September 28, 2005

September 28, 2005

Creston, B.C.

YEAR 2 DAY 103

 

Today was sunny and warm. It was such a lovely day we decided to stay here and get caught up on some housekeeping and maintenance, taking advantage of the nice weather. It was a t-shirt weather day.

This morning after regular morning routines I phoned an RV service business in Chilliwack to discuss replacing the trailer's carpeting with vinyl flooring. They seem to have experience and expertise in that kind of work. We'll go there early next week to discuss it further. Then I phoned the Canadian Tire across the street from them, to order the blower motor I need. There was some difficulty getting them to order the part for me as they require pre-payment of special ordered parts, but I explained that we were travellers, and couldn't just run down to their store and pre-pay. Eventually I convinced them to order it for me. Yesterday while we were washing the trailer, one of the hub covers broke off. The little plastic mounting ring had melted from brake heat. That had happened once before, so I keep a spare hub cover, and installed it today. That meant digging the jack out from its storage place under the back seat of the truck, jacking up the trailer, removing a wheel and tire, installing the hub cover, re-installing the wheel and tire, lowering the trailer, and putting the jack back into its difficult to access storage area. Lots of work for a little job ! I did some minor maintenance inside the trailer. I tightened a lot of loose screws on the dinette chairs. I guess vibration from travelling eventually causes the screws to loosen. I tightened the screws in the birch bark biting mounted to the dinette window sill. I removed, repaired, and reinstalled a valance over one of the dinette windows. We took Bo for an obedience training walk, then a tennis ball play session.

We had lunch. Since we had Wi-Fi here we looked at some local real estate on the Internet. I took a nap. We worked on cleaning the lower sections of the trailer with bug and tar remover. We trimmed the hair on Bo's face. We couldn't see his eyes any more. I printed the investment updates I downloaded yesterday. I did today's accounting and started today's journal entry. Joanne did some laundry, and vacuuming. I worked on updating and analyzing the investment files. Oh, my ... the stock market hasn't done very well in the last few weeks, has it ?

We barbecued supper, then watched The Apprentice : Martha Stewart.

DSK

September 27, 2005

September 27, 2005

Kimberley To Creston, B.C.

YEAR 2 DAY 102

 

Today was sunny and warm.

This morning after showering, breakfast, morning chores, and preventive maintenance I went to the campground office and paid for last night. The office was closed when we came in yesterday. We spent the rest of the morning washing the trailer and truck. They're always so grimy. We seem to always have the dirtiest rig in the campground. When we finished, we changed into clean, dry clothes, prepared for departure, then took Bo for an obedience walk. I had forgotten that quite some time ago I had decided that it makes more sense to train him earlier in the day, rather than later, as we usually do. We drove over to the dump station and dumped the holding tanks. We went into the nearby washroom building to wash our hands afterwards. Joanne recruited me into the women's side, to fish out the chipmunk which had drowned in one of the toilets. It made me want to shout "I told you so" to all those irritating campers at West Hawk Lake this summer who persisted in leaving the exterior doors to the bathroom buildings open. There's a reason why buildings have doors, even in campgrounds !

We pulled out of the campground, and almost immediately stopped at the local GM dealer. I wanted to have the air conditioner / heater fan blower motor replaced, if they could do it immediately. The service department could do it immediately, but the parts department didn't have the part. The GM price is $130. They phoned the GM dealer in Cranbrook who also didn't have the part in stock. They phoned Bumper To Bumper in Cranbrook, who did have the part in stock. I figured I'd buy the part and have it installed later. We drove south on Hwy. 95A to Cranbrook. Just before the Bumper To Bumper was a Canadian Tire. I went in to see if they had the part I needed. They were out of stock. The Canadian Tire price was $90. We drove over to Bumper To Bumper and I went in to get the part. Their price was $106. I didn't buy it. I'll order it from a Canadian Tire where we'll be in a week or so. I'll figure out where tomorrow.

We headed out of Cranbrook southwest on Hwy. 3 / 95. We were looking for a place to stop for lunch when we saw a sign on an RV park advertising lots for lease. We pulled in and Joanne prepared lunch while I got some information and a tour of the park. We had lunch, then continued on Hwy. 3 / 95 until it splitat Yahk. We turned west on Hwy. 3, heading for Creston. Just before Creston we stopped at a roadside fruit and produce stand to buy some fresh Okanagan harvest. Potatoes, grapes, plums, corn, and some odd vegetables that Joanne picked up while I wasn't looking. We stopped for tonight at Pair-A-Dice RV Park. We were here in the spring. We wanted to be here tonight for 2 reasons. They have Wi-Fi, and cable TV, so I can pay my MasterCard bill online, and we can watch the season premiere of Amazing Race. We got set up in our campsite, and I changed the time on all the clocks and watches. Earlier today we crossed into the Pacific time zone. Too bad I can't reset the time on Teddy's internal meal time clock. I began to work on the computer while Joanne went off to do some laundry. Then while she did some vacuuming in the trailer, I went outside and repaired the broken clasp on her purse. I did today's accounting, then went online on Wi-Fi, paid the MasterCard bill, sent and retrieved e-mail, and updated my blog.

For supper I cooked the last of the pickerel that I caught at Star Lake in June. We spent the rest of the evening watching the season premiere of Amazing Race, then the news.

DSK

September 26, 2005

September 26, 2005

Radium Hot Springs to Kimberley, B.C.

YEAR 2 DAY 101

 

Today was sunny and warm, except for the morning and evening which were a bit chilly.

This afternoon the truck's heater / air conditioner fan motor stopped working on 3 of its 4 speeds. Now it can be "off" or "high". I'm frustrated with what a piece of crap that truck seems to be much of the time. I'm frustrated that rarely is there a day that nothing needs to be repaired on the truck or trailer.

This morning after showering, breakfast, and morning chores, I made a few phone calls. First was to the service manager, and his boss, the dealership owner of Finley GMC in South Beloit, Illinois. What an ******* ! I phoned Autopac to cancel the insurance claim on the broken windshield. Then I phoned Competition Chev Olds in Stony Plain, Alberta, to advise them that there was no further need to hold the old starter for me. We prepared for departure, hitched up, and left the campground. We skipped dumping the tanks. The freshwater tank was still full. The black water and bathroom grey water tanks were almost empty. The kitchen grey water tank was less than half full. We decided it wasn't worth the time and effort to dump just one tank. We headed south on Hwy. 93 / 95. Joanne had read about, and wanted to go to Lussier River Hot Springs. Just past the town of Canal Flats we turned off the highway for Lussier River Hot Springs. It was 17.5 km. of a narrow, winding, gravel road up a mountain. Tough drive, but worth it, I guess. Lussier River Hot Springs is a series of undeveloped, natural, hot spring pools beside a small, shallow mountain river. It reminded us somewhat of a hot springs river we had the privilege of visiting in Costa Rica a few years ago. We spent a couple of hours in the hot pools, then had a late lunch in the trailer before starting back down the mountain.

When the highway split into Hwy. 93 heading southeast, and Hwy. 95 heading southwest, we took Hwy. 95 to Cranbrook. We stopped at a mall, and while Joanne went into Wal-Mart to do some shopping, I took a brief nap. When she returned from Wal-Mart and went to the grocery store in the mall, I drove over to the gas bar and filled up with diesel. By the time Dee-Dee was filled, Joanne was back from the grocery store. We headed back on Hwy. 95A, northwest towards Kimberley. We stopped for the night at Kimberley Riverside Campground, near Marysville, a small town a few miles from Kimberley. The campground was previously privately owned, but now is operated by the municipality of Kimberley. It's a lovely, well developed, large campground. We're alone here.

We got settled into a campsite, then took Bo for an obedience training walk. The weather was so nice, I wanted to barbecue. While Joanne prepared potato salad I barbecued some beef sausages. After supper, we watched some TV, while I worked on the computer, downloading and processing photos, doing today’s accounting and journal entry.

DSK

September 25, 2005

September 25, 2005

Radium Hot Springs, B.C.

YEAR 2 DAY 100

 

Today was a nice day for this time of year, sunny, cool in the morning and evening, warm in the afternoon.

This morning after showering, breakfast, and preventive maintenance, I made phone calls to the 2 RV parks in this area that are selling lots. We wanted to visit both of them today. We headed into the village of Radium Hot Springs to run errands. North on Hwy. 93 / 95 about 7 km. to town. First stop was the Tourist Information Centre to pick up as much information as we could on the areas in B.C. we will be visiting over the next month or so, looking for RV co-op or strata parks. RV strata parks are like a condo concept, selling titled RV lots. Next stop was the Post Office to drop some mail. We headed out of Radium Hot Springs, north on Hwy. 95, 11 km. to the town of Edgewater to see the RV lots for sale at Valley's Edge Park. Underdeveloped park, overdeveloped prices ! Back towards Radium Hot Springs, to see RV lots at Lynx Ridge. There was no access into Lynx Ridge without an appointment, so we were unable to see their sites. We visited an adjacent Coast to Coast membership RV park, so we assume that Lynx Ridge would be similar. The Coast to Coast park was nice, but we are not interested in the membership camping concept of RV parks, which is somewhat like a time share concept for RV's. Back into Radium Hot Springs where we filled up with diesel, refilled a propane tank, and bought some groceries. On the way back to Mountain Shadows RV Resort we saw a Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep ram, and a group of some sort of deer, including a couple of small fawns. I think they were mule deer, but I'm uncertain.

Once back at the trailer, we had lunch, then I napped briefly. We drove back into, and through, the village of Radium Hot Springs, turning northwest on Hwy. 93 back into Kootenay National Park, and the actual Radium Hot Springs. We spent a couple of hours relaxing in the hot mineral springs pool. The spring water enters the pool at a temperature of 104° to 110° . I read the thermometer in the pool, and today the water was entering at 107° . In addition to the mineral content, the water is slightly radioactive, hence the name. Joanne did some meditation while in the pool. She thought that was very relaxing. I fell asleep. I thought that was very relaxing !

