October 6th 2023

Well it appears that I have been a bit slack in doing my updates so way back on May 15 after we crossed back into Canada and landed at our work camping location in Goderich Ontario I sent an email asking for our service to be paused. I sent this email after dinner so about 7:30 and before we went to bed at 10:00 I had a response saying it would be paused at the end om paid period around the 23rd if my memory is correct. the response was not only quick but was very cordial as well hoping we could do business in the future. A great improvement from some previous experiences with other providers.

So when I sent the email on October 6th to get the service restarted I got the same quick response well not the same day but the next working day, the response was that I would need a new sim card that would be shipped out by FedEx as soon as possible and I received it with in the week. Of course when I received it I installed it with out reading the link with the instructions, so when I sent an email that it did not work they just sent me another link with the installation instructions, once I did as was explained it fired up and within moments I had internet service.

So how do I feel about my Maple Wi-Fi Service?

I’m still a loyal customer and and supporter of the service, I get everything that I was told I would get, it operates on the AT&T network in the States and roams the Canadian networks to get the best service in Canada, this wall near Goderich that was the Rogers network but I also seem Bell at one point as well. So I would still recommend it to Canadian Travelers, we have been streaming our television on it, using it daily, with only the regular outages when between towers. We run it daily as we roll down the road allowing my navigator to use her iPad to keep us on track.

The only negative but constant issue I have is with the actual equipment, it seems to overheat when in use and being charged, I have it hardwired to the coach router and forget to unplug it overnight when we are not using it, so it may be as much human error as equipment

July 25th 2022

Well I have just completed the ordering of a mobile internet service, from a reseller here in Canada. It works with the cellular network, similar to the service that we used last winter, the main difference is that this service will work either side of the Canada/United States border. The service is not cheap at $159 per month, but it actually worked out cheaper than the service from last year after calculating the exchange from American dollars.

So what do I get for my $159? Well I receive unlimited high speed internet, and truly unlimited, with no throttling, it arrives set up and ready to go, the features that pushed this over the edge is because it is a reseller, it is not tied to just one of the cellular service providers, this will work with any of the three providers here in Canada. Bell, Rogers, and Telus any one of the big three that are available, which is a huge feature for us as travelers, because different networks are stronger in different areas, I can remember the east coast of Canada where my Rogers service was all but useless, and Bell was the main provider, and this is common in different areas all across the country. What is a bonus to us is that we also get unlimited roaming on AT&T while in the United States for no additional cost.

There is no contract, so it is pay as you go, I can pause my service at any time, and for a small fee ($25) I’m able to restart the service, the equipment I’m getting allows me to connect a router to the modem for better coverage in the coach, I can also install an external antenna if needed, both important features for our usage and travels.

The website claims 1-2 days for processing and 1-2 days for shipping. So it is Monday morning just after eight o’clock and my order has been placed, now we wait and see how long it takes for the process to unfold.

Moments later I received the above email, indicating that my order has been received, and that they are even going to adjust my plan to accommodate any shipping time. I was not expecting that, but it is a nice touch though, because the true cost of this internet service is just over $5 per day, so that four days that they are claiming for processing and shipping is more than a $20+ value, so my first experience has to go down as a positive one.

July 27th 2022

This morning I received an email, telling me that my cellular hub had been shipped and supplied me with a tracking number, the time on the email was 10:23 so pretty much the two days that had be claimed on the web page.

It also explains the 7 day trial period starts on the day of delivery, as well as the actual billing cycle starts on the delivery day as well. The other thing I notice is that the email is not from Maple-WiFi as from the previous email, but instead appears to be from a shipping depot or a distribution center. This really makes no difference to me, because as I understand the SIM card will already be installed in the hub and will also have also been activated, so when I receive it, so it should literally be plug and play.

Next I click the tracking number to see what is actually happening and I’m pleasantly surprised to see it is a FedEx delivery, but I’m disappointed to see the delivery is not till the 3rd of August which is seven days from today. But with it being shipped from California onto Vancouver Island, I honestly wasn’t expecting the 1 – 2 days that was mentioned on the website.

I also notice that it is just the label that has been created, and technically FedEx has not even received it yet, but that doesn’t really mean that much, and I will track it daily to see how it progresses.

