November 21 to 27, 2010

November 21 to 27, 2010


Sunday ; Around 1:00 AM I became aware that the furnace was blowing cold air. That’s an indication that the propane tank is empty, and the regulator needs to be switched to the other tank. The trailer has an automatic tank switchover regulator, but I prefer not to use the automatic switchover feature. I prefer to know that a propane tank is empty as soon as possible after it is empty. I slipped on a pair of sandals to step outside to manually switch from the empty propane tank to the full one. I was unaware that the rain that had been falling had turned into freezing rain and slushy wet snow. I opened the trailer door, stepped out onto the top step with one foot , and … ZOOOOOM !

My foot flew off the icy step, outwards and upwards. My body flew out the door in a classic “banana peel” pratfall. It may look funny on TV or in the movies, but it’s not so funny in real life. I landed on my back on the concrete patio three steps down / about two feet below the door. On the way down my butt hit one of the steps, my lower back hit another one of the steps, and the back of my head hit one of the steps or the door sill. Both sandals had flown off my feet. I lay there in the dark for a few moments, getting soaked by the cold rain and wet snow. OOOOOFFF … I don’t bounce as well as I used to !

I rolled myself over slowly, pulled myself up onto my hands and knees, and crawled back up the steps into the trailer. I crawled into the bedroom where I woke Joanne up to give me some first aid assistance. One thumb was sliced open and bleeding. Two toes were bleeding. My left knee was wrenched / twisted and hurting. My neck was wrenched / twisted and hurting. I was wet and cold and hurting a bit all over.

It’s now 3:30 PM. I’m a bit sore all over. My knee and neck are … stiff and sore, but … okay, I guess. I feel fortunate and grateful that I did not sustain far worse injuries from a fall like that. Like a spinal or cervical injury !

Much of today was spent dealing with our fridge problem. And I have become painfully aware of how crippled I feel without my tools which are in the truck. I needed two different screwdrivers this morning to check a couple of fuses in the fridge. I was able to find one in the Pole Barn, this park’s maintenance building. I had to ask the park’s assistant managers ( husband and wife ) for the other screwdriver I needed. From them we also obtained the phone numbers of two local RV mobile service technicians. I had to use a piece of string as a fuse puller. The fuses were fine. When one of the RV mobile service technicians returned my phone call, he walked me through a series of diagnostic steps. Until … I found the yellow liquid residue behind the retrofit heat shield. Easy diagnosis … “your fridge is dead and gone to heaven”. The yellow liquid residue was from a cracked cooling unit, the typical “cause of death” for an old RV fridge.

At the Pole Barn we were able to borrow this park’s little bar fridge, available for emergency use in just this sort of situation. And I decided that of the three options available to me for solving the cracked cooling unit dilemma, the option that I choose is … replace the fridge ! Our fridge is twelve years old. I don’t want to spend a minimum of $850 to fix a 12 year old product worth $1500. I will do some research about buying a new fridge over the next few days, but the probable best idea would be to buy a new fridge at Camping World in Bakersfield in two weeks when we leave here and have it installed by them. In the meantime, we can survive without a freezer, and use the park’s little bar fridge and / or the 12V fridge in the truck.

Joanne spent much of today cooking the foods that were in the freezer, trying to minimize our food losses. She took Bo to the dog park, but nobody else was there because of the poor weather. I went to the clubhouse to post my weekly blog entry, retrieve and pay our Canadian dollar MasterCard bill, and do some RV fridge research. I believe I found what I need and want ! In the evening we watched Amazing Race and Undercover Boss.

Monday ; AHHHHH … after a cold, wet weekend, the sun is shining again. I hate cold rainy days. This morning I did an obedience session with Bo. He’s done better ! I picked up a refilled propane tank and returned a borrowed screwdriver to the Pole Barn. We had an early lunch and headed for Fresno.

We went to two RV dealers to shop for a new fridge. That confirmed for us that the smartest thing to do is buy a fridge at Camping World in Bakersfield after we leave here in two weeks. We went to Fresno Chrysler to check on the truck. It wasn’t ready yet. We went to Wal-Mart < sigh >. We had just left Wal-Mart when Fresno Chrysler phoned to tell us that the truck was finally ready. We returned to Fresno Chrysler, picked up the truck, parked it in the customer parking area, and took the rental car back to Enterprise. I was a bit miffed that they charged 5 days for having the rental car 4 days and 4½ hours. My Chrysler warranty paid for the basic car rental, but not the $5 per day in taxes. Later in the day I reluctantly conceded to myself that charging for 5 days was reasonable … I suppose. Before returning the rental car I purchased fuel to replace the fuel used. I wondered why all the fuel stations in Fresno had multi-car line ups at each pump ? ! ? Does it have something to do with upcoming price increases because of an upcoming holiday ? ! ?

The replacement of the exhaust manifold seemed much more complicated than I thought it would be. I’m glad it was a warranty repair. The truck’s warranty is soon to expire. We returned to SKP Park of the Sierras, glad to have the truck … and all my tools … and the 12V fridge back ! After supper I went to the clubhouse with the computer to retrieve and pay the U.S.$ MasterCard bill.

Tuesday ; Yuck ! After one day of nice weather, the crappy weather has returned. I got up this morning, walked Bo in the cold rain, and went right back to sleep until almost noon. We did the weekly pet dental care, had lunch, and headed for Oakhurst to run some errands. Between SKP Park of the Sierras and Oakhurst, Hwy. 41 climbs to a summit at an elevation a bit higher than 3000 feet ASL. On Sunday and again today there was a bit of slushy wet snow falling at the 3000 foot level and higher. On Sunday the CHP ( Go, Erik Estrada … HA HA HA ) closed the highway … because of an inch of slushy snow, mostly on the shoulders of the road. HA HA HA HA HA ! Today … < snicker > … vehicles going through the pass needed to be four wheel drive or … wait for it … HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA … have chains on the tires ! ! !