We returned to Mountain Shadows, walked Bo, took Teddy outside to look around and get some fresh air, fed the animals, prepared and ate supper. After supper, I worked on the computer while we watched a bit of TV. Multi-tasking !

DSK

September 24, 2005

September 24, 2005

Banff, Alberta to Radium Hot Springs, B.C.

YEAR 2 DAY 99

 

Today was sunny, cold in the morning, warm in the afternoon.

This morning after showering, breakfast, morning chores, and preventive maintenance, I did some minor maintenance on the bedroom closet door latches. We prepared for departure, hitched up, drove over to the trailer dump station, dumped the holding tanks, refilled the fresh water, and left Tunnel Mountain campground. We drove north on TCH 1, then turned west on Hwy. 93. We crossed the border from Banff National Park in Alberta into Kootenay National Park in B.C.. Our first stop was the Ochre Beds / Paint Pots area. This is an area where cold mineral springs bubble up out of the ground into "paint pots", then streams flow out of the paint pots forming "ochre beds". The heavy concentration of minerals in the spring water turns the pools, streams, and all surrounding land various shades of yellow and red. The surrounding red earth used to be used by natives to make face paints, and more recently, was mined to produce paint pigments. We hiked the mile or so from the parking area in to the Ochre Beds and Paint Pots, not realizing that we would be walking through yellow and red stained, wet mud. Our shoe soles were stained. Bo was stained. I bathed his feet, legs, tummy, chest, neck, and chin in an icy cold stream near the parking area when we returned. He wasn't pleased to be bathed in ice cold water. When we returned to the truck, Joanne noticed something hanging down underneath the engine. I pulled it out, to discover that it was a piece of rubber moulding from underneath the hood, near the windshield. It had been improperly re-installed yesterday when the windshield was replaced. It sure is hard to find good help ! ! ! The moulding had a short section that was severely damaged from dragging underneath the truck, but since it seemed like a non-vital piece of the truck, I simply re-installed it as is. I guess it's supposed to seal the back of the hood, to keep rain out of the engine compartment, or reduce noise, or maybe just to cushion the hood when it's slammed shut.

We stopped for lunch at Olive Lake. After lunch we took a very short hike to see the lake, the brook trout visible in the crystal water, and the underground spring that bubbles up, feeding the lake. We stopped for the night at Mountain Shadows RV Resort in Radium Hot Springs. By thetime we arrived in late afternoon, the weather was lovely. We unhitched and set up, then walked around the campground a bit. Joanne went to do laundry while I downloaded and processed photos. I started today's journal entry before going outside to remove a propane tank for refilling, emptying my spare can of diesel into the truck so I can refill it with fresh diesel, and cleaning the ochre mud stains off my shoes. Cleaning them wasn't enough. I had to apply shoe dye.

Joanne was reading a local tourism magazine while doing laundry. She discovered 2 local RV parks selling titled lots. We'll check them out tomorrow in conjunction with going to soak in the hot springs. The laundry room had a high speed Internet connection at a reasonable fee, so I went online, retrieved e-mail, did some banking / bill paying, downloaded updated investment data, and updated my blog. There was also a paperback exchange bin in the laundry room, so I picked out 3 books that interested me, then went back to the trailer to get 3 books that I've already read to exchange. We both returned to the trailer to discover that Bo had eaten my pencil eraser. Stupid, bad dog !

I started a campfire, to have a wiener roast for supper. The spruce I picked up in Jasper National Park burns a lot better than the poplar I picked up at West Hawk Lake. Joanne was supposed to be inside preparing the rest of supper, and baking dessert while I got the campfire going, but I just went inside the trailer and she's on the phone to her sister. So I brought the laptop outside to the picnic table and am working on this beside the campfire. It’s a lovely evening, clear sky, sun setting, no wind, getting cool. After supper, we spent the rest of the evening sitting around the campfire, Bo on my lap, Teddy on Joanne's. It was a cold night.

DSK

September 23, 2005

September 23, 2005

Banff & Canmore, Alberta

YEAR 2 DAY 98

 

Today was sunny and cool in the morning, warming in the afternoon. All the snow melted.

This morning after showering and breakfast I headed off to have the windshield on the truck replaced. South on TCH 1 to Canmore, 17 kms. away. I found Rocky Mountain Auto Glass. I waited around for a couple of hours while the windshield was being replaced. While waiting I got a phone call from my investment broker's assistant, with details of my latest investment transaction. I have to sell investments every time we need money, every couple of weeks or so. At lunch time, I accepted an offer from the owner of the shop to be driven downtown for a few hours while the glue on the windshield dried sufficiently. He drove me into downtown Canmore and dropped me off at the public library. Joanne had prepared me a lunch to bring along today. I ate my lunch in the library while reading a newspaper. I received 2 phone calls from GM Canada to further discuss the replacement of the truck's starter last Friday in Stony Plain. Their position is unalterable. There will be no reimbursement from GM Canada. I'm extremely dissatisfied with their position. I vow that my next vehicle purchase will be a Ford truck. I got online on the library's computer and checked e-mail. The shop owner picked me up and returned me to his shop. I drove back to Banff, and took a nap.

After napping, I did some work on the computer, including today's accounting, and began today's journal entry. I took Bo for an obedience training session, concentrating on the heel command. He did very well. He and we realized the value in good heeling when we were walking in crowds at Lake Louise and Athabasca Falls. Since the late afternoon sun was shining on the side of the trailer, I applied new weather stripping to the exterior door frame of the trailer. I had been waiting for warmer weather to complete this job. I got out the printer and printed my letter to GM U.S. and my MasterCard statement. I prepared the letter and documentation to send to GM U.S.. I reconciled the MasterCard statement. We had supper, then watched a bit of TV.

DSK

September 22, 2005

September 22, 2005

Lake Louise to Banff, Alberta

YEAR 2 DAY 97

 

It snowed heavily over night, and was snowing heavily this morning. During the afternoon, the snow changed to rain, and back to snow in the evening.

Bo has an understanding about where it is and where it is not acceptable to go to the bathroom. He was baffled by the snow covering the ground this morning. Is it a carpet, like indoors ? He finally decided it was okay to urinate on the snow, but not defecate. Poor Alabama Bo. Had to wait until later in the day when the snow partially melted, and he could find grass to have a dump.

The heavy snow falling, and snow on the ground this morning really slowed down our departure. We had breakfast, showered, and did morning chores. Doing preventive maintenance, then hitching up, driving to the dump station, refilling fresh water, and dumping the holding tanks, took much longer this morning. It was almost noon by the time we pulled out of Lake Louise campground. We drove south on TCH 1 from Lake Louise to Banff in whiteout snow blizzard conditions. On the way there was a semi trailer that had tipped over and slid off the highway and partially into the Bow River. The conditions were pretty treacherous. Fortunately it's not far from Lake Louise to Banff, but what would normally be about a 40 minute drive took us an hour and a half.

We got set up in Banff's Tunnel Mountain campground and had a late lunch. I took a nap, which ended when GM Canada phoned me to reiterate their position of last Friday, which was "not our problem". Not good enough ! Escalate it ... or provide me the phone number of the President & C.E.O. Of GM Canada ! I unhitched the truck from the trailer, and we went into town to sightsee and do some laundry. We got some laundry started at the laundromat up on Tunnel Mountain, then drove down into town. Interestingly, the laundromat near the campground on Tunnel Mountain is in a little strip mall attached to the resort we stayed at many years ago when we came to Banff with my friend Sep, who was living in Alberta at the time. We picked up some information at the Information Centre, then drove up to see the Banff Springs Hotel. Joanne wanted to see it again, as we had honeymooned there. From there we drove over to see Bow Falls, then back into town to shop for groceries at Safeway. From there we went back to the laundromat to finish up the laundry, then back up Tunnel Mountain to the campground. Gee, it was raining in town, but it was snowing up the mountain in the campground. All in all, it was a rather unpleasant day to be out doing anything.

I worked on today's accounting, and journal entry, while Joanne put away groceries and prepared supper. After supper, when I walked Bo, it was really spooky outside. Thick fog, the sounds of elk calling in the forest, headlights coming up the mountain, partially visible in the distance through the trees and fog. We watched some TV, while I worked on downloading, processing, and labelling the photos I took over the last few days.

DSK

September 21, 2005

September 21, 2005

Lake Louise, Alberta to Golden, B.C. & return

YEAR 2 DAY 96

 

Today was sunny and cold. Very cold at the top of Kicking Horse Mountain.

Yesterday in a local regional newspaper I found an ad for a September windshield sale at Rocky Mountain Auto Glass in Canmore, Alberta, about half an hour south of Banff, where we're headed tomorrow. I phoned them this morning, got a quote, and made an appointment to have the windshield on the truck replaced Friday morning. I figured I might as well have the windshield replaced at a sale price, in a province with no provincial sales tax. The cost of the windshield is less than my insurance deductible, so it will be at my expense. I’ll have to phone Autopac to cancel the insurance claim.

After breakfast, showering, and morning chores we headed west on Trans Canada Hwy. 1 across the provincial border into B.C., through Yoho National Park and Field, B.C. to the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort near Golden B.C. At Golden we followed the Kicking Horse Mountain Road for 13 km. up to the resort. After paying for our day package we headed up the chair lift to the mountain's mid-station where the Grizzly Bear refuge is located. I had to teach Joanne the proper and safe way to get on and off a chair lift. She had never been on a chair lift before. Nothing worse than doing a face plant getting off a moving chair lift, especially while wearing skis. Been there, done that ! I had to laugh at her comment as we rode the chair lift up the mountain. “WOW ... my sister would never do this !” The Grizzly Bear refuge is a 22 acre fenced section of the mountain side, housing Boo, the 3 year old Grizzly. Boo came into the refuge as a 12 pound cub with his brother Cari. Cari died during hibernation last winter due to a twisted intestine, so Boo is the only resident of this refuge. This refuge is affiliated with the Grouse Mountain Grizzly Bear refuge just outside Vancouver. That one houses 2 Grizzlies in only 5 acres. We observed Boo having his afternoon nap, while a biologist delivered a very interesting and informative one hour lecture on their refuge, Boo, and Grizzlies in general. After the tour and lecture, we took the chair lift back down to the base of the mountain, then got on the gondola for the ride to the top of the mountain, and the Eagle's Eye restaurant. The scenery up the mountain, and at the top, was astounding ! We had a fairly nice lunch in the restaurant, which seemed to care more about the presentation that the food itself. Very nouveau ! But for me, eating is about the food, not how it looks. Call me old fashioned. I had barbecued buffalo ribs. The restaurant bills itself as Canada's highest restaurant at an elevation of 7700 feet. After lunch we went out on the restaurant's wrap around deck to look around and take photos. We took the gondola back down, and went over to the resort's sales office to pick up some information on the purchase of resort accommodations as an investment, perhaps even as a summer home for us.

