Here’s what’s happening with us....

I missed a couple of rain showers on the way to Higley Flow, but by the time I arrived all the rain had stopped. Set up the camp, helped the couple back up their rig onto site 20, then went for a swim. The water was great! Cooked dinner during a thunder and rain shower. Tonight will be a comfortable night for sleeping with the windows opened.

The weather was hot and humid, but the company was great and so was the food. This was the 7th annual Fickling Family picnic, held at the farm of Cindy and Gary Fickling (my cousins). We had an excellent time!

I woke up this morning not feeling day older. It was hot again this morning, but that did not stop me from starting the fire and cooking one of my favourite meals….eggs, bacon, and toast. I took it easy around the campsite, reading my book, relaxing, until my dinner gusts arrived. We had chicken and potatoes over the campfire and finished it with a hamburger shaped cake with ice cream. A very good day…..

Woke up to the steady sound of rain today. Checked the radar and forecast and it looked liked a day for indoor activities. I lounged around until about 09:30, then I made may way to the St. Thomas Railway Museum. The building and exhibits were really interesting. It made me feel a little old though, because as I read the descriptions on the rail cars and I discovered that they were built or retired in the 1970’s….and they are in a museum….and they are considered “old”….I was born in 1964…. After the museum, I headed into to London and caught the movie “Aladdin – the live version” It certainly met my expectations. ON the way home I swung through St Thomas to pick uo a couple of geocaches. The heat/humidity made it a more challenging. I was only successful on one. Time to head back to the campsite for a swim and a campfire……

It may be hard to tell, but the “brick mural” depicts the collision between a locomotive and Jumbo the Barnum and Bailey elephant in St Tomas. Unfortunately, Jumbo lost in the encounter.

We were all silly enough to forget to take a couple of pictures of us all together, but I did get a picture of me searing the roast beef……. My cousins Kelly, Tommy and Jennifer came to the campsite last night to have dinner with me. We had baked potato, carrots done in orange juice and maple syrup, and a roast beef. All done on the campfire. Cookies and Cream cake and ice cream for dessert. It was great meeting up with them. The rain managed to hold off……

Slept in until 07:00 this morning. Not Bad. Oatmeal and orange juice for breakfast. Last night Stephanie said I needed to go to Port Dover and have a meal at the Crepe House. She had just seen it on a rerun of “You gotta eat here!”, a program on the food network. So began the tour. I stopped at the Crepe House and had the Turkey Dinner crepe. It was delicious, and very filling. Not enough room for their butter tart crepe, at least not yet. I walked around the town checking out the sites and doing some geocaching. About 2 hours later I returned to the Crepe House and asked for the butter tart crepe “to go”. Then on to Port Bruce, Port Burwell and then Port Stanley. I decided to go swimming here. The last time, was over 20 years ago, when Stephanie and I were courting. By this time it was 19:15 so it was time to head back to the campsite and have a fire…..but one last stop at the elephant statue in St Thomas. This was erected to remember Jumbo the elephant that was killed by a train in St. Thomas.

Today was a quiet day around the campsite. I did go into town and pick up a few more groceries. The weather was great. Started reading my next True Crime story, went for a hike around the park, and decided to try their trail. I have to say the park itself is very nice, but the trail gets a negative rating. I should have taken pictures…Took a a nice swim in the pool, then returned to the site to relax and cook dinner between the two thunderstorms that rolled through.

We received some sad, but not expected news at the beginning of the week. John’s oldest cousin Reg had passed away at the age of 65. The funeral service is in Stratford on Saturday. John decided that instead of travelling between Kemptville and London 4 times, because we are attending the Fickling Family reunion on July 20, he would take a weeks vacation and camp in the area. Finding a site was challenging, only because we have never camped in the area. But finally the decision was made. Dalewood Conservation Area, part of the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority. Kettle Creek….that’s the development were we live in Kemptville. Site 106 was the choice. John left Kemptville at 06:30 and was on site by 14:30. The traffic, especially through Toronto was non existent. Some parts were a little bumpy though. Stephanie will join him next Friday.

Site 15. The first time we have been on this one. It’s not all that bad. We arrived after work on Friday. The weather was good for the entire weekend. The campground was a little fuller than last week, but it’s still not crowded. Saturday nights dinner was flattened chicken, corn, and chocolate upside down cakes for dessert.

A whole week at Higley Flow on site 41. We have stayed on this site before with Owen. When arrived on the Monday the weather was not too bad, but as the week continued it got colder and rainy. Tuesday, John had to return to work for the Ottawa Paramedic Award Ceremony. While he was away Stephanie pretty much stayed inside the camper, reading and puzzling while it poured rain outside. Thursday was a bit better. At least the sun was able to warm us up. On Friday we were really surprised when we bumped into Phylis and Tony. One of their family members had to give up the site for the weekend so they decided they would use it. On Saturday we headed to the Syracuse Camping World to exchange our winter RV cover. We left the campsite in long pants and a jacket at 7c, but the time we got to Syracuse it was about 36c (humidex).