Canada

Our first stop after crossing the border into Canada was Niagara Falls. We kept hearing that the falls were more impressive from the Canadian side and we would have to agree since there is a much better view of them from there. Very spectacular.

We found the area by the falls to be a bit too much like Las Vegas for our liking. We wanted to see the falls at night when they were lit up but it was too crazy even to find a place to park. Too many people, too many signs, too many neon lights and so on.

On our way to Toronto we spent a few nights at Fifty Point Conservation Area. It's a very nice park on Lake Ontario with lots of hiking trails and some nice wineries nearby. We decided to return for a few days after our time in Toronto and enjoyed exploring the area, including a drive up to Niagara-on-the-Lake which is a quaint town, although a bit touristy. Pretty drive, though, and fun to try a couple of the wineries. Even Tilly got to come in and check things out at one of the wineries called Megalomaniac which is built into a hillside.

We ran into fellow RVers Larry and Marilyn who spend their summers at Fifty Point. We originally met them in Paamul (Yucatan peninsula, just south of Cancun) about 5 years ago. Such fun to see them and we had a very fun dinner at their place.

Our reason for visiting Toronto was to see my niece Shelby, her husband Dan, and their son Sam. The last time we saw Shelby and Dan was two years ago when they were getting ready to move from Rhode Island to Toronto. Sam entered the world shortly after that so this was our first chance to meet him. Pretty cute and lots of fun to spend time with all of them.

Shelby's sister Suzie was also visiting so we had a mini-reunion.

We did some exploring in Toronto which is a huge city and a bit overwhelming. It's home for Shelby and Dan and we appreciated their time spent in sharing it with us. We even got to visit the Toronto Zoo for the giant panda exhibit which was most interesting.

And of course one of the highlights for Brian, especially, was encountering this huge ship going through the locks as we were driving to Niagara-on-the-Lake. As far as we could figure out, it was going from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie. It used up just about every inch of the locks - very impressive.

 

Letchworth State Park, New York

The nickname for this park is 'The Grand Canyon of the East'. This seemed like a good reason to check it out on our way to Toronto, plus Brian had been there as a child and was curious to see it now.
The park is nice and we enjoyed our visit, but it doesn't have much similarity to the Grand Canyon. There are three major waterfalls - upper, lower and middle. The upper waterfall is about 107 feet high and the cliffs rise about 600 feet above the Genesee River, one of the only rivers that flows north.

Much of the rock is limestone, and I thought the picnic tables they made from it were pretty unique.

The river has carved some interesting outcroppings and rock formations.

We knew we were in Amish Country pretty quickly, and I was glad to have a chance to buy a few things at one of the local Amish markets. 

Onward to Toronto from here. We're in a pretty crummy RV park so it will be nice to move on.

Back to the Blog

Since I haven't posted anything since May 26 I guess it's pretty obvious that I've taken a break from blogging. I'll see if I can get caught up a bit and then get back to posting on a semi-regular basis.

We've spent most of the time since leaving Alabama in Florida. Our first stop was to visit with Paul and Helen, our good friends we originally met in Mexico.

Paul and Helen have a lovely piece of property outside of Inverness and we were able to park there for a few nights. Their friends Sam and Donna were visiting as well and we enjoyed meeting them. We even formed our own little RV park. Great to spend some time with them and see the area.

Brian's sister Laurel purchased a home in Port St Lucie -PSL- so we were on a mission to get there in time to help with the move. Of course there were a few glitches and we found that she would be delayed a few weeks. The plan was for Brian to fly to New York, help Laurel with loading her rental truck, and then drive it down to Port St Lucie, which he eventually did. When we arrived at Laurel's we backed the Bus into the driveway so Brian could unload all his tools.

While waiting for Laurel, we joined with Brian's brother Bruce and sister-in-law Eileen to begin the remodeling process. Lots of work and challenges. Both Brian and I found the heat and humidity to be the biggest challenge of all. Granted we lived in the Caribbean for six years, but we never felt as hot in Vieques as we did in Florida.

