Last Boat Ride of this Trip-maybe of the Summer?!

Our toys, some old (Rasta Van) some newer (Boat and Airstream)!
Richard loves being on the water ... he is very relaxed behind the wheel of the boat! I, on the other hand, can be seen clutching the sides when the boat lifts off as we speed at nearly 50 Miles (!)PH across the water! You don't want to see a picture of that!
It was a calm day but still we were airborne many times and Richard just smiles!

Green, green, algae laden waters this year.

Richard had to install our own cleats on the dock this year...look how neatly he belays the cleat!

The boat is now up on dry land again and we are getting it ready for the drive home to Ottawa. We had one last ride today and it may be the last of the season. The water here in Col By Lake and the adjoining Rideau canal is green with algae, the worst I have ever seen it! It looked like we were careening over an oil slick and we thought of the Gulf of Mexico and how that might look something the same near the source - slippery and soupy! Here it must have been the very warm weather that bloomed so much algae...

Airstream Factory Tour, Jackson Centre, OHIO, A little out of Chronological Order But here it is from our Visit there April 5 - 7,2009

Jackson Centre is a small farming town about an hour North of Dayton, Ohio and two hours south of Toledo off Interstate 75. As you can see from the welcome sign it is Airstream that figures prominently into the town's history. The factory in Jackson Centre opened in the early 50's after the war and the return of Wally Byam's (Airstream founder) attention from war to adventure on the road. As the sign says Airstream was, is, and remains an "American Legend". We met some wonderful people there at the plant who were very helpful and generous with their time. They welcomed our pet menagerie into the Service lounge (very comfortable place indeed) Photo's of the lounge are at the end.

We parked on Classic Circle at least one night. If you are having work done they come out with a tractor and pick up your rig at 7 am so you have to be up early! The sites are full hook-up and free if you are having work done but $10 (on an honour system) if you are an Airstream just passing through! You can see lots of old trailers in the background, some in for refurbishing, some in for maintenance, and one among them is the first to come off the assembly line of this plant in the early 50's.

The next shot are our Airstream "Airebella" waiting patiently for something to happen... I was not allowed pictures inside the plant but I can tell you it was something to see. They do a free tour every day at 2 pm. The work is mainly done manually with chains, pulleys, and rollers moving the Airstream from one work centre to the next. No robotics that I could see and people who work here seem to love it. Three employees were celebrating 50 years with Airstream that month! Wow!

A shot of the factory building ...

This next shot is of someones trailer getting dropped off by the tractor after some work was done. It is not ours since it only has two axles, ours has three.

As we head back out on the road again we pass through beautiful farmland on the way to the Interstate.


Inside the Customer Lounge with our pets...