Oct 1 - 10, 2019 House is taken care of.... get ready to travel.

Oct 1
We have some stuff to do in Stony Plain today so after the usual morning routine we jumped in the truck and headed in to town. We had ordered some new globes for our pendant lights over the sink in the rig a year ago but the opening on top is 4 mm too small so we can't install them. We tried trading them at Camping World in the states last winter but they were a special order so that didn't work. We stopped at Crystal Glass in Stony Plain and chatted with Chantel at the counter. She went in the back and brought out one of the glass guys and he thinks he can make the opening bigger but needs a tool from another shop. Okay, we can wait a week. Hopefully he can get it done without breaking it. We'll see. They were about $5 each so if he breaks them it won't kill us. We did the rest of our shopping including a stop for groceries at Superstore where I found my dream truck. I parked beside it on purpose. Had a chat with the 80 year old owner! Great guy and he loves to talk lol.

My dually looks so small lol. Love these trucks.

We were hungry so decided to try Beach Corner restaurant along the way. Bert & Vera said they have a great breakfast so we think it will be good. Well it was really good and we'll definitely stop again. Beach Corner is on highway16A about 8kms/ 5miles west of Stony Plain. It's an Esso gas station/ liquor store/ restaurant. One stop shopping! We drove home and relaxed a bit before getting busy with yard work. Easy day.
Next morning I finally got a run in the morning and then Leslie and I spent the day puttering with yard work and rig cleaning. We are both planners so travel prep is a long process with many lists lol.
Oct 3 - Part of our pre-travel plan is getting some upgrades for our trailer. We had ordered a new mattress from a company called Foam King in Edmonton. Our mattress is ready for pick up and I had also found a decent deal on some new Trojan AGM 6 volt golf cart batteries in west Edmonton. We called Crystal, Howard's wife, to see if she would like a visit for a little bit and yes she would. There's our plan for today and all on the west side of the city. Nice. I have a plan to haul the mattress on top of the truck box cover so we took the truck and headed for the city. We had a really good visit with Chris (Crystal) and then after big hugs we headed to the mattress place. It worked great to strap it to the bed cover on top of the box Its' not going anywhere while we are on the highway. One more stop at the battery place (man those things are heavy) and we got out before rush hour! It was later in the day and we were hungry so we drove through Stony Plain and stopped at Sawmill for a fantastic supper. We still had to pull out our old bed and bring in the new but that actually went quite easily. My right arm is better but still have to watch how I move it.

Our new 8 inch foam mattress! Looking forward to sleep tonight.

After a great nights sleep, with a pretty heavy smell of new foam, we have another chore day. The new foam is obviously really firm right now but should relax in time. It's 3 inches of memory foam and 5 inches of regular foam. We're really happy with it. 

Leslie is installing no slip pads with double sided tape in the cupboards and arranging them for travel. I am installing the new batteries, of course. We worked on a blog post from a long time ago, so far behind :(

We got a really cool picture from Rachelle today. It's picture day and Dominic picked what he wants to wear for picture day. He looks awesome!

Looking great Dom!

Oct 5 -  We got a blog posted! It's also a date to the dump day; I take her to all the best places lol. We dropped the old batteries for recycle and got rid of some other garbage. Unfortunately the RV Pub & Grill is closed for the season already so our brunch will be in Stony where we need to go next. We have some stuff to do in the afternoon and our neighbours, Lynne & Andre, are out today doing some of their work too. They invited us out for supper at the 9 Iron Grill. We can take their golf cart to dinner and not have to leave the property. Perfect. We enjoyed a really good dinner with great people (we really got great neighbours on both sides of us) and then invited them in for a drink afterwards. Lots of laughs and a really nice evening. Thanks for dinner guys!

Oct 6 - More projects to take care of. We have a list of things we want to be sure we get done but we both find other little things to do along the way. We have enough time to get everything done so it's all good. Leslie is making a big batch of dog food for Margaret and I started moving stuff between the garage and shed. When Les is done we are going to steam clean the carpets in the rig. That job took longer than we thought just because of small spaces. We own a Bissell upright steamer which is a little large for areas in the bedroom and the dining slide. Turned out really nice though.

Cleaning up after making dog food.

Not a lot of room to move around but it worked good.