We went to H & L Lumber. They didn’t have what I was looking for. We went to Napa Auto Parts. They didn’t have what I was looking for. We went to O’Reilly’s Auto Parts. They didn’t have what I was looking for. But … HA HA HA … the store was full of middle aged, middle class, soccer mom types buying < snicker > tire chains for their cars. We went to True Value Home Center. Finally … a store that had what I was looking for ; Damp Rid hangers ! We went to Vons for a bit of groceries, then across the street to Raley’s for an advertised special ; large Diet Cokes for 99¢ !

Back at home I discovered that the expensive after market high performance air intake system I had installed on Lanoire was improperly reinstalled yesterday by Fresno Chrysler < sigh >. It’s still hard to find good help ! ! ! They had removed the air intake system to replace the exhaust manifold. I’ll have to reinstall it properly tomorrow … or as soon as the weather improves a bit.

I went to the clubhouse to do a bit more online research on buying a new fridge versus repairing the old fridge. It was dark when I walked there. I took a “short cut through the woods”. I don’t know who jumped higher, me or the deer I encountered in the dark on the trail.

Wednesday ; Today was mostly clear, but cold. For a couple of hours late this morning and early this afternoon, there was thick fog. Today was mostly dedicated to working on the truck.

This morning I took the computer to the library and used it to phone Camping World in Bakersfield. I arranged for the purchase of the fridge that I want, and installation, on Tuesday, December 7, and I arranged to boondock overnight in their parking lot on Monday, December 6, the day we will be leaving SKP Park of the Sierras. Joanne did laundry and worked on a truck project I assigned her. The mechanic at Fresno Chrysler who worked on the replacement of the exhaust manifold squished and bent the fragile, thin metal fins along the top of the radiator. It’s easy to do … < AHEM > … if one is not careful when leaning over the front of the truck to work on the engine. I was going to buy a radiator fin comb at O’Reilly’s Auto Parts yesterday, but they only had the $25 version. I want the $3 version ! So Joanne tediously worked on straightening out the radiator fins using a small screwdriver. She also helped me to reinstall the air intake system properly.

This afternoon I took the truck to the Pole Barn and worked on it there. I changed the oil and filter, and lubricated the suspension. I did the 156,000 km. inspection. I love this place ! The Pole Barn maintenance building is so well equipped ! Joanne took Bo to the dog park for the daily dog party, but he was the only the dog there. I guess it was too cold for these wimpy California dogs and their wimpy owners.

Thursday ; American Thanksgiving ; < shaking head in despair > You know, by the time someone reaches an age old enough to be retired and is affluent enough to be travelling full time in an RV, you would think that they would have developed enough social grace to know that a communal Thanksgiving Dinner table is neither the time nor the place to be texting on a Smartphone ! What a boor ! ! !

Today was sunny but cold. When I fell out of the trailer a few nights ago I bent the middle step of the trailer. Today while trying to straighten it out, I broke it. < sigh > Just what I needed, another repair job. I straightened it and repaired it ! Speaking of falling out of the trailer, my neck isn’t sore any more, my knee isn’t sore any more, the large gash on my thumb is healing nicely … I still have two sore, purple toes. I think one of them might be broken.

Thanksgiving Dinner was nice. Well, except for the aggravation of sharing a table with a boor with a Smartphone ! At our table was a couple from San Jose, California who came to visit this park for a few days, including Thanksgiving, as part of their preparation for beginning a full time RV life … soon. She’s retired, he’s still working. They already own a rig. He’s unwilling to retire. Go figure ! We chatted with them long after dinner was over and everybody had left. I hope that our encouragement will help them get started.

Friday ; Today was a lovely, sunny, mild day. I spent the morning lazily doing routine chores. After lunch and a nap with Sully I went to the library with the computer and did some online research. While I was in the library, Joanne took Bo to the dog park. I joined them there, then Joanne left me and Bo in the dog park while she returned to the trailer to prepare her contribution to today’s social hour / “hearty appetizers” potluck.

We found out that another visitor in the park experienced a dead fridge today. Now that we have the truck back, along with our small 12V fridge, and we have been reducing our food inventory for a few days, we felt we should relinquish the borrowed bar fridge and make it available to the other people with a dead fridge. Joanne unloaded the bar fridge, crammed what food we had left into our little 12V fridge from the truck, and we delivered the bar fridge to the other dead fridge people. Their dead fridge was only 6 years old, so that confirmed for us that our 12 year old fridge had given us our money’s worth.

Saturday ; Today was cloudy and cool.

Too bad that we put so much “Sharing & Caring” ( Escapee motto ) effort last night into relinquishing the park’s borrowed bar fridge and delivering it to the other people with a dead fridge. She was supposed to meet me at the Pole Barn this morning at 10 AM so I could show her where to “sign out” the borrowed equipment, where to return it to when she’s finished with it, and where to pay for it by donation. She didn’t show ! Not only a boor but apparently also an ingrate with a sense of entitlement ! Yup … it was the Thanksgiving Dinner Smartphone lady !

It rained heavily all afternoon. That was a good excuse to go to bed ! We spent the afternoon in bed, Joanne working on a puzzle book, me and the animals sleeping. At 5 PM, which is when it now becomes dark, we went to the clubhouse for Thanksgiving Leftovers Dinner. Of all the hundreds of communal dinner tables we’ve shared over our 6½ years of travel, tonight’s was one of the most interesting. Our table mates had travel experiences not only all over the United States, but also Canada and Mexico. And Central America, South America, New Zealand, and much of Europe. And most of that travelling was by RV. One of the gentlemen at our table had long, white hair, and a long, white, grizzled beard. He had just been hired this afternoon … to be Santa Claus at the Oakland Airport. HA HA HA ! The range of topics discussed over dinner was far more wide ranging than usual, and the opinions expressed far more liberal thinking than usual.

