September 29, 2004

September 29, 2004

Ottawa, Ontario

DAY 104

 

Returned first thing this morning to the C.S. Co-op for more traveller's cheques. I depleted their inventory yesterday. When I finished, I phoned Centrum Pharmacy to see if my prescription was ready for pick up yet. Joanne convinced me yesterday as I was picking up 3 months worth of my meds that I should be taking 6 months with me, to avoid having to refill my prescription in the United States. The pharmacist agreed, saying that it would cost me quite a bit more for my prescription in the U.S., so I ordered another 3 months worth. Since my prescription was not yet ready, I decided to go visit PET VALU 234 in Westgate Shopping Centre, the last of the 4 stores we owned.

What an interesting visit ! Firstly, Bobby Sue Budgie was beside herself with excitement to see me. I miss the little bird brain. Lise, the developmentally delayed "janitor" we employed, said she missed Joanne a great deal and loved her. Irena, the new owner for the last 7 months was enthused and excited. Business was going very well. She had set up an Ottawa Humane Society satellite adoption centre in the front window of the store. The Humane Society had provided the store with a large cat cage, with a hamster cage and a guinea pig cage on top. The store always had a cat, a hamster, and a guinea pig available for adoption, as well as the occasional bird. Adoptions were going well, and always resulted in considerable purchases of food and supplies. Great idea. The store needed "fresh blood" with enthusiasm and excitement that we could no longer muster. You go, girl !

The most interesting news at the store was that Barry, the employee we "sold" to Irena along with the store, was no longer employed by Irena, as of today. He phoned yesterday, to say he had just been sentenced to a year in jail ! Both Irena and us knew of his legal problems, but nobody expected him to be sentenced to a year in jail. He was expecting a year of "house arrest", a form of legal curfew allowing him to live at home, and go out only to go to work and back. A couple of years ago he was “busted”, for being the resident "caretaker" of a large marijuana grow house. The wheels of justice turn slowly, but apparently they do turn ! I suspect that the judge must have figured Barry should really have known better, given his age. He's about the same age as Joanne and me.

Now I'm absolutely certain that there's a moral in there somewhere !

After visiting with Irena ( and Bobbie Sue ) for awhile, I went and picked up my prescription, then returned to the trailer at Hither Hills campground. I spent the afternoon restfully puttering around with a bunch of chores, then napping, while Joanne took the truck and went shopping for groceries and supplies. After she returned, I worked on a spreadsheet idea I had.

It's getting dark quite early, so it was already dark by the time I barbecued supper. Dark and chilly ! Once the sun goes down, the temperature drops rapidly. We noticed as we drove northeast from Kingston to Ottawa the other day that the colours of the leaves were definitely changing the further north we came. Ottawa is the furthest north we intend to be until next April. From here, starting tomorrow, we start heading southwest. WOO-HOO !

Helllllooooo, Texas !

DSK

September28,2004

September 28, 2004

Ottawa, Ontario

DAY 103

 

A very long, difficult day of running errands in Ottawa.

Civil Service Co-operative ( C.S. Co-op ) Credit Union ;

cash U.S. $ cheques

buy U.S. $ traveller's cheques

They didn't have enough traveller's cheques. I have to return tomorrow < sigh >.

Bank Of Montreal ;

pay MasterCard

Dr. Trepanier ;

cancer follow-up for Joanne

Surgenor Pontiac Buick ;

reimbursement for starter replaced in Illinois

Creative Decor Consignment Shop

pick up money and unsold items

PIJAC ( Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council )

drop off marketing letter they requested at show in Toronto

Royal Bank

get information on their "snowbird" account

Edward Jones

meeting with investment broker

Centrum Pharmacy

pick up 3 month prescription of Dan's meds

Joanne points out folly of only getting 3 months worth of meds. Order another 3 months for pick up tomorrow < sigh >.

Canadian Tire

buy needed wrench

shop for air compressor

Home Depot

buy furniture touch up stick to repair multitude of scratches on 2 flatware chests picked up at consignment shop. Scratches that weren't there when items dropped off ! ! !

Staples

check out RV community rumour that Wi-Fi can be accessed from parking lot in front of any Staples / Business Depot. NOT TRUE !

Stinson Fuels

fill up with diesel

That brings us to about 6:00 P.M.. The balance of the day was taken up with a lengthy, needed discussion with Joanne, accounting, updating financial records, etc. until midnight.

This lifestyle is supposed to be easier than this.

DSK

September 27, 2004

September 27, 2004

Kingston to Ottawa, Ontario

DAY 102

 

My blog mentor, Jennifer Lamb in Vancouver thinks that my entries should include location / destination. So there ya go, Jenny. How's that ?

This morning's preventative maintenance task was to check and adjust the air pressure in the 7 truck tires. Most of them needed a bit more air. I decided to use the 12V air compressor I bought for $6.50 in Fergus Falls, Minnesota on September 3. This was its first use. It adjusted the first tire fine. On the second tire it malfunctioned. As well as self destructing, it allowed most of the air to escape from the tire. Now I had a brand new, totally destroyed air compressor, and an almost flat tire.

I suppose I should buy a better quality air compressor. These cheap ones might be fine for blowing up air mattresses and beach balls, but they don't seem to be able to handle 65 P.S.I. large truck tires. I opened this one up to see how / why it died. It had been assembled ( in Korea ) so that a piece of low quality rubber hose was positioned against the little motor which gets very hot during use. The hose simply melted. What a little piece of junk. For U.S. $6.50, I got 1 tire filled with air. Of course, I had not kept any of the packaging or documents, so a refund was out of the question. I threw the little piece of crap in the garbage.

Now I had to either change the almost flat tire, or drive very slowly through and out of the camp ground, and down the highway a very short distance to the nearest service station to re-inflate the front tire which had only 20 pounds of air pressure. I chose the latter.

So, by the time I got the truck tire air pressures all adjusted, returned to the camp ground, hitched up the trailer, and departed for Ottawa, it was quite a bit later than we had planned. We drove east on Hwy. 401, then north on Hwy. 416 to Ottawa. By the time we got to the outskirts of Ottawa, it was rush hour. We checked out a campground next door to the RV dealer where we bought Harvey, but decided we didn't want to stay there. We battled traffic across Ottawa, then headed back out of the city to the south, on Bank Street / Hwy. 31. We are now camped at Hither Hills campground a few miles south of the city. We unhitched, then headed north back into the city down Bank Street to do some shopping around South Keys.

We bought cat food at Wendy's PET VALU inSouthgate. I went to OIL CHANGERS for an oil and filter change, and lubrication service. The service provided by the team of 4 very unmotivated staff was atrocious. They did change the oil and filter, but did not do any of the other inspections, fluid top-ups, light checks, etc., etc., etc., that are supposed to be part of their service. When I prompted them to do some of the things they were supposed to do, I got shot attitude. When I discussed my dissatisfaction with the "manager" ( one of the four unmotivated staff ), I got even more attitude. Upon reflection and discussion with Joanne, it's my observation that the very worst service we encounter is in Toronto and Ottawa. We continued running our shopping errands, at Wal-Mart, then Loblaw's. We were too late for the Bank Of Montreal, and the C.S. Co-op. Back to Hither Hills for a very late supper.

DSK

September 26, 2004

September 26, 2004

DAY 101

 

 

A nice, warm, sunny day again. How grand !

Slept very, very late. Must have drank too much wine yesterday. Did my new regular daily task of preventative maintenance. Fixed a potential problem that I found before it became a problem. Maybe this idea of preventative maintenance will prove to have merit. I sure hope so. That trip from Winnipeg to Goshen was so discouraging and demoralizing. And ... we can't afford a new truck. Did some laundry.

This afternoon Brian and Joyce Malley came over to pick us up to visit and go out for dinner. Brian and I were able to have a little chuckle over the effect his phone call to us the other day had on the Ronnie Prophet show. We walked around this campground a bit, as Brian and Joyce had never seen Rideau Acres ( and Toby wanted to go out for a walk ). They drove us to the nearby locks on the Rideau Canal, at Kingston Mills, just to walk around the pretty grounds, and chat. Then it was off to dinner at Mino's. The same restaurant we went to yesterday, but their second location, more out in the suburbs than the downtown location we went to with the Liang's. We had another very fine dinner. We talked about our new lifestyle. We talked about PET VALU store ownership. We talked about selling PET VALU stores. We talked about retirement. Brian and Joyce have one of the most successful PET VALU stores in the chain, and an adult son, Jason, running it on a day to day basis, for the most part. Time for retirement soon, perhaps.

When we returned to the trailer, Joanne and I worked out the final kinks in a marketing letter we need to deliver to the PIJAC office in Ottawa tomorrow or the next day.  Finished reading the suspense novel I started a few days ago.  Think I need to do more reading.  And fishing.  Hey ... I'm unemployed !  There's a lot of roses waiting to be smelled.

DSK

September 25, 2004

September 25, 2004

DAY 100

 

 

Started the day out slowly. Did some preventative maintenance. Fixed my belt. Shined my shoes. The brand new pair of shoes I started this journey with 100 days ago look like they've seen better days. A lot better ! I don't know how / why I'm so hard on shoes. Read some more of a book I started reading yesterday. I traded about a dozen books at the Escapees Spring Rally in June, and I've just begun to read the first one. Slowing down, and simplifying our lives, was a big part of what this lifestyle was supposed to be about. Taking some time to smell the roses, as it were. I should start soon !

We went over to visit Sep and Susanna Liang this afternoon. We were supposed to finalize plans to meet between Christmas and New Year's in Houston, then ring in the new year on the Gulf Of Mexico at Galveston, Texas. Sep's demanding work travel schedule won't permit that, so they'll postpone coming south until later in January or February. We'll meet them in New Mexico or Arizona. We'll have to figure that out later when Sep returns from his upcoming business trips to Baltimore, England, Hong Kong, Japan, and Curacao. We spent the afternoon and evening chatting about the past, the present, and the future, near and far. We went for dinner to a fine Greek restaurant, Mino's. Before and after dinner, we spent on their back deck, drinking too much fine wine, eating grapes and Brie, and smoking Sep's extremely fine cigars. Thank you, Sep.

