Year 3 Week 23

November 19 to 25, 2006

Palm Springs, California to Yuma, Arizona & Los Algodones, B.C., México

Year 3 week 23

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and hot again, although there was a tiny bit of a wind this afternoon, which made the intense desert sun less brutal. Temperature was in the high 80's.

Today was Graduation Day at Guide Dogs Of The Desert. This morning at 11:00 A.M. was a luncheon for today's graduates, their families, their trainers, and their dogs' sponsors. By early afternoon many more people began to arrive for the graduation ceremony at 2:00 P.M.. At 1:00 P.M. we joined a group being taken on a tour of the training kennels.

The graduation ceremony was attended by quite a large crowd. Many puppy raiser families attend these graduations with their "guide dog in training" puppies. I was a little surprised by how many people there were. And dogs ! And face lifts ! ! !

Our offers of assistance before the luncheon, and before the graduation ceremony, were declined. The outgoing "Dorm Mom" is a little possessive of her responsibilities, and while she apparently welcomes her "retirement", and us as her successors, she refused most of our offers of help over the last few days. We have, not surprisingly, formulated some ideas about changes we are likely to be making to the day to day operation of the dormitory residence and kitchen operations, and the graduation luncheon and ceremony.

After the graduation ceremony crowd had thinned out, we helped clean up. We accepted an invitation to join the graduates and staff at a Thai restaurant in nearby Desert Hot Springs, the nearest town, about 6 miles away. Palm Springs is about the same distance away, but is a larger city. One of the graduates, Kathleeya, is Thai, and lives in Desert Hot Springs, so she was the unofficial "hostess" of the dinner outing. Over dinner we chatted with the gentleman from Alaska who was the puppy raiser of Mikey, the guide dog received by today's other graduate Jordan, the 16 year old from Wisconsin. Having been raised in Alaska, Mikey is likely going to be happy to get to Wisconsin tomorrow. It's way too hot here in Palm Springs for Mikey.

After we returned to Guide Dogs Of The Desert, I tried to get online using the dormitory's Wi-Fi, but I was unsuccessful. I used a phone line to get online just to send and retrieve e-mail. We watched Amazing Race.

As I type this, we’re watching tonight’s news and weather on a local Palm Springs TV station. The weather man just said “it’s going to be a little chilly overnight, temperature in the 50’s”. HA HA HA HA HA < SNORT SNORT > HA HA HA ! ! !

 

Monday ; Palm Springs, California to Yuma, Arizona

Another very sunny, hot day.

This morning we prepared for departure from Guide Dogs Of The Desert, then said goodbye to Kathie Flamm, the Volunteer Co-ordinator, and Marilyn, the outgoing "Dormitory Mom". We headed east on Interstate 10, stopping at Flying J in Thousand Palms to empty the trailer's holding tanks and refill with diesel. We turned south on Hwy. 86S, driving along the Salton Sea, stopping for groceries and lunch in El Centro, just north of the Mexican border. After lunch we turned east on I-8, the Interstate that runs across Southern California and into Arizona just north of the Mexican border.

We drove through the Imperial Sand Dunes area just before reaching Arizona. It's the desert sand dune area where Star Wars was filmed. The desert around the dunes is filled with boondocking RV's, with many ATV's and exotic dune buggies tearing around and over the dunes. Looks like fun.

We crossed into Arizona at Yuma. We found our way to Kofa Ko-op, the Escapees Co-op Park. We have been on Kofa Ko-op's lot waiting list for about a year. The waiting list for a lot here is about 9 years long, so I guess we've got about 8 more years to wait to become a lot leaseholder here. We got set up in our site and visited with our "next door neighbour" briefly, until it turned dark.

Oh, darn ! Joanne just realized that we crossed a time zone today. I have to reset all the clocks and watches.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and hot again. Works for me !

This morning I set up appointments for dental examinations and cleanings for both of us, and an eye exam for me, tomorrow in Los Algodones, B.C. ( Baja California ), Mexico. Los Algodones is about a 20 minute drive from Yuma. First west back into California, then south into the Baja California province / peninsula of Mexico.

After my phone calls to Mexico, which aren't all that easy to make ( Thank you very much, Manitoba Telephone System ), I headed off to the Watch Hospital, "my" Rolex repair shop here in Yuma. I dropped off my Rolex for a minor ( but certainly not cheap ) cosmetic repair. Recently I discovered what I thought was a very tiny crack in the watch case. It turns out not to be a crack, but a small "weld" mark caused by an electrical arc. Guess I won't be wearing my Rolex watch any more when working around the truck or trailer batteries, or when connecting or disconnecting the trailer power supply cord. I guess I must have recently come close to electrocuting myself. That shock couldn't have been any worse than the shock I got when the Watch Hospital told me how much the repair was going to cost !

We had lunch, I napped, then we spent the rest of the afternoon floating around the heated swimming pool, chatting with other Escapees. Late in the afternoon as the sun was setting, and the temperature was cooling, I returned from the pool and worked on polishing out another scratch on the truck. Four down, one to go. I have been using a new scratch polishing compound. It's slow and tedious work, but the product is effective. We’ve had the truck for over 6 months now. I guess I should soon stop being so anal retentive about tiny scratches. As it turned dark, we headed off for some Wal-Martin'. After supper, I took inventory of our medications, and did some planning of medication purchases tomorrow in Mexico.

Ow ow ow ow ! I just finished doing first aid on about a half dozen long, deep scratches on my ankles. They seem to be infected. I have been having problems the last few years with wounds on my lower legs. They are very slow to heal, and often become infected. I acquired these half dozen long, deep scratches on my legs in the desert at Guide Dogs Of The Desert, while searching for "lost" Teddy a few days ago. How can you tell a Canadian has been walking in the desert ( wearing shorts and no socks, scanning the distance looking for his damn cat ) ? Look at his ankles !

 

Wednesday ; Los Algodones, B.C., México

Today was sunny and hot again.

This morning we headed to Los Algodones in México. Through Yuma to I-8, 5 miles west into California, then a few miles south to the Mexican border. We parked and walked across into México.