DSK

November 14 to 20, 2010

November 14 to 20, 2010


Sunday ; Another really gorgeous, sunny, warm, California fall day up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains ! This morning we went to Oakhurst where I exchanged the battery cable terminal clamp that didn’t fit for one that hopefully will fit, then we did some grocery shopping at Vons. Since we entered the United State two weeks ago we have bought so many aggressively priced grocery specials that our fridge and freezer are too full, and we have brought the truck fridge into the trailer to use.

After lunch we went to the clubhouse for the weekly Sunday afternoon ice cream social. Afterwards Joanne went to the dog park with Bo for the daily dog party and I went to the library with the computer to post my weekly blog entry.

After a dinner of hot turkey sandwiches we watched Amazing Race. We’re getting a lot of “mileage” out of that $5 turkey !

Monday ; Another beautiful, sunny day. This morning we took Bo for an obedience session. We tried to make it “different”, using the beautiful, natural surroundings of this RV park. He didn’t do great ! With Joanne’s help I installed the new battery cable terminal clamp I got yesterday. It worked just fine ! My repair cost a total of $2.50 ! HMPH … the Dodge O.E.M. battery cable cost about a hundred bucks at the dealer ! Yesterday a front turn signal light bulb burned out. Today I removed the headlight assembly to change the bulb. You would think that removing a headlight assembly would be a two minute job. NOOOOO ! First of all, one of the three screws holding the headlight assembly in place is literally inaccessible. And then … the headlight assembly was jammed in place by a dirty rag in behind the assembly, accidentally dropped in behind there in the past by some mechanic, I guess. I didn’t have the correct replacement bulb, but I did temporarily substitute a similar clear bulb, just so I have a front turn signal light, until I buy the correct orange bulb.

While working outside I heard a noise from the barbecue on the picnic table. HUH ? It sounded like somebody had opened or closed the lid, or something bumped against the metal body of the barbecue. HUH ? I walked over to the picnic table, opened the barbecue, and found … HUH ? ? ? … 58 acorns inside the barbecue ! ! !

We spent the afternoon washing the trailer. While Joanne started washing the trailer, I went to the propane refill station to retrieve a tank I had taken for refilling. We’re going through propane rather quickly, because in addition to the furnace, we’re running the water heater and fridge on propane, because of the expensive electricity here in California. By the time we finished washing the trailer, it was time for the daily dog party. As usual, after the dog party I went to the library with my computer to use the clubhouse’s Wi-Fi.

Tuesday ; Another gorgeous day ! Joanne did laundry. We took Bo to the dog park for awhile this morning, just because we were in the vicinity while at the laundromat. We postponed until tomorrow our plans to go to Oakhurst to do some shopping, then have lunch at Chukchansi Gold Casino.

Being at Escapee parks motivates me to purge. Every Escapee park has a “bargain table” where unwanted / surplus items can be placed for “recycling”. If you have something to leave on a bargain table, just put it there. If you see something on a bargain table that you want, take it, and leave a small donation. Today I purged some spare auto bulbs and fuses from Dee-Dee that don’t fit Lanoire, a couple of surplus flashlights, and three pairs of pants. The pants went into the garbage, and the rest went to the bargain table.

Late in the afternoon we went to the dog park for the daily dog party, then I went to the clubhouse to do some online work. I researched mouth sores / canker sores. I have some kind of a sore spot in my mouth ! Ouch ! I did some research on Black Widow Spiders. HA … I was right ! In the dog park we had a discussion about Black Widow Spiders. I said the Black Widow Spider’s red marking was on its back. Everybody else said no, it was on their underside, on their belly.

Wednesday ; Another gorgeous day ! There won’t be too many more of them. The weather is forecast to get pretty crappy by the weekend. This morning we did our weekly “pet dental care” before heading out to Oakhurst. The animals’ teeth are in very good condition. After a thorough dental cleaning almost a year ago by their veterinarian in Yuma, we have brushed their teeth on a weekly basis. That has produced excellent results.

In Oakhurst we refilled Lanoire with diesel, then I dropped Joanne off at Vons to do grocery shopping while I went to O’Reilly’s Auto Parts. I bought spare signal light bulbs for Lanoire then joined Joanne at Vons. We headed back to Coarsegold but never quite made it all the way back to SKP Park of the Sierras. We went to Chukchansi Gold Casino for lunch. The buffet restaurant at Chukchansi is my favourite buffet restaurant. And their weekday senior’s price for lunch is six bucks ! And as great as that is, I noticed today that they give an even cheaper price to their own tribe’s elders. What a nice gesture ! As usual, we ate until … it started coming out the other end of Joanne. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! That’s how we know we’re done at a buffet. HA HA HA HA HA ! ! !

After lunch we decided to amuse ourselves by playing penny slots until we each lost a dollar. Well, we played and played and played … until we were bored. And cashed out with $3.50 ! HMPH … a 75% return on investment … in less than an hour ! Maybe I should take all my money out of the stock market and just play the casinos ! ! !

Back at home I replaced the turn signal bulb. Joanne took Bo to the dog park. I tested the truck to trailer battery charging circuitry. Everything seems to be working fine again. I guess the intermittent trailer battery charging problem was related to the cracked battery cable terminal clamp on the truck’s secondary battery. It must have created a bad connection / short circuit.

Thursday ; Early this morning we headed to Fresno to take Lanoire to Fresno Chrysler for a couple of minor warranty repairs. It didn’t take them long to determine that the exhaust manifold was cracked and would have to be replaced. And the nearest Cummins diesel engine exhaust manifold was in Los Angeles and would take until tomorrow to get to Fresno. And … apparently the warranty terms provide for a rental car if the dealer is unable to fix my vehicle on the day it’s brought in. So … the dealer phoned the local Enterprise Rent-A-Car office to come pick us up, drive us to their office, and provide us with a vehicle. At Enterprise we discovered more terms of Lanoire’s warranty that I found interesting. 1 ; Chrysler pays $50 per day for a rental vehicle, regardless of whether it is a cheap rental vehicle or an expensive rental vehicle. And 2 ; the rental vehicle must be a Chrysler product. HA HA HA … good policy ! In just a few minutes we were on our way home in a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

After just a few days with our new cell phone number, I was already tired of the frequent phone calls I was receiving ( at 20¢ per incoming call ! ) from collection agencies and hospital billing departments for Raoul, the deadbeat that used to have this phone number. As well as inane text messages for him ( at 15¢ per incoming text message ) ! Tonight I changed our phone number !

