May 22 to 28, 2011

Monday ; We moved four trailers today in Summerland, from the Peach Orchard Campground to RV Days storage yard. WHEW … it was a tiring day of tough work. This Victoria Day long weekend was the Blossom Run, the annual classic car show in Summerland, always a big weekend for RV Days trailer rentals. The Blossom Run explains why we saw so many classic cars on the highway when we were driving to Vernon on Saturday.

Tuesday ; I had “Similkameen Day Tours” signage put on the truck today. Our new business is officially launched, I guess ! I stopped by the Similkameen Country Visitor Information Centre to show the truck signage to Colleen. She was very enthusiastic and supportive, as she has been since I first ran the idea by her a few weeks ago. Thank you, Colleen.

Wednesday ; We went to Penticton today to run errands. One of the chores was to renew the truck and trailer insurance policies. Four policies in total, two for each vehicle. Hey … it’s BC ! One policy for each vehicle for basic insurance with ICBC, and one policy for each vehicle for extension coverage with private insurers. We had no changes to make on any of the policies, just … renew. As in … sign, pay, and go. Or so I thought. After taking 2½ hours to struggle through three of the four policies … I “fired” our insurance broker and left ! < sigh > Like I’ve got nothing better to do at the moment than shop for a new insurance broker !

Thursday ; We spent the day visiting Similkameen wineries, conducting research for developing our Similkameen Wineries day tour. We have now visited all eleven ( used to be twelve but one burned to the ground a couple of weeks ago ) of the Similkameen wineries, from Keremeos through Cawston and all the way to Osoyoos. Most of the Similkameen wineries are near Cawston. We have selected the six wineries that we want to include in our day tour. And some “alternates”. And some “absolutely not”. And we discovered a nearby spot for a “wilderness” picnic lunch alongside the Similkameen River.

Now it’s time to “build” the winery tour itinerary and schedule specifics, then translate the three tours we have developed so far into something marketable that “fits” into our website.

Friday ; Went to a neighbour’s birthday party this afternoon. Happy 78th Birthday, Dave.

Saturday ; Another cold, rainy day. This is the second year in a row that the weather during the month of May is really crappy. And this year I’m really sick and tired of it !

Spent much of the day working on “building” our Similkameen wineries tour, and working on the Similkameen Day Tours website. Hey, it’s all coming along rather nicely.

DSK

May 15 to 21, 2011

I did a lot of work this week on the development and launch of our new business, “Similkameen Day Tours”, especially a lot of work on the website. Take a look ! http://www.similkameendaytours.webs.com/

Monday ; We spent the day developing our first “day tour”, our “Nickel Plate Mountain” trip. We drove to Osoyoos to start, then did a “dry run” of the trip, documenting times and distances, to Nickel Plate Mountain, up and down the mountain, to a picnic spot beside the Ashnola River, then back to Osoyoos, then back home. A very long, tiring day, but that’s what one of our day trip outings will be !

Tuesday ; I had a complete physical examination today, then went to the health lab to give blood and urine, and have an ECG.

Wednesday ; Went to Penticton today to meet my new gastroenterologist. GEEEEZZZZZ … my ulcerative colitis is older than she is ! ! ! AND …
< sigh > … she wants me to have a colonoscopy annually ! And was already talking about prophylactic colectomy. WHOA ! ! !

This evening we received the news that Joanne’s Aunt Eliane died today. Eliane was the last of the very close trio of sisters comprised of Joanne’s mother, Aunt Belle, and Aunt Eliane, and therefore a pretty special “auntie” to Joanne and her sister Lorraine..

Friday ; I returned to the doctor today to have him deal with a problem discovered on Tuesday that he should have dealt with at that time, but didn’t. I was a bit angry about that. And I became a lot more angry when his new nurse / assistant placed me in a closed door examination room, and then forgot that I was in there … until I opened the door to throw a hissy fit after an hour ! It’s now late in the evening and I’m still in a bad mood !

