Arkona, Ontario

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      I believe a part of everyone's adventure is the unknown. My current unkown wasn't where Smokin Joes' fuel station was, but whether or not our Traveling Talisman could get into their service area. It wasn't far off our route, so we decided to stop and check it out. Turns out there was only one pump available to accommodate our size and length. Tom and I decided to go for it. And we made it possible by working together. We fueled up 44.091 gallons. It had been 278.9 miles since our last fill up. Gas cost $3.039 per gallon. Tom and I then continued our adventure for Arkona, Ontario. We were not on the road very long when we had to make a few u-turns. Tom was using our Co-Pilot from a laptop. The laptop battery was running low and kept shutting down the GPS program. We decided to run the generator to power the laptop. Tom used the outlet by his seat. Everything was back to working order. Crossing the United States and Canadian border wasn't a problem at all. Tom and I were told Buddy and Benny needed medical papers to cross the border. The toll person asked about having animals, but didn't ask to see any medical records. We continued on our way. Along our drive we got to see a great view of Ontario Lake. Tom video taped some of our drive along the way. We stopped at a service center to get dinner and rest, Buddy and Benny too. After a good rest we continued on our adventure for a total of 178.19 miles to our next stay in Arkona, Ontario. Arkona is a community located in the municipality of Lambton Shores in southwestern Ontario near the Lambton-Middlesex county line, situated beside the Ausable River, on Former Kings Highway 79 (now Lambton County Road 79), Arkona is roughly half-way between Thedford, and Watford. We arrived at the Rock Glen Family Resort around 6:00 pm. Tom and I were visiting the Rock Glen Family Resort as a Resorts of Distinction member and there was no cost for us to stay there. After we checked in we got to pick our own campsite and began setting up. Tom and I found there was a problem with the main awning. It looked like the wind twisted the supporting arm at our last stay. We decided to check it again tomorrow during daylight. Tom and I didn't get totally set up until 9:00, just before dark. It was time to rest from our day.

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      This morning we had our breakfast and a meeting about what we need to accomplish this week. Then we had meditation. After meditation, Tom went right to work programming and I photographed our campsite. We were lucky enough to find a campsite in the shade. Not many visitors were here. This gave me an opportunity to photograph 360° around our campsite. I completed 3/4's my way around when my digital camera got full. I stopped to unload my images onto my laptop. It didn't take me long to finish photographing. To see images of our campsite in Arkona, Ontario click here. Tom and I then set up the Kittywalk and penthouse for Buddy and Benny. We're not always able to set it up. Sometimes the ground is gravel, making it difficult. Because our campsite here was all grass we had no problems. Tom made a campfire to make dinner on. We sat around the fire pit waiting for the coals to get hot enough for cooking. Buddy and Benny were in their Kittywalk and pent house. The fire pit was unusual. I've never seen a fire pit with the fire ring in the ground. It made it difficult to see the coals deep below the flames. The glowing coals are my favorite part of a campfire. It got dark and we had to put Buddy and Benny in our Traveling Talisman. Something in the dark was making them antsy. Benny was no problem, but Buddy put up a fight. She got loose and ran under our Traveling Talisman. It wasn't easy finding her in the dark. We thought she ran off and was gone. Tom found her near one of the rear tires by the door. She put up more of a fight than she did before. This time she scratched Tom. Just before he lost grip of her I was able to gain hold. Buddy struggled, biting me all the way to the door. Tom grabbed the door and I put her in. No more out doors for Buddy. Tom finished cooking dinner and we ate by the campfire. It was peaceful watching the glow of the fire. You could only hear the crackle of the fire.

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      I made a great big sausage, potato, onion and egg omelet this morning. We ate half of it and saved the other half for another morning. Afterward we worked on our websites. Normally Tom and I meditate early in the morning. Today we waited until early afternoon. I could hear Benny and Buddy watching movement outside while I was meditating. I peaked and saw black squirrels running around the campground. When I was done I grabbed my camera and got images of black squirrels. After I unloaded my camera to the laptop again, Tom and I went for a bike ride. We like going for bike rides. It gives us an opportunity to check out the campground. There's a country store here. We stopped for ice cream and then continued on for a longer bike ride. The campground was designed with many levels. The very top level was permanent RVs. The next two levels down were seasonal RV's. And the lower level was for visitors like Tom and I. We were getting our exercise with all the up hills and down hills. Almost an hour later we returned back to our campsite to have lunch. Then we went back to work updating our website until 11:00 pm.