First stop was Super Pan Bakery, Joanne's favourite Mexican bakery. Last time we were in Los Algodones, we went to this bakery to buy Mexican pastries just before returning to the U.S., late in the afternoon. The inventory at that time was low. Joanne wanted to be sure that this time we went to the bakery early, when they still had lots of inventory. We bought 8 large Mexican pastries. Unfortunatelythey did not survive well being hauled around in my backpack all day.

Next stop was Algodones Optical for an eye examination and new glasses for me. What a bargain ! They had a sale on a new brand of photosensitive lenses made by Corning called SunSensors. The computerized eye examination, including glaucoma and cataract testing, was U.S.$10 ( Canadian price for an eye exam is $80 ). The regular price for the new SunSensor lenses was $109 for prescription bifocals, including frames. The sale price was get another pair free, regular or sunglasses, including frames. I got a pair of SunSensor prescription bifocals, with new frames, and a pair of prescription bifocal sunglasses, with new frames, for U.S.$109. And both pair were ready in 3½ hours ! When I last made a similar purchase in Ottawa, it cost me $1000 !

Next stop was the cheap dentist I made appointments with. Doctora ( the "a" denotes female ) Herminia Marin. Last year we went to Dr. Juan Manuel Camacho, practicing in a large clinic with 2 dentists and 8 hygienists. His price was U.S.$20 for an examination and U.S.$20 for a cleaning. We were very satisfied, but this year I wanted to try one of the cheap, storefront, single dentist practices. Dra. Marin’s price was U.S.$15 for a cleaning with a free examination. Fifteen bucks for what costs $150 in Canada ! We felt Dra. Marin’s services had too much “would you like fries with that ?” upselling. In the future we will stick with Dr. Camacho.

After our dental cleanings we went to our favourite restaurant in Los Algodones called Paraiso. We lingered over a great Mexican lunch, with huge strawberry margaritas, in their lovely outdoor courtyard. After lunch we went to another dentist to get a ( free ) second opinion on Dra. Marin’s recommendation for how to fix a chipped tooth Joanne has. After getting a second opinion from Dr. Erick Escobedo, we walked over to Dr. Comacho’s office and made an appointment for Joanne to have her chipped tooth repaired next Tuesday.

We went to a few different pharmacies and did some price comparisons on some medications I wanted to buy. While I was getting medication prices at one pharmacy, Joanne bought herself 2 huge plastic tubs of her favourite Mexican chocolates, hazelnut and cocoa pralines called Creminos < rolling eyes >. While I bought medications at Farmacias Tury's, Joanne went looking for a place to get haircuts. She selected Silvia’s, where my haircut and beard trim cost U.S.$3 ... yes, you read that correctly ... regular U.S. or Canadian price is usually about $15 to $20. Joanne’s haircut cost U.S.$4 ... regular American or Canadian price usually about the same as mine, around $15 to $20. And both our haircuts, and my beard trim, are as good as any we’ve had, anywhere, and better than many.

Because tomorrow is an American holiday, there were a lot of Americans in Los Algodones today, buying cheap liquor. That resulted in a 40 minute long line up to walk back across the border into the Unites States while the border guards checked closely for liquor purchases, and charged duties < sigh >. While in line we chatted with the couple in line behind us. They are from Washington state. They are snowbird “rookies”, and are still afraid of trying Mexican dentists and optometrists / opticians. After hearing about my eyeglass purchases, and our dental costs, I think that’s about to change for them.

 

Thursday ; Happy American Thanksgiving

We have learned that American Thanksgiving is as large a holiday celebration in the United States as Christmas. That's seems unusual to us Canadians. Thanksgiving in Canada isn't really that big a deal. Apparently the day after Thanksgiving is the second largest shopping day of the year here in the United States. Here, the after Thanksgiving shopping frenzy is tomorrow, from 5:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M.. Most stores are advertising either a 5:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. sale or a 6:00 A.M. to noon sale. I guess that's similar to our Canadian silliness of Boxing Day sales the day after Christmas.

Today was sunny and very warm again. Today I sorted, adjusted, and cleaned all of our glasses. I now have SunSensor prescription bifocals for use most of the time, prescription bifocal sunglasses for driving, and my old prescription bifocals as a spare. Joanne has prescription glasses for driving, regular sunglasses for use most of the time, bifocal sunglasses for map reading in the truck during the day, and reading glasses for map reading in the truck at night. I’ll have to find somewhere to discard / donate my old, old spare pair of glasses. I downloaded and processed the photos I took yesterday in Los Algodones.

At 3:00 P.M. we headed for the clubhouse for the communal Thanksgiving dinner. The park cooked turkeys and mashed potatoes, and everything else was pot luck. It was a great meal indeed ! Joanne's contribution was a new recipe she learned recently in Keremeos, "The Fruit Stand Capital Of Canada", and our new home as of next spring. It's a coleslaw made with apples. We enjoyed meeting new people over dinner. After dinner we returned to the trailer, and gave Bo a haircut. This is the fourth haircut we've given him in the 2 years we've had him, and each one has been an improvement over the previous one.

We watched Survivor, then I printed and reconciled the MasterCard statements.

 

Friday ; Today was sunny and warm, less hot than it has been the last 10 days or so.

Today is "Black Friday" here in the United States, the day after Thanksgiving when all stores have a massive early morning sale, signalling the start of the Christmas shopping season. I think the "Black Friday" term is a retailer term. The success, or lack of same, of today's sales, will be a barometer of how good this Christmas shopping season will be for retailers.

The soft rock radio station we have been listening to here in Yuma changed their format this morning to "all Christmas carols, all the time". Oh, for crying out loud !

I realized this morning that I forgot to pay our phone bill when it came due about 2 weeks ago. I usually have a reminder in my computer calendar, but not this time. I paid the bill by phone this morning. I did a couple of minor maintenance chores. I took a propane tank for refilling.