Not all work and no play, though. Our friend Chuck is a bass player and has moved from LA to Boynton Beach, not too far from PSL. We always loved going to hear him in LA so it was great that we had a chance to catch him with one of the bands he now plays with in Florida.

Bruce, Eileen, Brian and I spent a very pleasant afternoon in a club on the water visiting with Chuck and enjoying some fine music.

The first month of our stay was spent on Hutchinson Island near PSL in one of those parks where people buy a lot and usually come down for the winter. There were small lots with everything from open pads to old trailers to two-story houses on them. We were able to get a good deal on a monthly rental. Although we weren't too far from the beach it was just too hot to spend any time there. Too bad.

After the first month on Hutchinson Island we moved to an RV park closer to Laurel's house and that worked out fine. We also took a few days and moved the Bus closer to Chuck so that we could spend more time with him. We stayed at John Prince Park in Lake Worth and had a site that backed right onto Lake Osborn.

It was a beautiful, spacious park and we were able to take some nice walks although with the many warnings about alligators I was always looking over my shoulder. Never saw one but we did see some cool birds.

 

We're heading for Toronto to visit with my niece Shelby, her husband Dan, and their very cute little boy Sam who we will meet for the first time. We haven't seen Shelby and Dan for two years so are looking forward to our visit. On the way to Toronto we stopped in Winchester, Virginia, to visit with friends Patti and Denny. We spent much of our time with them in Vieques so it's always a pleasure to see them again and get caught up on things.

Arizona to Red Bay, Alabama

 

We had a nice spring in Arizona this year but once the temperatures got close to the triple-digit range we knew it was time to pack up and move on. The Bus barely fits into our driveway, which is steeper than it looks in this picture - it's a tribute to Brian's driving skills that he backs it in there so well. Before leaving he completed some projects on the Bus including replacing our 32" flat screen TV with a 37" flat screen. It looks great. We also finished up the latest round of medical appointments which went well, and enjoyed catching up with friends.

Our travel plan was to head directly to Florida to help Brian's sister Laurel get moved from Nyack, NY,  into the house that she bought in Port St Lucie. We crossed Arizona and New Mexico before hitting Texas which seems to take forever to cross. It has such a contrast from west to east beginning with wide open spaces stretching for miles

to what I refer to as The Tunnel of Trees closing us in.

When we were about halfway across Texas we heard from Laurel that there were a few glitches that would delay her move. We decided to detour and head for the Tiffin factory in Red Bay, Alabama, where our Bus was built. This isn't our first trip to Red Bay so we're pretty familiar with the routine. The campground next to the service area is mostly on an old airport runway. There are close to 100 full hookup sites, several sites with water and electric, and when those are full there's a dry camping area.

Many Tiffin owners prefer to come to Red Bay for service on their coaches. The techs are usually quick and know how to go about doing what needs to be done, and the legendary Tiffin customer service is excellent. When we arrived it seemed that most of the sites were taken. Really interesting to see so many Tiffins in one place and always interesting to compare notes with other Tiffin owners.
We had some paint issue on the roofline of the Bus and decided to have it taken care of in Red Bay at a paint and body shop that we had used before. They do a nice job and are reasonably priced. Since the weather was rainy we had to spend the night in the paint booth, something we have done before.

 

A bit claustrophobic and stuffy but we survived and were out early the next morning.

 

 

We think we've finished up with everything we can do here and will stay through the Memorial Day holiday weekend, then head for Florida.

Spring Has Sprung

This is a beautiful time of year to be in Arizona. The desert is full of life, and the flowering cactus and succulents have been incredibly large this year. Our friend Laura came for a visit from Colorado and one morning we took a hike up to a ridge overlooking Fountain Hills. Great view of the fountain and surrounding area.

