November 20 to 26, 2011

Sunday ; Today was sunny and warm. Of course !

This morning I did a "dog agility" session with Bo utilizing the concrete "toadstools" in the back yard of our new lot. I'm not clear on what these concrete toadstools' purpose was / is, but for now, they can be a dog agility course. HA HA HA ! I think they were likely flower pot stands.

This afternoon we entertained our first visitors on lot 52. Our full time RV'ing / Escapee friends Glenn and Rosi came by to visit. We phoned them yesterday, knowing that they would be in Yuma for a few days at the same time as us on their way eastbound. We had a lovely visit with Glenn and Rosi, whom we see about every two years or so. And we were very pleased with the social versatility of our yard. We started our visit in the back yard, on the Mexican bricked patio, some of us sitting in sunlight, and some sitting in the shade of the storage shed / workshop. We used one of the concrete "toadstools" as a patio table. As the sun moved westward, we moved to the screened front patio, again some of us sitting in the screen diffused sunlight and some in the shade of the trailer.

Monday ; Sunny and warm again today ! Joanne worked on cleaning the truck using some "detailing" products left over from last summer's trailer exterior cleaning. I began to work on removing the vinyl "snap-on" walls on lot 52's screen room / Arizona room / casita. I sprayed each snap with WD-40 then pried the snaps open with a special GM prying tool left over from our previous GMC truck. The vinyl walls were filthy. I took the sections of vinyl panels I had removed from the front / west wall and cleaned them in the back yard. The screen walls of the Arizona room are also very filthy. There will be a lot of cleaning to do !

We spent the afternoon running errands. The first, and most important, was going to the Bank Of America to get a cashier's cheque to pay for lot 52 tomorrow. I had removed a section of damaged screen from lot 52's front patio and we went looking for a specialty sewing company where we could have a new patio screen section made. The first place we went to was too expensive, and could make a section that large only with a seam in it. I didn't want that. The second company was about half the price, and could make the screen section without a seam. What a busy place ! About half a dozen motorhomes parked in their parking lot getting custom sun screen window covers made and installed.

We refilled with diesel at Barney's, bought some RV parts at RV Connection, a local RV parts store, and special ordered some RV parts I have been looking for since home. We shopped for hardware at Lowe's. We bought groceries at Fries, including a turkey for $5.85 ! We had chili cheese hamburger, chili cheese hot dog, chili cheese fries, and milkshakes for lunch at Wienerschnitzel. HEY ... Joanne's choice, not mine. We went to CVS Pharmacy to buy some advertised specials, but ... Joanne was looking at specials advertised in last week's expired flyer !

Back at home we had the last of our whole what perogies for supper. What a stupid idea ... whole wheat perogies !

Tuesday ; < YAWN > It's almost 11 PM and I'm tired ! It's been a big day !

Today was Kofa Ko-op's weekly lot transfer committee meeting. We paid for, and now own lot 52. YIPPEE ! ! ! We've been on the park's waiting list for almost six years ! And it was worth the wait ! We're quite enamoured with lot 52 !

BUT ... what a lot of dirt ! It's been three or four years since the previous owners have been down here. The screen room / Arizona room / casita ( take your pick ! ) has been closed all that time. And blowing desert dust has a way of finding its way in ! After paying for the lot right after lunch we were given the keys and entered the Arizona room and storage shed / workshop. YIKES ! We spent the rest of the day cleaning. The previous owners sold the place to us "as is". It's kind of like that TV show "Storage Wars". We discovered all kinds of interesting things in the Arizona room and storage shed. Including a large American flag and a bible. Just what I always wanted ! I wonder if there is any "American picker" value in a Bullwinkle Moose wall clock that runs backwards / counter-clockwise. HA HA HA!

Wednesday ; Today was day two of cleaning the Arizona room, the storage shed / workshop, and the yard. It will take a lot more than two days to get this place cleaned up !

Late in the afternoon I left the cleaning work to Joanne so that I could resume the installation of the Wave heaters. The Wave heater installation project still has quite a few "loose ends". I didn't get much accomplished on that before it was time to wash up and head for the regular Wednesday afternoon happy hour & appetizer potluck. We sat around for quite awhile afterwards chatting with one of the very few remaining founding members / original residents of this park.

Thursday ; American Thanksgiving

WHEW ... the cleanup continues ! We're actually beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. In another day or two we should be able to actually begin using the Arizona room. The entire day was dedicated to continuing the cleanup.

Had communal Thanksgiving dinner tonight, And despite a great variety of excellent food ( turkeys, mashed potatoes, and gravy supplied by the park, everything else potluck ), I'm dismayed and ( obviously ) annoyed by the "eat and run " mentality at this RV park. Slow down ! Actually chew your food , people ! And what's the hurry to rush off after swallowing your last bite ? ! ? GEEEEEZZZZZ ! ! ! ! ! Sit around and visit for awhile ! Isn't that part of the Escapees "sharing and caring" motto / concept ? Isn't that part of "communal" dining ?

Friday ; Well ... after four long, hard days of cleaning efforts, our Arizona room is habitable. And it looks very nice. We are very happy with what we've got here ! There is still a lot of work to do, but the initial cleanup of the yard and Arizona room is complete. We're now working on the initial cleanup of the storage shed / workshop.

This afternoon while Joanne continued the cleaning efforts, I went shopping for hardware and supplies. And fresh peanut butter at The Peanut Patch. MMMMM ! After I returned home I resumed working on the "loose ends" of the catalytic radiant heater installations. HMPH ... still lots of "loose ends" to deal with.

