October 24 to 30, 2010

October 24 to 30, 2010


Sunday ; Lumby to Mabel Lake

This morning we prepared for departure, dumped our shower and kitchen grey holding tanks at the Lumby Lions Campground sani-dump, refilled our fresh water holding tank at a large social / service club building nearby … Joanne noticed that the building had an external water spigot … and left Lumby heading north towards Mabel Lake. The road to Mabel Lake is narrow and twisting, and gravel for the last few miles. EEEUUUWWW … because of yesterday’s rain, the gravel section was wet, making the truck and trailer filthy ! I think they’ll probably have to remain that dirty until we’re at SKP Park of the Sierras in central California in about three weeks.

When we arrived at Mabel Lake Provincial Park there was one other rig in the campground, a large Class A motorhome. It left late in the afternoon, leaving us all alone in the campground. After getting set up in a site … well, setting up entailed nothing more than extending the slides … they’re unserviced sites … we went for a walk to explore the campground. We decided that since the campground was empty we could allow Bo to be off leash. It’s been quite awhile since he’s had some off leash time. Well, he went berserk, running at full speed back and forth, around and around, in and out through the forest. As we got near the lake, he zoomed by us from behind and ran down to the beach. And … oh, nooooo … BO ! ! ! Zoom … flip … there he was, doing an upside down “happy dance”, feet thrashing in the air, rolling on a dead salmon. < sigh > What a stench ! It took a lot of Natural Chemistry Waterless Bath to get the stink off his back. The lake shoreline is littered with a lot of dead salmon, so … no more off leash time for Bo ! As fascinating as the salmons’ astounding reproduction odyssey is … the end result is still a lot of dead salmon lying around rotting !

We had lunch, I read and snoozed with Sully and Bo, Joanne baked cookies. MMMMM ! Late in the afternoon we went for another long, leisurely walk. I hooked up the generator to the trailer, started it up, and ran it for half an hour as a bit of a test. It’s the first time since we bought the generator almost a year ago that we have an “unserviced campsite” opportunity to try out the generator. Everything seemed to work fine. The only real requirement we have for a generator is for it to power the trailer’s internal converter to keep the internal battery charger working, to keep the trailer’s “house” battery fully charged. Boondocking in cold weather, with the furnace running frequently, is a big drain on the “house” battery.

Monday ; It rained for most of today. So we weren’t able to spend much time outdoors. But we were able to enjoy the solitude. And the beauty visible through our windows. And have sex. HA HA HA ! And eat cookies. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! ! ! We did spend a little time outdoors. We did an obedience and “wilderness agility” session with Bo, using fallen cedar trees to go “over” and “under”. Running the generator for half an hour in the morning and another half an hour in the evening seems to be enough to keep the trailer’s “house” battery charged.

Tuesday ; Mabel Lake to Keremeos

Well, today was a long, hard day. This morning we prepared for departure from Mabel Lake Provincial Park, climbed into the truck, turned the key, and … CLICK ! Well, **** ! ! ! Dead batteries ! Either the two truck batteries were dead because they’re 5½ years old, or … the trailer drained the truck’s batteries. I would have thought there would be an isolator in the truck’s factory installed trailer tow package to prevent that, but maybe not ? ! ? For the two days that we spent at Mabel Lake without services, I had not disconnected the trailer’s electrical umbilical cord from the truck. Maybe the trailer’s power was coming from the trailer “house” battery … AND the truck’s two batteries ? ? ?

< sigh > I started up the generator, plugged in my battery charger, and connected it to the truck’s primary battery. I was hoping that a couple of hours on a battery charger would charge the batteries enough to start the truck. We took Bo for a walk. A small car came into the campground. I flagged it down and asked the driver to give me a battery boost. Well, small car, small battery … not enough “juice” to start a two battery diesel engine. The young man in the little car had just driven into the campground to take a quick look. He was a sightseeing tourist in a rental car. I was uncertain whether it was a better idea to catch a ride with him to somewhere / anywhere civilized, and phone my Emergency Roadside Service … or … just wait for the battery charger plugged into the generator to charge up the truck’s batteries. < sigh > I chose the latter.

