October 23 to 29, 2008

October 23 to 29, 2008 ; San Antonio to Hondo, Texas

Thursday ; Today was sunny and warm. For the last two decades or so, the only brand of shoes I have worn is SAS, which stands for San Antonio Shoemakers. Yesterday I decided that being here in San Antonio was an opportunity to visit the SAS factory, take a tour, and maybe buy some shoes at a discount. SAS shoes are extremely expensive, but worth it, in my opinion. After lunch we drove into the city and found our way to the SAS factory. The tour lasted about an hour, and was quite interesting. To give credit where it's due, I suppose, the quality control in an American shoe factory is very high. The quality of both the materials and the workmanship is exceptional. After the tour, I purchased two pairs of shoes. The factory sales outlet sells only "seconds", at a considerable discount, but whatever cosmetic imperfections render them "seconds" are invisible to anyone other than their quality control personnel.

From SAS Shoes we went to the west side of downtown to visit Market Square, an area filled with Mexican arts, crafts, and gift stores. It was tough to find a street parking spot for a dually. Market Square is supposed to be a "touch of Mexico" in San Antonio. PHHHHHT ... not even close ! WAAAAAY too civilized ! No crowds, no congestion, everything laid out in an orderly fashion, no hawkers enticing you to enter with refrains of "almost free today, señor". OH ... and prices about twice as high as the asking prices in Mexico, which are about 50% higher than the selling price after "negotiating". So ... an item priced at $20 in San Antonio would be priced at about $10 in Mexico, and would probably sell for $6.50 or $7.00 !

On the way back to Hidden Valley RV Park we stopped at an H-E-B to buy some milk and cash a traveller's cheque at the bank outlet inside the grocery store. I was very angry, and did not hesitate to let that be known, to the bank teller trainee, her trainer, and her branch manager, when they did not advise me that there was a service charge for cashing a traveller's cheque, until the transaction was completed and they were counting out my cash. The trainer bore the brunt of my tirade.

Friday ; This morning was sunny and cool, but in the afternoon it became hot again.

During the early 18th century, the Spaniards established five missions in the San Antonio area. The first one was Misión San Antonio de Valero, a.k.a. The Alamo. Today we went to visit the second one, Misión San José . The five missions comprise the San Antonio Missions National Park. The National Parks Visitor Center is located at the site of Misión San José . As we arrived a Park Ranger was just starting a guided walking tour. We joined the guided walking tour. It was very interesting and informative. Joanne noticed that the American "spin" on the Spaniards' establishment of missions and their methods, is quite different than the Mexican "spin" on the same issues. We've previously visited Spanish missions in Mexico. Before we left we watched a short history movie in the Visitor Center's theatre. Us and about 120 high school kids from Mercedes, down in the Rio Grande Valley.

The heat and sun left us too tired to go see any of the other missions. We went to H-E-B to buy some groceries. Oh, boy ... Cajeta ice cream ! Joanne is HAPPY ! The only place we've ever found Cajeta ice cream in the United States is in H-E-B stores in South Texas. And to go along with the guacamole we bought today, we also bought ... wait for it ... Texas shaped tortilla chips. HA HA HA ! Welcome to Texas ! We stopped at Wal-Mart to buy orthotic inserts for my new SAS shoes, then refilled with diesel at Love’s, in preparation for departing San Antonio tomorrow. Joanne bought fajita seasoned chicken and fresh ( still warm ) tortillas at H-E-B, so, of course, we had chicken fajitas for supper. AHHHHH ... I say again ... welcome to Texas !

Saturday ; San Antonio to Hondo, Texas

I'm typing this at 6:30 P.M. at Lone Star Corral, the Escapee park near Hondo. I've just returned from walking the dog. The sun is still shining brightly. The temperature is 80 degrees. Birds are singing loudly as the sun gets low in the sky. AHHHHH ... what a beautiful day !

We left San Antonio this morning, using I-35 and I-410 to get through and around the city and onto Hwy. 90 heading west. We were closer to Hondo than I thought we were. We only drove for about an hour. We checked into Lone Star Corral. As soon as we were set up in our site, Joanne insisted that my priority was to dispose of the dead rat she found in our site. HMPH ... that's unusual ! The dead rat, I mean, not Joanne insisting that I get rid of it. HA HA HA ! We had lunch. I took a much deserved nap. I'm tired. We've driven a lot and haven't rested much since leaving home 19 days ago. We went to Lone Star Corral's afternoon "social hour", a daily occurrence in most SKP parks. We gave Bo a bath. I'm about to barbecue some "Texas style" beef ribs we bought yesterday. Well, actually, I'm about to barbecue one beef rib. I thought the package of three ribs I bought yesterday would make two meals, but Joanne realized when repackaging them with marinade that each rib was about a pound of meat, so one is more than enough to make a meal for the two of us. What Texas defines as a beef rib, we would normally call a rib eye steak.

WOW ... KEWL ! ! ! I carried the laundry hamper to the laundromat in the clubhouse building for Joanne. As I was returning to the trailer, I saw a small lizard on the brick wall of the building. It was noticeable because of its bright orange colour. It was on the wall underneath a bright orange light on the corner of the building. When I looked closely at it, it scurried away to a darker section of the brick wall, and instantly turned itself to the colour of the brick. HEY ... a chameleon ! I went back into the laundromat to get Joanne to come out and see it. As we were both looking at it, it scurried over the bricks and took refuge underneath a window sill, where there was no light, and it turned itself almost black.

Sunday ; Today was cloudy, warm, and humid in the morning, sunny, hot, and humid in the afternoon. This morning I puttered around with some minor maintenance chores, exchanged some books at the park's library, then took all of our unwanted / no longer needed items to the park's bargain table. We've been waiting for an opportunity to leave items on a bargain table. All SKP parks have a bargain table, but we've rarely seen one at other RV parks. We had a sizeable collection of items for the bargain table, and books to be exchanged. We trimmed Teddy's and Bo's nails. We went for a long walk with Bo. Oh boy, the farm next door to this RV park has goats, chickens, and horses for Bo to bark at.

After lunch we went to the town of D'Hanis, a couple of miles west, to wash over 5000 km. / 3000 mi. of road grime off the truck. Lone Star Corral does not allow vehicle washing in the RV park. And, of course, we did not have quite enough American quarters for the coin operated car wash ( sigh ). Back at the RV Park I went on a pants sorting and discarding spree, throwing out many pairs of pants and shorts that were well beyond their "best before" date. Wearing clothes for too long is a bad habit of mine. Recently Joanne complained, after looking at what I was wearing, that I looked like a Bangladesh refugee wearing a Rolex watch.