Saturday ; Another sunny, warm day. Almost every day in Yuma is sunny and warm, so I should only comment on the weather when it's not sunny and warm. This morning we went to Kofa Ko-op's potluck brunch. Afterwards we headed out for a day of running errands. We shopped at the Salvation Army and Goodwill thrift shops. We went to the Indoor Marketplace ( flea market ) and bought some new kitchen knives ... and I got a free flu shot ! Thank you very much Sunset Community Health Center. Down here a flu shot normally costs $32 to $40 ! We went to the Post Office < sigh > and then to Fry's for some groceries.

Back at home we cleaned up the screen room's swamp cooler. Why would a screen room need a swamp cooler ? It was covered and wrapped with two layers of rotting tarps, and a lot of rotting ropes. There was a lot of sand and debris under it and inside of it. Cleaning it was a bigger job than we had anticipated. Joanne thinks having a swamp cooler, a poor man's air conditioner, on a screen room is ... just plain stupid !

In the evening we attended the 26th Annual Ken & Betty Borland Holiday Pageant & Friendship Tower Lighting. Now there's a mouthful ! It was at the Ray Kroc Center baseball field. There was about an hour of variety entertainment, mostly youth dance groups, but also some choirs, followed by the ceremonial lighting of Friendship Tower and the arrival of Santa Claus. I guess ... down here ... kids don't expect Santa to arrive in a sleigh. He arrived in something that looked more like a golf cart, one of the more popular modes of transportation around here. HA HA HA !

We finished the day with an all you can eat buffet at KFC. OOOOO ... Joanne's favourite !

DSK

November 13 to 19, 2011

Sunday ; Coarsegold to Frazier Park, California

Today was sunny and mild, a nice day to resume travelling. We left SKP Park of the Sierras this morning and headed south on Hwy. 41 to Fresno, then continued south on Hwy. 99. We needed to stop for groceries before lunch, as we were out of lunch fixings. We decided to take an exit into the city of Tulare to look for a grocery store. Right off the exit ramp there was a large shopping mall with a Mexican grocery store named Vallarta. And today was its Grand Opening.

WOW ! ! ! What a great Mexican grocery store ! As soon as we walked in the door my eyes bugged out at the sight of the huge panaderia ( bakery ). I sent Joanne off to shop for other items while I shopped in rapture for pan dulce ( Mexican pastries ). She returned in a few minutes all excited about the in-store fast food restaurant. MMMMM ! ! ! Tamales, tacos, tortas ... you name it, they had it ! AND ... she had already picked up a small tres leches ( three milks ) cake. Today's lunch special was ... barbacoa de borrego combo con arroz y frijoles ( barbecued lamb combo with flavoured rice and refried beans ) < salivating again as I remember it many hours later >. MMMMM ... that's for me !

We decided to complete our shopping before having lunch in the store. WOW ... what an outstanding butcher section ! We bought some lovely fresh beef liver and carne asada
( marinated minced beef for tacos ). At the fish counter I couldn't resist getting myself a tub of ceviche de pescado ( Mexican style seafood salad ). After browsing through the entire store, and putting many items in our shopping cart, none of which were on Joanne's grocery shopping list, we returned to the lunch counter. Joanne ordered a tamale con puerco ( pork tamale ) and an aqua fresca ( fresh squeezed fruit juice ), and she shared my borrego ( lamb ) platter. I've eaten more lamb in the last five weeks than I've had in the prior ten years. We had lunch, paid for our groceries ... 50 bucks and not a single item from the shopping list ... and headed out, continuing south on Hwy. 99.

Our objective for today was Bakersfield. We thought we would arrive in Bakersfield in time to do some Wal-Mart shopping before dark, then head over to Camping World to boondock in their parking lot overnight, and shop there in the morning. We arrived in Bakersfield a little earlier than we had expected so we headed to Camping World first. I was looking for seven items there. They had ... none ! We headed over to Wal-Mart, stopping to refill with diesel on the way. The new Bakersfield Wal-Mart has the largest grocery section I've ever seen in a Wal-Mart. After we completed our Wal-Martin' I left Joanne in line to pay and I left the store to walk over to a nearby Walgreens. By the time we met back at the truck, it was dark. Bakersfield's Wal-Marts do not permit overnight parking, and we didn't want to head back to Camping World to boondock there because we had already finished shopping there, so ... we headed out of town and continued south on Hwy. 99.

It soon merged with Interstate 5. Our "plan B" was to boondock overnight at a rest area on I-5 near Lebec, less than an hour south of Bakersfield. < sigh > The rest area was permanently closed. Unsure of what "plan C" was going to be, we continued driving south. Didn't really have much choice, the traffic was bumper to bumper and moving fast ! Within minutes, at the next freeway exit, was a Flying J. How fortuitous !

MMMMM ... tres leches cake after supper !

Monday ; Frazier Park to Cabazon, California

Today was sunny and mild. Of course it was mild. We were in the Mojave Desert !

I have just lit the new Wave 6 catalytic infrared radiant heater for the first time !
WOO-HOO !  < singing > I can feel the heat ... I can feel the heat !

This morning we departed the Flying J and headed south on Interstate 5 for just a few miles then east on Hwy. 138 into the Mojave Desert. We skirted along the north side of the San Gabriel Mountains, bypassing the northern parts of Los Angeles on the southern side of the San Gabriel Mountains, until we reached Interstate 15 where we turned south heading into the northeastern corner of Los Angeles suburbs. WOW ... heavy traffic !
I-15 to I-215 to I-10 to Camping World in San Bernardino. Camping World didn't have what I needed ( again ! ) but ... they directed me to a nearby hose fabrication business where I could likely get propane hoses custom fabricated for the two new heaters.

Just a mile or so down the road, and into the city of Loma Linda we found Alternative Hose. It took me and a service technician about an hour to figure out and find all the different fittings that would be required. It was a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. And expensive ! But ... WOO-HOO ... he and I finally got it all figured out and he found all the correct fittings and connections. While he made the hoses I returned to the trailer for a late lunch.

