May 23 to 29, 2010
Well, we’re pretty tired of this crappy, cold, wet weather that persisted all week. Actually, it’s persisted for the entire month that we’ve been home.
On Sunday and Monday, between the periods of rain, we finished dismantling the gazebo’s shipping crate, and hauling the scrap lumber to our park’s “burn pile”. While there I found an eight foot section of framed lattice which I attached to two of our cedar planters. Joanne had planted pole beans and snap peas in the planters, and the lattice is for the peas and beans to climb on as they grow. Also, Joanne found a damaged banquet table with folding legs. We removed the folding legs and I used them to build a small table for our barbecue.
On Tuesday and Wednesday I got nasty with Alliance Woodcraft by phone and e-mail. That finally resulted in them shipping the door and screens for the gazebo. The shipping company phoned on Thursday to arrange for Friday delivery, but Joanne and I weren’t going to be home on Friday, so the shipping company and I agreed on delivery next Tuesday.
On Wednesday I met with my new “boss” in Osoyoos. I thought I was meeting him for an “interview”. He thought I was meeting him for “orientation”. Apparently, being hired was a given ! I spent a couple of hours with him receiving “orientation”, then picked up one of his fifth wheel trailers at his storage yard in Osoyoos, and delivered and set it up at Nk’Mip Campground in Osoyoos. In the pouring rain !
Got a haircut and beard trim on Thursday. Had a philosophical discussion with my stylist on why the service that costs $13 in Keremeos costs $3 in Mexico. Well, actually $2.99 … keep the change, I’m a rich gringo from Canada. HA HA HA ! HEY … for thirteen bucks Sarah won’t even trim my ear and nose hairs. HA HA HA ( SNORT ) HA HA ! ! !
We spent a long day in Penticton on Friday running errands. We met with our investment broker in the morning to discuss and implement our strategies to take advantage of the U.S. dollar and Canadian dollar exchange rate at par … if and when that happens again ! As it did a month ago ! In the afternoon while Joanne shopped for groceries I met with our insurance broker to review and renew the truck and trailer insurance policies.
Saturday was another windy, cold, rainy day ( sigh ). We got some yard work done. I set up Bo’s agility course components, then ran him through once. Well done, Bo, good dog. We did not wash the trailer which was our primary objective for today. Harvey is still filthy with Pacific Northwest road grime.
DSK
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
May 16 to 22, 2010
May 16 to 22, 2010
AHHHHH … what a lovely evening. I am sitting at a picnic table beside Okanagan Lake on Tuesday evening. The lake is calm. The temperature is mild. We are at the Escapee Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally at Green Bay Bible Camp on the west side of Okanagan Lake, across the lake from the city of Kelowna. It’s the first day of the rally. Most of the attendees are inside the dining hall playing Mexican Train, a dominoes type game popular with RV’ers. I didn’t want to play so I took Bo for a walk by the lake, out onto the long dock, and over to the playground to do some “Bo-gility”. HA HA HA … good dog, Bo ! After I got him a bit tired out, I took Sully for a short walk around the campground. Bo and Sully certainly have very different ideas of what constitutes “going for a walk”.
On Sunday I continued working on building our gazebo. I completed installing the final three roof panels. And I worked on caulking the roof seams before installing the metal cladding on the roof, and the ridge panels over the corner rafters. But I ran out of silicone sealant. On Monday I installed the metal cladding on the roof. My work was frequently interrupted by intermittent rain. And I didn’t have an assistant. Joanne was in Keremeos running errands and seeing the doctor to get her annual cancer screening procedures started.
Tuesday morning we prepared for departure and left Riverside RV Park Resort heading north through the Okanagan Valley to Green Bay on Lake Okanagan for the SKP spring rally. We arrived around noon, got registered, visited, had lunch, and I napped with Sully. He has been unhappy that I haven’t napped with him after lunch for the last few weeks. It was raining after lunch, and that curtailed the socializing that would normally take up the first afternoon of an SKP rally. We had a potluck dinner of “heavy appetizers” in the dining hall. In recognition of this rally’s Mexican theme, Joanne’s contribution was ceviche camarón, a Mexican version of shrimp cocktail / shrimp salad / shrimp salsa sort of thing, served with fresh home made tortilla chips which she baked last night. We were pleased to get reacquainted with an Escapee couple from Ontario who are attending this rally as “visitors”. We knew them from our days as members of the Maple Leaf ( Ontario ) Chapter 18. The last time we saw Bob and Helen was in Goshen, Indiana about 5 years ago or so.
Our best friends in this chapter, Ron and Mary are not here. Ron and Mary welcomed us into this chapter three years ago. They mentored us when we were rally hosts for the first time last spring. They visited us and stayed in their RV on our lot at Riverside RV Park Resort. They’ve been to the Keremeos Rodeo with us. We’ve met them at the Pentastic Jazz Festival in Penticton. We’ve camped with them in a B.C. provincial park. Ron was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The prognosis is … not good. He’s been given three months to live. We’re very saddened by this news.
Wednesday morning we joined the group on a tour of the nearby Gellatly Nut Farm, a 105 year old heritage farm. In the afternoon we played group games ; beanbag baseball and ladder golf. I won the ladder golf championship. ( bowing and doing my Elvis impersonation ) Thankyou … thankyouverymuch ! The weather was okay, just a couple of short bursts of light rain. The rally hosts prepared a Mexican theme dinner, and most attendees dressed in Mexican garb. Joanne wore her Huipile dress that I bought for her in Uxmal for her birthday a year and a half ago. I wore my Guayabera shirt that I bought … ( thinking ) … somewhere in the state of Chiapas. Must have been Chiapas, because it’s a Chiapas Indian shirt. The group spent the evening socializing around a campfire, until it began to rain.
Apparently there are five large owls that live in this campground. Repeatedly today we were able to observe two of them, an adult and a juvenile. They look down with great interest at Sully when I take him outside for a walk ! I found a freshly preened large owl feather this afternoon underneath the tree where the juvenile was perched. I picked it up and will attach it to a dream catcher that I have that needs all of its half dozen or so feathers replaced.
Thursday morning the rally group had a pancake breakfast followed by our chapter’s annual general meeting. After lunch there was an outing to two local wineries for a tour and tastings. I wasn’t feeling well, so I didn’t go. Joanne went while I napped with Sully and Bo. We had a group dinner, prepared by the Green Bay Bible Camp staff, in the dining hall. Spinach salad, barbecued ribs ( pork … couldn’t eat ‘em ), baked beans ( with pork … couldn’t eat ‘em ), and freshly baked buns. So, for the price of dinner, I got to eat spinach salad and a bun ! Then … ( Lord, have mercy ) .. . it was time for the annual Chapter 33 “evening of entertainment”. Is it any wonder that my colon doesn’t work ? ! ? This morning I was asked to “participate”. The implication was that I perform a magic show. I didn’t feel up to it ! So … I did a three part performance. First I performed one new ( to this group ) magic trick. Then, since this rally’s theme was Mexico, and those of us who have been to Mexico have been encouraging those who haven’t yet been to go, I read my lengthy February 15, 2009 journal entry. That was the day we were in Acapulco, went to see the La Quebrada cliff divers, and … our bus driver was stabbed during an attempted robbery. That oughtta encourage those who haven’t yet been to Mexico to go, don’t ya think ? HA HA HA ! Finally, I showed … and played … the Arpa Magica musical instrument I bought from a Chiapas Indian man in a campground in the jungle along the Mexico / Guatemala border. My inaugural performance ! And … NO … I didn’t play any whiny country and western ! ! !
