Canada is cold…and it’s always nice to come home.

Aaaaaand we’re back at West Bay Marina in Pelican Bay, Tx. Well, one thing  we know for sure is that this tree stump is happy to have us back at the lake…

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a happy tree stump

We stayed at Frontier RV Park in Azle for about a week but that won’t be happening again…way overpriced and really doesn’t have any appeal.

We did take a little trip to Canada.  Sorry for the blurriness of the photo.  It was windy and cold and I refused to put the window down. haha Yes, I said Canada and no, we didn’t take the RV, the dogs, or the cat.  We just had to do something about that bumpy truck so Will researched and found a solution.  An air ride suspension.  Well, the only place we could get this is in Canada and (believe it or not) it was actually more cost efficient to drive up there and have it installed than for them to ship it and install it ourselves. So, that’s what we did.  It was a very uneventful trip, until we got to the Canadian border.  We arrived at the border around 1:45am so of course they’re suspicious…and who drives to Canada for car parts?  We do…:-D  We did have to store Will’s firearm at the sheriff’s station in Grand Marais, MN, which is the last town before the border.  We told the border patrol that we did that and they said that was interesting and had never heard of that.  The police at the sheriff’s station seemed to have a protocol for it and put it in a lock box, so it had definitely been done before.  Talk about a lack of communication. LOL So, they scanned our passports and searched the truck, found nothing, and sent us on our way. We still had an hour drive to our final destination. I think we arrived at our hotel around 3:00am (we did lose an hour…).  There was no snow yet, but it was still a bit chilly for Texans.  The next day Will dropped the truck off at the mechanic and we were walking distance from everything so we decided to walk to lunch.  I’m sure people were looking at us as if we were crazy.  We were wearing coats, hats, and gloves.  It was about 45 degrees and the Canadians were walking around in tank tops, light sweaters, and a few even wore sandals!!!  I suppose that isn’t cold to them.  We ate lunch, went to the mall, then back to the hotel.  There really wasn’t much to do without a car when it’s really cold outside! The mechanic insisted on taking us to dinner so we went to a place called Kelsey’s.  It was very similar to restaurants in the states.  However, they eat beef gravy with french fries. The server also brought vinegar to the table for Will’s fries.  Apparently, that’s just what they do.  😉  We left the next morning and didn’t have as much trouble getting back over the border, but we did get the same question…”You came to Canada for car parts?”.  Yes, it does sound a little odd, but after we explained it they seemed to understand.  We took a little detour through Wisconsin to meet a lady I’ve been talking to on Spark People and FitBit.  That was really cool.  She and her husband have 140 acres and a lake, so we felt right at home in the country, except it’s a little colder up there than in TX.  She made dinner and invited us to stay the night.  The next morning they showed us around their small town, which is adorable! We had a great time!  It was so nice to finally meet her and her husband!

After a week of different hotels and even staying at a friend’s house for a night, we’re so glad to be home!!! The RV has been parked at West Bay Marina since before we left so all we had to do was pick up the dogs and cat, then head back to the RV.  We did stop at mom’s for a bit to wish my brother Scotty a happy birthday.  His birthday dinner was the night we came home.  We were late for dinner but arrived just in time for the opening of presents. 🙂  I can’t believe my little brother is 39!!! That’s just so weird. Wait, if he’s only a year away from 40, that means I’m IN my 40s…that can’t be right.  😉

Thank goodness this trip wasn’t as eventful as our trip home from Galveston!!!  Here’s a little recap… img_1817-2

Remember, we haven’t even really started our journey yet!

Until next time, my friends…

***funny little side note…

Typical conversations between Will and me.

As we’re driving through Iowa and Kansas Will says, “Wow, I feel like I’m walking on a treadmill and the scenery on the screen in just looping…”.  (if you’ve ever driven through Iowa or Kansas you’ll know what we mean.  Corn fields for MILES!!!).  Oh, and for the record, Iowa smells like manure. Seriously, the entire state. Every time we stopped we had to hold our breath when we got out of the truck.  Wow…it was so bad!

This also happened.  Ok, I really don’t want anything political in our blog, but I thought this was very funny…and very “Will”.  We’re driving through KS and we see an exit for “Clinton Falls”, well he just couldn’t let THAT go and he says, “Well, that’s accurate.”. This happened only a few days after the election. (Sorry to our more liberal friends, but hey, it was funny!).

We’re driving alongside Lake Superior and I look into the woods and say, “I wonder if anyone has been killed in these woods.  What do you think?”.  Will, in his very “Will” sort of way, says, “Ya know, I was just wondering the same thing!!! Wait, no I wasn’t…because I’m not a psychopath.”.  :-/

Oh, and I forgot to get my souvenir magnet and/or pen in Canada.  I only remembered in KS, of all places.  I suppose we’ll just have to make another trip!  It was a huge DUH moment.