By the time I had finished lunch the hoses were complete. I spent the rest of the afternoon in their parking lot installing the hoses and completing the installation of our new catalytic infrared radiant heating system. I finished, got cleaned up, and pulled out of their parking lot at 5 PM just as it turned dark. Congratulations, Daniel, on a job very well done !

We headed east on Interstate 10. At Beaumont I saw a Home Depot so I took the next exit. I needed some hardware. And while backtracking to the Home Depot there was a Bank of America so we were able to withdraw some cash. Some days just go better than others, don't they ? We continued eastbound on I-10 to Cabazon, just before Palm Springs. We spent the night in the RV overnight parking lot of the Morongo Casino.

Tuesday ; Cabazon, California to Quartzsite, Arizona

MMMMM ... what a toasty warm night we all had ! The trailer's new heating system is excellent !

This morning we pulled out of the Morongo Casino's RV parking lot and drove over to their Travel Center to buy diesel and use the RV dump station. Today we were heading to Quartzsite, Arizona to attend a three day Escapee Roadrunners Chapter 7 rally, boondocking out in the desert for three days. We needed our waste holding tanks to be very empty, and our freshwater holding tank to be very full. While I refilled the truck with diesel, Joanne went over to check out the RV dump station. Fifteen bucks ? ! ? I don't think so ! ! ! We're not sure why the Morongo Casino would charge such an outrageous fee for the use of their dump station. Last year it was free. Our suspicion is that it might be to discourage the borderline homeless from living in decrepit RV's in the casino's free RV parking lot. There seems to be quite a bit of that happening in California. AND ... very unfortunately ... we also see evidence of homeless people living in cars in Wal-Mart parking lots.

We headed east on Interstate 10. Soon we were passing through Palm Springs. On the east side of Palm Springs we stopped at Flying J in Thousand Palms and used their RV dump station. HMPH ... five bucks ! Used to be free at Flying J until Pilot bought them out two years ago. Continuing east on I-10 was somewhat like driving across West Texas or Manitoba and Saskatchewan in Canada. Interstate 10 from Palm Springs, California to Phoenix, Arizona is a few hundred miles driving in a straight line on flat ground through the Sonoran Desert. One could set the cruise control, tie off the steering wheel, and take short snoozes !

We entered Arizona and soon thereafter reached Quartzsite. We stopped in town to refill a water jug, then headed about ten miles south of town to the Roadrunners Chapter 7 rally site out in the desert in the middle of nowhere. By the time we arrived it was late afternoon, taking into consideration that we had passed from Pacific time to Mountain time. DARN ! Forgot the time change ! We had had a late lunch in California, and now we were eating a communal dinner in Arizona about 3 hours after lunch !

We had ( early ! ) dinner, played some silly games ( standard Escapee rally fare ! ) then spent the evening socializing around a campfire. As always seems to be case, it was us and some other Canadians who lingered around the campfire long after everybody else left to go to bed ( around 8 PM or so ! ).

Wednesday ; Escapees Roadrunner Chapter 7 Rally near Quartzsite, Arizona

What beautiful Sonoran Desert weather. Brilliant sunshine, temperature way up in the 70's.

Day two of the Roadrunners Chapter 7 Rally started with a communal breakfast. followed by socializing around the campfire. Many of the rally attendees went to the town of Quartzsite for the rest of the morning to browse flea markets and ... ? I spent the rest of the morning sitting around the campfire with a small group chatting dangerously about U.S. politics, military policies, and most dangerously, the U.S.'s continued detention of "suspected terrorists" at Guantanamo Bay. I don't think I made any new friends. Joanne was a bit pissed off at me for engaging in sensitive discussions like that. HEY ... doesn't the U.S. Constitution provide for freedom of speech ?

The "scavenger hunt" scheduled for the afternoon was cancelled. After lunch I napped with Sully, then puttered around a bit doing some minor maintenance. Joanne and I took Bo for a long off leash walk and obedience training session out in the desert. Late in the afternoon we rejoined the rally group for a communal dinner followed by a campfire. When I was asked yesterday by the rally organizers if I would perform magic around the campfire, I ( perhaps unwisely ) offered to also read an excerpt for my journal. A "day in the life" type of story around the campfire. Tonight around the campfire I read my journal from February 15, 2009, the day we went to see the La Quebrada cliff divers in Acapulco, Mexico. Yeah ... that went over like a lead balloon ! When I read that same story to the Okanagan Chapter 33 members, it garnered a few laughs, and even a few "ooooohs" and "ahhhhhs". Tonight ... apparently nothing but boredom and contempt ! I'm embarrassed !

Thursday ; Escapees Roadrunner Chapter 7 Rally near Quartzsite, Arizona

Another sunny warm day in the desert. This morning started with a potluck breakfast. Early this afternoon I had a phone discussion with the lot transfer committee at Kofa
Ko-op and finally received the authorization I had been waiting for, to pay the amount we owe to the current owner of lot 52. Only after he confirms receipt of the amount we owe him directly can we pay Kofa Ko-op the amount owing to them, and conclude the lot purchase transaction. While we will likely be able to move onto lot 52 tomorrow upon our arrival, we won't be able to conclude the purchase transaction until Tuesday at the earliest. Until then, we will have to pay to rent what will become our own lot in a few days. HMPH !

We drove to the Post Office in Quartzsite to purchase a money order and send it to the current lot owner. Of course ... I should have known ... an attempt to purchase a U.S. Postal money order in that large an amount by a non-U.S. citizen would result in the suspicion that I must be a terrorist. We've only been in the U.S. for 17 days so far this season, and I'm already really sick and tired of how we have been treated by U.S. government agencies. I stood in line at the Post Office, then filled out forms, then watched the postal employee enter the information from the forms into his computer, for a total time in the Post Office of an hour and a quarter ! I'm beginning to gain a greater appreciation for why so many Canadian Snowbirds drive across the U.S. as quickly as possible to spend their winters in Mexico !

