Year 3 Week 49

May 20 to 26, 2007

Keremeos, B.C.

Year 3 week 49

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and mild, a bit windy.

This morning we trimmed Teddy's and Bo's nails. Ooooops ... hit the quick in one of Bo's nails again. Sorry, Bo. I spent much of the morning washing out the box of the truck. When we bought a load of soil, I tried to have it dumped onto a tarp in the back of the truck, but the man operating the front end loader missed the tarp when he dumped the soil into the truck. There was soil all over the inside of the truck box, including all over the fifth wheel hitch, and underneath the Rubbermaid tote and the aluminum storage chest < sigh >. It was tough to clean out. I even had to remove the fifth wheel hitch out of the truck, then reinstall it after cleaning out the truck box.

This afternoon we went to the Keremeos Rodeo. It was the first time we've been to a rodeo. It was great ! We watched women's barrel racing ( my favourite event ), the kids' calf scramble, team roping, and bull riding. After the rodeo, we drove from the rodeo grounds into town, to the Elks Barbecue at Memorial Park.

We spent the evening watching Bob & Doug Mackenzie's movie, Strange Brew, followed by their Two Four Anniversary Special. HA HA HA !

 

Monday ; Today was sunny, mild, and windy.

This morning we headed into Keremeos for the annual Victoria Day parade. Bo hasn't been getting much "drivey" time in the 3 weeks that we've been here, so we took him along. For a small village, Keremeos put on a pretty decent parade. We sat on a bench in Memorial Park to watch the parade. We were about 50 feet behind the crowd on the sidewalk. Bo's a bit too exuberant for us to stand right at the edge of the street, in a crowd, watching a parade, with horses prancing by a few feet in front of his nose.

As soon as the parade was over, we jumped in the truck and followed the crowd, which was pretty much the entire population of Keremeos and area, over to the fairgrounds, for the ... wait for it ... annual Victoria Day lawnmower races. HA HA HA ! We weren't sure what to expect. We didn't think lawnmowers travelled fast enough to make lawnmower races interesting. We were very wrong. These hillbilly boys out here sure do know how to "soup up" their lawnmowers ! We spent the afternoon sitting up in the bleachers, watching lawnmowers race around the dirt track that was the rodeo grounds yesterday. The highlight of Bo's day came when the wind knocked over the little cardboard tray of french fries of the teenaged girl sitting beside us. ZOOOOOM ... SCARF ! Good fries, eh, Bo ? HA HA HA !

I spent some time late this afternoon dozing on the swing with Teddy. He's become very fond of our new yard swing. I spent the evening finishing up our income tax returns, which I've been working on intermittently for the last couple of weeks. I'll only be a month late filing our income taxes, which is the earliest I've filed them in 20 years. HA HA HA !

 

Tuesday ; Another sunny, warm day.

We headed to Penticton this morning for another long, tiring day of running errands. On the way back we stopped in Keremeos for still more errands. I went to Similkameen Insurance Agency to get some information on registering and insuring the truck and trailer in British Columbia. It seems as if B.C.'s vehicle insurance premiums will be much more than we've been paying in Manitoba.

After supper we filled out more government forms < sigh > for new residents of B.C., and I reconciled the MasterCard statements. Our new driver's licenses arrived in the mail today. My goodness, what horrible photos !

 

Wednesday ; Another sunny, warm day.

This morning our good RV'ing friends Tom & Ruth-Anne Huggard, and their Scottish Terrier Emma Lynn arrived for a visit. We met Tom and Ruth-Anne just when we were starting to full time RV 3 years ago, at an Ontario Escapees Chapter 18 rally. Since then we have visited with them in Lorette, Manitoba while "living" in my sister's yard in the summer of 2004, at West Hawk Lake when we were campground hosts in the summer of 2005, at their new home in Northern Alberta in the fall of 2005, at Oliver, B.C. near here again in the fall of 2005, and we missed them by 2 hours at the Escapees Park near Knoxville, Tennessee in the spring of 2006.

Around noon Glenn the China Creek service technician arrived to install and configure my new wireless router. When he finished that, he and I both assumed it would then be a simple matter to configure my Vonage Wi-Fi VoIP phone to operate. WRONG ! I spent the rest of the day alternating between visiting with Tom and Ruth-Anne, and trying to get the Vonage phone to work. I was very frustrated. I sent Glenn 3 e-mails asking for help, each one more desperate. I even drove into town and phoned him on our Manitoba cell phone, and left a desperate message asking for help. Finally, late in the day, and completely inadvertently and serendipitously, I got the phone working. WOO-HOO ! All's well that ends well, I guess. I'd like to take credit for being an electronics wizard, but ... I can't. Sometimes it's just better to be lucky than good.

 

Thursday ; Today was sunny and warm again. How nice !

This morning Ruth-Anne and Joanne went into Keremeos to do a bit of grocery shopping. Ruth-Anne wanted to look around Keremeos. As Ruth-Anne drove their truck out of our lot, she bumped the park bench I positioned at the corner of our lot, and she broke it. Oh ... well ... shit happens ! Tom and Ruth-Anne will go to Penticton tomorrow and get us a new park bench. At least their truck wasn't scratched.

Tom and I spent much of the day working on building a picnic table. Well, Tom did most of the work. He started before I was even aware of it. And he worked on it by himself for an hour while I had a telephone conversation with a couple from Bracebridge, Ontario, who are seriously contemplating purchasing a lot in this park. They found out I was a new owner here when they did a Google search on the name of this park, and one of the links that popped up was my blog. Isn't Google wonderful ? ! Their phone call was the first call I received on my new Vonage VoIP Wi-Fi phone.

Some work needs to be done on the park's trailer storage area. The few trailers that are in the storage area needed to be moved. One of our neighbours asked me to move their fifth wheel trailer, because they don't have a truck with a fifth wheel hitch. They had the trailer moved here from Alberta by a commercial hauler. I moved their trailer from the storage area to an empty lot while the storage area is being worked on. When the work is completed, I expect they'll ask me to move their trailer back.