We went to Lone Star Corral's Sunday afternoon ice cream social, a weekly event at all SKP parks. We ate ice cream while chatting with a couple from Michigan who are on their way down to the Rio Grande Valley. We discussed investments, and the current stock market problems. It was discouraging to learn that they lost about half the value of their investments in the stock market declines of 2001, and had not yet fully recovered back to where they once were before the 2008 stock market problems hit. So, once again, their investment values are about half of what they were prior to 2001. Not very encouraging at all, for those of us who have lost one third to one half of our investments in the last couple of months. I'm pretty worried !

Joanne made gumbo for supper, using one of the new gumbo mixes we bought a couple of days ago in San Antonio. We need about half a dozen boxes of gumbo mix for the Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally we are hosting next May, and our favourite brand of gumbo mix, Crawfish-Man's, is only available in Louisiana. We had asked some friends of ours who were planning to travel through Louisiana this winter to get us some, but their plans recently changed and they won't be going to Louisiana. So we are evaluating different brands of gumbo mixes. Hey, it’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it. HA HA HA !

Since TV reception here is poor, I picked up some movie videos in the clubhouse library today. Tonight we watched Road To Perdition. Well ... that wasn't a particularly uplifting movie, was it ? ! ?

Monday ; This morning was sunny, mild, and windy. The afternoon was sunny and warm. This afternoon we went into the town of Hondo to buy a stamp and post a letter, and replenish groceries and supplies at Wal-Mart and H-E-B. Aw, gee ... the price of limes has increased from last year's price of 5¢ each to 7¢ each. Darn inflation ! HA HA HA ! Oh, well, maybe they'll be cheaper down in the Rio Grande Valley.

We went to this afternoon's social hour, which on Mondays is "with munchies". Joanne contributed our Texas shaped tortilla chips, and freshly made pico de gallo ( pronounced "peeko day gi yo" ), which we learned about last year in Baja California. Pico de gallo is like a tomato and onion salsa with lots of fresh cilantro. It's served as a garnish with most Mexican dishes in the Baja, and is particularly good with fish tacos. The first half hour of "social hour" was taken up with weekly announcements. And there's a lesson to be learned here by our apathetic neighbours in Riverside RV Park Resort back in Keremeos. This park has the same number of lots as Riverside. And, like Riverside, only about half are occupied at any given time. Nevertheless, there is an extremely active social calendar, the same as at all SKP parks, and indeed most "southern" RV parks we've been to, where many of the residents live for either six or twelve months of the year. In addition to the daily social hour, weekly ice cream social, and daily games sessions in the evenings, this park is preparing for a significant Veteran's Day ( Remembrance Day in Canada ) ceremony, they are a major sponsor / benefactor of the local women's shelter, they are preparing for a flea market, bake sale, and consignment yard sale to raise funds for their social activities, tomorrow morning is their "Welcome Back" coffee party to welcome back their residents who have been away for the summer, they prepare "gift baskets" for any of the residents' family members that are serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, they sponsor and host a Christmas Party for all grade 1 to 5 children at the local elementary school, the ladies' group goes out for dinner on a monthly basis ... and on and on ! On Thursday we will attend the park's Hallowe'en party. By the time "social hour" had ended we had been personally invited to attend both the weekly bingo game and the weekly bridge tournament. Is anybody out there at Riverside making notes ? ! ?

In the afternoon we took Bo for an obedience session, something we don't do often enough when we're travelling. He did excellently ! Well done, Bo, good dog ! As a reward, Joanne took him frog hunting on his bedtime walk, a newly discovered night time activity of his here in South Texas. HA HA HA !

Tuesday ; lunch at McBee's with God and The Law

Today was sunny and very warm. I slept late this morning and missed the Welcome Back coffee party. But we went to McBee's for lunch. When we were checking in to Lone Star Corral on Saturday the manager recommended the Tuesday lunch special at McBee's. McBee's is our favourite barbecue restaurant. Our favourite used to be Luther's in Lafayette, Louisiana, but Luther's has closed. The Tuesday lunch special at McBee's is two chopped barbecued brisket sandwiches for $5.00. With two drinks, potato salad, and taxes our bill was less than $10.00. Seated at the table to my left were four clergy, three men and a woman, having serious discussions about religious matters. At the table to my right were the Sheriff and three of his deputies. Remember ... this is South Texas cowboy country. The spectre of John Wayne looms large. The Sheriff was a tall, lean, middle aged man, wearing cowboy boots, jeans, and a checkered flannel shirt. On his head was a large, black cowboy hat ... which he did not remove for lunch. He wore a tooled leather belt with a large "cowboy" belt buckle. His silver Sheriff’s badge was clipped to the belt. Beside the badge was his holster, with a huge gun. Long, silver barrel protruding out the bottom of the holster. Large, decoratively engraved silver handle sticking out the top of the holster. No strap evident over the gun to hold it in the holster. Just yank it out and fire ! Welcome to Texas, y'all ! I can imagine the visual impact when he stops a vehicle for a traffic infraction, and steps up to the driver’s window, hands on his hips, badge and huge gun staring the driver in the face.

While Joanne took Bo for a long walk, I went to see a gentleman in the park who has badge making equipment, and had a "B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33" badge made for my Escapees name badge. Great, because I didn't know if and when I would have an opportunity to have that chapter badge made by the "Too Crazy Ladies", the RV based mobile name badge business that makes most of the Escapee name badges.

Joanne sanded and varnished a "road rash" mark on our sofa table which fell over while travelling recently. We removed all the heat registers and vacuumed inside the ducts, a semi-annual chore. We rotated the bed mattress, another semi-annual chore. Tougher job than it sounds, in the confined space of our bedroom.

Well, isn't that just ****ing wonderful ? ? ? ! ! ! The day after I sold all of our remaining U.S.$ investments, the stock market improved by over 10% today ! ! !

I missed social hour today to watch a crop duster spraying the farm field beside this RV park. WOW ... full throttle flying five feet off the ground, then a climb to 50 feet to make steep turns 180 degrees. What a way to make a living ! HMMM ... maybe I should look for a WorkCamper job as a crop duster pilot ? HA HA HA !

Tonight we watched "O Brother, Where Art Thou ?". What a weird, silly movie !

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and very warm. We had a somewhat lazy day, mostly due to both of us feeling mildly ill, with a stomach flu like illness, or perhaps a mild case of food poisoning. Joanne was more ill than me. If it was food poisoning, it was likely not from lunch at McBee's yesterday, because neither of us felt ill until this morning. Perhaps it was from the chicken I barbecued for supper last night, although I think it was more likely a stomach flu illness.

Joanne did some laundry. I worked on repairing a trailer "house" battery charging problem. I think I fixed it. I hope I fixed it ! I won't really be able to tell until we boondock again, likely not until January in Mexico. The trailer "house" battery is charging fine when we are hooked up to 120 volt AC service. But we discovered as we travelled from Keremeos to here, and were boondocking without 120 volt AC power frequently, that the trailer "house" battery was not recharging from the truck engine as we travel, as it should. Like most power systems in Harvey ( the trailer ), the battery charging system operates on both 120 volt AC and 12 volt DC. That makes isolating any electrical problem in an RV very difficult.