August 1st 2022

I received a notice today that FedEx has actually received the package, and that the delivery date has also been changed from Wednesday the 3rd to Friday the 5th. I had been expecting a delay because of the holiday weekend, and I will wait for further updates, because we still have that international border to cross, but at least it is in FedEx control now.

August 2nd 2022

Today I checked the FedEx tracking number to see the status of my hub, and found that it was on the move. Having left Sacramento CA and has passed through Oakland CA at 8:44 this morning, and I see the delivery date remains unchanged at this Friday. I’m curious as I believe that Oakland is south and west of Sacramento, and I’m located north and west, so we will see how this works out.

August 3rd 2022 am

Well I wasn’t expecting that! As I checked the tracking this morning I see that my hub is now in Vancouver, so the package that was being sent “FedEx International Economy” some how included air freight and is now on the mainland at Vancouver. And the delivery date has been updated to before 8:00 pm today! And while I doubt it will get through customs, onto the island, and delivered today, I’m thinking there is a good chance that I will get it by Thursday.

August 3rd 2022 pm

Just as I had suspected this afternoon, and a quick check of the tracking number the hub has cleared customs, and has made it to the island. It is in Cassidy BC, and I had to look at a map to figure out where it was and found it to be near the Nanaimo airport is located, right on the Trans Canada Hwy. less than half an hour away, and my delivery date is back to Thursday.

August 4th 2022

The morning started with our hub being loaded onto a FedEx truck for delivery today, and shortly after noon I had the package in my hand. It was in a FedEx bubble envelope, just the hub, and a charger with an USB cable. I pulled it from the envelope and turned it on, the battery was low so a warning flashed up and it went to work finding a cellular signal, a couple pushes of the single button on the unit and it gave me the required password and a couple moments later I was performing a number of speed tests to test the signal strength. And just as advertised my download speed was well above 20 Mbps and the upload speed was above 10 Mbps

So my first impression, is very good, it is exactly what I expected, it came ready to go (other than the battery being almost dead), but within moments it had found a signal and it was providing more than acceptable speeds. It certainly took longer to receive than the 1-2 days that they had stated on their website, but I wasn’t surprised about that and really never expected it to be delivered that quickly. I have spent most of the afternoon connecting different devices, and this was a concern because the hub is limited to twenty users, I also purchased a router to distribute the signal and hardwired the hub to the router.

Its is later in the afternoon and I have found my first issue, the hub is sending a signal that was being picked up by our streaming services to indicate that we were in the States, so the programing was being blocked, a little checking and I was able to switch to a Canadian VPN and we are again getting our Canadian programing again, and after random speed checks the speeds are all as good or better than according to the website … so far two thumbs up. 👍👍

Blog 435

Well we welcomed the month of October starting off with some summer like weather, in fact weather way too good for Ontario at this time of year. Here on the eastern shore of Lake Huron we are still waiting for the first frost of the season, you know the first frost that kills off most of the annual flowers and plants. That frost that starts turning the leaves on the trees those beautiful colours. That make you start thinking of the fall harvest and a Thanksgiving turkey dinner with all the fixings. But we have had none of that, no we are still running around the park in shorts and tee shirts, while thinking it is way too warm for October. Oh I’m sure that we are in for some fall like weather in the very near future, but I’m going to enjoy this weather as long as I can.

Today is the 2nd of October it was on this day way back in 2017 that we moved from our house into our coach to begin this lifestyle of full time RV living so as we start into out seventh year our only regret is that we didn’t start this a decade sooner. The past six years have brought us so much joy, we have been to places and done things we could only have imagined. The people we have met on the road, some of which have touched our lives so deeply, and have changed our life in an unbelievable fashion. Oh we have met our share of total whack jobs on the road as well, and I mean all types from the “flat earth” people to a multitude of conspiracy theory people and of course the pandemic brought many of them to the surface, led by leaders that seemed to be just simply four bricks short of a five brick load, if you know what I’m saying. We have met hero’s and zero’s over the years, the advantage of having our home on wheels is we can move on if the environment is not of our liking. Over these years we have met and lost people from our “RV family” we have formed bonds that are both beautiful and amazing, many to this day have become precises pieces of our life. We have travelled from coast to coast, we have drove up mountains, we have crossed borders, we have seen beautiful gardens, as well as the harshness of the deserts, but no matter where we go we find people that enhance our lives as we go, so as we have a quick toast here is to the next six years!