Friday morning we spent a couple of hours socializing and saying goodbyes at the rally’s hitch up breakfast. We were the last rig to leave Green Bay Bible Camp. On the way south on Hwy. 97 through the Okanagan Valley we stopped in Summerland to have a very brief meeting with the owner of RV Days, the RV rental business that we hope to work for this summer. We made tentative plans to meet with him again on Wednesday in Osoyoos. We stopped beside Yellow Lake to have lunch. We were home by mid-afternoon.
Saturday was a long, hard day of working on the gazebo. I finished sealing the roof panels at the corner rafters. I installed the roof corner ridge panels. And finally, I installed the skylight. The basic construction is complete ! I still need to do some touch up with wood putty in a few spots. I need to ensure the walls are straight and aligned, then screw them down to the floor base. I need to seal all around the bottom of the walls at the floor to keep insects and water out. AND … I await the door and screens ! ! !
DSK
AHHHHH … what a lovely evening. I am sitting at a picnic table beside Okanagan Lake on Tuesday evening. The lake is calm. The temperature is mild. We are at the Escapee Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally at Green Bay Bible Camp on the west side of Okanagan Lake, across the lake from the city of Kelowna. It’s the first day of the rally. Most of the attendees are inside the dining hall playing Mexican Train, a dominoes type game popular with RV’ers. I didn’t want to play so I took Bo for a walk by the lake, out onto the long dock, and over to the playground to do some “Bo-gility”. HA HA HA … good dog, Bo ! After I got him a bit tired out, I took Sully for a short walk around the campground. Bo and Sully certainly have very different ideas of what constitutes “going for a walk”.
On Sunday I continued working on building our gazebo. I completed installing the final three roof panels. And I worked on caulking the roof seams before installing the metal cladding on the roof, and the ridge panels over the corner rafters. But I ran out of silicone sealant. On Monday I installed the metal cladding on the roof. My work was frequently interrupted by intermittent rain. And I didn’t have an assistant. Joanne was in Keremeos running errands and seeing the doctor to get her annual cancer screening procedures started.
Tuesday morning we prepared for departure and left Riverside RV Park Resort heading north through the Okanagan Valley to Green Bay on Lake Okanagan for the SKP spring rally. We arrived around noon, got registered, visited, had lunch, and I napped with Sully. He has been unhappy that I haven’t napped with him after lunch for the last few weeks. It was raining after lunch, and that curtailed the socializing that would normally take up the first afternoon of an SKP rally. We had a potluck dinner of “heavy appetizers” in the dining hall. In recognition of this rally’s Mexican theme, Joanne’s contribution was ceviche camarón, a Mexican version of shrimp cocktail / shrimp salad / shrimp salsa sort of thing, served with fresh home made tortilla chips which she baked last night. We were pleased to get reacquainted with an Escapee couple from Ontario who are attending this rally as “visitors”. We knew them from our days as members of the Maple Leaf ( Ontario ) Chapter 18. The last time we saw Bob and Helen was in Goshen, Indiana about 5 years ago or so.
Our best friends in this chapter, Ron and Mary are not here. Ron and Mary welcomed us into this chapter three years ago. They mentored us when we were rally hosts for the first time last spring. They visited us and stayed in their RV on our lot at Riverside RV Park Resort. They’ve been to the Keremeos Rodeo with us. We’ve met them at the Pentastic Jazz Festival in Penticton. We’ve camped with them in a B.C. provincial park. Ron was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The prognosis is … not good. He’s been given three months to live. We’re very saddened by this news.
Thursday morning the rally group had a pancake breakfast followed by our chapter’s annual general meeting. After lunch there was an outing to two local wineries for a tour and tastings. I wasn’t feeling well, so I didn’t go. Joanne went while I napped with Sully and Bo. We had a group dinner, prepared by the Green Bay Bible Camp staff, in the dining hall. Spinach salad, barbecued ribs ( pork … couldn’t eat ‘em ), baked beans ( with pork … couldn’t eat ‘em ), and freshly baked buns. So, for the price of dinner, I got to eat spinach salad and a bun ! Then … ( Lord, have mercy ) .. . it was time for the annual Chapter 33 “evening of entertainment”. Is it any wonder that my colon doesn’t work ? ! ? This morning I was asked to “participate”. The implication was that I perform a magic show. I didn’t feel up to it ! So … I did a three part performance. First I performed one new ( to this group ) magic trick. Then, since this rally’s theme was Mexico, and those of us who have been to Mexico have been encouraging those who haven’t yet been to go, I read my lengthy February 15, 2009 journal entry. That was the day we were in Acapulco, went to see the La Quebrada cliff divers, and … our bus driver was stabbed during an attempted robbery. That oughtta encourage those who haven’t yet been to Mexico to go, don’t ya think ? HA HA HA ! Finally, I showed … and played … the Arpa Magica musical instrument I bought from a Chiapas Indian man in a campground in the jungle along the Mexico / Guatemala border. My inaugural performance ! And … NO … I didn’t play any whiny country and western ! ! !
Friday morning we spent a couple of hours socializing and saying goodbyes at the rally’s hitch up breakfast. We were the last rig to leave Green Bay Bible Camp. On the way south on Hwy. 97 through the Okanagan Valley we stopped in Summerland to have a very brief meeting with the owner of RV Days, the RV rental business that we hope to work for this summer. We made tentative plans to meet with him again on Wednesday in Osoyoos. We stopped beside Yellow Lake to have lunch. We were home by mid-afternoon.
Saturday was a long, hard day of working on the gazebo. I finished sealing the roof panels at the corner rafters. I installed the roof corner ridge panels. And finally, I installed the skylight. The basic construction is complete ! I still need to do some touch up with wood putty in a few spots. I need to ensure the walls are straight and aligned, then screw them down to the floor base. I need to seal all around the bottom of the walls at the floor to keep insects and water out. AND … I await the door and screens ! ! !
DSK
Sunday, May 16, 2010
May 9 to 15, 2010
May 9 to 15, 2010
This week was mostly dedicated to building the gazebo. We made a lot of progress, more than I had expected we would.
A week of antibiotics enabled Sully to beat the upper respiratory infection. He improved daily while on the antibiotics and is now healthy once again. And three days of antibiotics helped me to fight off the cat bite infection in the back of my hand. That took longer than three days, but three days of antibiotics is all my colitis will tolerate.
Friday was another long day of running errands in Penticton. The main errand was having the truck serviced. WHEW … that damn beast sucked up $739 worth of fluids and filters !
We have now put six days of effort into building the gazebo. Joanne has been an excellent assistant. The first four days went exceptionally well, and we got the walls erected. On the fifth day we began to work on the roof, and things went poorly. We got the rafters erected, then the roof panels would not line up and fit properly. It was a frustrating day for both of us. We ended the day with one of eight roof panels installed.
I started the sixth day with a pencil, a piece of paper, and a tape measure, doing a lot of measuring and engineering calculations. I ended up repositioning three of the rafters slightly. We installed another four of eight roof panels. Three more to go. Joanne was frustrated again today. Me less so. She decided that the day’s work ended when, due to a bit of carelessness, considerable frustration, and fatigue, she stabbed me in the lower leg with a sharp drill bit while passing me the drill while I was standing on a ladder. OUCH !
The first thing we noticed when we got the gazebo components uncrated and unwrapped was that there was no screen door and no wall screens. First thing Monday morning I was on the phone to Alliance Woodcraft. This gazebo kit comes in two versions. One without a screen door and wall screens, one with. ( sigh ) Their shipping department sent the wrong one ! We are awaiting their shipping of a screen door and wall screens.
DSK
Sunday, May 9, 2010
May 2 to 8, 2010
May 2 to 8, 2010
Happy 9th Birthday on Wednesday … Cinco de Mayo … to Joanne’s niece Amelia.
This was a week of hard work, impeded frequently by poor weather. Cold and wet … BRRRRR ! What crappy weather all week !