Saturday ; Today we went to Vernon to attend a “celebration of life” memorial service for our Escapee friend Jim Kendall who died recently. It was interesting to learn that Jim was a child actor when he was about 10 years old, appearing in Overland Trail, a 1941 movie with Lon Chaney Jr., and he even had a “dinner date” with fellow child star Shirley Temple. Jim was an interesting and accomplished man. We will miss him, and offer our condolences to his widow Elfie.

Driving to Vernon and back on the same day was tiring.

DSK

May 8 to 14, 2011

May 9, 2011


We spent the afternoon exploring along the Ashnola River and Ewart Creek, doing research on my new business idea.

When we were exploring Valley Of Fire State Park north of Las Vegas recently, I watched a Las Vegas based tour operator traipsing clients with cameras through the desert, and I thought … “I could do that !” Ever since then I have been working on developing a business idea.

Personally escorted day tour adventures in the South Okanagan / Similkameen ! Off the beaten path wilderness adventures ! For small groups of one to three people ! In a honkin’ huge six wheel drive one ton diesel dually !

It’s kept me awake at night, tossing and turning. Joanne and I have brainstormed it. I discussed it with the manager of the local tourism information centre in Keremeos. The idea is growing !

Today we drove up a logging road following the Ashnola River to research three BC Forest Service remote wilderness campgrounds alongside the Ashnola River as potential picnic lunch locations. And then we drove down a dirt trail alongside Ewart Creek to a trailhead leading into Cathedral Lakes Provincial Park. The Ashnola River is the northern boundary and Ewart Creek is the eastern boundary of Cathedral Lakes Provincial Park, a wilderness preserve in the Cascade Mountains. And the areas is … by anybody’s standards … wilderness ! And yet, it’s only about 35 kilometres / 20 miles from Keremeos.

We drove back to Keremeos, then north to find the “Keremeos Columns”, a nearby geologic formation of basalt “columns” up in the mountains. We had not yet been to the Keremeos Columns. And we still haven’t been ! And likely never will be ! Between Keremeos and Olalla we turned up into the mountains following the trail to the Keremeos Columns. We got lost a few times but eventually found the right trail. And it was the worst “road” we’ve ever tried to drive on. Worse than anything we’ve ever encountered in Mexico. And not the sort of experience you would expect clients to pay for ! Before reaching the Keremeos Columns we gave up. At a radio transmission tower of some sort near the top of a mountain I turned the truck around ( much easier said than done ! ) and we headed back down.

And so ended the first day of “out in the field” research and development of my business idea. Stay tuned !

May 13, 2011

This morning we drove to Osoyoos … to move a trailer from NK’MIP site 145 to site 120 for Marty at RV Days. It didn’t go particularly well, and took a lot longer than we had anticipated, but it gave us an opportunity to discuss our Similkameen Day Tours business idea with Marty. He was supportive and encouraging. We had a picnic lunch in Osoyoos, ran a few errands in town, then headed back towards Keremeos, doing more business research on the way back home. We stopped at Spotted Lake. We stopped at Forbidden Fruit, our favourite Similkameen Valley winery. We discussed our business idea with Kim, who owns Forbidden Fruit with her husband. She was also very supportive and encouraging. We stopped at Seven Stones, one of the Similkameen wineries we had not yet been to. It’s named after, and pays homage to, the Legends Of The Seven Stones Of The Similkameen. We did not reveal our business idea to the owner. We stopped at a greenhouse in Cawston to buy some bedding plants, at the grocery store in Keremeos, and at our favourite fruit / produce stand in Keremeos. WOW … one of the larger “fruit stands” ( selling fruit, produce, local wines, jams, jellies, honey, etc. ) burned to the ground a few days ago in Keremeos.

May 14

Today there was a potluck dinner at Riverside RV Park Resort. It was supposed to be a generic birthday party for everyone who has a “significant” birthday this year. Some residents will be turning 60, some 65, that sort of thing. I was asked to perform a magic show immediately preceding the potluck dinner.  I did ! This was the third time I have performed a magic show here … upon request … for free ! And … the final time ! ! ! Enough said ! ! !

