🍁 To Canada & Beyond......Part 1

     Long time no post! Thanks for checking out the blog. 

    We ended our summer position at Priest Gulch Campground on Sunday September 29th at about 3 pm and hit the road by 4 pm. First stop: Durango, Colorado. Next morning, onto Canton New York (2,159 miles). Why Canton NY you say? Because our longtime dear SOWER friends (Joe & Kim) reside there and invited us and, now that we're retired we can do that!

                                                                  Joe & Kim

    Diving a 38' motorhome and pulling a car takes just a wee bit more endurance than just a passenger car so, we broke our driving down into two segments per day. We drove approximately three hours in the morning (175-200 miles) then, stopped for a break where we had lunch or even took a nap. We then drove another similar segment in the afternoon (from about 1-4pm) before we stopped for the night. Since we needed diesel fuel, we took all breaks at truck stops and, took advantage of truck stops, Cracker Barrel, and Walmart for our "freebie" nights. We also planned some sight-seeing and a few stays at RV parks as well.

    The first RV park was just outside of St. Louis in St. Charles Missouri. The plan....visit the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and take the tram ride up to the top! By the way, I don't know how we ever got around in big cities before GPS!                                                                                                                          The Arch has been a longtime bucket-list item for me since first seeing it in our home encyclopedias when I was a kid so, Noreen went along with it. Pretty cool stop and an engineering masterpiece if your mind is attracted to that sort of thing. We also took some time to hang out in the historic old town of St. Charles, enjoying a New Orleans-type atmosphere with dinner overlooking the street and a French coffee shop bakery in the morning.

                                                                    Inside at the top

                                           A model of the shuttle pod system inside the arch

                                                               Shadow on the Mississippi

                                     Busch stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals MLB team

                                                           Main street St. Charles

    Our next planned tourist visit was none other than Niagara Falls. We rolled the house on into the RV parking lot on US soil and drove the car across the Canadian border to view the Falls from Canada... (the recommended best view and, we agree!). Just a lil hint if you're going to drive into Canada, be careful talking about any guns you might own. The border patrol WILL want to know if you own any. If you do, they will (casually) inquire if you have it/them with you...( "No") "Have you ever had them in this vehicle?"..."Umm... Noooo". We caught on really quick. 

The next RV park was in Phelps, New York. Hard to forget this one - Cheerful Valley RV Park. They had a live band on Friday night (the biggest highlight of the park really). This stop was more to freshen up, fill the tanks (water & propane), and get some good rest before rolling into Canton, NY at Joe & Kim's place.  They have a beautiful piece of the north woods just 15 miles south of the St. Lawrence river and Canada. The really unique thing about their 85 acres, is that all the buildings: house, garage, barn, shop, and treehouse were constructed from trees on their property. Joe owns a Wood-Mizer LT 40 hydraulic mill. Joe harvested and milled all the wood for the buildings... just impressive and amazing! 

                                                Main house (started out as a cabin) and garage

              Joe has been a life-long hunter and showcases impressive and numerous trophies in his home;                                                          moose, deer, caribou, and bear.

          The Tree House is an impressive structure and, certainly not what you know as a "Tree House!" The main room includes the kitchen (propane stove/oven, propane fridge, sink), dining table with 2 chairs, and a lovely sitting area with two recliners.

                                                          

                                 

       The tree house also has running water.  A 12- volt battery supplies power to a water pump which draws water from a large, plastic water tank. It also supplies water to the toilet which then runs into a septic system. Heat is supplied by propane Heater Buddies. We were allowed use of their Gator to drive the 1/4 mile path out to the Tree House - total seclusion!  And though brief (due to chilly mornings), Noreen is firm about "The Experience" and so, took full advantage of enjoying her morning cup of coffee on the screened-in porch.  

We spent three wonderful nights enjoying this cozy, charming, and lovely place. What a unique experience!!

Part 2 of our cross country adventure coming soon!

By ya'll.