DSK

September 24, 2004

September 24, 2004

DAY 99

 

 

I started my new preventative maintenance program on the truck and trailer today. Every day I will do a series of inspections and adjustments. I set up a checklist so that every day I do something different, and everything critical gets checked and/or adjusted at least weekly. Hopefully this will reduce the mechanical breakdowns we have been experiencing. While doing this in the parking lot of the Flying J, I walked across the street to the GM dealer to buy a replacement part that I thought would be a good idea to replace. It's a spring loaded valve, with a viewing glass. There is a green band showing when your air cleaner is OK, and an orange band displayed if your air cleaner is dirty and clogged. GM has discontinued the part, and there is no substitution. Apparently the part was considered, in hindsight, to be so totally useless, that it should be discontinued, and no replacements made available.

Beside the GM dealer was a car and truck wash business. I walked over to inquire how much would they charge to wash the thick layer of bugs off the front of the trailer. The last attempt I made to clean the bugs off the trailer was in Winnipeg, and the problem has become steadily worse. I think people look at the Manitoba license plate and surmise that the rig must belong to a Manitoba pig farmer. The tattooed bimbo running the wash business said she would clean the front of the trailer for $7.00 so I drove it over. She applied soap, and scrubbed, and the bugs didn't come off. She applied degreaser, and scrubbed, and the bugs didn't come off. Finally she applied a bit of abrasive cleanser ( like Comet ) and scrubbed, and succeeded in cleaning a small spot. At that point, she announced she was leaving for a doctor's appointment. Seven bucks, please ! Bimbo ! ! I suppose it was worth $7.00 to find out that abrasive cleanser would do the job quite well.

We set off for Kingston, less than an hour east on Hwy. 401. As we crossed the bridge over the Cataraqui River, a huge snapping turtle ambled off the shoulder of the road and into my lane. I was doing 100 km. and had traffic beside me and behind me. Moving over into the next lane was out of the question. Slamming on the brakes was out of the question. I moved over to the right, dropping the right side of the truck and trailer onto the shoulder. I managed to pass over the turtle without hitting it, but I'm sure that his life ended within a few seconds. The car behind me saw it and avoided it, but I don't think the tractor trailer behind the car could have missed the turtle. You would think by the time the turtle was old enough to be that large, it would have developed the life skills to stay out of traffic.

We set up at Rideau Acres, the campground where the Escapees Chapter 18 Spring Rally was, and the very first place we stopped after "leaving home" on June 18. Joanne took Dee-Dee into Kingston to do some grocery shopping, while I got caught up on e-mail and journal updates. When she returned from shopping, we washed and scrubbed the front of the trailer until it looks like new ! AHHHHH !

I did some shopping for a new truck today. OOOOOHHHHH ! I don't think our budget will permit purchasing a new truck at this time.

DSK

September 23, 2004

September 23, 2004

DAY 98

 

 

Well ... 29 degrees Celsius seems like a fairly decent temperature for a fall day, n'est-ce pas ?

This is the third hot day in a row here. Since we started this journey 98 days ago, we've had pretty decent weather most of the time. The glaring exception was in and around Winnipeg !

We took our time getting hitched up this morning, leaving about 11:00 A.M.. We were headed for Mississauga's Living Arts Centre, to attend the Canadian Snowbird Association's Lifestyles Show. The directions Joanne got were incorrect, so we had a bit of difficulty getting there, but eventually we made it.

The show started at 1:00 P.M.. It was a mixture of entertainers, and information presenters. Since we had not made reservations, we had to take whatever seating was still available. This turned out to be the 2 centre seats in the front row ! The main entertainer was introduced and began performing.

Two time Juno award winner. Inductee into the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame.

Mr. Ronnie Prophet !

After he finished his first song, as he stood at the front edge of the stage talking to the audience, doing his Johnny Cash impersonation, introducing his next song, a Johnny Cash song, his toes were about 3 feet in front of my face.

Yes, yes ... of course ... my freakin' cell phone began to ring ! ! ! ! !

Mr. Prophet stopped talking. I reached into my pocket and began fumbling around trying to pull the cell phone out of my pocket. It was tangled up with the 3 sets of keys that were in the same pocket. And ... let's not forget ... I had programmed the ringer to get progressively louder with each ring. By the time I managed to get it out of my pocket, it was ringing at maximum volume. While I screwed around with it like an idiot trying to figure out how to make the damn thing be quiet, Mr. Prophet took me to task ! Too bad I couldn't hear his chastising of me ; I was too absorbed trying to shut the ****ing thing off !

There's a moral in there somewhere. And ... to whomever phoned me at 1:19 P.M. EDT today, if you're reading this ; Thank you for calling !

Although the country music performers were not really our "cup of tea", we did learn a bit of useful information about health care and travel medical insurance issues. After the show ended, we battled Toronto rush hour traffic through suburban Mississauga to Hwy. 427. It's a real challenge to drive the rig through Toronto suburbia during rush hour. North on Hwy. 427, then east on Hwy. 401, it took about 2 hours on the highways to cross Toronto. Finally, at about Oshawa, the traffic began to thin out. I've always thought Oshawa is the eastern edge of Toronto, for practical purposes. We stopped for fuel in Bowmanville, then stopped again in Port Hope to buy something to cook for supper. We've stopped for the night at the Flying J at Nappanee, Ontario, home of Avril Lavigne. As if I cared !

DSK

September 22, 2004

September 22, 2004

DAY 97

 

 

As you may or may not know ( or care ), I suffer from both Seasonal Affective Disorder and Ulcerative Colitis. Nothing makes for a great day like bright sunshine and a really healthy bowel movement. What a great day today was !

This sunny day "good dump" euphoria was offset by the bad haircut I got this afternoon. We were in a suburb of Mississauga inhabited by East Indians / Sikhs. I don't know ... maybe the East Indian woman who gave me a haircut had never cut a head of hair that wasn't going to be covered by a turban. Oh, well ... it's only hair. Getting a haircut in a different place, by someone different, each time a haircut is needed, is one of the tribulations of this RV life.

Spent a large part of today getting caught up on routine maintenance matters, including installing the 2 hub covers picked up at Forest River in Elkhart. This involved jacking up the trailer, removing a wheel and tire, installing the hub cover, re-installing the wheel and tire, and lowering the trailer. Then ... repeat for other side of trailer. There went the morning.

Had a camp fire tonight for the first time since Grand Beach. Hauled fire wood from Carlson's back yard in Winnipeg, through Manitoba, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and into Ontario, for tonight's camp fire. My firewood is better travelled than most of my relatives ( HA HA HA HA HA ). WOW ... I'm on a roll tonight. I should have a drummer in the background to do rim shots on my punch lines.

Sat around the campfire tonight discussing with Joanne the pros and cons of buying a new truck. Saw an ad in yesterday's newspaper for a new one ton diesel dually. Price made my knees buckle. Will have to give it more thought.

Full time travel puts way more wear and tear on truck and trailer then "normal" use. Decided upon Joanne's good suggestion to design a preventative maintenance checklist for truck and trailer, broken down into certain tasks for each day of the week, so that critical items will be checked at least weekly. Maybe a good preventative maintenance regimen will reduce catastrophic maintenance problems.

DSK

September 21, 2004

September 21, 2004

DAY 96

 

 

This morning I phoned the consignment shop in Ottawa that we had left with some articles for sale. I was very disappointed in what was and was not sold, and the net proceeds. Oh, well ! I spent the rest of the morning installing the North America map decals on the side of the trailer. These are decals outlining each state and province, with coloured decals for each state and province visited. The thin outline decals were difficult to apply. The solid colour decals I applied, indicating where we've been since starting out 3 months ago were Ontario, New York, Manitoba, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan.

Joanne spent the morning making a lot of phone calls to RV dealers in and around Toronto, trying to find a fridge exterior vent door to replace the one I broke. They were most unhelpful. They all must have taken their customer service training in Minneapolis ! Finally, she phoned the manufacturer and got a bit of information, then tried a dealer in Kingston, because we'll be there at the end of this week. The Kingston dealer was very helpful, although they didn't have the part, and ordering it in would take 3 weeks. In light of that, Joanne ordered it from the London dealer where we stopped for service last Saturday, since we should be somewhere in the vicinity of London 3 weeks from now.

This afternoon, I finally stopped procrastinating about the corporate GST remittance / return which is 2 months overdue. After completing and mailing the return, I decided I deserved to go fishing. I spent the balance of the afternoon sitting in a lawn chair at the edge of the reservoir, beer in 1 hand, newspaper in the other, reading the newspaper, watching planes on final approach to Pearson, and fishing for carp. Didn't catch any. Thank goodness ! What the hell would I do with carp from the Humber River in Toronto, except maybe string them up around the outside of the trailer as glow in the dark decorations ?

Since I had a newspaper for the first time in many weeks, I took the opportunity early this evening to check the stock market pages and update my investment portfolio files in the laptop. Finally ... a little bit of upward movement in the markets. It's been 5 weeks since I last updated my investments. Hail, Mary !

Tonight is the 2 hour finale of Amazing Race. WOO-HOO ! ! !

DSK

September 20, 2004

September 20, 2004

DAY 95

 

 

This morning we went back into the International Centre for some final visiting and networking. We ran into some old business associates that we didn't see yesterday, so we're glad we went back today. We had lunch with Kristy ( Polson ) Garrett, whom we have known for over a dozen years. She started her pet industry career working for a Pet Valu franchisee in Ottawa, then managed some corporate Pet Valu stores, including Westgate before we bought it. Then she went to work as a sales rep for Techni-Cal, and now she works as the only Canadian sales rep for an American pet food company, Natural Balance. We caught up on all the industry gossip with Kristy.