Friday ; Well, DUH … major brain fart ! Last night I changed our phone number, then realized … oh, shit, I’m awaiting a phone call from Fresno Chrysler today ! First thing this morning I went to the clubhouse to use my computer to phone Fresno Chrysler to give them my new cell phone number. And I made a few other phone calls, including returning a phone call to a nurse in Kelowna who had called a few days ago regarding colonoscopy wait times. We had an interesting conversation today ! Some of the gastroenterologists in Kelowna have a 4 year waiting list for colonoscopies ! The nurse has been hired by BC Interior Health to find a solution to the problem.

Mid-afternoon we got the phone call from Fresno Chrysler. Uh-oh … bad news … sort of. While the cracked exhaust manifold was being removed, three of the mounting bolts broke. Drilling out the broken bolts was going to be a tedious job ( tell me about it ! ) and the truck wouldn’t be ready until Monday. Guess we’ll be going to buy groceries tomorrow in Oakhurst in a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee !

Just as we were leaving for the dog park and the daily dog party, a couple of drops of rain fell. As a result, Bo was the only dog in the park. He was eager for his buddies to arrive, and when they didn’t, he was disappointed. Poor Bo ! We returned him to the trailer then headed for the weekly social hour and “heavy appetizers” potluck. We socialized, munched, and socialized some more.

Saturday ; This morning there was a fund raising breakfast in the clubhouse. We had been planning to attend, but when the alarm went off this morning, it was cold and raining outside. We went back to sleep !

Early this afternoon Joanne discovered that the temperature inside the fridge was too high, and the contents of the freezer were thawing. I did some diagnostics, but was greatly disadvantaged by not having the truck here. No truck, no tools ! And … no auxiliary fridge. That was in the truck also. I checked out what I could, then we just waited, hoping that the problem was simply that the fridge or freezer door had not been shut properly last night and had remained slightly ajar overnight. I climbed up onto the roof to see if the fridge roof vent had perhaps been plugged by acorns. It had not, but … the air conditioner shroud was packed with acorns. I’m not going to do anything about that until after we leave here. We needed to go into Oakhurst to buy some groceries, but there seemed to be no sense in doing that until we were certain that the fridge was working properly.

We took Bo to the dog park. Joanne did some laundry. I did some online work using Wi-Fi in the clubhouse. By the end of the day it was obvious that the fridge was not working. < sigh > I suppose it’s likely that all the contents of the fridge and freezer will be lost to spoilage !

DSK

November 7 to 13, 2010

November 7 to 13, 2010 ; SKP Park of the Sierras, Coarsegold, California


Sunday ; Today was cloudy, mild, and raining lightly. Bo was a bit ill.

This morning we went into Oakhurst to do some grocery shopping. Man, ya gotta love American grocery store specials. By taking advantage of advertised specials, our grocery bills are a lot lower in the U.S. than in Canada ! Today … turkeys, $5 each, for the entire month of November. Around Canadian Thanksgiving, turkeys are about $1.85 a pound, so $20 to $30 each ! Today we bought a turkey … just because … right now a turkey is cheaper than a chicken !

After lunch we went to the weekly ice cream social in the clubhouse for … well, DUH … ice cream and socializing. Afterwards I went into the library to get online using Wi-Fi and get some online work done. Joanne returned to the trailer, and was going to take Bo to the dog park, but it was raining lightly, so she correctly assumed that today’s dog party would be cancelled.

In the evening we watched Amazing Race and Undercover Boss.

Monday ; By this morning the rain had stopped and the sky began to slowly clear. Bo was feeling better. I did an obedience session with him. Good dog, Bo. I took the computer to the clubhouse, got online using Wi-Fi, and made some phone calls using our Skype “home phone”. I phoned the Chrysler dealers in Madera and Fresno to get some parts, service and warranty information, and the Sears Auto Center in Fresno to get some service information. I think I’ll go to the Sears Auto Center in Fresno on Thursday to have the truck’s tires rotated and brakes inspected. I’m undecided about whether or not to buy a “factory original” battery to battery negative cable from a Chrysler dealer … for about a hundred bucks ! Or fabricate one myself using about twenty bucks worth of parts from O’Reilly Auto Parts. And I may or may not need to have an exhaust manifold leak repaired at a Chrysler dealer. I’ve done a bit of research online, and it appears as if the wisest course of action at this time is to attempt to tighten the exhaust manifold bolts myself and see if that eliminates the slight leak. I did meal / menu planning for the next two weeks. Since Joanne went to work at the fruit stand a couple of months ago, I have been planning all the meals, and preparing many of them. Joanne likes not having to do the meal planning so I will try to do it on an ongoing basis. While I worked on my tasks, Joanne did laundry.

After lunch and a nap with Sully, I spent the afternoon working on testing the truck’s batteries, charging system, and trailer connection plug. I’m trying to determine why we’re having an intermittent problem with the truck charging the trailer’s house battery. I think it’s either because the truck’s two batteries have reached the end of their useful lives after 5½ years, or there is a problem with one of the terminal ends of the batteries’ negative cable, or both. Late in the afternoon we took Bo to the dog park for the daily dog party. Yup … he’s feeling better ! Afterwards I went to the clubhouse library with my computer to do some online research on vehicles’ charging systems.

