Help us choose the best hat!

We've always been "baseball cap" kind of people. In fact, I don't think we've ever owned a hat other than a baseball hat. Or a winter hat. We're from Canada, so of course we've owned a winter hat! But this coming winter, we're headed for a part of the world that is going to be sunny and very hot.

So when Tilley Endurables agreed to sponsor our African trip by supplying us with two of what are arguably the best hats in the world, we were pretty excited and looking forward to making our selection.

But there are too many to choose from. We've narrowed it down a bit, but we need your help!

Ruth's best gluten free bread recipe

A little off topic for a travel blog, but because many of you know that Ruth eats gluten free we're often asked about eating that special diet. When we're not traveling, Ruth makes a lot of food from scratch and bread is one of the more popular items.

Gluten free bread is often heavy, and falls apart easily. This is by far the best bread recipe she's found, and I like it too!

What to do with the little blue car?

With our travels from September 2013 to April 2014 basically planned out, one thing that we're not sure about is the future of the little blue car.

It's okay for this winter...we have a prepaid season of storage already arranged.

Another weekend gone

Seems we're back at the point where we're only going to be busy on the weekends here at the campground. Quite a few empty spots this morning as the weekend campers went home yesterday. We had a family reunion group up in the overflow area, but they were pretty easy to look after as they policed themselves and all we had to do was to drop firewood in two piles and empty their trash cans.

Trying different food

We've become pretty open minded when it comes to food and traveling. There are definitely some different "delicacies" around the world, and even though some of them sound a bit strange to us North Americans, the locals in these other countries don't think twice before popping it in their mouths.

So we're anticipating trying some different foods while we're in Africa. What's popular over there?

We're going to Cancun, Mexico!

Not until March of next year, but the flight is booked.

We knew that our return flight from Africa arrives in New York City on March 8. And somehow, we wanted to make our way back to our motorhome which is parked near Guadalajara, Mexico.

The strange things you see...

Yesterday was my day to head in to the thriving metropolis of Prince Albert (pop 35,000). Ruth goes in to do the grocery shopping on Wednesdays, and I go in on Thursdays. I usually go if there's anything that needs to be picked up for the campground and to fill the camp truck up with fuel. Plus, it simply gets me out of here for a few hours!

Quiet hours 11:00pm to 7:00am

What's so difficult to understand? Seems pretty self explanatory, yet this simple campground rule is the one biggest thorn in my side as a campground manager.

More Namibia trip planning

Exactly three months from today we will be in New York City boarding a plane for an epic four month journey to Namibia and Southern Africa. Lots of internet research going on during our (very little!) spare time here at the cabin!

Here's our Harvest Hosts contest winners!

Our contest last week was a resounding success. Well, at least for three of you it was! A membership to Harvest Hosts is a kind of a specialized prize so we thought that maybe not too many people would enter.

But we have lots of RV'ing readers, and 85 of you entered the contest. So, three of you have won a 1 year membership and we hope that the other 82 of you will take the time to actually buy one. For $40 a year it's money well spent and you'll enjoy the peace and solitude that comes with an overnight stay at a winery, farm, or orchard.

So, without further ado, here's our lucky winners...!

Campground fireworks show

Despite our water problems which continue this morning, it was a pretty successful weekend. The campground was pretty much full although we still had a few empty single night spaces, and even some for two nights.

But the weather was perfect. Sunny and slightly warmer than forecast...highs of around 25C (77F) so we couldn't have asked for better in that department.

And we topped it all off with a fireworks show last night!

No water!

Yesterday was our annual camp beach volleyball tournament. This is a well attended event and the players are pretty serious about it! We had 16 teams entered and the two volleyball courts on the beach were going all day. Also had a silent auction with the proceeds going to the campground, and a beach BBQ set up with steak burgers.

So with all of that going on, and a pretty much full campground...there were a LOT of people!

Wow...busy Friday!

But before we get to that, thanks to all of you medically inclined readers out there who expressed concern for my apparent wasp sting allergy. It turns out that here in Canada I can buy an EpiPen or similar device without a prescription...so no doctor visit is necessary.

But apparently I'm going to have to shop around! Initial research tells me that these devices sell for around $120.00! And there's no generic version because the patent doesn't expire until 2025. Going to have to explore this further, but yes...I will make a point of getting something like this.

Stung by a wasp, and dog sitting!

Kind of a messed up day yesterday.

Started off down at the lower wood shed getting some campers a load of firewood. All of a sudden I heard a loud buzzing near my right ear and then that severe burning pain when you know you've been bitten by a wasp. I never did see whatever it was that bit me.

July Expenses

But before we get to that...it's now August. That means we can say "next month we're outta here!"

Not that we're counting the days or anything. Well, actually we are!