first day at the rally

Of course I was right, and believe me, I so wanted to be wrong, but at 6:30 Spike woke up. He lay there for maybe 5 minutes, then jumped on top of me... there was no convincing him that he wanted to go back to sleep. So I dragged myself out of bed, threw a bit of water on my hair (it stands on end when I get out of bed), and riffled through the closet for walking clothes. Ugg.

In all fairness to the dogs, all three of them had done their business before we had walked 200 yards. So I guess it was a legit outing.

They aren't the dogs they used to be though. There was very little tugging as we walked our old route through the 'back 40'. It is a lovely walk, especially so early in the morning on a sunny day. So it wasn't all bad ;-)

Grace is happy to be in her corner window cage. She loved her time outside yesterday afternoon, but wasn't upset about coming inside. This cage is a huge upgrade from the one she was in in (in in?) the old camper. She loves this one.

It was cloudy with on and off again showers thru the afternoon so Carm and I went to the outlet mall. I went crazy and bought two things - yes, grown-up clothes and not t-shirts. I wonder if this is what they mean by 'dressing in age appropriate clothes'? Hummm...

More people arrived in the afternoon so we wandered around outside talking to people, and then it was time for RAXX to cook us dinner again - this time RIBS. Wonderful ribs :-)

By the time we were back it was time for the dogs to go outside, and just enough time before bed to spend a few minutes at the campfire.

We are having a good time!

on the road again

I started off narrating this to my phone as we roared down the road this morning, but it was quickly clear that I wasn’t a quick talker or a clear speaker.

Here’s my first few sentences before I gave up:

“Ben 10 and we're on the road temperature is already at 23 so it looks like we're going to have a nice sunny day and maybe even if what's the summer for a first ending. “

This is what really happened: It was ten past ten and we are on the road. The temperature is already 23C, so it looks like we are going to have a nice sunny day, and maybe even summer, for our first camp of the year.

We had a safe trip, although there was a question about one of our brake calipers - it seemed seized. Braking was still good so we carried on our trip and by the time we got to Kingston all was well.

Not many people are here yet so we’ve had a relaxing afternoon and evening. We went to RAXX for supper for the chicken wing special - oh, yummy. Perhaps the best wings we’ve ever had.

The dogs are excited, although the heat has worn them out. I fully expect Spike to wake me up at 6am...

having the right words

What do you say to a man standing in the reception line beside the urn with the ashes of his wife? A man that we know was madly in love with his wife. His 56 year old wife. Well, I really don't know and I can say with some degree of certainty that I fubbed it up. "Nice to see you" is not the right thing to say. I couldn't say what I wanted to say or I'd burst into wild tears. Which is probably worse than saying the wrong thing.

We were at another visitation on Friday, this time for Carm's first cousin Aldo's wife. All the family was there, including many aunts, uncles, and cousins from Toronto. So it was a 'good time' (for some, very bad for others).

Saturday was a more up-lifting outing. We drove the 1 1/2 hours to see Olaf & Tammy to help celebrate Freya's 6th birthday. Luckily it was a lovely evening so we were able to sit outside. The dozen or so kids ran around the backyard like a bunch of hellions - they had a good time. We adults sat sedately around tables decorated with lovely tablecloths and bunches of flowers. Very grown up. Our conversation digressed to talks of nail polish, and from there: brazilions (look it up) :-0

We are close to being ready for our trip. A few (if few means 10s and 10s) things to load on and then all the food. I've planned out some meals so I won't be bringing the whole pantry/fridge, but I'll have some 'just in cases' along for backup. Poodles faces have been clipped, a blood letting this morning shortened their nails, and hotdog treats were made to encourage good behavior.

I'll get most of the last minute things loaded tomorrow, like my favorite silicone spatula and tongs, the instant pot, griddler, and my awesome little vacuum. Everything else will load Wednesday morning. It will be a rush: we plan on leaving at 10am but may be a bit later - since nobody is depending on us being on time we won't stress if we are a bit later.

I'm getting a bit excited.