Northern Ontario, Canada, Newbie

[MoulinRouge]

Hello from the Great White North of Canada. April 22nd and we still have a couple feet of snow and are having to keep the wood stove burning 24 hrs a day.
I am also a newbie (62 yrs old, a red head and recently widowed).
I am coming down with my son and a group of his friends. He's concerned I might be "put off" by any shenanigans that might go on in his motor home even though I assured him there's not much I haven't seen or heard, so I am in the process of acquiring a very small travel trailer to pull behind his motor home so I, at least, can have a little privacy and will be looking for some older new friends to "hang" with.
I don't believe in sunscreen but make sure I cover up with cool flowing garments, a nice wide brim hat and good wraparound sunglasses. I will, however, look for a good sunblock lip gloss and skin moisturizer.
I play guitar and sing. Although my voice isn't what it used to be, I still like to croak out a tune or two (or three or......) depending on how many drinks I have in me LOL. I also have a folder of songs marked "DO NOT OPEN IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED... XXX" which inevitable gets opened regardless
I am excited to put together and try the SWAMP COOLER I read about in one of the forums.
Looking forward to my first (but hopefully not last) BM experience
Moulin Rouge

[TT120]

Hi! Welcome to ePlaya. There are plenty of us "older folks" to hang with so you should have a splendid time!

[Elliot]

Welcome! I'm one of those 62 year-olds.
Wonderful that you play and sing. One thing BM could use more of is live music. Perhaps you can stop by and serenade my bicycle repair customers?

[some seeing eye]

Welcome, you will have an adventure! Good idea giving the offspring space, especially useful to bow out of the RV cleanup after the event.

Consider bringing sunscreen. Different clothing fabrics have different UV permeability and that difficult to know in advance. Believe it or not, the reflection of sun from the beige lakebed has burned the underside of my nose, ears and chin. Hands and can also become sunburned. Parasols are popular, but cannot be used in wind and do not protect from ground reflection.

[Fidget]

Another Canadian! Nice to see a few more of us here!
I will second the motion that you bring sunscreen. I also am not a fan of the stuff but do try to use it when in situations that call for it. The Playa can get incredibly hot but it's also a very dry heat and at 5000 feet to boot. It's WAY hotter than you think it is. We looked at the thermostat one day last year and it was 44 C and I would have sworn it was somewhere in the high 20's. You'll cook way faster than you expect.

Also, love the comment from your son that you might be offended by some things going on. As if you haven't lived a life of potentially offensive and awesome experiences already.

Welcome to Eplaya and hope to see you out in the dust!

[theCryptofishist]

Well, at least you come from a land of great musical fame...

[media]

[Monkeystyle]

welcome to eplaya MoulinRouge, glad to see another Canadian on the boards. how far north in Ontario are you? I grew up in southern Ontario but live in Winnipeg now, and after getting some warm weather this week we can finally see grass in most places. still some snow banks but hopefully only a few days of those left. even started some garden seed yesterday.

[lucky420]

Hola and hello...


I loooooove dirty ditties

[dragonpilot]

You'll fit right in, MR. Love your attitude and approach to this thing in the desert. Yes to the loose flowing garments for sun protection. Consider layering at night...it can get chilly.

And you're doing the right thing in having your private space. Most of us have seen it all, but when you're trying to make a sandwich certain things just don't mix.

[MoulinRouge]

Thank you all sooooooooo much for your welcoming comments and tips re: sunblock. I never thought of the reflection aspect off the sand. I will be sure to buy a crate of it because, being a redhead and not exposing my skin to the sun for many years (I don't "do" shorts LOL), I burn super easily.

@ Monkeystyle - We moved from Southern Ontario (Niagara area) 5 years ago. I am now located in the Timmins area, 7 hrs straight north of Toronto, 1 hr east of Timmins and 1 hr south of Cochrane and as of today (Apr 27th) we STILL have about 2 ft of snow in the back yard but it is warming up during the day (at least it's above 0C anyway ) and it is beginning to melt around the edges and pack down on the flats. The driveway is a mud hole and frost coming out of the ground is heaving all the outbuildings up approx. 6 - 9 inches. It's nice to be able to take my coffee out on the steps and start soaking up some Vitamin D again.

@ Elliot - I will definitely try to find your bike repair and serenade your customers.

Hope to meet you all on the playa.

MR