This evening we had a communal pizza dinner followed by a charity auction of donated items. WOW ... this group raised over $1300 auctioning off items donated by the attendees. Each attendee made a contribution. We donated a basket of "Canadiana" food products, mostly B.C. Okanagan / Similkameen products. Afterwards we sat around a campfire socializing. I was going to perform a magic trick, but before I had an opportunity to do that, one of the old fellows ( age 80 ) brought out his guitar and played and sang sad, old cowboy songs around the campfire. I brought Sully over to the campfire and he very happily snoozed on my lap, wrapped in a blanket, just his head poking out facing the fire.

Friday ; Quartzsite to Yuma, Arizona

Today was sunny and warm. Great ! This morning we prepared for departure and left the SKP Roadrunners Chapter 7 rally site out in the desert, and headed south on Hwy. 95 to Yuma. We arrived at Kofa Ko-op, paid for four days of site rental fees to rent what we consider to be "our" lot, and got settled in. I'm a bit miffed at the four days rental fees, but ... life goes on, I guess.

We're glad to be "home". We're excited about getting lot 52. I have plenty of work to do on the trailer to occupy my time for the next four days until we can actually do anything on the property.

We had lunch, I napped briefly with Sully, then we went to a TGIF social hour in the clubhouse. We chatted with old friends and new neighbours. After supper we headed down to "The Big Curve" Shopping Center. I dropped Joanne off at Albertsons to do some grocery shopping, and I went across the street to Lowe's to buy some hardware I needed. After we returned home I went to the clubhouse to get online and send an important e-mail. There is some sort of a problem with the park's Wi-Fi system, and most computers are unable to get online. I borrowed a computer from some visitors from Golden, BC, whose computer had successfully connected to the Wi-Fi signal, and I used it to send my important e-mail. I then chatted with them until very late in the evening.

Saturday ; Another gorgeous weather Yuma day, sunny and temperature way up in the 70's. We got up early this morning to participate in Kofa Ko-op's yard sale. We set up a little table and set out half a dozen or so items that it's time to get rid of. < sigh > None of them sold < shrug >.

Joanne did a lot of laundry today. I worked on minor maintenance chores on the trailer. And, of course, socialized a lot with friends and neighbours. Late in the afternoon we headed over to the Ray Kroc Center ( baseball stadium ) to see the Colorado River Crossing Balloon Festival Glow. We watched the hot air balloons that are here for the annual Colorado River Crossing Balloon Festival be inflated and tethered in the baseball field. We had never seen hot air balloons be inflated before. It's interesting. After dark, they would all simultaneously light their burners, creating a great hot air balloon "glow" exhibition. When that was all done we watched the balloons be deflated. Very cool !


DSK

November 6 to 12, 2011 ; SKP Park of the Sierras, Coarsegold, California

Sunday ; This morning we left the parking lot of the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino and drove just a mile or two to SKP Park of the Sierras. We were very disappointed to discover, upon our arrival, that there were no vacancies in the park for the next two days. WOW ... didn't see that coming ! We decided to stay two nights in their boondocking area ... without services. That wouldn't normally be a big deal, but we've already spent five cold nights boondocking without a furnace. All of us, especially Sully, are tired of being cold at night. And despite five days of driving south, there's been no change in the weather. The day time and night time temperatures are the same here as they were back home, 2000 km. north !

We got parked in the boondock area and I went to work looking for the cause of no lights / no 12 volt power in the dinette / living room slide. It took me all of about 30 seconds to discover the problem once we got the slides extended. Underneath the living room / dinette slide are two coiled electrical cables. One brings 120 volt AC power to the slide and one brings 12 volt DC power to the slide. They're both coiled because they have to move in and out with the slide. The 12 volt cable was ... rotten ! Thirteen years of being exposed to the elements including road grime just rotted the cable and wires within. I wonder if the 120 volt cable is also rotten ? Or soon will be ? Obviously I don't have any 12 volt coiled cable, so I did a good but temporary repair. I cut the coiled cable at both ends, and spliced in two lengths ( + and - ) of regular automotive wiring. I attached the spliced in wiring to the cut coiled cable with wire ties so that the new wiring will not just droop and drag on the ground when the slide is retracted and we are travelling. Being able to solve at least one of the trailer's current ( pun intended ) problems gave me some satisfaction.

We had a late lunch and I napped briefly with Sully before Joanne and I went to the clubhouse for this park's regular Sunday afternoon ice cream social. We ate some ice cream and socialized for awhile, then I stayed in the clubhouse to get some ( much ! ) online work done. I reactivated our U.S. cell phone ( easier said than done ! ) and I posted my weekly journal to my blog. And dealt with a lot of incoming e-mail, most of it spam !

While Joanne prepared supper I drove to a nearby service station to buy some fuel for the generator. We can persuade the furnace to function occasionally and briefly, but the failing fan blower motor seems to suck an extreme amount of power and runs down the trailer's "house battery" fairly quickly. So we're going to have to run the generator for an hour or so at least a couple of times each day until we're in a serviced site.

After supper we went to the clubhouse and watched Amazing Race on the TV there.

Monday ; We damn near froze overnight ! We're boondocked, without services ... no electricity. Up in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our furnace only works intermittently, and even then only when we manually switch it on and off. In this park's boondocking area we can't run our generator between 10 PM and 8 AM, so ... BRRRRR ! ! ! When we arrived yesterday morning we were told that we could expect to have a serviced site on Tuesday. Today things changed, and now the earliest we can expect a serviced site is Wednesday. **** that ! We're outta here tomorrow morning ! After we damn near freeze for another night ! ! !

