Bring on 2016!

The bus is winterized, and sits in the backyard on planks.
Every once in a while, I will take the walk back to check on everything. I love to see that everything is in its place-- ready for us to start camping!
This year, we have booked Marmora KOA for May 24 weekend. We have tried to get a reservation before, but it is quite popular.

Looking forward to some indoor pool time and some campfires. Dreaming of the bus!

Thanksgiving Weekend- Barrie KOA

We decided to finally go to Barrie KOA! We were drawn by their Thanksgiving potluck and Trick or Treating.
We loved it there.
Beautiful weather! We had trick or treaters, a pancake breakfast and enjoyed the last camping of the season.

I have to find our photos! I'll post them here when I do. :(

August Long Weekend- Fenelon Car Show 2015

One of our favorite weekends of the summer is the long weekend at the Fenelon Car Show. It is a swap meet (flea market) and a huge car show.

My son and husband would say they love it because of the "burn out" competition and the "rev" competition.
It is good old fashion camping! (no power) Thank goodness we have a great propane generator so I can make coffee. :)
We took the bus up Thursday night to get "our spot", and came home. Friday around 3pm, we headed back to Fenelon Fairgrounds (about 25 minutes from us), and got set up.
Saturday was a beautiful day! It was hot, and Carson's pop/water business did quite well-- even though he met a friend to ride bikes with and I manned the cooler for most of the day.








Saturday night they showed "Smokey and the Bandit" on the outdoor screen. We loved it. It's Toad's fave movie, and popcorn and a traveler made it perfect! A beautiful night to sit outside.
Sunday was another hot and beautiful day with not as much foot traffic. We didn't have alot to sell, but Toad sold some water. I bought some vintage jewelry from a vendor and had an amazing Peameal sandwich on a bun! :)
Sunday at 1pm was the rev competition. Adam and Toad won last year, so they were the defending champions. A car club puts on the contest and the money goes to charity. They use a sound meter and measure your "revving" in decibels. There was not a great turn out this year, but the boys had fun, and were able to win again! Some big smiles.
There were quite a few impressive cars. We sat through the awards. This was the first year that Adam put the yellow truck in the show, just for fun. Most of the winners were hard-core car show enthusiasts!
As we came back to our site about 4pm, we saw crazy black clouds. We packed up as quickly as we could. The rain came and went.
Unfortunately, we couldn't get home without some damage in the 90km./hr winds. About 1km from home, the wind caught the awning and sent it flying up over the roof and into the air conditioner.
We have called the insurance company and hope to have everything back to normal before our next adventure to the NASCAR Truck race at Mosport later in the month.

We sold some things, watched the burn out competition (through lots of smoke!) and browsed the vendors.

May 24- Parry Sound Trip Report

This was written quite a few weeks ago, but did not get published!

We spent the first long weekend of the spring/summer at Parry Sound KOA. We traveled with our friends, the Herliheys (in their camper) and the Connells (in a Kamping Kabin.)

All you really need!

Bus packed and ready to go!

One of my favorite parts is driving!

Sharing the passenger seat.

We arrived Friday in the pouring rain. We were spread quite far apart, but our site was fairly easy to get into. We set up and it looked like the rain was going to pass. Then it started to POUR! The kids didn't care, and rode their bikes through the mud.

Lunch of champions.

Saturday was a beautiful day, we actually spent it at the POOL. We chose this KOA because of the amenitieis- dog park, mini golf and heated pool (as early as May). The kids loved it. They served free ice cream too! We relaxed and sat around the fire.

Daddy was voted to go swimming with Toad.

This KOA would be more on the "woodsy" side-- my husband likes concrete and asphalt. It did have gravel roads and trees, but it was pretty.
We enjoyed campsites, laughing, some cold beverages and some great company. The kids (6 of them) enjoyed having free reign on their bicycles, played some mini golf and bought junk at the park store.
The kids loved the wagon ride (they rode it several times) and the outdoor movie and popcorn!



Partty sound is fairly close, but siince our Toad was out of commission, we didn't have a vehicle. It didn't bother us at all!
I liked this KOA. The Kabin was pretty cool! Bring your own linens, and you are set! I also enjoyed some of the amenities, even though it wasn't as fancy as some of the other KOAs we have stayed at.
We came home Monday, and back to reality.

Even Don enjoys the bus!

May 2-4 2015: Parry Sound

We are super excited for our first bus trip (outside of Lindsay) of 2015!

We are venturing north to Parry Sound– in the heart of Georgian Bay. I spent most summers on the boat in Georgian Bay, and it's a beautiful area of the Canadian Shield.

Parry Sound is a town in Ontario, Canada, located on the eastern shore of the sound after which it is named. Parry Sound is located 160 km (99 mi) south of Sudbury and 225 km (140 mi) north of Toronto. It is the seat of Parry Sound District, a popular cottage countryregion for Southern Ontario residents. It also has the world's deepest natural freshwater port.

We are even more excited to be camping with our friends – the Herlihey's and the Connell's. A weekend away with them means lots of wine, laughs, and kids running free! 

We will be staying at the Parry sound KOA. http://koa.com/campgrounds/parry-sound/photos/756457d8-8cb4-4a0d-a6e0-0064b7c7b9ad

We love KOA because of all the activities for kids including the jumping pillow, hayrides, and heated pools.

Looking forward to no Internet and lots of relaxation. I will post photos upon our return.

First weekend- Lindsay Swap Meet

We had an awesome time at the Lindsay swap meet. 

Weather was amazing – warm and sunny. We made do with the generator, as there were no hook ups. We met lots of people and Adam sold some of his things.

The bus is now clean, packed, and ready to go! It's nice for our first trip to be less than five minutes away from home.

Looking forward to an amazing summer on the bus!!

The Bus - 2015!

It is that time of year again. Getting the bus ready for camping season!

As I read my past posts, I see that I didn't post about our awesome Labor Day weekend at Mosport. Don't worry, we plan on going this year too, do I'll just add some extra photos! :)

A few weeks ago, when it was still quite chilly, I checked on the bus. This winter, it sat in our driveway beside the shop. I checked for any problems over the winter. All looked great!

Last weekend I started a spring clean. I went to the back of the bus and started pulling everything out of every cupboard! One cupboard was a bit damp, but everything else was fine. I brought in all the bedding and pillows from the bedroom, dusted and got rid of some stuff. Then I did the same in the bathroom, the hall, the kitchen and the living too . I ended up with a bag of garbage, a bag to donate, organized cupboards and some new-found space!

Yesterday, I made the bed, put the bathroom and cleaning supplies back on board (I brought them inside for the winter) and put some pantry staples in the cupboards.

Today, I steam cleaned the hardwood floors, vacuumed the carpet and used my Bissell carpet cleaner on the carpet. 

It looks and smells great.

Adam worked on mechanical stuff. But that's another post.