We drove away from the International Centre, and went just a few miles north to a little known campground right within Toronto. We can thank our Escapee friends for making us aware of the existence of this campground. Actually finding it is to Joanne's credit, first on the map of Toronto, and then navigating me to it. It is Indian Line Campground, on the Claireville Reservoir on the Humber River, in northwest Toronto. It is operated by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. We unhitched the trailer, and then went on a long grocery and supplies shopping trip. We haven't been grocery shopping since we returned to Canada, and the fridge was pretty empty.

We might stay here a few more days. Perhaps we'll get caught up on some chores, and attend the Canadian Snowbird Association Lifestyles Show on Thursday.

It's nice to actually be in a campground again, which we haven't been for 2 weeks. Supper was done on the barbecue, again something we haven't done in a couple of weeks. Took Toby for a walk around the campground in his sling carrier. He likes it.

DSK

September 19, 2004

September 19, 2004

DAY 94

 

 

Today we attended Canada's National Pet Industry Trade Show at the International Centre across the road from Pearson International Airport in Toronto. This is the first time we are attending the show since selling our stores. It's nice to meet with, and visit, old business associates with the relationship no longer being predicated on them selling and us buying. Most are eager and pleased to hear about our new lifestyle, and the happiness it brings us. For more than a few, there may be just a touch of envy. Quite understandable. We are living what seems a dream for many. Mind you, that also seemed true when we owned successful small businesses. Some dream, some do.

We bought 2 sling carriers for Toby and Teddy. These are carriers designed for carrying dogs, but fit Toby and Teddy well. A different size for each, of course. Toby wears the one that was designed for small dogs, and Teddy wears the one that was designed for ... I don't know ... ponies maybe ? We take Toby and Teddy outside for walks quite often, usually carrying them cradled in our arms. These sling carriers should be more comfortable for both them and us. They seemed to be the only cats in the trade hall, although there were many dogs. They were a big hit. Toby and Teddy do the trade show !

Tonight we’re working in the trailer trying to get caught up on accounting. Our GST remittance is very over due.

DSK

September 18, 2004

September 18, 2004

DAY 93

 

 

I started the day knowing absolutely nothing about the mechanics of an RV absorption / evaporative fridge. Now I know something. First thing this morning I read the fridge owner’s manual, then went outside the trailer and opened up the back of the fridge to see what I could see. I disassembled as much as I could of the burner assembly to see if there was something obvious wrong with the propane side of the fridge system ( since the fridge was working fine on 120V ). There was nothing obvious, but since the burner would light, and remain lit for 45 seconds, I suspected the thermocouple had failed.

We crossed the international border from Port Huron, Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario without too much difficulty. We drove east on Hwy. 402 to London where we stopped at an RV dealer advertised in our Explorer RV Club magazine. These was no one available in the service department, but one of the owners came out to the trailer to see if he could help. He scraped some carbon deposit off the tip of the thermocouple, but that didn’t solve the problem. By watching over his shoulder, I saw how he was cleaning it, and how to disassemble it for removal and replacement. He found a new one in their parts department, and I set about changing it while parked in their lot. It took awhile, but I got the old one out, the new one in and all connected, and everything put back together. After a little bit of final adjustments, and tweaking, everything worked fine.

AHHHHH ... the sweet smell of success. I’m getting very proud of my self-sufficiency and self-reliance.

We left the RV dealer, and drove just a short distance south on Hwy. 4 to Hwy. 401, then a few km. east to the Flying J. We stopped at Flying J to have lunch, wash some laundry, fill up with diesel, empty the holding tanks, refill the fresh water tank, and finally, retrieve e-mail and update my blog. I am sitting now at the Flying J typing this after many unsuccessful attempts to sign on through their data capable pay phone stations. I couldn’t get it to work. I’ve connected successfully before, so I don’t know what the problem is today. I think I may have charged 25 cents to my credit card each time I made an unsuccessful attempt, and there were many attempts.

As we were preparing to leave Flying J, the fridge burner wouldn't ignite, so I had to open up the outside vent accessdoor to make an adjustment. Yes, yes, ... of course, ... I dropped the fridge outside vent access door and it shattered when it hit the pavement. ARRRRGGGGHHHH ! ! ! It's not so much that I have to buy a new door assembly that bothers me as much as the fact that the trailer's graphics / striping run across the broken door. The new door will be plain white, and will stick out like a sore thumb on the side of the trailer. I'm very angry at myself tonight for my carelessness.

We continued east on Hwy. 401, stopping for some grocery shopping in Cambridge. More east on Hwy. 401 to Toronto. North on Hwy 427 past Pearson Airport in Mississauga, to the International Centre on Airport Road, where the PIJAC National Pet Industry Trade Show will be held tomorrow and Monday. We checked out the International Centre, then drove down Dixon Road to find a place for dinner. Ate at Tony Roma’s. Worst service we’ve had in a very long time. Welcome back to Canada ! One thing the U.S. does much better than we do, is provide service in restaurants.

DSK

September 17, 2004

September 17, 2004

DAY 92

 

 

We have decided to dub Fridays as "break down day". Today our fridge quit working on the propane setting, which is the only power source available for it right now. We're boondocking tonight, so no 120V electricity.

We attended the rally "hitch up breakfast" early this morning. Way too early ! We prepared for departure, said our goodbyes, and pulled out of the Elkhart County Fairgrounds about 10:30. We drove a bit north on Hwy. 15, then turned east on Hwy. 120 driving through very scenic Amish farm country until we reached Interstate 69 where we turned north heading towards Michigan. As soon as we crossed into Michigan, we stopped at the Travel Information Centre to pick up a road map and have lunch. We continued north, then northeast on I-69. Joanne drove for awhile, getting her first experience with a long construction zone ( about 10 miles long ) with only 1 very narrow lane and construction barriers on each side. She did fine. We stopped in Lansing to replenish supplies at Wal-Mart. While Joanne shopped, I took a short nap. We continued northeast on I-69 to Flint where we got diesel fuel, then continued east on I-69 all the way to Port Huron, where Michigan borders with Canada. We took this route through Michigan to avoid Detroit, and the Ambassador Bridge from Detroit to Windsor. We'll be crossing tomorrow morning over the Blue Water Bridge from Port Huron, Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario. The St. Clair River is the International Border here. We're parked tonight in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel Restaurant, an RV friendly chain that allows RV's to park in their lots over night. It certainly is a lot less noisy than a Flying J.

DSK

September 16, 2004

September 16, 2004

DAY 91

 

 

Today started for me with a seminar on saving money by boondocking / dry camping for no or low cost. Great seminar, learned some good tips. Second seminar was the on the history and evolution of RV's. You might think this was an interesting seminar for me. I'm sure it would have been, if the RV historian who conducted the seminar didn't have the speech cadence of the black kid in the wheelchair on Malcolm In The Middle. Joanne attended another seminar by the very inspirational Kay Peterson entitled How To Live In A Sardine Can Without Killing Each Other. I hope she took good notes.

After lunch, I attended a seminar on Internet options while on the road ; land line dial up, cell phone as modem, satellite, and Wi-Fi. I have 3 of the 4 capabilities, and I'm not ready to spend $6000 on an RV satellite dish and attachments.

The latter part of the afternoon was taken up with official closing ceremonies. Afterwards, we got together with all of the Ontario chapter members present and went out for dinner to a local restaurant. There were 16 of us. The only Ontario chapter members who weren't with us were Hans and Peta Arends. They were at the same restaurant as our group, but they were having dinner with the Christian Fellowship BOF which they lead. Their Keeshond dog named Tucson, named after the place where Hans and Peta rescued / adopted him, was in their truck in the restaurant parking lot. When our group came out of the restaurant after dinner, we discovered that Tucson had escaped from inside their truck, through the sliding rear window of the cab. His escape got him all agitated and he was now in the box of the truck, viciously protecting it from any one and every one. While some one ran back inside the restaurant to get Hans or Peta, I approached the truck and tried to calm Tucson down a little. His anxiety level was sky high. As I calmed him down a bit, I climbed into the back of the truck and sat down on the tool chest behind the cab's open sliding rear window. As he calmed more, I was able to handle him physically, and convince him to come sit up on the tool chest with me. From there, I was able to lead him physically back through the open cab window. As soon as he was back inside the cab of the truck, he settled down. I slid the window shut and waited for Hans to arrive.

We returned to attend the evening closing dance party. We noticed, whenthe band played a polka, ... these people aren't from Dauphin !

We finished the evening with a work shift, driving the tram from 9:30 to 11:00 P.M.. we returned to the trailer, and a couple of lonely cats, to plan our return route to Toronto. We're going to go quite a bit further north than we had originally thought we would, up into Michigan, before we cross back into Canada. We've decided to avoid Detroit.

Whew ! What a great, but tiring week this has been. We've found before at previous rallies that these old folks are really hard to keep up to.

DSK

September 15, 2004

September 15, 2004

DAY 90

 

 

Another sunny, hot day in Indiana. Every day that we've been in Indiana has been hot and sunny.

My first seminar this morning was with the DOVE BOF. Joanne attended a light hearted seminar on the folly of full time RV’ing. DOVE is the Disaster Operations Volunteer Escapees. They are a group of Escapees who are trained by the American Red Cross to respond to disaster relief operations. They're a valuable group to the Red Cross. They bring their homes with them. They usually aren't in a hurry to leave, because they usually don't have jobs to rush back to. They're very mobile. The DOVE group here will be leaving from here to head to Louisiana to provide disaster relief services after Hurricane Ivan, which should hit land tomorrow. This group knows before the disaster happens, that it's going to happen, and they'll be needed. By this weekend when they're leaving, the Red Cross will have advised them exactly where they should go, and where disaster relief headquarters will be set up. I'm quite interested in this group, but Joanne thinks we need to spend most of our first year of full time RV'ing just exploring, and shouldn't make too many commitments.