I did some more "Bangladesh refugee" clothes culling, moving some t-shirts from the "A" pile to the "B" pile, and discarding some from the "B" pile that were beyond redemption. Joanne does not permit me to go out in public wearing anything from the "B" pile. HA HA HA ! I also wrote another of my "dog tips" articles.

DSK

October 16 to 22, 2008

October 16 to 22, 2008 ; Fargo, North Dakota to San Antonio, Texas

Thursday ; Fargo, North Dakota through South Dakota to Sioux City, Iowa

Today was sunny and mild. It's great to finally be back in sunshine after more than a week of gloom. And as has been our experience in previous years, two hard days of driving south brings us to milder temperatures.

This morning before leaving the Flying J in Fargo, North Dakota we drove over to their RV dumping station and emptied our waste holding tanks. Unfortunately their RV dumping station did not have a fresh water refill. If there's any lesson we learned from travelling for two years with our previous ( piece of shit ) truck Dee-Dee, it was that a mechanical breakdown can leave us stranded without campground services ( like in the parking lot of a GM dealer ) and therefore we take every available opportunity to dump waste holding tanks and refill fresh water before starting a day of travel.

We continued heading south on I-29. Soon we were in South Dakota. Oh, boy, I get to fill in a blank on our map of North America on the side of the trailer which indicates where we have travelled. It's been about a year and a half since I've last applied a new state or province decal to the map. Filling in the five blank states on our map from North Dakota down to Texas was a part of why we planned to spend Canadian Thanksgiving in Winnipeg then head south from there.

We stopped for lunch at a roadside rest area just south of Watertown, South Dakota. After lunch we stopped to refill with diesel at another Flying J, this one at Sioux Falls. ( sigh ) The fresh water spigot at their RV service island was out of order. We found our way to Wal-Mart and replenished groceries and supplies. We can certainly tell that we are back in the United States. Fat women ! We left Sioux Falls continuing south on I-29, planning to spend the night at Union Grove State Park. When we arrived at Union Grove State Park, the water to each campsite was turned off, and their shower / comfort station was under reconstruction. We didn't feel that it was worth paying the camping fee under those circumstances, so we left, planning to boondock overnight at a roadside rest area a little further south. When we got to the roadside rest area in the southeastern tip of South Dakota, near the border with both Iowa and Nebraska, signage indicated that overnight stays in South Dakota rest areas were not permitted. However, the rest area had a functional RV dump station and water refill, so we refilled our fresh water tank. Great ... now we had empty waste tanks and a full water tank.

It was getting dark by this time. We continued south on I-29 crossing into Iowa at Sioux City. Oh boy, another decal on the map ! We found our way to Stone State Park near Sioux City, arriving just as it got dark. We had the entire state park campground to ourselves, which was a bit spooky. There were lots of animal noises in the dark in the forest. Small animals, like mice, medium animals, like raccoons, and all the way up to large animals, like deer. We couldn't see any of them, just hear them.

Well, since we left home 11 days ago, and over 3000 km. / 1900 miles ago, this is the first night that we've had to pay for camping. Not bad, from an economy standpoint.

Friday ; Sioux City, Iowa to Hebron, Nebraska

Boy, they surely do grow a lot of corn in Iowa and Nebraska ! Today was mild and cloudy in Iowa, mild and sunny in Nebraska. Since we had such a lovely state park all to ourselves this morning, we decided not to leave until after lunch. We both took long, hot showers in the campground's comfort station. Joanne took Bo for a couple of long walks. I spent the morning working on some minor maintenance chores.

It was a bit confusing getting out of the state park and through Sioux City back to I-29. We continued south on I-29. Just before Omaha, we turned southwest on Interstate 680, crossed over the Missouri River and entered Nebraska. Woo-Hoo ... another decal for the map on the side of the trailer. I-680 took us around the northern edges of the city of Omaha, then we turned onto I-80 heading southwest initially, then west. On the west side of Omaha we refilled with diesel at yet another Flying J. Boy, this pace of travel sure does cost us a lot for fuel. Most days we travel with our CB radio on the truckers' channel. I use it to assist truckers that are passing us. Today, from Omaha to Lincoln, and beyond to Hwy. 81, there was constant griping and sniping amongst the truckers. Some pretty vicious stuff ! Especially when some truckers felt that one of them had impeded an ambulance trying to get by.

When we stopped at a Nebraska roadside rest area, we noticed signage that prohibited smoking anywhere on the rest area's grounds. HA HA HA ! Can you spell "ludicrous" ? ! ? What ... the corn doesn't like second hand smoke ? ? ? We were planning to boondock overnight at a rest area on I-80 near the junction with Hwy. 81. When we arrived at the rest area, we decided it wasn't really a suitable place to boondock overnight, and it was still early enough to keep driving for awhile. We turned south on Hwy. 81, heading for the state of Kansas. Using our campground directories, Joanne found a municipal campground in the town of Hebron, just north of Nebraska's border with Kansas.

We found our way to Hebron's Riverside Park, a nice municipal campground costing five dollars. We have found that municipal and regional campgrounds are usually good, and usually very reasonably priced. Beats paying more than forty bucks at a KOA ! We were even able to get one TV station using the trailer's roof top antenna.

Saturday ; Hebron, Nebraska to Halstead, Kansas

We woke this morning to a very thick fog, but when it finally burned off around 10:00 A.M. it became a beautiful, sunny, warm day. At lunch time I had to switch from a sweatshirt to a t-shirt. We refilled our fresh water tank and dumped our waste holding tanks, then departed Hebron's Riverside Park. We continued southbound on Hwy. 81. Soon we crossed from Nebraska into Kansas. Oh, boy, another decal for the map on the side of the trailer. The farm fields in Kansas were endless miles of something that was similar to corn, but not exactly like the corn that we're used to seeing. The stalks were shorter, and the tops were large, brown, flowering stalks. Maybe that's what's known as milo ?

Hwy. 81 became Interstate 135. At Salina, where I-135 crosses I-70, we turned east on I-70 to go to a Flying J just a few miles down the road. We refilled with diesel, then returned to I-135 continuing south. Just a few miles south of the intersection of I-135 and I-70, and the city of Salina, the traffic began to slow down rapidly. There was ... HUH ? ? ? An airplane crashed on the highway ? ! ? Well, being a pilot, I should be more specific. This was a "forced landing", and quite different from a crash, from a pilot's perspective. Although I suspect most civilians would find little difference. A bent and crumpled airplane on the highway would qualify as a crash in most people's books.

