Tire fixed, and a long driving day....

Up early at the Walmart in Watertown, New York. No idea what the temperature had gone down to that night, but it was only 39F (3C) inside the motorhome when we woke up. We never leave the heat on at night. Nice and cozy in bed still, but boy you sure didn't want to get out!

Looked outside and saw this...

Not a smooth start to the trip...

Well it wasn't a great travel day. But, we are safe and happy in our motorhome, and sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. Today will be a better day.

How about I start at the beginning...

We got up at a half decent hour, with the plan to be pulling out of our daughter's driveway by 10:00am at the very latest.

New dinette table for Sherman... and we're off!

Sherman has a new dinette table!

We've always hated our dinette table in the motorhome. It simply looked cheap.

Our son in law Justin is a wood craftsman. He's actually a trained cabinetmaker, and he builds the nicest furniture. But he's always so busy, so we hesitated to ask. We told him we would pay him to build us a table, and he agreed. So before we left for Barbados, we bought some (expensive!) Peruvian walnut hardwood at a wood specialty shop.

And while we were gone, we let him work his magic...

What did it cost for 19 days in Barbados?

We always find it an interesting exercise to go back over our trip costs when any particular voyage ends. Of course when someone goes on a typical package vacation, it's a lot easier to add things up. The typical one week all inclusive is especially easy because for the most part you know all of your costs up front.

But with us, you just never know until the end. Of course we try and do things as frugally as possible within reason. But when you travel to a relatively expensive country like Barbados, you're pretty much stuck spending whatever it costs. I mean after all, you still have to eat!

Back in Canada

But it's going to be a whirlwind visit, mostly just to say goodbye. We need to do some last minute shopping (maple syrup, among other things!) and then we're heading into the United States on Thursday morning.

Our travel day was fine yesterday. Everything happened exactly as planned.

October Expenses

There was so much going on in Barbados, we never got around to telling you about our month of October expenses. So I've got some time to waste here in Toronto airport waiting for our flight to Ottawa.

October was an expensive month. Mostly because of repairs and maintenance to Sherman, but also because we always seem to spend more money visiting Ottawa than when we're out traveling!

Barbados rough north coast

Our last day touring Barbados and we finally made it up to the rough north coast. Cliffs and caves and wind where the Atlantic Ocean crashes into the rocks.

Our couchsurfing host Eric was headed out anyhow, and he gave us a drive up to Archers Bay where we could then walk to Animal Flower Cave and the cliffs along the north coast.

Scenic flight around the island of Barbados

Our couchsurfing host Eric owns one of the very few private planes on the island of Barbados. He tries to fly it regularly, just to keep in practice. And, perhaps a small plane is something like an RV... using it regularly is better for it than letting it sit!

Yesterday was a beautiful day here on the island, so he offered to take us for a flight around the island, and we were quick to take him up on that!

Out for lunch

Just a coasting day yesterday. Nothing wrong with having a coasting day in Barbados!

We've been staying the last two weeks with a couchsurfing host. He's a single guy, about our age who is originally from the UK, but has been living here in Barbados for about 11 years.

It's not really "normal" to spend 19 days with just one host when you're couchsurfing.

Fun times at the Mount Gay Rum Tour

Think of Barbados, and the first thing that might come to mind is beaches. But to some, the first thing that comes to mind is rum! Because Barbados is home to the oldest manufacturer of rum in the world!

In fact, Mount Gay has been making rum in Barbados for over 300 years.