We drove down the mountain to the town of Golden, where we bought a bit of groceries, and filled up with diesel. We headed out of Golden east on TCH 1 back through Yoho National Park. We stopped to see the Natural Bridge on the Kicking Horse River. The water over a waterfall has eroded the rocks underneath until the water now flows under a rock formation forming a natural bridge over the waterfall. We took a 13 km. side trip to see Takakkaw Falls. The switchbacks on the Takakkaw Falls road were so tight, that Dee-Dee could not make it around. I had to turn 90° , back up 45° , then go forward turning the last 45° to complete the 180° switchbacks. The truck is too long, and the turning radius isn't tight enough. Next stop was the railway's spiral tunnels through the mountain. We were fortunate enough to be at the spiral tunnel observation point just as a train came along. We watched the front of the train enter the tunnel, then exit another tunnel higher up the mountain even before the rear of the train was in the lower tunnel. Finally, we got back to Lake Louise. It was a long, tiring, but exhilarating day. Supper for the animals was about 2 hours late. Teddy hates having his meals late. We fed the animals, then ourselves. We watched a bit of TV, while Joanne washed dishes and I worked on today’s accounting and journal entry.

DSK

September 20, 2005

September 20, 2005

Lake Louise, Alberta

YEAR 2 DAY 95

 

Today was partially sunny, cold, with brief heavy snow in the afternoon.

This morning we slept a little later than we do on days when we're travelling. I made some phone calls, to my investment broker in Ottawa, to the Service Manager of Finley GMC in South Beloit, Illinois, and to Autopac to make a claim for a new windshield. Actually, I was calling Autopac to get some information on how to file a claim for a damaged windshield, while travelling out of the Province of Manitoba. Before I finished getting my questions asked and answered, a claim file had been opened. Fine ! I'll probably replace the windshield when we get to Vancouver a couple of weeks from now. I phoned the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, B.C., about a 2 hour drive from here, to make reservations for lunch tomorrow in Canada's highest restaurant. We're going to take a day trip tomorrow through Yoho National Park, and to the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort to tour the Grizzly Bear refuge, then take a gondola ride up Kicking Horse Mountain to their restaurant for a late lunch. Then I phoned SunKatchers RV Co-op in Keremeos, B.C. to arrange for us to visit there in a week or so. We drove over to the shower building, had showers, then returned to the trailer for lunch. The National Park campgrounds don't have water and sewer services at each campsite, so we're using our fresh water, and filling our waste holding tanks, as little as possible, so we don't use up our water, or fill our holding tanks, in the 3 days we will be here.

After lunch we drove over to Lake Louise Village. First stop was the Visitor Information Centre to ask questions and get directions. Next stop was the Post Office to buy stamps, post some mail, and do some photocopying. It was in the same small mall as the Visitor Information Centre. Then it was over to the grocery store in the same small mall. Pretty convenient one stop shopping. We realized that the village of Lake Louise is the one small mall, and 2 adjacent service stations. That's it ! We paid the most outrageously inflated price we have encountered so far in our travels. A gallon of drinking water, that is 78 or 79 cents in the big cities, was $3.99 here ! There was nowhere to get online, so I'll probably do it tonight in the trailer, through the cell phone. That's a slow, expensive way to do it, but sometimes there's no better choice.

We drove back to the trailer to put away the groceries, then to the campground office to pay for tomorrow night in this campground. Yesterday when we arrived we paid for 2 nights, and have decided to stay for three. We drove up the mountain to Lake Louise. WOW ! What a classic Canadian scene. We were a bit surprised by how many people were there, given the time of the year. Today was the second time that Bo got obedience "worked" while walking in crowds of people. He did very well, heeling close. Same thing a couple of days ago in crowds at Athabasca Falls. Good dog, Bo ! We drove down from Lake Louise, then up the Valley Of Ten Peaks to Moraine Lake. Beautiful ! As we began to drive down from Moraine Lake, it began to snow heavily. Good timing. We returned to the campground in slow falling, huge fluffy snow flakes. Very Christmas like ! Too bad it's more than 3 months until Christmas. It snowed heavily, but only for half an hour or so. We had a snack, and I took a brief nap. I downloaded, processed and labelled today's photos. I did today's accounting, then began work on today's journal.

I was just outside ( 8:00 P.M. ) and the sky has cleared. The temperature will be below freezing tonight. I'll turn on the trailer's "Artic (sic) Pack", which heats the fresh water and waste holding tanks, and plumbing lines.

DSK

September 19, 2005

September 19, 2005

Jasper to Lake Louise, Alberta

YEAR 2 DAY 94

 

Today was cloudy, cold, and raining. Snowing at the higher elevations.

I was sick today. I made an unwise choice for a bed time snack last night, and suffered today as a consequence.

Bo was unhappy about going out in the rain for his bathroom walk this morning. As soon as he stepped out of the trailer into the heavy rain, he urinated quickly, and wanted to go back into the trailer. After showering and breakfast, we hitched up and prepared to leave. We drove over to the dump station, dumped the holding tanks, refilled the fresh water, and headed out, south on Hwy. 93 / The Icefields Parkway.

As we pulled out of the campground, a bull elk was grazing at the side of the road. It was raining. As the elevation climbed, the heavy rain became a snow blizzard. We stopped at the Columbia Icefields Interpretive Centre to have lunch and wait out the blizzard. The trailer had a thick coating of snow and ice on the front. Poor Harvey. I had promised him after he sat on our driveway covered in snow the winter before we began our travel adventure that he wouldn't ever have to be covered in snow again. While Joanne went into the Interpretive Centre for information, then made lunch, I took a brief nap in the trailer. By the time we were finished lunch, the blizzard was over. We continued south on The Icefields Parkway. There was a thin layer of fresh snow on the side of the road and in the forest. The evergreen trees were dusted with snow. It looked like a Christmas card scene. "Christmas" trees with a light dusting of snow, mountains in the background. Very lovely.

We stopped at the summit of Bow Pass ( elev. 6875' ) to get out and romp in the snow. Bo had seen snow in the mountains last spring, but it was old, dirty, hard packed snow. He had never seen soft, fresh snow. He was stunned at first, then excited to romp and play in it. When we resumed driving, the snow all over his fur melted, making him soaking wet. He seemed puzzled about how he got so wet. HA HA HA ! Poor little Alabama mutt.

We stopped for tonight at Lake Louise campground. It was raining again, and cold, when we arrived. We haven't seen much of anything here yet. I was sick, and it was too cold to do anything but stay in the trailer, hiding from the rain and cold, drinking tea. I did today's accounting, and journal entry. I have many photos from the last few days to download from the camera into the laptop, and process. I think I'll spend the evening doing that.

DSK

September 18, 2005

September 18, 2005

Jasper National Park, Alberta

YEAR 2 DAY 93

 

Today was mostly sunny, cold in the morning and evening, pleasant in the afternoon.

This morning we drove over to the shower building and had showers, then went to the registration building to register and pay for another night, preferably in an electrically serviced site. No electrical sites were available yesterday, so we were in an unserviced site. Running the propane furnace all night ran down the trailer battery. Electrical sites were available for tonight. We returned to the trailer, prepared for departure, hitched up, drove over to our new campsite, unhitched and set up again. Joanne prepared a picnic lunch while I did preventive maintenance.

Yikes ! The cracks from the stone chip on the windshield are rapidly spreading across the windshield. The cracks now extend about a foot in each direction out from the stone chip.

First we drove up Mount Edith Cavell. The last 30 km. / 18 mi. was a poorly maintained, narrow, tight switch back road up the mountain. It was worth it. We got to the parking lot, and ate our picnic lunch before setting out on a hike to the foot of Cavell Glacier. The hike was a difficult, up hill climb for 1.6 km. / 1 mile. The reward was Cavell Pond, at the base of Cavell Glacier. The emerald green small lake was filled with icebergs which have broken off the glacier. It was cold and windy up there. Bo was puzzled by icebergs along the shoreline, but was pleasantly surprised when he licked one. HEY ... cold and refreshing after a tough hike.

We drove down Mount Edith Cavell, and over to Athabasca Falls. Quite spectacular, although a little congested with the 5 bus loads of seniors that arrived a few minutes before us. These National Park attractions must be a zoo during the peak summer months. From Athabasca Falls we drove back to Jasper town site, then up to see Lake Edith, Lake Annette, and finally, Jasper Park Lodge. Back down to Jasper town site to fill up with diesel, then back to Whistlers Campground. Whew ... we were all tired. Except for Teddy, who was in the trailer anxiously awaiting his supper. We fed the animals, and while Joanne prepared our supper, I worked on a letter to GM, and did today's accounting. We had supper, and as we were finishing, our friend Erbon Dickinson phoned. He and Lorraine are in Nebraska, heading home to Ottawa. I told him about the Class B van conversion we saw on a dealer's lot in Saskatoon that we thought he and Lorraine might be interested in. He is interested, and will discuss it with Lorraine, to see if they should drive up to Saskatoon to take a look at it. While Joanne washed dishes, I worked on today's journal entry. Maybe we’ll write some post cards before going to bed tonight.

DSK

September 17, 2005

September 17, 2005

Folding Mountain to Jasper National Park, Alberta

YEAR 2 DAY 92

 

Today was sunny, cold in the morning and evening, warm in the afternoon.