It was a retractable gear, low wing, single engine Piper, probably seating four. For reasons that were not obvious, it landed "gear up", sliding along the Interstate on its belly and wings, so the airplane was significantly damaged. But it was obvious that no injuries would have been sustained by the occupants. WELL DONE ! ! ! It gives me increased confidence, and reassurance, as a pilot, to see a forced landing executed so well ! We arrived at the back end of a short line of stopped traffic even before most of the emergency vehicles had arrived, so it must have happened just a few moments before. If we hadn't stopped to refill at the Flying J, we probably would have missed it. Since it was close to the city of Salina, which has an airport, and the Piper landed gear up, like the pilot didn't have much time to prepare for the forced landing, I surmise that it was an EFTO ( engine failure upon take-off ) incident. If a plane's engine fails upon take-off at such a low altitude that there isn't even a possibility to turn around and return to the airport, there's not enough time in a retractable gear aircraft to get the gear lowered. On the other hand, when I took my retractable gear training in a Cessna 172RG Cutlass, I was taught not to retract the gear immediately after take-off, in case of EFTO. But ... it's hard to resist the temptation to suck them gear up into the underbelly about 2 seconds after the wheels leave the ground, especially when family or friends are watching your take-off.

We continued south on I-135 until just before Wichita. We turned south onto County Road 801, then east on Hwy. 50, to find Spring Lake RV Resort near Halstead. It was a large, friendly, Passport America affiliated campground. First time since we left home in Keremeos 13 days ago that we've had a full hook-up campsite.

Sunday ; Today was sunny, mild, and extremely windy. It was a good day not to be driving. And we were in need of a day of rest. We were tired physically and emotionally. Spring Lake RV Resort had good Wi-Fi ( early in the day ! ), so I spent much of the day on the computer getting caught up on online chores. Sending and retrieving e-mail, updating my blog, reactivating our U.S. cell phone service, checking our investments, paying bills ... ! WHEW ... I'm having new blog site learning curve problems ! I did the 102,000 km. inspection on Lanoire.

I noticed as I was processing a couple of photos that I took of yesterday's forced landing incident that the Piper's triple bladed propeller was undamaged, which indicates that it definitely was not spinning when the plane “landed” on the highway. A “gear up” landing with a spinning prop would mangle the propeller ( and ruin the engine ). It was obviously an "engine failure" forced landing.

The Wi-Fi signal deteriorated severely in the afternoon, perhaps due to the strong winds. It resulted in a long, frustrating period of trying to get our U.S. cell phone reactivated. And the final stumbling block was ... while I got the online portion done, I didn't realize until that was finished that we didn't actually have a cell phone signal in the campground, preventing me from completing the process ( sigh ). In the evening we watched Amazing Race. I chatted briefly with a "neighbour", a baseball cap wearing redneck from West Virginia. He was complaining about Kansas. Hey, bubba ... you're from West Virginia ... people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones ! He also wanted to tell me about the "brilliant" stock market moves he made recently while "drunked up" ( rolling my eyes ).

Monday ; Halstead, Kansas through Oklahoma to Texas border

This morning Kansas was cloudy and mild. This afternoon and evening Oklahoma was sunny and hot ! GOOOOODBYE, WINTER ! ! ! Yesterday I thought Kansas was full of rednecks. SHEESH ... I hadn't been to Oklahoma yet. Thick men with no necks wearing bib front denim overalls. Bumper stickers reading "If you're a Commie ... vote Obamie". YIKES ! On the plus side, we just finished having Oklahoma catfish for supper. All of us ! Including Teddy & Bo ! We all loved it ! HA HA HA ! First time Teddy's had catfish since we WorkCamped at YMCA Of The Ozarks' Trout Lodge in Missouri 4 years ago.

This morning we departed Spring Lake RV Resort and headed east on Hwy. 50 back to Interstate 35. We turned south on I-35, stopping to buy groceries in Wichita, Kansas. On the south side of Wichita I-35 became a turnpike ( toll road ) to the Oklahoma border so we went south on Hwy. 81, the "free" road parallel to the turnpike. We weren't in a rush, and it was interesting to go through all the little towns and villages that the turnpike bypasses. Once we crossed from Kansas into Oklahoma we turned southeast on Hwy. 177 to get back to I-35, then continued south on I-35. Joanne saw a billboard advertising The Pit Barbecue, so we stopped at Cowboy Travel Plaza in Orlando, Oklahoma to buy a pound of barbecued chopped beef at The Pit. MMMMM ... we're back in the part of the country where "barbecue" is a noun, and an art form ! HA HA HA !

WHEW ... we reached Oklahoma City at rush hour. We refilled with diesel at a Flying J. Even after 4½ years of experience, it still makes me sweat heavily ( mind you, it was 83 degrees ! ) to drive our big rig through a large city, on a freeway, at rush hour, at 70 MPH in bumper to bumper traffic. We were going to stop for the night just past Oklahoma City, but the only Passport America campground in the vicinity was ... a nudist RV resort. Oh, I don't think so !

South of Oklahoma City we saw a billboard for Punkin's Barbecue & Catfish Restaurant, half an hour down the road. We discussed treating ourselves to a catfish dinner, and by the time we arrived at the town of Pauls Valley, we were salivating over the prospect. ARGH ! ! ! Punkin's is closed on Mondays. With teeth gnashing, we continued south on I-35. We decided we would drive all the way to the Texas border, and boondock overnight at the Texas Information Centre. Just before we reached Texas, we saw a small ad on the side of the road for McGeehee's Catfish Restaurant, 4 miles off the Interstate. I slammed on the brakes and took the exit !

The restaurant was difficult to find. It was four miles on a series of back roads that looked like something out of the movie Deliverance. Twice I had to make a "u-turn" by backing the rig off the road onto someone's driveway entrance. I was afraid that we would eventually end up somewhere where I wouldn't be able to turn the rig around. But finally we found McGeehee's. No menu ! They served ... catfish ! All you can eat ! We sat by a window, watching the sun set over the banks of the Red River, the border between Oklahoma and Texas. And we ate catfish. A lot of it ! And wrapped a big piece in a paper towel and put it in Joanne's purse for Teddy and Bo. The catfish was served with freshly made, hand cut french fries, hush puppies ( we don't like hush puppies ... deep fried balls of cornmeal ), cole slaw, pickled green tomato relish ( very nice ! ), tartar sauce, all home made, an inch thick slice of a large, sweet onion, pickled jalapeño peppers ( didn't eat those ! ), sliced pickles and lemon wedges. YEE-HAW !

Finding our way back to the Interstate in the dark was even more difficult than finding the restaurant in the first place. A few more miles down the road and we stopped for the night at the Texas Information Centre at the Oklahoma / Texas border. And Teddy and Bo ate catfish ! HA HA HA !