Late in the afternoon, Wayne, the developer of the park, showed up with a B.C. provincial electrical inspector who wanted to inspect the electrical installation on our lot. The electrical inspector's position was that it was unacceptable to him that we have a ( standard ) RV pedestal configuration of a 50 amp outlet, a30 amp outlet, and a 15 amp duplex outlet. He instructed me to remove the 50 amp outlet, and replace it with another 30 amp outlet, for a configuration of two 30 amp outlets, and a 15 amp duplex outlet.

Let me get this straight. You, a total stranger, walk onto my property, produce no identification or documentation, and want me to remove an outlet from a standard configuration RV pedestal and replace it with a lower power outlet, because you said so ? ? ? ? ? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ... I don't think so ! **** off, get off my land, and come back when you have the correct document, on Province of B.C. letterhead, signed by someone with a lot more authority than you, instructing me to change it, and explaining why. I'll forward that document to my lawyer, and discussions will start, at that point !

You know, I've had a lot more hassles in 3 weeks as a land owner, than I did in 3 years as a homeless, unemployed vagabond.

 

Friday ; Today was sunny and warm.

Tom and I continued working on building a picnic table again today, but unfortunately were unable to finish. For the second time on this picnic table project, I had purchased the wrong size of screws. We spent most of the day visiting with Tom and Ruth-Anne. Around 4:00 P.M. we loaded 4 people and 3 dogs into Lanoire and headed for town, for the Music Under the K annual music festival. The "K" is K Mountain, which serves as a backdrop for the village of Keremeos. I dropped everybody off at Memorial Park, then went to Keremeos Building Supplies to exchange the wrong screws for the right ones.

We weren't planning to spend as much time at Music Under The K as we did, but it was so enjoyable, we were there from 4:30 until the end of the day's performances at 9:00 P.M.. We watched a local classic rock band, a jazz band from Penticton, a Celtic rock and blues band from Toronto, and a variety of high school bands. The highlight was a superb performance by a rhythm and blues big band and choir from a high school in West Vancouver.

 

Saturday ; Today was sunny and very warm. My face looks a little sun burned from sitting in the bright sun at "Music Under the K" this afternoon.

This morning I got up early to visit with Tom and Ruth-Anne ( early risers ) for awhile before they departed. After they left, and we had an early lunch we drove into Keremeos to catch the opening act of the day at Music Under the K. It was the Sentinel High School Rhythm & Blues Band from West Vancouver. We enjoyed their performance so much last night we wanted to see their performance again today. After watching them start the afternoon's performances, we stayed for a couple of hours watching a variety of performers.

Buppy our visitor dog is fretting much less today. He even managed to wag his tail a few times today.

 

DSK

Year 3 Week 48

May 13 to 19, 2007

Keremeos, B.C.

Year 3 week 48

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and warm.

Today I worked on finishing the levelling and compacting of Lot 89, using Ben's walk behind compactor. We walked around and visited with neighbours ; Dorothy, Stu, Gil & Maria. We both did work on the computer ; updating my blog, e-mail, and magazine subscription changes of address. I worked on my income tax. We watched a couple of episodes of Fawlty Towers. HA HA HA HA HA !

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and warm.

It's been years since I've been as angry as I was today, at the half wit Quebecois electrician. I'm retired ... I don't need this aggravation !

This morning Ben brought a load of sand for me, to finish up around our tree, in preparation for me installing a concrete pave stone ring around the tree. His assistant did some "touch up" with the huge vibrating compactor roller machine, and I did some "touch up" with the little walk behind compactor. Joanne and I prepared to go Penticton, to obtain B.C. driver's licenses, and do some shopping for planters and plants.

Half wit showed up just as we were about to leave. I waited while he and Stu, our new next door neighbour in the park model argued about the installation of Stu's hydro meter, and the necessary permits. Finally, when they were finished that argument, Half wit and I began to discuss the completion of my hydro installation, phone line installation, permits, and hydro meter installation. To make a very long story short ( it's after 11:00 P.M. and I'm tired ) Half wit and I got into a very heated discussion which devolved into a screaming match that lasted far too long until it was resolved. Resolution was easy ! Do it my way, or you're fired, and you won't be paid ! ! ! What a ******* half wit ! ! !

We went to Penticton and got our driver's licenses. WAAAAAHHHHH ! ! ! My driver's license says my hair colour is grey ! WAAAAAHHHHH ! ! ! We spent the afternoon shopping for planters and plants. And I bought concrete pave stones to make a ring around our tree.

When we returned to Riverside we discovered that Fortis had installed our hydro meter. Our lot has electricity. WOO-HOO ! Basic development of our lot is completed. We'll probably move onto it tomorrow.

While Joanne prepared supper, I installed the concrete pave stone ring around the tree. Very civilized looking ! After supper while I worked on the computer, Joanne worked on setting up our new Vonage VoIP phone which we received today.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and very warm. It was a good news / bad news kind of day.

Good news ; we moved onto Lot 89 this morning.

Bad news ; the ****wits at Vonage assigned us a phone number that already belongs to somebody else.

This morning we wanted to phone our sisters to try out our new VoIP phone. I phoned my sister's and spoke to my niece. I phoned Joanne's sister and left a message. We prepared for departure, and moved from Lot 71, the lot we "borrowed" for the last 2 weeks, to Lot 89.

AHHHH ... now we truly are "home" ! Welcome !

I helped my neighbour, Stu unload his moving truck late this afternoon. He left here at 4:00 A.M., drove to Chilliwack, rented a truck, loaded it, and drove back here by late afternoon. He's leaving here at 4:00 A.M. tomorrow morning to get the truck back to Chilliwack by 8:00 A.M..

I worked on assembling our new yard swing. It was going along fairly well, then I hit a snag. A bolt broke as I was screwing it into a badly threaded insert < sigh >. I wrestled the broken bolt out, and will have to buy some problem solving hardware tomorrow to be able to continue.

Joanne phoned her sister and chatted. I phoned my sister and discovered that the phone number assigned to us by Vonage belongs to somebody else. When my sister tried to phone us earlier in the day, she kept getting "Angela". I spent the evening on the computer and the phone with Vonage trying to get that problem rectified !

I'll say it again ! You know, I'm retired ! I don't need this aggravation ! Oh, well ... we live in a beautiful place, and the weather is great.

Congratulations to Joanne's sister and brother-in-law on their purchase of a new SUV.