This morning we pulled out of our campsite and over to the campground's trailer dump station to empty our holding tanks. There I discovered that the kitchen grey water tank valve handle had broken off, probably yesterday, probably smashed off by a rock thrown up by the tire. We back tracked 25 km. / 15 mi. east on Yellowhead Hwy. 16 to Hinton. I went into the only RV dealer in town, and bought a replacement valve handle. There was a Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire side by side across the street, so we figured we might as well pick up a few things on our shopping lists. Joanne went into Wal-Mart for some cold medication for both of us, and I went into Canadian Tire for a wrench and some weather stripping.

Back on Yellowhead Hwy. 16, heading west into Jasper National Park. The glacier fed lakes and streams are emerald green. The aspen and poplar are all turning golden yellow, and stand out vividly in the evergreen conifer forests on the mountain sides. There is snow and glaciers on the mountains above the tree line. Shortly after entering the National Park, there were four Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep in the middle of the road. I slowed down, and finally had to come to a complete stop. Four rams, three smaller, young ones, and a huge, old ram with massive horns. In a minute or two, after traffic in both directions had stopped, a huge herd of ewes and lambs came scrambling down the vertical cliff face on the side of the road, crossed the road, and began to drink in the river. Only when all the ewes and lambs, and the three younger rams, were at the river, did the large ram saunter off the road. WOW ... he sure does know how to be an effective crossing guard. It was quite a sight to see all the ewes and lambs come scrambling down a vertical cliff face. A short distance later we saw more Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep, and then ... a large bull elk, with a massive rack.

We drove through Jasper town site, then into Whistlers Campground just beyond the town. We got set up in a campsite, and had lunch. I napped after lunch. I spent most of the rest of the afternoon working on installing the new kitchen grey water holding tank valve handle, a difficult job in a tight space. Joanne worked on removing the old weather stripping from around the inside of the exterior door frame.

OOOPS ! Joanne just reminded me that it’s 9:00 P.M., it’s dark, the barbecue is still sitting on the picnic table beside the trailer, and we’re in a park with Grizzlies. I have to go outside, clean the barbecue, and put it away.

After we finished our maintenance jobs, we unhitched the truck from the trailer and drove back into Jasper to get some information at the Visitor Centre. We walked around town for awhile. We stopped in to take a look at the town’s laundromat. These National Park town site laundromats look like very viable businesses. We bought some postcards in a Native arts and crafts store. We filled up with diesel, then drove around the town sightseeing. We drove out of town and up to Patricia and Pyramid Lakes. Lovely mountain lakes. A wedding party was having their photos taken at Patricia Lake. On the way back down the mountain, we came across a herd of elk. One massive racked bull, with his harem of cows. We stopped to take pictures. The campground registration office had warned us that it is rutting season, and the bulls are dangerous. Just before we got back to the campground, we came across another bull, grazing on the side of the road. Again we stopped and took pictures. Once back in the campground we decided to stop at the shower building in the tenting section of the campground and check it out. It’s too far from our campsite to walk. HOLY MOLY ! All around the shower building, and adjacent tent campsites, was another herd of elk. Again, one bull, and his harem of cows. I was able to walk to within about 20 feet of a cow to take a picture, looking over my shoulder to make sure the bull a couple of hundred feet away didn’t get concerned. They graze in the campsites, amongst tents, unconcerned about all the campers watching them.

We returned to the trailer, fed Teddy and Bo, who were starving because their supper was now an hour and a half late < rolling eyes >. We prepared a late supper of perogies from Saskatoon, and barbecued turkey sausage. I did the accounting and today’s journal entry. Joanne washed dishes, and read park information brochures, planning our next few days.

DSK

September 16, 2005

September 16, 2005

Stony Plain to Folding Mountain, Alberta

YEAR 2 DAY 91

 

Today started out cloudy and cold, but became sunny and warm by afternoon.

This morning after showering, breakfast, morning chores, and preventive maintenance, I took the truck to Competition Chevrolet, the GM dealer near the campground. I discovered to my great dismay that the starter installed last September in South Beloit, Illinois has a lifetime parts warranty only in the U.S.! In Canada the warranty is 12 months. The starter was replaced 12 months and 9 days ago. They were going to phone their area GM dealer's representative, and see if something could be done. I walked back to the campground. At noon they called to say the truck was ready, and that they had spoken to the area GM dealer's rep in Edmonton, and the regional GM dealer's rep in Calgary, both of whom declined to honour the parts warranty. I was livid, not with the local GM dealer, but with GM. I walked back to the dealer, paid the $700 repair bill, and returned to the campground. I then spent over 2 hours making many phone calls back and forth between GM Canada, GM in the U.S., and the GM dealer in Illinois. What a lot of buck passing. It took an immense amount of persistence, and assertiveness, to finally get a manager in the LSG ( Lifetime Service Guarantee ) division of GM in the U.S. to very reluctantly agree to reimburse me for the cost of the part, but not the labour. And that reluctant agreement of his was predicated on GM being able to issue me a reimbursement cheque in U.S. dollars, mailed to a U.S. address. They "are unable" to phone a Canadian phone number, issue a refund in Canadian dollars ( fair enough ! ) or mail to a Canadian address ! ! ! I provided them an address of General Delivery, Chimacum, Washington, where we will be in early November. Now all I have to do is write them a letter, and enclose the invoice from the work done today, the work done a year ago in Illinois, proof of ownership of the truck, and proof of payment by credit card of today's invoice. Fine ! But I'm not finished with GM Canada yet ! ! ! Nor am I finished with the GM dealer in Illinois !

By the time we had lunch, and prepared for departure, it was 3:00 P.M.. I drove back to the GM dealer to pick up a copy of today's invoice, we refilled a propane tank, then bought some groceries at Safeway. By the time we were leaving Stony Plain it was 4:00 P.M..

We headed west on Yellowhead Hwy. 16. Between Stony Plain and Edson, as a truck passed us a large rock flew up and hit the windshield. It smashed the windshield producing a starburst stone chip about the size of a quarter, with cracks radiating out a couple of inches in all directions < sigh >. At Edson we stopped to fill with diesel, and adjust the air pressure in all six truck tires. The change in altitude, and temperature, made that necessary. We continued west on Yellowhead Hwy. 16, debating where we should stop for the night. We finally decided to stop at Folding Mountain RV Resort, west of Hinton, just outside the east gate of Jasper National Park.

We have just entered the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The leaves are changing colour. We are camped at the base of Folding Mountain, in a lovely, wooded campground, with atrocious power. The line voltage monitor in the trailer registers voltage below its lower limit, which is 100 volts. I've switched the fridge to propane, the water heater to propane, turned off the electric heater, turned on the propane furnace, and am running the laptop on battery. I've read a lot of RV magazine articles about campgrounds with low voltage or high voltage problems, and the horror stories of damaged fridge electronics, damaged computers, etc.. We've never encountered this sort of power problem in a campground before, but apparently it's common. Joanne is baking while I work on this journal entry. All that's left for me to do is today's accounting.

DSK

September 15, 2005

September 15, 2005

Camrose to Stony Plain, Alberta

YEAR 2 DAY 90

 

Today was cold, cloudy, and raining.

This morning we had breakfast with the Huggards, then visited with them until we departed at 11:00 A.M.. They gave us directions to take back roads around Edmonton. I returned a phone call to my investment broker’s assistant in Ottawa, and she gave me price details of a trade transaction I had requested a few days ago. We departed Camrose heading north on Hwy. 883, then west on Hwy. 617, then north on Hwy. 21, then west on Hwy. 623 to Leduc. From Leduc we took Hwy. 39 west to Drayton Valley. We stopped for a late lunch in Drayton Valley, and after lunch the truck refused to start. The starter has been intermittently refusing to engage for about 2 weeks now. This time it took a whack with a crowbar and hammer to get it to engage. Time to have it replaced ! I drove across the street from the park where we stopped for lunch, to a GM dealer. Their service department was fully booked for today and tomorrow. I had them phone the GM dealer in Edson. Same story. I had them phone the GM dealer in Hinton. Same story. I had them phone the GM dealer in Whitecourt. Same story. I had them phone the GM dealer in Stony Plain, a bedroom suburb on the west side of Edmonton. The Stony Plain dealer could schedule me for service tomorrow afternoon < big sigh >. We drove north from Drayton Valley on Hwy. 22 to Yellowhead Hwy. 16, then headed east on Yellowhead Hwy. 16 back tracking to Edmonton. We found the GM dealer in Stony Plain, and then found a nearby campground. We registered, dumped the holding tanks, and set up in our campsite. We discovered that a bag of garbage we had left in the front storage trunk of the trailer had leaked. What a mess. Joanne cleaned up that mess while I took care of other chores. I cleaned Teddy's ears. I administered spot on flea treatment to Teddy and Bo. I gave Bo his heartworm medication. I entered the investment trade information into my investment and banking files in the computer.

We had supper. I did today's accounting and started today's journal entry. Joanne did some baking, and we watched a documentary on the disaster in New Orleans.

DSK

September 14, 2005

September 14, 2005

Wainwright to Camrose, Alberta

YEAR 2 DAY 89

 

The weather today was very variable. The morning was cloudy, cool, and raining. The afternoon was sunny and windy. The evening was cloudy, cool, and raining lightly.

I woke up in the middle of the night feeling the symptoms of a head cold. This morning I started taking vitamin C, and cold medication. Hopefully I can keep the cold from getting too bad, and making me feel miserable. After showering, walking Bo, feeding Teddy and Bo, and having breakfast, I did some maintenance work. We were in no hurry to leave. We didn't have far to go to get to Camrose, and we didn't want to arrive there until the afternoon, so we wouldn't risk interrupting our friends', the Huggards, lunch. I installed the replacement bedroom closet door latch I purchased in Saskatoon. The replacement latch I bought did not have pre-drilled holes, so I had to dig out the drill and drill mounting holes in the latch. Then I replaced the bedroom shade hold down clip which I also purchased in Saskatoon. The pleated shade hold down clips are hard to find, so I bought some extras, as well as an extra closet door latch. We knew we would be "dry camping" on the street tonight so I drained the holding tanks, and refilled the fresh water tank. I did regular preventive maintenance, then we got the trailer ready for travel. We were going to take Bo for an obedience walk before we left, but it started to rain, so he got a reprieve.