After lunch we spent the afternoon lounging around the pool and hot tub. Late in the afternoon I trimmed Teddy's and Bo's nails. Bo suffers anxiety and panics when his nails are being clipped. It's common in dogs. I tried some new control and relaxation tactics on Bo that I learned recently watching The Dog Whisperer. They didn't work ! I have 2 bites to prove it.

After supper we gave Bo a bath.

 

Saturday ; Today was sunny and very warm, with some fog in the morning.

This morning we headed for one of Yuma's two flea markets, Yuma Park & Swap. From my perspective, we stayed much too long, until mid-afternoon. I bought a couple of tool items, Joanne bought some cosmetics, and we bought some produce. I'm pleased to be back here where lemons are 15 or 20 for a dollar. After buying them here last year for that price, I could not convince myself to pay 55 cents per lemon back in Canada. Joanne bought fresh avocadoes and a jicama ( pronounced "heekama" ), a local vegetable somewhat akin to a turnip. After supper we collaborated on making a fine guacamole with fresh avocadoes.

Late in the afternoon we washed the truck. We wanted to have it completely clean before we try using a new product we purchased recently. We bought a vehicle dusting brush, to be used to remove the thin layer of fine desert dust that settles on vehicles. Hopefully, dusting the truck occasionally will reduce how often we need to wet wash it. The brush has soft cotton bristles coated lightly with paraffin wax, to lift dust without scratching the vehicle finish. Hope it works.

We took Bo for an obedience session, and play session, in the huge fenced dog run area in this park. Every day we've been allowing him to run free in the fenced area, which is huge, perhaps 2 acres or so. The more freedom we give him off leash, the better behaved he becomes about returning to us when we want him to. We met Bear, a dog that's almost identical to Bo. We cleaned Teddy's and Bo's ears, and administered flea treatments and heartworm medication.

DSK

Year 3 Week 22

November 12 to 18, 2006

Hemet & Palm Springs, California

Year 3 week 22

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and warm.

This morning I did some minor maintenance work outside. After lunch I was going to continue, but the weather was just too darn nice. The temperature was in the upper 70's, and the sun was shining brightly. I decided to succumb to temptation, and spend the afternoon in the swimming pool and hot tub. We met and chatted with quite a few other Canadians in the pool and hot tub. As a matter of fact, I think everybody in the pool and hot tub this afternoon was Canadian. I don't know ... maybe high 70's temperatures are too cold for Americans to be in the pool ?

Late in the afternoon I resumed working on some outside maintenance. I was just finishing, and putting away tools, as the sun set. A couple from Medicine Hat, Alberta stopped to chat, and we chatted for quite awhile. We decided to delay making supper, and went grocery shopping at Vons in the mall across the street from this resort. How come turkeys here in the United States are on sale just before Thanksgiving for $5.00 each when they cost about 4 to 5 times that much in Canada just before Thanksgiving ? ! ?

We had a late supper, while watching Amazing Race.

 

Monday ; Today was another sunny, warm, Southern California day.

I puttered around with a bit of outside maintenance. I used a new scratch removal compound I bought, to try to remove a few little scratches on the truck. It diminished them, but didn't eliminate them. I guess it's not really possible to eliminate little scratches, despite the claims of the product. I spent a bit of time in the swimming pool and hot tub. We went Wal-Martin'. We spent the entire day being angry at, and being hurt by one another < sigh >.

 

Tuesday ; Another sunny, warm California day. What can I say ?

This morning while walking Bo, Joanne "found" a lost elderly woman and her dog. This is such a large RV park, with 1019 sites, that the old woman got lost while walking her dog. She became disoriented, didn't know whether she "lived" in this park or elsewhere. Joanne and a park maintenance employee helped her get back "home" to the other side of the park, where her husband was working outside, oblivious to his wife's plight. Sounds like Joanne and me, 20 years from now.

We walked out ofthe park for shopping. I walked over to the nearby Home Depot, and Joanne walked to a nearby Dollar Store. Golden Village Palms RV Resort is right in the city, surrounded by shopping malls and hotels.

After lunch we went to the fitness centre and worked out on a variety of Nautilus type fitness equipment. It was helpful to my sore, arthritic knee and shoulder, long ago injured hamstring, and Joanne's arthritic hip. There will be a fitness centre at Riverside RV Park Resort in Keremeos, B.C.. When we "live" there starting next spring I think I would like to get into the habit of working out a little bit on these types of fitness equipment on a daily basis. After the fitness equipment, I spent a brief time on a treadmill, and Joanne tried out a step machine and cycle machine. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool and hot tub. It was a great way to spend the afternoon, and I hope it will become a daily routine for us "back home" in Keremeos.

Woo-Hoo ! A new record high for the Dow Jones.

 

Wednesday ; Ho-hum ... another very warm sunny Southern California day.

Joanne's wisdom of the day ; "Southern California would be a very nice place if it weren't filled with so many Southern Californians." HA HA HA ! It seems as if this somewhat expensive RV resort is filled with 2 types of people ; Canadian snowbirds, and Southern Californians who are an hour or two from home. The Canadians are interesting, but the Southern Californians are somewhat ... well ... < whispering > boring. They live a sort of L.A.-centric existence.

We found out this morning that the dinner portion of tonight's dinner / dance evening was cancelled. There were so few tickets sold that the resort cancelled the dinner, and it became a no charge evening of music and dancing with a 5 piece "big band" orchestra.

This morning I saw some people picking some fruit out of a tree about a half dozen sites over from us. I wandered over to find out what they were picking. Persimmons ! I had never had a persimmon, so I asked them to explain to me how to eat a persimmon. I picked one, and took it back to the trailer to share with Joanne and Bo. We all liked it, so I picked a few more.

I went shopping to Pep Boys, a chain of large auto parts and accessories stores. I was looking for two items, expecting to spend between $10 and $20. They had neither, but I did find three other items to buy, spending about $100. Hey ... we're in Southern California. Pimp my ride ! We went for lunch to El Pollo Loco ( Spanish for The Crazy Chicken ), a chain of Mexican roast chicken fast food restaurants. Kind of like Swiss Chalet with olé. HA HA HA ! It was quite good.