Early in the week we noticed Sully had watery eyes and was sneezing a lot. We thought he was having spring allergies, like hay fever, like he did in November in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. After a few days we realized, perhaps a bit later than we should have, that he has an upper respiratory infection. Somewhat like a kitty cat cold. Just like what resulted in Teddy’s death ! Sully is a few years younger than Teddy was, so hopefully he can fight it off. But he was one sick little kitty on Thursday and Friday, with watery eyes, lots of sneezing, a runny nose, and a pathetic little meow caused by congestion and phlegm. His normal “voice” is pretty loud. We started him on antibiotics on Thursday, and by Saturday he seemed to be a bit improved. We’re worried, but hopeful.
He strongly resisted the first antibiotic pill we gave him. My hands got scratched and bit. The next morning the back of my left hand was sore, purple and swollen. Oh, great ! “Cat Scratch Fever” ! An infection in the back of my left hand. A similar incident about 18 years ago resulted in my first hospital stay, hooked up to intravenous antibiotics for two days ! I started taking oral antibiotics Friday night. Now, Saturday evening, it’s looking a bit less purple and swollen and is a bit less sore. Wish me luck ! Thanks a lot, Sully !
Joanne worked intermittently all week on weeding our lot. What a lot of back breaking work, pulling weeds out of rocks by hand. We don’t want to use weed killer. Nice work, thank you, my dear.
Our gazebo kit arrived Monday. What a difficult task wrestling it off the truck ! The truck driver, a neighbour, and me, struggling with a crate that weighed 900 pounds ! WHEW !
Wednesday was a long day of running errands in Penticton, including buying Bo a dog license and having a meeting with our investment broker.
Friday we began to work on unwrapping the gazebo crate. It was wrapped around and over and around with a light tarp, held in place by hundreds and hundreds of staples. HMPH ! On Saturday I worked on dismantling the crate. HMPH ! Hundreds and hundreds of long nails, shot in by a nail gun. I hope the gazebo is half as sturdy as the crating it was in ! The nails were embedded so tightly I straightened out the curved end of a crowbar pulling out nails ! ! ! The next step is to remove what appears to be hundreds of feet of shrink wrap from around the wood pieces of the kit. I suppose Alliance Woodcraft packages their products for shipment so well because they got tired of having shipping damage claims on such expensive wood products.
My major accomplishment of the week was the gazebo deck I built last fall. It had to be modified in size a bit and relocated a bit. That was more work than I had expected. Of course … story of my life ! First we removed all the decking off the frame. It was too heavy to move with the decking on. We could barely move just the frame. Then I had to increase the dimension in one direction by 3½ inches. That’s what the two pieces of lumber I bought in Omak, Washington were for. What I didn’t know at the beginning of the week, but do know now, is that pressure treated lumber warps and twists very badly, very quickly, when left out in the cold rain for a few days. HMPH ! I fussed and fiddled and fussed some more trying to attach a warped board, twisted over its 12 foot length. When I was finally finished, having used a lot of screws, backed by large bumper washers, Joanne and I both decided it looked like shit ! I scrapped it and went into Keremeos and bought another one. HMPH … a ten buck piece of lumber going to the scrap heap !
And levelling the deck frame was a lot more difficult than we had anticipated. Excavating this damn compacted scree / rock slide shale that we finished our lot with is like trying to dig in concrete ! Finally, with a lot of hard work, we got it level. We reinstalled all the decking. ( sigh ) It’s ready for the gazebo to be built on it.
I have been trying all week to get hired for the summer as a delivery driver by the RV rental business in Summerland. I spoke to the owner a number of times this week. Each time he indicated that he is likely to hire me, but then kept postponing and rescheduling a meeting / interview. Now I’m supposed to phone him on the upcoming long weekend in two weeks.
I finished Joanne’s income tax return. It’s in the envelope waiting to be mailed. Mine still needs to be recopied from the working copy to the file copy.
Two of my cousins in Winnipeg died this week. HMPH … my generation is starting to die off ! It’s either time to quit smoking … or start speeding up life in the fast lane ! HA HA HA !
DSK
Happy 9th Birthday on Wednesday … Cinco de Mayo … to Joanne’s niece Amelia.
This was a week of hard work, impeded frequently by poor weather. Cold and wet … BRRRRR ! What crappy weather all week !
Early in the week we noticed Sully had watery eyes and was sneezing a lot. We thought he was having spring allergies, like hay fever, like he did in November in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. After a few days we realized, perhaps a bit later than we should have, that he has an upper respiratory infection. Somewhat like a kitty cat cold. Just like what resulted in Teddy’s death ! Sully is a few years younger than Teddy was, so hopefully he can fight it off. But he was one sick little kitty on Thursday and Friday, with watery eyes, lots of sneezing, a runny nose, and a pathetic little meow caused by congestion and phlegm. His normal “voice” is pretty loud. We started him on antibiotics on Thursday, and by Saturday he seemed to be a bit improved. We’re worried, but hopeful.
He strongly resisted the first antibiotic pill we gave him. My hands got scratched and bit. The next morning the back of my left hand was sore, purple and swollen. Oh, great ! “Cat Scratch Fever” ! An infection in the back of my left hand. A similar incident about 18 years ago resulted in my first hospital stay, hooked up to intravenous antibiotics for two days ! I started taking oral antibiotics Friday night. Now, Saturday evening, it’s looking a bit less purple and swollen and is a bit less sore. Wish me luck ! Thanks a lot, Sully !
Joanne worked intermittently all week on weeding our lot. What a lot of back breaking work, pulling weeds out of rocks by hand. We don’t want to use weed killer. Nice work, thank you, my dear.
Our gazebo kit arrived Monday. What a difficult task wrestling it off the truck ! The truck driver, a neighbour, and me, struggling with a crate that weighed 900 pounds ! WHEW !
Wednesday was a long day of running errands in Penticton, including buying Bo a dog license and having a meeting with our investment broker.
Friday we began to work on unwrapping the gazebo crate. It was wrapped around and over and around with a light tarp, held in place by hundreds and hundreds of staples. HMPH ! On Saturday I worked on dismantling the crate. HMPH ! Hundreds and hundreds of long nails, shot in by a nail gun. I hope the gazebo is half as sturdy as the crating it was in ! The nails were embedded so tightly I straightened out the curved end of a crowbar pulling out nails ! ! ! The next step is to remove what appears to be hundreds of feet of shrink wrap from around the wood pieces of the kit. I suppose Alliance Woodcraft packages their products for shipment so well because they got tired of having shipping damage claims on such expensive wood products.
My major accomplishment of the week was the gazebo deck I built last fall. It had to be modified in size a bit and relocated a bit. That was more work than I had expected. Of course … story of my life ! First we removed all the decking off the frame. It was too heavy to move with the decking on. We could barely move just the frame. Then I had to increase the dimension in one direction by 3½ inches. That’s what the two pieces of lumber I bought in Omak, Washington were for. What I didn’t know at the beginning of the week, but do know now, is that pressure treated lumber warps and twists very badly, very quickly, when left out in the cold rain for a few days. HMPH ! I fussed and fiddled and fussed some more trying to attach a warped board, twisted over its 12 foot length. When I was finally finished, having used a lot of screws, backed by large bumper washers, Joanne and I both decided it looked like shit ! I scrapped it and went into Keremeos and bought another one. HMPH … a ten buck piece of lumber going to the scrap heap !
And levelling the deck frame was a lot more difficult than we had anticipated. Excavating this damn compacted scree / rock slide shale that we finished our lot with is like trying to dig in concrete ! Finally, with a lot of hard work, we got it level. We reinstalled all the decking. ( sigh ) It’s ready for the gazebo to be built on it.
