First trip of the 2015 Season!

Karin, Oscar, Frances and I had our first real trip in the Galavan this past weekend, we headed over to Point Farms Provincial Park on Lake Huron. The park is just north of Goderich Ontario about half way down the west coast of Ontario.

We left as soon as Karin got home on Friday evening after spending the week getting everything back into the Galavan from winter storage.

We got a good early start but soon found ourselves at the side of the road, the wind was extremely strong and the awning was not latched securely and within 5 minutes of leaving it decided that it really wanted to be flying in the wind. Luckily both Karin and I heard the flapping almost as soon as it happened and I was able to pull off on our road which is not very busy to get it rolled back up, which by the way is not really all that easy in a high wind.
I got back in and started off again only to have it start to happen again (Karin was doing contortions to watch it in the mirror) so back to the side of the road. Out came the ladder and the channel locks and with some persuasion I got it back rolled up I took Karin's advice and wrapped a bungee cord around both ends and the latch and everything seemed to hold.

notice who is outside fixing the awning?

At this point I was seriously considering just turning around and calling it a day thankfully everything held for the rest of the trip.

The Dogs did great on the drive and Frankie seemed very comfortable in our travels.

Frankie in her booster seat.

Frankie loving being able to see and Oscar in his usual spot.

After about a four hour drive across the Niagara Escarpment we arrived at the park checked in and found our site we set up the Galavan  which took all of 10 minutes.
The dogs needed a walk so off we headed to discover the park and head down to the beach. To get to the beach we have to go down the escarpment but luckily for us there is a great set of stairs.

Wait for me Oscar!

OK we'll wait

Sunset through the trees.

We had a great time exploring the beach Oscar and Frankie loved it!

After a good walk it was back to the Galavan for dinner for Karin and I and a rest for the dogs.

Oscar curled up in Frankie's crate for some reason

Frankie enjoying the fireplace.

Saturday and Sunday we spent on the beach and resting (OK the dogs rested) but the weather was good.

You just can't keep Karin from picking rocks

Doing the stairs again

Or getting carried although by Monday morning Frankie did them all.

Tuckered

Awww best buddies

Home sweet Home

Porch time

Sunday afternoon we put the awning and outdoor stuff away as there was a chance of rain and it is so much nicer to do it when things are dry.

It's nice to have help sweeping off the awning.

Monday we got up had a leisurely breakfast had a walk to the beach and headed home by 10:00.

The park is a real interesting mix of trees Maple, Ash (whats left of them) willow, cedar, apple and lilac too name a few.

The drive home was uneventful except foe a pit-stop in Neustadt Ontario at the Neustadt Springs Brewery for some taste testing and some cans.

All in All a very good and relaxing trip and a good way to break in Frankie to the Galavan and to shake out the bugs.

New season

Over the winter we had to say good bye to our beautiful Maya who loved to travel in the Galavans.

She will always be missed.

 We Picked up the Galavan on Saturday from it winter storage Jerome and Oscar drove it home and Karin and Frankie followed. While it was there our good friend Dave fixed some issues, the hydraulics, furnace, and water heater, and installed two new vent fans for us.

The fans will help us keep the Galavan cool for the dogs and exhaust the bathroom a lot better and quieter.

We also need to introduce the newest Galavan dog Frances or Frankie for short.

She is a Beagle Dachshund cross who in these photos is 9 weeks old, She seem to like the Galavan hopefully she is as good of a traveler as Maya was and Oscar is.

We still have many renovations to finish this year and hopefully many trips so stay tuned for updates.

Main cabin almost done.

Oh Boy it has been a busy week.
I managed to get the drivers side painted, to do that I had to remove the couch on doing so I found that the supports for the back were just that white strapping that they use on boxes and it had disintegrated. I replaced it with nylon rope but forgot to take pictures but I did get some pretty good cuts to my hands.
On Saturday I finished up some small jobs and cleaned up all of my tools and started to put things where they will belong as we had to do our first long trip. (driving from the dealer home does not count)
We got up early Sunday and I turned The Galavan around I took out a clearance light on the side as I am really not use to being in such a high and loooong vehicle.

We head out to Kirkfeild to our friend Dave's house as he got us a great deal on a fridge.

Our first precious passenger ;)

Hooking the IPad up to the stereo much nicer than trying to find stations as you drive

every thing battened down for the trip.

On The Road Again...

After an uneventful trip to Kirkfeild we arrived at Dave's house and he and Terry got to work removing the old fridge.

Karin and the old Fridge

The Ugly hole.

 I really have to thank Dave and Terry as they worked very hard getting the new fridge to fit, they tried putting in place and tweaking the existing hole about 7-8 times before they got it to fit well.

Success!!!

Dave hooked up the gas and tested it everything is OK now

 Thanks so much Dave

We left Dave's and headed home when we were almost home I tried the 400 hwy as the traffic was not too bad and I wanted to see how The Galavan would do. I got it up to 120 Km and it was fine, actually better than expected, I would not want to drive like that for any extended time but it was nice to know  could if I needed to.

After a quick bite of lunch it was back to work. Karin finished the curtains and I bent up some sheet metal to fill the gap as the new fridge is a little shorter.

I will be adding a spice rack just above the fridge to fill the void in the front.

So the next couple of days will be busy I need to finish the dinette and get it installed, take The Galavan for an oil change and get ready for our first weekend trip next weekend.