Yesterday, we went to see a numismatist

"A numismatist?" you say. "What is that? Some kind of doctor?"

Nope. A numismatist is an expert who deals in coins and banknotes.

I mentioned the other day that we had found a box of old coins in the basement. I did some research and found out that Alliance Coin and Banknote in the nearby town of Almonte is the best place to go in the area to get an appraisal. So I made an appointment and we went for a drive over there yesterday morning.

Here's the spec sheet for the motorhome we're looking at

There is a big RV show going on right now in Dusseldorf, Germany and of course all of the European manufacturers are there, although in a reduced capacity to deal with Covid distancing restrictions.

And the RV dealer that I am currently speaking with has some of their people at the show checking out the new models. One of which is the 2021 Adria Matrix Access 520 ST that we are interested in.

Another nice European motorhome

I've been in contact with an RV dealer in Germany that was recommended to us. This is one of the largest dealerships in Europe, and the guy says they are extremely busy. I told him what we were looking for... a 2017 or 2018 model with under 40,000 kms (24,000 miles) as well as our list of specifics... he said that it was highly unlikely that we would find exactly what we were looking for in a used model.

However, he has a new 2021 that is already on pre-order with an expected December - January delivery.

Bike ride to the pretty little village of Pakenham

It's been a little windy this past week and so we haven't been out on the bikes. But yesterday, the wind had calmed down a bit and so we got out early on the bikes for a ride down to the village of Pakenham.

We had to bike on the highway for about half the trip, but on the second half we got onto a rail trail. Not that scenic, and pretty much flat. But we knew that in advance, and it was the destination that makes it worth it.

Well, we knew this time would come

When we are out traveling, we are typically good for maximum one month in the same spot. And that's if we really like the spot! It's usually time to move on after two weeks.

So we had a good idea that staying here in Galetta for over two and a half months was going to be too long, but we didn't know exactly when the feeling would hit.

Back to where it all began

We were back in Ottawa again yesterday, first for a morning visit with my mom and older sister. After that, we were supposed to meet up with a guy to sell a little 12V Bosch drill that we used to travel with in the motorhome. But stupid me, we got half way to Ottawa when I realized that I hadn't put it in the car! Dummy. I hate when I do things like that.

So I managed to contact the guy and we are dropping it off on Saturday since we have to go back into Ottawa again anyhow to renew the little red car rental contract after the first month.

Feel like we didn't get much done yesterday

It was supposed to rain on and off, but it never did until we got a thunderstorm around 4:30pm. Actually, I did manage to get outside for an hour and a half and I put back together what I could of the old wood splitter. It's pretty much good to go now, at least the mechanical part of it.

I bought a used battery for it for $50, and tinkered with things enough that you turn the key and it fires right up, whether the engine is hot or cold. Not bad, considering it sat for close to ten years.

Bought some more flight tickets...

We already have tickets to fly from Ottawa to London, England (Gatwick) on October 12th, less than six weeks from now. The original booking called for us to fly Ottawa to Halifax, Nova Scotia, then connect to London.

I received notice last week that they changed the routing so that we now fly Ottawa to Toronto, then connect to London. And I'm not surprised. There probably wasn't enough demand for the flight from Halifax to London.

September is the best month to be in Canada.

Or perhaps more accurately, it's the best month to be in the Ottawa area.

I joke (sort of) that Ottawa really only has one good month of the year, and that is September. After all, we have a brutal winter that lasts from November through March. Both October and April can be iffy though, and I would certainly not count on getting any half decent weather in either of those months. Out of the twelve months of the year, those seven can be scratched.

August Expenses

Well, here we are at the end of August. Not a bad month from an expenses perspective, although if we are spending this kind of money we should be seeing more than we are. We gotta get back on the road!

We spent a total of $1,433 CAD ($1,100 USD)... only $6 less than we spent last month. But we sure saw a lot more last month than we did in August.

Chester the Rottweiler

Friday morning, our daughter Lindsey dropped of their dog Chester, the 135 lb Rottweiler for a weekend visit with Grandma and Grandpa while the family went canoe camping.

Chester is almost 4 years old, but he's still just a big puppy. And he loves me, and won't leave me alone!

What's the point of holding onto something if you never realize the appreciated value?

Going through the basement here, I came across an old cigar box full of old coins. I almost wish I hadn't though because it only means more work. At some point someone will have to go through them and see what is worth money, and what isn't.

Obviously the silver coins are worth their value in silver. But the other ones, even though they are old, are not worth much more than face value.

Interesting things that we find

So I'm going through some more stuff in the basement, and there's a bin with a bunch of old clothes in it. Looked like some of it belonged to Ruth's mother at some point. And there's an old purse. So of course before you send the stuff off to the op shop, you check the pockets and the purse to make sure that nobody inadvertently left a wad of hundred dollar bills in there.

And of course there was no money. But there was something interesting!

We'd rather be out hiking or exploring

Well, we're still puttering away at the work around the house. Ruth is probably 3/4 done the gardening... she only has one bad section left to do.

I started cleaning the exterior siding on the house. The beige colored vinyl siding is turning green. It probably hasn't been cleaned in over 15 years. I started with the worst part first... the hardest to get to area at the top of the back of the house.

Our preference is to die while still in good condition!

I hesitated to write this article because I don't want to come across as preaching. After all, we are far from perfect. But, I had an email from someone yesterday who said that this blog had motivated them to exercise more... and that's a good thing!

It's pretty common knowledge that exercise is good for you. And yet statistics say that most parts of the world don't treat exercise as the medical wonder drug that it is.