Still at Shangri-La RV..August 12-14,2010

Diana & JoanDiana, Aunty Verla and Joan

Thursday was a bit more of a laid back day. Dale and I had a few chores to do in the morning, around the bus and a chance to have a lazy morning. The, after lunch he drove me into Jordan Station  so I could have an afternoon visit with Aunty Verla, Diana and cousin Joan who joined us for the afternoon.

Diana and Joan

Joan is still working full time and had Thursday off, so only chance to have a good visit. We enjoyed several cups of tea and goodies and caught up on more family "stuff".  Dale was off toddling around the neighbourhood and then dropped by about 4:30 to  pick me up.

The "honey wagon" was coming, expected sometime between 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. so we wanted to sure we didn't miss them. We waited, and we waited and we waited. I went out in the car, found them only to be advised they would be over in a "few minutes. We waited, and we waited..finally had dinner at 8:00 pm., and we waited somemore!!! Then miracously, at 10:00 pm., in the dark, they showed up.

"honey wagon""surprise, surprise"!!!

Not to go into a lot of detail but our hose is 4 inches, theirs was 2 inches...interesting challenge to the laws of gravity and suction. We kept the windows closed on that side of the bus for the night!!!!!

Friday a.m., we were up bright and early. Dale had to drive me into Grimbsy, for a pedicure appointment set for 9:00 a.m. Grimbsy is about 30 minutes from here and a beautiful drive thru the countryside. He dropped me off and Diana picked me up. We then drove to Jordan, to meet Aunty Verla for her and I to get haircuts. This obviously is a girl's day out!! From there, we drove into the village for a delightful lunch. That was followed by a walk about the village, into all the little stored, poking into the many nooks and crannies. Also got to see the house that Uncle Jack and Aunt Verla first lived in when they moved back to Ontario over 60 years ago. It is now a fabric/wool/craft shop, and all the original structure is still there.

Across the street is the Jordan Museum which Uncle Jack had a big hand in helping restore many of the artifacts and a big contributor of his time and energy.

Plaque on the wall of the museum mentioning Uncle Jack.

Royal Mail wagon. Aunty Verla remembers this coming down the street, when she was a little girl.

Covered wagon built by Uncle Jack and friends from an original pattern.

We visited a lot of the stores but managed to resist all the tempting offerings. Back to Aunty Verla's for a much needed sit down and a good cup of tea.  While we were off doing the girlie day. Dale and Bob had been off on their own as well. Bob took Dale through Andre's Winery for one thing and guess he thoroughly enjoyed that tour; plus a few other places that only guys would think is fun. Dale once again picked me up and we came back to the bus for a bit to freshen up and get ready to meet them for dinner.

We had made reservations at the Lakehouse Restaurant right on Lake Ontario. A fantastic setting; we were not able to get a patio seat, it was full (just as well as it turned out, as a big wind came up while we were enjoying our dinner inside). It is a lovely restaurant and Denise, Della and I had been taken there for lunch when we three visited a few years ago. Everything was as I remembered and the food was excellent. We three girls (Diana, Aunty Verla and I)  shared a bottle of 99 Winery Merlot (Wayne Gretzkey's Estate Winery). It was delicious and will try and a get a couple of bottles to bring home with us. Will have to stash them somewhere so they last that long!!

Left to right: Aunty Verla, Bob, Diana, Arlene and Dale.

Everything was so delicious that we were all thoroughly sated BUT somehow managed to save room for one of their desserts. The girls shared a triple chocolate mousse, Bob had the praline tart and Dale had the bread pudding. They were all particularly tasty and a fine finish to a delightful meal. We declined going back to Aunty Verla's for tea, by this time it was close to 9:00 and we were both somewhat weary.  Time to get home and get the feet up and reflect on the great day we both had had.

Today, Saturday was our day to tour about on our own. We got somewhat of a late start as we both enjoyed just having our tea/coffee and puttering around the bus for a good portion of the morning. However, we eventually took ourselves off. First, back to Jordan to look at a ring I had spied, made an offer and then had to wait until later in the day to see if the consignee would accept our offer (apparently not..oh well!)  Then, following some directions that left us wondering, we headed out to find a Costco. The wireless mouse/keyboard we had bought in Newmarket decided to stop working??? So, took it back and bought another one and so far so good. Of course, when you go to Costco, you never leave empty handed so we did our bit and once again the freezer/fridge are loaded.!!

After leaving there, we went for a drive, just meandering around the area to enjoy it all and at the same time, find a restaurant to have lunch.

more stately old homeswonderful brick structures

We wound up at a wonderful little Japanese restaurant in an old house in a real old part of the town; great atmosphere and good food. Our first Japanese since we left so doubly enjoyable. On the road again, we took side roads and drove as far as Niagara on the Lake. There was some kind of festival going on and there were thousands of people and cars everywhere. No parking and it was hot. Rather than try and fight all this, we drove around for a very short time and then headed back. We stopped at Port Dalhousie for a little while as it is such a delightful little town and such a beautiful setting.

Port Dalhousie Yacht Club

After that, it was getting on to late afternoon so drove back to Jordan to check out the ring (!!) and then consoled ourselves with very delicious ice cream cones before we came back to the bus. We are going to have a quiet evening, probably a little TV,  BBQ a salmon, share a glass of wine and generally relax for the rest of the evening. Not that we are overly busy, but sometimes nice to just sit back and reflect on how fortunate we are to be able to make this trip and enjoy time with friends and family.

Till next time.....................................