Year 4 Week 1

June 17 to 22, 2007

Keremeos to Summerland, B.C. & return

Year 4 Week 1

 

Sunday ; Year 3 last day ; Keremeos to Summerland

This morning we prepared for departure in light rain. Haven’t travelled in a month and a half, and when we do finally need to prepare for departure, it’s raining. Story of my life ! We drove east on Hwy. 3 to Keremeos, north on Hwy. 3A to Kaleden, then north on Hwy. 97 through Penticton to Summerland.

We found our way to Summerland’s rodeo grounds, and the Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally. We got set up and registered, including joining Okanagan Chapter 33. Farewell, Escapees Ontario / Maple Leaf Chapter 18. The afternoon was spent at “social hour”, sitting around in a large circle, socializing, and munching on snacks. The evening was spent sitting around a large campfire. I brought Teddy to sit by the campfire for awhile. Teddy loves campfires.

We met two couples that we have met before, at the Escapees Alberta Chapter 44 Winter Rally in Mesa, Arizona in March, 2005. They have relocated from Alberta to B.C., and are now members of Chapter 33. Word got out that I performed magic at that rally in Arizona a couple of years ago. There were many “hints” tonight that they would like me to perform magic here, but I was feeling ill, so I ignored the “hints”. Maybe tomorrow if I’m feeling better.

I have met, and become friends with Spud and Lady, two Border Collies who live here on the rodeo grounds with the rodeo grounds caretaker. And I’ve met ( and fed strawberries to ) the resident lop eared bunny ( formerly domestic, now semi-wild ? ) that seems to live here on the rodeo grounds.

 

Monday ; Year 4 first day & Teddy’s 15th birthday

Happy Birthday to Teddy, my baby cat. And today is our 3rd anniversary of full time RV’ing.

Today was mostly sunny but fairly cool. It's been a looooong time since I've been up this early. This morning I was up at 6:00 A.M. to be ready for the job Joanne volunteered me for yesterday. By 7:00 A.M. I was in the clubhouse preparing for my job as pancake cook. By the time I was finished cooking pancakes around 8:30, I had no appetite. The smells of pork sausages being cooked, and lard on the grill, didn't leave me much desire to eat. Over some objections, I refused to cook "my" pancakes in lard. After breakfast was the Chapter 33 Annual General Meeting. I declined to accept a nomination for the position of Vice-President, but I did offer something new for this organization, which it appears has been doing the same things, the same ways, for a long time. I am going to host an Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33 “Snowbird” luncheon. See you all on December 11 at Famous Dave’s Barbecue in Yuma, Arizona.

This afternoon we went as a group on the Kettle Valley Steam Train, adjacent to the rodeo grounds. The Kettle Valley Steam Train is an old restored steam engine pulling four restored old passenger coaches on a 10 mile rail track around the Kettle Valley area of Summerland, ending on an old wooden trestle bridge over the Trout Creek far below. It was a pleasant outing. It would have been even more pleasant if I would have been able to keep my eyes open.

After we returned from the train ride, I napped briefly before "social hour", which was followed by a pot luck dinner. After dinner we were entertained by the musicians in our group ; quite a few guitars, a keyboard, a saxophone, some ... “singers” ... and a snare drum played by an old woman with a ... well ... somewhat imperfect sense of timing and rhythm. I guess one of the nice things about getting older is one’s inhibitions diminish.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and very warm. We had a really wonderful day.

This morning we joined two other couples and "car pooled" into Summerland to see some of the attractions. First stop was the Crafts & Farmers Market. I bought a cedar Blue Bird house. And I'm a bit sorry that I bought a plastic gazebo bird feeder a week ago, because the old gentlemen that I bought the Blue Bird house from was also selling his home made cedar bird feeders. Very nice, and reasonably priced. Joanne bought a few items around the market.

Next stop was Summerland Sweets, a local small business producing and selling fruit jams, jellies, and syrups. I bought a jar of Raspberry and Saskatoon jam, as well as a bottle of Maplapple Syrup, a syrup made from Maple sap and apples. Sounded interesting ! Pretty Canadian, eh ?

