On Wednesday we left Spragge and motored the 245 miles to Wawa, Ontario, along route 17 along the northern coast of Lake Superior. The color display was awesome and I find it hard to pick some of the pictures that tell the story.

All 245 miles was a constantly changing scene but the same intense display of the trees.

And Lake Superior was awesome as well. Cold looking and huge. Michigan is somewhere out there a couple of hundred miles to the south, I think.

And we came to rest in the Wawa RV Resort and Campground just to the west of the small village of Wawa. The park was basic with gravel sites that were just about long enough for our rig and the car attached. 

The next night a 45 foot rig came in with a Hummer attached and he spend about a half hour trying to get into the site and finally detached the car and then centered the rig in the site with the Hummer in the next one.

Weather was about 55 and clear for the night of the 28th of September.

Wow, Fall Is Here in Splendor!!

This is the last shot I have of Spragge on Wednesday night as the sun was setting.



We are now in Wawa, Ontario ... yep, look that one up. The computer connection is painfully slow so the above picture will have to do until we get to Thunder Bay on Friday. Needless to say the whole trip around the top of Lake Superior has been spectacular so far. The trees are at their peak color for hundreds of miles ... we have never seen such a display and it is very hard to capture as you are motoring along.

We'll post more of the trip from Spragge to Wawa tomorrow night as we should have a better connection in Thunder Bay.

The Flying Scotsman II is off and running!



Today we unhitched from the Barrie KOA and began our trek to the north and west. Just above the HHR here are the trees surrounding the goose pond which currently has about 200 Canada geese and a lone blue heron.



Here's a shot of the pond which separates the adult section of the KOA from the family part. If you look hard on the right side of the picture is the heron; probably disturbed this time of year by all the seasonal geese honking their hearts out.

We headed north on the 400 till it became highway 69 near Parry Sound. We've been along here before but the electronic warnings are a new item. We're watching!!

Today was about 65 degrees and overcast with a bit of sprinkle now and then and the colors were wonderful ... just wish it would have been sunny.

And after 245 miles we stopped at the Serpent River campground in Spragge where we have stayed before. It is an ex-KOA and fairly well equipped ... just no sewer hookup; quiet and pleasant though.

After dinner we walked down to the Serpent River which flows into Lake Huron about one kilometer from here. The river was calm as glass and quite nice even with the overcast sky.

Having gotten Bill fully moved into the Waterford in Barrie we went over there on Saturday night for a final dinner before we departed the area and began to head south. Here's Dani, Bill, and Mark in the lounge area before dinner having a glass of wine.

Then we went into the dining room where the dinner for the family night was rib eye steak and veggies ... all really excellent and served with a couple of glasses of wine; all for $15 a serving. Really nice setting and very attentive service at the residence.

After dinner Bill and I whacked at a few pool balls before we both realized that neither knew what the heck we were doing ... but we had fun anyhow. We promised to practice and then show up next spring and put a couple of bucks on the table.

Also in the lounge area is a wonderful baby grand piano. It was an electronic version and here is the expert showing us how to turn it on and then he launched into a few bars of Mame.

All in all a really neat night to close out a very busy summer and a great closure on getting Bill settled into his comfortable new home with a lot of amenities and attention.

It is mid-September and as the sign indicates that means the Scarecrow Invasion and more personally, the departure of the Flying Scotsman and its crew from the little town of Meaford, Ontario.

The scarecrow displays and contest are a wonderful event and the whole town takes part in making more of the little stuffed and dressed figures to put everywhere. They are hanging off every street lamp post and sitting in every possible place around the town ... hundreds of the unique guys and gals!

A lot of them have personal themes and here is a blond rock star sitting on the steps of Meaford Hall. Dig the guitar and even headphones.

As I said, though, with the Scarecrow Invasion comes our departure from the Roebuck Campground and Meaford as a whole. Today it was about 60 degrees and a cool drizzle as I packed the flamingos for their trip south.

We started coming to Meaford in 1985 for holidays and vacations as the Martins moved from Grand Bend to be near Army buddies already here. And today will mark the end of five full summers here as we became the full time RVers. Time sure does march along quickly.