DSK

May 5, 2011 ; Riverside RV Park Resort

This morning, while I was standing outside chatting with neighbours, a Bald Eagle flew low overhead with a fish in its talons. WOW … that’s why I live here !

DSK

April 24 to 30, 2011 ; Jackpot, Nevada to Keremeos, British Columbia

Easter Sunday ; Today was cold and raining. I hate this kind of weather !

This morning I did some minor maintenance chores, then trimmed my beard, an overdue task. Darn … I think I trimmed it a bit too short. Oh, well … I’m not the one who has to cuddle to stubble. HA HA HA ! Joanne did some laundry. We did an obedience session with Bo. I went to the RV park office to use Wi-Fi. I spent a long time posting last week’s journal to my blog. I had a lot of photos to include, and I had some difficulty posting a new photo of Sully.

We were going to do some trip planning today, for the trip from here to home over the next six days or so, but the consensus was “it’s cold, let’s just drive”. If the weather improves, we’ll dawdle and explore. Otherwise, we’ll just drive until we’re home.

We have just returned from having Easter Dinner in the Canyon Cove Buffet Restaurant in Cactus Pete‘s Casino. Where we just found out …
< snicker > … we are on the wrong time. DUH … you’d think that after seven years of travelling we’d be able to keep track of what time zone we’re in !

Easter Dinner was … stupendous ! ! ! The Canyon Cove Buffet in Cactus Pete’s Casino now ranks as the best buffet restaurant we’ve experienced. The Chukchansi in Coarsegold, California now slips to the number two spot. The real highlights of tonight’s dinner were the seafood offerings ( like fresh oysters on the half shell and snow crab leg clusters ) and the dessert table. What a creative pastry chef ! What great prime rib ! ! ! Because it was Easter, the ( included ) champagne was endless … a bottomless glass. But … in addition to being the best buffet we’ve experienced, it was also the most expensive. However, it seemed worth it.

We spent the evening watching Amazing Race and Celebrity Apprentice.

Monday ; Jackpot, Nevada to Boise, Idaho

Today’s weather was crappy, mostly cold and raining. And you know how much I hate doing departure preparation and hitching up in cold rain !

We left Saguaro RV Park at Cactus Pete’s Casino in Jackpot, Nevada this morning and headed north on Hwy. 93. Within a few minutes we were in Idaho. At Twin Falls we bought some groceries at Albertsons then found our way to the Flying J at Interstate 84 exit 173. We refilled with diesel and propane at Flying J and then headed northwest on I-84. We stopped for lunch at a roadside rest area. We drove through some horrendous rainstorms and hailstorms and ice pellet storms this afternoon before reaching Boise.

It was our intention to boondock overnight at the visitor information center at the Idaho / Oregon border. But first we wanted to find Camping World in Boise to buy a few items. We found Camping World and noticed that there were about a dozen RV parking spots with electrical hookups. When we bought some items inside the store we inquired about the parking spots with electrical hookups. As “passing through” customers of Camping World we were invited to spend the night at no charge. How nice ! Thank you very much, Camping World. Stopping about an hour earlier than we had planned gave me a chance to replace a broken sewer hose bayonet mount with a new one I had just purchased at Camping World.

My ReadyBroadband USB modem worked here on the outskirts of Boise so while Joanne prepared supper I retrieved and printed our U.S.$ MasterCard statement. After supper I reconciled it. Whew … expensive month !

Across the street from us is a corral with … HUH ? … a baby buffalo ?

Tuesday ; Boise, Idaho to Pendleton, Oregon

The weather was pretty crappy for most of today, but not too bad at the end of the day.

This morning before departing from the Camping World parking lot in Boise, Idaho we went into the Camping World store and spent a whole bunch of money. Which seemed to be a recurring theme throughout the day. As we pulled out of the Camping World parking lot Bo saw the baby buffalo in the corral across the street and barked at it until it ran away. HA HA HA HA HA … Bo was very proud of himself for being able to make a buffalo stampede. We headed northwest out of Boise on Interstate 84.