I have been trying all week to get hired for the summer as a delivery driver by the RV rental business in Summerland. I spoke to the owner a number of times this week. Each time he indicated that he is likely to hire me, but then kept postponing and rescheduling a meeting / interview. Now I’m supposed to phone him on the upcoming long weekend in two weeks.
I finished Joanne’s income tax return. It’s in the envelope waiting to be mailed. Mine still needs to be recopied from the working copy to the file copy.
Two of my cousins in Winnipeg died this week. HMPH … my generation is starting to die off ! It’s either time to quit smoking … or start speeding up life in the fast lane ! HA HA HA !
DSK
Sunday, May 2, 2010
April 25 to May 1, 2010
April 25 to May 1 ; Cape Lookout State Park / Tillamook, Oregon to Keremeos, BC
Sunday ; Cape Lookout State Park to Ainsworth State Park, Oregon
This morning we prepared for departure, said our goodbyes to Julie and Triscuit, and left Cape Lookout State Park. We drove to Tillamook and headed east on Hwy. 6, then Hwy. 26 to Portland. We had quite a bit of shopping we wanted to do in Portland. First stop was PetsMart to buy Glucosamine treats to last Sully for the summer. Joanne had the address of about half a dozen PetsMarts in the Portland area because the last two PetsMarts we went to were out of stock. We found the first PetsMart. They didn’t have any. We found the second PetsMart. They had some. By then we realized we didn’t have enough diesel to make it through Portland and out the east side to where the Flying J was. I began to search for a service station with diesel. That’s usually easy. Occasionally it isn’t. Portland was one of those cities where finding diesel was difficult. Before I could find a station with diesel I was so low on fuel I had to pull into a station without diesel just to get off the road, put in my emergency two gallon supply, and get directions to the nearest station with diesel. We found our way to a station with diesel. The price was $3.399 a gallon ! ! ! I put in $20 worth, and hoped that would get me to the Flying J.
Next stop was Wal-Mart. Usually Wal-Marts are extremely easy to find, usually visible from the highway. Not so in Portland ! It was a long way off the highway, and difficult to find. We had a late lunch in the Wal-Mart parking lot then went into Wal-Mart to shop. I don’t shop in Wal-Marts on weekends, so I went in just long enough to select a couple of “guy” items, then left Joanne to do the rest of the shopping. I returned to the trailer hoping I might find a Wi-Fi signal in the parking lot so that I could enter a blog update. ( sigh ) There were four Wi-Fi signals reaching the Wal-Mart parking lot, but they were all encrypted, requiring a password. I started this journal entry while I waited for Joanne to finish the shopping. The Wal-Mart did not have much of what we needed, so our Wal-Mart shopping for “must buy before leaving U.S.“ items isn’t finished yet ! Fortunately she had better luck at The Dollar Tree in the same mall as the Wal-Mart.
From Wal-Mart we found our way to Interstate 84 and headed east to Camping World at Exit 16. Camping World did not have either of the two items I needed. Our next and last stop was to be Flying J at Exit 17 but near the Camping World there was a Safeway with a fuel bar with diesel. This year we have been disappointed a few times that the Flying J’s have not been the lowest fuel price in their area, as had always been the case in previous years. So we gambled that Safeway, which usually has very good fuel prices at their fuel bars, might be cheaper than Flying J. We refilled with diesel at Safeway. It was certainly much more difficult to enter and exit the Safeway fuel bar with the rig than it would have been at Flying J, but it paid off. When we drove by the Flying J a few minutes later their diesel price was indeed higher than Safeway’s.
It had been our plan today to boondock at a rest area on I-84 to position ourselves for a visit tomorrow with our friend Eilene who lives in Grass Valley. But we have phoned her every day for the last week and there’s been no answer. Joanne felt that we could not arrive for a visit without giving her some advance notice of our day of arrival. So … after a stressful day of driving in and around Portland doing shopping we decided not to drive as far today as initially planned, stop a little earlier in a nice state park, and have a campfire. We stopped at Ainsworth State Park. It’s very nice, as are all Oregon State Parks we’ve been to. And this one was quite inexpensive. I started a campfire, and realized as I was chopping wood how tired I really was.
Sitting around the campfire reading about the local area, we decided to explore this area a bit tomorrow, not drive very far, and stay at another Oregon State Park tomorrow night before crossing the Columbia River, which I-84 follows, into Washington. Washington’s State Parks are as nice as Oregon’s, but they’re twice the price. I cooked supper over the open campfire, something I haven’t done in quite awhile. We chatted briefly with out neighbours who are from Florida and are heading for northern British Columbia. We persuaded them to head north up Hwy. 97 through the Okanagan Valley, our route home and the dry, warm route, instead of their planned route up Interstate 5 through Seattle and into BC at Vancouver, the cold wet route.
We are more than 150 miles inland from where we started this morning on the coast. It’s a lot warmer and drier here ! After supper we took Bo for a walk around the campground as it got dark, which isn’t until 8:30 PM. I sat on the sofa with Sully cuddled in a blankie against my hip, and I worked on this journal entry and today’s credit card accounting. I even managed to work on our income tax returns for awhile tonight.
Monday ; Ainsworth State Park to Memaloose State Park, Oregon
Today was cloudy and mild. We decided to do a bit of exploring, do some chores and errands, not drive far, and have an easy day today. This morning before departing Ainsworth State Park I took care of some chores that I knew would get pushed aside if I let them wait until we got home. I drained the fuel / water separator filter on the truck. I “exercised” the generator. It needs to be run briefly on a monthly basis. I trimmed my beard. I repaired the trailer monitor panel faceplate that had come loose. I removed it, cleaned it, and reinstalled it.
We departed the campground and headed west on Historic Route 30 to see the series of waterfalls on this route along the Columbia River Gorge. We viewed Horsetail Falls from the truck as we drove by. We stopped at Multnomah Falls and took a relatively easy hike to a viewing bridge near the falls. We drove a bit further and viewed Wahkeena Falls from the truck. We stopped to hike a steep trail to see Bridal Veil Falls. Spectacular ! While on the viewing platform Joanne knocked her walking stick over the edge onto the rocks below. I had to climb down to retrieve it. She owes me for that one ! We had lunch in the parking lot at Bridal Veil Falls then drove back on Historic Route 30 to Interstate 84 where we continued eastbound.
At the city of Hood River we stopped to do more Wal-Martin’. While Joanne shopped I went into the trailer, cleaned up the cat vomit ( scowl ), then tried to find a Wi-Fi signal. No luck. I worked on this journal entry. This Wal-Mart did not have one item on our “must buy before leaving U.S.” list. Hopefully the Wal-Mart in Omak, Washington will.
We continued east on I-84 and stopped for the night at Memaloose State Park on the Columbia River. After getting set up in a site we went for a long walk with Bo around the campground. I had kept a few pieces of firewood to have one last campfire but as we finished our walk it began to rain lightly. Neither of us wanted a campfire in the rain.
I sat on the sofa and got Sully and Bo all cuddled up beside me, both tucked in under a blankie. I downloaded and processed today’s photos. I printed the list of all our winter season’s purchases that must be declared at Customs. After supper I worked on our income tax returns. Obviously I’m not going to complete them before we get home. But … I progressed far enough to know that neither of us will owe any income taxes. Which eliminates my motivation to have the income tax returns completed on time. Why break a streak that’s already lasted 22 years ? HA HA HA !
Tuesday ; Memaloose State Park, Oregon to Omak, Washington
Today was sunny and warm. Our plan was to drive hard and put on a lot of miles today. We certainly did that ! Our objective was Wenatchee, Washington. We made it all the way to Omak. We drove 550 km. / 350 miles, much more than we usually travel in one day. As a matter of fact, that’s the most miles of any one day this entire winter season. Most of the day we followed the Columbia River, first east, then north, then the Okanogan ( American spelling ) River.
