Since we've been back in Canada for a few months, we thought it was time to give an update on what we've been up to. Our motorcycles are still in Argentina and we have had to cope without them. We are reading with envy the blogs of other motorcycle travelers still on the road.

We returned to Ontario, Canada in early April. David's aunt Ann was gravely ill and much of the first week was spent driving back and forth between London and Burlington. He was happy to have the chance to see her again as she died within a few days of our arrival.

In mid-April we borrowed David's mum's car and drove to Iowa to see Deb's family for the annual Easter family reunion. We hope we didn't bore everyone with our pictures and stories. On the way back from Iowa, we stopped at David's sister's house in Midland, Michigan for a few days.

We decided that we really couldn't continue borrowing cars all summer so we started searching for used cars. Initially we thought we would buy a small RV and found a potential candidate but after a mechanic looked it over, he recommended that we pass on that one. We considered buying a van and doing a poor man's conversion (futon in the back and a cooler) but couldn't handle the fact that most vans have gas mileage of 15 miles per gallon or less. In the end we decided to buy a station wagon and found a nice 10-year old Volvo wagon. The muffler is going out on it so it is loud, but we prefer to think of it like Harley owners and tell each other 'loud pipes save lives!'

One day, David was searching the internet and found a website that listed all kinds of seasonal work for commercial pilots in Canada. Seasonal work would be perfect for us, fly in the summer, ride motorcycles in the southern hemisphere in the winter.

He decided to get his commercial license renewed so spent time studying and flying around southern Ontario. By June he has his license renewed, sent out his resume and started dropping by airports to ask about jobs. At one company, the chief pilot told David they were finished hiring for the season but if he came back in the fall, he'd take him flying and if he could handle the airplane, he might have work for him next summer. Another company said they had all the pilots hired but still needed ground crew. David decided to take the position as ground crew hoping that it will lead into a flying job next year. The day he signed the paperwork, he got home and found an email from another company in Saskatchewan with an opening for a bird dog pilot
doing fire patrol. Even though he would have preferred the flying job, he decided to stick with the job he had already committed to in Ontario. It didn't start until mid-July so we had time to do some traveling.

In June we spent a week camping in several provincial parks - Killbear near Parry Sound on Georgian Bay, Algonquin northwest of Ottawa, Rideau River south of Ottawa, Sandbanks on Lake Ontario, and Long Point on Lake Erie. Since school was still is session, we found most of the parks nearly deserted and had our choice of campsites. We did some hiking and saw moose, fox and beavers in Algonquin park.

Young moose - Algonquin Park

Fox that visited our campsite

Canada's capital city, Ottawa

Locks on the Rideau canal

We drove to Indiana and spent a week at Handy Camp, the camp for mentally disabled adults where we had been volunteering for the past 7 years. It was really great to see everyone again. David was pared up with two campers, both named David, as well as being designated the cabin dad so he had an exhausting week. Deb was pared up with a 19 year-old named Ann. As usual, camp was great fun and spiritually uplifting.

Dave and Dave at Handycamp

Deb and her cabin mates

After camp, we stayed with friends in Indianapolis and did a lot of visiting. It was great to see many of our old friends, but didn't get to see everyone - maybe next summer. It's been a year since we've had jobs but the time went by so fast, it feels like we've just been on a two-week vacation.

In July, Deb went back to Indiana for two more weeks of Handy Camp while David started his job working for General Airspray. The company is based in Lucan, near London but works out of Kapuskasing in northern Ontario. There are two crews with four pilots and two ground crew each. The pilots stay at a hotel in town and drive back and forth to the landing strip each day which can be anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes each way. The two ground crew take turns staying out in the bush with the airplanes and in town at the hotel. The landing strip is a gravel road through the forest. They park two pickup trucks about a mile apart to block the road while the planes are landing just in case someone comes along. The planes spray sections of the forest that has tree saplings but the weeds are shading them. The herbicide kills back the weeds so the trees can grow. David is happy with the job, all of the people are very nice to work with. His crew consists of Paul, the owner of the company, Rick, a retired truck
manufacturer and world champion moose caller, Jeff a construction worker, Charlene an airport ramp attendant, and Tracy a self-employed photographer. Paul, Rick and Jeff fly the bi-wing Ag Cat airplanes that spray the chemicals. Charlene flys a Super Cub and is the spotter, making sure there are no hikers in the areas they are going to spray and keeping an eye on the guys in the spray planes. Tracy is the other ground handler and lives in Kapuskasing.

Deb drove up to Kapuskasing at the end of July, it took three days to get here from southern Indiana. It was a beautiful drive along the eastern shore of Lake Superior.

Eastern shore of Lake Superior

We alternate with Tracy spending two nights in town, then two nights in the bush. The pilots only fly when the weather conditions are perfect - cool temperatures, no wind, high humidity so they can go several days in a row without flying. It is very peaceful out in the forest. We stay in an RV and have air conditioning and satelite TV if we want it. We find that we don't use them much. We play cards, read and cook meals most of the time.

First campsite in the bush

Spray planes parked on the road

Dave relaxing in the RV

When we're in town, we eat meals at the restaurant next door, chat with the other crew members, do laudry or shop for groceries. It is all very laid back and pleasant. Since we're so far north, we're missing the heat wave that is hitting the rest of the country.

Today on our drive back to town we saw a small black bear walking across the road, but we did not ask him why he was doing it. Probably just to get to the other side!

Black bear