News & Photos - May 2008

A Long Winter
Current Location: Site J5, Milton Heights Campground, Milton, Ontario
Dates: Nov. 25, 2007-May 22, 2008
Services: E/W/S; Cost: $17.74 + electrical = approx. $19.15; Nights: 177

It's been a long winter, with abnormally large amounts of snow. However, spring is finally in the air, and the snowbanks are melting quickly! Weather like this makes me want to travel again, which I will be doing, starting May 22.
This year, my travel plans include heading towards Canada's west coast via the Prairies. Stay tuned for “year 2” of my trip!

I left Algonquin Park earlier than planned, as the snow on the trees blocked my satellite Internet access and I needed to read email from Nortel. Milton Heights will be my base for the winter, while I return to work.

Since I'll be here all winter, I've switched to the monthly rate (instead of paying by the week); this get significantly cheaper after several months. Electrical usage is metered and billed separately, instead of being included in the per-night rate. The campground is mostly vacant; only 46 sites are occupied this winter. Some additional sites are used for storage of RVs that are used during the summer.

I've also tried to “winter-proof” the trailer, including wraping pipe heating tape around the incoming water line, and adding extra insulation around the indoor plumbing lines. I've put a plywood “skirt” around the trailer, to keep the wind from blowing underneath it, and I'm starting to buy propane in 100-pound tanks, so that I don't need to refill the 30-pound tanks every 5 days. This makes the trailer comfortable down to about -10°C, when the interior water pipes start to freeze at night.




Get Ready, Get Set...
Current Location: Back parking lot, Big Country RV, Listowel, Ontario
Dates: May 22-23, 2008
Services: WiFi; Cost: Free; Nights: 1

After my soul-searching, I've decided to resign from Nortel and spend a year or more traveling through the remainder of Canada. Yesterday was my last day at work, when I was treated to a delicious lunch at Boston Pizza and given some very generous gifts. It's been a fun 15 years with Nortel (and its subsidiary, Prism Systems)... I've worked with some great people, but recently I've felt that it was time to be moving on. I'd like to thank all my co-workers and managers; you're a great bunch of people.

I've spent the day out at the RV dealership, getting a few minor problems with my trailer fixed. Happily, it looks like everything except the annual brake maintenance should be covered under warranty. This place is rather unusual; half of the building is a Ford dealership, and the other have is an RV dealership. It's ideal for me... “one-stop shopping”! Tomorrow, I take the truck in for its repairs; I had the garage in Milton price them out, and this dealership is about 25% cheaper than the “Toronto prices” that they wanted in Milton. Since I'm here for two days, they let me spend the night parked in their back parking lot, surrounded by old cars and trailers. There's no electricity back here, but I can get a WiFi signal from the shop that they let me use.

Hopefully tomorrow afternoon I can start heading north, although I may have to find a local campground for tomorrow night if the remaining repairs take too long.
On My Way!
Current Location: Site 145, Conestogo Lake Conservation Area, Drayton, Ontario
Dates: May 23-25, 2008
Services: E/W; Cost: $34.00; Nights: 2

It was just a short drive today, down the road from the RV dealership to Conestogo Lake. This is part of the Grand River Conservation Authority, and it's been on my “to do” list for a while. Since I'm in the area, I thought that I'd stay a few nights.

Constego Lake was formed in 1958 when the dam across the Conestogo River was completed. It has a 500 kW turbine for electrical power generation; pike and bass fishing is popular in the lake. Sadly, the two hiking trails were very short and not scenic.


Cyclist's Paradise
Current Location: Site 65, Albion Hills Conservation Area, Bolton, Ontario
Dates: May 25-26, 2008
Services: E/W; Cost: $31.50; Nights: 1

I'm trying to stick to the “drive no more than 2 hours per day” recommendation; after all, life is a journey, not a destination. So, Albion Hills seemed a good stopping point for the night; despite being close to Milton, I've never stayed here before.