We crossed into Oregon. We stopped at a roadside rest area that had a trailer dump station and we emptied our bathroom grey waste tank. The fresh water refill was turned off for the winter so we weren’t able to refill our fresh water holding tank. We stopped at another roadside rest area and had lunch. I was getting very low on diesel so I poured our two gallon emergency tank of diesel into the truck. We stopped at Flying J in LaGrande to refill with diesel. YIKES … $153.00 ! We went to Wal-Mart in LaGrande to complete our “must buy before leaving U.S.” shopping list here in Oregon where there is no sales tax. YIKES … another $142.00 ! Expensive day ! We stopped at a state park where we found a working water spigot in the empty campground host site. We refilled our fresh water tank, so now we had a full fresh water tank and an empty shower waste tank. That gives us two nights of boondocking capability.

We stopped to boondock for the night at Wildhorse Resort & Casino near Pendleton. Throughout the day we had encountered rain and hail and wet snow and ice pellets, but as we came down into the valley where Wildhorse Resort & Casino is located just before Pendleton, Oregon, the sky cleared, the wind diminished, and the temperature warmed up a bit.

Wednesday ; Pendleton, Oregon to Blue Lake Rest Area between Soap Lake and Coulee City, Washington

Today was mostly cloudy and mild.

This morning before leaving Wildhorse Resort & Casino we pulled into their Travel Plaza to discard a bag of garbage. Their Travel Plaza had a trailer dump station so we refilled with fresh water again and dumped our shower waste holding tank again. We headed northwest on Interstate 84 to Stanfield where we stopped at the Pilot Travel Center to buy a gallon of the Lucas
( diesel fuel additive ) clone, our last chance to buy it tax free in Oregon. At that point we decided we had had enough of Interstate driving and we wanted to travel on back roads for awhile, exploring and sightseeing since the weather was nice. Joanne guided us north until we reached the Columbia River, then we followed back roads alongside the Columbia River as it curved in a large oxbow. We crossed from Oregon into Washington. Near the point where the Snake River intersects with the Columbia River we wanted to find a place to pull off the road to have lunch. There was a large building with a large parking lot. We pulled in. HEY … there were other RV’s in the parking lot. What is this place ? Country Mercantile … hmmmmm … looks like some kind of a retail store. Let’s go in ! WOW … it was a neat place ! A specialty / exotic foods store, somewhat like a small town / rural version of the big city Trader Joe’s chain. Lots of home made / fresh products, with a strong influence from the local Hispanic / Mexican population. Fresh, home made tamales, burritos, enchiladas, and salsas. Lots of jams, jellies, preserves, dips, and spreads. Fresh breads and baking. MMMMM … we bought a loaf of bread, a smoked salmon / smoked trout / cream cheese dip, and a smoky roasted garlic / mozzarella cheese dip. For dipping artichokes. MMMMM ! After sampling a lot of dips and spreads and salsas, we returned to the trailer to have lunch. And I realized a bit too late … oooooo … I’m stuffed ! Shouldn’t have eaten all those samples and lunch !

We continued northbound. Joanne shuffled us around from back road highway to back road highway, always keeping us heading north towards Steamboat Rock State Park where we want to stay … tomorrow. Our plan was / is to boondock overnight relatively near Steamboat Rock State Park so that we can arrive there early in the day. At the prices of Washington State Park campgrounds ( about double the cost of Oregon State Park campgrounds ) we’d like to have as full a day as possible in the expensive state park.

We stopped to boondock overnight at Blue Lake Rest Area on Hwy. 17 beside Blue Lake ( obviously ), an enlargement of the Columbia River created by Dry Falls Dam. DARN … now that we’re away from the Interstate, once again there is no Sprint network signal. My ReadyBroadband USB modem ( and Virgin Mobile cell phone ) won’t work.

