Day 56, October 10, (Thanksgiving) Sault Ste Marie to Callander

The final leg of the journey.....
We didn't get on the road until 11:00 due to much chatting!
Just before 2:00, we stopped at Espanola for lunch at Wendys/Tim Hortons. The place was packed, so we left & carried on.
Stopped in Sturgeon Falls at a Chip stand and had Poutine for Thanksgiving dinner - Awesome!
Arrived home at 4:45pm. Seemed strange to come home without the trailer.
Now to unload, unpack and wait patiently for January........

Day 55, Savage to Sault Ste Marie, Ontario

We were on the road at 6:45am, in the dark. Crossed Wisconsin, then Michigan. Lost 1 hour due to the time change from Central to Eastern time zone.
Amazingly, there was NO ONE at customs in the Sault! We were all alone driving over the bridge. No problem or delay at customs, although the agent was confused by the fact that we had been RVing for 2 months but did not have an RV! Then off to find our friends, Mike & Diane, where we enjoyed a great supper of turkey and all the trimmings. Today was a 1032km drive!

Mike has the most awesome garage! It houses his 40 foot RV and the truck. Has a 14 foot high door and must be 60 feet deep!
Had a great visit. They are leaving for Arizona on Wednesday and we plan to meet up in January.

Days 51 to 54, Savage, Minnesota

Spent a wonderful 4 days relaxing and visiting 3 great-nephews and a great-neice (I think that is how the relationship works???)

We meet Waylon for the first time - he seems happy to see us! He is just recovering from bilateral ear infections that were resistant to the first 2 antibiotics that were given.

Next, we visited Kirsten, Colin, Lliam and Kaitlin (Brian was in Idaho on training).
As you can see, the weather was gorgeous!

 Also had to tend to Marcel, who got what appears to be a spider bite on his hand. Needed an antihistamine to reduce the swelling and saline soaks to keep it clean.

Chris & Marcel cut up a dead tree, split & stacked the wood ready for winter fires.












Marcel was allowed to use the sledgehammer, but not the axe!

The finished project, but there are still 2 trees to cut up!

Day 50, October 4, Des Moines to Savage, Minnesota

The adventure continues!
Sunny and 15C this morning as we drove past field after field of dry corn that stretch as far as the eye can see. Some has been harvested, but the majority is still waiting to be cut.
Passed 3 huge wind farms along the way, There must have been at least 100 wind turbines in each one.

At 10:00, we made a fuel stop at a BP station just at the Iowa/Minnesota border. NEVER AGAIN!

Drove up to the green handled filler & started pumping. Unfortunately, after pumping 9 gallons, Marcel noticed  it was GAS, not diesel. At every station we have been to, the diesel pump is green - not at BP - their diesel has a yellow handle! The station called a local garage and the tow truck was there in about 5 minutes.

Hauled the truck to the garage, pumped out the fuel tank, put 5 gallons of diesel in and brought the truck back, all within an hour, and we were back on the road.

Apparently, this has happened several times before, as the girl at the station knew just who to call! No more BP stations for us! At least the weather was very pleasant, sunny & 26C.

We finally arrived at my brother's in Savage and will spend a few days visiting family.  

Day 49, October 3, Oklahoma City to Des Moines, Iowa

Early start today. By 7:00 we were packed up, fuelled up, said our last goodbyes and webt our separate ways. It was still dark!
By 8:00, the sun was up and we had a clear blue sky. The highway was long, straight and boring! After entering Kansas, the I-35 became the Kansas Turnpike (toll road). 2 hours later, we exited the Turnpike and continued on I-35. Surprisingly, the toll was only $6.00.
We have descended a long way, now at 950 ft elevation and crossing mile after mile of flat farmland.
After passing through Kansas City, we entered Missouri. Leaves are starting to turn. Continued on into Iowa and stopped for the night in north-east Des Moines. Another long day - 900km.

Day 48, October 2, Moriarty to Oklahoma City

Woke up to a chilly morning, 8C at 6:00. However the skies were clear, so it would be sunny!
Packed up & on the road at 8:00. Elevation 6300 ft.
By 9:00, we were at 5,000ft and it had warmed to 21C.
At 10:55, we entered Texas and had yet another time change, losing an hour (now it is 11:55). Temperature is up to 29C.
At 3:17, we entered Oklahoma and shortly after, stopped at the Travel Information center to pick up maps and hotel coupons. Temp was up to 31C.
Arrived at Meridian Inn Motel at 5:37, after a long day, (812KM). After a Happy Hour, went across the street to a buffet for supper. Then it was off to bed for an early night!
Tomorrow, we go our separate ways, Ken & Lynda will take Hwy 44 towards St. Louis, while we will be going north on Hwy 35 to Minnesota.

Once again, it has been a blast!

Day 47, October 1, Cottonwood to Albuquerque

This morning we were all up early (before 6am), in anticipation of preparing to leave our "babies" in a foreign location. There was last minute laundry to be done, as well as winterizing the rigs. We were finally ready to leave at 10:25.

Drove 686 KM today to get just east of Albuquerque in  Moriarty, where we booked in to a Super 8 Motel with inflated prices due to the Balloon Fiesta!

It was strange to pull in and not have anything to do, like hook up the power & water, level the unit, open the slides.......

The weather was great the whole way, about 27C