Next we drove to Summerland Ornamental Gardens at the Pacific Agricultural Research Centre. We enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather as we walked slowly around the grounds, admiring all the lovely flowers, and plants, and trees, and shrubs. We stopped at a Tim Horton's for lunch before returning to the Summerland Rodeo Grounds. Our driver got lost, so we took the "scenic route" back to the rodeo grounds.

Our Escapee rally group spent the afternoon playing beanbag baseball, and enjoying "social hour". Some members of the group still had sore heads from yesterday's social hour, where a couple of large jugs of home made rhubarb wine made the rounds. Joanne and I joined with four other couples and went into Summerland to have supper at Johnnie's Family Restaurant, where we enjoyed a Canadian and Chinese buffet.

We returned at 8:00 P.M., just in time for my magic show. I had been asked by the rally hosts / organizers to perform a short magic show to start off tonight's session of table games in the clubhouse. I started my show, juggling, to the music by which I learned to juggle. Sweet Georgia Brown, performed for me tonight, live, by Ernie Webster on his saxophone. That was great ... thank you , Ernie. I performed a very brief magic show, and I think ( hope ) it was well received. Afterwards, I taught a "disappearing handkerchief" illusion to Florence Archibald, who then performed it flawlessly for her mesmerized husband, Dale. Good job, Florence.

Joanne spent the evening sitting at a table with a group playing Mexican Train, the first time she has played the game. I sat at the only non-game playing table, and socialized.

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and hot, temperature in the 30's C. / 90's F..

This morning we lingered over the SKP rally's hitch-up breakfast, chatting and saying our goodbyes to our new Chapter 33 friends. We were procrastinating leaving because we had a 12:30 P.M. appointment for trailer service in Penticton. We had the Dometic fridge recall retrofit work done at Leisureland RV. The recall involved installing some heat shields and sensors around the burner unit. What sloppy workmanship. Of course, I'll be redoing some of it to tidy it up. After the fridge recall work was done, we did our weekly errands in Penticton, made a little more difficult because we were towing the trailer around.

It was nice to get back "home" to Riverside RV Park Resort. We fussed with the positioning of the trailer on our lot. We wanted to try a new position, to give us a better view of the river and mountains. Before we extended the slides, Joanne finished cleaning and waxing over the slides. Then I worked on removing a fiberglass repair I had done in Texas, on a stress crack in the fiberglass over the bed slide. The repair had cracked. After removing the repair, I did another repair, this time using an aluminum "Eternabond" patch. It looks okay, although I'm not sure if I can paint it. I'm going to put a little Eternabond patch on a piece of scrap wood and try painting it, as a test.

The mosquitoes are quite bad again. I think we might buy a screen tent.

 

Thursday ; Today was sunny and very warm.

Today we finished repositioning the trailer, and rearranged our yard. We unhitched the truck from the trailer, set up our new RV patio mat, and set out the trailer awning. We rarely have used the awning in the past, because we're seldom in one place long enough to justify setting it up. We moved the swing, creating a small "conversation space" beside the trailer in the shade of the big tree on our lot. We moved a cedar planter, and the picnic table. We now have the trailer positioned such that the view out the main windows is stunning, of the river and the mountain on the other side.

I spent the late part of the afternoon doing computer work. I updated my investment files. I retrieved this month's MasterCard statements. I processed the photos I took the other day when we went on the Kettle Valley Steam Train. We watched two movies in the evening. Movies based on Tony Hillerman mystery novels, featuring main characters Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, two Navajo Tribal Policemen, set in New Mexico. I enjoy reading Hillerman's novels. The actor who plays Jim Chee in the movies is a Native actor from Winnipeg, our home town.

 

Friday ; Year 4 Day 5 ... time to quit !

Today was sunny and warm, a "perfect" day just like the day we started travelling, June 18, 2004.

I have been writing a daily journal and posting it on my blog for 3 years, since we started full time RV travelling. Now that we've "settled down" in one spot, at least for the summers, I'm going to discontinue my journal. Our daily lives are now just that ... humdrum, routine living. Nothing exciting enough to justify writing a daily journal and publishing it on my blog.

I might occasionally post pictures throughout the summer.

I intend to resume writing a journal and posting it on my blog, when we resume travelling on November 1. Next winter we will be going down into the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico. Should be interesting !

Thanks for reading my blog. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed living it.

 

DSK