trip to Kirtland, OH and to Keene, Ontario
Thursday, July 17, 2008
10 am
The drive was a long one – not used to driving the 6 hour trips anymore since we don't go to NY that often anymore! It took us about 7 hours just because of stopping and taking our time with Esa.
She did not do well on the trip – she was panting basically the whole way and would not relax. She finally laid down about the last hour.
We just hung out with Grandma last night. I ended up going to bed about 9:15 a.m. I was just exhausted.
Sleeping arrangements last night was rough. There's only a full size bed so 2 adults and a 60 lb dog does not work in a full size bed!
11:30 am
Well Grandma has a rash – hopefully from a Cortisone shot she had a couple of weeks ago. Dan's taking her to the doctor to check it out. When she first got the shot, she told them that years ago she had an allergic reaction to cortisone, but they still gave it to her. As she puts it – I rather have a rash than the pain I was in.
I'm glad that at least we are here to help out – Dan looks worried. I know he was really worried about Esa yesterday.
Tomorrow, Dan's going to take Grandma to therapy. I told her just TELL us what she needs us to do while we are here and we'll do it.
Friday, July 18, 2008
8:45 a.m.
Not too much going on today – Dan is with Grandma at her therapy session. The doctor's yesterday ended with her with hives and taking Benadryl. It was probably from the medicine that she takes every once in awhile. There's no rash today – which is good.
Yesterday was just hanging out. Don (Dan's uncle) came over to visit for a few. Had a good dinner of ham and mashed potatoes. I just basically went through my magazines and played with my phone. I LOVE my phone – I love that I can check e-mail! We'll see how well it works in Canada though!
Today, we might go see Angie, Dan's cousin. She's on bedrest for her pregnancy, but gets out every once in awhile. Otherwise, I'm sure she'll go nuts!
My head is hurting today from sinuses. It's kind of damp up here, so it doesn't surprise me that I'm hurting. We slept much better last night. Esa slept on the floor and was ok with it.
The most exciting thing that has been happened is that we saw a hawk while walking Esa. We tried to take a picture of it today, but Esa scared it and it flew off. We'll try to get a picture of it later.
The funniest thing that Dan noticed is next door. The family has a business and the business name – Johnson Erection Company! LOL! I'll post the picture in my things that make me laugh album. I though Dan must have read it wrong, but nope – we have a picture of it.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Well, Angie wasn't feeling well yesterday, so we just hung out at Grandma's. I enjoyed it. Not having anything to do and just relaxing.
We ended up ordering pizza from the corner restaurant and it was really good.
Today, was the trip to Canada – and we made it in one piece. It was SO LONG! Anyway, we left about 8:15 and got up here around 4:45 p.m. We were going to stop at Niagara Falls, but ended up just going through. The GPS system on the Jeep took us a different way than the Peace Bridge (the main Falls attraction). We stopped at Duty Free for a few and kept going. Well – then we hit a major downpour. I told Dan to stop if he needed to, but he kept driving. It was REALLY coming down.
We saw a sign that was funny on a RV – HORNEY GUYS. We saw a guy driving (yes, driving) on a rim of his tire. The tire blew and he kept driving on it. I had never seen that in person. Then we were on a highway that was being slowed down by a police car. It was driving in the middle of the highway so no one could go by. Come to find out, there was a construction truck on the side of the road and he slowed everyone down – at least 2 miles before hand. He pulled over and everyone was back at regular speed.
The one thing we couldn't get over was the traffic – something must have been going on for it to be that bad for a Saturday.
We stopped about 70 miles from the cottage to get gas – spent $91 (Canadian) dollars! Then stopped at Wendy's for a late lunch. I placed the order, and when the girl lifted the register to get the pen for me, it turned off. They couldn't get it back on. So that took awhile. Then I go out to Dan, he goes in and it starts to downpour (again). Luckily, Esa went into the car easily.
We learned out lesson of "don't always follow what the GPS says". Dan followed what it was saying instead of going back the way we came and where it said to enter onto the highway, there wasn't an entrance ramp. So, we probably went about 5 miles out of the way.
Esa did well on the trip. She just sits there on the floor and doesn't relax at all – she pants quite a bit too. I'm sure it doesn't help sitting on the floor where it gets hot.
The neighbor here at the cottage, Donna, has her dog Luka with her. They had just gotten Luka last year when we came up. So Esa and Luka had met for about a few hours last year. This year, I'm sure they will be playing every day. They were playing hard already.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
What a nasty day – it's been raining the whole day so far (and it's only 9:30 a.m.!). We've walked Esa and she's finally laid down. Today will be traveling to Peterborough (about 15 miles away) to the grocery store.
We stopped at the little grocery store in Keene to grab a couple of things for last night. Esa did not want to get into the car to go to the store. She finally did and did great while we were in the store. She just sat there in the car waiting for us.
We've found a pretty good radio station to listen to – The Wolf. They've got a good mix and are playing some songs I've never heard before.
Oh, when we were in Ohio, there was a police officer killed. It was so sad – 33 years old and a 3 month old at home – and it was a traffic stop! How senseless. Anyway, it made me think – all of these people were saying how much this guy touched their life. All of the good that he did – what would be said at my funeral? How many people have I touched? What have I done with my life? I'm sure many people think about this, but do they (I) do things in their life to affect others and do good in the world?
Something to add to my goals.
Since it's nasty out, I'll probably get my scrapbooking stuff out and start working on it. I was thinking – There's no really photo album for here at the cottage and the visits. There's a notebook, but that's it. Maybe that could be a project to work on. Just put pictures in and then add the stories. There are plenty of stories when the crew comes up in February!
6:30 p.m.