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and very warm again. Nice weather we've been having.

This morning we resumed assembling our yard swing. When we were finished, we sat in it and appreciated the view of the river and the mountain, and the nice weather, until it was time for lunch.

I tried to use our new Wi-Fi phone but was unable to access our neighbour's Wi-Fi signal. I tried Wi-Fi on the computer, and was equally unsuccessful.

We went to Keremeos. Joanne went grocery shopping while I made phone calls and bought some hardware. On our way out of town we bought half a yard of Penticton compost soil and a large bag of top soil at the local garden centre. YIKES ... turned out to be way too much ! We filled the ring around the tree, and the 4 cedar planters we bought the other day. The truck is still half full of Penticton compost soil. Joanne planted flowers around the tree, and some herbs and vegetables in the cedar planters. As we were working in the yard, a Bald Eagle swooped down low and "eyeballed" Bo. WHOA ! ! ! There's plenty of marmots around here to keep you fed, Mr. Eagle. Leave my little Bo dog alone !

I spent the evening updating and analyzing my investment files.

 

Thursday ; Today was sunny and warm.

This morning I went off in search of any neighbours who might want the half load of soil we had left over in the back of the truck. I found a neighbour with 2 wine half barrel planters that weren't filled yet. The half load in the truck was exactly the right amount to fill their 2 half barrels. While I was chatting with them, the Star Choice installation technician showed up. He installed the satellite dish on our Douglas Fir tree temporarily. It was the sloppiest installation job I've ever seen. Good thing I'll be moving it over to a post that I'll install in a week or so. I didn't like the installation technician, and particularly didn't like his $22.60 "fuel surcharge" for coming out here. I sent an e-mail to Star Choice complaining, but their response was that the installation technicians are independent contractors, and charge extra for a variety of things, including distance travelled.

While the Star Choice installation technician was still here, the China Creek Internet Service installation technician showed up. He also mounted his equipment temporarily on our Douglas Fir. And there's a huge Douglas Fir across the road from us that is directly in line with their transmitter tower across the river. It partially blocks the signal, giving me poor and slow Internet reception. I'll have to install a post near the rear of our trailer for both the satellite dish, and the Internet "radio" transceiver.

AND ... I misunderstood China Creek's equipment configuration. I thought they were providing a connection inside the trailer to a wireless router. NOOOOO ... they only install their transceiver cable to awireless router if the customer already has a wireless router. Otherwise it connects directly to the customer's computer with an Ethernet cable. Rendering our Vonage VoIP Wi-Fi phone a boat anchor ! A very small boat anchor.

While I worked "at home" Joanne drove to Penticton to do some shopping. I spent a frustrating afternoon and evening trying to decipher and comprehend electronics.

 

Friday ; Today was sunny and very warm again. We've been having great weather.

This morning I drove Joanne to the laundromat in Keremeos, dropped her off, then continued east on Hwy. 3 for a few more miles to the next village of Cawston where I had an appointment at 10:30 A.M. at Car Doctor for a B.C. safety inspection on the truck. The truck passed the safety inspection, but I had to listen to about an hour of lecturing about "need new brakes soon". Right ... give me the safety inspection sticker, and I'll get those brakes done pronto ! Yessirree ... Car Doctor could smell a thousand dollar brake job coming his way. I don't think so, Doc !

I drove back to Keremeos and met Joanne. We walked to the Source By Circuit City and bought a wireless router. Keremeos is remarkably self-sufficient, from a shopping point of view, for such a little village. I went to Keremeos Hardware and bought some hardware I needed, then went to Keremeos Building Supplies and picked up the cedar picnic table kit I had ordered a week ago. I also bought a post and some hardware, for mounting the Internet transceiver and satellite dish. I'm getting a poor Internet signal because of where the Internet transceiver is mounted on our Douglas Fir. On the way back to Riverside we stopped at one of Keremeos's many roadside produce stands and bought some vegetables.

Back at Riverside I reinstalled the dually valve extenders and wheel liners that had to be removed to do the safety inspection. Car Doctor was a real banjo playing, backyard mechanic kind of place, and I didn't want them to do it. I tried for a very long, frustrating time, to install the wireless router, but was unsuccessful. First of all, the Internet signal I'm receiving is poor. Secondly, I believe that China Creek does some kind of programming that prevents installation of wireless routers, creating a Wi-Fi hot spot all around our trailer, unless if their technician comes in and does something to allow it. Cost is $35, thank you. I need to relocate the Internet transceiver and get a better signal before I call the China Creek technician to come down and take my money.

I'm finding the effort I'm expending to get up and running with wireless Internet first, then VoIP phone second, to be very, very frustrating ! ! ! And increasingly expensive !

 

Saturday ; Another very nice day !

This morning I temporarily installed an 8 foot pressure treated 4 x 4 post, using a precast concrete "deck block" mounting base. When I have more time, I'll install it in a more permanent fashion, into the ground. I removed the Internet transceiver from the Douglas Fir, and mounted it on the post, in a direct line with China Creek's tower across the river. Ah, yes, an excellent Internet connection now ! I found a small piece of discarded fiberglass insulation near the pool complex that's under construction while I was walking Bo. It was just the right amount for me to use to finish insulating around our water stand pipe installation.

This afternoon while Joanne washed the trailer, with intermittent assistance by me, I assembled a park bench Joanne bought in Penticton on Thursday. I placed it at the corner of our property, at the edge of the road, to encourage neighbours to sit and visit as they walk by. Our neighbours Gil and Maria walked by with their little dog Buppy, and asked if they could leave him with us for a few hours while they went into Keremeos with their visitors from England. We will be dog sitting Buppy in about a week, for about a week. Maria wanted to give Buppy a short introduction to the idea of staying with us. Buppy and Bo have become friends over the last couple of weeks. Nevertheless, Buppy was not very happy about being left with us. He was panic stricken for the first ten minutes or so, then very worried and morose until Maria picked him up a few hours later. During his panic phase, I got bit ! HMPH ... little hairy mop ! I've been bitten by better dogs than you, Buppy ! And lived to tell about it !