This is time of year that we have to say good bye to so many friends here at the park. and it is heart warming that so many people go out of their way to say “we’ll see you down the road” as we try to never say good bye anymore, it’s just “till we meet again“. This is the final week that the park is open, and by five o’clock on the nineth of this month the last of the stragglers will be headed down the road till next spring, and we will actually miss a few of them. But this is also the time that we get to start some serious planning our fall travel, and we have a few neat things planned for this winter travel season. It may not be a crazy as last year’s twelve week vacation down the U.S. west coast and Baja Mexico, but it still has a few interesting adventures just the same.

Of course before we hit the road there are some coach items that need attention, today is Tuesday October the 3rd and I’m tackling a problem that showed itself over a year ago, the coach has a hydraulic fluid leak that has been dropping fluid while we are driving and the air flow is carrying it to the front of the toad. It took me longer than it should have to locate the source of the leak and when I did, it appeared to just be a loose hose clamp on a hydraulic fluid return line which I tightened, but to my chagrin the leak continued, it had appeared to be a loose hose on a fitting, but it turned out to be a loose fitting where it threaded into the fluid tank. In fact the return hose that I thought was turning on the fitting was actually the fitting turning that freely in thread pipe gusset that is welded into the tank.

Pipe thread is known as a tapered thread, that is how it seals so that the fluid won’t leak by the threads there are no sealing neoprene rings or machined surfaces to seal the fluid so the addition of some Teflon tape onto the threads should reassure a good seal. The addition of the street elbow on this repair just keeps the return hose tucked up and out of harms way, the clamp seemed to be ok so I have reused it but now it is all galvanized steel fitting as opposed to the previous nylon fitting that was leaking because it could not tightened. I have added 15 liters of new fluid and topped off the tank with some used fluid ($115 worth of fluid) the steel pipe fittings were actually the cheapest part of the repair at less than $15, and I only ruined one old tee shirt in the repair process.

It’s Wednesday morning, and we will fire up the coach’s diesel engine today, to circulate the hydraulic fluid through the system after my repair, I will also run it long enough to warm the engine up as we have not started it for a number of months, and I should also start and run the diesel generator, as it may be needed on our trip south. And we are starting to look forward to the next adventures, as we start into our seventh year of full time RV living.

But first we are heading to the beach this morning, I haven’t been down for a walk for a number of weeks, there is a stiff breeze out of the south west which has the lake a bit rougher today but the temperature is also 27ºC (80ºF) which the forecast claims is coming to an end in the next few days with cold rainy weather hitting us by the weekend.

Well the weather people were correct as Thanksgiving weekend rolls around the temperature has dropped like a rock and the wind and rain have hit us like a gut punch after the weeks of nice weather. Now all of a sudden the people that closed their units last weekend are looking pretty smug … as now it is down to choosing which day will be the better day to winterize to avoid getting soaked to the butt?

And as always we are bombarded with questions that someone qualified to winterize their own unit wouldn’t have to ask. At least it is cold and wet enough to keep me in the coach so that I’m not outside and handy to be asked those questions that the answers should be obvious. The staff has started to winterize already some of the fifty plus that are on our list to do and the weather is looking much better early next week so that is when we will finish off our winterizations. The shutting down of the electrical system will start on Tuesday as we also have a couple of water line leaks to locate and repair before we can winterize the water system.

It wouldn’t be a holiday weekend without a little drama, a phone call Sunday morning from some residents to say they had no water pressure had me out in rubber boots in the rain to diagnose the cause of the complaint.

