Monday October 26th, 2020

Well hello winter in Canada! Eh!

It has been decided, this will be our first winter in Canada in a while … let’s just say this was not our first choice, nor our second, or third, but if it has to happen it will be what it is. So here we are fall time in Ontario, nights are starting to get chilly, and our prime minister just announced that the border will remain closed until the United States gets control of the coronavirus, so there doesn’t look like any chance that the border will open to the States any time soon!

Oh we understand why, there has been little or no effort in the United States to curb the Spread of this on going pandemic, in fact some of the people in charge are still saying it will just go away …

We also know that with any politician they have only one objective, get elected and then stay elected … you see it’s all about power. So they tell whoever what ever they want to hear so they will vote for said politician. It’s really that simple, so they promise anything they want to whoever they want to, and when they are asked why they didn’t do what they promised, they just deflect, give an answer that makes themselves feel or sound good, in most cases it has no relationship to the question they were asked. Or one of my favourite politician answer is to blame the previous administration … for not doing whatever they promised they would.

Reality a politician looks out for him or herself, period. If something they want or need just happens to benefit you, you just plain and simply got lucky. Here in Ontario we have had just over 3000 deaths from the coronavirus, that’s with a population of 14,734,000, so comparison sake let’s look at Texas which has almost double the population at 29,000,000 people but the coronavirus death count is 17,500. So in the simplest of terms twice the population but nearly six times the deaths … just stop and really think about that … the United States of American, one of the most advanced countries in the world, and they are failing so badly at controlling the coronavirus that one of their largest trading partners won’t even open the border to allow travel. Canada’s total population third quarter of 2020, 38,005,000 and the total of coronavirus deaths are 9,746 as of October 17th and a total of 196,321 cases. The States total population 328,239,523 total coronavirus virus deaths 224,283 as of October 17th and a total of 8,343,140 cases, these are crazy numbers but the one number that really matters is the death rate and to make it even here are the death rates rates per million of population Canada 258/1 million compared to the United States 676/1 million. And the last number that made us stop and weigh the odds México 665/1 million better than the States but more than double the rate from Canada, so the decision has been made.

Note: the numbers above are from the worldometer website that pulls information from close to thirty different sites to make comparisons.

Ontario is not an inexpensive place to rent a house or an apartment, and this is just a short term rental, five months, and oh yea we need it furnished. Most places beyond an air bnb are looking for a one year lease, monthly rental plus utilities. So the hunt begins, taking into all accounts, Laurie’s family, my family, friends, and of course the whole social bubble thing, so where are we best to settle in for the winter, as the park closes our social bubble will change as well, so with the right precautions we should be able to visit all our family and most of our friends over the five months with the proper social distancing and time in between each encounter, and this will be a chance to catch up and tie up lots of projects both on the coach and our business endeavours.

So we start looking at what our costs will be, this winter would have consisted of driving to Arizona, staying on LTVA land, a Beaver rally in Quartzsite, a caravan to Baja Mexico, and a return drive to Ontario … so in quick numbers Quartzsite is 3600 km (2200 miles) so with average fuel cost there and back $1900 Cdn 5 months camping on LTVA $180 US or $250 Cdn, the Beaver Rally $150 Cdn, the Mexican caravan $3600 Cdn, plus extra fuel cost for the caravan of approximately $600 Cdn. That’s a quick $6500 Cdn now add to that hopefully a refund we will get for our medical insurance (that we are not going to need) that’s a total saving of around $8000, that is the kind of number we are looking to manage to get five months housing and expenses for here in Ontario. Food, clothing, supplies will still be an ongoing expense where ever we are as they would be for anyone, we just won’t get tagged with the 35% on money exchange rate this winter … just saying.

So here is what Miss Laurie found us, right here in Goderich, on Ontario’s west coast, a little two bedroom house within walking distance of the town square. Fully furnished, heat, and hydro included for $1200 a month all in. So for five months $6000 the only expense not included is an internet connection, now this means keeping the snow cleared from the drive, but with a southern exposure, that shouldn’t be too bad, hell its even got a garage. So the coach can stay at the park only 10 kms (6 miles) away so close enough that I will be able to be work on the renovation, on the warmer days, while not either our plan A or B it is better than what we feared at this short of notice so we get possession on the 15th of November thru the 15th of April, it just doesn’t get much better than that from a timing point of view.