< sigh > I spent another frustrating evening trying to install the wireless router. I finally gave up ... again. I'm going to have to call the China Creek technician to come and do it for me. Either that, or return the wireless router for a refund, return the Vonage equipment for a refund, and settle for an old fashioned land line phone.

 

DSK

Year 3 Week 47

May 6 to 12, 2007

Keremeos, B.C.

Year 3 week 47

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and mild.

Today we drove into town to phone Joanne's niece Amelia and wish her a Happy Birthday. Yesterday was her birthday. We don't have cell phone service at Riverside RV Park Resort. We have to drive into Keremeos to be able to use the cell phone. I did some maintenance and "home improvement" projects. I updated my blog and did some more phone service research work on the computer.

After supper I took the little 12V TV and drove into Keremeos, hoping to be able to watch the season final of Amazing Race. I was able to get 2 channels in town, but neither one was the network carrying Amazing Race. Darn !

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and warm.

Today was another long, tiring day of running errands in Penticton. We drove to Penticton this morning, and my first chore there was to make phone calls. We parked in Canadian Tire's parking lot, and I phoned Star Choice to finalize arrangements for installation of satellite TV service on our lot, for May 17. I phoned China Creek Internet, the local Wi-Fi service provider, to get their opinion on Vonage, the local VOIP ( Voice Over Internet Protocol ) service provider. Their opinion is that Vonage was not very good when first introduced in this area about a year and a half ago, but they have steadily improved to the point where they have become quite good in the last 6 months. We're strongly inclined to give Vonage a try.

We returned some items, and bought some items at Canadian Tire. Then we shopped at Home Hardware before going for lunch to A & W. More returns and purchases at Rona. We phoned an ad in the Bargain Hunter advertising oak wine barrels for sale, cut in half to be used as planters. One of our neighbours bought 9 of them last week. We like them and wanted to buy 2 to use as planters. < sigh > They were sold out. Oh, well, in this area of many wineries, we'll probably be able to find them again somewhere soon. We went to see a local home based builder of picnic tables. I was hoping he would be using cedar to build picnic tables, but he's using spruce. I asked for a price to build one using pressure treated lumber, and will phone him on Wednesday for a price. We drove to Wal-Mart. Joanne went shopping in Wal-Mart while I went to Bell, then Wal-Mart's electronics department, to get information and prices on cell phone plans. Oh, for crying out loud, one needs a university degree in cellphoneology or something to be able to comprehend cell phones, plans and prices. While the salesman at Bell kept showing me different cell phones, I kept saying "no ... I just want one that goes 'ring ring', I say hello, and we talk !" I already have a camera. If I wanted an MP3 player, I'd buy one. If I wanted a blue tooth, I'd paint one of my own ! < shaking head in despair > Sheesh !

Driving home from Penticton to Keremeos on Hwy. 3A, we passed a fifth wheel being towed by an older GMC diesel, parked on the side of the highway, with its hood up. With empathy, I stopped to offer assistance. Yup ... sure enough ... it was the old GM 6.5 diesel PoS. Blown engine ! The engine had over 400,000 km. on it, and had been rebuilt only 3000 km. ago. The man wasn't pleased. I refrained from advising him to buy a Dodge. HA HA HA !

Back home, after supper, we analyzed and discussed home phone options and cell phone options, trying to make decisions on a home phone and cell phone. We made our decisions and I placed an order online for Vonage VOIP service for our home phone.

We were supposed to actually own Lot 89 today, but I received an e-mail from our lawyer advising us that there would be a one day delay, because the developer didn't sign the sale papers at his lawyer's office until very late in the day. Yeah ... I don't care. Our contractor will be on the lot early tomorrow morning excavating whether the developer is late signing or not ! So there !

 

Tuesday ; Today was a gorgeous, sunny, very warm, perfect "June 18" day.

I got up early this morning, and as I walked out the door at 8:00 A.M., showered, dressed, and ready to go, Ben Nendick was driving up to our lot in a backhoe. He trenched for the water line, and laid the water line. He trenched for a sewer line to each side of the lot, and laid the 2 sewer lines. He used 2 different pieces of heavy earth moving equipment. He sure is good at what he does with that heavy equipment.

While he was excavating, he dug up a huge, tangled mess of very old barbed wire and old, rotten fence post, buried about 5 feet deep. In the 1940's, a rail line from the Mascot Gold Mine in Hedley ran through this property on its way to Keremeos, then Osoyoos, then across the border down into Oroville, Washington. Farmers / ranchers of that era must have run fence lines alongside the rail line to keep their livestock safe.

I went to the office to ask for the keys to our mailbox. There were over 100 unlabelled sets of keys in 3 small containers. I had to take them to the community mailboxes, and keep trying keys in our mailbox until I found the set that fit < sigh >. Like an Amazing Race "roadblock" task ! Sure would be nice if somebody sorted and labelled all those mailbox keys !

While I "supervised" the development of our lot, Joanne went to town to do some laundry and buy some groceries. She got into a conversation with the owner of the grocery store. After talking to her for a few minutes, he seemed eager to discuss employment opportunities with her. Yeah ... I remember the desperate sense of "good help is hard to find".

Woo-Hoo ... perogies for supper tonight. Welcome back to Western Canada !

After supper we drove to town to phone the half wit Quebecois electrician we hired. He failed to show up tonight, as scheduled, to measure the trenching on our lot, to determine the amount of materials he would have to buy ( tonight ! ), to be able to commence his work on our lot tomorrow morning. When I first spoke to him 6 months ago, and impressed upon him that we wanted him to commence work on May 8, I thought he might be unreliable. When I spoke to him again a week ago, and impressed upon him that I expected him to commence work on May 8, again I thought he might be unreliable. Now I'm sure of it, and I'm angry !

I spent the evening preparing Joanne's income tax return. HEY ... CONGRATULATIONS to our friends Erbon and Lorraine in Ottawa who have just purchased a brand new RoadTrek Class B ( camper van ) RV.

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and very warm again. How nice !

This morning there was a loud knocking on our door at 8:00 A.M.. It was my half wit Quebecois electrician. He seemed a tad surly. Perhaps it was the message I left on his voice mail last night. I used a firm tone of voice, and I clearly expressed my expectations ! Anyway, we discussed what he was to do, and when he was going to do it. Maybe this afternoon ... probably tomorrow morning. I scowled and sneered, but left it at that.