Since the last time I hiked the ridge they have put in several nice benches along the way.

Every morning we walk Tilly around the fountain. Lots of flowering cactus with huge flowers. I took 2 shots of this one to put size into perspective a bit.

 

 

The blooms on the cactus only last about 24 hours. I took this shot one morning

 

 

and this shot the next morning of the same cactus.

 

 

One of my favorite cactus is called an ocotillo. They grow quite tall and branch out

 

 

and have exquisite flowers among the thorns.

 

 

I don't know the name of these succulents but assume they are some type of agave. The stalks coming out of them are HUGE.

I took this picture down the street from us because I was amazed at how tall they were growing in pots.

The palo verde trees are in full bloom as well. They're very messy trees and not particularly great for allergies but they're beautiful when they bloom.

 

We don't know why everything is blooming so well this year and haven't had an explanation from some of the locals we talk to either. Enjoyable to see though.

It's starting to heat up a little which usually signals the end to our time in this area. Lots of projects have been done and we'll be ready to hit the road within the next few weeks if all goes well.

Guanajuato and on to Arizona

After leaving SMA we headed for Guanajuato. We were there a year ago and knew that it would take more than one visit to see more of the city. Some of the history and information that we found interesting on our previous visit can be found by linking to last year's post. I wrote about some of the history of this area and the role of the hero Pipila whose massive statue overlooks the city as seen in the photo above.

Guanajuato is built around a narrow valley. Colorful houses are perched on steep hillsides and streets wind up and around the city.

The streets of Guanajuato follow the rugged mountainsides with small alleyways, plazas and in some cases steep staircases up hillsides. Our friends Ericka, Antonio, and Andoni joined us for the weekend and showed us some of their favorite places. Here they are posed with Brian at the bottom of one of these staircases next to an Irish Pub(?).

Because of its topography there isn't one main plaza as there are in many Mexican towns. Instead, the alleyways and staircases link a series of plazas, mansions, and historic buildings. This gives Guanajuato a bit of a European flavor.

 

The streets in the central historic district are narrow and winding but very picturesque with decorative balconies and colorful flowers. This is a town that is better seen on foot than in a car, although we did see some smaller buses navigating the streets.

 

The tunnels in Guanajuato are a distinguishing feature that make driving a nightmare. The city was prone to flooding so a series of long channels were dug to divert the water. Today these tunnels have been converted into roadways. They are extensive and complex. Maps of the city show roads and routes but it's very confusing because the roads are on two levels and it's not easy to figure out which are underground. In addition, the tunnels are adequate for cars and small buses, but definitely not most RVs. It's always a horror story when we hear of a fellow RVer who somehow ended up in the tunnels.

The following map of Guanajuato shows streets which have solid lines for the border, tunnels which have dotted lines for the border, and the alleyways are dotted lines. Difficult to see, but clicking on the map will enlarge it and give an idea of what I'm trying to convey. Crazy and what a maze to navigate.

 

Entrances to the tunnels are found throughout the city.

Although it's no fun for driving, we really love walking around and seeing the sights. One of the places we went last year was the Teatro Juarez but we were unable to get inside at that time. This year we toured the magnificent interior.

 

 

 

I took a picture of this alleyway leading to a beautiful brick building with pink flowerboxes because I thought it was a pretty cool scene.

A few minutes later while I was doing a little silver jewelry shopping -this is the silver city- Brian told me to come out and see what was coming down the walkway. Love it.

A few other street scenes....

 

 

 

Andoni, Ericka, Sue and Brian in one of the plazas.

 

We had a great time in Guanajuato, and as I said in my last post there's so much to see and do that we'll have to return again and again. After leaving Guanajuato we headed back to Arizona, where we'll be for a few months taking care of business until it gets too hot and we're ready to hit the road again.

Maps of our journey follow

 

San Miguel de Allende to Guanajuato, approximately 50 miles

Guanajuato to the Columbia Crossing in Texas