Our Travel Plans Revealed

WHERE ARE WE?           Rivers Provincial Park, Rivers Manitoba Canada   

NEXT DESTINATION?    Bismark North Dakota,  Thursday Oct 17

Well folks, I guess it is about time that I give everyone a little heads up on our travel plans for this winter.  As you can see by the countdown on the side bar we should be on the road by now.  Well that didn't happen because we had some things to finish up and Pat and Harold had some things to do too, so we are planning to head out on Thursday morning.  But first we have to catch up on what happened in the past week or two.  We got to celebrate a birthday for our youngest grandchild, Max.   Kaitlyn rented a room at the rink and we had a gathering.  Nicole brought Abby, Silas and Emma to join us.  We all had a fun day.

Next event was Grace getting her tonsils out.   It is not quite as traumatic as in the old days but none the less its always scary when a kid is in hospital.  She did awsome and is up and running again.

After that, I had to head to Saskatchewan to tie up some loose ends to do with my Aunts Estate.  She passed away 7 years ago but some paper work still lingers and of course it makes it faster is I am there to sign stuff.  1200 kilometers got me there and back in one loooooong day.

While I was up there I went to visit the old farm that my aunt lived on many years ago.  I used to spend time there as a kids, so there are many memories.  The trees have grown up around the old house to a point where you can hardly see it any more.

Inside the kitchen is the old cook stove that used to make many delicious meals.  There have been lots of visitors since and it seems that they have all made a mess.

It was a long day but I made it there and back.

If you remember I had to fix the seals in our hydraulic fan motor.  Well part of that change meant draining some of the hydraulic oil and now it was time to replace it.  The filler is way in underneath and hard to get at so I went to town and got some hose and a funnel.  Kaitlyn was mortified when she saw it sitting on the dash of the motorhome.  Guess what she thought it was???  She thought I was reverting back to my teen years.  Apparently this is what a bong looks like!!!!

We certainly admit we have stuck around here too long.  Should have been heading south a couple weeks ago.  A guy I know said "Even the geese are smarter than you, they are all gone south!!" LOL

Heading into Brandon

Heading home from Brandon a few hours later

We were in Brandon when they closed the highway to Winnipeg.  It hadn't started to storm in Brandon yet but they closed the gates and all the trucks started to back up along the highway.  They were there for about 36 hours.

Overnight everything turned into a winter wonderland.  We got about a foot of snow and down here in the park we are sheltered from the wind so it just fell straight down.

But in town where Pat and Harold have their MH, the wind blew a nice bank of snow up to their door.

I have to keep with my tradition of bathroom pictures.  They have shut the water off in the public bathrooms in the park so I am destined to use the "outhouse".  It has been ok but a bit chilly until the snow came.  This was the ultimate in outdoor washroom use.  I remember as a kid using an outhouse all winter.  brrrrrrr

Who says Manitoba doesn't have white sand beaches.   Oh wait thats not sand!!!

With all this snow even the furry creatures were looking for a warm place to hide.  This was not a good choice.  I wonder how many miles he had to run before he gave up!!  Poor guy. This is the heater fan in the Jeep by the way.

We had to move all the boats into town to be stored for the winter.  They go in a container so they don't get stolen or vandalised.  Boats and snow just don't seem to go together.

I was a little bit careless when I loaded the first boat and smash!!!  So much for the back window in the truck.  Sorry Karalee!!   I will get it replaced in the spring.

Well I promised to let you in on our travels.   When we told the kids we were leaving, this was the reaction!!!

Actually I am just kidding.  Grace was crying cause mom said no more video games, and Max was crying because Grace was crying, but it did make for a good story!!!  Charlie said "Come on dad, lets get outta here.  I've had enough!!"

So here is the story of our proposed travels.  Thursday Oct 17 we will hook up with Pat and Harold and cross the border heading south.  I think we will take Highway 83 south until we hit some warm weather, then maybe meander west a bit.  P & H and ourselves have to meet 6 more RV's in Ajo Arizona on October 24 to begin our adventure into Mexico!!   We will be travelling in a group of 8 RV's to a little town called La Penita Mexico which is just north of Puerta Vallarta.  It is about 1000 miles south of the USA border and we will take 7 days to travel there.  We will be staying in an RV park for 3 months to see what it is like.  The town is quite Mexican and it is right on the Pacific Ocean so we are really looking forward to our time there.  Around the end of January we will head back north to either Texas or Arizona.  That destination depends on weather and where other friends might be. so stay tuned for that detail.   I hope you take the time to follow us along and we hope our blog might take away some of the fears of travelling Mexico.  We have done research until we are blue in the face, and have friends who are seasoned Mexican travellers and we are confident that travelling there will be as enjoyable as anywhere else in the world.

Regular blogs will begin on Thursday evening hopefully as our adventure begins.  Adios Amigos!!

The view out our window tells you why we are heading south.