We headed west out of Wainwright on Hwy. 14, then Hwy. 615, and finally Hwy. 26 across to Camrose. We found the Wal-Mart in Camrose, and pulled in to their parking lot. It was a huge suburban mall with many stores. While I took a nap, Joanne went shopping to Wal-Mart for supplies, to Staples for some fax paper, and to Safeway for some groceries. After my nap, and her shopping, we had lunch. We phoned the Huggards to tell them we were in Camrose. Ruth Anne and Tom drove to Wal-Mart, and guided us to their son's place, where they now "live". They are now using their son's address, and have their fifth wheel parked in the back beside the garage. We parked out front on the street overnight. We spent the afternoon visiting with them in their trailer. Bo came with us into their trailer for a few minutes, but after checking out their trailer, and their Scottish Terrier, Angus, he decided to lift his leg and mark territory in their trailer. BAD DOG ! I hollered at him just as he was lifting his leg, so I prevented an "accident", but Bo was returned to our trailer. Stupid dog ! ! ! Ruth Anne made dinner for us. After dinner I got our laptop and showed them our photos of Arizona. Ruth Anne and Tom will be spending a month or two this winter in Arizona, for the first time. First they'll spend a few months, probably October to December, in an RV Park in Oliver, B.C., in the southern Okanagan, near Keremeos where we're headed to see an RV Co-op park. After viewing our Arizona photos, they took us for a guided tour around Camrose. It was an opportunity for me to compare Dodge trucks to GMC trucks. I prefer our GMC to their Dodge. The Cummins diesel engine in their Dodge is much louder than the diesel engine in our GMC. And their front seat is not as comfortable. After our tour of Camrose, we returned to their trailer for a bit more visiting. We returned to our trailer about 9:00 P.M.. I did today's accounting and journal entry while Joanne read in bed. It's cold enough tonight that we put the furnace on. The forecast low for tonight was 2° C..

DSK

September 13, 2005

September 13, 2005

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to Wainwright, Alberta

YEAR 2 DAY 88

 

Today started out sunny, but quite cold. The day got warmer as we travelled west, and by late afternoon it was warm. The evening clouded over, and it rained lightly.

Teddy, Bo, and I all got up an hour earlier than usual this morning. I guess our body clocks failed to recognize yesterday's time zone change. After showering, walking Bo, morning chores, and preventive maintenance, I walked over to the campground office to pick up our 2 freshly baked cinnamon buns for breakfast. MMMMM ! ! ! We had breakfast, then prepared the trailer for departure. Before pulling out of the campground, we went back to the office and bought a Saskatoon berry pie, perogies, and holuptsi, all freshly home made. We drove over to an RV dealer, and bought the bedroom closet door latch, and bedroom shade hold down clip that I needed. As I was walking back to the trailer, I passed a very old Class B van conversion for sale on the dealer's lot. The price sticker was shockingly low ! I immediately thought that it might be of some interest to our friends from Ottawa, Erbon and Lorraine Dickinson. They are somewhat interested in a camper van, but do not like how much they typically cost. We had a salesman open this unit so we could see the inside. It's very low mileage, and the interior is still quite functional despite its age. We're going to tell Erbon and Lorraine about this unit when they phone us from California, as they head back towards Ottawa. Maybe they would be interested in passing through Saskatoon to see this camper. We filled up with diesel, and hit the road, heading west on Yellowhead Hwy. 16.

We stopped for lunch at North Battleford. Joanne drove from North Battleford to Lloydminster, at the Alberta border. While Joanne was driving I received a phone call from Ruth Anne Huggard. I had sent her an e-mail yesterday telling her that we would be passing through Camrose tomorrow. She was calling to invite us for a visit, and dinner tomorrow. At Lloydminster we pulled into Wal-Mart. While Joanne went inside to shop, I unhitched the trailer, and took the truck in for an oil change. By the time the oil change was finished, and I was rehitching, Joanne was finished shopping, and putting away her purchases. What an efficient one hour stop !

We continued west on Yellowhead Hwy. 16 to Vermillion where we turned south on Hwy. 41. Halfway between Vermillion and Wainwright we stopped at a campground, but didn't stay. The sites were not level. I couldn't get into the site assigned to us. The service in the office was poor. The final straw was when the woman in the office wanted to charge more than the posted rate. We left ! We drove to the military town of Wainwright, near Edmonton. We filled up with diesel ... again. Our fuel expenses for today were $243 ! Yikes ! We camped for the night in Wainwright’s grubby little municipal campground, in a quiet residential area of town. We had supper, then I worked on today's journal entry and accounting while Joanne washed dishes, then washed her hair. I reviewed the scribbled notes I made during our meetings with Wilf Rumball at the Loondromat in Riding Mountain National Park, sorted them, and transcribed them into a file in the computer.

DSK

September 12, 2005

September 12, 2005

Asessippi Provincial Park, Manitoba to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

YEAR 2 DAY 87

 

Today was cloudy and cool. We drove west into a cold front moving east from Alberta.

This morning as we pulled out of the campground, we stopped to make some phone calls from the campground pay phone. I played telephone tag with my investment broker in Ottawa. I paid the cell phone bill. I phoned the Manitoba Health Links service, which allows callers to consult with a registered nurse on health problems. I was calling, before we left Manitoba, to find out if I should seek medical attention for a sore lump on my forearm, just above the IV entry site from when I was in the hospital a couple of weeks ago. When I had an IV in my arm, the vein the IV was in was red, swollen, and tender for a couple of inches from the IV up the arm. I still have a sore, red lump a couple of inches up the arm from the IV entry. The nurse said I should have it looked at. I guess that wasn't what I wanted her to tell me. We were near the hospital in Russell, Manitoba this morning, and I was considering stopping there to have a doctor check it out. I was too impatient to sit around another emergency ward for a couple of hours, so I ignored the nurse's advice. I guess there's not much point in seeking medical advice, if one is going to ignore it ! Mea culpa !

We left Asessippi Provincial Park, heading east on Hwy. 482 back to Hwy. 83, south on Hwy. 83 to Russell, then west on Yellowhead Hwy. 16 towards Saskatchewan. When we crossed into Saskatchewan, the time changed, because Saskatchewan does not observe daylight saving time. At Yorkton, we stopped for groceries, diesel, and lunch. As I pulled into a large mall in Yorkton, Joanne screamed at me to stop, as I drove the truck under a 10 foot high clearance gate into the mall parking lot. I have no idea why a suburban mall with outdoor parking has a 10 foot high clearance gate entering their parking lot. The trailer is 12 feet 3 inches tall. I slammed on the brakes just before the gate smashed the front of the trailer. Very, very close call. I was scanning forward, trying to determine the best way to go once in the parking lot. I'm sure glad Joanne was looking higher. I backed up, drove on the lawn, around the gate, and into the parking lot. I dropped Joanne off at the grocery store, then drove around the back of the mall, found an entrance / exit from the parking lot with no gate, and drove across the street to fill up with diesel. As I was leaving the gas station, my investment broker phoned. I pulled back into the mall parking lot, and we discussed the research he had done at my request on Manitoba's Portfolio Allocation Notes investment product. While I was discussing this with Roger, Joanne returned with groceries, and prepared lunch.

After lunch we continued west on Yellowhead Hwy. 16. As we passed through the small town of Theodore, I noticed a Ukrainian ceramics store. HUH ? I pulled a u-turn and we went back to browse. Sure enough. A ceramics shop with all products decorated with Ukrainian embroidery motif. Okay ! After a couple more hours of driving, I got tired, so Joanne drove for an hour. She is confident enough now to drive the rig on 2 lane undivided highways while I snooze in the passenger seat. I resumed driving, and we made it all the way to Saskatoon. We stopped for the night at Saskatoon 16 West RV Park, a big rig friendly private RV park on the outskirts of Saskatoon ... with free Wi-Fi ! Woo-Hoo ! While registering, I ordered 2 of the home made cinnamon buns this park has available at 8:00 A.M. each morning. Tomorrow morning when I go to get our fresh cinnamon buns, I will probably buy some of their other home made offerings. Saskatoon berry pie, perogies, cabbage rolls, borscht, Saskatoon berry jam. While I got the trailer set up, hooking up power and water, etc., Joanne prepared supper. After supper, I took Bo out for a tennis ball play session. Joanne went to wash some laundry and take a shower, while I did today's accounting, prepared some e-mail, and did today's journal entry. Now I’m about to sign on to Wi-Fi, send and retrieve e-mail, update my blog, and do some investment research.

DSK

September 11, 2005

September 11, 2005

Riding Mountain National Park to Asessippi Provincial Park, Manitoba

YEAR 2 DAY 86

 

Today was sunny and warm.

First thing this morning we drove into Wasagaming and met with Wilf Rumball at the Loondromat. We reviewed his financial statements for the last few years, and a professional appraisal of the business he had done 2 ½ years ago. We were very impressed with it all. His business makes a fair amount of money, despite an operating season that is only 4 to 5 months. His asking price is fair and reasonable, when assessed by the income method of evaluation, the asset method of evaluation, and the comparison method of evaluation, comparing the asking price of the business to the selling prices of other businesses. We did not realize until we arrived here that, while the land is leased from Parks Canada, the building is owned. We thought his asking price was based on leased land and building.

We returned to the trailer, drained the holding tanks, refilled the fresh water tank, hitched the trailer to the truck, and got ready for departure. Joanne made lunch and I did today's regular preventive maintenance. We had lunch. Joanne broke the bedroom closet door latch while preparing the inside of the trailer for travel. This is the third time we've broken one of these plastic latches. I guess I should always have a spare one. I secured the closet door with masking tape to prevent it from sliding on its track while we're travelling.

