We just made it in time!

The weather forecast said that the front was to move in around noon yesterday, bringing high winds and a chilling drop in temperature to southern Texas.

So we got on the road at 7:45am trying to beat the storm to our destination in Alpine, TX.

We are moving along quickly

For several reasons.

We need to be at Alpine, TX to meet up with this year's Mexico RV Caravan group by Friday after lunch. That is actually the latest possible that we would need to be there. We actually had visions of showing up there on Wednesday just to give ourselves some relax time.

But, Sherman needs to get a couple of minor maintenance issues looked after.

A perfect day in Texas

Well, my comment the other day about not having any luck with Texas weather sure didn't apply yesterday!

We woke up to blue sky and sunshine and it continued that way the whole day. With a high of about 66F (19C) and no wind, it was a perfect day for a hike!

First day back on the road in Sherman!

Friday started off as overcast, rainy, and breezy. The rain was supposed to stop by 10:30am though so we hung out at Tom's parent's place until around that time. Thanks to Tom, Emily, and family for looking after us so well!

Not the best driving weather, however the wind wasn't bad enough to affect us. Plus, they are calling for a really nice Saturday and Sunday so we didn't want to waste the weekend driving.

We hit the road, headed for Garner State Park.

We don't seem to have much luck with Texas weather

We knew there was rain in the forecast, but it had said "occasional showers throughout the day". So we weren't in a big rush to leave Tom and Emily's property out in the country where Sherman has been stored since April.

But, we were definitely keeping in mind that when it gets really wet here, the entrance road turns to thick, goopy, mud! That's what happened when we arrived here.

Back in the motorhome, and that's enough flying for this year!

It might be a couple of days before we get back into our regular routine here, so just bear with us regarding the oddly timed blog posts please.

On Tuesday, we made our way from Ottawa, Ontario to Austin, Texas. There are no direct flights that do that route, so we first had to fly from Ottawa to Philadelphia. We have never been to Philadelphia airport before (and in fact, we have never been to the city itself) so it was a new experience.

Just a quick note

We made it to Austin, Texas and stayed at friends Tom and Emily's place last night. They let us use their car this morning and we went and did a big grocery shop to stock Sherman's empty fridge and shelves.

Gotta go... they're driving us over to meet Sherman now.

Temperature here 74F (23C), but they say there is a cold front coming in towards the weekend.

More later!

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On our way to our motorhome!

We are here at Ottawa International Airport waiting for our flight to Philadelphia.

Our flight is at 6:00am and they tell you to be here three hours before an international flight. And we got here at just after 3:00am. There was nobody at the American Airlines check-in counter, but that's fine... we used the self serve terminal.

They have "pre-clearance" at this airport. So when you have a flight direct to the United States, you actually go through customs and immigration at this airport prior to boarding your plane. So when we arrive in Philadelphia, we don't have to go through it there.

We arrived back in Canada... earlier than expected!

Our flight from Lima to Toronto went fine.

But if you're going to spend eight hours on an airplane, flying with Air Canada Rouge is not the best option if you have long legs like I do. Yes, we always weigh the cost factor, but it really wasn't a very comfortable eight hours for me with my knees jammed into the seat in front of me.

We arrived in Toronto a couple of minutes early at 10:50am. There was no line up at customs and immigration and we were quickly welcomed back to Canada.

On our way back to Canada

Writing this at Lima airport (Peru), waiting for our flight to Toronto that departs at 3:00am Sunday morning! We are scheduled to arrive Toronto around 11:00am, and then we have a short wait there before heading to... Quebec City! Yes, we often have these convoluted routes because they are cheaper. As we say... we have lots of time, but not lots of money! If it were the other way around, we would take the more expensive direct flights when possible.

Anyhow, then another connection in Quebec City that takes us into Ottawa around 7:00pm.

October Expenses

October was a bit of an expensive month for us. We bought new hiking boots, we had some car rental expenses, and of course a trip to Peru! I'll do a separate post later that details the total cost of the Peru trip by itself.

We spent a total of $3,306 CAD ($2,520 USD) for the month. Here's how it all broke down...

Day trip to Carhuaz for ice cream!

We had been told about a town around 30 kms (18 miles) north of here that is well known for its ice cream. Also, the town of Carhuaz was supposed to have a nice central plaza and we were looking for a kind of a casual day.

So we hopped on a collectivo and paid the 4 soles ($1.60 CAD, $1.20 USD) each for the 45 minute or so ride.

New adventures coming up!

Our time in Peru is winding down. Considering this trip was a last minute replacement for what was supposed to be Ecuador/Galapagos, we are sure happy with the way things worked out.

And because it was a last minute thing, we had done absolutely no research into this trip until 48 hours or so before boarding the plane. It was kind of exciting doing it that way!

How did we manage to do that?!

Up early yesterday to get ready for a big hike up to a lake in the Peruvian Andes near where we are staying here in Huaraz. We had read about this hike, and so we knew that it was going to be a tough one that needed an early start if we were going to complete it.

Our friends Lara and Luca came and met us at our apartment and we took the collectivo van to the village of Wilcahuain about 5 kms (3 miles) away where the trail begins to Laguna Ahuac.

We love going to the market

We didn't sleep very well Sunday night, so when our friends Luca and Lara invited us to go on a hike with them, we declined. Not like us to do that, but we don't want to get run down.

Instead, we stayed in the apartment, and I had a late morning nap. By lunchtime, we were ready to go out.