April Expenses

Well, you can tell we're not in Mexico any more!

But despite that, our expenses for the month came in about where we expected. We spent a total of $2,155 CAD ($1,630 USD) for the month. And considering that included our flight up here and the car rental, it's not bad.

Forgot the camera!

There was a little bit of blue sky and sunshine yesterday morning, so we figured we had better get out and take advantage of it because it was not supposed to last into the afternoon.

We figured we would walk down to the washed out section of road to see if the water had gone down enough to make our way across it.

Grandma and Grandpa on the trampoline

We were 24 years old when our daughter was born, and 26 years old when our son was born. We remember saying at the time that by having our children at a relatively young age, we would have it made by the time we were 45. And that was pretty much true. In fact, we were 45 when we bought our motorhome and began an unconventional lifestyle.

Coincidentally, our daughter and her husband also had children at a relatively young age. This means that now at age 57 and active we can enjoy our grandkids and be active with them!

Australia in the winter

Speaking of winter, it's still not over here in Canada!

Most parts of Canada only get four months of good weather per year, so we are not surprised by this at all. But, we had our fingers crossed for better than this. We got spoiled by a couple of decent days last week just after we arrived here, but sure enough, the cold has returned and it looks like it's not going to get much better over the week and a half we have remaining here.

Haven't sat at a bar for a while!

Well, we took a blogging break yesterday. Doesn't happen too often, but when there's not much to write about there is no point in posting anything!

We've been spending our time visiting family and friends. On Thursday night, our daughter Lindsey took us for drinks at the pub she works at and we met some of the regulars there.

I don't think I've ever seen so much wildly churning water!

Yesterday, we went and picked up Ruth's dad and took him for a drive. It's been a long winter in this area, and they don't get out often enough at the senior's home. So we figured he would enjoy a change of scenery and some fresh air.

It was chilly though... only a high of 9C (48F) and a brisk wind.

We're obviously up here too early!

The snow is pretty much gone in this area. Or so we thought! Sure, you can still see the odd patch here and there... but it's pretty much gone.

Yesterday we drove over to the Morris Island Conservation area to go for a hike.

Booked yet another flight ticket!

A nice spring day yesterday with sunshine and a high of about 18C (64F). So, better to get some work done outdoors.

We're staying here at Ruth's dad's house, but her father doesn't live here anymore. He's at a senior's home in town where his meals are made for him and he gets some personal care. But, just because nobody is living in the house doesn't mean that things don't have to get done.

Hanging out with the grandkids

Our daughter Lindsey and her husband Justin were headed back to the city, but grandkids Cameron and Sadie wanted to stay with grandma and grandpa! That's fine with us, so we spent the afternoon with them, and brought them to their parents again at my sister's place before dinner.

But, they did take Chester the dog with them!

The water level is higher than I've ever seen it!

First thing on the agenda yesterday was to pick up our transportation. We're here for 16 days and there's always lots of visiting to be done so we needed a car. I started looking for a car rental as soon as we booked the flight back at the end of January.

Car rental prices change regularly, so you have to check regularly. Also, when you make a booking, you can cancel that booking without penalty. So you need to book the cheapest you can find, and then continue to look in case a better deal comes along.

Austin to Ottawa... the scenic route!

Well, we are back "home" in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Despite the fact that we haven't spent very much time here in the last 12 years, we still consider it home.

Let me tell you how we got here...

Reflecting on our Mexico RV Caravan trip

We've had a couple of weeks now to think about this most recent Mexico RV trip. This was the third RV caravan group that we have led through Mexico, and it continues to be a learning experience for us.

Let me give you some background. The first trip we did in February of 2016 was just a trial run. We took over another group for 30 days.

5 Offbeat Travel Destinations To Include In Your 2019 Bucket List

The world is full of mysterious and amazing spots which are waiting to be found by travellers. So, how about making 2019 a year full of explorations and discoveries with visiting some unconventional destinations and experience the rugged untouched beautiful nature!

If you weren't going down... you were going up!

We had read about a good biking road that runs between Bastrop State Park and Buescher State Park. So when we checked into our campsite here, I asked the lady in the office about it and she used the word "grueling".

But, we decided to give it the old college try. First, we made a detour back to the office to check on moving sites for tonight. We mentioned we were off to do the bike road between the parks, and this lady used the word "challenging".

New luggage for our trip!

Yesterday we moved from Lockhart State Park to Bastrop State Park. Along the way, we met up with Tom at his land where he has volunteered to look after Sherman while we are gone. While we were with Tom and his dog Nizza (rhymes with pizza!) Tom presented us with a couple of packages.

We had an offer from a luggage manufacturer to try out a couple of fairly high end carry on suitcases. Our backpack style luggage that we've been using since 2012 is starting to look pretty beat up, and we were getting close to needing something new, so we took them up on their offer, and they shipped them to Tom!