October 4, 2005

October 4, 2005

Hope to Chilliwack, B.C.

YEAR 2 DAY 109

 

Today was sunny and cool in the morning, warm in the afternoon. I started the day wearing a long sleeved denim shirt, but had to switch to a t-shirt in the afternoon.

This morning after regular morning routines, we prepared for departure, hitched up, drove over to the campground dump station, emptied the holding tanks, and set off, heading west out of Hope on Hwy. 3, towards Chilliwack. Once at Chilliwack we found Pacific Coast Van & RV where we stopped to get an estimate on flooring replacement, and buy some RV supplies. They didn't have the water heater electrical switch that I needed. Story of my life ! We looked at replacement seats for the truck, which I wanted Joanne to buy me as a birthday gift. We didn't like what they had, so I guess I'm not getting a new truck seat for my birthday.

We drove across the street to Canadian Tire. We unhitched the trailer in the parking and I took the truck over to the service department for replacement of the air conditioner / heater blower motor. While they worked on the truck we had lunch, then Joanne went shopping to the nearby Dollar Store. When the truck was ready, and I went to pay the bill, I received a couple of unpleasant surprises. Story of my life ! ! ! Firstly, while Canadian Tire's price on the part was $40 lower than the GM dealer, their labour cost was $35 higher. Secondly, while the blower motor has been working poorly on the lowest speed for an entire year, when it finally burned itself out, it also burned out the heater switch and resistor < huge sigh >. They ordered a switch and resistor from a local GM dealer, and I made an appointment to return tomorrow morning at 9:00 A.M.. I hitched Harvey to Dee-Dee again, and we set off for nearby Cultus Lake to see Endless Horizons RV Resort. We saw an advertisement of theirs recently advertising RV lots for sale. We found our way to Cultus Lake, just outside Chilliwack, and found Endless Horizons RV Resort. They are selling lots now, but construction of the park has just begun. They won't be finished for another year or so. It will be a fairly large, quite upscale RV Resort. Their prices are a bit high, starting at $59,000. Joanne doesn't really want to be in an RV Park quite so "civilized", quite so close to a city. Okay ... at least we have some pricing information for research and comparison purposes. We droveback down to Chilliwack, pulling into Cottonwood Mall.

While Joanne started shopping at Wal-Mart, I made a couple of phone calls. I made another call to Riverside RV Park back at Keremeos. I played telephone tag, then got a return phone call, which led to a run around and buck passing. I phoned about another park, advertised in a regional newspaper I picked up today. Another park in the design stage, this one in the Fraser River Valley, north of Hope. Maybe it will be completed in a year or two. RV lots priced at $85,000 ! Yikes ! Seems to be a proliferation of RV parks "under development". We're a bit leery about putting money down on something that won't exist for another year or two. I joined Joanne in Wal-Mart. When we were finished our Wal-Mart shopping, we headed over to Safeway for groceries. When were finished, we loaded our purchases into the truck, and headed for a local RV park.

We checked into Cottonwood Meadows RV Country Club, got parked in our assigned site, and while Joanne put away our purchases I got the trailer set up, water, electricity, and cable TV connected, and unhitched. I set up the barbecue and prepared supper. After supper I began working on today's accounting and journal entry, while Joanne washed dishes.

Woo-Hoo ! 9:00 P.M.. Time for Amazing Race ! For a bed time snack, Joanne baked a Saskatoon Berry pie, purchased in, of course, Saskatoon.

DSK