We spent the afternoon lounging around the pool and hot tub, after a circuit through the exercise equipment in the fitness centre. At 6:00 P.M. we went to the "dance" in the ballroom, sitting at a table with 3 couples, all from Southern California. One of the couples owns a 3 year old Dodge 1 ton diesel dually, that they bought brand new, to tow their fifth wheel. It has about the same amount of mileage as we have put on our truck in the 6 months that we've owned it. The dance evening was pathetically poorly attended, especially given that it was a free event.

See ? ! ? I told you so ! The Curse Of Joanne is alive and well. Remember the photo of Bo and his starfish ? That was in Crescent City, California a year and a half ago. Crescent City, California was hit hard this afternoon by the tsunami caused by the earthquake in Japan today.

 

Thursday ; Today was sunny and hot, temperature in the 80's, thanks to something local called the Santa Ana winds. Somehow the winds that blow over the Santa Ana Mountains always seem to blow warm air down here into the San Bernardino Valley. Wow ... gag me with a spoon. HA HA HA ! I guess that dates me somewhat. I don't think "Valley Girls" still say that here.

This morning I installed the brushed aluminum gas cap door I bought yesterday at Pep Boys. Then I drove to a local Dodge dealer to buy a small tube of touch up paint. I phoned Guide Dogs Of The Desert to confirm that we would be arriving there tomorrow about noon.

After lunch we did a circuit around the fitness equipment, then spent another long afternoon in the pool and hot tub. Nice work if you can get it !

We had a great turkey dinner, with the really cheap turkey we bought a few days ago. We figured there was no point keeping it until American Thanksgiving next Thursday, because we'll be at the Escapee park in Yuma for Thanksgiving. We watched Survivor, then I spent the evening updating my investment files. Well, the stock market certainly has done well lately, hasn't it ? ! ?

 

Friday ; Hemet to Palm Springs, California

Today was another sunny, very warm day, temperature well into the 80's.

This morning we departed Golden Village Palms RV Resort, stopping at Wal-Mart for a few items before leaving Hemet. We drove out of Hemet to the north on Hwy. 79, through San Jacinto ( pronounced “Yasinto” ), to Interstate 10 where we turned east at Beaumont towards Palm Springs. We drove through the area burned by the recent Esperanza wild fire. It burned all over the place, jumping around, crossing the highway, burning some areas and skipping over others. There hardly seems like there's enough vegetation in the desert to burn, but it's so dry, and with some wind, wild fires here race at quite a high speed, burning a lot of area quickly. At Palm Springs we turned north off of I-10 onto Hwy. 62. Guide Dogs Of The Desert is near the intersection of I-10 and Hwy. 62, halfway up the side of a mountain, with a spectacular vista of Palm Springs a few miles off in the distance, far below. The night time vista is particularly pretty. We are surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of windmills. This is a wind farming area.

We met with Kathie Flamm, the Volunteer Co-ordinator, and our "boss", I guess. We met with Marilyn, the current dormitory "Mom", and the woman we will be replacing. Joanne chatted with Marilyn for much of the afternoon. I wandered around, checking things out. Kathie took us around to meet most of the staff. Guide Dogs Of The Desert is on quite a large piece of desert property. The administrative offices and training kennels are on one side of the road, and the student dormitory is on the other side of the road. The breeding kennels are in some other nearby location that we haven't seen yet.

We met the current 2 students, who are graduating in 2 days, on Sunday. Today was their last day of formal training. We chatted with them, one student's mother, Marilyn the Dorm Mom, and Kim, the Director Of Operations, while they all ate dinner. We declined their invitation to join them for dinner, having dinner in the trailer afterwards.

The Guide Dogs Of The Desert property is overrun with little rabbits. Bo thinks it’s great. We don’t !

 

Saturday ; Whew ... brutal desert sun ! Air temperature in the high 80's, but in direct sunlight ... whew ! I just know everybody back in Winnipeg is feeling a lot of pity for me when they read this. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

This morning I got up very early, and went to shower in a dormitory room because we don't have a sewer connection for the trailer in the parking lot, and we don't want to fill up the shower waste holding tank while we're here for the weekend. I chatted with Marilyn for a couple of hours while helping her a very little with breakfast for the 2 students and 1 parent. I napped ! I took some pictures of Guide Dogs Of The Desert property and surrounding view. I polished out a couple more little scratches on the truck.

Why does Bo lie in sunbeams in the trailer, then pant and look at us pathetically, because he's too hot ? ! ? I took him outside and sprayed him with a garden hose to cool him down. A little guide dog trick I learned yesterday. The big dogs seem to really love being sprayed down on hot days. Bo didn't seem to be as thrilled. Hey, Bo ... if you can't run with the big dogs ... ! HA HA HA !

Late this afternoon I misplaced Teddy. I searched all over the trailer. I went into Guide Dogs Of The Desert Gift Shop to get Joanne's help. She was helping out in the gift shop, preparing for tomorrow's graduation ceremony. Joanne and I, and many staff and volunteers who were here helping prepare for tomorrow's graduation began wandering the desert, calling and searching for Teddy. There was a lot of concern by the staff and volunteers that a coyote would eat Teddy. I tried not to panic. After 20 minutes of many people searching the grounds around the Guide Dogs Of The Desert buildings, and out in the desert, Joanne found him ... fast asleep inside the trailer's bedroom closet. Ooooops ! ! !