This morning we drove into Coarsegold to run some errands. I dropped Joanne off at Vons to buy some groceries. I went to O'Reilly Auto Parts to buy some automotive wiring, then True Value Home Center to buy some hardware. On the way back to Vons I saw a tire shop so went in and bought another screw in metal valve stem, this one for the trailer's spare tire, the last of seven truck and five trailer tires that I am converting to screw in metal valve stems.

Back at SKP Park of the Sierras, after lunch, I took the truck to the park's large maintenance barn and did an oil and filter change. Changing the truck's oil and filter ( and lubricating the tie rod ends ) myself has become an annual chore that I do here, saving myself some money. An oil and filter change, and lube, on a one ton diesel dually is a pricey service. The maintenance barn here has all the necessary tools and equipment for do it yourself oil changes, including used oil disposal.

After buying some hardware this morning I was able to finish the trailer wiring repair job I did yesterday, making it "weatherproof" and consequently roadworthy. Afterwards I joined Joanne and Bo who were at the dog park for the daily dog party, the highlight of this park from Bo's perspective. While we were there a small dog injured one of her front dew claws. I noticed her foot bleeding as she was playing. She didn't seem concerned. However, most of the old ladies who were in the dog park ( the daily dog parties seem to be a social activity for dogs and their women ) seemed to think that Bianca's bleeding dew claw was a "sky is falling" crisis. Initially I was unable to convince Bianca's owner
( because she had half a dozen old biddies telling her otherwise ) that the injury was not a crisis and did not warrant an emergency trip to the veterinarian. After she phoned the vet and was told there was no need to rush right down, but he would be happy to see her tomorrow morning ( KA-CHING ) she reconsidered my offer to first aid Bianca's torn dew claw. She came over to our trailer with Bianca, and I disinfected, applied salve, and bandaged with gauze. Exactly the same thing the vet would do, but I didn't charge a hundred bucks ! And ... the vet wouldn't have used all natural piñon sap salve made by an Apache medicine man ! I told Sylvia to remove the bandage and repeat the process in three days. Just like the vet would do in another three days, another hundred bucks please !

Tuesday ; SHEESH ... plan A to plan B to plan A !

This morning we prepared for departure, paid our small bill for two nights of boondocking, were about to leave ... when the park manager rushed over to tell us that a site was going to become available after lunch. We decided to stay.

While we waited for our site to become available I installed the new thermostat we got at Camping World in Burlington, Washington. First of all, it proved that the furnace problem is not / was not a thermostat problem. Secondly, this new thermostat was slightly defective, on the air conditioning function side < sigh >. I will return it to Camping World in Bakersfield. I reinstalled the old thermostat. There's nothing wrong with it.

After lunch we moved to our assigned serviced site. I spent much of the afternoon fiddling with the furnace and thermostats. At 4 PM Joanne took Bo to the daily dog party.
I finished up my work, cleaned up, and went over to join them. We met a woman ( and her dog ) who are going to be our neighbours at Kofa Ko-op in Yuma.

This evening we went to Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino for their Tuesday evening barbecue buffet dinner. MMMMM ! Before supper we swiped our player's club cards at the CHUK-CHING promotion. I won a $5 food voucher. How fortuitous !

Wednesday ; The weather has improved. The nights are still cold, but the days are sunny and mild.

I spent much of today working on preparing for the installation of the two new catalytic radiant heaters. Lots of measuring and figuring out routing of propane lines. I'm hoping that Pro Flame in Oakhurst can custom fabricate three propane hoses for me, and that I might even be able to get the heaters installed before we leave here Sunday. That's a pretty ambitious objective, but ... if things go well ... ! I had initially expected that I would require the services of a professional propane installer to have the heaters installed, but now I think I might be able to accomplish it myself, with a bit of luck.

I watched the late news on TV tonight, a local ( Fresno ) station. There was a story about a dispute between a travel center masseuse and a customer. Did they mean ... a truck stop hooker and a John ? ! ?

Thursday ; Today was mostly overcast but very mild, temperature in the mid to high 60's. We spent half the day in Oakhurst running errands, being sent hither and yon in my elusive quest to have propane hoses custom fabricated, and to find some other hardware. None of the three propane companies in Oakhurst were able to make the hoses I need, because each of them was missing one fitting or another. < sigh > I guess it will have to wait until Quartzsite, or maybe even Yuma. In the meantime, I can get all the holes drilled. The Pole Barn's tool cage has the large drill and hole saw bits I need, so I will do that before we leave here Sunday. And I will try to get the larger of the two heaters mounted on the living room wall before we leave here.

Friday ; Remembrance Day ( Canada ) / Veteran's Day ( U.S. )

Lest We Forget

Since we began travelling in June 2004, this is the eighth Remembrance Day / Veteran's Day we have been in the United States. Veteran's Day in the United States seems much less "important" than does Remembrance Day in Canada. Five times Joanne and I have observed a minute of silence at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month by ourselves. Once we attended a Veteran's day service at an RV park in Texas. The first year on the road I prepared and led a service in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. Today we attended a Veteran's Day service at Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino. It seemed a bit odd to be observing this solemn moment in a casino. And the service itself was ... weak. Since this was the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the eleventh year a special 11-11-11 Veteran's Day pin was created. And the Chukchansi Casino gave one free to each patron who requested one. For that I express my appreciation to Chukchansi Casino. Thank you. During the service, while a bugler played Taps, an old bottle blonde bimbo nearby would not stop playing her slot machine, which made a lot of inappropriate musical noises. I stomped over and told her ( very nicely, of course ) to STOP ! What part of "a minute of silence" did you not understand, you stupid bimbo ? ! ? It's difficult for me to understand the stupidity of some people !