We drove to Penticton for another long day of errands. First we had a meeting with an Edward Jones investment broker. He was the second Edward Jones broker we "interviewed" in Penticton, to determine if we wanted to transfer our investment portfolios from our excellent Edward Jones broker in Ottawa, to him. Unlike the broker we met in Penticton last October, this one "passed the test".

We took the truck to Parker's Chrysler for routine servicing. I made quite a few phone calls. The Virgin Mobile cell phone I wanted to order online wasn't available online, so I phoned them to find out where I could buy one. We walked a few blocks to Zeller's to buy a Virgin Mobile cell phone. We walked to Cherry Lane Mall for lunch. We returned to Parker's and waited for the truck servicing to be completed, then ran errands around Penticton for the rest of the afternoon.

I realized that I had misunderstood a question asked by Virgin Mobile when I phoned to activate our new cell phone, and I ended up with a Keremeos phone number. Darn ... what I wanted was a Penticton phone number. A Penticton cell phone number will meet our needs better than a Keremeos cell phone number will.

When we returned to Riverside RV Park it was no surprise to find that the electrician had done nothing today < fume >. We received our first piece of mail here today. It wasn't even addressed to us here. It was addressed to us c/o General Delivery in Keremeos. The Keremeos Post Office took it upon themselves to forward it to us here. Very impressive small town postal service !

The weather was so nice tonight that we took Bo for a long obedience walk before supper, and an even longer pleasure walk after supper. The Similkameen River seems to be rising daily. The newspaper had an article on the weekend about B.C. rivers being at high levels because of last winter's larger than average snowfall, and fairly rapid melting recently at the higher elevations. It's quite evident in the Similkameen, which was a meandering little stream last October. It's a raging torrent now !

 

Thursday ; Today was sunny and very warm again.

Early this morning the electrician showed up to commence work on our lot. With a lot of prodding from the excavation contractor, he managed to get the electrical work done by noon. Of course, he forgot to purchase the necessary materials to install the phone line, so he will have to return in a week or so to do the phone line. Fine ! I don't care ... we're going to use Vonage VOIP phone service. We'll only need the phone wiring if Vonage turns out to be unsatisfactory. Now that the electrician is finished the basic hydro installation, he can contact Fortis to install our hydro meter and turn on the power to our lot. Hopefully, that will take place early next week.

The excavation contractor Ben and his assistant Ed worked on installing the water supply while Richard the electrician did the hydro. By late afternoon Ben had backfilled all the trenching and had brought a dump truck load of sandy gravel, for levelling the site. We thought he might be finished today, but he abandoned our lot late in the afternoon to get started on another lot that he had promised to begin today. He knows that he has a few days to finish ours now that the electrician is finished, before Fortis comes in to install the hydro meter and turn on the power. All that is left for Ben to do is to finish levelling the site, then bring in a truck load of finishing shale, dump it, level it, and compact it.

We went to town this afternoon to run some errands. I phoned Virgin Mobile and had our new cell phone number changed from a Keremeos number to a Penticton number. We posted some mail, picked up passport application forms, then bought me a coin pouch to replace the one I recently lost. Darn ... I had just bought it a month and a half ago in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico. We went to Keremeos Irly Bird and ordered a picnic table kit, then went to the local nursery to browse.

Back at Riverside we met our new next door neighbour. Our park has a Moduline park model / mobile home franchise and had 3 park models installed in the park as sales models. One was beside our lot, and sold this week. The new neighbour is an elderly single gentleman from Chilliwack.

The Similkameen River is noticeably rising daily, and is now quite high. Ben says that the Similkameen typically doesn't crest until the May long weekend, so it's likely to continue rising for a couple more weeks. Hmmmmm ... I wonder if it's going to flood over its banks ?

 

Friday ; Today was sunny and warm.

I'm tired tonight. I spent the afternoon doing heavy physical labour, working as my excavation contractor's assistant. He worked the heavy equipment, and I did all the manual work with a shovel in the areas where he couldn't get in with the heavy equipment ; around the 2 sewer inlets, the hydro pedestal, the water stand pipe, around the tree, along the edge of the asphalt road, and around the utility access boxes at the road's edge. The basic development of the lot is almost completed, and it looks great ! Well ... great for an RV lot, anyway. A lot for an RV doesn't look like a tract house lot in suburbia. Especially since we're trying to develop our lot to be zero maintenance.

This morning Ben started bringing in dump truck loads of "rock slide" shale. Gee ... it took 4 dump truck loads to cover our lot. Our neighbour Dorothy asked if I could try to fix her computer problem. I went over to her place and was able to resolve the problem by doing disk cleanup and disk defragmentation. She didn't know she was supposed to do those things. I also helped her solve a dog urine stain problem on the carpet. Her dog Jimmy was a bad dog this morning. We went to Keremeos late in the morning to buy a few items, and to go to Similkameen Insurance to change our driver's licenses and vehicle registrations and insurance from Manitoba to British Columbia. Well, that was the plan anyway. But we hadn't counted on British Columbia's high level of bureaucracy. We have to go to Penticton to get new driver's licenses. And the truck has to pass a safety inspection before it can be registered in British Columbia. And I have to obtain insurance claim histories from Manitoba and Ontario going back 8 years ! < sigh >

When we returned from town, Ben was ready to have me assist him. He levelled first with a backhoe, then with a huge piece of heavy equipment that is basically a big giant vibrating roller. When he drove it back and forth across and around our lot, I could feel vibration as I stood on the road, and I could see the widows rattling in the park model next door. We didn't finish working until almost 6:00 P.M.. Ben left a walk behind vibrating compactor for me to use on the weekend, to finish up. After he left, I started it up to try it. Ungh ... it's like trying to hold back a vibrating, runaway train.

A few days after we bought our lot here last October, the price of lots in this park increased $5000. Today the price rose another $10,000. So before we even move onto our lot, it has increased in value by $15,000.

 

Saturday ; Today was sunny and warm.