About 15 minutes later, a black Dodge one ton diesel dually arrived in the campground. HA HA HA … how ironic … a truck identical to Lanoire, except one year older ! Shortly after leaving the campground the driver of the little car saw the big truck, stopped it, and asked the driver of the big truck to come to the campground to help me out. Well … thank you very much ! It was no problem getting Lanoire started with a boost from her “twin”.

We noticed that the monitor panel inside the trailer was showing that the trailer battery was not being charged by the running truck engine / alternator as it should have been, and … as we left the campground I noticed that Lanoire’s “check engine” light was on. I suspected that both problems were related to the dead batteries and boost start, but … ? ? ? I was afraid to turn off the truck for fear that it wouldn’t start again, so … we drove non-stop to the Dodge dealer in Kelowna. I left the truck running while I went inside to ask where should I position the truck and trailer before turning it off, in light of the possibility that it might not start again. The dealer was unco-operative and unhelpful. Fine … **** you … we left ! ! ! We drove to the Wal-Mart in WestBank, where there was a Canadian Tire across the street. I felt confident that with the resources of Wal-Mart and / or Canadian Tire I would be able to resolve the problem … or at the very least, phone my Emergency Roadside Service.

I turned off the truck, held my breath, turned the key to start it again, and VROOOOOM ! ! ! No problem ! AND … after I turned the truck off and restarted it about half a dozen times, the “check engine” light went off. The trailer battery was still not being charged, but that was a problem that I could deal with at home later. The important thing was that everything was okay with the truck. I was really glad that the Kelowna Dodge dealer had not ended up with any of my money !

We shopped at Wal-Mart in WestBank, drove to Penticton, refilled with diesel, refilled a water jug, drove to Keremeos, and home to Riverside RV Park, arriving after dark. It’s our travel policy to not arrive at campgrounds / RV parks after dark, but we made an exception for our own lot, knowing that we could back in and position the trailer on our own lot in the dark without much difficulty.

Wednesday ; We gave Bo a bath, which wouldn’t have been necessary if he hadn’t rolled on a dead, rotting salmon. I repaired the problem with the truck not charging the trailer house battery as we travel / when the truck engine is running. So truck and trailer ( and dog ) are once again in “travel ready” condition.

DSK

October 17 to 23, 2010

October 17 to 23, 2010


Sunday ;  Gee, the bed seemed crowded last night with all five of us in there ! Just what we needed ; another dog that seems to fit like a glove into our household and lifestyle ! Veggie is a sweet little fellow. Plays nicely with Bo. Easy to walk, well behaved on a leash. Defers to Sully. Sully is not happy about Veggie’s presence. I guess Sully is old and cranky and resistant to change.

Monday ;  Goodbye, Winston ! Sully is very glad that you’re leaving !

This morning I phoned Lindsey Veterinary Hospital in Penticton to track down Veggie’s owner using the rabies tag on his collar. Veggie’s real name is Winston. Lindsey Veterinary Hospital provided me with his owner’s name and address in Cawston, but had no phone number on file. Our plan was to have Joanne drive over to the owner’s address after she finished work at 5 PM.

In the meantime … the owner had posted LOST DOG notices all over Cawston and Keremeos. One of the people that was shopping in the fruit stand on Saturday when the whole kerfuffle / rescue took place saw one of the notices, phoned the dog’s owner and told her that her dog was rescued and at Lidder’s Fruit Stand. Winston’s owner ( Marija … sounds like Maria ) rushed over to the fruit stand. Joanne confirmed that she had rescued Winston, and sent Marija to our place to retrieve the dog.

Marija and Winston have just left ( at 12:30 PM ). Dog and lady were both very happy !

Tuesday ;  We have decided to spend a week camping in the BC Interior, in conjunction with attending a memorial service in Lumby for our friend Ron who died recently. Joanne’s last day of work will be Thursday and we’ll leave Friday. We’ll return home to Riverside RV Park Resort for a few days before heading south on November 1.