There are several hiking trails in the park, as well as 4 mountain bike trails which also permit hikers to use them. It's time for me to try to get back in shape! On Sunday there was an endless stream of bikers passing through; by evening, they had all left, and the park was very quiet.
Land of the Pink Granite Rocks
Current Location: Site 56, Killbear Provincial Park, Parry Sound, Ontario
Dates: May 26-29, 2008
Services: None; Cost: $32.40; Nights: 3

It was a three hour drive up to Parry Sound. Highway 400 is still under construction, as they are almost finished converting a two-lane road into a four-lane controlled-access highway. Fortunately, there were no major delays.

To help offset the rising price of gasoline, I'm trying to save money in other areas. For example, to save $5 a night, I decided to have a unserviced campsite (no electrical hookups) while at Killbear. However, the office staff managed to talk me into choosing a “premium” site by the lake, so I paid back $3 of the $5 that I saved. So, I'm sitting watching the peaceful lake and powering my computer from the inverter connected to the truck's battery. Surprisingly, I can get a cellular Internet signal here, so I don't need to set up the satellite dish.






Hills and Valleys
Current Location: Site 5, Fairbank Provincial Park, Worthington, Ontario
Dates: May 29-30, 2008
Services: E; Cost: $34.40; Nights: 1

The drive up to Sudbury was good, with light traffic. However, this park is about 30 km off the highway over very rough roads. The potholes and sharp corners tossed around the contents of the trailer; cushions, loose CDs and cat toys were scattered all over the floor.

The park is almost as rough as the roads leading to it; the campground roads are steep, and many campsites are not level. After driving around, I found an acceptable site, but this is the first time this year that I've had to use my wheel chocks.

Since there is only one small hiking trail here, and not much to see in Sudbury, I'll only be staying one night.






The Good, The Bad and the Miserable
Current Location: Site 13, Westview Trailer Park, Elliot Lake, Ontario
Dates: May 30-June 3, 2008
Services: E/W/S; Cost: $25.00; Nights: 4

After a fairly uneventful drive along Highway 17, I turned north on the highway up to Elliot Lake. Although this is a good paved road, after about 2 km, the truck started shaking. When I pulled over to see what was wrong, I discovered that my right rear tire on the truck had developed a hole, and was completely flat. The ERS (emergency road-side service) center said that it would be between an hour to an hour and a half for a tow-truck to arrive. Since my future plans include driving some very remote roads (e.g. the Trans-Labrador Highway), I decided to try to change the tire myself (something that I've never done, as I've only had one other flat tire in my life). By the time that the tow-truck arrived, I had unhitched the trailer at the side of the road, got the spare tire out from under the truck, chocked the wheels, jacked up the corner, removed the old tire, and was just putting the new one on. The tow-truck driver helped me put everything back together and I was on my way, an hour and a quarter after I stopped. During that time, it was pouring rain, so I was rather soaked by the time that I was on my way again. Fortunately, a garage in Elliot Lake did have an in-stock replacement, but it was closed over the weekend.

The park itself is actually fairly nice. Although it overlooks the main road through town, traffic is fairly light and a community park overlooking the lake is a short walk away. The sites are level and the price is excellent! This is the first time that I've stayed in a campground run by a city; all my previous camping has either been in private commercial campgrounds, or provincial parks.

In the basement of the Elliot Lake Visitors Center is the Mining Museum, with many exhibits showing the logging operations that started in the 1890's to the uranium mining that occurred in this region. The mining started in 1953 and lasted until 1996, when the Stanleigh mine (the last of the 14 uranium mines in Elliot Lake) closed.

Elliot Lake has many trails, used for hiking, biking, skiing and ATVs. I hiked the Lookout Tower Trail and the Horne Lake Trail; the Trans- Canada Trail also passes through Elliot Lake. There were also trails in the Sherriff Creek Wildlife Santuary, as well as Mississagi Provincial Park, north of town.

Since I stayed until June 3rd, I was able to watch the Snowbirds give a brief performance over the lake. Nine planes swooped by in several formations, however they did not do any barrel rolls or loops in their 10 minute show.












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