This morning I finished tidying up / fussing with the installation of our water line. This afternoon I helped our new next door neighbour, Stu, repair some plumbing leaks around his hot water heater. The developer failed to winterize Stu's new park model / mobile home unit. When Stu took possession of it a couple of days ago, the toilet was cracked, and there were some cracked and leaking water supply valves and lines in and around the bathroom and hot water heater. The developer replaced the toilet and did necessary repairs, but after he left, Stu found that there were still some repairs necessary. He has no tools with him here yet, so he borrowed tools from me.

We went to the RV park next door called SunKatchers. They had a park wide yard sale. Joanne bought a brand new queen sized goose down duvet to replace an old, worn one of ours. The seller had received it as a gift, and didn't want it. We also bought a set of 4 VCR tapes with the entire 13 episodes of Fawlty Towers, a British TV comedy series from about 25 years ago, starring John Cleese. There were only 13 episodes ever made. We think Fawlty Towers is hilarious, and had been looking for a year for VCR tapes or a DVD of the series, for a gift for someone. We were unable, after a year of searching, to find them in any video stores, so we jumped at the opportunity to buy this used set, cheap, at a yard sale !

We walked Bo around the park, working on obedience, and visiting with neighbours. There's only a dozen or so couples living here so far, so it's a pretty friendly little community. While I was sitting outside working on the computer, our neighbour Dorothy came over to return the Natural Chemistry Odour & Stain Remover I lent her yesterday ( bad dog, Jimmy ), and to invite us over after supper for a visit. She also invited Stu.

We spent the evening visiting with Dorothy and Stu.

 

DSK

Year 3 Week 46

April 28 to May 5, 2007

Moses Lake, Washington to "home" ; Riverside RV Park Resort, Keremeos, B.C.

Year 3 week 46

 

Sunday ; Moses Lake to Oroville, Washington

Today was sunny and warm.

We left Moses Lake this morning continuing west on Interstate 90. We turned north on Hwy. 281 to Quincy, then west on Hwy. 28. Just north of Wenatchee we got onto Hwy. 97 heading north, following the Columbia River. Woo-Hoo ... the road home ! Hwy. 97 runs north from Weed, California all the way up through Oregon and Washington into the Okanagan ( Canadian spelling ) Valley of British Columbia. Next fall we'll probably drive it south from Osoyoos, B.C. all the way to California.

We stopped for lunch at Daroga State Park. It had a lovely picnic area, grassy, beside the lake. While Joanne prepared lunch Bo and I went to the children's play area for some "Bo-gility". We climbed the large play structure, crossed the shaky little suspension bridge, and at the top of the spiral slide, I stopped. Bo didn't. Just stepped off the platform, and ... ZOOOOOM ... down the spiral slide. What a strange little dog !

At Brewster, at the confluence of the Columbia River and the Okanogan ( American spelling ) River, we refilled with diesel. We changed drivers, and Joanne drove north to Tonasket. Hwy. 97 north from Brewster was now following the Okanogan River. The ( U.S. ) Okanogan Valley was filled with fruit orchards in bloom. Very pretty. We changed drivers again and I drove the remaining distance to Oroville. We were uncertain where to stay for the night. I favoured Osoyoos Lake State Park. The sites were unserviced, and the fee was $15, but I wanted to have a last campfire with the firewood that has been in the back of the truck since Alberta last September < rolling eyes >. We stopped at Prince's, the large grocery store in Oroville, to buy some wieners to roast over a campfire. Well, look at that ! Prince's operates a small RV park, with electrical sites for $7. We decided to stay at Prince's RV Park ... forget the campfire and wiener roast. We found our way to the Post Office where we need to pick up some mail tomorrow morning, then we refilled with diesel again before setting up in Prince’s RV Park.

Unfortunately, we could not get any TV reception on either the large TV using the roof top antenna, or the little TV with electronic tuning. < sigh > So we missed the second last episode of Amazing Race. There seems to be quite a few people living in this little RV park, in decrepit old campers, for $7 a night. Gee ... there’s a pretty fine line between that and homelessness.

 

Monday ; Oroville, Washington, U.S.A. to Keremeos, B.C., Canada

Well ... we're "home". First time in 3 years I can actually say that.

Today was sunny and warm.

This morning we drove to the Post Office in Oroville to pick up the Passport America package that we were expecting in Mission, Texas before we left there a month ago. It had not arrived in Mission by the time we left, so I left a "change of address" form to have it forwarded to Oroville. It wasn't in Oroville this morning ! PHHHT ... I don't care ! The day we left Mission, Texas I ordered another package from Passport America, as "plan B", and we received it in Lakewood, New Mexico about 3 weeks ago. I don't know whether the problem is the Post Office in Mission, Texas, or Houston, Texas, and I no longer care. If it hasn't arrived in Oroville by now, it's not going to.

We drove a few miles north on Hwy. 97 to the Canadian border and had a very easy time crossing back into Canada. Four simple questions, thank you, goodbye ! As of 10:35 A.M. MDT we were in, and therefore residents of, British Columbia. We turned west on Hwy. 3 and headed from Osoyoos to Keremeos. At Keremeos we found the Post Office and stopped to post some mail, and pick up 2 batches of mail I was expecting to be waiting for us at General Delivery. Only 1 batch was there < scowl >. We drove to the grocery store and while Joanne went inside to start shopping for groceries, I phoned my sister to find out where was the batch of mail she was supposed to have sent < fume >. After I sorted out the mail issue with my sister, and we were finished replenishing groceries, we headed west out of town on Hwy. 3 to Riverside RV Park Resort.

Home !

We got settled into a borrowed site, where we'll be until our lot 89 is completed, hopefully in about 2 weeks. I had a busy afternoon trying to meet with our excavation contractor and electrical contractor, and find an answer to my questions about RV utility pedestals and bases. To make a long, complicated story short, I've decided to tell Valid Manufacturing in Salmon Arm to "go pound sand", as Mitch the sales agent in the park put it. If they can't provide concrete bases for their pedestals, I don't want their pedestals. I will use the same pedestal that the electrical contractor that we have hired can easily provide. The same utility pedestal that almost all of the developed lots in the park have used. I met with a "neighbour" who will lend me his chain saw tomorrow and help me trim the tree in Lot 89, so we can position Harvey on the lot and prepare our site plan for approval.