I spent the afternoon drilling large holes in the trailer to prepare for the installation of propane hoses to the two new catalytic radiant heaters. I borrowed a hole saw from the Pole Barn. I had to drill nine holes, all in very difficult to access locations in compartments and behind drawers and inside cupboards, etc. But it's done, and that was likely the most difficult component of this installation job. Mounting the larger of the two heaters on the entry wall is also going to be difficult. Hopefully I will accomplish that tomorrow.

We spent the evening at the SKP Park of the Sierra's Veteran's Day potluck dinner and dance. Great food, good company, nice music.

Saturday ; I spent the morning installing the larger of the two catalytic infrared radiant heaters on the wall just inside the entry door of the trailer. The job went well. While working on this job, I crawled up into the bed of the truck to get some tools from the tool chest in the truck when I saw ... HUH ? ... WHAT ? ... why the hell is Sully wandering down the road ? ! ? SULLY ... why are you running away from home ? I guess I can't work on the trailer with the door open, and walk away for a few minutes !

This afternoon I installed a 12 foot section of stair nosing as cosmetic moulding on the edge of the living room / dinette slide. And then, off we all went to the final daily dog party of our visit. Bo has such a great time playing in the dog park every day with all his California buddies. Just before supper I phoned my sister and we had a long chat.  Joanne and I send our best wishes to my brother-in-law who is battling prostate cancer.

DSK

October 30 to November 5, 2011

Keremeos, B.C. to Coarsegold, California

Sunday ; Today was chilly, with intermittent drizzle that slowed down our work preparing for departure Tuesday.

I did some further testing on the furnace / thermostat problem. I'm fairly convinced that the problem is the thermostat ... probably ... maybe. I searched through my bag of spare parts and found a 12 volt switch. I installed it on the "shoemaker repair" thermostat bypass wiring so now we can make the furnace turn on and off with a switch instead of twisting wires together and pulling them apart. I wonder if I'm going to have to explain to a Customs & Border Patrol agent on Tuesday why there is wiring coming out of a wall vent leading up to a switch attached to the side of the fridge with duct tape ?

Monday ; OW ... bad day in the stock market ! Hope it turns out to be just a dead cat bounce.

This morning I phoned Camping World in Burlington, Washington to find out if they have in stock the Dometic thermostat I want. They do. I've decided to change the thermostat ... even though today's testing indicated that the thermostat may not be the problem after all. I don't really like the thermostat that I installed 13 months ago and I want to change back to the factory original model. I did some further work and testing on the furnace / thermostat problem today. I was unable to establish electrical continuity in the wiring between the thermostat and the furnace. Maybe a wire melted ? Or was chewed by rodents ? All the wiring is in the walls and ceiling, and is impossible to trace ... or replace within the walls and ceiling. If a new thermostat does not solve the problem, then I'm faced with having to replace wiring ... and having to route it "outside" the walls and ceiling, probably along the top of the walls where they meet the ceiling. Perhaps I'm just getting ahead of myself and need to focus on one step at a time.

We went into Keremeos today and did our final shopping before departure. Back at home we completed all the departure preparations that could be done today. We're all ready to go. We're all eager to go !

After supper today, as I was getting myself some dessert, Bo was at my feet begging for his nightly Greenie. Since I was putting whipped cream on my dessert, and he loooooves whipped cream, I topped his Greenie with whipped cream. HA HA HA ! I handed it to him, he took it in his mouth, tilted his head back ... and swallowed ! OMG ... BO ! ! ! Too late ! Down his throat it went ! How the hell could he have swallowed an entire Greenie without chewing it ? ! ? I certainly feel guilty about that ! I hope it doesn't cause an intestinal blockage or some other problem. Bad Daniel !

Tuesday ; Keremeos. B.C. to Burlington, Washington

Homeland Security / Customs & Border Patrol ; keeping America safe one bag of rice at a time !

You ***ing pissant morons !

We departed Riverside RV Park Resort this morning and headed west on Hwy. 3. Not our usual winter departure route, we usually head east to cross into the U.S. at Osoyoos. Bo seemed to be feeling ill this morning, no doubt from swallowing the whole Greenie yesterday. As we travelled west on Hwy. 3 the elevation rose until Manning Park, then began a slow descent towards the Fraser Valley. By the time we reached the summit at Allison Pass in Manning Park there was a dusting of snow on the road sides and the temperature was below freezing, despite it being a sunny day. We stopped at a roadside rest area at Hope for lunch. The furnace would not light, even though the thermostat is bypassed. < sigh > It's really dead now < sigh > !

Not surprising, Bo was constipated this morning and when we stopped for lunch. After lunch, before leaving the roadside rest area, he was able to empty himself, and that seemed to ease / eliminate his discomfort / feeling ill. We breathed a sigh of relief.

As we continued driving after lunch I hatched an "outside the box" idea to solving our furnace problem. Maybe ... we should scrap the "gas fired forced air" furnace and convert to catalytic heaters ? ! We gave that a lot of thought throughout the day, and the idea is gaining favour !