We headed out of Riding Mountain National Park, south on Hwy. 10. We stopped in Onanole to fill with diesel. South on Hwy. 10 to Erickson, then west on Hwy. 45 to Russell, then north on Hwy. 83, and west on Hwy. 482 to Asessippi Provincial Park. We came here because Sharon said the walleye fishing was good here, but Lake Of The Prairies is a half mile from the campground. I didn't want to walk that far and back with my fishing rod and tackle box, and I didn't want to unhitch the truck, so I didn't go fishing. If we were able to stay more than 1 night I would have done so, but this is the last night that the campground is open for the season.

I wasn't feeling great, so I read the newspaper for awhile, then took a long nap. When I got up, I started cooking supper on the barbecue, and started a campfire. We had supper, then sat around the campfire. It was another pleasant evening to sit arounda campfire. Supper upset my stomach. For the first time in over 3 weeks, I drank Cola, and ate a steak. My system wasn't quite ready for one or the other of those, I guess. Joanne had a shower, while I did today's accounting and journal entry, and updated my investment files.

DSK

September 10, 2005

September 10, 2005

Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba

YEAR 2 DAY 85

 

Today was cloudy and warm, with a brief, light rain in the afternoon.

This morning after showering, morning chores, and breakfast, we drove into Wasagaming town site to meet with Wilf Rumball, the owner of the Loondromat. We spent the morning viewing the business, and discussing it with Mr. Rumball. We arranged to meet again tomorrow morning to review some of the financial statements of the past few years. We were quite impressed with the business he is selling.

We had lunch, and spent much of the afternoon discussing the pros and cons of buying this business, or any business for that matter. We are very ambivalent. Joanne's very good suggestion was that if we do decide to pursue the purchase of this business, we should not do so any earlier than next spring. In addition to our ambivalence, it appears that one of the few factors that might influence Mr. Rumball to reduce his asking price for the business is time. He is ready to sell, and the longer it takes for him to do so, the better, from a buyer's perspective. We were in the same predicament ourselves when trying to sell our stores in Ottawa. It came to a point where getting out was the priority, not how much money we got. That worked against us then. Maybe now that can work in our favour. Mr. Rumball doesn't really want to operate his business for another entire summer season next year, so maybe next spring he will be that much more eager to sell. It's a roll of the dice that we can well afford to take, particularly given our ambivalence.

We walked to the registration office, and paid our camping fees for 2 nights. The office was closed when we arrived yesterday. I had a short nap, then did today's preventive maintenance. We took Bo for a long obedience training walk. We did not use the choker. Joanne wants to try "weaning" him off the choker, and convincing him that he has to obey commands even when he's not wearing the choker / training collar. It went well. When we have tried obedience sessions with Bo in the past without using the choker, he didn't respond to commands appropriately. Maybe he's finally ready to work without the choker. Let's hope ! He's such a stubborn, unruly little hound, from an obedience perspective, despite being a sweet little dog socially. I printed and reconciled our bank statement. I drove back into town to buy a newspaper. I couldn't get a Winnipeg Free Press, so I bought The Globe And Mail. I did today's accounting and began work on today's journal entry. While Joanne prepared supper, I read the newspaper.

We had supper, then I made a small campfire. We sat outside by the campfire, chatting for a couple of hours. It was a warm, pleasant evening. When we took Bo for his late night walk, there was a nice display of Northern Lights. When I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, the Northern Lights were astounding !

DSK

September 9, 2005

September 9, 2005

Lorette / Winnipeg to Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba

YEAR 2 DAY 84

 

Today was sunny and warm.

This morning after showering, I helped Joanne clean the windows outside the trailer, and I lubricated the bed slide. Both these jobs needed a ladder, so we took advantage of being able to borrow a ladder from Bud while we were staying in their yard. We're going to buy a folding RV ladder at Camping World once we're back in the U.S.. I did regular preventive maintenance on the truck, then hitched up to the trailer. We went inside the house to have a long, leisurely lunch with Sharon, Bud, and Andrea. After lunch we departed.

We drove on Hwy. 207 to TCH 1 where we stopped at the Petro-Canada service station at Deacon's Corner to buy diesel and adjust the air pressure in the trailer tires. It was difficult to manoeuvre the trailer into position beside the air station, only to discover that the compressor's maximum was 60 P.S.I.. The trailer tires take 65 P.S.I.. I had to drive out of the car & RV side of the service station, around the back of the service station, and back in on the commercial truck side. The commercial truck side of the service station had an air station able to inflate to 65 P.S.I.. Trans-Canada Highway 1 to Winnipeg's Perimeter Highway 100, south around the city from the east side to the west side, then back on TCH 1 to Portage La Prairie. At Portage La Prairie we turned onto the Yellowhead Highway 16 to Neepawa where we stopped to change drivers. Joanne drove from Neepawa to Minnedosa, where we turned north on Hwy. 10 towards Riding Mountain National Park. She drove all the way to the park. She has very little experience driving the rig on 2 lane undivided highways. She did very well. At the park entrance gate, I bought an annual National Parks pass, as we are likely to be visiting at least 4 more National Parks in the next year ; Jasper and Banff in Alberta, Kootenay in B.C., and Gros Morne in Newfoundland next spring.

As we entered the campground, we stopped to empty the holding tanks at the trailer dump station. The bathroom grey water tank was full from our 3 night stay in the Danelak's yard. We got set up in a campsite, then I did some maintenance on the kitchen grey water valve. While we were dumping the holding tanks I noticed it needed some maintenance.

I did some work on the computer while Joanne went to shower, then prepared supper. We had supper. I took Bo for a long walk. Joanne washed dishes. I did today's accounting and began work on today's journal entry. We went for a long walk around the campground, then drove into Wasagaming town site to see the business for sale that we're interested in, the Wasagaming Loondromat. At that time of the evening, at this time of the year, it's open but unattended. We were able to look around alone. Very impressive ! Laundromat, Post Office, Internet Café , Smoothie Bar, and ATM in a stand alone building with side and rear parking. Room to park our rig in the back.

DSK

September 8, 2005

September 8, 2005

Winnipeg, Manitoba

YEAR 2 DAY 83

 

Happy Birthday, Shirley.

Today was sunny and very warm. After showering in the Danelak's house this morning, I sat around for awhile visiting with Bud and Sharon, munching on Sharon's freshly made apple muffins for breakfast. Sharon and Joanne went into Lorette for grocery shopping. I did yesterday’s accounting, then made phone calls. I phoned the owner of the business for sale in Riding Mountain National Park, and arranged for us to meet with him at his place of business Saturday morning. I phoned a Winnipeg investment broker to get more information on a new investment product being made available by the Province Of Manitoba. I returned a phone call from a few days ago, to our Escapee friends in Montreal, Marcel and Louise Lemieux, the jugglers. We chatted about their and our winter travel plans, to see if there was any chance we would meet sometime this winter somewhere. I phoned my investment broker in Ottawa to get his firm's evaluation of this new Province Of Manitoba investment product I am considering purchasing. He will do some research and phone me back in a few days. I got our fax machine out of the storage compartment under the trailer, and set it up in the Danelak's kitchen, to receive a fax from the Winnipeg investment broker. On page 4 of a 20 page fax, it ran out of paper !

We had lunch with Sharon and Bud on their back deck, then sat in their new gazebo, visiting. I did today's regular preventive maintenance and inspections. I discovered that GNR's service department did not adjust the air pressure in the trailer tires, as they were supposed to, as part of the service package I bought. I wonder what else I paid for that didn't get done ? ! I put some finishing touches on the repaired bedroom day / night shade, then installed a new watch strap on Joanne's watch. We left for the Carlson's shortly after 4:00 P.M..

We drove into Winnipeg, to the Carlson's. We visited with Lorri and the girls briefly, until Doug came home from work. We had supper, then Doug, the girls, and I went outside to play in the back yard, while Joanne and Lorri cleaned up and visited. We played outside until it was time to put Madeleine and Amelia to bed. Lorri took care of that, Doug and Joanne visited, and I got online to send and retrieve e-mail, update my blog, and retrieve a bank statement. Lorri came downstairs from putting the girls to bed, then we all visited for awhile longer, discussing our travel plans for the next year. We said our goodbyes, and drove to Southdale Shopping Centre. Joanne went into Safeway to buy some water, and I went to use the bathroom at MacDonald's. I'm starting to become a regular at that MacDonald's bathroom ! We returned to the trailer in Lorette. Joanne worked on copying some recipes of Sharon's, while I worked on accounting and today's journal entry.

DSK

September 6 & 7, 2005

September 6 & 7, 2005

West Hawk Lake to Winnipeg, Manitoba

YEAR 2 DAYS 81 & 82

 

Wednesday ; Today was cloudy and cooler. It rained quite a bit overnight.

This morning I finished updating my investment files while Joanne went to do laundry at Crescent Beach Cottages. I did regular preventive maintenance and inspections. I lubricated the folding trailer steps, then lubricated the bedroom slide. I didn't do a very good job of that because I ran out of silicone lubricant spray. We had lunch. Joanne went to shower, and I refilled the fresh water holding tank, then cleaned all the rust stains off the water hose and connections, caused by the iron in the campground's water. Then I climbed up on the roof and resealed the bathroom plumbing vent. Yesterday I had noticed that there was some cracking evident in the rubber cement around the vent. I put away my fishing rod and tackle, then stored the lawn chairs and everything else that needed to be put away for travel. We took Bo for a walk down to the lakefront, at Crescent Beach, and we all said our goodbyes to West Hawk Lake. It was late afternoon, I didn't particularly want to go fishing this evening, nor did we particularly want a campfire, so we decided to leave for Winnipeg. Our thinking was that if we went to Winnipeg today, we could get the trailer in for servicing earlier tomorrow, and there would be less likelihood that it would have to remain in the service shop overnight.

We stowed everything, retracted the slides, etc., and hitched up. We drove to the dump station, and emptied all the holding tanks. We headed out on TCH 1, westbound for Winnipeg. We stopped at Pine Grove Halt rest area about halfway to Winnipeg, and had supper. We pulled into the Danelak's driveway just before dark. Good timing. We spent the rest of the evening visiting with Sharon and Bud.

Thursday ; Today was sunny and very warm.