The second seminar we attended together. It was a motivational talk by Kay Peterson, Escapee no. 1, founder of the Escapees RV Club, along with her husband Joe, 26 years ago. She’s quite an elderly lady now, in her seventies. She gave a motivational speech on taking responsibility for your own happiness entitled “You don’t have to sleep in the rain”.

We had lunch, and I decided to take a nap while Joanne attended a seminar about all the parks in the Escapees system. There are 8 Escapees RV Parks and we intend to visit and stay at 7 of them within the next year. I thought having a nap was a good idea, so I wouldn’t feel too tired for my evening shift as a tram driver.

Our second afternoon seminar was a seminar on what to expect in the first year of full timing, conducted by a couple who have just completed their first year as full timers. Following that, it was time for the Amish Haystack dinner. We were eager for this, because that is what we missed Friday evening at the Goldenrod Benefit Auction because of the truck breakdown. It wasn’t quite as good as we had expected, but I guess it’s pretty difficult for just one large Amish family to prepare dinner for 2000 people. The components of a Haystack Dinner are piled on your plate, one atop another, looking like a haystack on your plate. First was a layer of crumbled soup crackers, then rice, seasoned ground beef in a sort of chili, diced vegetables, shredded lettuce, grated cheese, and I can’t remember what else. It seemed like a hybrid between a taco and shepherd’s pie and ...

We attended the nightly door prize drawings, which takes 45 minutes each evening, then we watched part of the amateur talent show before we had to begin our 9:00 to 10:30 shift as volunteer tram driver and conductor.

DSK

September 14, 2004

September 14, 2004

DAY 89

 

 

I started this morning by attending the seminar on solar panels, voltage regulators, batteries, and inverters, for RV solar power. I am interested in solar power for those times when we don't have 120V power. In other words, solar power for "boondocking". We are both disinclined to go the generator route. The presenter's style was unfocused and disjointed. Plus, the seminar seemed aimed at those who already had solar power systems for their rigs. I left 3/4 of the way through. Joanne was attending the seminar on Velcro. A million uses for Velcro in your RV.

I phoned the GM dealer to get details on the work done on the truck, and to request that they send a courtesy shuttle to pick me up. Well ... some moron ... likely an after market installer ... had cut the cable between the alternator and the battery, likely meaning to cut into the battery power cable to splice in a connection for something, realized they had cut the wrong cable, and spliced the 2 parts of the cable back together ... rather poorly ... with a butt connector. It melted and short circuited. The alternator stopped charging the batteries, the batteries died, and the transmission ECM ( electronic control module ... essentially a computer chip ) flipped the transmission into "limp" mode. Limp mode is a safety feature that forces the transmission to stay in first gear, to encourage you to stop driving and recognize there is a problem with the vehicle. Well DUH ! ! !

Diagnosis, repair of the cable, resetting the transmission ECM out of limp mode, and testing the transmission ; U.S. $ 218.44 ! CDN. $300.00 !

While I went to pick up the truck in Elkhart, Joanne attended a seminar on campground discount memberships / clubs, such as the Good Sam Club which we just joined last week at Camping World. After picking up the truck, I bought some trailer parts I needed at Camping World in Elkhart, then filled the tank before heading back to Goshen. At the gas station, I noticed that the Elkhart newspaper's front page lead story was about our Escapees Club Rally here at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds in Goshen. Eleven hundred RV rigs are front page news here.

I returned just before the afternoon seminars began at 1:00 P.M.. I ate lunch in 5 minutes and rushed off to the seminar on ceiling vent fans, while Joanne went off to the Amish culture seminar. Again, I was a little disappointed in the seminar, and left half way through. Again, it was aimed at people who already had the product, not people who were considering buying it. The second seminar I attended in the afternoon was a repeat showing of the documentary video of the Escapees RV Club history and development which Joanne had seen Sunday evening. After that, we attended a meeting of the Pet Lovers BOF, then headed off to gate 5 for our 1 hour assignment as gate guards. Shortly after 6:00 we headed off to do some grocery shopping. When we came back, it was time for supper and Amazing Race. Once again, we received remarkably good TV reception with the TV antenna on the trailer. The only place we got really poor reception with the antenna was just outside Chicago last week. Go figure !

DSK

September 13, 2004

September 13, 2004

DAY 88

 

 

Tonight we heard a Louisiana Cajun greeting ; "How y'all comment ça va, chile ?" And I thought Cornwall, Ontario French was about as bad as it could get.

There are 2 morning and 2 afternoon seminar sessions each day, with 5 simultaneous seminars going on during each session, so a choice of 20 different seminars each day. We had planned to split up, with each of us going our separate ways, so each of us could attend 4 seminars per day, thereby attending 8 of the available 20 per day. WHEW ! Today we each attended one seminar. The rest of the day we spent socializing, visiting the outdoor market area, visiting the indoor market area, visiting the truck and trailer dealer displays, more socializing, etc.. We took Toby and Teddy to the Pet Lovers BOF noon pet parade in the park area today. There was one other adult cat, and a very young kitten, perhaps 6 weeks old. There was a small macaw. Yesterday we met somebody with an Amazon Parrot on their shoulder. And, of course, there were many, many, many dogs, including some breeds that we just don't see back home, like a Bedlington Terrier, and a Bruxelles Griffon.

Today we met Bob and Helen Boville, another Ontario Chapter 18 member. It's kind of neat to bump into a familiar face in this sea of over 2200 people.

I phoned the GM dealer just before 6:00 P.M., their closing time, to check on my truck. It's almost finished except for the paperwork. They found that the cable from the battery to the alternator failed / melted, so the alternator could not charge the batteries, the 2 batteries eventually went dead, then all the electronics requiring electricity failed. Not really all that serious a problem. However, the bill is going to be something in the vicinity of U.S. $220, although the service cashier that I spoke to ( the only person there from 5:30 to 6:00 ) wasn't able to explain the work or billing in any detail.

Today was about the same weather as yesterday. Very hot, very sunny, a bit humid. I was looking at a map of the United States today and was surprised to see how far south of Canada we actually are here.

So ... what do you call 50 John Deere tractors circling the MacDonald's in Goshen, Indiana ?

Prom Night.

DSK

September 12, 2004

September 12, 2004

DAY 87

 

 

WOW ! ! ! ! !

This was an amazing, exciting day. Early this morning, we registered for the rally, then set off for "chapter row" to find the Ontario Chapter 18 representatives, Sandy & Peachy McGeachy to tell them about the phone message we left them about hauling our trailer here from Elkhart, a message they obviously haven't received yet. Before we made it to the Chapter 18 booth, we ran into Hans and Peta Arends from our Ontario chapter, who are hosting the Christian Fellowship BOF booth. BOF is Birds Of A Feather, the collective name of the various Escapee special interest groups like Christian Fellowship, Pet Lovers, and my favourite, Yehudim Al Galgalim

( Jews On Wheels ). We visited with Hans and Peta, then walked over to see Sandy and Peachy for awhile at their booth. We returned to the main registration building to get a cup of coffee, and check out the booths and displays in there. This is like RV'ing 101 !

We went to the "Volunteers" booth and signed up for 4 hours of volunteer work during the rally, to earn a volunteer's patch, but mostly to pay back the organization for finding a volunteer to haul us from Elkhart to here. While chatting with Harv and Louise Schweyer at the club products booth, we ran into Rick and Barb Aubrey, new Escapees from Ottawa, whom we met at the Kingston Rally in June.

Tuesday afternoon we will be gate security guards for an hour. Tuesday and Wednesday evenings for an hour and a half each evening we will be operating the tram that runs all over the fairgrounds providing transportation to attendees. Right after lunch we went on our tram volunteer training session. The tram is a streetcar like trailer pulled by a medium size John Deere tractor. To me it looks like an overgrown lawn tractor. Some of the guys seemed to think it was what farmers use to work their grain fields. I guess if you live in New York City or Los Angeles ... a John Deere tractor is a John Deere tractor. Anyways, I drive the tractor, and Joanne ensures riders get on and off the tram safely, and rings the cowbell to tell the driver to stop or go. That's the designated "ding-a-ling" job.

We got parked right close to the action, so I didn't realize until we took a training run on the tram route how incredibly huge these grounds are, and how many rigs are here. 1100 motor homes and large fifth wheel trailerstake up a lot of room. From the main activity areas to the far end of the parking areas must be about 2 miles. While on the tram training run, we met another Ontario member, Grant Calwell. Gee ... before coming here we only knew about 2 dozen Escapee couples, and we've met 1/4 of them here in Goshen the first morning.

At 2:00 P.M we attended the First Timers orientation session followed by the opening ceremonies at 3:00 P.M.. At 4:00 P.M was the ice cream social, and from 4:30 to 6:00 we were entertained by PANTASIA. What an astounding, talented group of young people. PANTASIA is the Findlay, Ohio High School Steel Band, an orchestra of about 2 dozen different steel pan drums and a few other percussion instruments. It was amazing to see how a town of 46,000 with a high school population of 2100 can produce a specialized high school band with such talent and skill. They must have much larger school music budgets than we do, because this was just 1 of the 3 specialty bands in the school's music program. I bought one of their CD's.

I wonder, since the Indiana residents call themselves Hoosiers and the Ohio residents call themselves Buckeyes, why we don't have a special nickname for each province's residents ?

Manitobans could call themselves Bisons and Ontarians could be Trilliums, or something.

After this great entertainment, we went back to the trailer, had supper, and returned for the 7:30 P.M. door prize hour. An hour of drawing names and awarding door prizes. We didn't win anything. I wanted the Mexican RV Caravan Tour. Joanne wanted the Mardi Gras RV Caravan Tour.