Tonight we accepted the invitation to have dinner in the dormitory dining room with the 2 students and 1 parent. The students and guide dogs are Kathleeya, a 27 year old woman and her Chocolate Lab guide, Halo, and Jordan, a 16 year old boy and his Black Lab guide, Mikey. Both Kathleeya and Jordan have very limited, impaired vision. Kathleeya was telling the story of how she misplaced Halo recently, because the dog's colour blends in with the colour of the sofa in the dormitory that Halo was sleeping on. Kathleeya asked Jordan if he had seen Halo recently. While she was telling this story, I almost choked on my food, stifling myself from laughing as I contemplated the absurdity of the blind leading the blind. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

 

DSK

Year 3 Week 21

November 5 to 11, 2006

Sutherlin, Oregon to Hemet, California

Year 3 week 21

 

Sunday ; Sutherlin, Oregon to Anderson, California

Today started out cloudy and raining lightly, but, as expected, by the time we were well into California, the rain stopped, and the sun was beginning to peek out a bit. When we left B.C. the temperatures were in the low 30's, in Washington they were in the low 40's, in Oregon they were in the low 50's, and here in Northern California they are in the low 60's. I expect they will be in the low 70's in Southern California. We know from previous experience that each full day of driving south results in about a 10 degree rise in temperature.

I was wondering why Lanoire seemed a bit sluggish accelerating from a stop, especially entering highway ramps going slightly uphill. I thought something was wrong until I realized that the temporary performance upgrade program installed into her computer had expired. HMPH ... I guess it really did make a difference in torque as well as in horsepower. I'll have to reconsider my decision not to buy a power performance "chip".

It was raining lightly as we prepared for departure from Timber Valley SKP Park this morning. We continued south on I-5. I wanted to get as close as I could to California before refilling with diesel. Oregon's fuel prices are much lower than California's. I managed to make it to Medford, Oregon before refuelling. The "distance to empty" readout was 3 miles. HA HA HA ... I've actually driven it lower than that, at least twice before. As soon as we crossed into California we stopped for lunch at a highway rest area. WOW ... California must have more tax dollars than they know what to do with ! Spiffy rest area ! After lunch we stopped for groceries in Yreka, California.

We were planning to stop for the night in Redding, but we continued a little further than that, stopping for the night at a Wal-Mart in Anderson. We did some Wal-Martin’ before preparing supper. After supper I set up our little 12 volt TV to watch Amazing Race.

 

Monday ; Anderson to Coarsegold, California

Today was sunny and warm. When we were leaving the Wal-Mart parking lot this morning, the temperature was 68 degrees. By the time we stopped for lunch, it was 77 degrees. I had to change from a long sleeved shirt to a t-shirt. Welcome to California.

We were awakened at 4:30A.M. by a Wal-Mart employee cleaning the parking lot using a noisy leaf blower / vacuum. Moron ! Teddy decided he was hungry. I fed him. Bo decided he wanted to go to the bathroom. I walked him < sigh >. The entire Wal-Mart parking lot was half filled with cars. Who the hell goes Wal-Martin' at 4:30 in the morning ? ! ? Welcome to California.

When I was walking him again just before we departed, I got a phone call from Kathie Flamm at Guide Dogs of The Desert in Palm Springs. They were forecast to have a temperature in the 90’s today. Welcome to California. HA HA HA ... Woo-Hoo ! I had a discussion with Kathie, and decided we would head to Guide Dogs Of The Desert for the weekend of November 18 / 19 to observe a graduation ceremony. One of our largest responsibilities while we’re WorkCamping there will be to prepare the graduation ceremony luncheons. We’ll leave after the weekend, and return a couple of weeks later to actually begin our WorkCamping job.

We headed south on I-5, into the Sacramento Valley, following the Sacramento River. We stopped at Corning to shop ( and taste ) at a store called The Olive Pit. The area around Corning is filled with olive groves. I tasted a lot of different olives, but didn’t buy any. While in Corning we also stopped at Flying J to refill with diesel, empty the shower holding tank, and refill with fresh water. After the olive groves we passed some cotton farms. Most of the cotton fields were already picked. Long, thin strands of cotton were floating around in the wind, getting caught on the truck’s mirrors and antenna as we drove. It looked like the truck was decorated with Hallowe’en fake cobwebs. HA HA HA !

We could see the pollution of Sacramento long before we got there. The I-5 freeway into Sacramento was 7 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic flowing at 70 MPH. It was intimidating. And ... as soon as we got near Sacramento, driving styles and attitudes changed. Self-centred, rude, aggressive driving. We know from previous experience that California has its own unique style of driving, from Sacramento and San Francisco in Central California, south all the way to Los Angeles and beyond. Kind of a "survival of the fittest" style. Kind of like "if you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch". Driving a rig that's 47½ feet long, weighing 20,000 pounds, on California's freeways, is quite a challenge.

Part way through Sacramento we turned east onto Hwy. 50 for a couple of miles, then south onto Hwy. 99. Through Lodi ... < singing > "Lord, I'm stuck in Lodi again". I can see why getting stuck in Lodi once would be enough. HA HA HA HA HA ! Just before Fresno, and as it turned dark, we turned east onto Hwy. 145 at Madera. At Hwy. 41 we turned north and began climbing up into the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We drove to Coarsegold, where we stopped for a few nights at SKP Park Of The Sierras. The park office was closed, so we parked in the boondock area overnight.

We really wanted to reach here today, but that was a bit too much driving for 1 day.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and warm. AHHHHH !

This morning we moved from the park's boondock area to site 118. This is an SKP co-op park, where sites not currently occupied by their residents are made available for short term renters / travellers like us. SKP Park Of The Sierras is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and they have done an excellent job of developing an exceptionally lovely RV park with minimal impact on the surrounding natural area. We took Bo up into the hills surrounding our site, for an obedience and play session. YIKES ! Then we spent the next couple of hours pulling burrs out of his coat. Poor Bo ! I found another huge ( Bull or Digger ? ) pine cone, like the one I found here last year and brought back for my sister. The odd thing is ... there were no giant pine trees visible near where I found the cone, so I don't know how it got there. Was it moved by an animal ?

We got a visit from a woman who visits and welcomes new arrivals in the park. Nice touch ! I filed Misty Venture's quarterly GST return, and made reservations at an upscale luxury RV resort in Hemet, near Palm Springs. I walked down to the clubhouse, exchanged some books, and dropped off some unwanted items at the park's bargain table.