Saw our first armadillo of this year today. Road kill, unfortunately. Saw our first Whattaburger of this year, Joanne's favourite burger joint. I'm partial to In-N-Out Burger in Southern California myself. Saw a lot of dog shit at the Oklahoma roadside rest areas. I guess the good ol' boys down here don't pick up after their dogs ! I guess if I didn't have a neck ( well, actually I don't ), had that big a stomach, and wore bib front denim overalls I wouldn't be able to bend over to pick up after my dog either ! HA HA HA ! Saw a sign advertising fried pies. What the **** is a fried pie ? ! ?

Tuesday ; Oklahoma / Texas border to San Marcos, Texas

Today was sunny, hot, and humid. I applied the Oklahoma decal on the map on the side of the trailer, the last of the five state decals I needed to fill in the large blank on the middle of the map. We have now visited ( and applied the decals ! ) all ten Canadian provinces, and 39 of the 48 contiguous United States. The remaining 9 states are all little states on the northeast seaboard. I doubt that we’ll ever get there. We might get to Alaska at some point in the future.

Before departing the Texas Information Centre we went inside and picked up some maps and brochures. Some time ago I had ordered a Texas Tourist Information package by e-mail, but it had not arrived by the time we left home 2 weeks ago. We continued south on I-35. Mid-morning we stopped at a rest area for a bathroom break. I noticed a car with Manitoba license plates, and a Winnipeg car dealer license plate frame. I approached the elderly couple to chat. They were indeed from Winnipeg, having left there at 2:00 A.M. yesterday, and driven non-stop, for 30 hours ! ! ! They were about ¾ of the way to their winter home in the Rio Grande Valley, and intended to be there tonight, in about another 10 hours. Forty hours to drive 4000 km. / 2500 miles ! ! ! That’s a pretty tough way to travel, at any age !

On the north side of Dallas / Fort Worth we had a choice between I-35E through Dallas or I-35W through Fort Worth. We chose to go through Fort Worth. Near downtown Fort Worth there were six levels of roadways above us, curling, twisting, rising, falling, entrance ramps, exit ramps, overpasses ... ! It looked like something out of a science fiction movie. To paraphrase Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz ... “we’re not in Kansas anymore, BoBo”.

At Waco we stopped at another Flying J to refill with diesel, empty our waste holding tanks, refill our fresh water tank, and have lunch. I chatted with another couple from Winnipeg. This couple were from our neighbourhood of St. Boniface. Obviously it’s time for Winnipeg “snowbirds” to head south.

We passed through Austin during afternoon rush hour ( sigh ). Just past Austin, at the town of Buda, I saw a Cabela’s and decided on impulse to stop and browse. We had been to a Cabela’s once before, four years ago, in Dayton, Ohio ( Joanne’s comment on Ohio ; “flat, ugly, got nothing going for it !” ). Cabela’s is a chain of sporting good stores. Their outlets are the size of a Wal-Mart. After browsing for awhile, we continued southbound on I-35, stopping for the night at a Wal-Mart in San Marcos. The young women in this part of central Texas wear shorts with high heeled cowboy boots. Trying for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleader look, I guess, but they look more like hookers than cheerleaders. Did I just say that ? I've become my father !

Wednesday ; San Marcos to San Antonio, Texas

Today was sunny, hot, and humid, temperature of 88 degrees. We chose to stay at the Wal-Mart in San Marcos last night so that we would have only a short distance to drive today to San Antonio, leaving us time in the afternoon after getting set up in a campsite to sightsee in downtown San Antonio. We left San Marcos heading south on I-35. On the north side of San Antonio we got onto I-410, the ring road around the city. On the south side of San Antonio we found our way to Hidden Valley RV Park. We got set up in a site, unhitched the truck from the trailer, had lunch, and set off for downtown San Antonio.

First stop was The Alamo. REMEMBER THE ALAMO ! We wandered around the grounds, and listened to a history lesson told by a staff member out in a courtyard. I learned the story of The Alamo, although I had probably already been taught it ( to no avail, apparently ) by an elementary grade history teacher. I also learned, probably more importantly ( to me, at least ), what exactly a Texian and a Tejano are, and about the history of Texas, first as a part of Mexico, then as an independent republic, before becoming a state within the union of the United States. I thought that the only remnants of The Alamo were the iconic front gates, but much of the fort remains, within lovely, landscaped grounds.

We crossed Alamo Plaza to get to RiverWalk, the beautifully landscaped promenade on each side of the San Antonio River as it winds its way through downtown. We walked around for a couple of hours, admiring the setting, and visiting La Villita, the "old town" village of shops and restaurants. With tired legs ( particularly my knees ! ) we cut through the very large Rivercenter Mall to get back to where we had parked the truck.

We chatted briefly with our "next door neighbours", a couple from Michigan with a German Shepherd. They are here for a reunion of Vietnam Veteran Dog Handlers. I didn't want to ask ; what did the American forces use dogs for in Vietnam ? I lost my interest in chatting with him when he began to espouse his beliefs regarding handguns ( rolling my eyes ). God Bless America !

DSK

October 9 to 15, 2008

October 9 to 15, 2008 ; Grenfell, Saskatchewan to Fargo, North Dakota

Thursday ; Grenfell, Saskatchewan to Winnipeg / Lorette, Manitoba

This morning we departed Grenfell continuing east on Trans-Canada Highway 1. It was still bitterly cold, with a strong wind. By the time we got to Lorette at supper time, the wind had diminished, and it was a bit warmer. We crossed from Saskatchewan into Manitoba, from Saskatchewan's Central Standard Time Zone into Manitoba's Central Daylight Time Zone. Saskatchewan doesn't switch to Daylight Savings Time, so for half the year they're on Manitoba time and for half the year they're on Alberta time. We stopped for lunch near Brandon. Joanne drove after lunch, from Brandon to Portage La Prairie while I napped. We stopped at Wal-Mart in Portage La Prairie for a few items.

At Headingley, just on the west side of Winnipeg we stopped at Flying J to refill with diesel, refill a propane tank, and dump our waste holding tanks. As Flying J's go, this one was pathetic ! The water at their trailer dump station wasn't working, so we could dump the waste holding tanks ( by gravity ) but couldn't flush them out with the flusher attachment function. Good thing I had refilled the fresh water holding tank this morning in Grenfell before leaving. And Flying J didn't have a licensed propane filler on duty, so I couldn't get an empty propane tank refilled.

As we drove around the south side of Winnipeg on the Perimeter Highway, Lanoire's odometer rolled over 100,000 km.. Way to go, girl ! One hundred thousand kilometres ( 62,500 miles ) without a problem ! The campground on the east side of Winnipeg we were planning to stay at was closed for the season ( sigh ). We drove to my sister's in Lorette and parked in her yard. She and her husband were out visiting. We visited briefly with my niece, Andrea. We had supper, and then after Sharon and Bud returned home, we visited with them in the evening for awhile.