Yesterday we bought some Mahi-Mahi. I cooked it for supper today. It smelled funny coming out of the package. It smelled funny in the fry pan. And after a couple of bites I realized it tasted … bad ! EEEUUUWWW ! ! ! We tossed it in the garbage.

Tuesday ; Today was another sunny, mild day. This morning I walked down to the clubhouse with my computer to phone Virgin Mobile and get our U.S. cell phone reactivated. It’s been three business days since a Tech. Support person identified the technical problem that prevented the reactivation of the phone, and it was supposed to be resolved by today. NOT ! ! ! Apparently the Tech. Support person entered an incorrect data code, so the problem was not resolved today ! Unbelievable ! What ineptitude ! What a colossal waste of my time ! But I’m too cheap to throw away the $10 top-up card I’ve already bought, so … I’ll keep trying to get the phone reactivated. But, rest assured … as soon as that $10 is used up … goodbye Virgin Mobile !

This afternoon I continued working on the truck to trailer battery charging mystery. And I convinced myself that I will have to replace the truck’s two near dead batteries and one battery cable with a slightly cracked terminal to resolve the problem. We washed the truck. Lots of road grime from travelling ! And I attempted to tighten the exhaust manifold bolts to see if that was the cause of a small exhaust manifold leak that I recently noticed. The bolts were all tight, so that means that either the exhaust manifold gaskets are leaking and need to be replaced, or … the exhaust manifold itself is cracked and needs to be replaced. In either case, it’s a job for a Dodge dealer … soon … before the truck’s warranty expires in about 4500 km. / 2800 miles.

The trailer’s rear bumper is hollow, and used for storage of sewer hoses. The removable bumper end cap has a vent hole in it to allow sewer hoses that have been put away wet to dry out. Today I noticed as I walked by the rear of the trailer … HUH ? … there seemed to be something sticking out of the vent hole. HUH ? ? ? AN ACORN ? ? ? I removed the bumper’s end cap and … < sputter > … removed 63 acorns from inside the trailer bumper ! Later as I walked by the front of the trailer, I noticed something sticking out of an empty adjustment bolt hole on the trailer hitch. HUH ? ? ? AN ACORN ? ? ? When I reached for it, it fell inside the trailer hitch. I reached in there and … < sputter > … removed 17 acorns from inside the trailer hitch !

And both yesterday and today there was “evidence” of a little creature making an overnight visit up into the truck’s engine compartment. The “evidence” seemed too big for a mouse but too small for a pack rat so … I don’t know ! ? ! Apparently this is a common problem in the fall up here in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I hooked up a trouble light and stuck it under the slightly opened and propped up truck hood overnight. Apparently that’s the solution to the problem.

Wednesday ; This morning after walking Bo I went to the truck to disconnect the light I had left under the hood overnight to deter little creatures. I lifted the truck hood and … SWOOOOSH … there was a waterfall of acorns pouring out onto the windshield from in between the underside of the hood and the insulation liner attached to it. Then … < sputter > … a little Mickey Mouse faced pack rat head peeked out. I think Walt Disney used a pack rat when he first drew Mickey Mouse. I banged my hand on the underside of the hood liner, the pack rat fell out and ran off, and chunks of insulation fell out ! < big sigh > The more I banged my hand on the underside of the hood liner, the more acorns and chewed up insulation fell out !

We headed into Oakhurst to buy some groceries, some auto parts, and … a rat trap ! I bought a rat trap at the hardware store, dropped Joanne off at Raley’s and went to O’Reilly’s Auto Parts. I had the two truck batteries tested. They’re both fine ! I bought three gallons of oil, an oil filter, and a battery cable terminal clamp, then returned to Raley’s to join Joanne. We finished the grocery shopping, refilled a water jug, and headed back to SKP Park of the Sierras.

After lunch and a quick nap with Sully, I removed the truck’s hub caps, wheel liners and valve extenders to prepare for having the tires rotated tomorrow in Fresno. Joanne went to the dog park with Bo. I trimmed my beard then set up a 120V halogen work light to install under the truck hood overnight … along with the rat trap ! The little 12V fluorescent trouble light that I put under the hood last night obviously wasn’t bright enough to deter little Mickey ! I drove to the propane refill station and picked up a tank that I had left for refilling. I went to the clubhouse library with the computer to send some e-mails. Joanne joined me in the library to do some online recipe research.

For supper Joanne roasted the turkey we bought a few days ago. MMMMM ! We spent the evening watching Survivor and Hell’s Kitchen.

Thursday ; Remembrance Day ( Canada ) / Veterans’ Day ( U.S. )

This morning at 11 AM we observed a minute of silence … Lest We Forget ! We shared our “Remembrance” thoughts with each other. HMMMMM < thinking about Joanne’s perspective >.

We drove south on Hwy. 41 down and out of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and into the San Joaquin Valley to Fresno, about 45 minutes away. Like driving from home to Penticton. We found our away to Sears Auto Center to have the truck tires rotated and brakes inspected. I had a lengthy argument with the service manager, and I was ( and still am ) very angry. I purchased six very expensive Michelin tires at Sears Auto Center in Yuma, Arizona a year and a half ago. Part of my decision to buy them at Sears was because Sears offered free tire rotations for life. The service manager at Fresno today was of the belief that that offer excluded six tire duallies. After some arguing he decided that he would rotate my tires at no charge … as a goodwill gesture. That infuriated me ! I neither want nor need “a favour” … a “freebie”. I want what I’ve paid for and am entitled to ! ! ! And that includes tire rotations ! ! !

