Boating On The Rideau

On Sunday June 23rd we joined Marie, Steve and our niece Lee-Ann on Family Tides 2.0 for a leisurely ride down the Rideau River. Despite the clouds and cool weather we thoroughly enjoyed our day.

       

The BBQ lunch was great and sightseeing on the river was fun.

   

Paul and Jane passed on the swimming in the river, while Amy joined Steve, Marie and Lee-Ann who all chanted “don’t be chicken, it really is warm”. Age prevailed and we stayed dry.

       

Good Sam Rally - Syracuse NY

The first Good Sam Rally to be held in the Northeastern U.S. took place in Syracuse, New York from June 11 – 16. Since Syracuse is a mere 4 hours from Ottawa and only 2 ½ hours from Kingston, we decided it would be a great opportunity to attend a rally.
We hitched up the Titanium at Rideau Acres Campground in Kingston (site of the Titanium Rally the week before) early on June 11 and headed to Syracuse. As we started to park at the Syracuse Fairgrounds, the drizzle became a hard rain so we were thoroughly drenched by the time we had leveled the trailer and hooked up the electricity. Our duck boots and rain jackets and even the 4-wheel drive on our truck became our best friends for much of the Rally.

After registering and exploring the fairgrounds to find the different venues, we decided to head to downtown Syracuse to find the Dinosaur BBQ. Built in the 1920’s, the building housed a number of barrooms until Dinosaur took it over in the mid-1980’s. The décor is rustic but the food is delicious and reasonably priced. We shared the Sweetheart Deal for 2 which gave extra ribs for a snack the next day. Wednesday evening we went to our friend Roseann’s for great dinner and conversation

         

For four days we went to various seminars on topics such as -Over-the-Air Antenna Products; Alaska by RV; How to Use Microsoft Streets and Trips Software; RV Tire Safety, etc. Jane’s favourite was the Good Sam Culinary Experience with the Canadian Food Network Chef Bob Blumer. 

There were also lots of RVs to tour but since there were more motorhomes than 5^th wheels, we came home with our Titanium.  Camping World had a large store set up in the exhibit building so we were able to buy a few toys including a camp rocking chair for Jane.

We learned on Thursday that many of the people who arrived that day were forced to park at the Destiny Mall (formerly the Carousel Mall) due the mud at the fairgrounds. It wasn’t until Friday that the Rally organizers were able to get port-a-potties set up at the mall and to get extra shuttle buses to transport people to the fairgrounds.

        

On Friday afternoon, we got Re-Hitched at the renewal of your wedding vows ceremony along with thousands of other rally attendees. It will be a few months before we know if the Guiness Book of World Records is broken. The weather was perfect on Friday so it was a great way to enjoy the afternoon in the sunshine. The entertainer was Sarah Getto, a talented singer / musician who we have seen at Fun N Sun in Texas. 

     

Wayne Newton was the Friday night headliner – not much can be said about his performance other than he is past his prime.  Reba McEntire, the Saturday night headliner, gave a wonderful concert and again the weather cooperated.  The Vogues were the closing act on Sunday afternoon – a great way to end the Rally despite the rain.

             

There were also Fireworks displays on both Saturday and Sunday evenings – fortunately the weather cooperated so that we could enjoy them.

Sunday night we ventured to East Syracuse where we found Dominick’s Italian Food and Pizza Restaurant. Another great restaurant in Syracuse and it wasn’t even that crowded considering it was Father’s Day.  Again our RV fridge transported our leftovers back to Ontario.

We had a great time at the Rally – so good that we are trying to figure out how we can go to the Atlanta Rally in October 2013. 

Titanium Reunion - Kingston June 2013

From May 30 to June 6, we attended our 7^th Titanium owner’s rally at Rideau Acres Campground in Kingston, Ontario.  Many of the group have now purchased different brands of 5^th wheels but attend as “Titanium alumni”.

Thursday night Doug and Sue joined us for dinner so we could catch up on the news of their trip from Florida to California and back to Ontario.  They covered 1000’s of miles and have wonderful photos of their trip.  We were glad to learn that they are going to join us back at Fun N Sun for the winter as are Gillian & Gary. 

Friday morning we truck pooled to the Thousand Islands Casino in Gananoque.  There were only a few lucky players in our group (Doug being one of them) so most of us left and headed to Kingston for an early lunch on a sunny patio.  Later that day, we boarded a school bus which took us to the 1000 Islands boat cruise docks for our dinner cruise.  The food was great and the entertainer was fun – the same corny jokes as last year.  Steve even joined him as Julio Inglesis.

             

Our first stop on Saturday morning was the Kingston Penitentiary Museum or Correctional Service Museum housed in a lovely building which was originally the warden’s residence. The architecture was where the beauty ended since the museum is full of displays of tools of escape and tools of punishment just short of torture. It was an interesting glimpse into a side of life we don’t often see. http://www.penitentiarymuseum.ca/

       

Later in the morning, we boarded the Canadian Coast Guard Ship, the Alexander Henry which is part of the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes. http://www.marmuseum.ca/

Our tour guide was a student who knew the bare essentials of the ship’s history so we finished about 45 minutes before the other group who’s guide was a 79 year old Master Captain with over 60 years of experience.  Our next stop was lunch on a rooftop patio in downtown Kingston.

 

On Sunday we did lots of eating and socializing – starting at the campground sponsored pancake breakfast ($5.00 for all the pancakes, bacon and sausage you could eat) and ending with the Titanium reunion potluck.  Edna and Andy serenaded us with their fiddle and keyboard prior to dinner as we visited with more of our friends. Of course, there was too much food at both events but we had lots of fun!!

Monday morning Paul and Doug headed out to play golf so Sue and I went shopping at the Kingston outlet mall.  The fashion outlet was having a great sale so after several hours of trying on clothes we headed back to Rideau Acres each with a large shopping bag full. Once the golfers returned we served them lunch of leftover ham, veggies and dip (our contribution to the pot luck).  Later in the afternoon, Sue and I joined some folks for a happy hour of sampling various types of shooters – obviously we weren’t too hungry for dinner that night.

Doug was our chauffeur to Spindletree Gardens which is just south of Tamworth, Ontario and about 45 minutes from Rideau Acres.  We had a fascinating 2 hour tour of the gardens given by the 75 year old owner. He was originally an architect in Toronto who is now building a greenhouse and reception hall and who knows what else. The man epitomizes the adage “if you rest, you rust” because it is obvious that he doesn’t sit around much. Some of our group stayed for lunch in the tea room but we headed Wendy’s and Dairy Queen for a “fast food” lunch.

             

Since Bill and Margaret were in England, Doug took over the annual trivia contest on Wednesday afternoon. The retired geography teacher managed to stump many of us but it was fun anyway.  While we were there, we saw Carl and Lee who we know from Fun N Sun pull into the campground to attend the annual Escapees Rally.  Wednesday evening, the campground owner put on a delicious steak dinner as we said “au revoir” to our friends.

Thursday morning we were among the last to leave since we were just moving the Titanium into the rally field so that we could park it until Monday June 10^th when we would be getting ready to head to Syracuse for the Good Sam Rally.