Wheatley, ON - Fretting or Planning?

Travel day today and it looks like rain. Maybe if we get up early enough, we can beat it. Nope, just as we are getting ready to dump and then hitch up the Jeep, the rain comes in. Lightly at first and then a bit heavier. But, it’s only water and we are now on our way - down that pitted, eroded, bumpy, pot-holed road that we traveled into the park. Oof-da. Then we turn to head over the border into Canada.
Through Customs and we were on the busy, truck-filled main road between Buffalo and points east to Toronto and points west. Then it rains - heavily at times. We pull off to stop at Costco where we wanted to renew our membership. We thought the exchange rate would make the cost considerably less. But we had some things that we are used to buying in Costco and wanted to fill up: walnuts, Craisins, Kirkland soy milk (American Customs won’t let regular milk across the border) and Kirkland Pacific Roast coffee. We usually buy lots of veggies and fruits there but they won’t get across the border either. Walnuts - check, Craisins - check, but no Kirkland coffee or soy milk. Huh? Oh, well.

Meanwhile I was waiting for Gary while he was perusing the technology section, I was amazed at the number of people streaming into Costco. 5 or 6 at a time. Didn’t anyone shop last week? Gee, I hope we can get out of the parking lot - we had parked way off to the far end but it was filling rapidly. Whew - we still had a lane out - but our lane looks like it might close quickly.
This country looks like Iowa. Lots of corn and soybeans and - wind turbines. Although in Iowa, the turbines are much more packed and much more numerous.

We got in back of this car - when will that bumper let fall off in the lane?

And we’re off. We had 120 miles to go - then I changed it to kilometers and it was 187. Oops, I just make a short trip into a long one. But, hey, the kilometers decrease much more rapidly than miles. We stopped at an ‘On Route’ for an R&R break. We got there just as 3 buses unloaded. Every line was packed. Luckily we’ve got our lunch in the RV.

All the rain during the day was merely an appetizer for the rain and hail we had in the evening. It was heavy, it was steady and it was accompanied by thunder and lightening. We’re in an RV, tight and cosy. But, there are lots of tent campers and lots of pop-ups our there in the campground. Families with kids all crowded into a small tent. Boy, won’t this create life-long family memories?

Let me riff on cottage cheese for a bit. When we lived in New England for 20 years, I got used to flavored cottage cheese: pineapple was my favorite though I also liked other flavors. Then we moved to the Midwest, home of dairy and cheese. In the Midwest there are 2 kinds of cottage cheese: large curd and small curd. You’re kidding. No matter how hard I looked I found large curd and small curd. What a disappointment. Now, we’re in New England, and I’ve been feasting on pineapple cottage cheese, pineapple/cherry cottage cheese and, my new favorite: cucumber and dill. Oh, my, my taste buds are doing a happy dance in my mouth.

(Here’s an update: we stopped into a grocery store in the Detroit area and - sure enough: large curd and small curd. What is with these Midwesterners? This is the dairy belt - why are the choices so bland?)

Now, we’re heading back west to the land of large curd and small curd. Shucks.
I’m either a world class fretter or a world class planner: Am I fretting about the future or am I planning for the future? Gary says I fret, I say that I plan. For example: when we get to a campsite, am I already looking at the roads and fretting about how we’ll maneuver out or am I planning our route? Am I fretting about having our fruits and veggies and raw chicken tossed out by American Customs or am I planning what I’m going to do over the next 3 days to minimize our losses?
I am listening to Tchaikovsky’s ‘Dance of the Reed Pipes’ and envisioning hippos in tutus twirling around the stage. Isn’t that the vision that Disney implanted in our minds with his ‘Fantasia?’ But we all grew up knowing some Classical music.

‘The rewards of the journey far outweigh the risk of leaving the harbor.’
                                                                Unknown