Summer has gone way too fast and

as our friends Mike and Mary Ellen prepare to leave for their winter home in Thunder Bay after a fun summer ....

... and the hockey team flags are put up for the forthcoming season ...

... and the kids are honing their skills in the street before the ice rinks form ...

... we have our last campfire of the season with a bit of Rickard's Red ...

... and snuggle the flamingos into their bay for the flight to the South!

Wednesday we will be off on a different route this year. Our first stop will be Dwight, Ontario, near the Algonquin Park, then motor West toward Sault Saint Marie and then across the border through Michigan toward Wisconsin.

This last weekend we went over to Ottawa, Ontario, to attend the funeral of Jo-Anne's mom, Helen (Purvis) Martin (Private, Canadian Women's Army Corps). As a WWII veteran she was eligible to be buried in the Canadian National Military Cemetery (like Arlington) with full military honors. It was a really moving ceremony starting with the procession past the flags to the burial site.

At the site first the bugler played the Canadian version of Taps and then the piper played the Canadian National Anthem.

Then an Honor Guard NCO placed the urn in the ground. You will notice the spacing of the headstones as this plot is reserved for cremated remains only.

Then Brigadier General Fred Lewis pays his respects. General Lewis is a long time family friend and we attended the funeral of his father Lt Col Ed Lewis. Ed was Bill Martin's best friend in the Army and for many years later and we attended his funeral at the same place on Saturday.

Jo-Anne and her brother Rick at the grave site after the ceremony.

Major William Martin (ret), Jo's Dad in the Beechwood Chapel.






And finally a moment of reflection after both ceremonies and a long weekend of remembrance.

The National Military Cemetery is a gorgeous setting in Ottawa and fully reflects the sacrifice of the Canadian service veterans and the Honor Guard and everyone else associated with the cemetery are highly professional. A unique and memorable experience that I was proud to be part of.

Tomorrow morning we will unhitch the Flying Scotsman from its mooring here in Meaford and wind our way along Highway 7 toward Ottawa; about a 7 hour trip.

Saturday is a funeral service for a long time service friend of Bill Martin and the service will be at the National Military Cemetery in Ottawa. Then on Monday we will attend the funeral service for Bill's wife Helen who passed away a year or so ago. As a veteran of WWII she has also earned the honor of being buried in the National Military Cemetery.

We have reserved a space for the RV at the Ottawa Municipal Campground but Bill, Rick, Jo-Anne and I will stay in a hotel in Ottawa. While we're not staying in the bus we are taking it to afford all a comfortable trip over to Ottawa, so I'll let y'all know how that works out. The plans are to return to Meaford on Tuesday.

Just a quick note on the passage of time for the wanderers. The silver maple trees here have started to change color signifying the change of season pretty dramatically. No other trees have started this annual process and we have only had a couple of 45 degree nights, but no matter where you look the maples are done for the year.

I guess it is about time to start thinking about heading back toward Texas before the first snowfall ... hey, the hockey sticks and ice skates are in the stores now!

After nap on the 5th we walked around the harbor and booked a trip on the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Segwun docked in Gravenhurst. This wooden steamship was built in 1887 and is North America's oldest operating steamship. They offer dinner cruises and hour-long trips throughout Lake Muskoka, which we took.




Here's Jo-Anne in her new Segwun cap, helping the captain navigate the treacherous waters. Actually the ship takes you through the "Cottage Country" of Ontario. This cottage country logo is really misleading as the cottages are all in the $million$ range. Even the boathouses for the cottages are well over a half million each. There are beach front residences here that range from the million range to almost 12 million; if you want to buy a lot it starts at about $350,000. Beautiful place for the rich of Toronto to relax.

After the trip around the lake we hit the Muskoka Boat and Heritage Centre which is right next to the Marriott Residence Inn. The museum features North America's largest in-water collection of antique and classic boats. Really fascinating. These wooden boats are all owned by private individuals and housed in the museum. There are a dozen of these special historic private boats and they are spectacular and an example of extreme wood work and finish that is awesome. They range from water taxis that ferried people at a leisurely 12 MPH to race boats with V-12 engines capable of 60-70 MPH in the 1920's. Really neat museum and we were hosted by a knowledgeable docent. Fun day!!

