Monday 11th July
Visited Ira and Ann in their luxurious apartment in the middle of Montreal.
We stayed for supper and watched Perry Mason on “Access TV”. Access TV is intended for the visually impaired and is just like watching regular TV but with a voiceover describing everything that’s going on – quite bizarre and addictive.
Tuesday 12th July
Some while ago Carol got to go round the Montreal Biodome and I didn’t. So when a trip to the Biodome with Ken’s brothers and families was suggested we were glad to tag along.
Next to the Olympic stadium,
the Biodome is the old velodrome from the 1966 Olympics and had been converted into a multi-climate animal and plant habitat.
There are huge beavers,
and monkeys that refuse to look at the camera.
My favourite, the otter who wouldn’t stay still for long enough for a sharp photo.
Capybaras,
parrots,
an aquarium with lots of huge sturgeon,
and some kind of flightless bird just wandering around.
Afterwards we took a walk round Old Montreal and the port area.
Wednesday 13th July
Ken and Cheryl had tickets for Eddie Izzard at the Just for Laughs festival so we took the opportunity for another visit to Ira and Ann
Thursday 14th July
Just hanging out for the day.
Friday 15th July
Got a call that the replacement RV fridge cooling unit had been delivered so it was time to head back to Ontario.
Saturday 16th July
Back at 5th Depot Lake, Sandy and I started work on removing the fridge. While he and Carol did some shopping in Kingston I managed to lever it out 6” ready for removal.
Sunday 17th July
Sandy and I removed the fridge from its spot and separated the cooling unit (the whole fridge wouldn’t fit through the door) and carried it outside. Here’s the new one ready for installation.
That was the back view. The front looks like this.
And the idea is to stuff that great block of Styrofoam with the embedded tubing into the cavity in the back of the fridge itself.
We had Sandy and Ellen’s very good neighbours Don & Debbie over for supper.
Monday 18th July
We had early morning thunderstorms & heavy rain but it cleared up later and Sandy and I continued working on the fridge, dry fitting the cooling unit several times before finally taking the plunge and siliconing it in place.
After just putting it back in place out of the way we called it a day.
Tuesday 19th July
Things hadn’t gone quite perfectly with putting the fridge back together, so a little silicon was necessary around the insides.
Wednesday 20th July
Before Sandy went off to play golf we connected the burner and electrical stuff back up and fired up the fridge.
Thursday 21st July
Hmm! The fridge is working but the temperature range just isn’t right. Since there is no temperature control per se there’s not much one can do about this.
Friday 22nd July
Time to leave another spot and move on. Because it is so hot (record temperatures everywhere) we decide to give the fridge (and us) a chance and go to Sandy Mountain Campsite where we can run the RV air conditioning and also run the fridge on electricity to see if that makes it work any better.
Saturday 23rd July
Since the master plan involved towing the Miata (which we had left with Lena and Peter) behind the RV, we needed to go to the farm to swap cars. When we arrived we found that the same wind storm that blew away a stage at the Ottawa Bluesfest (and also blew down a tree at Richard Hayward’s) had blown down a tree that we had parked the RV under previously – as in this picture.
The tree now looks like this.
Sunday 24th July
Went over to Colin and Caroline’s and did a bicycle rack swap.
Monday 25th July
After talking to the guys who sold us the replacement fridge cooling unit, I tightened the bolts that pull the parts together – maybe this will help.
Tuesday 26th July
The fridge seems to be working better now; maybe it’s going to be O.K. Time to leave the campsite and get traveling. So after gassing up (ouch!) and propaning up we hitched the Miata on to the back of the RV and headed East.
On the way we stopped at Fireball Automotive in the middle of nowhere to get the RV transmission tested. Nothing seriously wrong, thank goodness, just a sensor misbehaving.
In thunderstorms and rain we drove to Ken and Cheryl’s in Montreal and parked half on their driveway and half on the neighbours’.
Wednesday 27th July
Read up a bit about RV fridges and found that although there isn’t a true temperature control you can make things cooler by moving the temperature sensor further up the fins that it is clipped to.
We went for supper at an Indian restaurant before going to see Paul F Tompkin (very entertaining fella) in the Katacombes as part of the Just for Laughs. It’s a weird place – here’s an example of the decorations.
Thursday 28th July
Ira and Ann came over to meet Ken and Cheryl and we all had pizza from our favourite Montreal pizza place.
