2010 Trip 11 - Wrapping it up...

McCreary's Beach, Mississippi Lake - Oct 2010

Well, looks like the last outing of the season is upon us. This fall has been very cool and wet, so we decided that Thanksgiving weekend, weather permitting, would be the time to get the Alto ready for winter.  Luckily, the weather is fabulous this weekend... still a little cool, but there is not a cloud in the sky and the brilliant sun is making the day feel warmer than it is. We have made reservations at a private campground just this side of Perth. We want full hookups this time, as we plan to flush the tanks and get them as clean as we can. Having a sewer hookup at our site will certainly help this task.

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A place for the Mags

Lots of stuff accumulates on the little table...mostly maps and paper. We (Dale) saw this magazine rack in the Solutions Store, and figured it would be perfect to create some storage holders. It was metal, the right size and colour, and easily hacked apart. It yielded 3 separate racks. One went on the side of the microware cabinet and the other 2 on the front wall behind the table. They do a great job with the clutter, and offer secure storage while on the road.

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2010 Trip 10 - Campfire = Heat...

Bonnechere Provincial Park - Sept 2010

Headed out Friday afternoon. On the road by 4:30, and as usual, the traffic was heavy. Took us a while to just get outside the city. We are going to Bonnechere this weekend, and our friend Sandra is coming along to pitch a tent on our site. She is waiting for us to go by her while she sits on the side of the Hwy 17. She will then follow us up. Pretty hard to miss us. It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive up there, so we are hoping some daylight will be left. Given the time of year, it will probably be dark. Staying on the same site we had in June, a good spot, being close to both the beach and the comfort station.

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2010 Trip 9 - Outdoorsy Girls Weekend...

Fitzroy Provincial Park - Sept 2010

In early summer I (Dale) and Nancy thought up of arranging our annual girls getaway weekend using our two trailers to go camping.  We picked Fitzroy Harbour because of it's closeness to Ottawa and that it would be an easy reach for both Jim and Drew (Nancy's husband) to drive out with the trailers and set them up for us.  The guys are critical for the pulling & setting up stage...since Drew was out of town on business, Jim could have done both but it ended up with Jim needing to just set up just ours.

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2010 Trip 8 - Bike rack...what a great idea!

Bon Echo Provincial Park - Sept 2010

Long weekend, yippee! Although the Labour Day weekend usually bookends the wrong end of the summer, there is still lots of weekends left before the Alto season is over. On the road Friday night by 6:00, sort of on track. Pissed down the rain shortly before we headed out, and now it is only off and on. Traffic heavy as expected, seems to take forever to get out of the city. Once we got past Carleton Place, it moved along quite nicely, with the occasional a-hole driver just to keep things interesting.

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2010 Vacation Day 14 - Heading home...

Pulled out around 8:00. Coffee to get going, then a quick breakfast at Timmy's in a near by town. We are heading cross country to Sherbrooke, then will hop the 10 into Montreal. Our penchant for traveling off the main highways has provided us with some amazing sights along the way, from the scenic to the quirky.

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2010 Vacation Day 13 - The Factory Tour

On the road by 7:00 am. We are not totally certain how long it will take us to get to St. Frederic and the factory, so we are allowing some extra time. Drove right up Hwy 201, on what is called "The Old Canada Road". Apparently Benedict Arnold and his troops, in 1775, followed the Kennebec River, on their way to Canada. The highway follows the river most of the way. It is a great drive, and very scenic and very Maine as well.

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2010 Vacation Day 12 - Where's the bridge?

The alarm woke us as planned at 5:30. I was however, already awake a bit before that, listening to the pounding rain and gusting wind. The last thing I wanted to hear. It was so bad, that if it continued, we would have delayed leaving. It did let up though, a little before 7:00. We listened to the weather report, and decided to hitch up and move out.

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2010 Vacation Day 11 - The best fish and chips ever...

Headed over to Grenwich this morning, a part of the national park that contains the dunes. It is about a 45 minute drive from Stanhope. Stopped at St. Peters Bay to check out the shops and have an ice cream. Grenwich has a number of trails, and we wanted to walk to the dunes.

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2010 Vacation Day 10 - Where's my life jacket?

Woke up early, so we both headed for a shower to beat the late risers. Not too windy this morning, we think we may have lucked out on a good day for a paddle. Dale and I walked along the beach for a long ways, taking pictures and looking for beach glass. I found a piece that is clearly from a beer bottle, part of the top. It is well worn and smooth from the abrasion of the sand, but still the top of a beer bottle.

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