TOTUS Notwithstanding, Apply for POW Status?

 

How COULD one man
be so thoroughly confused?

Dinner with Les Aidelbaum was all we thought it would be…excellent food, beer, Ice Cream and company.  Liz spent  little time verifying that Steve was concerned about the Bus’ weight vs. its occupants…I think Steve might have, for a moment, thought she was really upset just as he might have thought we were planning to park in his driveway.  Let’s just say Liz can do the pseudo-dagger-eyes thing pretty well;  probably because she gets a lot of practice doing REAL dagger-eyes with me! I am NOT saying one should never take Liz’s anger seriously (we have been been married for 27+ years!), but soon Steve realized all was well in this case. The wine helped. 

Newmarket for DinDin with the Aidelbaums

To meet for dinner,  we agreed that we would make our way to the Walmart near the Aidelbaum’s place north of Toronto.  To get THERE,  we had to transit some of the worst traffic conditions I have seen.  Anywhere. Ever!  But after all,  we are not in a hurry, so sitting in traffic was not nearly as frustrating as I remember it being. 

SO we arrived at our accommodation, and in plenty of time to load up the empty fridge.  And, lo and behold,  the Walmart Shopping Center also had a very special and important Ontario establishment:  an LCBO!  That stands for “Liquor Control Board of Ontario,” which is fundamentally silly,  just as the comparable “Beer Store” and other government facilities were in Pennsylvania. 

Pennsylvania has made moves toward 21st century norms  — you can actually buy beer at a Grocery store now.  In Ontario,  the LCBO manages morality still…and of course the tax revenue and unionized LCBO workers are still strong!

When I speak of silly,  consider this:  Canada, while we were in attendance, officially approved and legalized recreational Marijuana, subject to approval by the Queen.  Now,  there is so much “bizarre” rolled up into the last few paragraphs that I don’t even know where to start…. 

  • Marijuana legal but beer must be purchased at an official govt. store.  
  • National Legislation subject to final approval by the Queen of another country. 

Then I considered the political example for “silly” that we seem to be setting these days,  and I realize that Canada-silly is just harmless and trivial.  Maybe even quaint in a spinster-aunt kind of way.   In fact,  Liz and I are considering APPLYING FOR POW STATUS in the “special place in hell” that Canada is,  at least according to TOTUS (“Tweeter-of-the-United-States”).

Newmarket Sunset

The Aidelbaum’s planned to scoop us up at the Walmart…Liz winked and asked me:  “Do you think they can find us in the parking lot?”  Obviously they could and did — they knew well what to look for since the bus previously parked at their cottage! 

Last summer in Northern Ontario

Something else happened in the Walmart Parking Lot that has not occurred before…  As we were inside shopping,  I got a notification of a new post/comment on our blog.  Apparently,  a fellow transient (you will see how I know this in a moment) had also noticed us in the parking lot.  She Googled “RV WHERE YET” and found our blog.  According to her comment-signature, her blog is at “WorkingFromtheroad.com.”  That’s how I knew.  Anyway,  by the time the notification had arrived and I had read it,  she had moved on,  so we never met in person.    

We thought the one we were at, with its LCBO-neighbor was pretty sweet

She did recommend a nearby Walmart as better for overnight:  “They have a river running by out back,  and even have picinic tables!”  We did not move, but made a note for our next visit to the area.

We ALWAYS ask, even if there are 12 other RVs parked and our APP tells us it is OK

We learned something else about Walmarts near Trono (and maybe the rest of Canada):  They are SOOPER friendly and accommodating…even more so than US Walmarts.  We asked the Manager if it was OK to park. .  She said,” For how long?”  We said, “just overnight,  we’ll be gone in the morning…”   She said, “Is that all?  Many people park here for a week or more and do all their Trono sightseeing…and that is fully OK also!” 

Now THAT would be a major breach of Walmart Etiquette in the USA…you are supposed to park ONLY overnight,  and not put out your lawn chairs,  BBQ, etc.  In the USA,  Walmart is a much-appreciated convenient overnight rest-stop…not a substitute for an RV Camping spot.    In Canada, Walmart hospitality extends ALMOST to the manager saying, “C’mon over to our house after work for a beer (eh)”

I am pretty sure.  WE LOVE CANADA. 

So,  after dinner and conversation with the Aidelbaums,  we pushed onward to our appointment with destiny.  Well,  with the McDowells, anyway.  This was scheduled for 21 June at a campground in Niagara On the Lake, Ontario. 

Like most things in our travels,  this did not go quite as expected, but included many happy accidents. 

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