If there is one thing we have learned in the past three years on the road it is the ability of being able to stop, pivot, and change directions with little or no notice. I know a lot of people will be glad to see the end of 2020, but I fear that 2021 may be even more difficult as the coronavirus is not even close to being under control in so many countries, and so many people have just become so accepting of the deaths that could have been prevented. As I watched the news last evening and seen Trump threatening the governor of Michigan again because she is trying to save lives, and laughs about the plot to kidnap or kill her, it is a reminder of just how low a human being can stoop. And the crowd at his rally, cheering him on, and his daughter in law shrugging it off as to him making a joke … I’m afraid there was a joke there all right, but the joke was the fool making the speech, I fear history will not be kind to this administration as it leaves a legacy of destruction and hate.

Well we have a couple of busy weeks a head of us, but should be seeing the end of a number of projects, and cleaning up for winter. Miss Laurie has started to pull the freezable items from the coach, as we prepare to winterize, so many more things to do on the coach as we prepare. Little things like draining the windshield washers, and adding antifreeze, winterizing the power washer, it’s a long list with motors, generators and the like, the sun is starting to brighten the horizon, but sunrise is still almost an hour away … have I mentioned lately how much I hate winter?

Stay well, wear your mask, and vote! My American friends.

Saturday October 17th 2020

Ten days to go, till the park closes for 2020.

To say it has been a tough year would be a serious understatement, and I don’t mean just at the park, no this is has been a difficult year from almost every aspect. We are right in the fall process of the park closure, Miss Laurie is putting the gardens to bed for the winter, wrapping the junipers, cutting the ornament grasses, digging new flower beds, pruning and trimming of shrubs and plants. I have the task of splitting and bagging next years firewood for winter storage in the shed, servicing equipment, along with winterizing almost 80 trailers as they are closed by the clients, there are some other improvement projects, before the park winterizing begins on the 28th of October. There will be tree trimming the first week of November, with a tree service spending a couple of days with the boom truck in the park, and removal of some more of the poplars.

Our winter is going to be different this year, with Ottawa announcing the border will stay closed until the United States gets control of the virus, and that doesn’t look promising until well into next year, when either a vaccine becomes readily available or a severe change in direction by the government, which may be happen after the election in November. But with a death count of 220,000 in the States so far and the second wave getting in full swing, I thing the best we can hope for is that by next fall to be able to get back to traveling to the sunny south. Now we are faced with some changes that will be difficult, but it is obvious that heading south with the coach is not going to be an option, so we will be winterizing our coach for the first time. And where we end up for the winter is our next decision, whether to find a place to rent here, or fly south and rent something there, these are the times that having pets can also reduce our options and guide our decision.

Most of our Canadian full-time friends are being forced to hunker down, and prepare for a winter in Canada. Not quite how any of us had planned to spend a winter, but these are different times, and if history is correct the second wave of this virus will most likely kill more people than the first wave did. One hundred years ago when the Spanish flu hit the world that was the case, and it is becoming very obvious that we haven’t learned a lot since then, oh the doctors are better equipped to handle the virus once they get a handle on it, no it’s the general population that think they know all the answers, and just don’t do what they are asked to do. No no no that might infringe on someone’s rights, I can only assume that is the right to be stupid, or possible it’s the right to hurt and possibly kill some of their family and friends. And it appears it’s a world wide problem, with people from almost every country making no effort to social distance.

Yes I think a lot of people are looking forward moving beyond this whole 2020 year, we have been very fortunate, we got to do all that we had planned over the winter and other than a few restrictions and shortages near the end of March which reduced spending some time with Ray and Karen and not being able to visit with Butch and BJ. We had a fourteen day quarantine on arriving back into Canada, but we crossed the border with for enough supplies to complete our full lock down, we had some cold days but nothing we couldn’t handle.

Work this year was a lot more demanding than last year, the stress of trying to adhere to all the public health guidelines and so many people thinking we were infringing on their rights and enjoyment, while trying to keep everyone safe and the park from being shut down because of an outbreak has been very overwhelming. Add to that the feeling of isolation, not being able to have family or friends visit, and being so careful to control our social bubble, being unable to have any social events at the park, as well as being deemed the party poopers of the park, really left us wondering whether or not to return …

Right now we are looking at options, as we need a furnished, spot for the winter, where ever we go. So we need a just a short term rental where most people are looking for a year long commitment and we are looking for just five months. If we stay in Canada and close to the coach, we can do some renovations to the coach, purge some items, and catch up with family and friends, but then there is the whole snow and winter thing and we got rid of most of our winter wardrobe. So then there is Mexico, which would give winter warmth, but with no vehicle would leave us captured in just one small area, the emersion into the culture would be life changing, but the flight there and back, especially with a pet, and not having been in that area before, could make it five months of paradise or five months of hell. The concern is we only have a few weeks to put this all together, and unlike when in our coach we cannot just pack up and move down the road.

Please as always stay strong, be well, and wear your mask!