At 8:30 Joanne went off to see the Escapees "documentary" movie, all about how the club was founded by Joe and Kay Peterson, and the history and evolution of the club. Maybe I'll see it when it's shown again on Tuesday. I went to the evening stargazing session, led by an amateur astronomer. Booooorrrrriiiiinnnnnggggg ! I left after 45 minutes. Oh, well ... can't hit a home run every time at bat.

What a fantastic day. I hope the rest of the rally is as good as today.

DSK

September 11, 2004

September 11, 2004

DAY 86

 

 

Well ... we're here ... at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds, for the 2004 Escapees Fall "Escapade" Rally. We needed help getting here, but we're here !

Last night, I made 2 phone calls. One was to the Escapade Rally office. They have a phone number here, for use as an emergency contact number for rally attendees. I left a message asking if it was possible to find a volunteer with a truck that could haul our trailer from Total Value RV in Elkhart to the fairgrounds here in Goshen, a distance of about 20 miles. The second call I made was to Sandy & Peachy McGeachy, a couple we know from the Escapees Ontario Chapter whom we knew would be coming here to Goshen. They have a fifth wheel trailer, and obviously a truck that could haul us here. I left a message on their home phone number in Ontario hoping that once they arrived here they might check their home phone messages.

Also late yesterday, Dave and Jean from Milwaukee who were in the motor home parked next to us offered to drive us this morning for some groceries and bottled water we needed. Early this morning we were ready to take them up on their offer as they headed out for a day of exploring Shipshewana and the nearby Amish communities. Instead of driving us directly to a grocery store, they invited us to join them for a day of exploring first, and they would take us to a grocery store later in the afternoon. We accepted.

We spent the morning exploring Amish stores in Shipshewana, then went for lunch to a local popular Amish family style restaurant, Das Dutchman Essenhaus in Middlebury. While having lunch, my cell phone rang. It was the volunteer that the Escapees Rally Director Beth Roberts had recruited, Bob Roetzer from Buffalo, New York. Bob said he would be at our trailer in an hour and a half to tow us here. We quickly finished lunch and headed back to Total Value RV. Once there, I began to prepare the trailer to go, and Jean drove Joanne to a grocery store. Before they returned, Bob and his friend, Sam Pack from Arkansas showed up in Bob's new 2004 Ford one ton turbo-diesel dually to haul us. I want a truck like his ! We hooked up the trailer to his truck, and as soon as Joanne returned with groceries, off we went. What a pair of colourful old guys Bob and Sam are. We arrived here, and Beth the boss had them park us in the fully serviced camping area ( electricity, water, and sewer ) reserved for staff rigs. We got the sympathy vote for the tough 9 days we've had getting here.

Bob and Sam were extremely helpful and friendly. A pleasant change from what we've been experiencing. The "sharing and caring" motto of the Escapees RV Club is truly put into practice by its members. Shortly after arriving, I found Harvey and Louise Schweyer parked down the road from us. Harv and Louise are Ontario Chapter 18 members that we know. They are working the club products sales booth during the rally, so they are parked here in the staff area. We had a very pleasant evening visiting with familiar faces, whining and venting all our troubles.

We feel a lot better. We're here ! ! ! And we're ready and eager. Being here for this has been a goal for a year.

DSK

September 10, 2004

September 10, 2004

DAY 85

 

 

Enough is enough ! ! ! Dee-Dee's got to go ! ! ! I am completely exhausted and demoralized by these mechanical breakdowns. Four times in 9 days ! ! !

The day started out just fine. Hot, sunny, ... a beautiful day in Indiana. By the way, why do Indiana residents refer to themselves as "Hoosiers" ? Anyways, I drove Joanne to a local Laundromat, and while she did laundry, I went to 4 different truck accessory stores looking for that damn lug nut cap. Curses to you, Dawson Servicentre ! I picked up Joanne at the Laundromat, and we went for a very quick lunch at a Greek Gyros restaurant while the clothes were in the dryer. Picked up the clothes, then rushed like crazy for Forest River's factory, for the 1:30 P.M. factory tour. We arrived at 1:33 P.M.. The same rude, unhelpful receptionist from yesterday advised us that the man that was to lead the tour had just left because nobody was there for a tour at 1:30. I asked her to see if she could arrange a tour for us. She smacked her lips, wrung her hands, scratched her head, etc., for a few minutes, until Joanne couldn't take any more and stormed out the door. I was a bit surprised because that's usually my tactic, not hers. I stood there in front of the receptionist for another minute or two, and watched her antics continue. Finally, in disgust, I left also.

Joanne navigated us about 20 miles east to an Amish community charity auction, between Middlebury and Shipshewana. What an interesting afternoon we had ! The auction was on the grounds of a rural group home for developmentally delayed adults, and was for their benefit. We wandered all around their property, looking at their 2 large homes, gardens, barn, greenhouse, chickens and cattle. We arrived about an hour before the auction was to begin at 3:30, so we were a bit early. This gave us the opportunity to have first pick at the bake sale. OOOHHH ! YESSS !

The parking lot had almost as many Amish buggies with horses, as it did cars and trucks. What nice "Sunday buggies" they were driving today. We noticed in the farm yards as we drove by that there were Sunday buggies and every day buggies. I guess it's like our farmers' new Buicks and beat up old Ford pickups.

We watched an hour or so of the auction, while eating a bowl of fresh ice cream. I mean really fresh ! I mean we watched them take it out of the ice cream churner thing, and serve it into our bowl. Then Joanne wanted to drive to the nearby town of Shipshewana to see an Amish department store. Then we were going to return to the auction to watch the more interesting items, like hand made Amish quilts being auctioned, and have an Amish "haystack dinner". On the short drive into Shipshewana, Dee-Dee broke !

I think it's some sort of electronic control module problem. Most of the dash gauges failed. The tachometer quit. Most importantly, the electronic automatic transmission is stuck in first / low gear. I limped into town, and pulled over to the curb to look under the hood. While fiddling with fuses, I pulled a fuse that made the engine quit. I required a jump start to get it going again. The 2 batteries seem dead, or the ignition is electronic, or something. Anyways, after getting it jump started, we limped 20 miles back to our trailer, driving on the shoulder at about 50 km./hr. in first gear. I dropped Joanne off at the trailer, and ran into the RV dealership office, about 5 minutes before they closed, to find out where the nearest GM dealer is ( déja vu ). Then I limped about another 5 miles through Friday evening rush hour to the GM dealer. I dropped the truck off in front of their service department, which is closed until Monday morning. Then I tried to beg a ride back to the trailer from 1 of the 3 salesmen and 1 customer at the used car side of the dealership. Finally, the body shop manager, who was late leaving work this evening, reluctantly agreed to drive me back to the trailer.

I feel defeated.

We've been brainstorming over supper to figure out how to get at least ourselves, if not the trailer, to the Escapees rally site in Goshen on Sunday morning. I believe we'll find a way.

BUT ... most importantly, a decision has been made to get rid of this truck. We'll probably use it to get back to Ontario after the rally, then buy another truck in Toronto, Kingston, or Ottawa.

DSK

September 9, 2004

September 9, 2004

DAY 84

 

 

This morning I wandered around the lot of Total Value RV, the dealer where we're "camped", looking for excuses to spend money. I felt some obligation to spend some money here, to compensate the dealer for the free camping offer we're taking advantage of. First I spent some time looking at a Ford F-550 ( 1½ ton ? ) MDT ( medium duty truck ) "hauler" conversion they took in on a trade recently. The asking price was U.S. $39,000. Moving right along ... next I went to their service department to inquire about their RV washing service. Their price was U.S. $1.00 per foot. Now that's a little more along the lines of what I should be spending to justify my stay here. But ... they're too busy this week to wash Harvey. Their wash bay is tied up washing their half million dollar motor homes that they will be displaying at the Escapees rally. Good luck ! Finally, I inquired about using their dump station. The normal charge is $5.00 for use of their dump station, but ... no charge for me to use it this week. Later this afternoon when I spoke to a salesman again about the $39,000 truck, it was already sold. OK ... can't seem to spend any money here !

Late this morning we went off to shop for RV parts and accessories. First stop was RV Surplus & Salvage, a business that sells the manufacturers' cast offs. Parts that the manufacturers don't want any more because there is a newer model, or they've damaged them slightly, or whatever. It was like a big grubby warehouse outlet filled with odds and sods. We spent quite a bit of time there looking through everything, and ended up buying a new faucet fixture for the trailer. It's much nicer looking than the one in the trailer now, which is beginning to leak where the shower hose attaches.

Next we stopped at Camping World. Our much awaited first visit to a Camping World. Very nice. Best assortment and selection of RV parts and accessories we've seen. We picked up a catalogue, bought a promotional membership in the Good Sam's RV Club, which provides for a 10% discount at many private campgrounds, and purchased a few small things that I've been wanting, like an AC voltage meter and a fridge thermometer. Finally, we drove to Forest River's Cardinal manufacturing plant to pick up the black plastic hub cover that Transcona Trailer Sales arranged for. I was not very impressed. We had a long wait to see Cam, the man we were supposed to ask for. When I got tired of waiting, and told the receptionist I wanted to see a customer service manager, she was visibly annoyed, made a phone call, and Cam showed up immediately. The parts were "on their way" from their "nearby" parts depot, despite the fact that Doug at Transcona Trailer Sales told Cam a week ago that I would be in to pick up the parts today. Doug ordered one hub cover, but since I lost one in the Minneapolis fiasco, and replaced it with a similar, but not identical one, I asked Cam for 2 of them. He obliged.

Joanne is becoming quite dismayed at the lack of "friendliness" displayed in the United States. I guess we have some culture adjustment to do. Throughout our maintenance ordeals, fuel purchases, grocery shopping, etc., we are encountering very "unhelpful" customer service attitudes. It's rather discouraging, especially for Joanne.