Our yard in Keremeos, B.C. to my sister's yard in Lorette, Manitoba, on the east side of Winnipeg, was a drive of 2100 km. / 1300 miles in 4 days. No wonder I'm tired tonight !

Friday ; Happy 54th Birthday to me !

Today was cloudy and cool. This morning while I was walking Bo around the Danelak's back yard, he chased something ( a chipmunk ? ) up onto their back deck. Bo leaped up over what he thought was the wood border of the deck. It was the border to the pond. SPLASH ! ! ! Nice going, Bo ! I spent most of the morning visiting with my sister Sharon. After lunch I drove into the village of Lorette and refilled an empty propane tank. I read and napped. We and Sharon took Bo for a long walk and romp around the Danelak's 7 acre property. Bud has created a walking path around the periphery of their property. Bo had a very good time running and exploring in the tall grass and forest.

Late in the afternoon we drove into Winnipeg to visit Joanne's sister and her family. We had dinner and visited with Joanne's sister Lorraine, her husband Doug, and their two girls, Madeleine, age 9 and Amelia, age 7. After dinner they presented me with a birthday cake, cards made by the girls, a birthday gift for me ( a couple of books that I will really enjoy reading ), and an early Christmas gift for both of us. Lorraine made us a quilt, with a Mariner's Compass design, a quilt design for travellers. Thank you to all the Carlsons for dinner, the cake, the cards, and the gifts.

Saturday ; Today was cloudy and cold, raining in the evening. I spent the morning visiting with Sharon and Bud. We took Bo for another long walk and romp around the Danelak's property.

Late in the afternoon Joanne wanted to visit her family again. We drove into Winnipeg and visited with the Carlsons for the evening. While there I got online and transferred my blog to its new location. We stopped at Wal-Mart on the way back to Lorette to buy a printer ink cartridge. Hopefully, our last Canadian Wal-Martin' until next spring.

Sunday ; Happy 34th Anniversary to us !

Today was cloudy and raining. YUCK ! ! ! I hate cold rain ! This morning Sharon prepared our Kirby family traditional waffle brunch. We spent the morning and early afternoon visiting with Sharon and Bud. The rest of the afternoon I spent reading, napping, and working on investment analyses. Joanne baked.

This afternoon my niece Andrea and her boyfriend Kevin took Bo for a long walk and romp around the Danelak’s property. Bo enjoyed being walked by someone “new” even though he doesn’t much like rain. Last night while Joanne and I visited the Carlsons, Sharon and Bud took Bo for a long walk. He lost his new bandanna. Poor Bo ... now a bandannaless Redneck Terrier !

At supper time we drove into Winnipeg to meet our friends Shirley, Darcy, and their 14 year old son Erik for dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory at The Forks. Shirley and Joanne have been friends since high school. Shirley was Joanne's Maid Of Honour at our wedding, 34 years ago today, so she and Darcy treated us to an anniversary dinner. The Old Spaghetti Factory is a Winnipeg restaurant which has existed since our high school days. The Forks is a commercial development at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. We had a very enjoyable evening visiting with our dear old friends. Thank you, Darcy & Shirley, for dinner, the anniversary card and gift, and a wonderful evening of visiting.

On the way to the restaurant we drove down St. Jean Baptiste Street to see our first home, a little house we purchased in 1976 and lived in until we relocated to Ottawa in 1988.

Monday ; Happy ( Canadian ) Thanksgiving

I haven't really wanted to admit it to anyone other than Joanne ( and myself ) but I've been really sick the last few days with a flare up of ulcerative colitis. As much as I enjoy eating, every meal since we've arrived in Winnipeg leaves me feeling ill for a few hours after eating while the digestion process is under way. By the time I start to feel better, it's time for the next meal. Tough choice ... be hungry or be sick. For much of the time it's both !

Again today was cold, cloudy and raining. Again I spent the morning visiting with Sharon and Bud. Sharon prepared me a breakfast of toasted Pahska, Ukrainian Easter bread. Again I spent the afternoon reading and napping. Sharon prepared Thanksgiving dinner. A full traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner, and all the traditional Ukrainian "supplements" ; perogies, holupchis, even peepanky in cream. Peepanky is the Ukrainian name for a type of wild mushroom found in Manitoba. I don't know the English name for them. We contributed a couple of bottles of Perle Of Csaba white wine from St. Laszlo Vineyards in Keremeos.

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and evening of chatting. Thank you very much, Sharon and Bud.

Tuesday ; Canada’s Federal Election Day

Today was cold but sunny. Finally the rain has stopped. Sharon and Bud were gone all day, working about 14 hours at a local electoral polling station. Joanne and I worked on errands, preparing for departure tomorrow morning. Joanne did laundry. I refilled our fresh water tank and did some pre-departure maintenance. After lunch we went into Winnipeg to do some last minute Canadian shopping and refill an empty propane tank. We've used a lot of propane since arriving here 5 days ago. It's been very cold, the furnace has been on a lot, and I've been running the fridge and water heater on propane instead of electricity, since we're plugged into only 15 amps at Danelak's. The last few items we wanted to purchase in Canada included Christmas fruit cake and wild rice. In the past we have been unable to find satisfactory Christmas fruit cake in the southern United States. WOW ... wild rice is expensive ! But it's another item we have been unable to find in the United States. As a matter of fact, it's not available in much of Canada either. But we knew that it is readily available in and around Winnipeg. We drove to the Carlson's and said goodbye to Joanne's family.

I spent the evening watching the election results unfold on the big screen TV in the Danelak's family room. As expected, the Conservative Party won the election, forming a minority government.

Wednesday ; Lorette / Winnipeg, Manitoba to Fargo, North Dakota

Today started cold and cloudy. Mid-afternoon the sky began to clear and it got warmer. This morning we prepared for departure, then had a cup of tea with Sharon and Andrea. Just as we were about to leave, Bud returned home from his half morning of substitute teaching. We said our goodbyes and departed the Danelak's yard at 10:30 A.M.. We refilled with diesel and went to an RV dealer in Winnipeg to dump our waste holding tanks at their RV dump station.

We left Winnipeg heading south on Hwy. 59. Just before the U.S. border we stopped for lunch. Crossing the border at Tolstoi, Manitoba was relatively quick and painless. With politeness and apologies the border guard confiscated the eight pieces of firewood I had in the back of the truck. We entered the northwest corner of Minnesota. We went to the Post Office in Lancaster and picked up our Passport America membership renewal package. I had ordered it sent to General Delivery in Lancaster to avoid the additional charges for shipping to Canada. We drove south on Hwy. 5, then west on Hwy. 11, crossing over the Red River into the northeast corner of North Dakota at Drayton. We got onto Interstate 29 heading south. Nice road ! Over the next few days we will travel quite a distance south on I-29. We made it to Fargo, and stopped at Flying J to refill with diesel and boondock for the night. I remember staying at this same Flying J in September, 2004.