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      While Tom and I enjoyed our coffee and breakfast, we discussed what we wanted to do today. It was almost like a meeting. Then we took turns meditating. During my meditation, Tom worked on making the bed and other bedroom organizing. When I was done meditating, it was Tom's turn. I went outside to clean my van. There were more squirrel playing in the campground. I couldn't resist. I took more photos. After Tom was done, we went for a bike ride. We stopped at the office and found there was a wedding reception going on. We didn't stay, it was a private party. The Campground rents out the family center for special occasions. The Office receptionist told us where we could find a bakery west of Arkona, in a town called Forest, Ontario. Tom and I put our bikes away and went for a drive in search of the bakery. It was a perfect day for a drive. We not only found the bakery, but we also found a contemporary art gallery called Lovart Gallery. The gallery is owned by Maria Kastellitz and her husband, artist Thomas Ackermann. The Gallery was showing Thomas Ackermann's work. My observation was that Thomas Aackermann is talented and shows great expression in his work. Check out Thomas Aackermann's work at www.ackermann-artist.com. Maria and Thomas invited us to see their studio. We all had a great time sharing conversations. I even had fun combing their cat, Cleo. Before we knew it, the time was late afternoon. It was 4:00 by the time we returned back to our campsite. I went back to work on my website. I've been learning a lot as I design it. And there's so much more to learn. In the early evening Tom and I went back to the country store. We wanted to have a few more camp fires and needed more wood. We bought a wagon full. The cost for a wagon full had no limit to how much you could take. As long as none of it fell off, we could have it. Naturally I used my organizing and packing skills to take as much as we could. We had a mound on the wagon and didn't lose any of it on the way back to our campsite. It was a great night for a campfire and we had plenty of wood.

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      We woke up this morning by the sound of a campground wake up call. The office wanted everyone to know they were serving waffles and sausage for breakfast. Our campfire coals were still hot, so we added more wood. Tom made pancakes, potatoes, and sausage on the campfire. Benny spent his morning in the Kittywalk. He is adapting to it well. Buddy was spending her time indoors. After breakfast we made time for meditation. This time Tom meditated outside.

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      It was a great idea. I did too and found it was a peaceful meditation with a temperate breeze flowing by. With a clear mind, I went back to updating my website. I've got to get caught up. My website is only showing part of stay 1. We're currently on stay 4. I got a lot accomplished with my web-site. But now I needed to learn more. Tom and I studied a good while. He was giving me ideas on improvements. After such a long lesson, we decided to go for a bike ride. Every time we go bike riding we go for longer rides. They are getting easier as we do more. It's great exercise, especially at this campground with all the hills. Dinner time was approaching, so we put our bikes away. Tom made another fire. He likes to cook on the open campfire. When we finished dinner, we got on the internet and picked a movie called "Streaming Video" on Netflix.com. Our movie didn't end until 11:45 pm. It was time for bed. We had a tight schedule for tomorrow.

      We started our morning getting a few things done, like meditation. I spent some time on updating my financial records and Tom worked on more programming. Our original plans were to go photograph the Rock Glen Conservation Area. It was a great day to photograph. The weather was calling for a high of 78°, but it actually reached 82°. Unfortunately, we never made it to the conservation. It was a full day of programming. When Tom was finished programming for the day, he decided we would do laundry. This campground has an outdoor laundromat. I never did my laundry outside before. By the time laundry was completed and put away it was after 9:00. Tom made green beans and ham for dinner. He said tomorrow morning we might go to the conservation area to photograph. Then we retired for the night.

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      This morning we woke up to 66.2° temperature outside. The high for today is expecting to be 87.8°. We had our breakfast as we checked the internet for information about the Conservation Area. It was right across the street from the campground. We couldn't have planned that better if we tried. After our meditation we walked over to photograph. We had a good day for photographing. Part of the Conservation Area consisted of trails. Naturally, Tom and I went for a hike on the trails. But not until we photographed the Rock Glen Falls. Tom also took photos with Flat Stanley in front of the falls. It was a weekday, so there were very little people here. Both Tom and I took turns video taping too. The trails were long and we were hot. To see my images of Rock Glen Falls, click here. We headed back to camp and got in our swim suits.

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      There is an indoor and an outdoor pool at this resort. Both pools were cold. After our swim, we decided it would be a good idea to pack up a few things for tomorrows departure. We still had daylight available and went for a drive to Grand Bend, Ontario. Located on the shores of Lake Huron, Grand Bend, often referred to as simply "The Bend" or "GB," is part of the municipality of Lambton Shores in the county of Lambton. Tom and I walked around to see the area. We stopped for dinner as we waited for sunset. The sun went down west of Ontario Lake. Both Tom and I photographed and watched the sunset. To see images I took in Grand Bend, click here. It was very romantic. Shortly after the sun was down we headed back home for a good nights rest.

     Tom got me up early this morning. He was excited to get to our next stay in Saint Clair, MI. We packed up the remainder of our things and continued on our adventure.

Remember to visit travelingtalisman.com by Tom Reider.