This morning we departed Memaloose State Park and headed east on Interstate 84. As we drove through The Dalles we spotted a Wal-Mart from the highway. We stopped to check if they had the final item on our “must buy before leaving U.S.” list. They didn’t ! We continued east on I-84 to Hwy. 97, turned north, and crossed the Columbia River from Oregon into Washington. In the middle of nowhere, in a lovely forest setting we passed a Greek Orthodox monastery … with an attached bakery / restaurant. I pulled a U-turn and went back. Their prices were surprisingly high. I bought a chocolate marble pound cake. As we passed through Toppenish Joanne saw a KFC and wanted KFC for lunch. We parked in the Safeway parking lot and crossed the street to the KFC. And there was … WOO-HOO … a panaderia. Who’d have thought there would be a Mexican bakery this far north ? ! ? I went in and bought a lot of pan dulce. MMMMM !
After lunch we drove north just a few miles on Hwy. 22 to Interstate 82, then northwest on I-82 which is also Hwy. 97 for awhile. At Ellensburg we stopped at Flying J and bought a gallon of Lucas diesel fuel additive. We didn’t refill with diesel at Flying J because we know from previous experience that the Ellensburg Flying J is not the lowest fuel price in the area. We refilled with diesel elsewhere then headed east on Interstate 90 to avoid the difficult mountain route of Hwy. 97 from Ellensburg to Wenatchee. At George we turned north on Hwy. 281 to Quincy then northwest on Hwy. 28 to Wenatchee. From there we resumed heading north on Hwy. 97.
Hwy. 97 is pleasant route, nice scenery, good road. I enjoy driving this route. Like our area back home, this is predominantly a fruit growing area, mostly apples. The apple orchards were all in bloom. Very lovely and fragrant. Last night because of the rain we didn’t use the last few pieces of firewood we had. I had to get rid of it before we cross the border into Canada tomorrow. We stopped at Daroga State Park to get rid of the firewood. While I carried the firewood from the truck to a fireplace beside a group picnic shelter Joanne took Bo to the nearby playground to do some Bo-gility. HA HA HA … Bo loooooves slides. There was a large play structure with a high spiral slide. Joanne climbed up the play structure with him and … ZOOOOOM ! HA HA HA … he doesn’t even look, he just leaps onto the slide, without even knowing where it’s going to lead because it’s a spiral.
It was such a lovely day, the road was easy, I felt rested, we just drove and drove, making it all the way to Omak, the final Wal-Mart before Canada. We had supper, then while I worked on this journal entry Joanne went into Wal-Mart to refill a water jug and shop for the final item. They didn’t have it which I think suggests it’s just not available anymore. She settled for an alternative … that we could have bought many Wal-Marts ago ! In Oregon with no sales tax !
The McDonald’s across the street from the Wal-Mart had an unsecured / open access Wi-Fi signal that reached our trailer so I was able to retrieve and send e-mail. But it was too late in the evening, and I was getting too tired, to post last week’s blog entry.
Wednesday ; Omak, Washington to Keremeos, British Columbia
Today was sunny and mild, windy at home in Keremeos. This morning we departed the Wal-Mart parking lot in Omak and went next door to the Home Depot. I wanted to look for a particular sealant that Camping World no longer carries. Home Depot didn’t have it, but they did have nice pressure treated wood. Nicer and cheaper than what I can buy at home. I bought two pieces of 12 foot long pressure treated 2 x 4 that I need for my new gazebo project. I thought it would actually be easier to transport 12 foot long pieces of lumber inside the trailer than it would be to transport it with just the truck if I bought it in Keremeos or Penticton. Before leaving Omak I adjusted the air pressure in all the trailer tires.
We drove north on Hwy. 97 to the U.S. / Canada border at Oroville. We refilled with diesel in Oroville because fuel is cheaper in the U.S. than in Canada. Crossing the border from Oroville to Osoyoos was a painless process that took no longer than about a minute. We had passports ready. I had a list of all our purchases and their value. We were within allowable limits. I had 2 cartons of cigarettes and 5 cans of beer, within tobacco and alcohol limits. We had no fruits or vegetables. The border agent did not ask about meats or pet foods. I don’t volunteer information not asked for.
Driving west from Osoyoos to Keremeos on Hwy. 3 through the Similkameen Valley upon our return each spring reminds me of why we live here. It’s beautiful ! In Cawston we stopped at the home of the service technician employed by China Creek Internet Service to pick up our Wi-Fi transceiver antenna. As is the case every spring, it wasn’t ready for me, despite an e-mail sent a month ago and a phone call made a week ago ( fume ). He will bring it tomorrow and configure it. We stopped in Keremeos to have lunch in the trailer, then Joanne went into the grocery store and I went to the community newspaper office to renew our subscription. About halfway from Keremeos to Riverside RV Park Resort Bo finally realized where we were. He went nuts ! HA HA HA … welcome home, Bo.
We got the trailer positioned in our lot, and I connected all the utilities. What a mess our lot was ! Tumbleweeds all over, lots of weeds growing. Joanne began working on cleaning the lot. I napped briefly with Sully. We reassembled and repositioned our steps and landing, placed our park bench, placed our picnic table … and hauled a truckload of tumbleweeds to the burn pile ! We visited with neighbours. Seems as if we are the last “Snowbirds” to return to the park. Well … DUH … why would one want to return in mid-March ( as some of our neighbours did ) ?
As per my request, Joanne prepared perogies for supper. AHHHHH … welcome back to Canada ! After supper I went to the clubhouse to access our park’s Wi-Fi signal to send and retrieve e-mail, check on the progress of some investment transactions, and update my blog.
Thursday ; This past winter season … 180 days out of Canada … we travelled 13,800 km. / 8500 miles, much less than a usual winter season. The lowest diesel price was $2.599 in Arizona. The highest diesel price was yesterday, $3.439 in Washington.
This is the fourth consecutive spring that I have been frustrated and angered by having to deal with the service technician employed on contract by China Creek Internet Service. He’s unprofessional ! He’s unreliable ! ! ! He doesn’t answer his phone ! He doesn’t return phone messages ! He’s an ******* ! ! ! If there was an alternative to China Creek, I would use it ! Not surprisingly he did not show up today as he was supposed to, to install and configure China Creek’s Wi-Fi transceiver / antenna. Since China Creek is now forcing me to purchase their equipment, instead of “renting” it, which means I won’t have to return it to them each fall, maybe this will be the last time I will have to deal with that *******. Let’s hope !
This morning while walking the dog, Joanne met our neighbour Betty, and she retrieved our April mail and mailbox key from her. Thank you, Betty, for a job well done ! Joanne then went to the swimming pool for the morning water aerobics session. I slept late, then did some outdoor work … in the cold rain. BRRRRR ! After water aerobics Joanne went to the office and reserved the guest suites for her family’s summer visit in July. I went to the clubhouse … twice today … to get online and make some phone calls. My phone calls were not very successful ( sigh ). One of “those” days, I guess. Joanne worked intermittently on cleaning and weeding our lot. I went through the somewhat frustrating process of programming our new TV to work with our satellite dish receiver’s remote control. ( sigh ) After going to the clubhouse to get online and download the manual for the remote control.
Because we left two days earlier last fall than initially planned, forcing us to return two days earlier, and I had already made arrangements for seasonal disconnect of our satellite TV service, it’s not programmed to resume until tomorrow. I phoned Star Choice to get it turned back on today so that we could watch Survivor tonight, but I didn’t have the patience to wait the “expected waiting time of more than 20 minutes” to speak to an agent.
