September 2, 2017
Back at home for almost a week!
Al had tried to update the blog last Sunday from Serpent River, but lost the update because of poor internet at the park. This summer is the first without the Hughes satellite internet dish and the convenience of internet everywhere is now gone. Our cell provider (sears Connect) does not support (that's being kind for the words "they block") internet tethering, Al found a work around to get past this called Easy Tether, but that's done by USB cabling, and for some reason it doesn't work on the desktop computer, only the laptop, and the laptop doesn't support Java, required to upload photos to the blog host! Who said that new technology was easier than the old?
Bottom line is that's why this post is so late.
The trip was great, except for the internet stuff above and the rough roads (called the "construction season") up north. The trailer suspension started looking funny when we stopped in Vermilion Bay, the center equalizer was skewed to the front and the front spring shackle was sitting on the frame above. Al suspected that the shackles had flipped over (that wasn't the case) and we took it easy on the way back home. Upon detailed investigation in the driveway, the wet bolt on the curbside rear spring bracket that holds the spring to the bracket that's welded to the frame was completely missing!, it must have sheared off after hitting some rough sections on the road construction. Even the center section of the bolt was gone. The trailer is going to the shop, hopefully there is no further damage, or there may be some new axles in the trailer's future. The roads are more rough than back in the NDP "Rae days" where no money was spent on maintenance, the Liberals are following the NDP playbook!
On the way back, we stopped at the Sault St Marie KOA instead of the park at Wawa that we normally do, the Wawa park is in the trees (bugs!) and it isn't a very nice park. The SSM KOA is luxurious by comparison, it's run by a US husband-Canadian wife combo and it's well looked after and pleasant.
A couple of pictures:
A bit tight but long enough that we were able to leave the truck and trailer connected:
The lawns are well cared for, and they prohibit carpets so they are kept that way:
We enjoyed the trip!
August 23, 2017
In Thunder Bay
We arrived here this afternoon after a night in Ignace. We are treating ourselves to a new patio site here at the KOA. These are similar to the ones in the US KOA parks, and they are expensive but the patio, BBQ and fire pit along with the furniture is nice:
Murdoch enjoying the patio!
The KOA is preparing for a Halloween special (I guess they are closed before Halloween so they treat the kids to an early party). Suzette took these pictures:
We couldn't resist posting a couple of pictures of Kate enjoying the lake at the Crystal Lake campground where we were for3 nights, unfortunately it was raining when Rachelle came back from her overnight birthday party. But, both girls still got some "bike time"!
August 21, 2017
Campground improvements
Robin has been busy this year with improvements to some campsites, necessitated by a camper knocking down a hydro pole last year.
He brought in almost 600 yards of fill (white sand and brown gravel) to make new back in sites with full 30 amp service. A few pictures:
This is our site, as you can see, it's still a work in progress, but the difference in height between campsites is large:
The campsite next to us showing the brown gravel for the vehicles and the white stuff for the patio:
The sites are quite level:
The site on the other side of us:
The other sites:
These sites will look great once they are completed, they are long enough for the largest RVs and they are all satellite friendly.
August 20, 2017
Summer Trip North!
We have been on the road for a week or so, we spent some time at the kids place near Ear Falls, and we are presently in Crystal Lake camp ground near Vermilion Bay with the grand kids for a couple of days.
Some shots from the kid's place:
The grand kids enjoying time in the RV with Murdoch
The grand kids enjoying the great weather up here:
Murdoch sampling the water:
The grand kids tricked Murdoch into swimming by throwing dog food into the water, he now likes to swim!
Murdoch going nuts up the hill!