October 21 to 27, 2012

Sunday ; Well ... weather not as bad as forecast. It was cold, but dry and sunny. As we were driving back from town this afternoon we could see a dusting of snow on the tops of the higher mountains. BRRRRR !

This morning we took our old mattress to the Keremeos dump. I'm glad to finally get it out of the bedroom where it's been propped up against a wall for the last few weeks. Back at home we did a long obedience session with Bo. I relocated the last two planters from lot 89 to lot 4. Joanne sprayed weeds on lot 4. We continued working on our "fall pre-departure" checklist, which is more complicated than before because we now own this park model home.

In the evening I worked on finances and paying bills. This month, the little statement at the bottom of our MasterCard bill reads as follows ; "The estimated time to repay the current statement balance if you only make minimum monthly payments on each due date is ... 57 years and 5 months". HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ! ! ! ! ! Good thing I pay the total amount owing each and every month.

Monday ; Today was cold and partially sunny. I'm satisfied as long as it's not raining.

We spent the day running errands in Penticton. I'm suffering a flare-up of colitis, so was feeling quite sick for most of the day.

Tuesday ; Cold, mostly cloudy, but still not much precipitation, neither rain nor snow. That allowed us to continue to work on outdoor chores. By the end of daylight we had completed all except one of the outdoor chores that needed to be done before we depart for the winter.

My colitis flare up has settled down. I felt healthier today.

Wednesday ; Snow halfway down the mountains ! BRRRRR ! Cold and wet. YUCK !

I lit the furnace in the park model today, first time it's been lit in its six year life. Worked just fine ! Went into town to see the doctor to get prescription refills. Took them to the pharmacy. Refilled an empty propane tank. Bought some hardware.

Back at home I installed the safe I bought in Penticton a few days ago. Downloaded and processed some photos. Did more pre-departure preparations. Suffered hitch itch.
HA HA HA !

What is it with local affluent guys about my age and mountain bike accidents ? ! ? First my gastroenterologist had a mountain bike accident a few years ago leaving him a quadriplegic. Now one of the veterinarians at the Penticton veterinary clinic that we use has died in a mountain bike accident. SHEESH !

Thursday ; Cold, cloudy, gloomy weather.

Today I sorted all my clothes ; stay in park model or load back into trailer. I only intend to do this once ! I do not want to be moving everything in and out of the trailer every six months ! I disinfected all our five gallon and one gallon water jugs. We auger cleaned the trailer shower drain, an annual chore. We continued our fall pre-departure preparations.

Friday ; Another cold, gloomy day. It rained steadily until mid-afternoon. Having just read last year's journal entry for this date, Joanne and I agree. Recently the weather has been colder this year than last.

After the rain stopped we continued our pre-departure preparations. I went to lot 89, and started our little generator, a monthly task to ensure the generator doesn't become hard to start from lack of use when we're not travelling. I refilled it with fuel, and loaded it into the bed of the truck. Ready for use in less than a week !

Everybody was cold at today's daily "dog party", even the dogs !

Late in the afternoon we went into Keremeos to run a few errands before going to the Branding Iron restaurant for dinner. We had a Branding Iron gift certificate from the father and daughter team of real estate agents who sold us our park model home three months ago. Tonight was the third time we've been to the Branding Iron in the six summers that we've lived here. And it will be the last ! Good food, overpriced, bad service, surly waitress, a shot of expensive, premium whiskey ruined by soda fountain cola when "Diet Coke" was asked for ... overall, not worth anywhere near the relatively high prices charged.

Saturday ; Cold and wet !

HMPH ! Way too much driving today. Keremeos to Kaleden to Okanagan Falls to Oliver to Osoyoos to Keremeos, then later in the day Keremeos to Penticton and return.

This morning we headed to Advance RV, an RV service facility in Okanagan Falls. This is their last weekend in business and they were having a "garage sale" to clear out their remaining inventory of RV parts and supplies. We bought five items at very good prices. From there we went to the new Canadian Tire store in Oliver before returning home.

Late in the afternoon Joanne found a four hour old listing on Kijiji for an interesting truck camper at a great price in Penticton. After phoning the owner we decided it was worth an immediate trip to Penticton to take a look. We drove to Penticton as dusk set in. We viewed the truck camper, and had a difficult time making a decision whether to buy it or not. We decided not to buy it. We drove home in the dark, in the rain.

DSK