DSK

October 2 to 8, 2008

Watch for notification of upcoming blog address change by end of October

October 2 to 8, 2008 ; Keremeos, B.C. to Grenfell, Saskatchewan

Thursday ; Today was supposed to be Dan Air Flight 405 / Mountain Performance Course Flight No. 5, but once again my flying was curtailed by bad weather. I won't be able to finish my Mountain Performance Flight Course until next spring. Oh, well ... something to look forward to !

In the middle of the night, at 4:00 A.M., I was sitting at our picnic table having a smoke, having had difficulty falling asleep again after getting up to go to the bathroom. I was sitting there quietly, in the dark, when suddenly a form appeared from around the back of the truck. A large buck deer was wandering into our yard. He walked slowly around the truck, head tilted back, sniffing the air, obviously smelling me but not seeing me. I sat motionless, and he slowly walked toward the picnic table and trailer, getting within about 10 feet of me before turning around and walking out of our yard and down the road.

This morning we headed to Penticton. We met with our investment broker to discuss the changes we have made to our investments this summer, and some that still need to be made before the end of the year. The declines in the values of our investments over the last year and a half, particularly the last few weeks, are ... chilling ! Next spring, after 5 years of being homeless, unemployed vagabonds / full time RV'ers, we may have to succumb to financial pressures, resume a "normal" lifestyle, and resume working. But I'm not ( yet ! ) willing to alter our travel plans for this upcoming winter season. From our investment broker's office we went to the Bank of Montreal to buy traveller's cheques for our upcoming winter's journeys. From there we went to the B.C. Government Services Office to process an early renewal for Joanne's driver's license, which expires in January on her birthday.

We had a quick picnic lunch in Skaha Lake Park then Joanne dropped me off at Southern Skies Aviation and went to run errands while I went flying. When I phoned Kamloops FSS ( Flight Services Station ) for a weather briefing, I learned that a narrow band of bad weather was approaching from the south, and by the time I would be ready to take off in about an hour, it would be positioned to the west of Penticton, right in between Penticton and Merritt where I was flying to < sigh >. I discussed the situation with my instructor, and we decided to cancel the training flight. I phoned Joanne, she picked me up at the airport, and we spent the rest of the afternoon running errands. Oh, boy, just what I wanted. More time at Wal-Mart !

Goodbye, Penticton. See you next spring.

Friday ; This morning we made Eggs Benedict, our second attempt. It was much better than the first attempt, earlier this summer. I poached the eggs, Joanne made the Hollandaise sauce. Good team effort.

Yesterday we saw a small herd of about six Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep on the side of the road right outside our park gate. Today there was a much larger herd, over a dozen. We only see Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep down here in the Similkameen Valley briefly in the spring upon our return, and again in the fall briefly before our departure. The rest of the time they are up high in the mountains, avoiding the warm weather down here in the valley. Three of our four "time to depart for the winter" indicators have appeared, so it must be just about time to go. The geese are flying south. The snakes have all migrated across our road to take up hibernation residency in our rock wall. The Bighorn Sheep are back down in the valley. But ... our neighbour Ron hasn't switched to long pants yet. HA HA HA ! Actually, I think that as soon as Ron gets to the point where he feels it's time to switch from shorts to long pants, he hitches up and heads south. HA HA HA !

We went into town for haircuts today. From there we went to the upcoming federal election's advance voting poll at the Legion Hall in Keremeos. That didn't go very smoothly. Joanne didn't have photo identification because yesterday she was issued a temporary / renewal driver's license that doesn't have a picture on it. And I wasn't registered to vote in the local electoral district, thanks to the ineptitude of Revenue Canada and / or Elections Canada who failed to recognize that a year and a half ago I "moved" from Manitoba to British Columbia. Elections Canada is supposed to get up to date address information from Revenue Canada who gets them off income tax returns. Joanne was registered to vote in this electoral district, but I wasn't !

Saturday ; This weekend is the beginning of the two week long annual Okanagan Wine Festival, with events at wineries all around the Okanagan / Similkameen region. Early this afternoon, accompanied by our neighbours Janet and Jerry, we headed off for the Grand Opening of Rustic Roots Winery near Cawston. Rustic Roots Winery is a new fruit winery, a new venture of Harker's Organic Fruit Ranch, a local fruit orchard business now operated by the fifth generation of the Harker family. We sampled their four products, and munched on appetizers. This Grand Opening introduced four of their wines, with three more to be introduced by Christmas. They are the second fruit winery in the area, competing with Forbidden Fruit, our favourite winery. Jerry and Janet had never been to Forbidden Fruit, and since Forbidden Fruit was having a dessert and wine event this afternoon, off to Forbidden Fruit Winery we went.

Unfortunately Forbidden Fruit Winery had cancelled their dessert and wine event due to bad weather and poor advance ticket sales. But we sampled some of their products ( yup ... sure do like that Pomme Désirée ! ), and Janet bought a bottle of Adam's Apple. On the way back to Keremeos we stopped at St. Laszlo Vineyards where Joanne wanted to buy a couple of bottles of their Interlaken to take to Winnipeg for Thanksgiving. St. Laszlo's Interlaken was sold out, so Joanne bought a couple of bottles of Perle Of Csaba, another one of St. Laszlo's wines that we like. While Joanne, Janet, and Jerry were inside St. Laszlo' s wine tasting and sales shop I sat outside cuddling an extremely sociable female kitten named Crush.

Yesterday we stopped at Lasser's Produce to buy some Aurora Golden Gala apples to take to Winnipeg. They hadn't picked any yet, but were planning to pick this morning. Aurora Golden Gala apples were developed and are grown near Oliver. Lasser's is the only Keremeos orchard growing Aurora Golden Gala apples, Joanne's favourite. My favourite are the Ambrosia apples, developed and grown only around Keremeos. We bought 20 pounds of Ambrosias yesterday at Sanderson Farms. On the way through Keremeos today we stopped at Lasser's to buy 20 pounds of Aurora Golden Galas. They still hadn't picked any yet, because it was raining this morning. We explained that we wanted them now, because we were leaving for Winnipeg Monday morning. Okay ... they handed us a large box, gave us directions to where the Aurora Golden Gala trees were in their orchard, and sent us off to pick our own. Great ! We picked the best of the best, and filled the box ( unintentionally ) with more than 20 pounds. Since we had to pick them ourselves, Lasser's charged us for only 20 pounds. Thank you.

There were more Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep on the side of the road today. Back at Riverside RV Park Resort we met a new neighbour and her dog Meggie, a Pomeranian / Sheltie cross. Meggie, like Bo, is a high energy dog, so we went with both dogs down to our park's "burn pile" area to let the dogs run freely off leash. On the way back to our lot we swung by our park's orchard area and picked a pail full of a variety of apples, some for baking tonight and some to take to Winnipeg to share with family and friends.