Thursday ; Blue Lake Rest Area to Steamboat Rock State Park, Washington

Today was mostly sunny and mild. We splurged on our last day of this winter season’s travels by staying at a lovely but expensive Washington State Park. This morning we left the Blue Lake Rest Area and drove northeast on Hwy. 17 and Hwy. 155 for less than an hour to reach Steamboat Rock State Park. The “back yard” of our campsite is Banks Lake, an enlargement of the Columbia River created by the Grand Coulee Dam.

After getting set up in our campsite we took Bo and Sully for a walk around the campground. When Joanne put Sully down on the sand beach about 25 feet from the lake, Sully arched his back, flared his tail, and hissed. HA HA HA … I guess Sully doesn’t like to get too close to water. The weather was quite nice this afternoon so we spent the afternoon outdoors, doing some minor maintenance chores and puttering around with the new fresh water hoses and quick connectors I bought a few days ago, figuring out what to clean and keep, and what to discard of the old hoses and connectors. We discarded almost all of our old water hoses and connectors. They were old and corroded. Even soaking in CLR ( calcium, lime, and rust remover ) couldn’t salvage them. We took Bo for another long walk around the campground. There are Canada Geese here in the campground and one pair have just hatched a dozen little fuzzy babies just a day or two ago.

Thanks to Joanne’s careful planning, supper tonight used up the last of the foods that we had that are prohibited from entering Canada from the United States. While Joanne did dishes after supper I worked on a business development idea that has been rolling around inside my brain for a couple of weeks. At sunset we took another long walk around the campground, savouring the scenery and serenity. I’m somewhat dreading returning home tomorrow and having to face the “politics” of our little “Peyton Place” of an RV park.

Friday ; Steamboat Rock State Park, Washington to Keremeos, British Columbia

Today was mostly sunny and mild.

This morning we departed Steamboat Rock State Park and headed northwest on Hwy. 155 towards Omak. I was running low on fuel so we stopped in Nespelem to buy just enough diesel …at the highest fuel price of this winter season … to get us to Omak. At Omak we stopped at Wal-Mart for some last minute U.S. shopping, then had lunch in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Before leaving Omak we refilled with diesel, then headed north on Hwy. 97 to the Canadian border crossing at Oroville, Washington, crossing to Osoyoos, BC. The border crossing today took about 30 seconds. It’s always a lot less hassle crossing from the U.S. into Canada in the spring than the other way in the fall.

The drive on Hwy. 3 from Osoyoos west to Keremeos always reminds us of why we fell in love with the South Okanagan / Similkameen region. In Keremeos I went to the Post Office while Joanne went to the grocery store.
I picked up the batch of mail that was forwarded to us a month ago, but never got anywhere < sigh >. I walked over to the newspaper office and renewed our subscription to the local weekly newspaper. We stopped at FasGas to adjust the air pressure in the trailer tires for the long, hot summer. Halfway through town Bo finally came to the realization of where we were. HEY … HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY WE’RE HOME ! ! ! He was insufferable for the remaining ten minute drive from town to Riverside RV Park Resort. And when we finally drove up to our lot in the park … and our neighbour Janet saw us …. you know, “Auntie Janet with the dog biscuits” … HA HA HA … we allowed Bo to jump out of the truck and run as fast as he could to Janet. He ran past her, into their home, and ran loops around their kitchen island until Janet got him a dog biscuit. HA HA HA … welcome home, Bo !

We got set up in our site, but didn’t unhitch yet. Joanne prepared perogies for supper. Welcome home, Daniel. HA HA HA ! Late in the evening we went to the pool complex for a dip in the swimming pool and hot tub. AHHHHH … we’d ( almost ) forgotten how wonderful our pool complex here is.

Saturday ; Today was sunny and mild. Yeah … it’s nice to be home !

This past winter season … 180 days out of Canada … we travelled a little over 13,600 km. / 8500 miles, almost the same as the previous year. The lowest diesel price was $3.079 in California the first week of November. The highest diesel price was yesterday, $4.519 in Washington.

DSK