Today was a day of "returning home" chores. I did some truck maintenance. I did some trailer maintenance. We unloaded all the artworks from the trailer. We reloaded the dinette table and chairs back into the trailer. I did some "computer network troubleshooting" at a neighbour's. Needs a new router ! Joanne did a lot of laundry. I planned my Smithers trailer delivery trip.
Monday ; Happy 17th Birthday to Sully !
WOO-HOO ! We adopted Sully four years ago today at the age of thirteen. At that time I promised him five years of "second chance". Please live for one more year, Sully.
This morning we headed to Penticton to run a few errands and have lunch before heading to Oliver in the afternoon to pick up the trailer that I will be delivering to Smithers later in the week. It's a 32.5 foot Corsair fifth wheel trailer, long and heavy. And ... it was supposed to be completely ready for removal / transport ... just hitch and go. It was not ready to go. Joanne and I had quite a bit of work to do to get it prepared for travel. The client's bill increased by $100 ! Too bad ... it wasn't his fault. He's in Smithers already. The lady who sold him the trailer last weekend was supposed to have it ready to go today.
We hauled the trailer to Riverside RV Park Resort and unhitched it from the truck. It will sit in the front parking lot by the mailboxes for a couple of days. While Joanne prepared supper I installed and configured the new Wi-Fi router I bought today for a neighbour. Works well !
Tuesday ; Partially cloudy, windy, cold, intermittent light rain.
I headed to Penticton this morning ( by myself ) for a service appointment at Canadian Tire. Seven new tires, and wheel alignment. They couldn't / wouldn't do a wheel alignment, claiming a need for almost $1500 worth of front end / steering / suspension parts and labour before an alignment is possible. Yeah ... that's possibly needed .... or maybe that's just "would you like fries with that ?" I had the seven new tires installed. I'll take the truck to my local mechanic in Keremeos for a "second opinion" on work needed before an alignment can be done.
After the truck work I went flying. I was supposed to take a neighbour flying, but he was a "no show" due to the bad weather. I decided to go flying by myself. All pilots need some bad weather flying every decade or so, n'est-ce pas ? I did about half a dozen "circuits" ( take offs and landings ) sticking pretty close to Penticton. The weather over the lakes on each end of Penticton ... Okanagan Lake on the north side and Skaha Lake on the south side ... was pretty gruesome. I encountered turbulence and wind shear, and strong cross winds on landing, and even did some pretty "hairy" tailwind landings. And ... it was apparent that my bad weather flying skills are more than a bit "rusty".
Wednesday ; Cloudy and cold with occasional drizzle.
Reinstalled the truck's valve extenders, wheel liners, and hub caps, then went into Keremeos to run a few errands. Hitched the truck to the client's fifth wheel trailer, ready to depart tomorrow morning for Smithers. Packed clothes, toiletries, meds ... Joanne packed food for me.
ROAD TRIP !
Thursday ; Keremeos to Quesnel
Sunny and cold. Up at 7 AM. Departure at 8:50 AM. Hwy. 3 west to Princeton. Hwy. 5A north, then Hwy. 97C west to Merritt. Hwy. 97C north to Logan Lake, west to Ashcroft, north to Cache Creek. Refilled with diesel in Cache Creek. North on Hwy. 97 / Cariboo Highway for the rest of the day. Picnic lunch at Visitor Information Centre in 100 Mile House. Refilled with diesel again at Quesnel. Stopped for the night at Gold Pan Motel in Quesnel.
Friday ; Quesnel to Smithers and back to Vanderhoof
Raining lightly as I left Quesnel this morning at 8:30 AM heading north on Hwy. 97 / Cariboo Highway. Raining heavily by the time I reached Prince George and turned west on Hwy. 16 / Yellowhead Highway. Still raining heavily when I reached Vanderhoof where I stopped to refill with diesel. Truck and client's trailer really filthy with road grime ! Raining lightly when I stopped at Burns Lake to have a late lunch.
Client met me at village of Telkwa, a few miles before Smithers. Led me to his property, about 15 km. north of Smithers. GEEEEEZZZZZ ... and I thought we lived off the beaten path ! Arrived about 4 PM. Positioned and set up trailer, unhitched ... in the cold rain, of course ... did some orientation with client, collected my fee, and left about 5 PM. Well done, Daniel. And well done, Lanoire ( the truck ). New tires are great !
Arrived at motel back in Vanderhoof about 8:30 PM. Long, tough day !
Saturday ; Vanderhoof to Keremeos
WHEW ... long day of hard driving. Over 800 km. / 500 miles ! Had to dodge a lot of deer !
When I checked out of the motel in Vanderhoof this morning at 8:30 it was raining lightly. I refilled with diesel then continued eastbound on Hwy. 16 / Yellowhead Highway to Prince George, then south on Hwy. 97 / Cariboo Highway. I refilled with diesel again in Quesnel. The rain stopped by the time I reached Williams Lake where I stopped to have lunch.
Looooong afternoon and early evening of driving ! Stopped at a rock slide on a copper mountain between Merritt and Princeton to load some large copper rocks into the truck for use in landscaping. Heavy rocks ! Arrived home about 8 PM.
DSK
No comments:
Post a Comment