Friday ; Keremeos to Lumby, BC

This morning we headed north for a week of camping and to attend our friend Ron’s memorial service in Lumby tomorrow. We stopped in Keremeos to adjust the air pressure in the trailer tires, and … I forgot to stop at the pharmacy to pick up some prescriptions refills that I ordered a couple of days ago. DARN ! In Penticton we had a few errands to run, and a meeting at the bank to buy traveller’s cheques for the winter journey south. I couldn’t think of a place where we could park the rig downtown where our bank is, so our first stop in Penticton was the Wal-Mart parking lot to unhitch the trailer and leave it there. On our way downtown to the bank we refilled with diesel and bought a few grocery items. We had our meeting in the bank and got our traveller’s cheques. On the way back to the Wal-Mart parking lot we refilled a five gallon water jug. We hitched up the trailer, then I repaired a minor electrical problem I had discovered this morning as we were preparing to depart from home. I had to replace a burnt out fuse, and used the last spare 20 amp fuse I had, so before leaving Penticton < sigh > we went to Lordco Auto Parts and I bought more spare fuses. Finally … we left Penticton and continued heading north on Hwy. 97.

Between Penticton and Summerland we stopped at a roadside rest area and had a late lunch. After lunch we continued north on Hwy. 97 through Summerland, Peachland, WestBank, < sigh > Kelowna … I hate driving through Kelowna … Winfield, and finally we reached our destination for today, Kekuli Bay Provincial Park on Kalamalka Lake. We pulled into the campground … I knew it was going to cost $30 … and discovered … HUH ? No services ? ? ? Thirty bucks for an unserviced site ? ? ? ! ! ! At the end of October ? ? ? I don’t think so ! ! ! What do you think this is … California ? ? ? We left, heading for what was supposed to be tomorrow’s destination. Through Vernon, and east on Hwy. 6 to Lumby, where we found our way to Lumby Lions Campground.

The campground is adjacent to the town’s municipal government offices, curling rink, hockey arena, baseball field, and playground. A little creek separates the campground from everything else. There’s salmon in the creek. We got set up in the campsite, then went for a walk to find the Legion where Ron’s memorial service will be tomorrow. We wandered around town a bit and found the Legion. On the way back to the campground we went to the playground for a Bo-gility session. HA HA HA … good dog, Bo, well done.

We had supper in the trailer, then I went to watch curling for an hour or so. I hadn’t been in a curling rink since the last time I was on a curling team, twenty-two years ago in Ottawa ! I wandered over to the arena to see what was going on and for a few minutes watched a teenaged girls’ hockey team practice.

Saturday ; Dedicated to the memory of our Escapee friend Ron Swanson

Today in Lumby was cloudy with light rain, but fairly mild temperature for this time of year this far north. We slept late, something we haven’t done since Joanne started working at the fruit stand about seven weeks ago.

At 2 PM we walked over to the Legion to attend the Ron Swanson Farewell Party. Ron died recently … and relatively suddenly … of pancreatic cancer. It was his second battle with cancer, having survived a previous battle with prostate cancer. Ron’s widow Mary was accompanied by their son from Vancouver and grandson from Victoria, both of whom we had not met before. I was a bit surprised to find that Ron and Mary had a son who is three months older than me ! WOW … Ron and Mary are old enough to be our parents. We gotta start running with a younger crowd. HA HA HA !

Ron was one of the musicians of the Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33. In his tribute, the afternoon was a few hours of his musician friends “jamming”, while the rest of us socialized. Mary hosted a roast beef dinner prepared by the Women’s Auxiliary of the Legion. Nice dinner !

We were glad to have had this opportunity to say farewell to a good friend, one who was the embodiment of the Escapees’ motto of “Sharing and Caring”. We were very fond of Ron and will miss him. Farewell, Ron !

DSK

October 10 to 16, 2010

October 10 to 16, 2010


Sunday ; 10/10/10 ; Happy 56th Birthday to me !

Yesterday Joanne baked and decorated a huge birthday cake for me. I helped. It was our contribution to Riverside RV Park Resort’s communal Thanksgiving Potluck Dinner today. As always, I give thanks that Joanne has survived cancer ! Thank you for the wonderful Black Forest Cherry Torte cake ( my favourite cake ) and the Mister Big chocolate bars ( my favourite chocolate bar ), my dear.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving Dinner with our neighbours. After a huge dinner of turkey and many side dishes … and birthday cake … we sat around for a couple of hours visiting and chatting with neighbours in The Lodge / our park’s clubhouse.

Oh, boy … only five more weeks until we can celebrate American Thanksgiving. In my opinion, having two Thanksgivings is one of the great benefits of being a “Snowbird”. HA HA HA !

