“It’s Getting Hot In Here……..I’m gonna take my clothes off…”

May 29, 2006

Perhaps it was a lack of practice after ten days in one place, because we usually hook-up our tow unit in a couple of minutes. This time it took us an hour. The space was tight at the campground parking lot and we were unable to line up the Honda perfectly behind Maggie. To exacerbate the situation, cars were whipping in and out of the parking lot all around us. So when the tow bar didn’t ‘click in’ the first time, we knew we were in trouble and should have moved on right away to a shopping centre lot with plenty of room. But that’s hindsight. With sweat dripping down our noses, tempers were short and we ended up driving along to a big parking lot eventually. We had to lube the tow bar and fiddle with it but finally we got it operational and we were on our way. Imagine that we were cursing the hot sunny day after weeks of whining about the cold.

The 401 east of Toronto was socked in with a yellowy smog – too many vehicles and too much industry. Rest areas along this stretch are ‘Service Centres’. They offer Tim’s, MacDonald’s, Wendy’s, KFC, banks and a couple of gas stations but no shady spots to pull an RV in. We were stuck between semi-trailer trucks belching fumes into our open windows because they don’t shut them down while parked. It wasn’t very ‘restful’ – I guess that’s why they don’t call them ‘Rest Areas’.

As the day progressed, the heat became more oppressive – obviously the humidity levels were sky high. We pulled into the 1000 Islands Casino, a few miles east of Kingston. There was a sentry at the entrance and we asked if we could stay overnight and he replied “Up to five nights, if you want”. Fernie was delighted at being in casino-land again. We were guided to a quiet lot where we were able to pull up beside a grassy verge – thank goodness because the heat was getting unbearable. Watching the news later, we found out that the temperature adjusted for humidity was 35 degrees Celsius (about 100 deg F) and tomorrow’s forecast is for 42 degrees C. We’ve had weather from one extreme to the other in the last 4 weeks and our bodies really need time to acclimatize….

We traipsed over to the casino when it got a bit cooler, looking forward to the air conditioning. We were smacked in the face by acrid cigarette smoke – YUCK! A big sign at the entrance announced, “As of May 31, this casino will be a non-smoking venue” but all the smokers were taking extra puffs before being cut off. I wish we’d stayed in Toronto for two more days. Our cool campsite in the trees would have helped beat the heat and we’d have arrived at a smoke-free casino. Fernie was also disappointed that there was no Texas Hold-Em nor was there Pai-Gow Poker, so he didn’t play. I was relieved because he would have come back stinking of smoke.