Hi all. Here we are at home for a while, for the first time since mid-March, and loving it!! So much has happened since I last wrote in June!!Our friend, Gladys, came over to Canada from England for a couple of weeks and was blown away by the Rideau system, and all the scenery. We all took a road trip down among the Finger Lakes in NY State, staying with travel club members; our favourite stop (as before)
was the gorge at Watkins Glen, with its 19 waterfalls! The Finger Lakes area is absolutely ‘gorge-ous’. By the 
time we got to Niagara Falls, we had visited something like 23 waterfalls! We stayed close enough that we were able to just walk down the street to the Falls. On arrival, we walked, talked, and gawked our way down the street trying to keep Gladys distracted and not noticing the Falls.
Then suddenly we were on top of them, and she was just overwhelmed, having had no prior concept of the grandeur of them! We did all the experiences, the unders and overs of the Falls, which Anne and I have done before, but enjoy every 
time! Gladys must have enjoyed her visit; she’s already booked to visit Australia next year! 
After Gladys left, there was Mums Memorial to plan and focus on; we wanted an informal gathering of family and friends, to share memories and love. We had a minimal service at the actual interment site, and focused on the gathering of family and friends at the hall afterwards, with photos, video and music from Alex and Victor. We were touched at how many people got up and spoke; she would have enjoyed it. We put a memorial bench for Mum and Dad up at Jones Falls locks, looking out over the water; and Maureen has put a 
memorial tree and bench on her hillside in Verona. A small portion of her ashes was also scattered in the lake she enjoyed so much at Jones Falls. 
There were,of course, family birthdays, visiting, lots of boating, etc. and exciting news from Australia:- Aiden Thomas was born to Katie and David:- our first ‘great-grand’!! Congrats and well-done both! That makes us pretty old doesn’t it!
In between all this, the houseboat concept was taking hold! It had started out as a joke/an off-hand throw-away line from Anne, and then gradually inserted itself as a possibility/probability/plan in fairly short order! So we spent all our spare time this past (Canadian)summer scouring the province by internet and by car for a suitable/affordable houseboat! Who knew there were so many different kinds/makes/configurations?? We saw some totally 
luxurious/unaffordable ones and some real ‘stinkers’!!
We managed to sell both the pontoon boat and the trailer in
time to finance the houseboat, but still no luck with the RV!! Anyone want a reliable old van? Special, good luck, morning,no business today price!!?
So by the end of July we were moving ‘house’ up to Georgian Bay where the boat was. We have been summering in Canada for over 20 years and although we cut our ‘stuff’ in half, for a while it 
looked like we would turn the houseboat into a submarine! In fairly short order we had admiring ‘show-off’ visits from Tanya and James, Holly and mob, and Maureen and Don!!We took each in turn to marvel at The Big Chute, a railway carrier which hauls boats from one lower lake to a higher one, up and down hills and across a road. It will be our second stop next year when we finally start to move on! Wish us luck! Anyway we got the boat all sorted and pretty, just in time to tear it all apart for winter storage; it will be ashore on blocks for the freeze, and back in waiting for us in spring.
We really enjoyed it up there and look forward to the adventure continuing next May! Although we didn’t get the boat out much yet, living in the marina has itself been lovely! Everyone has made us welcome and been so very helpful; and the area, about which we had no prior knowledge, is absolutely stunning! There are upwards of 30-35,000 islands fringing the east and south of Georgian Bay!! I was raised in southern Ontario, only about 6-7 hours drive away, but had no idea!!
We went back south for Jamie’s 3rd birthday; when he got over all the daunting cake and
singing stuff, he really liked his ‘stooter’ . The highlights of 
the day were more the attention from big cousins Sonam and Victor; and Uncle Paul teaching him to bat, rather than the celebrations per se.Then we stayed down, having ‘house swapped’ with Maureen and Don, until we could pick up Dot and Wayne at the airport. They’re on a marathon trip to everywhere and thought they were coming to visit us on the Rideau. Whoops! Anyway,
we had promised them a pontoon boat ride 
and we delivered, -except on a very much bigger pontoon boat! Turns out houseboat living doesn’t agree with Dot’s tummy; sh
e got better as time went on, but it was hard on her initially. We did as much local touring as we could, given that the car started acting up again, and had a good old visit, before sending them off to Buffalo and Niagara. The last we heard from them was a singing phone call from the Blue Ridge Mountains! Guess that’s about us up to date again for a while. We’ve been home 5 days (one of our bags only 4) and are just about unpacked/organized. Anne has a bit of an ‘airplane cold’; hopefully she’
ll shake it quickly, and wish me luck ducking it!?Hope you are all well and happy. Looking forward to catching up with the Aussie contingent soon.
Love from Anne and Kathie
The Happy Wanderers
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