We came back to the trailer for a very late lunch in the afternoon, and visited with the occupants of the other 2 rigs that are now camping here as well. One of them is a couple whose story is eerily reminiscent of our own. They started full time RV'ing after the woman's second battle with cancer, and second major surgery to remove it, 9 years ago. They sold their home, their business, and everything else, and hit the road. Life is short !

This evening, we drove to Goshen to see the Elkhart County Fairgrounds where the Escapees rally will be held. It's about a half hour drive from here. Goshen is not quite as close to Elkhart as we thought it was. The salesman here says there will be about 1100 rigs at the rally ! The fairgrounds are very large and very impressive. Not at all what we had envisioned. We thought it would look like a large field. There are many permanent buildings on site, for livestock auctions, restaurants, bathrooms and showers, administration buildings, paved roads, streetlights, designated camping sites, etc., on a large, treed property. Looks like a big giant campground ! There were already quite a few rigs there, all displaying Escapee rally staff signs in their windows.

DSK

September 8, 2004

September 8, 2004

DAY 83

 

 

Happy Anniversary, Dee-Dee. We bought Dee-Dee the one ton diesel dually truck one year ago today, in Perth, Ontario.

Well ... gee ... uhhhh ... how can I best describe Illinois ? If the United States was a chandelier, Illinois wouldn't be the brightest bulb ?

We left Illini State Park this morning continuing east on I-80. We exited I-80 at Joliet, a southern suburb of Chicago, and where < snicker > Jake and Elwood Blues did their prison "hard time". We stopped for groceries and then continued east on State Hwy. 30, which we had planned to take all the way to Goshen / Elkhart, to avoid the Interstate maze on the south side of Chicago, and around the bottom of Lake Michigan. On the map, State Hwy. 30 looked like a secondary highway, but in reality it was an urban arterial road through the southern suburbs of Chicago. Stop and go, traffic lights, urban traffic ... not the peaceful, scenic "back roads" highway we thought we were getting onto. After about an hour of Hwy.30, right through Chicago's suburbs of Park Forest, Chicago Heights, and the rest of the areas where the wealthy build their homes, me drenched in sweat from the stress of driving the rig through outer suburbia, we got onto I-394 northbound for a few miles, then eastbound onto I-294 / 80. As we passed from Illinois into Indiana, I-294 / 80 became I-80 / 94 passing through the southern suburbs of Gary, Indiana. Just east of Gary, I-90 joined up, and I-94 split off, so now we were heading east on I-80 / 90.

HUH ? Exactly !

Finally ! Elkhart, Indiana ! RV centre of the universe, along with its neighbouring city, Goshen, where the Escapees Rally is going to be. In this month's Escapees magazine there was an ad for Total Value RV in Elkhart advertising free pre-rally camping for Escapees all this week on their property. That's where we headed, and that's where we are now. Total Value is a large RV dealer, with 6 concrete RV parking pads serviced with water and electricity, in the front yard area of their large property. I guess these 6 RV sites are usually used by their service department customers, or purchasers of new rigs, to try out their new units before hitting the road, but tonight, we're the only rig in their little 6 site RV park. Joanne is unhappy about being the only rig here, and she wants to move, maybe to the 400 site campground next door. She says she feels "conspicuous" and uncomfortable being the only rig here.

DSK

September 7, 2004

September 7, 2004

DAY 82

 

 

Tonight we are camped at Illini State Park on the south side of the Illinois River, across the river from Marseilles, Illinois, just south of Chicago. This is the first time we've stayed in a campground since we left Winnipeg 5 days ago. We wanted to be in a nice campground tonight, with electricity, so we could watch Amazing Race.

I was up early and out talking to the GM dealer's service manager by 6:30 A.M.. They opened at 7:00 but the manager was in early. The first thing he advised me was that the 1 year warranty on the starter installed by Surgenor in Ottawa 10 months ago could only be honoured in Canada, not the United States. I would have to pay today's bill and seek reimbursement from Surgenor and / or GM Canada. I phoned Surgenor and discussed it with them. They want me to return the dead starter as the first step in obtaining reimbursement. Another reason to return to Ottawa for a day at the end of this month ! Another battle for another day !

They were finished installing the new starter by 10:30 A.M.. We hitched up the trailer, drove half a mile down the road to the Travel Information Centre to dump our holding tanks, and we were motoring down the Interstate by 11:00 A.M.. We intentionally avoided Chicago by heading straight south on I-39 through Rockford all the way to I-80 where we turned west. We stopped for lunch in Ottawa, Illinois. We stopped in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel Restaurant, a chain of old fashioned, "down home" family style restaurants that Joanne wanted to check out. We went in and looked around, but decided to have lunch in Cracker Barrel another time, when we're really tired, or want to treat ourselves. While Joanne prepared lunch in the trailer, in Cracker Barrel's parking lot, I went across the street to Blain's Farm And Fleet, a large store somewhat like a "down scale" Wal-Mart ( if that's possible ! ). Seemed to be real popular with the Illinois overalls crowd. Bought a new tire and new valve extensions for the truck. Seemed to be lots of inventory of one ton diesel dually parts and accessories at Blain's Farm And Fleet. Also bought a new side marker light for the trailer. A rock or something shattered a trailer side marker light this morning.

Noticed a couple of unusual things about Illinois today. Firstly, nobody in Ottawa, Illinois seems to have ever heard of Ottawa, Canada. Maybe I should start saying "Washington, D.C.? Never heard of it !" The other unusual thing is nobody in Illinois seems to understand me. Apparently my "accent" renders me unintelligible. Maybe I should capitalize on that and start spewing vulgarities at them. If I smile hard enough when I tell them to **** ***, maybe they'll think I'm just wishing them a good day.

So everything on the truck and trailer is now fixed. The truck spare tire has been replaced. We’re back in A-1 condition, all around. Wish us luck !

We’re only about a one day drive from Goshen, Indiana. We’ll probably be there tomorrow night. Oh ... and goodbye to the bimbo blonde twins on Amazing Race.

DSK

September 6, 2004

September 6, 2004

DAY 81

 

Happy 17th birthday to Toby Cat

 

Today was a slow day of non-travel, resting and catching up on chores and minor maintenance. Even before we decided to spend the day parked at the GMC dealer, we had decided not to travel today because it's Labour Day, the final day of the last long weekend of summer and the roads were likely to be very busy. Good decision.

This afternoon, we decided to drive about half a mile down the Interstate to the Illinois Travel Information Centre to get a road map and campground book. The truck starter will only work if I whack it really hard with a crowbar and hammer. "Daniel's Persuasion". As we drove down the Interstate entrance ramp, we realized the traffic was crawling, bumper to bumper. We picked up what we needed at the Travel Information centre, then asked for directions back to the exit where we left the trailer at the GMC dealer, about a half mile back. Well ... you can't get there from here ! The directions were to continue south on the Interstate, passing through a toll booth just beyond the Travel Information Centre, drive 10 miles to the next exit, turn around, and drive 10 miles back, through the toll booth again, incurring 20 miles worth of toll charges.

I don't think so ! There must be a reason why I have a 4 wheel drive ( actually, 6 wheel drive ) vehicle designed for "off roading". Out of the Travel Information Centre, onto the Interstate, off the left side of the road, through the wide, deep, rough ditch between the southbound side and the northbound side, and back up onto the Interstate headed back north to our exit a half mile away. HA ! Toll that, Illinois !

Joanne didn't seem all too impressed with that manoeuvre.

I am currently ( 6:30 P.M ) sitting at the Flying J, diagonally across the road from where we're parked, in the professional driver's lounge, at a booth with a phone with a jack for the computer modem. I have just signed on, sent and received e-mail, and updated my journal. This is a very convenient method of Internet access. I think I'll use it again. At least until both my cell phone service and my AOL service are set up for U.S. access, starting October 15. I didn't think it worthwhile to set up U.S. access starting September 1, as this trip into the United States will be for less than 3 weeks. Also, I must confess, by the time I made arrangements, I was too late for September 1 start-up. Manitoba Telephone Systems and AOL both need "lead time" for these arrangements. So much for "instant" telecommunications !

The Flying J's professional driver's lounge was crowded tonight with truck drivers avoiding the long weekend traffic. They were all sitting around watching TV, working on their laptops or paper work, making telephone calls, showering, washing laundry, etc..

Tonight I discovered that the lowered tailgate of the truck makes a great "table" for our little propane barbecue. I can even stand in the V notch ( it's a fifth wheel louvered tailgate ) with the barbecue on one side and cooking utensils, barbecue sauce, paper towels, etc. on the other side.

Perfect !

Played 2 games of Scrabble tonight with Joanne. It's probably been 20 years since we last played Scrabble. Won one, lost one. Should have quit while I was ahead. There's a moral in there somewhere.

DSK

September 5, 2004

September 5, 2004

Day 80

 

 

Tonight we are in South Beloit, Illinois, 73 miles southwest of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and 97 miles northwest of Chicago, Illinois. We are right on the border between Wisconsin and Illinois. Beloit is in Wisconsin and South Beloit is in Illinois.

We are parked in the back lot of a GMC truck dealership awaiting service Tuesday morning. Yesterday and today the truck's starter was intermittently failing to engage. It happened a couple of times yesterday, and a few more times today. The last time it happened, it took me about 45 minutes of trial and error problem solving and some luck to get it started. When we pulled off Interstate 90 / 39 tonight to buy diesel at a Flying J, this GMC truck dealer was across the street. So here we are ... until the truck is repaired early Tuesday, hopefully.