We had breakfast with Sharon & Bud, then left to take the trailer to GNR Travel Centre to have the wheel bearings repacked, the brakes inspected and adjusted, and the suspension inspected. We dropped off the trailer, then shopped for some needed trailer supplies, at GNR. They didn't have what I need. We drove to Canada One RV. They also didn't have what I need. Then we tried Transcona Trailer Sales. No luck there either. Guess I'll have to wait until we're back in the U.S. to get what I need. We drove to Princess Auto and bought some tools I need. The shelf price of the first one was $20 and the second one was $15. The cash register scanned them in at $13 and $6. Okay by me !

We drove to the Crossroads shopping area. Found a shady parking spot, which wasn't easy. Had to park behind Value Village. Dropped off some old clothes and shoes of Joanne's in a clothing recycle bin. Shopped at the Dollar Store, then Wal-Mart. Drove across the street, looking for some place to have lunch. We were concerned about leaving Teddy and Bo in the truck for too long, as the day was much warmer than we had anticipated. Had lunch at Pita Pit, leaving the truck running, with the air conditioner on. I dropped Joanne off at the nearby Zeller's, then drove off looking for a drop box to post some mail. Picked Joanne up at Zeller's, then drove over to Canadian Tire for a few items. Finally headed back to GNR to see if the trailer was ready. As I was walking in the front door of GNR, they phoned to say the trailer was ready. Nice timing. Paid the bill, hitched up, and drove back to Lorette, and Danelak's driveway. Unhitched, extended the slides, hooked up to power, and discovered a minor problem with the water heater. Fixed the water heater, and it was time to get dressed to go out for dinner with Shirley and Darcy Johnson.

Drove back into Winnipeg. Stopped in our old neighbourhood and bought some flowers for Shirley. Her birthday is tomorrow. Drove to The Forks, Winnipeg's redeveloped water front along the Red River where it forks with the Assiniboine River. Met Shirley and Darcy in Sydney's, a fine restaurant. Had a lovely, leisurely dinner, and a very pleasant evening of visiting. Drove by our first house, on St. Jean Baptiste Street, on our way out of the city. We've come a long way !

DSK

September 5, 2005

September 5, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 111 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 80

 

Today was cloudy, very warm, and humid.

This morning I went to the Border Information Centre to get online, send and retrieve e-mail, update my blog, and retrieve some investment data. Then I trimmed my beard. We had lunch. We drained the bathroom grey water tank. We had thought that last Friday was the last time we would use the waste tote, but we had to use it again today. I had already removed the trailer hitch, and reinstalled the hitch receiver brake light. I did not want to remove the hitch receiver brake light, install the trailer hitch, then do the reverse again, so I hooked the waste tote to one of the front tow hooks on Dee-Dee, and backed up all the way to the dump station. It didn’t work great, hooking the tote to the tow hook, but it got the job done.

We had lunch, then I did some maintenance on our longest sewer hose. I needed to cut the last few inches off it. We cleaned the waste tote, then I hauled it up onto the roof of the trailer, and tied it down to the roof rack. We bought it specifically for this summer here at West Hawk, and have not travelled with it up on the roof, except from Winnipeg to here. I hope it’s going to be okay tied up on the roof. The alternative is to have it in the back of the truck, where it would take up a lot of space, and be vulnerable to theft. I guess if I have to keep it in the back of the truck, I could padlock it to the fifth wheel hitch. But that would still leave very little room for firewood, or anything else we might want to carry in the box of the truck. The box of the truck is already ¾ filled with the large aluminum tool chest, a large Rubbermaid tote, and the fifth wheel hitch. While up on the roof, I swept the summer's accumulation of wet pine needles off the roof, and the tops of the slides. I lowered the radio antenna to the travel position. I drove around the campground, and scavenged firewood. Many campers left firewood behind, this being the last weekend of summer. They also left broken lawn chairs, broken barbecues, torn tarps, torn mats, and plenty of empty water bottles, beer cans, and beer bottles. A real pig crowd this weekend ! We went to say goodbye to Peggy in the campground office, and to turn in our campground host daily journal reports, time sheets, and year end evaluation form. Our "supervisor" is away fora few days, and will obviously not be seeing us before we leave. This comes as no surprise. We have seen her a total of four times this summer, and the first time we saw her was 9 days after we arrived and started our jobs as campground hosts, with no idea at all what was expected of us, and what our responsibilities were. This is in keeping with the overall mismanagement of just about everything in this park. Manitoba Conservation seems to be an organization in dire need of some improvement. We took Bo for an obedience training walk. We visited with Billie and Elvira to say goodbye. We took Bo off his leash, and allowed him to run free for awhile. Bad idea ! I should know better. He disappeared into the forest, tracking the deer and two fawns, I think. Rather than go chasing him into the forest, we just ignored him and waited for him to return. He finally came out of the forest, but not exactly where he went in. We found him coming out of the forest in section H, probably about 500 feet from where he went in. We gave him a bath. How's that for punishment, Bo ? HA HA HA !

I printed some investment data and corporate accounting documents, then put the printer away for travel. I decided to go fishing at 6:00 P.M., and we would have a late supper when I returned. As I was leaving for Star Lake, our friends Erbon and Lorraine, from Ottawa, phoned from San Francisco. They have been travelling for 3 months, from Ottawa, to here, to the Yukon and Northwest Territories, and now to California. They were calling to see if we can co-ordinate a meeting to visit, perhaps in 3 weeks or so, perhaps in southern Alberta. They want to be home in Ottawa in about a month. From San Francisco they will head to San Diego, then the Grand Canyon, then start heading north towards home.

I fished at Star lake for about an hour, catching and releasing one perch. When I returned to West Hawk, I started a campfire. We sat around the campfire eating a salad, then roasting wieners. Haven't roasted wieners in a long time ! Just as we were finishing dessert, freshly baked brownies, it began to rain. Joanne went inside to wash dishes, and I took Bo for his last bathroom walk of the day. We watched the news, then I worked on this journal entry, getting sleepy listening to the sound of light rain on the roof.

DSK

September 4, 2005

September 4, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 110 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 79

 

Today was sunny and very warm. The morning was windy.

I got up late, and had a slow morning. I wasn't able to fall asleep last night until after 2:30 A.M., after the bar closed at 2:00 A.M. and all the rowdies finished rolling their way noisily back into the campground. I did regular preventive maintenance. We chatted with Billie and Elvira from the janitorial staff, and Sylvia in the campground office. Today is Sylvia's last day. Tomorrow she heads for her new life in Winnipeg as a University of Winnipeg student. We had lunch. I finished reading yesterday's newspaper, then took a nap. While I napped, Joanne defrosted the fridge, part of our preparations for resuming travel in a few days. When I awoke, I spent the afternoon updating investment files, and updating some corporate accounting with fiscal year end adjusting entries.

Early in the evening I went fishing to Star Lake. I fished for about an hour and a half, catching one perch. I released it. I gave up fishing when a boater with poor driving skills drove his boat over my fishing line, catching it under his boat. Then he got indignant and obnoxious. Somebody should have warned him that I can pretty much hold my own when it comes to being mouthy and shooting attitude ! I returned to West Hawk where Joanne had a nice perogy dinner waiting. We watched part of a W.C. Fields movie on VCR, but it was so incomprehensible, and devoid of humour, we gave up, and I tossed the tape in the garbage.

DSK

September 3, 2005

September 3, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 109 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 78

 

Today was sunny and warm. I felt healthier today !

After breakfast and morning chores, I did today's regular preventive maintenance and inspections on Dee-Dee. Joanne wanted the truck to go to Falcon Lake for groceries and a newspaper. While she was gone, I rearranged and put into storage the many books I have read this summer. I was surprised to discover that I've read over 35 books this summer. Amazing what a summer of only CBC TV can produce. I have quite a collection of books to trade at book exchanges, which we find quite often at RV parks in the states. I worked on re-installing the repaired bedroom shade, along with the valance and trim around it. I needed more hands than I have, so I had to wait for Joanne to return from Falcon Lake to help me finish.

We had lunch. I repaired a pair of sandals of mine, using my hot glue gun to reattach the soles. Joanne thought I should just throw them out, but I wanted to see if I could repair them and extend their life. When we arrived here at West Hawk Lake in May, we had to have some tree limbs trimmed from our campsite to allow Harvey to fit. The cuttings have been sitting in our site, drying out, to be used as firewood. Since all our good oak firewood from Missouri was stolen, this local birch tree trimmings was all we had left as firewood. Most of it was stolen today. I'm so weary of the low brows that occupy this campground ! I spent more time this afternoon than I thought I would replacing little oak mushroom plugs in our wood furniture and trim. Every screw hole in the furniture, and on the wall trim, was covered with a stained oak mushroom plug. When we first got Bo, he liked to gnaw these little wood plugs off. Bad dog ! He finally gave up that bad habit. Earlier this summer, I bought a dozen oak mushroom plugs and stained them. Today I replaced all the missing mushroom plugs, gluing them in place to foil Bo's efforts if he should try to resume his bad habit. I took him for an obedience training walk. He did quite well, given the amount of distractions facing him. Full campground, lots of people, lots of children, which he loves, lots of dogs, and squirrels getting ready for winter.

Joanne prepared a roast for supper. We haven’t had a roast in a long time. I had bought it with intentions of cooking it on the barbecue, but we decided today that it would be more economical to just roast it in the oven in the trailer. Our barbecue uses those expensive little disposable cylinders, and it would take a couple of hours to do the roast on the barbecue.

After supper, I spent the evening working on the batch of incoming mail we picked up at Sharon's on Thursday. The entertainment for the evening was the campground water spigot at the side of the road by the shower building being sheared off by a school bus converted to a camper. I guess you can dress up these school bus converting rednecks, but you can't take them out ! Knocked over the water spigot pipe, and the concrete block it was embedded in, shearing off the water pipe below ground. Quite a problem for the Parkies and Maintenance. We rushed to fill the trailer's fresh water holding tank in case it was necessary for them to shut off the water in the campground. After sanitizing the fresh water holding tank earlier this summer, I had drained the tank and left it empty. Well, I guess that wasn't the only excitement for the evening. Joanne just knocked over a large glass of chocolate milk I mixed up for her about 2 minutes ago. I took Bo for a late night walk. It's a very busy and rowdy campground tonight. There are beer cups discarded all along the campground road. There is a young woman lying on the side of the road, curled up in the fetal position, staring at her cell phone. The display is casting an eerie blue glow on her face. I reported her to the Parkies who are guarding the campground entrance gate. They were already aware of her presence on the side of the road. Okaaaaayyyyy !