Sunday ; Today was mostly cloudy and cool, with a bit of sunny and warm mixed in. Right after lunch we headed for the annual Festival Of The Grape in Oliver. We were joined by our neighbours Janet ( without Jerry ), Marlene and Terry. We drove east on Hwy. 3 to Osoyoos then north on Hwy. 97 to Oliver.

We spent the afternoon sampling wines, watching grape stomp competitions ( HA HA HA ) and listening to the Powder Blues Band on the outdoor stage. Powder Blues Band from Vancouver was one of the first Canadian blues / rock bands that I became interested in during the late 70's. Today they played all their hits from the 70's, including Flip Flop & Fly, Thirsty Ears, and Doin' It Right On The Wrong Side Of Town. We wandered around the vendors' displays, but didn't buy anything. We chatted briefly with my "employer" Lisa, of Clownin' Around, who had a booth. We sat around and chatted with Marlene and Terry about the interesting things to see and do in and around Yuma, Arizona. Terry and Marlene are going south to Yuma for the first time this winter.

By the time we got back to Riverside RV Park Resort, it was almost dark, and we didn't have time to either hitch the truck to the trailer, or pay a goodbye visit to another of our neighbours, both of which we had planned / hoped to do today.

Monday ; WE’RE ON THE ROAD AGAIN ! Keremeos to Cranbrook, B.C.

Today started out sunny and cold. The temperature at 8:00 A.M. was 0.5° C. / 33° F.. We departed Riverside RV Park Resort later than we had planned, and that late departure contributed to the day ending up not so well !

This morning as we were preparing for departure many of our neighbours stopped by to say goodbye for the winter. A few minutes chatting here, and a few minutes chatting there, and we were late departing. We stopped at Fas Gas in Keremeos to refill with diesel and adjust the air pressure in all 12 truck and trailer tires. By the time we got to Osoyoos it was already noon.

We drove east on Hwy. 3 all day. This is the first time we have climbed the 20 km. hill eastbound on Hwy. 3 out of Osoyoos with Lanoire ( the truck ) pulling Harvey ( the trailer ). No problemo ! The last time we climbed this hill, it almost killed Dee-Dee, our previous truck.

Beautiful fall colours in the Kootenay Rockies ! At the Kootenay Pass Summit there was fresh snow. I needed to refill with diesel again as we got to the town of Yahk. The only fuel station in Yahk was out of diesel ! We continued on to the town of Moyie. Three kilometres / two miles from Moyie the truck computer's "distance to empty" read zero ! ! ! That's the second time that I've run the diesel down to a "distance to empty" of zero ! I pulled off the road onto the shoulder and poured my emergency 10 litres / 2 gallons of diesel into the truck, just as it got dark. As a result of that few minutes delay, we missed the turn into Moyie Lake Provincial Park in the dark a few miles later. I didn't think we had enough diesel to risk looking for a place to turn around and go back. When we got to the town of Moyie, the only fuel station had just closed for the night. Uh-oh ! ! ! We continued on to Cranbrook, turning into the first fuel station on the edge of town, with the "distance to empty" reading 12 km. / 7.5 miles. I refilled with diesel, including refilling the emergency container, and we pulled into Wal-Mart's parking lot to boondock overnight. We had hoped to make it to Fernie today, about another 100 km. / 60 miles.

Tuesday ; Cranbrook, B.C. to Medicine Hat, Alberta

Bo was ill yesterday afternoon, overnight, and most of today. I think he overindulged in the Snausages that our neighbour Janet was feeding him as a farewell treat just as we were leaving Riverside RV Park Resort yesterday morning.

Today was cold and raining on the west side of the Rockies, and sunny but extremely windy on the eastern side of the Rockies. As soon as we crossed up and over the Rockies, through Crowsnest Pass, we had a tailwind of 100 km. per hour / 60 miles per hour all the way to Medicine Hat. It resulted in astounding fuel mileage of almost 15 MPG. Normally Lanoire gets about 11 MPG when hauling Harvey.

We left Cranbrook early. We stopped in Sparwood to buy some groceries. Highway 3 from Keremeos all the way to the Alberta border over Crowsnest Pass is a very scenic but tough drive. Continuous curves and hills, all two lane undivided highway. Once in Alberta, and on the eastern side of the Rockies, the road becomes flat, straight, and mostly four lane divided highway. When we stopped for lunch at Fort Macleod we had difficulty opening the trailer and truck doors to get in and out because of the wind. WOW ! We crossed from the Pacific Time Zone to the Mountain Time Zone. We arrived in Medicine Hat shortly after 5:00 P.M., having made good time today on the road in Alberta. We found a place to park on the street right beside the condominium building that our friends Sep and Susanna live in. We phoned Sep and told him we were parked right outside. He was going to come down to get us. When he hadn't arrived 15 minutes later I phoned again. He said we weren't outside his building ! OOOOOPS ! He drove around and found us. We were parked beside a condo building a block away from his.

We visited briefly with Sep and Susanna in their suite, then went out for dinner to De Vine. We had a very elegant dinner. Sep and Susanna paid the bill, treating us to an early birthday and anniversary dinner. Thank you very much ! It was wonderful to visit with them again. The last time we saw Sep was about 2 years ago, and Susanna about 3 years ago. They drove us back to our trailer, we said our goodbyes, then we drove across the city to park overnight at Wal-Mart again.

Whew ... well over 1000 km. / 600 miles in two days ! We don't usually drive that hard !

Wednesday ; Medicine Hat, Alberta to Grenfell, Saskatchewan

Whew ... we drove over 600 km. / 375 miles today, trying to take advantage of another day of exceptionally strong tailwind, and flat, straight, prairie highway. Today was sunny, cold, and extremely windy again. When we arrived at Grenfell Regional Campground shortly after 6:00 P.M., the temperature was near freezing, with an 80 km. / 50 mile per hour wind !

This morning before leaving Medicine Hat we shopped at Wal-Mart for supplies ( Alberta has no provincial sales tax ! ), Sobey's for groceries, and refilled with diesel. We headed east on Trans-Canada Highway 1. We crossed from Alberta into Saskatchewan, stopping for lunch west of Swift Current. At Regina we refilled with diesel again, then went to a campground that we had planned to stay at tonight. But, as happens occasionally, the campground refused to honour the Passport America rate, despite being listed in the Passport America directory. We refuse to stay at campgrounds that get themselves listed in the Passport America directory then refuse to honour the rate. After lunch Joanne had driven from Swift Current to Moose Jaw while I napped, so I felt rested enough to go further than Regina. As we passed Indian Head we came upon a fatal traffic accident that had happened just a few minutes before. TSK ! We drove about 100 km. / 60 miles beyond Regina, stopping for the night at Grenfell. BRRRRR ! ! !

DSK