Well, what should have been an easy trip to the grocery store ended up to be a 4 hour trip. We went to A&P which has a "mini-mall" attached to it. There was no food. So we got back into the car and started driving – big mistake. We probably went 20 miles and ended in the middle of nowhere, so we headed back towards Peterborough and ended up in downtown. We went around in circles about 3 times and just parked about a block and a half from that "mall". We went in and the only food place that was open was McDonald's. Then Dan noticed that there was a Mexican place across the street that "might" be open. Luckily, it was – I had a steak quesadilla that was pretty good – I had better, but by that time – it was probably 12:30, I was ready to eat (and getting grumpy).
Then we went to the "mall" over half of the stores were closed – I don't know if it was because of it being Sunday or what – but the hours of operations said 12 noon on Sunday. We stopped at the "Half Price Books" store and got a couple of books – mostly for me – Dan picked up a Mutts book, I picked up a "Scrapbooking your Family History" book and a dog recipe book.
Then it was A&P for groceries. Dan headed over to EB Games while I started the shopping. There was no beer sold in the store so we headed next door to the "ABC" store. They didn't have what Dan was looking for, so off to "The Beer Store" - yes, it's called The Beer Store. I told my co-worker Chris I would pick up a unique beer for him. I picked up something called "Steeler". It's made here, and Dan said he's never seen it.
When we got home – as soon as we got home, Luka came over looking for Esa. So as soon as the groceries were brought in, we went out with Esa and hung out with the neighbors for awhile.
I just finished making some pasta salad and will probably just read some before bed.
Monday, July 21, 2008
12:30 p.m.
It's been an adventurous day. It started with me and the next door neighbor chasing after the dogs. Esa went running and Luka followed. They ended up at the neighbor's house that has called the dog catcher on the neighbor before – WONDERFUL!
We finally caught them and on the way back – I tripped on my shoelaces and almost ended on my face first. Luckily, it was all in the grass, so only my feelings were hurt!
We had an early lunch and headed out to the Trans Canada trail down the road. Got all set and walked for about 15 minutes and then downpour! We waited a few to see if it would let up, but no luck. It calmed a little bit, so we headed back to the jeep and came home. As soon as we got to the cottage – DOWNPOUR and thunder. So I guess we made the right decision. It's still raining. We are watching HARD CASH right now. Luckily, we brought a couple of movies with us (along with Dan's Playstation).
5 p.m.
Well, around 2:30 p.m. we decided to go back to the Trans Canada trail since it totally cleared up. We ended up walking about an hour – boy, the bugs were BAD! We got back in time to see Rick Springfield perform one song on Oprah – we didn't get back in time to see the interview. I'll have to catch it later.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
10:15 a.m.
Well, we ended up just hanging out last night, watching TV. Degrassi is on all of the time. It was on last night around 7 p.m. and now it's on again!
We got to see Canadian Idol last night – it was very different from American Idol. The singers aren't as talented. A couple of them are, but even then, they just look very timid. At the end when they say to call, the performers just stood there – no playing it up like the American Idol performers.
Today – who knows what will go on – it's raining AGAIN!
5:15 p.m.
We ended up going to Ferris Provincial Park for about 2 hours. We got a little lost – we were in the loop of the trail which was at a playground and ended up missing where the trail picked back up and ended up in the campgrounds doing a loop. I figured out where we were and said let's go this way back to the playground then finally saw the trail again!
Anyway, before that, there was a suspension bridge – Esa wouldn't go on it – because of the grid, but we took turns going on it. I went first and it was my first time on one. Weird feeling – you could feel it move and it was a little freaky looking down.
Now we are back home and already had some excitement. Esa went to come through the sliding glass door and ended up getting her foot stuck between the lift of the deck and the door. She was YELPING like no tomorrow. I was standing there so I was able to grab her leg and move it back. It wasn't really stuck. She was lifting up and it needed to be moved back and then up. Poor pup – scared more than anything. Her foot seems fine. Luka came running over when Esa started to cry. It was cute.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Today was a blah day. We ended up going to town to shop since it was going to rain. It's been raining ever since noon. We went to Walmart and then A&P to pick up some water then to the little mall that's attached to A&P I found 2 sweaters for $12 (together) and we got 2 pairs of shoes for $28. Both were originally like $40 each. We went to the Dollar store and got a couple of toys for Esa and went to Arby's for lunch. We got back about 3:30 and I laid down for a little bit.
Funny commercial that I've heard today – about getting a vasectomy! You would never hear that in the states.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
9 a.m.
Last day of vacation – at least here at the cottage. Today will be cleaning up and packing. We might head out to Peterborough for a few things. I still haven't found the Instant Star stuff (at Walmart). Which is surprising – it's on tv all of the time! Along with Degrassi – which I couldn't find either – only one season. Weird.
Esa finally figured out there are fish in the lake – she finally saw them today. Luka on the other hand, is constantly in the water and trying to catch them.
So, you know how things just come in your life when you should hear them. Anyway, at first it was the cop being killed in Ohio and now, I'm reading this book – "And you know you should be glad" by Bob Greene. About Bob Greene's best friend dying. Just reminiscing about their life together and his friend's last day. Anyway, basically, you see how Jack, the friend, affected Bob's life and the people around him. How he was always thinking about other people. So, it kind of goes with what I was thinking about earlier and some new goals.
3 p.m.
Well, at least we got out before the storms start! Right now, there's a severe thunderstorm warning and you can see the dark skies around us.
We ended up driving around quite a bit before actually finding a park to go to. Dan was looking for one that we went to last year – and I couldn't remember exactly which one he was talking about. Then we tried to find one on a map that we had – they are all marked, but it was like it was a local park and not a public park. So, we finally went back towards where we came in and we found a large park with a long path.
So now, it'll be time to pack and clean.