On the 5th we piled into the HHR from our base in Gravenhurst and headed around Lake Muskoka toward the town of Port Carling at the top of the lake. Jo-Anne had just read a book by James Bartleman called Raisin Wine highlighting his life as a career Canadian diplomat and then Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 2002 to 2007. He was born in Port Carling of both Indian and English parentage and that's what made his success and story so fascinating.





Port Carling with a population of about 6000 is at the top of Lake Muskoka and a stop on the current steamship route through the lake region. This is a really picturesque region with the lakes, locks, and forests. Below is the Knox Presbyterian Church which was built in 1876 and for obvious reasons is a favorite of local artists.





The neatest artifact in Port Carling is the mural. When you, like us, look at this side of the building, you say, "OK ... nice picture of a boat." And that in itself was pretty neat. But if you look closely at this thing you realize it is made up of thousands of individual photos .... 9000 to be exact (magnify if you can)! This was a truly amazing amount of artistic dedication and creativity and presented by the Hon. James Bartleman we just talked about.




The trip around the lake was about 3 hours ending in Bracebridge, another really picturesque little town. There we had an awesome lunch at the Old Station Pub of asiago cheese soup ... the best ever ... and a tuna melt and a vegetable wrap to die for, washed down with a couple of Stella Artois and back to the Marriott for the nap at 2, eh?

Here's a couple of sunset shots of Lake Muskoka from our balcony at the Marriott in Gravenhurst, Ontario, on the 4th of August. This one was actually later than the next one and the cloud formation was really something. Sunset was about 9pm in this northern latitude.





In this shot you can see more of the marina and boat docks in the dusk and the tree to the right was particularly photogenic. It was about 70 degrees and a wonderful evening with wine on the veranda and what a view.

Because of our persistent propane leak we again headed off to Barrie and the Hitch House RV repair dudes; that was last Tuesday the 3rd of August. For the night of the 3rd we stayed at the Barrie KOA again which we raved about in a past blog and it was super as always. Here is the Flying Scotsman on the morning of the 4th awaiting the pipe fitters.






As literally all of the gas lines and tank fittings had to be replaced by hand over a two day period, we elected to head north and spend a couple of days in a hotel in the cottage region of Ontario. We picked the Marriott in Gravenhurst which is about 40 miles north of Barrie at the bottom of the Muskoka Lake tourist region.





The Marriott there is brand new and quite nice. Upon arrival we were surprised with an upgrade room which was the tops. There was a central living and full kitchen area complete with fireplace and off of each side of the picture here there were two separate bedrooms each with full bath; like, maybe we were expecting a crowd or something, eh. I think the total was about 900 square feet ... really awesome and for about $170 Canadian per night a super deal. Behind me in this photo was the balcony from which I shot a couple of great sunsets.






And my new friend Regatta with the Marriott in the background across the bay.

For the last few weeks, the neighbors have been asking us, "Have you been to the Katy (their pronunciation) market on Tuesdays?" Well, yeah, we know about a market in Katy, Texas. Then they say, "No, the market in Katy, Ontario." Finally after searching the local map and ads for any market within thirty miles I came up with the Keady Market ... pronounced Katy, eh. All that aside it was a fun morning prowling among the over 250 vendors of veggies, resale crap, and livestock. And here is a really good 12 year old knocking out some good ol' fiddle music!





For those of you with huge lawns, this is reported to be the fastest mower in the world, the Dixie Chopper, capable of mowing over 8 acres an hour. It's got a 33 horse motor and looks pretty awesome; but the salesman wouldn't let me demo it ... rats.




Jeez, it looks like someone stole our bus .... no, my mistake, ours is "Have Gunns will Travel;" pretty close though.

Here's a few of the critters we have seen and watched this summer. The first is a Killdeer which was in the next driveway when we arrived in May. Both male and female sat on the nest (rock pile) and after a week or so the female laid the first egg. Then over the next three weeks she laid three more. The eggs are timed so that they all hatch the same day so after almost two months from the first one being laid, they all hatched and ran away and the nest was abandoned ... really cool.

Some Canadian honkers stocking up on food for the fall journey to somewhere in Kansas.

This mama Mallard was so protective of her chicks that she chased another duck and chicks almost 200 feet into a separate pond to keep them away from her own!

A Sand Hill crane which I have never seen before; this one up on Manitoulin Island.

Alvin who raids the bird feeder daily.

And finally a Red Fox who was surprised by us on our way home. Actually he did a couple of double takes as we approached and then finally ran into the bush.