Oh, my goodness ! The Curse Of Joanne has struck again. The Curse Of Joanne is sort of an inside / family joke. The premise of The Curse Of Joanne is that, sooner or later, everywhere that we have travelled to will be devastated by a weather event of some sort. Tonight the lead story on the national news was the flooding in Washington and Oregon caused by the extremely heavy rains of the last week or so. The news featured the destruction of the Wilson River Campground in Tillamook, Oregon. We spent a week at the Wilson River Campground a year and a half ago, waiting for Dee-Dee's transmission to be rebuilt ... for the first time ! The news showed the collapsed campground office, surrounded by the raging waters of the swollen Wilson River. Trailers were tipped over, floating away, and getting trapped in trees. The campground owner who was so helpful to us while we were stranded there was being interviewed. Not only did we stay in the Wilson River Campground a year and a half ago, we drove through the area a few days ago. The heavy rains had already begun. I'm glad we drove through and out of it just before the flooding began.

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and warm.

This morning I discovered the answer to the mystery of how do the giant Bull / Digger Pine cones end up on the forest floor far from trees. They roll ! They fall off the trees, then roll down the hillsides, bouncing in all directions, coming to rest in gullies, where they are sometimes washed even further downhill when it rains and the rain water flows through the gullies. While walking Bo this morning I discovered a couple of bunches of these huge cones piled together at the bottom of hillsides, and at the bottom of little dry gullies.

For lunch we drove a couple of miles to the Chuckchansi Gold Resort & Casino, where they have a stupendous buffet dining room, with an incredibly cheap price for seniors at lunch time on weekdays. They don't question our "senior" status. Who else other than retired "seniors" show up for lunch on weekdays ? HA HA HA ! We're old !

First stop was the soup and salad bar. Then the Italian bar. Then the Mexican bar. Then the American bar ( southern fried chicken, barbecued beef ribs, etc. ), then the Chinese bar, then the dessert bar. Joanne skipped the Chinese bar. Wimp ! HA HA HA ! But ... she did redeem herself by having 5 desserts ! HA HA HA HA HA !

She wanted to play a dollar's worth in the penny slots. Okay. I wanted to quit after about half an hour, when we were up to $4. She wanted to continue. At 45 minutes we were at about $3. At an hour we were at $2. Again I wanted to quit. She wanted to continue. At an hour and a half we were at $3. Enough ! I've got to go wash the truck. Hmmmm ... in an hour and half, we tripled our money. Maybe next time we'll play the $1000 slots instead of the penny slots. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

 

Thursday ; Coarsegold to Mojave, California

Today was sunny and warm.

This morning we departed SKP Park Of The Sierras, heading south on Hwy. 41 to Fresno. Driving through Fresno, we got onto Hwy. 99 heading southeast into the San Joaquin ( pronounced "Whakeen" ) Valley. We stopped in Fowler to refill with diesel. We stopped in Tulare to replenish groceries, and have lunch. We stopped in Bakersfield to buy some RV supplies at Camping World.

From Bakersfield, we got onto Hwy. 58 heading southeast through and over the Tehachapi Mountains into ... finally ... the Mojave Desert. AHHHHH ... I like the Mojave ! At the town of Mojave, we turned north onto Hwy. 14 for 6 miles to Sierra Trails RV Park, where we stopped for the night. Another long, hard day of driving, searching for an RV park in the dark, and having to back into a difficult site in the dark. Stressful for both of us !

 

Friday ; Mojave to Hemet, California

Today was sunny and very warm.

We weren't aware that today was the beginning of a long weekend in the United States. It was a hell of a bad time to be driving the freeways on the east side of Los Angeles. It took us about 3½ hours to travel about 30 miles. Sheesh !

This morning we travelled 6 miles south on Hwy. 14 back to the town of Mojave where we turned east on Hwy. 58. At an intersection named Four Corners, in the Mojave Desert, in the middle of nowhere, we turned south on Hwy. 395. It was a long stretch of mile after mile of nothing. Hwy. 395 ended when it reached Interstate 15 at Hesperia. We stopped at a Pilot Travel Centre, refilled with diesel, and had lunch. After lunch we continued south on I-15. Soon we were at Cajon Summit ( elev. 4259 ft. ) in the San Gabriel Mountains. The descent down into the San Bernardino Valley was 12 miles long, and it took us about an hour and a half to travel the 12 mile hill. It was the beginning of a long afternoon of 4 lane wide freeway, bumper to bumper, crawling speed. We branched off I-15 onto I-215, a bypass around the east side of Los Angeles, through San Bernardino and Riverside. Finally, after 3½ hours of creeping, we reached Hwy. 74 where we turned east towards Hemet. We arrived at Golden Palms Village at 5:00 P.M., just as it turned dark.

WOW ... 1019 RV sites. The lobby and check in desk were like a major hotel. It was difficult to get backed into our site in the dark. Two nights in a row of getting backed in and set up in the dark < sigh >. We're going to stay here for a week, rest, and get caught up on some chores. And ... hopefully ... enjoy some nice Southern California weather.

We're in between the San Bernardino Mountains to our northeast, and the Santa Ana Mountains to our southwest. We're just a few miles south of where that large wild fire was a couple of weeks ago. In today's local newspaper there was a belated obituary for one of the fire fighters killed. He was from this town.

 

Saturday ; Remembrance Day in Canada / Veterans Day In United States

Lest We Forget !

This morning we observed a minute of silence, to remember, at the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, under the shade of the orange and lemon trees in the vacant site next to us. It saddens me to once again witness the difference between how Canadians observe Remembrance Day, and how Americans pretty much ignore Veterans Day. Despite the fact that it is a national holiday in the U.S., it just seems like another opportunity to go shopping. Our minute of silence was marred by a loud conversation, and a loud engine starting, in nearby sites.

Today was sunny and warm.