The large indoor pool complex is not yet completed. We had expected it would be completed by May 1, but it looks like it will be at least another month before it's finished. We spent much of the afternoon and evening walking around the park, talking to residents, studying electrical hookups, sewer installations, water line installations, etc., firming up our basic development ideas and plans. We walked along the path beside the Similkameen River. It's quite a large, fast flowing river in the spring. The mountains all around us are ...

Yes, yes, this is truly a lovely place !

 

Tuesday ; Today was cloudy and cool.

This morning we prepared for trimming the large Douglas Fir tree on our lot. We were joined by John Grods, a park resident who has become the resident tree trimmer in the park. His career was as a forester, which I surmise must be the current politically correct term for a lumberjack. He didn't want me using his chain saw, he wanted to do it himself. Oh, my, he sure is adept at climbing into and scrambling around 15 feet up in a tree, for an old man. I guess some things are like riding a bicycle. He squirmed up into the tree, climbing and standing on lower branches, and began cutting off branches 15 feet above ground, as I wanted. As he cut branches, he climbed lower and lower, until he was on the ground, and everything up to 15 feet was cut off.

After he was finished trimming the tree, Joanne and I piled the cut branches out of the way, then prepared the trailer to be moved. We are temporarily living on borrowed Lot 71. We moved the trailer over to Lot 89, then spent the rest of the morning and half the afternoon positioning and repositioning the trailer over and over, simulating where it should go to get the best positioning for sunlight, where it should go if we had a visitor RV on the site, where a visitor RV should position, etc.. Then we had to figure out the best places to locate sewer, water, and hydro hookups.

When we had that all figured out, we relocated back to our borrowed Lot 71, and set up again. I began to work on preparing a site plan drawing, showing our intended positions for utility installations, etc., for approval. I went over to the park office to borrow something, and on the way back I began to speak to the "neighbour" behind us in Lot 70. I noticed last night that I was able to receive a very strong Wi-Fi signal from their park model ( mobile home ), but it was encrypted. I asked her today if I might have their network key ( password ), and "borrow" their Wi-Fi signal. Well, not only did she give me access to their Wi-Fi signal, she invited Joanne and I over for a drink. We visited for awhile, admiring their new park model home. It's very nice, and I suspect we will want to buy something like that in a few years. Her husband is still employed, in the oil fields in Alberta, and is away at work right now. So ... our first new "neighbour friend" is Dorothy Hepburn and her little dog, Jimmy.

We returned to our trailer, and now that I had access to Wi-Fi, I was able to get some online work done. I sent an e-mail to our RV pedestal manufacturer in Salmon Arm, telling them to "go pound sand" so to speak ! I retrieved bank statements and updated investment data. I will work on both of those later in the week. I delivered my site plan drawing over to one of the members of the park committee that reviews and approves site plans, ensuring that the plans are in compliance with all rules and regulations. Bureaucracy already < rolling eyes > !

I spent the evening working online. Since we don't have cell phone service here, I tried to accomplish as much as possible using the computer. I requested hydro service. I requested phone service. I requested wireless Internet service. I made a service appointment for the truck. I researched satellite TV. I researched VOIP ( Erik Johnson will be proud of me ).

 

Wednesday ; Today was cool and cloudy with intermittent rain.

This morning I met with Ben Nendick, the excavation contractor that we have hired to trench Lot 89, install sewer and water, backfill, level, and compact. We worked out final details. I forgot to get a firm cost. Oh, well, it costs what it costs. I know from talking to other lot owners that Ben's price will be something in the vicinity of $5500. And the electrician will cost another $1700 or so, plus the price of the utility pedestal. The development of the lot will cost about $8000. Yikes !

When the rain finally stopped this morning, for awhile, I unhitched Harvey from Lanoire. We took the yard swing in the large box out of the trailer and covered it with a tarp. We were getting pretty tired of having it in the middle of the trailer. I prepared the truck for its 60,000 km. service by removing all the valve extenders, chrome wheel liners and hub covers. I thought I had an appointment at Parker's Chrysler in Penticton for service tomorrow, but I was wrong !

I went to the park office to ask a question, then went walking around the park looking for the park maintenance manager. I didn't find him, but I did find the gorgeous blossom filled trees by the clubhouse. It's apple blossom time here. I guess it's everything blossom time here !

We drove into town ( Keremeos ). Joanne wanted to buy some groceries and produce, and I needed to make some phone calls. Our RV park is in the Similkameen Valley beside the Similkameen River, hidden behind Apex Mountain. In the park, we get no cell phone signals, no radio signals, no TV signals, etc.. However, we get the strongest, fastest, high speed wireless Internet / Wi-Fi signal I've ever had. The entire Similkameen Valley region, for about 50 miles in each direction, is "wireless". A joint federal government / native initiative. Apparently the federal government wants the B.C. Indians to be "state of the art" when it comes to the Internet. They may live in shacks, but they can surf the Internet faster than anyone ! Go figure !

While Joanne bought some Ambrosia apples ( 49 ¢ per pound ! ! ! ) and fresh asparagus I made some phone calls. I phoned Parker's Chrysler to verify the appointment I made online for tomorrow. Nope ... no appointment for tomorrow. A glitch with their online appointment system < fume >. I made an appointment for a week from now. I phoned China Creek Internet and placed an order for a high speed wireless account. They will bring the equipment ( modem / router ? ) out to me in a week or so. In the meantime, I'll just keep "borrowing" my neighbour's Wi-Fi signal. We went to the grocery store and bought some groceries. Joanne phoned her sister while I drove around familiarizing myself with the village.

For supper I prepared an asparagus omelette for Joanne. I can't digest asparagus. I made myself a smoked salmon omelette. MMMMM ! Welcome back to British Columbia ! While I worked on the computer in the evening, Joanne baked an apple and rhubarb pie. MMMMMMMMMM ! !

 

Thursday ; Penticton, B.C. ( a.k.a. Peach City )

Today was mostly sunny and cool.

Today was a long, tiring day of errands. We spent most of the day in Penticton. Penticton is a city with a population of about 40,000 people. It's 55 km. / 33 miles / 45 minutes from Riverside RV Park Resort. We left this morning driving east on Hwy. 3 to Keremeos, then northeast on Hwy. 3A to Hwy. 97, then north on Hwy. 97 to Penticton.