We left Black River Falls this morning heading southwest on I-94. After awhile, I-94 merged with I-90. We wanted to find out more about the Wisconsin Dells, which is both an area and a city. The Dells are sandstone rock formations / cliffs, somewhat like the hoodoos / badlands of Alberta. We left the Interstate about an hour before reaching the city of Wisconsin Dells and travelled the back roads there, hoping to catch a glimpse of "The Dells". We had already seen 2 of these tall sandstone tower like formations from the Interstate. The back roads to Wisconsin Dells were scenic, but no "dells" visible. We finally arrived in the city of Wisconsin Dells and encountered a horrific traffic jam in this little tourist town. It took us about an hour to travel about 6 blocks down the main street, which was packed with tourists, and somewhat resembled the main street of Niagara On The Lake, albeit much more "Americanized". We realized a little too late that driving into a tourist area / town on a long weekend, with the trailer attached, was a very big mistake. We won’t be repeating this mistake any time soon ! By the end of this ordeal, I was in no mood to go on a boat trip down the Wisconsin River to see the "dells". Boat tours down the river seem to be the "raison d'etre" of this town.

By this time, we were both in bad moods, and couldn't agree on what to do / what not to do. We pulled into a Wal-Mart parking lot and squabbled on and off all afternoon, interspersed with shopping, having lunch, and fiddling with the truck which wouldn't start. Finally the truck started and we set off, debating what was the best course of action to take over the next 2 days regarding where to stay for the night, where to get the truck fixed, etc..

Shortly before Madison, Interstate 39 merged with Interstate 90 / 94. Now we were on Interstate 90 / 94 / 39. We stopped at a cheese factory in De Forest, Wisconsin. We bought white cheddar curds, to compare them to the squeeky curds we used to buy in Eastern Ontario / Western Quebec. Wisconsin's curds are slightly drier in texture, and less salty. Joanne prefers these. I prefer the ones back around Ottawa. At the cheese factory, we also bought a bottle of cranberry and rhubarb wine, made by a winery in Wisconsin. We drank it tonight with supper. It was very good.

Tomorrow we're going to stay here in the dealer's parking lot, de-stress, and get caught up on minor maintenance chores, accounting, maybe buy and read a newspaper. Maybe we can both succeed in shaking off today's bad moods.

DSK

September 4, 2004

September 4, 2004

DAY 79

 

 

Well ... that was an amazing display of self-reliance and self-sufficiency, even if I do say so myself !

I woke up early, showered, dressed, bought a coffee at MacDonald's, and was ready to start working the pay phone in the service station across the street by 8:30 A.M.. Had to make many phone calls to find all the parts I needed, primarily the trailer hub assembly, but also a tire and wheel, 6 lug nuts, wheel bearings, a bearing dust cap, and a hub cover. Didn't get the chrome wheel trim ring, nor the lug nut caps. They'll have to wait. They're just cosmetic.

By 9:15 I was on I-94 headed east towards Minneapolis, an hour away, where I located an industrial supply business that had the hub I needed. When I got there, there was quite a bit of confusion about exactly what was the right part, because Forest River manufactures trailers using both Alco brand axles and Dexter brand axles. My trailer seems to have Alco axles, Dexter brakes, 3 Alco hub assemblies, and 1 Dexter hub assembly. SHEESH ! It was a slightly moot point anyways, because the company I had gone to only carried Dexter parts. Now I have 2 Alco hub assemblies and 2 Dexter hub assemblies. I phoned a bunch of RV dealers from the industrial supply company, and 2 out of 3 RV service departments think Alco and Dexter hub assemblies are interchangeable, and one thinks the sky will fall if I put a Dexter hub on my trailer. Since I already had one Dexter hub on the trailer, I bought the Dexter hub, and will hope for the best. Otherwise I would have been in the MacDonald's parking lot in Monticello, Minnesota until Tuesday. Alco is in Elkhart, Indiana, so I will check with them when I get to Goshen / Elkhart. I was also able to buy the trailer wheel and tire I needed at the same industrial supply company. I drove an hour west back to where the trailer was in Monticello, stopping at PetsMart on the way to buy cat food. I was back to the trailer by 12:30.

We had lunch, then Joanne walked to a grocery store about 15 minutes away while I began the repair / re-assembly job. I was finished by 4:30. Bought propane, filled the trailer tires with air, and hit the road ! On the outskirts of Minneapolis we passed by a Camping World store. We have been very eager for our first Camping World visit, but not today. We just wanted to put Minneapolis and the ordeal of the last 24 hours behind us. The Interstate Hwy. system around and through Minneapolis ( I-94, I-694, I-494, I-35W ) was very confusing and intimidating. Maybe I was just spooked because of all the vehicle problems we've had in the last couple of days.

Shortly after Minneapolis, we crossed into Wisconsin. What nice scenery. Minnesota was primarily grain farming country, and as soon as we crossed into Wisconsin, it became rolling pasture lands. Lots of cattle on the hilly pastures. Lots of trees. An Interstate Highway in great condition. Wide lanes, wide shoulders, smooth surface. An easy drive. I deserved a break !

We stopped for the evening at Flying J in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, about 1/3 of the way across the state travelling south east. If things go well tomorrow ( please ! ) we should be in Illinois by tomorrow evening. Looking at the map over supper, and considering how tough it was to get through Minneapolis, we've decided to go a little further south than we had originally planned, before turning east to Indiana. We'll bypass Milwaukee, and just hit "the south side of Chicago, the badder part of town" ( with apologies to Jim Croce ).

DSK

September 3, 2004

September 3, 2004

DAY 78

 

 

Had difficulty falling asleep last night. No dedicated RV parking area at Fargo's Flying J. Had to just park in amongst the big trucks. Lots of noise. Reefers running. Trucks arriving late. Trucks starting their engines at 6:00 A.M. to start the day. Got out of bed at 6:20 A.M..

While I waited for Joanne to get up, I went into the Flying J for a coffee, then walked across the Interstate to the Goodyear dealer to shop for a tire for the truck. The Interstate Highways are not very pedestrian friendly ! I priced, but did not buy a tire.

As we were dumping our holding tanks, a motor home pulled in behind us to wait for us to finish. An elderly lady came out and threw a hug onto Joanne. They were Escapees, and had seen our Escapees RV Club decal. They were also headed for the rally in Goshen. A hug is the official Escapees greeting.

We left heading southeast on I-94. In just a few minutes, we crossed the Red River, and were in Minnesota. Stopped for brunch and Wal-Mart replenishment at Fergus Falls. Bought a 12V compressor on sale for $6.50 ! Stopped for lunch at a rest area near Avon. Talked to a lady from Kentucky with a trailer very similar to ours. Same make and model, one year newer.

Joanne drove for about an hour, from the Avon rest area to the next rest area about 10 miles west of Monticello. This was only her second time driving the rig. She did very well. A few miles after this rest area, with me driving again, a car pulled up beside honking wildly and pointing to the trailer. I rolled down my window and they were yelling something about a tire. We stopped on the shoulder, and got out to take a look !

OMIGOD ! The right rear tire and wheel on the trailer were missing. The wheel bolts had sheared off, and the wheel and tire flew off. The fibreglass skirt on the bottom of the trailer was quite damaged.

We took a deep breath, and were grateful it was the right side, and not the left. The wheel and tire had flown off into the ditch somewhere ... safely. If it had been the other side, it would have flown off into traffic.

The rest of the day was so complicated and discouraging, I hardly know how to articulate it.

We unhooked the trailer, and left it on the shoulder, kind of leaning over towards the ditch. We drove back and forth, a few times, looking for the tire and wheel, to no avail. This took quite awhile because the Interstate exits we used to go back and forth were 10 miles apart. While looking, we stopped at an RV dealer for assistance. They weren't able to help. We got a few phone numbers from them and started phoning around. At 4:30 P.M. on Friday afternoon of a long weekend, help was not readily available. Finally we gave up searching for the wheel and tire, and making phone calls, and decided we'd better get the trailer off the shoulder and to some place safer. We hitched the trailer up, and crawled slowly along the shoulder 2 miles to the exit to Monticello. We got off the Interstate, and parked in the RV parking area behind a MacDonald's. That's where we are now. We might be here until Tuesday.

I stabilized the trailer with the rear stabilizers, and put the truck jack under the trailer axle where the wheel and tire are missing. I assessed the situation, and decided to remove the hub from the axle. I achieved that, and realized that a new hub was all that was needed to get us back on the road. Temporarily, we could use the trailer's spare wheel and tire, as long as I could get a new hub, or perhaps the sheared wheel bolts removed and replaced. More phone calls. Finally went to a tire shop a couple of blocks away. It was half an hour past closing, but the owner was there and was able to give me a few leads about where I might get a new hub assembly. I returned to the trailer, and tried to remove the broken bolts out of the hub. No way ! Looks like I'll need a whole new hub assembly. And a new trailer wheel and tire. And a new tire for the truck. Will probably be in excess of $500 U.S. altogether.

Back at the trailer, I repaired the damaged fibreglass temporarily with ... yup ... duct tape. We drove 10 miles back down the Interstate for one last search for the missing wheel and tire, just as the sun was setting. No luck ! As Joanne prepared a late supper, I drove across the street to fill up with diesel, and tear pages out of the Yellow Pages, to get all the phone numbers I will need to try phoning tomorrow morning to get a new hub assembly < really huge sigh >.

I'm ready to quit !

Well ... let’s see if I can find a bright side. We’re now parked safely. No one was injured. Once again, I have managed to deal with this major problem self-sufficiently, without needing to phone Emergency Roadside Service. Or an ambulance ! Maybe a good night’s sleep will help things look brighter in the morning.

DSK

September 2, 2004

September 2, 2004

DAY 77

 

 

Had a big brunch with the Danelak family in their gazebo this morning before leaving. Sharon baked fresh cinnamon buns for the occasion. Thank you, Sharon. Toby and I thought they were great. Surprisingly, Teddy spit his out.

Left their driveway at 11:30 A.M.. Drove to Transcona Trailer Sales to resolve one way or another this missing hub cover issue. As I arrived at their parts and service counter, Doug the Parts & Service Manager was just finishing making arrangements by phone for me to pick up the correct hub cover at the Forest River ( Harvey's manufacturer ) factory in Elkhart, Indiana which is the next town over from Goshen where we're headed for the Escapees rally. Fine !