We walked around the resort, checking out the 3 swimming pools, 3 hot tubs, poolside snack bar, huge fitness centre, library, many meeting rooms, banquet room, laundry room, etc.. This place is similar to a luxury hotel resort, without the rooms. Quite a nice place, although a tad expensive. I think we'll consider spending an entire winter here at some time in the future. I looked in their guest book, sorted by state and province. There are quite a few B.C. people spending the winter here. A couple from Alberta, a couple from Saskatchewan, nobody from Manitoba or further east in Canada. We purchased 2 tickets to Jazz In The Palms next Wednesday, an evening of dining and dancing in the resort's banquet room, with a 5 piece jazz band. We weighed ourselves, for the first time in 2½ years, on the scale in the fitness room. YIKES ! ! ! < shudder >

It was kind of nice to have a Diet Cola with a wedge of a lemon that had been growing on a tree up until 30 seconds before it was in my drink. HA HA HA !

DSK

Year 3 Week 20

October 29 to November 4, 2006

Oliver, B.C. to Sutherlin, Oregon

Year 3 week 20

 

Sunday ; Today was partially cloudy, windy and cold.

When the Canada Geese in Manitoba starting flying south about 6 weeks ago, we knew it was time to leave Manitoba. The Canada Geese here in British Columbia have started flying south. Must be just about time for us to leave !

Today was another lazy day of lying around, reading. I did a few small cleaning chores, including removing the roof vent in the kitchen and cleaning out the dust and debris. Sometime during the night Teddy decided that the kitchen floor register was a good place to puke up a hairball and his half digested bedtime snack. I had to remove the floor register, and clean out inside the heating duct as well as cleaning all the slats and vanes of the register. Thanks a lot, Teddy !

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and cold. Fresh snow is visible up on the mountains around us. I can see snow on the mesh spread over the vineyards ( to keep the birds away from the grapes ) up on Black Sage Road on the "bench" on the mountain on the other side of the airport. Hellooooo, California !

After lunch I drove Joanne downtown, dropping her off at the grocery store. I went to the Chevron station and adjusted the air pressure in all 7 truck tires, in preparation for our departure on Wednesday. I went to the Post Office to pick up our mail. Our regular mail forwarded by my sister Sharon in Lorette was there, but my investment mail forwarded by my cousin's husband Bruce in Thunder Bay was not. Darn ! I refilled a propane tank, then washed the truck. Joanne met me at the car wash across the street from the grocery store.

As we were preparing for bed, we discovered that our outside water hose was frozen. I disconnected it, and switched to our internal fresh water tank. Hellooooo, California !

 

Tuesday ; Oliver to Penticton & return

Happy Hallowe'en !

Today was sunny and cold. Joanne says she's allergic to winter.

This morning we headed to Penticton. First stop was Canadian Tire for a few automotive supplies. Then we headed for a meeting with an Edward Jones investment broker. Next summer we're going to have to move our investments from our broker in Ottawa to one nearby, probably in Penticton. After our meeting we went to Bling Performance. I got a 3 day download of a power and performance program "chip" into Lanoire's computer. It's an opportunity to try out the horsepower and torque performance improvement program "chip" before buying. I want to assess this expensive power "chip" while towing Harvey, starting tomorrow. We had a late lunch at Boston Pizza, then headed back to Oliver.

Back at Desert Gem RV Resort, we hitched up Lanoire to Harvey in preparation for departure tomorrow morning. Just before it got dark outside I went for a long walk to smoke the last of the Monte Cristo No. 5 cigars my sister brought back for me from Cuba last winter. AHHHHHH ! I retrieved my month end investment data updates, and bank statements, taking advantage of my last day with Wi-Fi for awhile.

I thought it might be a good idea for Bo and I to go out for Hallowe'en. I could be "Timmy" and Bo could be Lassie. "Lassie, Lassie, I've fallen down the well ... go for help, Lassie". Bo didn't "get it". Stupid dog ! HA HA HA HA HA !

 

Wednesday ; Oliver, B.C to Ellensburg, Washington

Today was sunny and cold. We had quite a scare tonight when we lost Teddy in a parking lot filled with commercial trucks and RV's coming and going.

This morning we departed Desert Gem RV Park. Before leaving Oliver I adjusted the air pressure in all the trailer tires, while Joanne refilled water jugs at the grocery store. We drove south on Hwy. 97 to Osoyoos, where we filled up with diesel just before the border crossing. They were searching all RV's crossing the border today south of Osoyoos. They confiscated a 10 pound bag of Canadian made dog food that we purchased 2 days ago ! We had used up most of our food, and were careful not to have any beef, fruits or vegetables. But the border crossing regulations seem to change on a daily basis, and today they would not allow any Canadian made pet foods across the border, even a lamb and rice dog food with no beef. I'm a little miffed !

We stopped at the first town on the U.S side, Oroville, Washington, and replenished groceries. It's hard to believe the price discrepancies between Canada and the United States on some foods. A dozen eggs was 79 cents ! We continued south on Hwy. 97. We stopped at Wal-Mart at Omak, Washington and replenished supplies, including dog food.

For most of the day, Hwy. 97 followed the Okanogan River, until it flowed into the mighty Columbia River, then the highway followed the Columbia River. In Canada the river and valley are spelled Okanagan. In the United States it's spelled Okanogan. At Wenatchee Hwy. 97 turns northwest for awhile, away from the river, and climbs up into the Cascade Mountains, and Wenatchee National Forest. We detoured about 6 miles on Hwy. 2 to Leavenworth looking for a campsite, but we couldn't find it so we returned to Hwy. 97. The road ascended to an elevation above 4100 feet. There was snow on the ground. We stopped at a National Forest Campground, but it was closed for the season. We continued driving, in the dark, down out of the mountains, and out of the National Forest, to the town of Ellensburg.

We stopped at a large truck stop service station and parked for the night behind all the parked semi-trailers. After preparing supper we had a slight propane supply problem. I went in and out of the trailer a number of times fixing the problem. Shortly thereafter, we noticed Teddy was missing. We frantically searched inside the trailer, looking under the bed where he sometimes squeezes in when the bedroom slide is retracted , and in all the cupboards. We couldn't find him. While we were looking, three large RV's arrived and parked beside us, and semi-trailers were coming and going. Panicked, we started searching outside. We finally found him, slowly walking back towards the trailer from underneath a row of parked semi-trailers. It was scary ! He’s not very street smart, and doesn’t have the sense to get out of the way of approaching vehicles. I’m upset and angry with myself for allowing him to escape out the door while I was going in and out working on the propane problem. After having him for 14 years, I can’t imagine the horror of losing him to my carelessness and his stupidity.