First stop was at our lawyer's office for a quick meeting to finalize details of our lot purchase. Then downtown to the Bank Of Montreal to get a bank draft for the lawyer, then back to the lawyer's office. I stopped in at an Edward Jones office to set up an appointment for next Wednesday to discuss transferring my investments accounts from Ottawa. Then ... Canadian Tire, Subway for lunch, Wal-Mart to transfer a prescription from Ottawa, Rona, Home Hardware, Wal-Mart again to pick up the prescription and replenish supplies, a haircut and beard trim for me while Joanne shopped in Safeway for groceries, and the Bank Of Montreal kiosk inside Safeway to get cash ( I forgot when I was in the main branch this morning ).

We drove home tired. I spent most of the evening working on accounting. < sigh > Some of the stuff I bought today is wrong, and will need to be exchanged.

 

Friday ; Today weather was variable. Cloudy one minute, sunny the next. Cool, then warm. Windy, then calm. Sweater on, sweater off !

This morning we loaded up the branches we cut off our Douglas Fir on Tuesday, and hauled them to a nearby "burn pile". This afternoon we excavated around the base of the tree. When this RV park was initially developed, many of the lots, including ours, were back filled with very coarse "rock slide" material. There was a "cone" built up around the base of the tree. Our forester / lumberjack friend advised that we excavate that cone from around the base of the tree to reduce the risk of root damage. YIKES ! Trying to dig out that rock slide material is like trying to dig concrete ! We finally managed to excavate a small trench around the base of the tree. We decided we would like to build a pave stone ring around the base of the tree, and have a flower bed inside the ring, around the tree. I bought some pave stones yesterday to make a ring around the tree, but today realized that we need more, and bigger pave stones. < sigh > More stuff we bought yesterday that needs to be returned.

Late this afternoon we drove to town, taking the little 12V TV with us, to see if we can get TV signals in town. We want to watch the season finale of Amazing Race tomorrow evening. Well, we can get a signal, but only the Global network. And we don't know if Global is the network in Canada that carries the CBS show Amazing Race. Guess we'll find out tomorrow evening. We bought more Ambrosia apples while we were in town. HEY ... I want more apple pie !

In the evening I reconciled the April bank statements, then updated my investment files.

 

Saturday ; Hedley, B.C.

Happy 6th Birthday to Joanne's niece, Amelia.

Today was sunny and mild.

This morning we had freshly baked rhubarb muffins for breakfast. I gave an entire rhubarb muffin to Bo. He was very pleased about that ! Joanne wasn't !

Riverside RV Park Resort is located on Hwy. 3 half way between the villages of Keremeos and Hedley. Hedley is a very small mining ghost town. The gold mines around Hedley have been closed for decades, but the small town survives. In recognition of the town's gold mining heritage, this weekend was Hedley's Stamp Mill Days. Before today I didn't know what a stamp mill was. I also didn't know what outhouse races were. Now I know what both are. HA HA HA !

This morning we drove about 15 km. west on Hwy. 3 to Hedley. We parked behind the little town museum. We took a quick look inside the museum, then walked a couple of blocks over to where the outhouse races were going to be. HA HA HA HA HA ! The outhouses were mounted on lawn mowers. Each race team had 2 members. One team member had to sit inside the outhouse. The other team member pushed the lawn mower and outhouse down the street, racing to the finish line, 2 blocks away. The first block was downhill, then around a corner, then uphill for another block. By the time they rounded the corner after running downhill for a block, they were really moving ! HA HA HA HA HA ! Well, except for the team of women dressed in late 1800's / early 1900's mining town period costumes. Kind of hard to race in a period costume, in high heels, pushing an outhouse on a lawn mower downhill. HA HA HA HA HA !

We had lunch in a very nice restaurant, the Hitching Post Restaurant. Service was extremely slow but the food was superb. Service was slow because today and tomorrow are the only days of the year when they have more than a few customers at a time. I ordered one of the daily specials, a salmon burger. I was expecting some manner of ground salmon patty. What I got was a huge ( ½ lb.? ), fresh, grilled salmon fillet on a big bun. With a side serving of home made Russian Borscht. MMMMM !

After lunch we wandered around town, heading back towards the museum. There were a few yard sale vendors behind the museum. I bought a bolo tie for $1.25. A bolo tie with a polished stone, that probably cost 20 times that amount originally. Two years ago I bought a "cowboy" dress shirt in Tombstone, Arizona. I've noticed that the "real" cowboys in the Southwest wear fancy bolo ties with their dress shirts. I looked at turquoise and silver bolo ties in New Mexico recently, but didn't want to spend that much money on a bolo tie. A buck and a quarter I don't mind ! HA HA HA !

We explored the museum, then sat outside listening to a folk singing quartet performing B.C. miner and logger songs. HMPH ... didn't even know that music genre existed. I wandered over to the elementary school to watch the children's Maypole Dance. HA HA HA ... three failed attempts ! While the supervising adult attempted to organize a fourth attempt, most of the children got bored and left. HA HA HA !

We began to drive back towards home when I saw the turn off to Nickel Plate Mine Road. I had read about Nickel Plate Mine Road being the 4WD back road approach over Apex Mountain to Apex Village / Apex Ski Resort. On impulse we decided to drive it. WOW ! What a view ! It was about 14 miles of one lane gravel track over Apex Mountain. The first 4 mi. provided outstanding views of the Similkameen Valley from above. Very above ! When we turned off the highway, the temperature was 17 degrees Celsius. By the time we got to the top of Apex the temperature had dropped to 3 degrees Celsius. And there was still lots of snow up on the mountain. And the top layer was very fresh snow that had fallen within the last couple of days. We saw many, many deer as we drove up the back side of Apex. And a wolf !

We finally reached Apex Village / Ski Resort, and civilization. We drove back down the "front" road, a lot more civilized paved road leading down to Hwy. 3A halfway between Keremeos and Penticton.

What a beautiful area we live in ! ! !

I've noticed around here that there are a lot of bearded, older men wearing denim jeans, denim shirts, and denim jackets. Yup, looks like I'm going to fit in around here right fine !

 

DSK