Monday ; Canadian Thanksgiving

Tuesday ; Happy 36th Anniversary to us !

Wednesday ; We spent the day in Penticton, running errands. Most importantly, we met with our investment broker, sold $150,000 worth of Canadian dollar investments, and bought $150,000 worth of U.S. dollar investments. Because … today’s exchange rate was $1.0048. We’ve been waiting for most of 2010 for the Canadian dollar to reach parity with the U.S. dollar. And today was “close enough” ! Less than half a percent exchange rate !

On the way home we took a detour, to the top of Apex Mountain, to see a property for sale in Apex Village, a ski resort. We determined that we’re not interested in Apex real estate.

Thursday ; HA … NAILED IT < pumping fist > ! ! ! The Canadian dollar declined in value today. The peak was yesterday. HA !

Friday ; Tonight we went to a dinner concert at The Hitching Post Restaurant in Hedley. Sort of a delayed anniversary celebration dinner. The performer was a female blues singer / guitarist from Calgary. I was disappointed and annoyed ! That will be the last dinner concert we attend at The Hitching Post. As always, the food was excellent. And rather unusually, the service tonight was poor. Worse than poor ! But worst of all, there was so much noise that it was impossible to enjoy the performer. Loud talking, laughing … even one woman sobbing. J***** C*****, people … shut the **** up ! ! ! ! ! Have some respect for the performer. And have some respect for the other patrons who are here to hear her performance. And I think it’s incumbent on the owners of the restaurant to somehow communicate to their patrons that … shut the **** up … during a concert !

Saturday ; Uh-oh … the Canada Geese are headed south. Go on ahead, little buddies, we’ll catch up later. HA HA HA !

Joanne has just returned from work ( at 5:30 PM ). GREAT … just what we needed ! Another dog ! ! ! Say hello to Veggie ! ! ! Veggie is a young ( 2 or 3 years old ? ), neutered, male Miniature Dachshund. Around noon, with the fruit stand full of customers, Joanne heard tires screeching on the highway in front of the fruit stand and looked up just in time to see two cars swerving and screeching to a halt. And this Mini Dachshund cowering and trembling in the middle of the highway ! So … Veggie got rescued and spent the afternoon in an empty apple bin.

He has a collar with a rabies tag from a Penticton veterinary clinic. But … when I phoned them I got an answering service. Guess we’re stuck with Veggie until at least Monday. Bo and Veggie like each other. When Veggie came into the trailer, Sully walked directly over, stood nose to nose with him … and screamed in his face ! Veggie blinked, and backed up a step or two. Geez, Sully, give the poor guy a break !

DSK

October 3 to 9, 2010

October 3 to 9, 2010


Monday ; Well, I now have an “endorsement 51” on my driver’s license, “qualifying” me to tow a large, heavy trailer ! Yeah … big deal !

While I went to Penticton with the trailer for my road test, Joanne spent a cold fall morning in the gazebo with Bo and Sully. I left at 7 AM and returned at 11 AM. Sully wasn’t happy ! And Joanne had to miss a day of work … and wages !

For the road test I had to work very hard to suppress the large chip on my shoulder. And I succeeded. But … what a condescending p***k the examiner was ! ! ! When we completed the road test, he advised me that I had passed, and qualified for an endorsement 51, then proceeded to give me his “evaluation”. Want to know what his “professional” criticisms were ? ? ?

• I did not check that the truck had a front license plate !
• I did not check that the truck had a rear license plate !
• I did not check that the trailer had a license plate !
• I did not check that the truck had a fuel cap !

Well, **** me ! ! ! ! !

Wednesday ; HMPH … whacked another pack rat overnight. EEEEEUUUUUWWWWW … not a “clean kill” !

This morning Joanne had a tour bus pull into her fruit stand. A tour bus with 51 “senior” Chinese tourists who wanted a “tour” of the orchards behind the fruit stand. Okay ! Then over the next hour they proceeded to buy over $3000 worth of fruit, mostly apples ! The bus driver is returning with another bus load on Monday. Joanne’s boss is going to arrange for a second cash register and additional staff for Monday !

Today I worked on bolting our safe into the closet floor. I’ve always been a bit bothered by the fact that our safe is not bolted into the floor. I’d hate to have some punk who breaks into the trailer just lift up our safe and walk away with it. So … problem solved !