We left the truck at Sears and walked to a nearby shopping mall where we walked around for awhile then went for lunch to a gourmet hamburger restaurant chain called Red Robin. Our first time at Red Robin. Our last time at Red Robin ! We returned to Sears to discover … un****ingbelievable … the tires were rotated incorrectly, for the tenth time in a row ! ! ! Eight times at Dodge Dealers, and twice at Sears Auto Centers. And for nine of those ten times ( all except the first time ) I explained how it was to be done, showed a diagram in the owner’s manual, explained it again, asked if they understood, left the owner’s manual diagram with them, asked again if they clearly understood … < FUME > ! ! ! How on earth can it be possible for something to be done WRONG ten times out of ten ? ? ? ! ! ! ? ? ? It’s rotating tires … not rocket science, people ! ! ! Calm down, Daniel !
< taking a deep breath >

After Sears corrected their error ( very quickly, to their credit ), we found our way to the Dodge dealer in Fresno where I made an appointment for next week for some warranty service. Then … story of my life … Wal-Mart ! We arrived back home at SKP Park of the Sierras just as it turned dark … which is now at 5 PM !

Friday ; WHEW … what an ordeal. After another lengthy call to Virgin Mobile Tech. Support … this one lasting 53 minutes ! ! ! … I finally have a working U.S. cell phone ! < shaking head in despair > And I asked and was told how to prevent a recurrence of this reactivation nightmare in the future ! However, at the moment, I’m certainly not inclined to remain a Virgin Mobile customer in future years.

This afternoon I reinstalled the valve extenders, wheel liners, and hub caps on the truck. Wish me luck ! Whenever I’ve had valve extender leaks in the past, it has always been immediately after removal and reinstallation of them. We trimmed Bo’s dew claws. Ooooops … sorry, Bo … trimmed one dew claw a bit too short. Joanne prepared appetizers for this afternoon’s weekly social hour, which in this park is also sort of an early potluck dinner with “heavy” appetizers. We took Bo to the dog park before social hour, assuming correctly that today’s dog party would be a bit earlier because of social hour.

Social hour was good. Good food, good socializing ! We discovered that this park has a new “promotional” monthly rate. We might stay a month ! In the evening we did some “trip planning” taking into account the possibility of staying here a month.

Saturday ; Another beautiful, sunny, warm California day.

This morning I went to the office to get some information and extend our stay from three weeks to a month. I disinfected the fresh water holding tank. I did some duct tape repair on the damage caused by the pack rat to the under hood insulation liner on the truck. I was going to replace the under hood insulation liner until I discovered that it costs more than $150 ! I cleaned hundreds of acorns out of the trailer’s bumper then sealed off the bumper end caps’ vent openings with duct tape. Finding a lot if uses for duct tape today !

I spent quite a bit of time trying to replace one of the truck batteries’ negative cable terminal clamps. I sawed off the old terminal clamp using a hacksaw. I tried to install a replacement clamp I bought at O’Reilly’s Auto Parts in Oakhurst a few days ago. It didn’t fit right. I’ll have to return to O’Reilly’s tomorrow and see if I can find a different model that will work better. And I suspect that the one that I have is non-returnable / non-refundable, so will be a “write-off” expense. Oh, well … a “written off” three dollar clamp is still better than buying a new cable at the dealer’s for a hundred bucks ! In the meantime, I hope that the truck will start, using only one of the two batteries, because one of the batteries is disconnected.

We took Bo to the dog park for the daily dog party. Then I went to the clubhouse to do some online work. I found out today that high speed Internet is available at each site, but it won’t work for me. It involves a modem with an Ethernet cable to the computer. My teensy little netbook computer doesn’t have an Ethernet cable port. Darn !

DSK

October 31 to November 6, 2010

October 31 to November 6, 2010 ; Keremeos, BC to Coarsegold, California


Sunday ; Hallowe’en

Boy, I’m really looking forward to getting back on the road tomorrow ! We’ve all got “hitch itch”. Well, maybe not Sully ! HA HA HA !

Monday ; Keremeos, BC to rest area near Quincy, Washington

Today was cool with intermittent light rain. This morning we prepared for departure … in the rain … I hate that … and left home / Riverside RV Park Resort. We stopped in Keremeos to adjust the air pressure in the trailer tires before heading east on Hwy. 3 to Osoyoos. At Osoyoos we stopped at the Bank of Montreal to deposit Joanne’s paycheque.

The line up at the border crossing from Osoyoos, BC to Oroville, Washington was longer than usual, but moved reasonably well. We got
< sigh > a female Customs & Border Patrol agent. As always, after clearing Customs, we had to be inspected by an Agriculture Inspector, as are all RV’s. We got < sigh > a female Agriculture Inspector. She confiscated an unopened package of Whiskas Temptations Cat Treats worth about four dollars. The package said “Made in Canada by Mars Canada” and one of the ingredients was “dried meat by-product”. She said that wasn’t specific enough to be certain that it did not contain any prohibited types of meat, such as lamb or other hooved animals. The same as last year, I felt it wasn’t worth arguing with her. Although, any … < ahem > … Agricultural Inspection professional with half an eye and an a**hole should realize that there would be no lamb … or other hooved animals … in a seafood flavoured cat treat !

A few minutes later we were grocery shopping at Prince’s in Oroville. I went down the pet food aisle. There was Whiskas Temptations, apparently the same as what had just been confiscated from us. I checked the label. “Made in Canada, imported by Mars U.S.” “dried meat by-product”. That really pissed me off ! ! ! She confiscated and discarded a $4 package of cat treats ignorantly and unnecessarily ! The American border agents seem obsessed with stopping the flow of Canadian made pet foods … even when they’re wrong ! ! ! … as they were last year as well … into the United States, while Yemeni terrorists are sending bombs by UPS ! ! ! Check your perspective, people ! ! !

We had a late lunch in Prince’s parking lot then headed south on Hwy. 97. It was our plan to make it to Omak by late afternoon, do some shopping at Wal-Mart and Home Depot, have supper at KFC … I had been promising Joanne for weeks that we could have supper at KFC our first day on the road … boondock overnight in the Wal-Mart parking lot, then pick up a piece of mail at the Omak Post Office in the morning. I had ordered our Passport America renewal package to Omak to avoid the additional $10 charge for shipping to Canada. We arrived in Omak quite a bit earlier than I had expected. So … we picked up the package at the Post Office, refilled with diesel, decided to defer our Wal-Mart and Home Depot shopping for a day or two until we are in Oregon … no sales tax … and we continued on.