At Abbotsford we turned south towards the border crossing at Sumas. Where we spent < fume > two hours ! ! ! The initial agent at the booth decided that we should be pulled over for a "7A check". Apparently this moron was of the opinion that we might be abandoning our home in Canada to sneak into the United States to remain forever. He and the other morons we had to deal with all acted as if we were the first Canadians they had ever encountered who were crossing into the United States with an RV for the entire winter. Once inside the building we had to wait for about half an hour while ***hole no. 2 made life miserable for another old Canadian Snowbird couple travelling in an RV, she in a wheelchair. When he was finished with them, and it was our turn, he asked stupid questions for ten minutes, then abruptly announced that his shift was over, he was going home, and somebody else would deal with us < FUME > ! Ten minutes later ***hole no. 3 started over. Same stupid questions ! Then he wanted to inspect the truck and trailer.
I was required to put Bo outside in a wire crate, and I brought Sully into the building with me. Joanne was not allowed to go outside the building to assist me with getting Bo and Sully. ***hole no. 4, who was assisting ***hole no. 3 with the inspection of the truck and trailer ( I think ***hole no. 4 was from Agriculture ) confiscated the contents of a small plastic container in the kitchen cupboard labelled "rice". The container contained ... rice ! But the "country of origin" wasn't listed, so in the garbage it went. Now don't all you Americans feel a whole lot safer knowing that our rice of mystery origin never made it into your country thanks to the tireless efforts of these outstanding public servants ? ? ?

God Bless America ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! And I say that will all the sincerity that an atheist can muster !

I should stop ranting now, and stop taking it personally ! It was incredibly painfully obvious that these morons were playing political / bureaucratic games to justify their existence and budgets to their superiors, who attempt to justify it to their superiors, who attempt to justify it to their superiors, and on and upwards it goes. "Look at the great work we do stopping these damn, old, rich Canadians from coming into our country and never leaving ... AND ... bringing mystery origin rice in with them. BUT ... of course, we need more staff and more money. It takes over an hour to process each one of those threats".

First and last time we cross at Sumas. The crossing at Osoyoos, where we normally cross, at this time of the year is almost non-stop RV's heading south, so the agents there do not seem to be inclined to play those kinds of stupid games, delaying every RV'er for one to two hours !

After finally leaving the border crossing, we drove for about an hour or so south to Camping World at Burlington, Washington. The furnace would not work ... at all !

Wednesday ; Burlington to Maytown rest area at Interstate 5 mile marker 93, Washington

With the furnace not working overnight we were pretty cold ! Especially Sully.

Today was another day that went pretty poorly, the second in a row.

We were up early this morning in order to be ready for our 8 AM service appointment at Camping World. The service writer noticed as he walked around the trailer with me that one wheel was missing the plastic hub cap and the bearing dust cap underneath. Well, gee whiz ... they were there yesterday when we left home ! The work I wanted done on the trailer should have taken about two hours so we were expecting to be out of there between 10 and 11 AM. It was not to be !

I had difficulty getting the work done that I wanted done, the way I wanted it done. A succession of heated discussions took place between me and the shop foreman, and eventually the service manager. The process was much more painful and difficult than it needed to be, for all of us. What part of "this is what I want done, this is how I want it done" do you not understand ? ! ? We finally left Camping World about 2:30 PM, way behind schedule.

We continued south on I-5, stopping about 20 miles south of Burlington at Angel Of The Winds Casino to refill with diesel and refill the generator gas can. It was there that I discovered that the empty generator gas can had blown out of the back of the truck
< gritting teeth > ! The delay at Camping World brought us to the northern edge of Seattle at about 4 PM, just in time for rush hour. The freeway rush hour traffic was bumper to bumper, stop and go, all the way through Seattle and Tacoma. We finally got through Tacoma about 6 PM after 2 hours of fighting freeway rush hour traffic. By then it was dark, it had begun to rain heavily, and fog was rolling in. It was obvious that we were not going to reach our planned destination for today ; Portland, Oregon. We drove for another half hour and stopped for the night at a roadside rest area.

This morning the furnace decided, quite on its own, to resume working. Nevertheless, this morning at Camping World we took a look at catalytic radiant heating systems. And ... lo and behold ... they are on sale this week at Camping World at a very good price. We made the decision that the dying / dead furnace is a good opportunity to convert from gas fired forced air heating to catalytic radiant heating. We had Camping World in Burlington, Washington phone Camping World in Portland, Oregon to ensure that the Portland store has what we want in stock. No sales tax in Oregon ! The Portland store has stock and put it aside for us to pick up tomorrow. I'm going to install a small catalytic radiant heater in the bedroom and a medium sized one in the living area. Unlike our current furnace which uses a great deal of 12 volt power to run the fan, and a great deal of propane to inefficiently create heat, the catalytic heaters use no power and much less propane. Conversion to catalytic radiant heating systems is the choice for serious boondockers. Which we're not, but I'm getting tired of using over $30 a week worth of propane during months like October and November. And I'm tired of how quickly our furnace can drain the trailer's house battery when we're boondocked overnight on cold nights when travelling in the fall and spring ... like last night and tonight ! So we're going to have to suffer for the next couple of weeks with no furnace or an intermittent furnace, but we're going to be happier in the long run after we install catalytic radiant heaters once we get to Yuma.

Thursday ; Maytown rest area at Interstate 5 mile marker 93, Washington to Seven Feathers Casino RV rest area, Canyonville, Oregon

Today was cold with intermittent rain. We have been travelling south for three days and the weather has not improved yet !

We left the I-5 mm 93 rest area this morning and continued southbound. We stopped at another rest area to use their trailer sani-dump station to dump our shower waste holding tank and refill our freshwater holding tank. We crossed from Washington to Oregon over the Columbia River. We stopped at Camping World on the south side of Portland and bought the two catalytic radiant heaters that we had requested be held for us. And we bought quite a bit of other stuff at Camping World. Today and tomorrow we will be shopping a lot, to take advantage of no sales tax in Oregon. We stopped for lunch at yet another rest area.

At Salem we stopped to refill with diesel and buy groceries, both at Fred Meyer. At Roseburg I saw from the Interstate that Home Depot and Lowe's were side by side, so I took the next exit and went back to shop for a couple of hardware items. Home Depot had one item that I needed and Lowe's had the other. We stopped for the night at Seven Feathers Casino near Canyonville. Whew ... lots of miles today !