 

Thursday ; Ellensburg, Washington to Corbett, Oregon ( just east of Portland )

Today's weather started out, and ended, very ugly. This morning as we were leaving the parking lot behind the Pilot service station and Perkins restaurant where we boondocked overnight, the weather was light snow, ice pellets, and freezing rain. Having spent 16 winters in Ottawa, Ontario, I hate freezing rain ! ! ! We decided that because of the weather we would travel on the four lane divided Interstates, instead of our original plan to follow the much shorter and more scenic route on two lane Hwy. 97. Leaving Ellensburg we drove about 3 miles east on I-90, then turned south on I-82. The road was coated in black ice, and the front tires felt as if they were floating, with almost no steering traction. It felt treacherous to drive a big, heavy rig like that. I shifted into 4WD and that improved things a lot. With power going to the front wheels, it increased the traction greatly. We stopped in Yakima to refill with diesel. I don't see much mileage improvement with the power performance improvement program that's temporarily downloaded into Lanoire's computer. I sense increased horsepower, but that's not really needed. We followed I-82 all the way to the Columbia River, which is the border between Washington and Oregon. We crossed the river into Oregon, then turned west on I-84.

When we stopped for lunch, the weather had improved a lot. The temperature had climbed above freezing, and the rain had stopped. After lunch Joanne drove for an hour and a half. We were driving along the Columbia River through the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. It was nice, but would have been nicer if it hadn't been so gloomy looking with low clouds. As we were driving, I glanced out my window, to the left and up. What luck ! We were passing Mist Falls. A mountain stream that falls over a precipice 600 feet up, and before the waterfall can reach the ground, the wind blowing along the mountain face disperses the waterfall into just a mist. A waterfall that just disappears.

We've crossed over the Cascade Mountains from the relatively dry east side to the very wet west side. Much like in British Columbia where the falls and springs are relatively dry east of Hope, and wet west of Hope. That's one of the main reasons why we bought a lot in Keremeos, east of Hope.

It's currently 6:10 P.M. and I'm watching the news on a Portland TV station. It's reporting on the many multi-vehicle accidents in and around Portland right now. In the last hour, the sun set, the rain and wind became very heavy, the temperature dropped back down to the freezing level, the rain froze on the roads, and vehicles are sliding into one another. We got off the road an hour ago, just as it got really ugly.

We found our way to Crown Point RV Park, about 7 miles off the Interstate, following the Historic Columbia River Highway, all uphill into the mountains. As we arrived, the wind and rain became extreme. It was an unpleasant, difficult arrival, trying to back the rig into our site, me backing up completely blindly, Joanne standing out in the heavy wind and rain trying to guide me by walkie-talkie.

 

Friday ; Corbett ( Portland ) to Sutherlin, Oregon

Today was raining all day. I guess we're not going to see any sunshine until California. But we've travelled far enough south that the temperature is in the 50's.

This morning we drove back down the Historic Columbia River Highway to Interstate 84. First stop was Flying J where we refilled a propane tank and filled up with diesel. It took awhile because there was a line up of RV's waiting to get at Flying J's RV islands. A short distance on I-84 to Portland, then onto I-205, the Interstate bypass around the east and south sides of Portland, to I-5. The traffic in and around Portland was heavy. The weather was bad, with heavy rain. It's so stressful to drive the rig around large cities, in heavy traffic, with poor visibility, and urban drivers who either don't understand, or don't respect, big rigs.

Interstate 5 was fairly heavy traffic all day. I-5 is the main highway on the west side of North America, from Tijuana, B.C. ( Baja California ), Mexico, all the way to Vancouver, B.C. ( British Columbia ), Canada. We drove south on I-5 to Sutherlin where we stopped for a couple of nights at Timber Valley SKP Park. In the last 2 years we have been to 18 of the 19 Escapee parks. Timber Valley is the last one. WOO-HOO. We have now been to all 19 Escapee parks.

We got set up in our site during heavy rain. Oh, well, setting up upon arrival in the rain is not as bad as preparing for departure in the rain. Timber Valley has cable TV, and we spent a couple of hours watching the National Geographic Network. We were both amazed and educated by watching Cesar Millan, “The Dog Whisperer”. He’s an incredible dog trainer and behaviourist.

I spent the evening working on reconciling bank statements, updating investment files, and watching Dirty Jobs and Survivorman on The Discovery Channel. HA HA HA ... I love both those shows.

 

Saturday ; Today was mild, cloudy, and raining lightly.

We took a break from driving today. This morning I walked over to the clubhouse to take a look around. A group of residents having coffee and chatting invited me to join them. Joanne did laundry. I did Lanoire's 42,000 km. scheduled maintenance inspections. I took Bo for a long obedience training walk. We came to a vacant lot with 4 bunnies grazing on it. I put him into a "sit, stay, leave it". He sat, watched the rabbits, and didn't move. Good dog, Bo. We continued walking, and came across a woman walking her cat on a leash. Sit, stay, leave it, Bo. He did. I walked about 50 feet away, and gave him a "come" command. ZOOOOOM ! Straight to the woman and cat, freaking out the cat, and pissing off the woman. For crying out loud, Bo. It's a cat ! What's the matter with you ? ! ? I also took Teddy for a walk on a leash. He's usually not a very good leash walker, but he did fine today.

This park, Timber Valley SKP Park, is filled with rabbits and deer. When I walked Bo late in the afternoon, we came across 5 deer beside the creek. Bo freaked out. I tried to calm him using a technique I learned yesterday watching Cesar Millan on TV. It didn't work. I guess I'm a failure as a "dog whisperer". HA HA HA !

DSK