Our neighbour Andre caught me outside afterwards and asked for a hand winterizing his toyhauler. He owned a travel trailer before and had winterized that one but with his new trailer he's just a little unsure so two heads will be better than one. We got it done easily enough. Learned a couple things about Heartland trailers along the way. With hugs and handshakes we said good bye to Lynne & Andre for the winter and headed back to our rig to do a little stuff to get ready for another run to Bonnyville tomorrow. When we were done everything else it was time for Leslie to remove my stitches. We both had a drink first to calm our nerves haha. She did great getting them out. We did call Rachelle to ask a question first. Rachelle is a nurse and she knew exactly what to do. It looked pretty good after a shower.

Good work Leslie, no more stitches.

Oct 7 - We woke up in time to catch an amazing sunrise over the lake this morning. 

Good shot Leslie.

We had a leisurely start to the day and then packed up the rig and got hooked up again. Leslie is taking her car to Edmonton and staying overnight with Ryan & Ashtyn so she can attend a wedding dress fitting with Ashtyn, her mom Jane, her sister Richelle and Jolene. Leslie is very excited and happy to have been invited.

     It's Leslie here. I had a great time watching Ashtyn try on about 20 dresses. I don't know how she will ever decide on just one as she looked amazing in all of them. I wish I could post some pictures but you will all just have to wait! We had lots of laughs and a couple tears and donuts too :) No final decision on a dress was made but she is getting closer to finding "the one". After I headed over to their place for dinner and a sleep over. All the dogs were wondering why Margaret wasn't there??

 Taco, Doug and Kirby... 12.5 lbs combined weight lol.

Ashtyn, Ryan, Richard, Sam and cheesecake :)

Engagement samples arrived from the photographer. Love them all.

Back to Dave: My day was not as glamorous of course, just me and Margaret traveling a road we have seen many times this summer. The weather today is 18C/65F but tomorrow is below freezing! C'mon! It's early October. I stopped at our house first and quickly did a last cut of the lawn; well just the high spots actually. It's almost stopped growing already. I am parking the trailer in our friends, Paul & Di's yard, for a few days and stealing 15 amp power from the side of the house. "Moochdocking" I believe is a good description lol. I pulled into their yard and got parked with Paul's help. It's good to see them again as we have been so busy and of course they are too. Paul is still battling with his recovery from all the radiation and cancer surgeries. He's in a ton of pain every day but he still powers through to do as much as he can, which is actually quite a bit. I'll see if I can help with some projects for a few days while we're here. Di got home from work and got busy in the kitchen with her big batch of homemade salsa. Delicious! I sent Les a pic of us while I was eating chips and fresh garden salsa.

Me & Di in her kitchen. 

Oct 8 - The weather completely changed overnight! I was comfortable yesterday in a tee shirt and today I need to dig out my winter coat. Yep we need to head south. Edmonton got a shot of snow too so Leslie is waiting a couple hours before she drives here to B'ville to let the roads clear and dry.

Cutting grass yesterday! This is the view this morning.

I took my time with morning coffee and breakfast and texted Paul after 9:00 to see how he's feeling. Mornings are tough until he gets his pain meds rolling again. With the cool temps we chose getting the wood pile finished up. Diana has done almost all of it already but there is some stacking left to finish and then split some bigger logs that she had trouble lifting. Paul came out after a bit and we went to grab the splitter together. I got the big chunks split and then I needed to get to town for an appointment to get the rear diff oil changed on my truck....again. I am going to a shop called Overdrive Heavy Duty in town this time. I know the service manager there so I can trust what will happen in the shop. The Dodge dealers have been a trying experience so being at Overdrive should be good. Heavy trucks is what they do and mine is a light weight compared to the rest of their work.

This is hopefully the last time I say anything about my truck rear diff. I read online in a few places that many owners have found a cure for the clunk by changing the oil to 75 - 140W. I'm trying that now with Royal Purple oil. (happy to say the noise is gone now)

Leslie is almost to town so we are going for a burger together for lunch. The shop called to say they think my alignment is out because of tire wear so they will do a front end alignment too. Get it done while we're here. I don't want trouble on the road, if possible.

Both Leslie and I headed back to Paul & Di's and got a couple little things done in the afternoon. It's warming a little bit over the next couple days. Good thing. We had a visit with them for a while and then called it a night.