We have a lot of memories in the place from the last 26 years yet are looking forward to a new chapter as we follow Jo's dad and brother to Barrie which will become our new focal point in Ontario for the future.

And here is the Sideroad 22 which we have gone down a thousand times in the last few years and which we will go down the last time tomorrow.

Still just a hint of color in the trees but offset by the bright blue waters of Georgian Bay at the end of the road where the RV park is. The Flying Scotsman and its crew are headed off into the sunrise to the east and a new adventure for us all!

BRRR

This morning it was officially 37 degrees in Meaford ... welcome to Fall full time! If nothing else this will signal the trees that haven't started to change that it is time to change their colors. The days have been a steady 60 to 70 degrees and generally partly cloudy to sunny ... Chamber of Commerce weather, eh.

But I've gotten off the track a bit. Last Thursday, we took a look around the house and because of the limited trash pickup services here, we ordered a neat little dumpster, unseen. Yeow! Mega cubic feet of space. When we ordered the thing we thought we would never come close to filling the huge tub ... well.

Above is the typical scene for the last few days as Rick's truck is filled for runs to Barrie with his stuff, the HHR is filled with stuff for Bill in Barrie, and the big tub gets the rest. The little HHR has never been so trashed ... no time to care for it right now.

Well ... OK ... after two days of just throwing away a few items the big brown bin below is starting to get the look like it may have a limit ... or we may be getting to our limit. Jeez where did all this stuff come from? The neighbors must be filling the thing at night, eh.

And finally here is your favorite blogger who hasn't had much time for blogging due to his second career of dumpster diver and stomper. Stomping grapes would have been a much more fun day and obviously more rewarding.

Movin' On!

Here's Bill Martin at the house at 432 Farrar St, Meaford on moving day.

On Friday the 9th we piled Bill and us into the Flying Scotsman and headed for Barrie. At the same time Rick stayed at the house to oversee the movers as they loaded the furniture and about 40 boxes of all the possessions that was to become Dad's new place in Barrie. Here's a last shot of the old living room before the movers arrived.

And here is the brochure photo of the Waterford Residence where Bill will call home.

And Jo and her dad as the boxes and furniture arrived in Suite 415 at the Waterford.

Here's a shot of the lobby of the place as it is quite well done and representative of the public rooms in the facility. There's around a hundred suites in the place and it is just a short distance from the malls and also to downtown Barrie, a city of about 125,000 a little more than an hour north of Toronto.

Then a later picture of his apartment as we got some of the pictures on the walls and the furniture arranged for the first couple of nights there. While there we stayed at the Barrie KOA where we have stayed before as it is reasonably close to downtown and a really nice RV park.

And of course who could resist a sip at a wine bar named after your favorite blogger??

It's now Tuesday night and we have moved the RV back to the Roebuck campground in Meaford to begin the final phase of the move. Tomorrow we will begin to move the remainder of Rick's stuff out of the house and do some garbage runs to get rid of the old and unwanted stuff there and then clean and touch up in preparation for closing on the 23rd.

We have been so busy! We got an offer on the house in Meaford and accepted it. The closing process here is a bit different than that at home. The buyers have about 6 days to get the financing, insurance, and inspection accomplished, and after that the sold sign goes up in the yard. That happened on the 31st of August so now it is more packing!! The closing process is totally handled by the lawyers and neither buyer nor seller are present for that ... keys and checks are all handled by them ... we just need a stripped and clean house on the 23rd.

Bill Martin will go to his new luxury residence in Barrie on the 9th of September and brother in law Rick to his new place in Barrie shortly after that. To accomplish both of those parts will require several trips to Barrie and several more trips to the dump and charity outlets.

Let's see ... have I said before that we are kinda tired of this process. Probably. But in the end all participants, like the elder Gunns, will be much happier off and able to enjoy their own lives for the future and safely in the care of professionals.

Because the official closing is the 23rd we will stay longer for that to get the banking done and then depart on the 27th and still head northward around Lake Superior and then south.

More to follow ... with pictures of course.