Friday November 13, 2020

A Very Late Update!

Al has been guilty of ignoring the blog for a while!  We returned home after our usual stops in August. After we got home it was noticed that the RV had some pin box deflection and it went back to our dealer, to check and to also do some other repairs. The dealer stripped the plastic cover from the underside and found substantial damage to the frame, caused by some bad roads over time but mostly a Lippert manufacturing defect, somewhat common. Our insurance was contacted but they won't cover the cost because it's a defect, not a result of an accident etc. The RV remains at the dealer for a winter repair, it may cost over $5,000 to fix.

The summer trip north was good otherwise and we are preparing for a winter at home in Ontario!

Sunday August 2, 2020

In Penn Lake Campground in Marathon

We arrived here this morning after a short 20 or 30 KM. run from Neys Lunch and campground. We stayed there last night as Penn Lake was booked last night with long weekend campers.Neys campground was "vintage", 15 amp power with only standard outlets (no local circuit breakers) and after we set up on one site we found no electrical power. Al pulled out the circuit tester and found a site with power but no sewer, fortunately we dumped in the "non-power" site before we moved as the tanks needed dumping after 2 nights in Screiber. The campground reviews stated the the water was "brown" so we ran off Screiber water in the tank so all was good. This is a record for us, 3 nights with only 15 amp power and no water or sewer!

A couple of pictures:

Not a bad pull through site:

Lots of interesting smells for Murdoch to check out!

After we spend tomorrow night here we will then hit the Wawa campground and the Sault St Marie KOA is fully booked. It's busy here on the week after the August civic holiday.

It's going to be cool overnight here in Marathon, single digit lows!


Friday July 31, 2020

"Camping" at the Ford dealer in Screiber!

We left Thunder Bay yesterday and the diesel fuel leak in the engine got worse, we stopped at the Ford dealer in Nipigon who were too busy to look at it but recommended the dealer here in Screiber, G. Figliomeni & Sons. Although the diesel tech was on vacation, the techs looked and found a substantial leak at the fuel pressure sensor. New parts were ordered from Ford's national parts depot in Brampton and they arrive this afternoon.

The dealer helped us by giving us a water hose to fill our water tank and we also plugged into their electric plug overnight (during the day we are running the Honda generator as our extension cord would be damaged by cars running over it).

Some "camping" pictures, we are on the roadside next to the dealer, because of the fuel leak it would damage their pavement but the roadside is dirt:

If things work out with repair, we will stay here overnight and camp at a place called Neys Lunch near Neys Provincial Park tomorrow night (because of the long weekend some parks are fully booked). We've had to cancel previously booked reservations but after tomorrow night we reserved 2 nights in Penn lake at Marathon and we should get sites in Sault St Marie and in Serpent River as the long weekend will be over. Wish us luck!

In the meantime Suzette and Murdoch have toured virtually all the town on their walks. Another neat thing, Johnny Harris did an episode of "Still Standing" here in Screiber, Suzette got an order of fish and chips at the take out place that was featured on the show (they have a giant burger called the "morganator" after the young man that takes orders but too big for us!). Lots of other stuff around that was mentioned on the show.


Wednesday July 29, 2020

Back in Thunder Bay!

We got here yesterday after a night in Davy Lake campground in Ignace. We had a great visit with the kids and grand kids at their place near Ear Falls, a few pictures below:

Kate is very good at climbing trees!

A nice picture of the grand kids with Suzette. They were at the falls.

Hunter and Murdoch watching a kayak approaching:

The grand kids enjoy being pulled behind the boat!

The grand kids have their own flower garden.

We will head for Marathon tomorrow. It's been a "repair trip" for the RV. The plug that powers the clothes dryer overheated and almost went on fire, a water heater bypass valve leaked and had to be bypassed, it flooded the RV basement. Now the truck is leaking some diesel fuel from the underside of the engine, not enough to be a problem for now, hopefully we can nurse it home.


 

Thursday July 23, 2020

Ear Falls with the Kids and Grand Kids!

We have been here for almost 2 weeks enjoying the great summer weather and the family. We've been busy and helping Cam with the addition to the house.

There has been time for "union breaks" and other activities as shown in the pictures below. The area has been very quiet as there are no Americans here at the camps, most camps are closed for the season. The weather has been perfect, few very hot days and good overnight sleeping temps.

There is an island where fishermen put fish guts to feed the bald eagles, we spread some guts to feed them, with not many fishermen on the lake the eagles are a bit deprived!

There are a large number of pelicans around this summer, we captured this shot of them on a rock. The water is low, normally this rock would be under water.

Murdoch and Hunter have been enjoying daily dips in the lake.

Hunter is on the end of the dock, the water is low enough that his back legs are on the lake bottom.

Murdoch is really enjoying the grand kids, he gets groomed almost every day!


Friday July 10, 2020

Thunder Bay!

We are in our usual stop at the KOA here, we got a patio site, one of the last 2 available, it doesn't have sewer but for a 2 night stop that's OK. A couple of pictures below.

We have never seen the trans Canada highway as quiet as it is this summer, we went for minutes without seeing another vehicle on the road, the Americans must make the difference. I'll bet that the local folks are suffering who depend on them. Lots of construction though! Many bridge repairs.

A nice patio site with a BBQ as a bonus!

We are right next to the main pool, hopefully the music will die down early.


Thursday July 9, 2020

Heading north!

We are on our way north to see the kids and grand kids and to escape the heat down south. We left on Tuesday and stayed in Serpent River on Tuesday and Sault St Marie KOA yesterday, both were hot places, yesterday we used both A/C units (first time in Canada!) to cool the RV down. Here in marathon it's cooler at 23C, a pleasant break!

A short shot of the site with Murdoch just coming out from under the RV. More details when we stay at the Thunder Bay KOA tomorrow.