Oct 9 - Leslie is doing two days work at the hospital while we are here so that she can stay under 6 months between shifts. It's part of the rules that casual staff needs a shift at least every 6 months. Paul and I waited for a little more heat and then we got busy putting away all of his powered yard tools. We mixed some fuel stabilizer in a gas can and filled and ran them all before putting them away. That took a long time as they have a good amount of tools for their 60 acres. We did some organizing in his shop and before long the girls were home from work. We took a break and had a drink before dinner at Alan & Denise's (Di's parents) house next door. I'm excited for a Gramma cooked dinner and I have worked just hard enough to eat like a champ!

Not a great picture, Denise & Alan (aka Gramma & Grandpa.)

Just about ready to eat, yayy!

Dinner was amazing, as we knew it would be. Denise made pork steaks in a roaster with onions and potatoes and some vegetables. The meat was fork tender and so gooood. Homemade buns and some fresh garden vegetables with a salad and we all ate our fill. I ate more than I should but it's so good. After a little break we had dessert too. I love these dinners but I hurt now. We visited for a little while after and then drove back to our rig to lay down. Fat and happy! Thank you Gramma and Grandpa. You're the best.

Oct 10 - This is Leslie's last day at work for a long while. Have a great day! I waited until I got a message from Paul that he was up and headed up to the house to see what the plan was. Paul's brother Rollie is coming over soon to install a trap door and some vents in the front deck and stairs. There is too much moisture under there and it's causing issues with the wood. Rollie is a finishing carpenter and cabinet maker so I will be his labourer and help where I can. Thankfully the sun is on us but the wind off the lake is nasty. It got better in the afternoon. It took us all day to get everything done and at 2 pm I had to go to a dental check up. That pretty much killed the day for us. I helped clean up the deck when I got home and had a beer with Rollie & Paul after. The girls got home after 4:00 and we visited for a little bit but Leslie and I need to get ready to go out. We are having dinner at Mr Mikes Steakhouse with all of my side of the family that can make it before we leave for the winter. 

Dominic & Calvin 

Shelley blinked ;  Nathan the defensive lineman getting roughed up.

Lisa, Kyle, Rachelle, Ron & my arms lol.

Dinner was really good and it's so good to see as many people as possible before we go. Only Kent couldn't make it due to work. See ya next spring buddy. So of course with big hugs after dinner we said so long to our Bonnyville family until next spring. 

Leslie and I decided to stop at Ron & Shelley's for a quick shot before heading back to the rig. We had a really nice but short visit with them and then headed out to Paul & Di's. They were still up so we had one more shot with them before calling it a night. We like to call these days "good for your heart days" because you just feel good about life.

Oct 11 - Here we go again, back to PGR. Diana had to go to work so we got hugs last night before bedtime. Paul is up and on the deck in the sun this morning so we got our pack up routine done and joined him for a bit. With big hugs to our buddy Paul and positive thoughts for his upcoming follow up appointment with the surgeon to help relieve the cause of his pain, we headed for town. We have a federal election here in Canada soon and Leslie and I can take advantage of the advance vote in our riding this morning. The town RV dump station is not far away from the polling station (hmm... coincidence?) so we can park the rig in the big parking lot and walk over to vote. We both value our right to vote and try not to miss an election. With our civic duty done we walked back to the vehicles. Leslie took her car through a drive through for breakfast and met me at the fuel station. Truck is full, car is full and we get breakfast/ lunch. Good to go again.

Leslie took a different highway and she is stopping at Costco in St. Albert and she is picking up the pendant light globes in Stony Plain at Crystal Glass. I'm rolling straight through to PGR and will start getting set up again.

All bailed up, harvest is almost done here.

The dust in the distance is a combine working this field.

It was an easy drive with great weather and I got backed into our site at PGR just when Leslie pulled in. Good timing buddy. We got set up and Leslie got right at the laundry. I did the same as I did at Paul's; put fuel stabilizer in my power tools and some in the Harley. I ran the bike for a bit to get stabilizer in the fuel system and then disconnected the battery before putting on the cover and lifting it with the bike jack. 

We kept busy for the afternoon and then relaxed a little before dinner. A quiet night in front of the TV and off to bed. We have a busy weekend planned.

I think we'll post this and start again for our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. Getting closer to caught up and I'm excited to get on the road and be able to talk about something other than our work projects. Till next time.

Cheers everybody!