Teresa and Greg have rented an Airbnb cottage in Point Clark, which is located a few miles north of us on the shore of Lake Huron, they have travelled all the way from the big city of Toronto, to the west coast of Ontario…it’s always great when family come to visit. This was a planned visit and we had been looking forward to it for weeks. As I have said before, this work camping position has been great but it has made it nearly impossible to get together with family. So when family can make a visit here part of their vacation it is so nice and we very much appreciate the time.

Andrew who is just five is a very active young boy so some pool time, a while on the playground, and some game time with his dad. And that was just the first few minutes of their visit. How quick we forget the ambition of stamina of children, and the attention span their mind is just going a million miles a minute, way beyond what I could even start to keep up with.

Greg works for the provincial government in the procurement division and Teresa is with the ministry of health, so they have chosen Toronto as their home, and have a house just south of the Yorkdale Mall for those of you familiar with the city. They embrace the city and all it has to offer from major sporting events to festivals and multi-cultural issues which are everywhere. So as they prepare to send Andrew off to school, the French immersion program only makes sense and the culture mix that he experiences everyday will equip him so much better for today’s world than I ever was.

So after a short visit on Sunday we made plans for lunch at a local brewery on Monday after coffee at the coach as that was their check out day from the Airbnb in Point Clark. We chose the Cowbell Brewery in Blyth, we had been there before and I enjoyed a number of their beers. Now Greg and Teresa take the craft brewery to a whole new level, and actually record what they sample and how it compared to their favourite brews, it sounds like a great idea but I’m more interested in the drinking at the moment, but always forget which ones I liked then best, so maybe in my case I should just record the ones I don’t like, which could be a very short list…just saying

So it is mid September and the shutting down of the park is underway, after the last couple of die hard swimmers on Sunday, we officially shut down the pool equipment, the pump, filter, heater, lines to the pool all drained to prevent any possibility of freezing over the winter months.

This procedure is not difficult, but has to be done in the proper sequence, blowing lines out with compressed air and than sealing them to ensure no water gets back in to them. Day one was pumping the water level down below the skimmers, and then disassembling the filter to clean the big paper filters, and then drain the filter of all remaining water. Next the pump and UV system ensuring no water remains in either unit, any freezing would damage the units and mean expensive repairs in the spring.

Then the solar system, the roof mounted system had to be drained to ensure no winter damage there as well, again not difficult just a process to let gravity do its job, then the system is left open, a few drops of water freezing in a large pipe will not cause damage but a couple of drops freezing in a small confined area such as a valve or seal can cause expensive damage so taking the proper time to allow the water to escape prevents seals being pushed apart causing leaks in the spring. It’s like winterizing a RV but we can’t use antifreeze, as it would contaminate the whole pool in the spring so compressed air and time is our friend.

The last step of our closing is tarping the opening to the pool cover, we do not cover the pool, we just tarp off the entrance, this stops leaves and debris from blowing it to the pool over the fall and winter, of course chemicals are added to keep the water clear and ready for spring.