Thursday ; HMPH … pack rat no. 3 !

DSK

September 26 to October 2, 2010

September 26 to October 2, 2010


Wednesday ; ****ing pissant low level bureaucrats !

< sigh > This morning after driving Joanne to work in Cawston, I hitched the trailer to the truck and headed to Penticton for my “endorsement 51” road test. Which I failed … sort of. I’m not certain they classified it a “fail”. I think it was classified as a “termination due to mechanical failure”. HMPH … same effect ! ! ! I have to do it again !

I never got beyond the initial pre-trip “walk around inspection”. I never got out of the parking lot ! The trailer’s breakaway safety cable and switch chose today to “die”. Talk about Murphy’s Law ! After the “termination” of the road test due to mechanical failure, which was reasonable, I spent an hour in the parking lot repairing the switch. I removed the breakaway switch, dismantled it, found it full of dust and dirt, cleaned it, lubricated it, reassembled it, reinstalled it, et voilà … it works like new ! How frustrating !

But the real problem was … the two arguments I had with the examiner. The first one started even before the inspection began. He objected to my use of a checklist. He insisted that I perform a pre-trip inspection without the use of a checklist. I refused. I told him I wouldn’t dream of operating an aircraft without the benefit of checklists, and I felt the same way about operating a big truck and trailer rig. I refused to do it his way, declaring it unsafe. The road test is a proficiency test, not a memory test ! I told him I would not comply with his requirement as I felt it jeopardized safety. We argued for twenty ****ing minutes ! ! ! Finally, he stormed back into the building and phoned his boss. Who very reluctantly allowed me to use my checklist. Score one for me, although only temporarily.

When I opened the trailer for the “interior” part of the inspection, he was stunned that Bo and Sully were in the trailer. He said that pets were not permitted to be in the trailer during the road test. BULLSHIT ! Show me a regulation, or a policy, or anything written to support that ! Or demonstrate to me how their presence inside the trailer could possibly be construed as a safety hazard to him or me or anybody else ! And if you can’t … go phone your boss again. HA … score a second point for me !

Much later in the afternoon I had a phone conversation with his boss to discuss a rescheduling of the road test. And to discuss the checklist and pet issues. I demanded to see something written to support his contention that
( a ) the use of a checklist is not permitted and ( b ) pets are not permitted to be in the trailer during the road test. He will “look” for that, but in the meantime, if I succeed in getting the test rescheduled quickly, before he “finds” such documentation … no checklist, and no pets ! HMPH … score no points for me ! ! !

Thursday ; Happy 14th birthday to Sully

We got Sully one year ago at the BC SPCA shelter in Penticton. When he went into the shelter some six weeks earlier, he had been described as 12 or 13 years old. So we declared the day we got him to be his 13th birthday. We’re very pleased to have him, and glad that we were able to give him a well deserved “second chance” by adopting him. He’s a sweet fellow !

First thing this morning I phoned the driver examination supervisor to finalize discussion regarding rescheduling of my road test … and continue the arguments about the use of a checklist and the dog and cat being in the trailer. I couldn’t win ! I gave up ! I decided that “you win some, you lose some”. I’ve lost more important battles with more important people. In the overall scheme of things, this one’s not that important. Move on, Daniel
< last little bit of fuming >. My road test is rescheduled for Monday morning. Early ! ! !

I spent the day at home, drinking purgative to cleanse my large intestine to prepare for tomorrow’s colonoscopy. HO HO HO … what a lot of fun this purging / cleansing process is ! ! ! ! !

Friday ; So … today I had a colonoscopy and … finally … whacked a pack rat ! HA HA HA !

Early this morning we headed for Penticton where Joanne dropped me off at the hospital then went to run errands for half a day. My colonoscopy went … as well as a colonoscopy can go, I guess. I have now had two colonoscopies in British Columbia, and both were astoundingly less discomforting ( read that “tortuous” ) than the many colonoscopies I had in Ontario. The difference seems to be the sedating / anaesthetizing drugs used. Today my colon seemed to be in better shape than at any time in the last twenty years.

I spent the afternoon sleeping and recovering at home. After I got up late in the afternoon Joanne pointed out to me that … I had a dead pack rat to deal with. WOO-HOO … finally gotcha !

DSK