In addition to the casino Seven Feathers has a large travel center with fuel and vehicle repair services, a very large full service RV park, and an extremely nice "RV rest area", a free overnight parking boondock area with a large restroom building, picnic shelter, fenced dog park, and security guard. Very nice ! Thank you, Seven Feathers / Umpqua Tribe !

Friday ; Canyonville, Oregon to rest area near Red Bluff, California

Today was a very long day, with a lot of miles driven, and a lot of shopping and errands completed.

This morning before departing Seven Feathers Casino RV rest area we drove over to the Travel Center where there was a commercial truck tire service shop. I asked if they could install two metal screw in valve stems on the trailer. I bought them recently in Penticton and was going to have them installed at Camping World in Burlington, Washington while the wheels and tires were off the trailer while the wheel bearings were being repacked. BUT ... < sputter > ... Camping World wanted to charge their minimum service charge of $59 to change two valve stems. I don't think so ! ! ! The tire service shop at Seven Feathers charged me twelve dollars ! And that included removing and reinstalling the tires on the trailer.

We left Seven Feathers and continued southbound on Interstate 5. In Grants Pass we found a Bank of America. I transferred the money to pay for lot 52 at Kofa Ko-op in Yuma into our Bank of America account. That was the final step of a somewhat convoluted process I have devised to get money into our Bank of America account without incurring any service fees. First I had our broker sell some U.S.$ investments and deposit the proceeds into our Bank of Montreal U.S.$ account. Then online I transferred the funds to our U.S.$ MasterCard account, essentially "overpaying" MasterCard and creating a "credit". Now that we're in the U.S. I went to the Bank of America, took out as a "cash advance" all the funds "overpaid" to MasterCard, and deposited that to the Bank of America account. MasterCard doesn't charge daily interest on the cash advance because my account was already overpaid by that amount. Voilà ... money in our bank account in the U.S. to pay for lot 52, no fees incurred ! Well done, Daniel ! Still in Grants Pass we refilled with diesel and did a lot of shopping at Wal-Mart. We had compiled a lengthy "buy in Oregon" shopping list.

We had a late lunch in the trailer in the Wal-Mart parking lot then headed back to I-5 and continued south. We stopped at a state recreation area to dump all our waste holding tanks and refill with fresh water. Three dollars please ! HMPH ! That costs nothing in Washington !

We stopped in Medford, the last city in Oregon southbound on I-5 to complete our shopping and errands. In Medford I went into Walgreens and completed our Oregon shopping while Joanne walked to a nearby grocery store with an empty five gallon water jug and refilled it.

Continuing southbound on I-5 we crossed from Oregon into California. I was hoping we could drive as far as Redding tonight, even though that would mean a couple of hours of driving in the dark. We found our way to the Wal-Mart south of Redding at Anderson. We have stayed there before, at least twice. Tonight we found the Wal-Mart parking lot posted "no overnight parking". Darn !

I was exhausted, we were hungry, but we had to continue driving. We drove another 10 miles or so to a roadside rest area. It was also posted "no overnight parking". Too bad ! I'm tired ! We're staying overnight ! I was influenced by the half dozen or so other RV's and half dozen or so commercial trucks already settled in for the night.

Saturday ; Red Bluff to Coarsegold, California

It's 9:00 PM. Joanne has just left to make the long, cold walk across the very large parking lot ( we're at the far end with the other boondocking RV's ) to Chukchansi Casino to check out their schedule of activities / events / entertainment for the upcoming week. I'm working on the computer, trying to overcome the sensation of feeling overwhelmed and a teensy bit defeated by a trailer that requires maintenance faster then I can provide it. I'm trying to convince myself that I'm feeling this way mostly because of fatigue, but ... tonight when we arrived here after a very long, hard day of driving, there was yet another problem with the trailer.

We left the rest area near Red Bluff this morning and continued southbound on Interstate 5. We stopped at another rest area to once again empty our shower waste holding tank and refill the freshwater tank. And a third rest area to have lunch. Soon after lunch we were in Sacramento. Well ... the freeway traffic through Sacramento on a Saturday afternoon was a bit more "civilized" than we've encountered in the past when driving through Sacramento. And there was less smog than before. I guess we've always driven across Sacramento on weekdays.

I was too tired last night to do our credit card accounting in the computer. I asked Joanne to drive for awhile today so that I could have a rest break from driving and work on the computer. She drove from the south side of Sacramento to Modesto, including crossing from Interstate 5 to Hwy. 99 through Stockton. Afterwards she said "it was the worst 45 minutes of my life". HA HA HA HA HA ... thank you very much, my dear. You did an excellent job of driving a 50 foot long truck and trailer combination on congested California freeways today.

We stopped in Modesto to shop at PetsMart. WOO-HOO ... Bo loooooves shopping at PetsMart. With the $3 birthday gift certificate Sully recently received by e-mail from PetsMart we bought Bo a package of new treats.

Realizing that Daylight Savings Time ends overnight tonight, and that SKP Park of the Sierras office is open only until noon on Sundays, we decided to drive further today than initially planned. So ... we drove all the way to SKP Park of the Sierras and a mile or two beyond to Chukchansi Casino. It was too late / too dark to attempt the rather difficult turn off the highway to SKP Park of the Sierras, and the office was already closed, so we would have just ended up boondocking there anyway. Might as well go to the casino ! Easier to get to off the highway in the dark, and an easier to enter and better lit place to boondock / park overnight.

After arriving at the casino and getting comfortably parked at the far end of the parking lot, we went inside the trailer to prepare a late supper, when I discovered ... < sigh > ... the lights in the living room / dinette slide ceiling would not work. There was no burnt fuse problem, so ... < bigger sigh > ... likely another wiring problem of some sort.

DSK