You know it had to be bad when after a night of heavy rain and with surface water laying everywhere I was easily able to locate a not so small water feature where some campsites were located just yesterday. This is a major water leak and as I prepare to start to hand dig at the obvious source of the water flow I call Richard because I know this is going to be a big job and I may need some help. Richard had went to the other park for Thanksgiving and I felt bad about calling, but I knew this leak was going to be around four feet deep and it was going to be an all day task with out a little help. I was nearly two feet deep when Richard got there, I had uncovered the septic line at the 24″ depth and was digging under and around it now, but with it exposed then our only other worry was the electrical power lines. We decided because we had an vacated site adjacent to maneuver in, that the back-hoe would speed up this operation so we proceeded to dig a trench to allow the excess water to be pumped out as we dug deeper by hand, next we found the electrical lines litterly just laying in the dirt at around the 36″ depth, I was surprised that it was just wires, not in any conduit or anything, but when they were installed the electric codes were totally different. Now the digging was more cautious because of the power lines but the next foot brought us to a water line and the problem area, a one inch water line broken clean off at a splitter connection for four sites. A quick trip to town to a plumbing supply store and we had enough new hardware to make this repair and get the water back on to the north end of the park hopefully by one o’clock. It was a major task but we had won this battle and we decided that we would deal with the clean up after the rain relented, I headed for the shower to clean up as well as get warmed up, and Richard headed back to his Thanksgiving celebrations.

The fact is that situations like that that can arise at any time of day or week and we are always concerned about having someone from the staff on site all the times. And it’s at times like this, that we just go a do what ever it is that needs to be done, were not worried about the hour of the day, or whose day off it is, or how many hours it will take, it’s just a simple get at it and getter done.

On Monday the 9th, Thanksgiving day we watched as the last of the campers were leaving the park, the rain had eased but it was still a windy and cold day, and by late afternoon there were only a couple of stragglers left and by five o’clock I drive to the road and locked the gates at the end of the lane. The first night after the park closes is an eerie time, as the constant flow of cars has suddenly come to a halt, there is no smell of campfires a constant from opening day until the bitter end. There are still some solar light glowing around the park that somehow gathered enough power even on a cold overcast day to shine for a few hours. Tomorrow will be the start of the beeps and squeaks as the power gets shut off to the park and all the battery backup systems start to fail, of course there will be alarms from smoke detectors over the whole winter as people always fail to remove those batteries and as the cold temperature zaps the power from those little batteries. It has amazed me over the years how on a quiet day a failing battery on a smoke alarm can be heard over the whole park, and the next couple of weeks will be a symphony of failing alarms.

Now the next couple of weeks there will be a flurry of repairs and maintenance getting done on a number of fronts, trailer winterizations will be our first priority, followed by locating and repairing some water leaks, followed by the draining and winterization of the park water system. Extras like tree removal, because as lots become vacant at the end of the season we always take that opportunity to remove any of the dirty poplar trees that are left in the park as well as any others that are causing an issue. There is a well inspection scheduled, which involves pulling the submersible pump from the well casing, and then sending a camera down the casing and through the rock boring into the aquafer. The casing is inspected for corrosion, and the stainless steel pump in cleaned and its performance tested, and while everything was good the decision was made to replace the well pipe, this a plastic pipe that supports the pump and is the pipe that brings the pressurized water to the to the surface. The pipe had been updated from galvanized to plastic years ago but the new pipes are plastic with stainless steel fittings allowing for easier disassembly.

The tree work is happening and it will be a full and busy day, a number of big poplar trees will be removed and a number of other trees will be trimmed to avoid any issues in the future. The crew from Bayfield Tree Service are qualified, experienced, professionals that at at home working in tight conditions, this video shows how little time it takes to drop a tree with qualified people.

Because poplar wood is a softwood and because it gives off an odor similar to the smell like someone peeing on the campfire the majority of the trees are just put through the chipped to be turned into mulch. The video below shows how long it takes to mulch a poplar tree.

The team has been working well, and we are quickly checking items off of the “close down list” with vigor, everyone can see the end is closing in quickly when we will all be headed off in our different directions, we will be heading south, well I guess technically we are all heading south, but we are headed back to Arizona, Mark is headed to Peru and from what we have been able to gather an engagement, Rich & Bonnie are off to the Dominican for some sunshine and warm weather. and by the sounds of it we will likely be the last ones to leave the park. We have been unhooked from the water system for over a week, I have used the blue boy to empty the black tank, so the only thing left to do is finish packing up, unplug the power supply, and head down the road.

Our projected time to be done the closing process was the 20th of the month, but we were done ahead of schedule so it was on the seventeenth that we said goodbye to Mark and on the twentieth to Rich & Bonnie, we needed to delay a few day before crossing the border so we decided to stay for the weekend and pull out on Monday the twenty third.

We’re off on our Fall adventures stay tuned

Blog 488

Day 2213