Drove next door to GNR Camping World to dump the holding tanks. Filled up with diesel fuel. Battled congested city traffic south on Hwy. 59, west on Bishop Grandin Blvd., then south on Pembina Hwy. to the Perimeter Hwy. Beyond the Perimeter Hwy / city limits it becomes Hwy. 75 to, of course, Pembina, North Dakota.

Halfway to the U.S. border, just past St. Jean Baptiste, Manitoba, I felt and heard a rear tire blow out on the truck. What a mess ! The inside rear tire on the passenger side self destructed. The outer tire looked very low. I thought that was just because it was supporting all the weight on that side. OK ! Disconnected the trailer. Removed the spare tire out from underneath the truck. Jacked up the truck. Removed the outer wheel and tire. Removed the inner wheel and remains of the tire. All that sounds a lot easier than it was. I checked the pressure on the outside tire. It was 24 PSI. HUH ? It was 55 PSI when we left this morning. I hooked up my teensy little 12V air compressor to re-inflate the outer tire. Installed the spare into the inner position. Checked how the little compressor was doing at re-inflating the outer tire, and discovered a slow leak in the valve extender. AHA ! So that's what happened. The outer tire lost pressure, and the inside tire took all the weight, overheated, and exploded ! These dually valve extenders have been nothing but a problem since I installed them shortly after buying the truck. I'm going to have to buy a different style of valve extenders. I removed the valve extender and started the little compressor again. While it was puffing away, I re-installed the outer wheel and tire. Joanne went inside the trailer to make lunch. I tightened everything up, lowered the jack, put everything away, and kept checking the outside tire pressure. It takes a long time for this little 12V compressor to inflate a big tire to 55 PSI. Finally, everything was put away, and I was cleaned up, but the outside tire pressure was still only 50 PSI. I went inside the trailer to eat a quick sandwich. As I was eating my sandwich ... < sniff sniff > ... HUH ? The smell of smoke ? I peeked outside the trailer ... and ... and ... HOLY SHIT ! My little compressor was belching smoke and flames ! ! !

I ran out to the truck, unplugged the compressor's power cord from the lighter jack, disconnected the air hose from the tire valve, and kicked the burning little compressor into the ditch. After it stopped burning, I picked it up to examine it. Oh, look. Instructions. "Allow compressor to cool for 10 minutes after each 10 minutes of use. Never leave compressor unattended". Right. I'll have to remember that ! Letting it run for about an hour and half isn't a good idea. Letting it run while you go inside for lunch is even a worse idea.

I connected the trailer back onto the truck and we drove back a mile or two into St. Jean Baptiste, where I finished re-inflating the tire at a commercial trucking business. I just went inside and asked them if I could inflate a tire there.

It took 2 1/2 hours to deal with this problem, but it was satisfying to know that I have the tools, parts, skill, strength, etc. to be able to solve this kind of problem without having to phone for a tow truck. Guess I'll have to buy a new 12V compressor, though.

Finally, we arrived at the U.S. border at Pembina, North Dakota. The customs officer asked very odd questions, like "which one of you named the cat Toby ?", then he wanted to go inside the trailer to examine the fridge contents. No problem.

Manitoba Hwy. 75 became U.S. Interstate 29 when we crossed into North Dakota. We stopped at Grand Forks to feed the cats, replenish groceries, and fill up with diesel again. By the time we left Grand Forks, it was 7:30 P.M.. We continued south on I-29 to Fargo, where we stopped at 9:00 P.M. at Flying J to cook supper and call it a day. Flying J is a chain of "truck stop" service centres that are very RV friendly.

End of a longer than planned, tiring day.

DSK

September 1, 2004

September 1, 2004

DAY 76

 

 

Joanne went "shopping" with Sharon and Andrea this morning. I hauled our garbage and recycling to the Lorette dump, then went to Dawson Servicentre to see if the owner Vic had acquired a lug nut cover to replace the one that fell off my truck immediately after he did the safety inspection a couple of weeks ago. He had not. Guess I'll be leaving here tomorrow with a lug nut cover missing.

Drove into, and all the way across Winnipeg to Brookside Cemetery to visit my parents' grave and pay my respects. Ran a bunch of errands while back across the city, including washing the truck. It's been looking pretty bad from driving on the wet gravel roads around Lorette, although that much grime adds a certain cachet to a truck like Dee-Dee, n'est-ce pas ?

Phoned Transcona Trailer Sales to see if Doug the Service & Parts Manager had acquired a trailer hub cover to replace the one that melted off the over heated hub immediately after they worked on the trailer brakes. He had not. Guess I'll be leaving here tomorrow with a trailer hub cover missing !

We went with the Danelaks to Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. On the way home, we drove through our old neighbourhood one more time before we leave tomorrow. After returning to the Danelak's, we sat in the screened sun room off Sharon's and Bud's bedroom, visiting for a short time. We didn't stay long, as I was tired. Must have gone to bed too late last night.

It's been pleasant being around family this summer for the first time in 17 years, but all good things must come to an end. We leave tomorrow ! WOO-HOO !

DSK

August 31, 2004

August 31, 2004

DAY 75

 

 

It's very late, after 1:00 A.M., I'm tired, so this may be a short entry for a long day.

Around noon we left for our afternoon movie date with Joanne's sister and little nieces. I dropped Joanne off at the movie theatre to buy tickets while I drove to Carlson's to drop off supper. Joanne had made quiche and cookies, to use up the eggs we had in the fridge. We'll be crossing the U.S. border in 2 days, and our fridge and freezer need to be empty. When I got to Carlson's, there was a change of plans. Amelia had injured her eye last night, and needed to see a doctor. Lorraine had an appointment for her that conflicted with our movie time, so I loaded Madeleine's car seat into Dee-Dee, so I could take Madeleine to the movie, while Lorraine went with Amelia to the doctor. Lorraine phoned Joanne to sell 2 of the tickets < sigh >. Just as I was going to leave with Madeleine, Joanne phoned back to advise that she had exchanged all the tickets for a later showing of the movie. Fine ... out came Madeleine's car seat from the truck < another sigh >. I drove back to the theatre, and picked Joanne up. We went to run some errands for a couple of hours to kill time until the later showing of the movie. Lorraine phoned after Amelia's doctor's appointment, and we met her at the mall with the movie theatre where we went to the pet store to see the animals until the movie time. That was a lot of fun. As we walked from the pet store to the theatre, Lorraine and I took Amelia back to their van to put in some eye drops the doctor gave her. Suffice to say that was not a lot of fun !

The movie we saw was Shrek 2. Now that was a lot of fun. Best movie I've seen in 20 years. However, that might not count for much. I've probably seen less than a dozen movies in the last 20 years.

After Shrek 2, we went back to the Carlson's for our farewell dinner. BUT ... before dinner, I got to assist Doug with more eye drops for Amelia. Oh, boy ... how can she ever forget Uncle Dan now ? The uncle who hurts her eye while Mommy or Daddy holds her. Sorry, Amelia.

After dinner, we watched Amazing Race, then chatted until our laundry was finished. Joanne had taken a couple of loads of laundry over to do while we were there. I showed Doug and Lorri the YMCA Of The Ozarks web site, to show them where we'll be Workamping this fall in Missouri.

Back at the trailer, I prepared my "mail management system" to give to Sharon tomorrow. I'm going to burden her with managing our incoming mail. I'm not yet certain of what is the best way to deal with managing our mail. Guess we'll figure it out as we go along.

DSK

P.S. ; As I was getting ready for bed, I decided to get a bed time snack for both me and the "boys". Poured myself a glass of milk, then spilled the entire bag of dry cat food all over the floor < final sigh of the day >.

August 30, 2004

August 30, 2004

DAY 74

 

 

I don’t understand how an unemployed, homeless guy like me can have so much work to do.

Last night, the door latch assembly broke as I was opening the door from the outside. Good thing Joanne was inside the trailer, because the door could not be opened from the outside. I removed the latch assembly, and this morning set out to shop for another one. I bought it at RV Canada One on Lagimodiere Blvd. at Marion Street. There are three RV dealers in close proximity to one another, and RV Canada One is the only one I haven’t dealt with yet. Too bad. Their parts department is larger and better stocked than the other two, and they are the only one of the three to offer a discount to Explorer RV Club members. From there it was on to Canadian Tire to buy the double sided adhesive foam tape I needed to stick the water heater control module back onto the tank. It fell off yesterday. < SIGH >

I replaced the door latch assembly, then worked on repairing the damage caused yesterday to the lawn beside the driveway. I fixed it a little, but it still looks pretty gruesome. Now I can rest peacefully. I’ve finally fulfilled all my goals. I’ve become the brother-in-law who not only parks his massively huge RV on your driveway all summer, drinks your beer, but also ruins your driveway and lawn in the process < another SIGH >.

Faxed some documents to my insurance broker in Ottawa. Fixed the hot water tank control module. The bathroom grey water tank was full after Joanne’s shower this morning, so next I drained the shower grey water ... onto the driveway, of course ! Hey, Bud ... give me another beer ! Went into the house to print some documents I needed and go online to check e-mail and update my blog entries. Packed away the printer and fax machine, as I’m finished using them for awhile, I hope.

Sharon invited us into the house for a dinner feast of freshly home made, authentic Ukrainian perogies. They were great ! That's probably my last perogy meal for at least a year. I've eaten more perogies in the last 6 weeks than in the prior 20 years. I can feel my body getting thicker and my neck getting shorter even as I type.

After supper, I checked out some southern U.S. RV parks online, and the fall activity calendar of YMCA Of The Ozarks / Trout Lodge / Camp Lakewood , where we have a Workamper job starting inlate October. Then I cuddled on the sofa in the trailer with Toby until we both were almost asleep. Must be this cold rainy weather. My energy level on cold rainy days is a fraction of what it is on sunny warm days.

DSK