So what has happened in the last few months? I suppose we left off in P.E.I. Great partying, great friends, lots of RV mishaps! A blown tire, an exploading rim, Theodore Mittens bad run in with a glade freshener, the list goes on!Peake's Quay with friends Will, Kristy and AJ (and others!) Oh and the Premier of Newfoundland, lol!
It all started when leaving Bryans parents place, having a tire blowout on the way to Will and Kristys, and then managing to get the keys locked in the truck. When Bryan pulled over to change the tire in the pouring rain, I accidently locked the key in the truck with ALL the animals loose! What I mean by loose is the birds on the dash and the cat on the seat. I was panicked completely when I ran to the only place that looked someone ‘open’. A small house that served as a glass making studio.UGH.
Marcella & Sergio from RoyalGlassDesign.ca were so kind! They offered a drink, a place to stay, etc, in case of anything. Fabulous people! And their glass art was to DIE FOR! I wish I could have bought something, but being in an RV, well....that never works so well:-( I used their phone to call Trevor, who somehow got OnStar to unlock our doors even after our subscription had expired the day before. PHEW.
We stayed and Will and Kristys place out near Brackley Beach, in the driveway to be precise. On the way to camp in Nova Scotia on the way back to Ontario, we made a turn no more than five min into the trip and heard this horrid explosion. I thought for SURE someone had run into the back of our unit. After pulling over, we found a tire on the other side completely flat, and the rim in more than a dozen pieces all over the road. The tire seemed fine, but was popped by the rim doing this. The noise was so loud that people came out of their houses, no joke.
The rest of the day was spent with AJ and Will, traveling around the island trying to find a tire suitable enough to get us back to Will and Kristys. Finally some luck at someones property….they had a whole HEAP of them….it was bizarre the stuff this guy had in his yard. I call him the ‘collector’, lol! And so we were stuck in PEI until KZ sent a tire up to us. We took advantage of this by planning a REAL camping trip with Will and Kristy in their families little pop out. I never realized how cool these things were until we took it to Parlee Beach, NB. We brought Theodore and the birds, it was a FULL HOUSE, I tell ya!
Yeah, Mittens had fun:-)
A night on the town, and some good old bull riding and karoke! (I stayed on the longest, na na na na!)
Somewhere in this time frame, Theodore had a bad brush in with one of the glade fresheners at when visiting the Marley and Nila in the house. I walked into the room to find him limping and struggling with foam all over the place and all over him. Rushed him to the vet not knowing what was wrong, I was in a horrible panic. The vet thought either he tasted something bad or had a seizure, but he had recovered by the time we got there. The smell on his breath that I noticed on the way home reminded me of something….and when we returned I realized it resembled the glade fresheners in the house. I showered him several times, flushed him out with water and lots of treats and then made a call to Glade. They were very helpful and called in days later to find out how he was….which was nice. Please people if you have cats, or any animal….it’s not wise to use these things!
*phew*
My parents ended up coming out to PEI for a short visit, and it was a great oppourtunity for Bryans parents and them to meet. All went well of COURSE! My parents stayed in their RV at Southport, which by the way is a beautiful campground at a location that cannot be beat!
Sunset over Charlottetown from Southport, water spout viewing from Cherry Valley, myself at Panmure Island, the shore of Basinhead, swimming bridge at Basinhead, me and my metal detector at Basinhead.
After receiving our new tires from KZ (to this day we have no idea what happened….scary!), we started our trek back to Ontario. First stop was Edmundston, New Brunswick. River (Iroquise) RV Park was just gorgeous, and we hope to go back there for longer next time, as this time around we were only passing though. The lady at the desk was so sweet! When she found out we had a cat she came running with treats for him.
River (Iroquise) RV Park
Montreal was next on the list and we stayed again at the Montreal South KOA. It was a better trip this time around, we had time to see the places we wanted to see. Met up with my friend Jason from the band The Scroll. BTW, this guy is a damn musical and artistic genius!
Montreal Skyline, and pictures from the Saint Joseph Oratory
From Montreal we headed to Kingston, Ontario to stay at Rideau Acres, which we loved from the year before. Happened to get our previous site too, which was the best one there. We also got to try out our new inflatable Kayak….went for a beautiful sunset ride.
Off again to Orillia, ON to stay at the first of our favorites Hammock Harbour. Of course, got my favorite site had some friends up….good times.
Amber and I being silly, and a storm coming fast!
The weather by then was starting to cool, and off we head to Milton Heights Campground to get ready for our trip south. Check out the yucky leaves. UGH fall....gross.
