TODAY WE MET AN RV COUPLE WE HAVE KNOWN ONLINE FOR A LONG TIME

 THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN WITH KAREN'S SAMSUNG SMARTPHONE SITTING ON A PICNIC TABLE WITH A SELF TIMER

With temps in the mid 50's and a strong gusting wind from the north, I had to slip on a light nylon jacket over my short sleeve shirt on our morning walk.  Due to my hip bothering me and Pheeb's disinterest in a walk we only covered half of our half mile.  We soon jeeped our way back home and not long after that it was all three of us in the Subaru heading for.......no, not London, but a destination south of Grand Bend Ontario. 

Checking today's weather last night I was especially pleased to see it was going to be a nice day.  Not as much for me but for an RV Blogging couple now in our area at the Pinery Provincial Park south of Grand Bend.  We first met this couple online probably fifteen years ago or more.  I'm talking of course about Karen and Steve from What A View.  Older fellow RV Bloggers will know who they are when I mention their blog's previous name, 'Karen In The Woods' or 'RVing: The USA is OUR Big Back Yard'.  Karen and Steve are on a tour of Ontario with one of their destinations being Niagara Falls.  Traveling across The Straits Of Mackinac from their home in Wisconsin they followed Michigan's Eastern shoreline south to Port Huron and into Canada.  They then traveled north to our area to say hello.  Through a series of emails, we arranged to meet them at their campsite in the Pinery at 11 this morning.  We got hung up in Grand Bend so we were about ten minutes late getting there.  It was sure a trip down memory lane as Kelly and I drove into the Pinery for the first time in about 20 years.  It's a long winding scenic drive back to the campground section and everything looked the same as I last remembered from the first time I saw it way back in the early 1960s......How great it was to finally meet Karen and Steve, their dog Binney, and their new to them 2016 Winnebago View Mercedes Benz diesel Motorhome. Karen and Steve had traveled to some of the same spots that Kelly and I had traveled to years ago in the American Southwest after reading my posts about those places.  Jerome, Elfrida, Bisbee, Rucker Canyon, Old Fort Rucker, and Mary Kidder Rack's house all in Arizona.  Columbus New Mexico and Palomas Mexico (The Pink Store) as well.

 IT'S A REALLY NICE RV KAREN AND STEVE HAVE

 OOOPS, I CAUGHT KAREN IN DEEP THOUGHT HERE

 STEVE IS A VERY SOFT SPOKEN EASY GOING FELLOW

We talked about remembering RV people we knew, some of them still RVing and some of them not.  Some of then still on the Planet and some of them not.  We had a tour of their Motorhome which we both loved.  So great to see all the new technologies and innovations from the older RVs we used to have.  Steve, by the way, is one of those fellows with a great engineering mind who can do almost anything.  Karen has meticulously documented many of the renovations and repairs Steve has done with their previous Safari Motorhome.  On their site, you will find on their blog's sidebar many of those modifications.  Remember, their blog site is What A View . 

 HERE'S KELLY CHECKING OUT A BAG OF TRENARY TOAST.....WAIT, WHAT THE HECK IS TRENARY TOAST??  READ ON:))

 AND HERE SHE IS REALLY CHECKING IT OUT

STEVE'S PERSONALITY IS JUST AS RELAXED AS ALL HIS PICTURES SHOW

We found Karen and Steve good old down-home type folks really easy to talk to and enjoyed our visit.  Years ago a blog reader of mine tipped me off to something they thought I would really enjoy and was only sold at Trader Joe's.  The next time we were in Prescott Arizona we dropped around Trader Joe's store and I bought a jar of 'Cookie Butter'.  This is like peanut butter on an Oreo high.  Of course I loved it right away and wrote about it in my blog.  Karen, reading my blog, headed off to a Trader Joe's in Wisconsin, bought herself a jar of Cookie Butter......and has been buying it ever since.  So, guess what Karen gave us today.....yep, two jars of Cookie Butter.  Well, we were no sooner home and I had the lid of that jar and my face right into that Cookie Butter for sure.  And, if Kelly hadn't been closely watching me all the way home today, I would have had the lid of that jar of Cookie Butter even before we got out of the Pinery.  Oh my, when I did get that lid off I instantly remembered how great it tasted and knew right away what has been missing in my life all these years since I last tasted my last jar of Cookie Butter.  Karen also gave us two bags of Trenary Toast (Cinnamon and Cinnamon Raisin)  We had never heard of it before.  Well, I liked that right off the bat as well and as soon as I could get my after supper coffee going I was dunking a thick tasty slice of Cinnamon Raisin Trenary Toast in my coffee.  Why?? Because Steve said that is how he likes it:))))

 A SPLIT SECOND AFTER I TOOK THIS PHOTO I SNATCHED THAT SLICE OF TRENARY TOAST OUT OF KAREN'S HAND AND WOLFED IT DOWN

Our visit lasted nearly four and a half hours and it was soon time to say goodbye.  In the RV world, goodbyes are often last goodbyes because of the nature and distances RVers live from each other.  I am always twinged with sadness at those final hugs and handshakes because I know we may not meet again.  And that's how I felt today.......Thanks Karen and Steve for coming to see us and like I said at our parting, if ever we get beyond all this medical stuff of ours and snag ourselves another RV, maybe the next time we see you will be in your driveway in Wisconsin:))))  But oh hey...not in the wintertime!!!!       

 THIS PHOTO AND THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS WERE ALL TAKEN BY KAREN

 BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I THOUGHT I HAD A BIG SMILE ON MY FACE UNTIL I SAW THIS PHOTO

 KAREN TAKES A LAST PHOTO AS WE LEAVE

Al's Music Box:)) Yesterday When I Was Young by Glen Campbell from the album 'Houston' (I'm Coming to See You)  1974

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Paddy is smashing back a few at the local bar until everything is forgotten. The bartender who is also a family friend continually tells him he's had enough and to go home.  Finally, after several last calls, Paddy declares "I'm going home", promptly falls off his high bar stool, and drags himself to the door.  He hails a cab while face down on the curb, manages to open the door, and drags himself from his sprawled position into the backseat. The cabby drives him home with Paddy singing nonsensical music to himself the whole way. Paddy rolls out of the cab manages to drunkenly flop his way across the lawn, gets the front door half open, and passes out.  The next day because the bartender is also a good friend he checks on Paddy, and seeing him lying on his back in the doorway says, "Paddy, you were drunk last night weren't you?". Paddy replies, "Yes, but I didn't think I was that drunk, how did you know?"  To which the bartender replies, "You left your wheelchair at the bar".

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- Did you hear about the psychic amnesiac? He knew in advance what he was going to forget.

- Did you hear about the new restaurant that just opened up on the moon? Great food, but no atmosphere.

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