Dumping the Tank and Around the World
Have you heard of “couch surfing”? Well, driveway surfing is 10 times better! 3 nights of free parking is $150 saved plus you’re sleeping in your own bed (and in this case we had yummy food and drinks)!
When you live full time in an RV there are a few things that simply make you happy: a free water hose and washer & dryer are two of them. I spent the morning washing the RV while Nikki did a few loads of free laundry…..it truly is the little things in life that make one happy.
We are departing tonight so we decide to head out to Burlington to scope out the town, plus last night we saw a tiny local cupcake shop that demanded investigation. The waterfront in downtown Burlington offers plenty fancy eateries, shops, and green space. Being on a budget we decided to head inland a bit and found a great little fish & chips place. Hand battered fish, fresh cut fries, local brew and cheap prices made this worth the trip inland. The interior and diner feel of this location has not changed since what looks like the 50’s, and they’re likely using the same simple ingredients.
Returning back to the RV we found Phil’s mom (Cathy) waiting to escort us to our next “driveway” home (I haven’t figured out a name for this driveway surfing thing yet). A short drive into the greater Toronto area and we’re here! One problem…..the house is on a busy 4 lane road and I have to back in across traffic! A little nervous I stop in the middle of the road, turn on my blinker and pray……here comes Cathy to the rescue taking life by the horns and directing traffic like an old pro. I back into her yard (that’s right she wanted us in their beautiful yard so we’d feel more like a camping site) and she runs over to help hold back a tree so as not to scratch the RV. BOOM! She takes a fall, I’m instantly nervous about her fall, but seconds later laughter blasts out of her mouth…..I can tell we’re going to get along swimmingly.
Cathy heads in to prepare dinner (yep, she’s gonna make us dinner; I love this driveway surfing action) and I get to setting up “camp”. Everything is perfect, free water, 120 outlet, and she even has a connection that goes directly to the sewer. One problem, my hose is 30 feet and the sewer is nearly 50 feet away. Being the prepared ‘boy scout’ I remember the RV came with a sewer hose which I kept just in case. A little rigging and before you know it we’re dumping the grey water. I thought about dumping the black tank, but I didn’t trust my sewer hose rigging (never said I was a good boy scout). All is set for tonight, now we’re heading in for dinner, drinks, and conversation.
– Jason
Thursday June 14, 2012 — Around the World
We have some projects that we are working on for Thousand Trails (they own lots of great campgrounds) and unfortunately we are on a deadline and have to work all day. This means no exploring for us today. However, our ever fabulous host Cathy insists on whipping up another meal for us tonight. She made incredible “swiss fondue” style mac-n-cheese last night for us (which she learned to make while living in Switzerland). We were not about to turn her down for another meal tonight.
As it turns out Cathy is a world traveler with great stories! After finishing school she and a girlfriend decided to go on a European adventure. She traveled all over, took boat rides to middle eastern countries in times of war, did some hitchhiking, bought an old VW bug in Russia and on and on. This is a woman who has lived! We soaked up every story and we’re hoping she will dig up some awesome old pics we can share with you. We didn’t leave our “campground” today and yet we felt as if we had just gone around the world. People are what makes travel interesting!