I did eventually reach the owner / manager of the RV rental business in Summerland that I am hoping to obtain employment with as a delivery driver. We made tentative plans to meet on Saturday in Osoyoos. I reviewed April’s mail while Joanne cooked supper … and ruined the Arrowtooth fish fillets we bought in Oregon recently ! Yup … definitely one of “those” days ! Now we both remember why I cook fish … and she doesn’t !
I spent the evening working on our income tax returns. I finished the working copy of mine. Hurray ! I still have to finish Joanne’s, then copy both from the working copies to the copies to be filed, so … still a few more hours of work to do on them. We ended the evening by going to the pool complex to soak in the hot tub.
Friday ; Sully woke me up very early this morning, wanting food, fresh water, and affection. I decided to stay up and get my day started since I had to go to the clubhouse and make a phone call at 8 AM. I phoned for a doctor’s appointment then phoned Alliance Woodcraft to see if they could advise me of the expected delivery date of my gazebo. Next Thursday ! I did some computer work until it was time to go to town for my doctor’s appointment. Joanne came with me, dropped me off at the clinic, then went to do some grocery and produce shopping. She returned just as I was coming out of the clinic. Good timing ! I dropped some prescriptions off at the pharmacy to be filled and we drove home.
( FUME ) In the one hour we were gone, that ****** service technician from China Creek came by to install my Wi-Fi transceiver / antenna. ( INSERT A LOT OF PROFANITY HERE ! ) I guess he thinks showing up at 10:30 AM on Friday is close enough to his stated “Thursday between noon and 2 PM” ! ! ! I went to the clubhouse and phoned him. Why did I bother ? ? ? I know the ******* doesn’t answer his phone ! I had to go to the clubhouse either to get online or use the phone many times today. And the aggravation grew and grew each time ! I’m going to blow a gasket ! ! ! It’s a damn good thing they don’t allow Canadians to own guns ! ! !
Joanne did laundry and continued to work on cleaning / weeding our lot. I did a lot of computer work, online and offline. Late in the afternoon I resumed working on our income tax returns. I was hopeful that I could complete her working copy today, but nooooo … I have to download and complete a form T-2036 for her !
Saturday ; This morning I headed back to the clubhouse to make more phone calls. First was to RV Days, the RV rental business in Summerland that I hope will employ me this summer as a delivery driver. I was to phone to confirm tentative plans to meet for an interview in Osoyoos this afternoon, where the owner was going to be busy dewinterizing some of his trailers there. He postponed the interview ( sigh ). Next I phoned China Creek’s service technician and ( ahem ) left a firmly worded message instructing him to come today to “install” the Wi-Fi equipment. I got online and activated some new credit cards we had just received in the mail to replace the ones that expired yesterday.
Shortly after I returned to our trailer, the China Creek service technician showed up. He wanted $295 for the equipment, which I had already reluctantly agreed to pay, and … ( sputter ) … $125 for “installation”. I … ( ahem ) … instructed him to leave. That wasn’t quite how I phrased it. I hammered out an e-mail to China Creek advising them that we wouldn’t be doing business any more. Finally … good riddance to a thorn that’s been in my side for three years !
I went to town to pick up my prescriptions at the pharmacy. They weren’t ready ! I felt my anger rising, then I noticed that the pharmacist / owner seemed a bit overwhelmed with some high maintenance customers, some impatient customers, and an assistant who didn’t seem to know what she was doing. I decided if I was going to give anybody a break today it should be her. I’ll return for my prescriptions on Monday.
After lunch I napped with Sully. Joanne continued working on cleaning the yard. And true to her word of a month or so ago, she made a batch of holuptsi for me. Thank you, my dear. I made arrangements with a neighbour to share his Wi-Fi signal. We have arrangements with another neighbour to share garbage pickup service, so maybe it’s feasible to share a Wi-Fi signal.
Well, now that I had a Wi-Fi signal in our trailer, I really got busy. I downloaded April’s bank statements. I downloaded April’s investment statements. I downloaded the form T-2036 I needed for Joanne’s income tax return. I printed all of that, and more that was sitting in the printer queue. I reconciled the bank statements. I worked on income taxes ( sigh ). I finished Joanne’s working copy. WHEW … finally ! Now all that’s left is copying everything from the working copies to the copies to be filed. Copying pages and pages and pages of numbers !
I spent the evening updating and analyzing our investments.
DSK
Sunday ; Cape Lookout State Park to Ainsworth State Park, Oregon
This morning we prepared for departure, said our goodbyes to Julie and Triscuit, and left Cape Lookout State Park. We drove to Tillamook and headed east on Hwy. 6, then Hwy. 26 to Portland. We had quite a bit of shopping we wanted to do in Portland. First stop was PetsMart to buy Glucosamine treats to last Sully for the summer. Joanne had the address of about half a dozen PetsMarts in the Portland area because the last two PetsMarts we went to were out of stock. We found the first PetsMart. They didn’t have any. We found the second PetsMart. They had some. By then we realized we didn’t have enough diesel to make it through Portland and out the east side to where the Flying J was. I began to search for a service station with diesel. That’s usually easy. Occasionally it isn’t. Portland was one of those cities where finding diesel was difficult. Before I could find a station with diesel I was so low on fuel I had to pull into a station without diesel just to get off the road, put in my emergency two gallon supply, and get directions to the nearest station with diesel. We found our way to a station with diesel. The price was $3.399 a gallon ! ! ! I put in $20 worth, and hoped that would get me to the Flying J.
Next stop was Wal-Mart. Usually Wal-Marts are extremely easy to find, usually visible from the highway. Not so in Portland ! It was a long way off the highway, and difficult to find. We had a late lunch in the Wal-Mart parking lot then went into Wal-Mart to shop. I don’t shop in Wal-Marts on weekends, so I went in just long enough to select a couple of “guy” items, then left Joanne to do the rest of the shopping. I returned to the trailer hoping I might find a Wi-Fi signal in the parking lot so that I could enter a blog update. ( sigh ) There were four Wi-Fi signals reaching the Wal-Mart parking lot, but they were all encrypted, requiring a password. I started this journal entry while I waited for Joanne to finish the shopping. The Wal-Mart did not have much of what we needed, so our Wal-Mart shopping for “must buy before leaving U.S.“ items isn’t finished yet ! Fortunately she had better luck at The Dollar Tree in the same mall as the Wal-Mart.
From Wal-Mart we found our way to Interstate 84 and headed east to Camping World at Exit 16. Camping World did not have either of the two items I needed. Our next and last stop was to be Flying J at Exit 17 but near the Camping World there was a Safeway with a fuel bar with diesel. This year we have been disappointed a few times that the Flying J’s have not been the lowest fuel price in their area, as had always been the case in previous years. So we gambled that Safeway, which usually has very good fuel prices at their fuel bars, might be cheaper than Flying J. We refilled with diesel at Safeway. It was certainly much more difficult to enter and exit the Safeway fuel bar with the rig than it would have been at Flying J, but it paid off. When we drove by the Flying J a few minutes later their diesel price was indeed higher than Safeway’s.
It had been our plan today to boondock at a rest area on I-84 to position ourselves for a visit tomorrow with our friend Eilene who lives in Grass Valley. But we have phoned her every day for the last week and there’s been no answer. Joanne felt that we could not arrive for a visit without giving her some advance notice of our day of arrival. So … after a stressful day of driving in and around Portland doing shopping we decided not to drive as far today as initially planned, stop a little earlier in a nice state park, and have a campfire. We stopped at Ainsworth State Park. It’s very nice, as are all Oregon State Parks we’ve been to. And this one was quite inexpensive. I started a campfire, and realized as I was chopping wood how tired I really was.
