over the weight limit with my luggage and I went back home and repacked my luggage into two suitcases.  Really.  It’s a long story.  Remind me to tell you about it sometime.

Because there was no way I was taking that Rotel out of my suitcase when the gal told me I had to decrease my weight by 2 lbs to get on the plane.  Seriously.  A Texas gal has to have her Rotel.  Notice that one can in that picture was already opened and ready for use.

How would I have lived two more months without Pioneer Woman’s Restaurant Style Salsa?

And I’m down to only one can now.  Must be about time to head back home.
Hugs,
Barb, 68° at 1:30 pm.  And it was 42° when Dear Hubby left for work this morning.  Brrr.

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