The Migratory McDonalds

We entered Canada at Sault St. Marie ten days ago and were put under the country’s spell immediately. We slowed down, I haven’t painted or written in the blog until now. The night before we crossed the border, we thought we should read once again the regulations on what can be brought over the border. We had fixated on alcohol, but hadn’t paid much attention to other items. We were shocked to read we couldn’t bring in chicken - we were mildly surprised on all fresh fruits and vegetables. We went into problem solving mode and within minutes, pulled out our little Instant Pot and crammed it full of chicken breasts. Then Gary made a monster pot of vegetable soup, using every vegetable we had in the fridge. We ended up with two gallons of soup and 4 pounds of shredded chicken that we stuffed into the fridge. We were ready for the crossing. The next morning we got up early as usual (by that time we were in Eastern time zone) and headed across the bridge to the border. A nice young man asked...

Yesterday evening was so beautiful. We sat outside and enjoyed broasted chicken, fresh watermelon, and the gifted bottle of wine from our friend Rhonda, all of which tasted delicious. A slight wind came up off the shore of Indian Lake  bringing with it a fresh rain smell and the chirping sounds of frogs settling in for the night.  At dusk, as we were putting chairs under cover of the canopy and cleaning up, a white car pulled up in the space next to us. Three people got out and quickly put up their tent and a bright blue rain tarp. As we started to hear the pitter patter of rain drops on the RV roof, we saw them dive into the tent for the night. This morning, after a torrential rainstorm with wind and thunder through the night, Gary and I both had the same thought. I put on a pot of water to boil, as well as started the coffee. As soon as the new neighbors emerged from their tent, Gary asked them if they wanted tea or coffee. They all opted for chai tea, so I immediately poure...

Yesterday we drove through several swamplands and sand dunes to reach Muskallonge Lake Park, one of the only reservations we made for the whole trip - supposedly for Memorial Day weekend. As we had sidetrip after sidetrip, I would go online and postpone the reservation, with a $10 charge each time. In order to save $50 for a two-night stay, I spent an extra $20 for the changes, and then when we arrived found out we were one of five campers in a park that had at least 245 other free spaces.  It didn’t take us long to figure out why so few campers. Once we parked the RV, almost immediately we were caged animals in a very crowded zoo. At every window, swarms of mosquitoes and back flies buzzed at the cracks, determined to reach their prey - us. You couldn’t walk outside and breathe without inhaling bugs.  It reminded both of us of our wedding night, as we sat there in the RV, laughing as we reminisced. Thirty six years ago, on June 26th, we were headed to Canada with our bright r...