Sitting around the campfire reading about the local area, we decided to explore this area a bit tomorrow, not drive very far, and stay at another Oregon State Park tomorrow night before crossing the Columbia River, which I-84 follows, into Washington. Washington’s State Parks are as nice as Oregon’s, but they’re twice the price. I cooked supper over the open campfire, something I haven’t done in quite awhile. We chatted briefly with out neighbours who are from Florida and are heading for northern British Columbia. We persuaded them to head north up Hwy. 97 through the Okanagan Valley, our route home and the dry, warm route, instead of their planned route up Interstate 5 through Seattle and into BC at Vancouver, the cold wet route.
We are more than 150 miles inland from where we started this morning on the coast. It’s a lot warmer and drier here ! After supper we took Bo for a walk around the campground as it got dark, which isn’t until 8:30 PM. I sat on the sofa with Sully cuddled in a blankie against my hip, and I worked on this journal entry and today’s credit card accounting. I even managed to work on our income tax returns for awhile tonight.
Monday ; Ainsworth State Park to Memaloose State Park, Oregon
Today was cloudy and mild. We decided to do a bit of exploring, do some chores and errands, not drive far, and have an easy day today. This morning before departing Ainsworth State Park I took care of some chores that I knew would get pushed aside if I let them wait until we got home. I drained the fuel / water separator filter on the truck. I “exercised” the generator. It needs to be run briefly on a monthly basis. I trimmed my beard. I repaired the trailer monitor panel faceplate that had come loose. I removed it, cleaned it, and reinstalled it.
We departed the campground and headed west on Historic Route 30 to see the series of waterfalls on this route along the Columbia River Gorge. We viewed Horsetail Falls from the truck as we drove by. We stopped at Multnomah Falls and took a relatively easy hike to a viewing bridge near the falls. We drove a bit further and viewed Wahkeena Falls from the truck. We stopped to hike a steep trail to see Bridal Veil Falls. Spectacular ! While on the viewing platform Joanne knocked her walking stick over the edge onto the rocks below. I had to climb down to retrieve it. She owes me for that one ! We had lunch in the parking lot at Bridal Veil Falls then drove back on Historic Route 30 to Interstate 84 where we continued eastbound.
At the city of Hood River we stopped to do more Wal-Martin’. While Joanne shopped I went into the trailer, cleaned up the cat vomit ( scowl ), then tried to find a Wi-Fi signal. No luck. I worked on this journal entry. This Wal-Mart did not have one item on our “must buy before leaving U.S.” list. Hopefully the Wal-Mart in Omak, Washington will.
We continued east on I-84 and stopped for the night at Memaloose State Park on the Columbia River. After getting set up in a site we went for a long walk with Bo around the campground. I had kept a few pieces of firewood to have one last campfire but as we finished our walk it began to rain lightly. Neither of us wanted a campfire in the rain.
I sat on the sofa and got Sully and Bo all cuddled up beside me, both tucked in under a blankie. I downloaded and processed today’s photos. I printed the list of all our winter season’s purchases that must be declared at Customs. After supper I worked on our income tax returns. Obviously I’m not going to complete them before we get home. But … I progressed far enough to know that neither of us will owe any income taxes. Which eliminates my motivation to have the income tax returns completed on time. Why break a streak that’s already lasted 22 years ? HA HA HA !
Today was sunny and warm. Our plan was to drive hard and put on a lot of miles today. We certainly did that ! Our objective was Wenatchee, Washington. We made it all the way to Omak. We drove 550 km. / 350 miles, much more than we usually travel in one day. As a matter of fact, that’s the most miles of any one day this entire winter season. Most of the day we followed the Columbia River, first east, then north, then the Okanogan ( American spelling ) River.
This morning we departed Memaloose State Park and headed east on Interstate 84. As we drove through The Dalles we spotted a Wal-Mart from the highway. We stopped to check if they had the final item on our “must buy before leaving U.S.” list. They didn’t ! We continued east on I-84 to Hwy. 97, turned north, and crossed the Columbia River from Oregon into Washington. In the middle of nowhere, in a lovely forest setting we passed a Greek Orthodox monastery … with an attached bakery / restaurant. I pulled a U-turn and went back. Their prices were surprisingly high. I bought a chocolate marble pound cake. As we passed through Toppenish Joanne saw a KFC and wanted KFC for lunch. We parked in the Safeway parking lot and crossed the street to the KFC. And there was … WOO-HOO … a panaderia. Who’d have thought there would be a Mexican bakery this far north ? ! ? I went in and bought a lot of pan dulce. MMMMM !
After lunch we drove north just a few miles on Hwy. 22 to Interstate 82, then northwest on I-82 which is also Hwy. 97 for awhile. At Ellensburg we stopped at Flying J and bought a gallon of Lucas diesel fuel additive. We didn’t refill with diesel at Flying J because we know from previous experience that the Ellensburg Flying J is not the lowest fuel price in the area. We refilled with diesel elsewhere then headed east on Interstate 90 to avoid the difficult mountain route of Hwy. 97 from Ellensburg to Wenatchee. At George we turned north on Hwy. 281 to Quincy then northwest on Hwy. 28 to Wenatchee. From there we resumed heading north on Hwy. 97.
Hwy. 97 is pleasant route, nice scenery, good road. I enjoy driving this route. Like our area back home, this is predominantly a fruit growing area, mostly apples. The apple orchards were all in bloom. Very lovely and fragrant. Last night because of the rain we didn’t use the last few pieces of firewood we had. I had to get rid of it before we cross the border into Canada tomorrow. We stopped at Daroga State Park to get rid of the firewood. While I carried the firewood from the truck to a fireplace beside a group picnic shelter Joanne took Bo to the nearby playground to do some Bo-gility. HA HA HA … Bo loooooves slides. There was a large play structure with a high spiral slide. Joanne climbed up the play structure with him and … ZOOOOOM ! HA HA HA … he doesn’t even look, he just leaps onto the slide, without even knowing where it’s going to lead because it’s a spiral.
It was such a lovely day, the road was easy, I felt rested, we just drove and drove, making it all the way to Omak, the final Wal-Mart before Canada. We had supper, then while I worked on this journal entry Joanne went into Wal-Mart to refill a water jug and shop for the final item. They didn’t have it which I think suggests it’s just not available anymore. She settled for an alternative … that we could have bought many Wal-Marts ago ! In Oregon with no sales tax !
The McDonald’s across the street from the Wal-Mart had an unsecured / open access Wi-Fi signal that reached our trailer so I was able to retrieve and send e-mail. But it was too late in the evening, and I was getting too tired, to post last week’s blog entry.
Wednesday ; Omak, Washington to Keremeos, British Columbia
Today was sunny and mild, windy at home in Keremeos. This morning we departed the Wal-Mart parking lot in Omak and went next door to the Home Depot. I wanted to look for a particular sealant that Camping World no longer carries. Home Depot didn’t have it, but they did have nice pressure treated wood. Nicer and cheaper than what I can buy at home. I bought two pieces of 12 foot long pressure treated 2 x 4 that I need for my new gazebo project. I thought it would actually be easier to transport 12 foot long pieces of lumber inside the trailer than it would be to transport it with just the truck if I bought it in Keremeos or Penticton. Before leaving Omak I adjusted the air pressure in all the trailer tires.
We drove north on Hwy. 97 to the U.S. / Canada border at Oroville. We refilled with diesel in Oroville because fuel is cheaper in the U.S. than in Canada. Crossing the border from Oroville to Osoyoos was a painless process that took no longer than about a minute. We had passports ready. I had a list of all our purchases and their value. We were within allowable limits. I had 2 cartons of cigarettes and 5 cans of beer, within tobacco and alcohol limits. We had no fruits or vegetables. The border agent did not ask about meats or pet foods. I don’t volunteer information not asked for.