I wanted to take a different route than we usually do, just to see some new sights. Instead of continuing south on Hwy. 97, we went east on Hwy. 155 over the mountains. Up, over, and back down the mountains to the Columbia River Valley, then Hwy. 155 turned south following the Columbia River. I wanted to see the Grand Coulee Dam. When we drove alongside of it, it seemed to us to be as impressive as the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River near Las Vegas. This route was a bit longer than our usual Hwy. 97 route following the Okanagan River, but the scenery was nicer along the Columbia River. Eventually the Okanagan River flows into the Columbia River.

The roadside rest area on Hwy. 155 that we thought we could spend the night at was closed. We continued south on Hwy. 155 to Soap Lake, then southeast on Hwy. 28 through Ephrata and Quincy to a roadside rest area a bit west of Quincy. It was dark even before we got to the town of Quincy. We have stayed at this road side rest area before. And we’re now back on the same route as if we had stayed on Hwy. 97.

Tuesday ; Quincy, Washington to rest area near Terrebonne, Oregon

Today was a beautiful day, sunny and mild, temperature well up into the 60’s. And it was another day where “the plan” got discarded. Which I think is great ! I like travel days better without plans.

We left the rest area this morning and drove east a few miles on Hwy. 28 into the town of Quincy to refill with diesel before heading south on Hwy. 281 to Interstate 90. West on I-90 to I-82, then south on I-82 to Toppenish. Toppenish is the most northerly town that we know of that has a panaderia
( Mexican bakery ). Dos ( two ) panaderias actually. WOO-HOO … we bought some pan dulce ( Mexican pastries ). We parked in the Safeway parking lot and walked to KFC for lunch. Toppenish is a small city with a significant population of Mexicans and American Natives / Indians. The Mexicans are particularly noticeable because they’re very visible as hard working employees in the lower paying jobs. And the Indians are particularly noticeable because they’re drunk and panhandling. What a sad commentary that is !

From Toppenish we rejoined Hwy. 97 and continued south. We reached the Columbia River … again … crossed it, and were in Oregon. Yippee … no sales tax ! Our original plan for today was to visit a friend in Grass River, Oregon. Perhaps boondock in her yard or driveway tonight. In the village of Grass River we found our way to the summer address of Eilene, our 87 year old Escapee friend from Kofa Ko-op in Yuma, Arizona. We were supposed to visit her last spring on our drive back north, but we phoned her repeatedly for a couple of days before we were to visit, and she never answered her phone, so we did not go by her place. In the summer we tried to reach her and her phone was disconnected. Today there was no one home at her address. And we know that she doesn’t usually leave for Arizona this early. So … we’ re thinking the news can’t be good ! ! !

We continued south on Hwy. 97, stopping in Madras to refill Lanoire with diesel ( for the second time today ! ) and refill a propane tank. It was almost dark by that time. By the time we reached Redmond it was dark. We found our way to the Wal-Mart and … DARN ! No overnight parking permitted ! HMPH … one of those Wal-Marts ! We backtracked about ten miles or so on Hwy. 97 to a rest area near the village of Terrebonne where we boondocked overnight.

Wednesday ; Terrebonne to rest area near Klamath Falls, Oregon

Third day of travel, and third day that “the plan” got tossed out the window ! Our plan for today was to go to LaPine State Park.

This morning as I was checking the air pressure in the trailer tires I discovered … HUH ? … a nail embedded in the sidewall of one of the trailer tires. How odd ! It went in the sidewall and back out again without puncturing all the way through. I took a picture of it, then yanked it out with pliers.

We left the rest area this morning and continued south on Hwy. 97 about ten miles to Redmond. In Redmond we shopped at Wal-Mart ( that took a long time ! ), Home Depot, and Walgreens. We continued south to Bend where we shopped at PetsMart … WOO-HOO, Bo loooooves shopping at PetsMart … and an RV parts dealer. We had spent essentially the entire morning shopping !

Since we had such nice pan dulce for breakfast we decided to skip lunch and get some driving done. We made plans for an early supper at LaPine State Park. Shortly before arriving at LaPine State Park, it got cloudy, the temperature dropped 20 degrees, and it began to drizzle ! Cold, wet weather defeated the purpose of going to the lovely State Park, I thought, so we kept driving. Half an hour later, the sky cleared, and the temperature rose 20 degrees again. We stopped at a Native Casino and Travel Service Center at Crater Lake Junction to refill with diesel.

Joanne found an RV park listing in our new Passport America directory that appealed to me. A golf course and RV park near Klamath Falls, with Wi-Fi and cable TV. Oh boy, I could get our U.S. cell phone reactivated and watch Survivor tonight. An RV park attached to a golf course was likely to be fairly upscale, I thought. WRONG ! ! ! What a dump ! On an Indian Reservation ! I told Joanne when she went into the RV park office to register us, that I didn’t want to stay if ( 1 ) they wouldn’t honour the Passport America rate or ( 2 ) they didn’t have Wi-Fi or ( 3 ) they didn’t have cable TV. Well, they honoured the Passport America rate, but no Wi-Fi or cable TV. Goodbye !

We drove to a rest area south of Klamath Falls, just about at the California border for our third night of boondocking.