Friday 29th July
Part of the deal with the new cooling unit for the fridge was that we had to return the old unit (they refurbish them and then resell them). Fedex came very early to take away the old unit, waking us all up!! And then we prepared the RV for moving on.
By early afternoon we were heading east to Quebec City.
By 5 o’clock we were parked in John and Rejeanne’s driveway in St. Jean Chrysostome.
Saturday 30th July
A day for tidying up the RV.
We had a visit from Rejeanne’s sister’s brother-in-law, Normand, who is a good friend to John and Rejeanne and a great guy.
We had supper outside and sat by the backyard fire for quite a while.
Sunday 31st July
Another day cleaning up while John was at work. I gave a ride to their next door neighbour, Sylvie, who has always wanted a ride in a convertible. I even let her drive it which tickled her pink.
We had Rejeanne’s famous tofu veggie pie for supper – just the best.
Later Sylvie, her daughter and Michelle the person she shares the house with came over to sit by the fire. Another night for me being the only non-French-speaking person in the group.
Monday 1st August
Thunderstorms and heavy rain and yet another RV roof leak – sigh!
We all intended to go to the local seafood place but after the ladies had got all dolled up, we found it closed on Mondays – sigh! Settled for pizza.
Tuesday 2nd August
Got to go to the seafood place. It was excellent. They have a very odd pricing arrangement from Tuesday to Thursday (which worked well for us) In one section of the menu which had rather pricey meals, if you ordered one of them, you got a second meal from the list free!! (Go figure!!)
Wednesday 3rd August
Time to move on. John had left early for work so after saying goodbye to Rejeanne and spending a couple of hundred bucks on a gas fill-up we were on our way.
We stopped for lunch with a view of the Lake Témiscouata that we stayed alongside last year.
We stayed in a campsite that night in St. Basile – very near Edmunston. Apparently it’s rained there every day this summer and although our site looks dry it was pretty damp there – and raining.
Thursday 4th August
On to Carol’s sister’s place in Quispamsis near St. John and time for us to forsake the RV life for a couple of weeks and live in an actual house.
Friday 5th August
After emptying stuff out of the RV, we moved it over to park it in Jean and Tim’s son’s driveway. Teddy and Kim have lots of land and a huge driveway.
We were invited over for supper but had to break in as the dog had locked Kim and baby Nathan out of the house – don’t ask.
Nathan is nearly two now and is a big lad.
Saturday 6th August
Polish restaurant on the way to Hampton for breakfast.
It was beautiful day so I took a ride in the Miata with the top down round the twisty roads of the Kennebecasis Valley.
Sunday 7th August
A little booze shopping but not much else.
Monday 8th August
Time for a dental visit and have a missing filling redone. Plus a trip to Lords Seafood in the old City Market for their special smoked salmon.
Tuesday 9th August
Got to go to the movies - Crazy, Stupid Love. Well Emma Stone was great.
Carol feels like she’s getting a cold, this is not good.
Wednesday 10th August to Monday 15th August
Carol in the throes of a very nasty cold.
The weather here in late August has lots of foggy days as it rolls in from the Bay of Fundy. This is how the ferries looked one evening from Jean Tim’s deck.
Tuesday 16th August
Carol’s feeling better so it’s out for a shopping day and a trip to the movies - Capt America in Real 3D. Not bad for a superhero movie.
Wednesday 17th August to Sunday 21st August
Carol still not feeling 100% so not doing much of anything except for a supper over at Teddy and Kim’s on the Friday.
Monday 22nd August
A trip to the hairdressers for Carol and what’s this, now I’m catching a cold.
Tuesday 23rd August
Day one of cold misery
Wednesday 24th August
Day 2 of cold misery – this really is a doozy
Thursday 25th August
Day 3 of cold misery
Friday 26th August
Finally feeling better so it’s back over to the RV to start getting it ready for a trip
Saturday 27th August
While Carol cleans and tidies, I do various jobs around the RV.
Sunday 28th August
Irene is on its way and the rain has already started. However, our preparations continue.
Battened down the RV hatches ready for the worst.
Monday 29th August
We woke up to no power. However, it was very local blackout and when we got to the RV Teddy and Kim had power.
We moved the RV back over to Jean and Tim’s and started loading all our stuff back in again. Supper was takeout Chinese over at Teddy and Kim’s.
Tuesday 30th August
The original plan for summer was to visit Newfoundland. RV fridge repaqirs and various other delays put a stop to that. So we decided to visit another island instead.
The day started foggy but soon cleared to a really nice day and by 1 pm we were on the road in search of the Fundy Trail.
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