Driving west from Osoyoos to Keremeos on Hwy. 3 through the Similkameen Valley upon our return each spring reminds me of why we live here. It’s beautiful ! In Cawston we stopped at the home of the service technician employed by China Creek Internet Service to pick up our Wi-Fi transceiver antenna. As is the case every spring, it wasn’t ready for me, despite an e-mail sent a month ago and a phone call made a week ago ( fume ). He will bring it tomorrow and configure it. We stopped in Keremeos to have lunch in the trailer, then Joanne went into the grocery store and I went to the community newspaper office to renew our subscription. About halfway from Keremeos to Riverside RV Park Resort Bo finally realized where we were. He went nuts ! HA HA HA … welcome home, Bo.
We got the trailer positioned in our lot, and I connected all the utilities. What a mess our lot was ! Tumbleweeds all over, lots of weeds growing. Joanne began working on cleaning the lot. I napped briefly with Sully. We reassembled and repositioned our steps and landing, placed our park bench, placed our picnic table … and hauled a truckload of tumbleweeds to the burn pile ! We visited with neighbours. Seems as if we are the last “Snowbirds” to return to the park. Well … DUH … why would one want to return in mid-March ( as some of our neighbours did ) ?
As per my request, Joanne prepared perogies for supper. AHHHHH … welcome back to Canada ! After supper I went to the clubhouse to access our park’s Wi-Fi signal to send and retrieve e-mail, check on the progress of some investment transactions, and update my blog.
Thursday ; This past winter season … 180 days out of Canada … we travelled 13,800 km. / 8500 miles, much less than a usual winter season. The lowest diesel price was $2.599 in Arizona. The highest diesel price was yesterday, $3.439 in Washington.
This is the fourth consecutive spring that I have been frustrated and angered by having to deal with the service technician employed on contract by China Creek Internet Service. He’s unprofessional ! He’s unreliable ! ! ! He doesn’t answer his phone ! He doesn’t return phone messages ! He’s an ******* ! ! ! If there was an alternative to China Creek, I would use it ! Not surprisingly he did not show up today as he was supposed to, to install and configure China Creek’s Wi-Fi transceiver / antenna. Since China Creek is now forcing me to purchase their equipment, instead of “renting” it, which means I won’t have to return it to them each fall, maybe this will be the last time I will have to deal with that *******. Let’s hope !
This morning while walking the dog, Joanne met our neighbour Betty, and she retrieved our April mail and mailbox key from her. Thank you, Betty, for a job well done ! Joanne then went to the swimming pool for the morning water aerobics session. I slept late, then did some outdoor work … in the cold rain. BRRRRR ! After water aerobics Joanne went to the office and reserved the guest suites for her family’s summer visit in July. I went to the clubhouse … twice today … to get online and make some phone calls. My phone calls were not very successful ( sigh ). One of “those” days, I guess. Joanne worked intermittently on cleaning and weeding our lot. I went through the somewhat frustrating process of programming our new TV to work with our satellite dish receiver’s remote control. ( sigh ) After going to the clubhouse to get online and download the manual for the remote control.
Because we left two days earlier last fall than initially planned, forcing us to return two days earlier, and I had already made arrangements for seasonal disconnect of our satellite TV service, it’s not programmed to resume until tomorrow. I phoned Star Choice to get it turned back on today so that we could watch Survivor tonight, but I didn’t have the patience to wait the “expected waiting time of more than 20 minutes” to speak to an agent.
I did eventually reach the owner / manager of the RV rental business in Summerland that I am hoping to obtain employment with as a delivery driver. We made tentative plans to meet on Saturday in Osoyoos. I reviewed April’s mail while Joanne cooked supper … and ruined the Arrowtooth fish fillets we bought in Oregon recently ! Yup … definitely one of “those” days ! Now we both remember why I cook fish … and she doesn’t !
I spent the evening working on our income tax returns. I finished the working copy of mine. Hurray ! I still have to finish Joanne’s, then copy both from the working copies to the copies to be filed, so … still a few more hours of work to do on them. We ended the evening by going to the pool complex to soak in the hot tub.
Friday ; Sully woke me up very early this morning, wanting food, fresh water, and affection. I decided to stay up and get my day started since I had to go to the clubhouse and make a phone call at 8 AM. I phoned for a doctor’s appointment then phoned Alliance Woodcraft to see if they could advise me of the expected delivery date of my gazebo. Next Thursday ! I did some computer work until it was time to go to town for my doctor’s appointment. Joanne came with me, dropped me off at the clinic, then went to do some grocery and produce shopping. She returned just as I was coming out of the clinic. Good timing ! I dropped some prescriptions off at the pharmacy to be filled and we drove home.
( FUME ) In the one hour we were gone, that ****** service technician from China Creek came by to install my Wi-Fi transceiver / antenna. ( INSERT A LOT OF PROFANITY HERE ! ) I guess he thinks showing up at 10:30 AM on Friday is close enough to his stated “Thursday between noon and 2 PM” ! ! ! I went to the clubhouse and phoned him. Why did I bother ? ? ? I know the ******* doesn’t answer his phone ! I had to go to the clubhouse either to get online or use the phone many times today. And the aggravation grew and grew each time ! I’m going to blow a gasket ! ! ! It’s a damn good thing they don’t allow Canadians to own guns ! ! !
Joanne did laundry and continued to work on cleaning / weeding our lot. I did a lot of computer work, online and offline. Late in the afternoon I resumed working on our income tax returns. I was hopeful that I could complete her working copy today, but nooooo … I have to download and complete a form T-2036 for her !
Saturday ; This morning I headed back to the clubhouse to make more phone calls. First was to RV Days, the RV rental business in Summerland that I hope will employ me this summer as a delivery driver. I was to phone to confirm tentative plans to meet for an interview in Osoyoos this afternoon, where the owner was going to be busy dewinterizing some of his trailers there. He postponed the interview ( sigh ). Next I phoned China Creek’s service technician and ( ahem ) left a firmly worded message instructing him to come today to “install” the Wi-Fi equipment. I got online and activated some new credit cards we had just received in the mail to replace the ones that expired yesterday.
Shortly after I returned to our trailer, the China Creek service technician showed up. He wanted $295 for the equipment, which I had already reluctantly agreed to pay, and … ( sputter ) … $125 for “installation”. I … ( ahem ) … instructed him to leave. That wasn’t quite how I phrased it. I hammered out an e-mail to China Creek advising them that we wouldn’t be doing business any more. Finally … good riddance to a thorn that’s been in my side for three years !
I went to town to pick up my prescriptions at the pharmacy. They weren’t ready ! I felt my anger rising, then I noticed that the pharmacist / owner seemed a bit overwhelmed with some high maintenance customers, some impatient customers, and an assistant who didn’t seem to know what she was doing. I decided if I was going to give anybody a break today it should be her. I’ll return for my prescriptions on Monday.
After lunch I napped with Sully. Joanne continued working on cleaning the yard. And true to her word of a month or so ago, she made a batch of holuptsi for me. Thank you, my dear. I made arrangements with a neighbour to share his Wi-Fi signal. We have arrangements with another neighbour to share garbage pickup service, so maybe it’s feasible to share a Wi-Fi signal.
Well, now that I had a Wi-Fi signal in our trailer, I really got busy. I downloaded April’s bank statements. I downloaded April’s investment statements. I downloaded the form T-2036 I needed for Joanne’s income tax return. I printed all of that, and more that was sitting in the printer queue. I reconciled the bank statements. I worked on income taxes ( sigh ). I finished Joanne’s working copy. WHEW … finally ! Now all that’s left is copying everything from the working copies to the copies to be filed. Copying pages and pages and pages of numbers !
I spent the evening updating and analyzing our investments.
DSK
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