DSK

September 1 & 2, 2005

September 1 & 2, 2005

West Hawk Lake days 107 & 108 of 113

YEAR 2 DAYS 76 & 77

 

Thursday ; Today was cool and cloudy, with intermittent light rain. I was sicker and weaker than I had hoped this morning, but the show must go on.

We got a slow start to the day. We left for Winnipeg about 11:00 A.M.. First stop was at Southdale Shopping Centre. Joanne went into Pharma Plus to buy some U.S. postage, and I went to MacDonald's to use the bathroom. I'm reluctant to travel ( without towing our trailer and toilet with us ) when my colitis is flared up this severely. It's risky for me to venture further than about 500 feet from the nearest bathroom. When we were living in Ottawa, I was afraid to go flying when my colitis was flared up, especially cross country. I can't just land the plane and dash off to a bathroom, halfway between Ottawa and Toronto.

Second stop was at Canadiana Draperies, to pick up the ( finally ! ) repaired bedroom shade. Then off to the Carlson's, for a day of visiting with Lorri and the girls. Joanne had packed snacks and lunch for us, as I have to eat small meals frequently when I'm sick. We had our lunch as soon as we arrived at Carlson's, then while Joanne visited, I went to nap, feeling poorly. When Doug returned home from work late in the afternoon, we visited, had supper, then left because Lorri and Doug were going out for the evening. We drove to Deacon's Corner on the Trans-Canada at the turn off to Lorette, and filled Dee-Dee with diesel. The price of diesel has not jumped as dramatically recently as the price of regular gasoline. Diesel was 91.9¢ per litre while regular gas was $1.249 per litre. I find it difficult to accept that Hurricane Katrina's devastation of the petroleum industry in the southern U.S. 2 days ago should justify a 20¢ per litre increase already. We went to the Danelak's in Lorette for cup of tea and a brief visit with Sharon and Bud before heading back out to West Hawk Lake. I couldn't quite make it all the way back non-stop. We stopped in Falcon Lake for a bathroom break. We arrived back at the trailer just as the late news was starting. We watched the news, and went to bed.

 

Friday ; Today started out cloudy and cool, but the sun peeked out more and more as the day progressed. By mid-afternoon it was sunny and warm. I woke up this morning feeling quite sick, but after having breakfast and showering I began to improve. By mid-afternoon I was feeling halfway healthy for the first time in 2 weeks.

I was awakened this morning by an irate camper knocking on our door, asking for information that I don't have. The campground office staffing and office hours are still all screwed up, so people were coming to us early in the morning with questions that we don't have answers to. The campground queen bee feels that working in the campground office is beneath her, so when she has a staff shortage, she just leaves the campground office closed, while she hides in the district office across the street, trying to feel important. What a useless pissant !

I worked on yesterday's journal entry ( above ) and accounting while Joanne went to shower. I did today’s preventive maintenance and inspections, then drove to the Border Information Centre to get online, send and retrieve e-mail, and retrieve updated investment data. When I returned to the trailer, we had lunch. After lunch we drained the kitchen holding tank. Should be the last time we need to use the waste tote for awhile. I did some work on the computer while Joanne went to do some laundry at Crescent Beach Cottages. I took Bo for an obedience training session.

I did some minor maintenance work tonight to get ready for travel next week. I felt healthy enough tonight to barbecue for the first time in a couple of weeks. The campground is full this weekend. Lots of losers and yahoos. A great display of Northern Lights tonight.

DSK

August 31, 2005

August 31, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 106 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 75

 

Today was cloudy and raining, heavily at times. My health was a bit better then yesterday. I realized yesterday that each day I feel healthier later in the day, and sicker earlier in the day.

This morning while I was showering, Peggy in the campground office dropped off a get well card at the trailer, signed by all the Parkies and Woodchucks, and office staff. How nice, thank you. I filled out and submitted our Manitoba Pharmacare application form this morning. I did a monthly backup of all the computer files onto CD's. We dried, cleaned, folded, and put away the one man bivouac that is Teddy's tent. Teddy probably won't have his outdoor shelter again until we do a campground host WorkCamper job in Arizona or New Mexico in January or February.

Joanne went to Falcon Lake to buy some groceries, and came back with today's Winnipeg Free Press. My goodness ! The entire front page is a picture of New Orleans under water. We recognize the elevated section of Interstate 10. We drove that section to get from our campground to the French Quarter. A section of the highway stands above the water, with exit and entrance ramps disappearing into the water. Eighty percent of the city is under water ! How does an urban society cope with that in the short term ? ? ?

We had lunch, I read the newspaper for quite awhile, then took a long nap. My stamina is a bit low at the moment. We spent the rest of the afternoon washing the truck, then chatting with Don, one of the senior Parkies. We talked about colitis, his responsibilities for the fall and early winter in Whiteshell Provincial Park, and his application for a competition for a position that is a one level higher classification than he is now. Lorri phoned, and the connection was bad, so I drove out to the park entrance gate to return her call. By the time I phoned, Lorri had left, and Doug didn't know why she was calling < rolling eyes >. Joanne prepared pickerel for supper. I still have a few pickerel left in the freezer from my catches in June at Star Lake. I want to go fishing one more time before we leave. I haven't been fishing since the end of June, when the water warmed, and there was a lot of boats and swimmers, sending the fish away from the dock at Star Lake and into deeper waters. I was planning to go tonight, but felt too weak. As we were sitting down to eat supper, I got a phone call from the Winnipeg man we talked to a couple of times this summer, who is trying to spear head an effort to establish an RV co-op park in the Lake Of The Woods area. He's spinning his wheels, and I don't think he's going to get off the ground. He and I aren't on the same page as far as an RV co-op park development goes, so I doubt that anything will come of it.

We watched a bit of TV after supper, then the news.

DSK

August 30, 2005

August 30, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 105 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 74

 

Today was sunny and warm. I started the day feeling sick and weak, more so than yesterday, which was very discouraging, but as the day wore on, I improved.

We have just finished watching the 11:00 P.M. news, and are stunned at the reports of Hurricane Katrina's devastation of parts of Louisiana, and Mississippi, particularly New Orleans. The northern parts of the Gulf Of Mexico were some of the most interesting places of our first year's travels. It's where Bo comes from. I was just trying to tell him, as he snoozes upside down on the sofa, how lucky he is that we "rescued" him from Gulf Shores, Alabama shortly after Hurricane Ivan hit there last fall. If we hadn't, he'd probably now be just another little dead dog in the wake of Katrina. I think his survival of Ivan is why he's so spooked about heavy winds and rain.

This morning I made some phone calls. First, to pay our MasterCard bill by phone, from the pay phone in the campground. It's the second time I've used the pay by phone method to pay MasterCard, but the first time I've done it without using a human agent at the other end. It worked well. We loaded Bo into the truck, to give him the joy of a short ride, and drove to the park entrance gate to use the cell phone to call the drapery shop in Winnipeg where we took the bedroom shade for repair 2 weeks ago. It was supposed to be repaired in a week. It wasn't ready when we went to Winnipeg for Joanne's Uncle Luc's funeral last week. It's still not ready ! I expressed my displeasure, and told them I would be in to pick up our shade on Thursday, whether it was repaired or not !

We had lunch, I read, then napped. We spent most of the afternoon doing some "spring cleaning" of the contents of the large tool chest in the back of the truck, in preparation for resuming travel in a week. Water got inside the truck tool chest, and the contents needed drying and cleaning, as well as sorting, discarding, and rearranging. It was one of those jobs that just kind of kept growing. I also installed the new speaker in the truck door. HEY ... sound on my side of the truck. How nice. Now that I discovered that the driver's door speaker wasn't working, I guess we know why I was always turning the truck stereo volume up, and Joanne was complaining about it being too loud.

We had quite a few late arriving campers tonight to deal with. It was a nice evening, and I was feeling better, so I took Bo for a long pleasure walk, down to Crescent Beach and back, then we did an obedience session, then a tennis ball play session, while Joanne prepared supper.

We had supper, and watched a couple of TV shows, before watching the news. It impacts differently, watching places on the news that we've recently visited. We're grateful we got to see New Orleans just before Christmas. It may never look the same again.

DSK

August 29, 2005

August 29, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 104 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 73

 

Today was mostly sunny and warm. I felt a little sick, and very weak for most of the day. Everything I did today, I did slowly.

I awoke early this morning. A few days in the hospital, and they conditioned me to arising at 6:00 A.M., and going to sleep at 9:00 P.M.. Sheesh ! That offsets my normal routine by at least a couple of hours. After breakfast, and a late shower, I drove to the Border Information Centre to get online. I sent and retrieved e-mail, confirmed an investment transaction, and updated my blog. I took Bo along for the ride. When I was leaving the trailer, he was desperate for a ride. I guess he hasn't been for a ride in over a week. We returned to West Hawk. The doe and her 2 fawns were out. The fawns are starting to lose their spots, and are not sticking quite as close to the mother any more. We had lunch. I read, then napped. While I was napping, Joanne went to Falcon Lake to buy some groceries. When she returned, she began to work on draining the holding tanks. I got up and went out to help. I coached, she did all the work. We took Bo for an obedience walk, but it went poorly. He hasn't been obedience walked for a week, and it shows.

I did some minor maintenance work. I spent a lot of the day shuffling from the bed to the bathroom. As the day progressed, I began to feel slightly better. Today's improvement brought me to a point that is about as severe as a "normal" colitis attack would be. That makes me hopeful that with careful management, and a bit of luck, I should be back to good health in 3 or 4 days.

Everybody wish me luck !

DSK