Think of the Money We Saved!

Between equipment breakdowns, the weather, and the fact that we both work full time off farm, we've been struggling in the area of hay this year. We have several tonnes of grain, some corn and some old hay. We have lots of pasture....it's the hay production that's been a challenge. We admitted that we were going to need to buy some hay, and Randy found somebody selling it well under the going local price. The reason it was so far under the local price is that it was in Tobermory-which for those of you who don't know is at least 1.5 hrs from our place (going the speed limit).It's also become a high tourist area because of the National Park, its designation as a UNESCO biosphere, and the spectacular views and clear water.

Heading south on Highway 6, just north of Wiarton.

Randy has been going up to "the Peninsula" (where Tobermory is) his whole life. His family are well known by the locals and its amazing to Megan how often that comes in handy. His great uncle was a minister on the peninsula and his grandfather was a fisherman and despite both having been dead for over 15 years-they're still remembered. The problem we faced on this "epic" journey was how to haul 3 tonnes of hay home and not get in an accident with the tourists. But, being as we're always up for a challenge, particularly if there's money to be saved, we hooked up the 16 ft x 12 ft, 10 ft tall wagon to our old farm truck and set out.

The MTO diagram of a slow moving vehicle sign.

Taking as many back roads as we could to the last major town (Wiarton) we then had no choice but to head onto Highway 6 (a single lane in each direction highway that runs through the centre of the peninsula). The speed limit is 80 km/h, and we were going 60 km/h which is pretty good when you consider that we were hauling a huge wagon! The problem with towing a wagon is that it sways if you go too fast-unlike a trailer that can handle higher speeds. Despite our slow moving vehicle sign being prominently displayed (and reflective fluorescent ORANGE!) we got passed like crazy.


See the link http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/vehicle/smvs.shtml for info on what to do when you approach a slow moving vehicle.

Now, we expected to get passed, after all we were going only 3/4 the speed limit and while we were as much on the shoulder of the road as possible, we were partly on the road. There are blind hills and curves all over the place north of Wiarton. Constantly people were passing us; up blind hills, around severe curves, on solid lines. It got so out of hand that on 2 occasions the traffic was 3 cars abreast in the same direction on a 2 lane highway. Someone would come out to pass us and another person would pass them on the shoulder while they passed us in the opposite lane. It was unbelievable (stupid), and more than a little unnerving.

However, it was worth it. We got there in one piece and found some pretty good hay to bring home. We also met a really nice family, consisting of two elderly sisters and their nephew. All 3 have lived for their entire lives on the peninsula. Once the elderly ladies (78 and 84) were done throwing down hay from the mow for Megan to take to the wagon and Randy to stack, they invited us in for tea. It was delightful. Part way through the process Megan thought about taking a break but decided she couldn't let herself be outworked by the sisters. All in all we figure the adventure saved us $750. So we're doing it all again next Monday. Wish us luck!

P.S. If any of you would like to donate money to help us purchase a barge or a work boat so that we wouldn't have to drive up again, we wouldn't refuse your contribution :) With a barge we could have taken more of the 50 tonnes of hay that is remaining.