Sunday ; Still sunny and very hot, as it should be here at this time of year.
My sister phoned this morning to chat, and announce the engagement of her daughter. Congratulations to Andrea on her engagement to Drew.
It rained heavily here this afternoon and evening, briefly but repeatedly. Including hail ... twice !
This evening we treated our next door neighbours to a barbecued salmon dinner, as a gesture of appreciation for lending us their ( her ) car for a week and a half while Lanoire gets a new transmission. After supper at our picnic table we spent the evening chatting in our gazebo while it rained on and off. Lots of thunder and lightning. Hope the lightning didn't start any wildfires.
Monday ; Still sunny and hot !
Washed the neighbours' borrowed car. Relocated cedar bird house from side of gazebo to side of deck roof support beam. Sanded top of cedar picnic table. Then Joanne stained it. Top of picnic table wouldn't have so many scrapes and bruises if I didn't use it as work bench ! DUH !
Tuesday ; Still sunny and hot.
On the way to Penticton for a day of errands we stopped at K Mountain Auto Repair to check on the truck's transmission replacement. Almost done ! The owner and I discussed an additional repair which I authorized ; replace the driver's side front wheel U-joint. That means the truck won't be ready until Thursday.
We ran errands in Penticton until 5 PM, then I went flying. I wanted Joanne to come along but she wasn't feeling well, so she declined. Since we were using the neighbour's stick shift car, and Joanne hasn't driven stick shift in about 30 years, and doesn't want to relearn, I left her at Value Village while I went flying.
Dan Air flight 412 ; I flew from Penticton north over Okanagan Lake to Summerland, then turned west into the Marron Valley, following the Marron Valley until it ended just west of Kaleden.
I looped out over Skaha Lake between Okanagan Falls and Kaleden, then returned to Penticton. Good weather, nice scenery, a relatively short flight. It has been six years since I last flew with no one else in the aircraft.
I picked up Joanne and we went for supper to an AYCE ( ETYS ) Chinese buffet restaurant. MMMMM ! We finished up our grocery shopping ... had to buy groceries last, no fridge in the neighbour's car like there is in our truck ... and returned home about 10 PM. Long day !
Wednesday ; Overcast, hot, and humid.
A few days ago Joanne finally laid out in the yard all the shells we collected last winter in Mexico, to "air them out" before gluing them down onto our yard "fencing". Today she discovered that the hail storm of a few days ago shattered all the fragile Sand Dollars. Aw, gee whiz ! I pick up Sand Dollars on a beach in Mexico, transport them thousands of miles to get them here, and then they get shattered by hail ? ! ?
Today I worked on refurbishing our portable / travel generator. A few months ago a part broke, and I have been unsuccessful until yesterday in obtaining a replacement part. To make a long story short ... yesterday I bought a used replacement part at a small engine repair shop in Penticton. So today I was able to install the part, replace the spark plug, clean the carburetor, and ... finally get the generator running again. Just in time for our upcoming trip to Winnipeg.
I also installed the 12 volt outlet I bought yesterday into the ceiling of the bedroom cupboard in the trailer, where previously there had been a TV antenna power booster and 12 volt outlet. So now ... the trailer roof rebuild project is officially completed. WOO-HOO !
Thursday ; Cloudy and raining intermittently.
At noon I drove Joanne into town for a doctor's appointment and I went to K Mountain Auto Repair to check on the truck. It was ready to go ; $5100 for a new transmission and $300 for a new front wheel axle U-joint !
Every day I use a particular online search engine to check the new listings for truck campers for sale. Last night I found "the one" ! Exactly what I wanted, the price I wanted to pay, in Phoenix, Arizona ! Posted just last night, around suppertime. I sent an e-mail and followed that up with an early morning phone call. I thought the seller and I had a deal ! Later in the afternoon he sold it to a local buyer. **** ! ! ! That's twice ! I'm really pissed off about this one !
I spent the evening doing research and shopping online for truck tires. The Internet certainly has changed the way we shop for things, hasn't it ?
Friday ; Sunny and hot.
Joanne left at 6 AM this morning to accompany a neighbour / friend to her first chemotherapy treatment session in Kelowna. She returned home by 5 PM. All went as well as could be expected.
I spent a slightly lazy day puttering around with minor maintenance chores, including some minor truck maintenance. Late in the afternoon I received a telephone call from our "Edmonton to Penticton" trailer delivery client. How soon could I pick up her trailer in Edmonton and deliver it to Penticton ? How does pick up Sunday in Edmonton, delivery in Penticton on Tuesday sound ?
Guess we're leaving for Edmonton tomorrow morning !
Saturday ; Sunny and hot.
Left home about 9 AM. Riverside RV Park Resort to Princeton to Merritt to Kamloops. Almost hit a doe and fawn ! Refilled with diesel in Kamloops. Also bought automatic transmission fluid and topped up new transmission. Kamloops to Valemount. Refilled with diesel again. Topped up automatic transmission fluid again. Bought donairs for supper. Valemount to Tete Jaune Cache then east on Yellowhead Highway along Fraser River through Mount Robson Provincial Park and into Alberta and Jasper National Park. Saw small herd of female elk. Then saw two large male elk with huge antler racks. Ate supper at rest area beside lake.
No motel rooms available in Hinton. Almost no motel rooms available in Edson. Motels with rooms available unwilling to accept pets. Made extremely unwise decision to sleep in truck at rest area !
Stopped for the night well after dark. Drove 890 km. / over 550 miles today. I think that's the farthest I've ever driven in one day.
Why are hotels, motels, and campgrounds everywhere in Alberta always filled with "work crews"? And have been for years ? ! ? What do all these "work crews" do ? Where ? Why ? How ?
DSK
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