It’s Time to Move On…
I wasn’t sure what to name this blog but in the end decided on “It’s Time to Move On”. Without a doubt, I’m ready to move on to the next adventure but the question still remains “ Where are we moving?”
Brent and I returned to Canada in February from Costa Rica. After quarantining in Calgary we headed back to Ontario, spending the next four weeks with our parents, splitting our time between Bath and Tillsonburg. Ontario was in full lockdown. Gym, hair and nail salons and restaurants were closed along with other non-essential businesses.
During this time, I drove my mom to her radiation treatments for 10 consecutive days. Bless my mama. After her treatments were finished in mid-April, we packed up our van and headed back across Canada to pick up our trailer that we stored in Summerland, British Columbia. We planned on returning to Ontario for the summer but we had to time it so as not to get caught in any kind of winter storm in the Rockies. It’s hard enough towing an 18 foot travel trailer in dry conditions up the mountains let alone through snow. I can’t imagine.
We hung out around the South Okanagan region where it can have reasonable warm weather. Many snowbirds cocooned there in 2020 as the border was closed during the pandemic. Unfortunately as I write this, it still hasn’t opened to Canadians although Canada has opened up to our neighbours below us. Go figure!
We had a terrific summer visiting with our friends and family although we didn’t have enough time to see everyone. I feel like this is just going to be the way for a few more years. Everyone is so busy, especially during the summer months. We stayed put for some of our time back home but did tour around for four weeks on a bit of a recognisance mission looking for possible retirement locations. Can’t say we found one although we started developing a wish list.
So that leaves us where we are today. After saying our goodbyes, we hit the road embarking on our second year of travel. In October, a transportation company from Quebec will haul the van and trailer over the border while we fly to meet it on the tarmac. Apparently lots of snowbirds did it last year and it looks like many have booked for this year in case the border remains closed.
With that in mind, we’ve made our way to the Eastern Townships in Quebec to bask in Fall. We were in the Laurentians with friends a few weeks back and the trees were peaking. It was spectacular. It seems like this area is just beginning to turn so by the time we have toured around it should be in full swing.
We drove into the Bromont area last night and set up camp. We had to situate ourselves again as it’s been awhile. But once we settled in for the night, we fell hard asleep listening to the rain storm outside. It felt so comforting to be back home in the trailer.
Today, we drove to the small village of Frilighsburg and from there biked to Vignoble Pigeon Hill Winery in Saint-Armond. Although only 8.5 km away, it was a tough ride up and down hills and the ride back was just as interesting. My advice is to skip the romantic notion of biking from winery to winery through the Eastern Township and just drive! I’d rather enjoy my tastings along the way.
That being said, once at the winery, we had a great time speaking to the owner, Kevin, who opened up the small tasting room…of course it was closed when we arrived. But to our delight Kevin was more than willing to give me a tasting of this year’s harvest of which we bought the Cuvée 2020. This family owned winery produces small batch organic wines delivering mostly to restaurants in the local region and Montreal. I would highly recommend stopping here on your winery tour, although you’d be wise to check the hours of operation unlike this spontaneous and sometimes silly couple.
Cheers for now. Check out Pigeon Hill at Vignoble Pigeon Hill and on Instagram.