Did some more partying in Toronto for Halloween and such, and were also thrown a surprise jack and jill wedding shower!Yeah, we, er, 'switched' roles;-)
Before the Halloween festivities we went to the Air Canada Center to see the Barenaked Ladies. Our friends Kristy got the tickets from a friend who didn’t want to go, so she mailed them to us and we figured, ah, what the heck, lets do it! I’ve liked a couple of their songs but never was a huge fan. However their concert was FABULOUS, and the stage presence was out of this world. Both Bryan and I were quite impressed!
Also went to wonderland for the Halloween party thing….they set up lots of haunted houses, it was actually pretty funny….each one made me laugh!
We quickly boot it for the border after a slight snowfall….and land in Shipshewana, IN for a visit to the KZ factoy! Below, a picture of my parents and our RV parked at the KZ office, and to the right, 'Escalade Row', hehe!
We were finally able to get down there and have some stuff fixed and got to meet Bob! He is one cool guy, I have to say! Many things were taken care of, things we didn’t know about:
You see correctly, that’s Mr. Escalade minus the roof. Some damage was done to it down south when the AC was swapped out. Thank goodness this was noticed!
Threats of a snow storm came up just as it was time to leave. Bryan and I decide to have a quick nap. We overslept by a couple of hours and woke up to pretty thick snowflakes. We near panic and get the heck out of there….! As we drove it turned into a crazy winter wonderland, and it was kind of nice with the Christmas music and all….so we got all that stuff out of the way before hitting Florida;-)
Our trek down was a chilly one. We were going to stop in a couple of places, Nashville being one of them but just kept going until we hit the ocean in Pensacola. It was just way too cold, about 29 degrees right above Florida. No thanks! We stopped at a couple of places for a nap (and black friday shopping!) on the way down but that’s it. Oh yes, also at a Flying J for a Thanksgiving buffet in Birmingham….it was very very yummy! Our first stop was for two nights in
Big Lagoon State Park in Pensacola. It was lovely, I wish we could have stayed longer.
Our first night was pretty much a CRASH after the trek down, but we felt very rested after our stay and were able to enjoy our trek to Panama City. On the way, we stopped at Navarre Beach....as I had heard of it in the past and was curious. It was much sunnier and tonnes more cheery than the days before.
From there we headed on over to Panama City to stay a bit at
St. Andrews State Park….and wow! We LOVED this spot! I think it was one of our favorite places/State Parks so far....
Lots of deer here!
Our view from the back window, and a shot from waters edge....
The beach was very beautiful....
Walking with the birdies during sunset....
We will have to stay here again after Destin next year. We did drive by Destin and wanted to stay there soooo badly. It looked awesome! More bad/good news though. While in Panama City Theodore started acting strange. ‘Strange’ turned into more as he started howling in pain and couldn’t get comfy or settled for some strange reason….very restless….and that’s when I realized he wouldn’t eat. I knew then it was a blockage of some sort, and tried to find an emergency vet at 2am! None around, so we had to trek all the way back past Destin with him screaming all the way. It was the most terrifying moment of my life….I thought I was going to lose him for sure. I was panicked beyond anything, and cried all the way there with him. Bryan near went off the road a few times when Mittens would scream suddenly. I don’t know how fast we were going, but I am surprised we were not stopped.
When we got to the vet, it was a confirmed blockage. They were so good with him, and we were so happy he was going to survive! In goes a catheter to drain the blockage while Bryan and I slept huddled in the back of the truck for a couple of hours. Boy did it get cold! Then we had to transport him catheter and all to another vet in Destin. I cannot say enough about these guys! We had to leave him there for nearly three days, but by the end I don't think Mittens wanted to come back home! They spoiled him rotten, called us with updates, and welcomed us to visit any time. Their bedside manner was incredible....the staff wonderful, and it didn't burn a hole in the wallet like I thought it would. I wish all vets were like these guys....they have my gratitude and recommendation!
After we picked the kitten up, we stopped to watch the sun go down on the way home . He was so happy to be on the road again....
Off we go from Panama City to Fort Myers Beach, where we are to stay for one month at the beautiful Gulf Water RV Resort. We stop in to sleep at a Flying Js in Tampa on the way…
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I am in love with this campground....or should I say RESORT?! Everyone is super friendly the grounds are beautiful and the location is fabulous. We happened to score a corner site, and I know we'll be enjoying our month here:-)
From the bridge in Fort Myers Beach....
Bryan at one of the restaurants/bars by the pier....
Our time was also blessed by a visit from Kevin and Angie! We missed them so much! Off we went for food and beach (and metal detecting!) at Sanibel Island! Too much fun!
I found a bit of treasure too....even if it WAS gold plated (I think!)
I think that pretty much gets us up to date….PHEW! Onwards!Onwards!