Thursday ; Klamath Falls, Oregon to rest area near Dunnigan, California

This morning I phoned Virgin Mobile in an attempt to reactivate our U.S. cell phone. I started the process online, at home last weekend. I had an assigned phone number, and simply needed to complete the activation process using the cell phone. For three days of travel I was unable to complete the activation process. The rest area that we stayed at overnight had Wi-Fi, so this morning I was able to use our “home” phone ( VoIP on the computer ) to phone Virgin Mobile. FORTY-FIVE ****ING MINUTES ON THE PHONE WITH TECH. SUPPORT ! ! ! And the problem is a technical one that requires three working days to fix, so … I have to phone them back next Tuesday to try again to reactivate the cell phone ! ! ! I don’t have the patience to be on the phone for 45 minutes while Tech. Support tries to solve a problem ! ! ! I am sorely tempted to simply discard the 2 year old Virgin Mobile phone and switch to a Tracfone, but I’ve already invested in a non-refundable Virgin Mobile top up card ! Tracfone next year for sure ! ! !

WOW … what a neat scam ! We just returned a product that we had purchased in Redmond, Oregon to a Wal-Mart near Redding, California . We paid no sales tax on the item in Oregon. The refund in California included sales tax. HA HA HA ! I’ve been sitting in the trailer after lunch working on the computer while Joanne went into Wal-Mart.

We left the rest area this morning and after a few minutes of continuing south on Hwy. 97 we were in California. We had to stop at an Agricultural Inspection Station at the border. California is “fussy” about fruits and vegetables coming into the state. Hwy. 97 ends at Weed, California when it reaches Interstate 5. While driving through Weed I noticed that a Chevron station had an “air and water” kiosk, and decided it would be a good idea to refill our fresh water holding tank. It would provide us another opportunity to boondock tonight if we could refill the fresh water and dump the shower waste holding tank. We refilled with fresh water at the Chevron, got onto Interstate 5, I pulled over onto the shoulder, and < ahem > opened the shower grey tank valve. I rarely do what is known as a “jungle dump”, and I have never done it on an Interstate highway before, but … it‘s only shower water ! So, now we were boondock capable again.

I-5 passed though, and over, the Shasta Mountains. When we came down on the south side of the Shasta Mountains, the temperature soared to the upper 70’s near Redding, California. We know from previous journeys that the good weather always starts at about Redding. When we stopped at Wal-Mart we were severely overdressed. At the rest area this morning the temperature was in the mid-40’s. Now it was in the high 70’s ! I was wearing a long sleeved, heavy sweatshirt and a fleece vest !

I put on a t-shirt, we had lunch, Joanne did a tiny bit of Wal-Martin’, and we continued south on I-5. At Corning we stopped to refill with diesel at a station that used to be a Flying J but was now a Love’s. HMPH … it was better as a Flying J. Use of the trailer dumping station was free when it was a Flying J. Love’s charges $5 to use the trailer dump station. Good thing I had refilled the fresh water and done that jungle dump earlier. HA HA HA !

In mid-afternoon we stopped briefly at a road side rest area. HEY … it had a trailer dump station, so … we decided to dump the kitchen waste holding tank. Now everything except the toilet waste holding tank was empty. Guess that jungle dump on the Interstate was a bit premature ! Late in the afternoon, just before dark, we stopped at a road side rest area about half an hour north of Sacramento to boondock overnight. We will likely make it all the way to SKP Park of the Sierras in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Yosemite National Park tomorrow. We don’t normally drive from home to there in 5 days but … !

Friday ; Dunnigan to SKP Park of the Sierras near Coarsegold, California

Whew … I’m tired ! I had forgotten how stressful and tiring an entire day of driving a large rig on really congested California freeways can be, especially when it‘s the fifth day in a row of driving. And I had forgotten that from Sacramento south a couple of things happen ; ( 1 ) smog ! and ( 2 ) the drivers all become ***holes ! ! ! And by the time we reached Madera, our most southerly point today before turning east towards the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the temperature was 90 degrees ! Hellooooo, California !

We left the rest area this morning and continued south on I-5. Almost immediately we were enveloped in Sacramento’s smog … and very congested, very fast moving traffic. We drove through Sacramento on the freeway looking for a PetsMart and a Walgreens. Didn’t find either. Driving through Stockton later we found a PetsMart. WOO-HOO … more fun shopping for Bo. I got directions to a Walgreens in Stockton, halfway across the city. That was okay, because at some point today we were going to have to cross from I-5 to Hwy. 99. And driving through / across Stockton would take us from I-5 to Hwy. 99. So … some shopping at Walgreens, late lunch in the parking lot, then onto Hwy. 99 headed south.

We refilled with diesel at Love’s in Ripon. At Madera we turned east on Hwy. 145 heading towards the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Near the mountains we turned north onto Hwy. 41, and up into the Sierra Nevada Mountains to SKP Park of the Sierras near the village of Coarsegold, the town of Oakhurst, and Yosemite National Park. AHHHHH … this is one of our favourite places. We’ll likely stay here for three weeks, until after American Thanksgiving. We arrived today after the office was closed, so will spend the night in their boondock area and get assigned a site tomorrow morning. But … WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO … we did arrive in time to catch the tail end of the daily dog party in the dog park. HA HA HA HA HA … relax, Bo ! Bo actually recognized where we were just before we arrived and started going berserk in the truck.

Saturday ; Well, we drove 2000 km. / 1250 miles in five days to get here. We don’t usually drive that far that fast !

AHHHHH … what a nice place ! This morning we moved from the park’s boondocking area to our assigned site. What a lovely spot ! We spent much of the day getting caught up on miscellaneous cleaning and maintenance chores. A few days ago I bought a drain auger / plumbing “snake” to clean out the shower drain which has been draining very slowly lately. Today we “snaked” the shower drain. YIKES … what a lot of crap down there ! And what an improvement in draining ! ! ! Guess I’ll make that an annual chore.

Around 3 PM Bo started acting “antsy”, pacing and whining. Relax, Bo … the daily dog party doesn’t start for at least another hour. Does he have an internal clock ? ? ? Shortly after 4 PM we took him to the dog park for the daily dog party. Afterwards I went to the clubhouse to use Wi-Fi to get some online work done. Hmmm … a fairly decent rally in the stock market this week !

DSK