Sunday ; Sunny and mild, another nice fall day.
We worked on yard chores today. I went bicycling around the park, enjoying the nice weather. Chatted with neighbours as I cycled.
YIKES ! ! ! Pretty steep declines in the stock markets recently ! ! ! Good thing we're filthy rich ! HA HA HA !
Monday ; Raining and cold.
A miserable day to remove the camper off the truck. And a miserable day to change a rear tire on a dually. I went over to the other side of the RV park to get the dealer's license plate from the Leisureland RV work crew that is removing skirting and decking from a trailer that I have been hired to transport to Leisureland RV in Penticton on Thursday. What a mess ! The skirting and decking were "over built".
As expected, the minivan requires a new starter. That vehicle certainly has cost us a great deal of money in the first few weeks that we've owned it !
Tuesday ; Sunny and mild.
WHEW ... je suis fatigué
! We spent the afternoon shovelling soil from a pile in our park's "burn pile" area into the bed of the truck, then from the truck to a wheelbarrow on our driveway, then from the wheelbarrow into our new raised garden. Two truck loads !
Wednesday ; BRRRRR ... cloudy, windy, and cold, with a few drops of rain.
Went into Keremeos this morning to drop off truck tire for repair and pick up repaired minivan. Joanne took minivan and went to run errands in town. I returned home with truck and did chores at home.
This afternoon we hitched up to trailer that we're delivering to Leisureland RV in Penticton tomorrow. Pulled it out of its lot here at Riverside RV Park Resort and parked out front near the entrance waiting for transport tomorrow. Wanted to hitch up and pull it off lot today so there wouldn't be any last minute surprises tomorrow morning.
Thursday ; Sunny and cool.
Headed out this morning towing the large fifth wheel trailer that used to belong to a deceased neighbour, but now belongs to Leisureland RV in Penticton, from where it was purchased five years ago. Stopped in Keremeos to pick up the truck tire we left yesterday to be repaired at K Mountain Auto Repair. They could not find a leak so ... it must have been a valve extender problem. I had changed the valve extender, and thought that the slow leak persisted, but ... perhaps I was wrong ? < shrug >
Dropped the trailer off at Leisureland RV. Fairly easy job, fairly easy money. Went to the bank, withdrew U.S. funds for travel. Saw a small, independent pharmacy with "free flu shots" sign out front. Went in ... got a free flu shot. Not really free, just free to the customer. "Qualified" customers get a "free" flu shot, pharmacy bills the provincial government medical services plan. I qualify based on age and high blood pressure. HA HA HA ... first time being old and decrepit has worked in my favour !
Ran errands in Penticton until late afternoon when we headed to Okanagan Falls for my appointment with my new aviation medical examiner. Had to have follow up appointment to review blood tests ordered after my recent pilot's license medical examination. Asked Dr. if he would be my new family physician as well as pilot's license aviation medical examiner. He said "yes". Dr. Biggs in Keremeos ... you're fired ! Let somebody other than me wait one to three hours to see you ... every appointment !
Friday ; Mostly sunny, cool, getting chilly, winter is almost here. Although no snow on the mountain tops yet.
Went into Keremeos this morning. Dropped off prescription refills at the pharmacy in town. Refilled our five gallon water jug.
Back at home this afternoon we remounted the spare tire underneath the truck, and removed the fifth wheel hitch from the bed of the truck before remounting the camper onto the truck. Joanne did laundry. I reconciled and paid our monthly MasterCard bill. YIKES ... over $4500 in charges over the last month. Expensive month !
In the evening we watched Amazing Race.
Saturday ; Sunny and cool ... about as good as can be expected for the last week of October.
Spent much of the day working on fall outdoor chores, preparing to leave for the winter. Did a repair on the truck.
Our neighbour / friend Jeannine invited us over for dinner. After a lovely meal we spent the evening visiting with her.
DSK
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
October 12 to 18, 2014
Sunday ; our 40th wedding anniversary
Cloudy and mild. Raining lightly at bedtime.
I spent the afternoon working on building a raised garden using pressure treated landscape ties. I'm almost finished. And the only thing I'm worse at than spray painting is ... working with wood !
At supper time we drove to Penticton with the truck camper. For the third year in a row we went to LambFest at Bogner's Restaurant. LambFest is an annual Okanagan Fall Wine Festival event. Bogner's Restaurant spit roasts a lamb on the barbecue, and Hester Creek Winery pairs a different wine with three of the meal's four courses. We both like barbecued lamb, and have made LambFest my birthday and / or our anniversary dinner for the past two years. But previously I felt uneasy about driving home after drinking three glasses of wine, even though it was over a period of more than two hours. So this year ... we took the truck camper and parked about three blocks away from Bogner's Restaurant behind a sports field park. We walked to the restaurant, had dinner, walked back to the camper, and boondocked overnight. Very nice not to have to drive home in the dark, in the rain, after drinking wine.
Great meal, as always at Bogner's. < BURP > Maybe a bit heavy on the garlic !
Monday ; Canadian Thanksgiving
Partially sunny, mild, windy.
We slept in a bit this morning. I guess three glasses of wine with supper does that ! We could see from our overnight boondocking spot that Canadian Tire was open today, so before leaving Penticton we went over to Canadian Tire to buy a few items we needed. And we took the opportunity to dump the camper's waste holding tanks at Canadian Tire's sani-dump station. And then we went to Lordco Auto Parts for an item that Canadian Tire didn't have. And then we refilled the truck with diesel. And then we went to Superstore for some groceries. SO ... it was pretty late ( early afternoon ) by the time we got out of Penticton and headed home. BUT ... I think we eliminated the need to go back to Penticton to run weekly errands this coming week.
When we arrived home we had a very late lunch then Joanne began preparing Thanksgiving Dinner while I worked outside on the raised garden project. And I finished the project just as it got dark. And that was the last item on my "Summer 2014 To Do" list.
Thanksgiving Dinner was great. And ... as always ... I am thankful for Joanne's cancer survival. She's thankful for our lifestyle ; used to be "homeless, unemployed vagabonds" ... now I guess it's just "unemployed vagabonds". If we were still "homeless" I wouldn’t be building a ****ing raised garden, now would I ? ? ?
Oh, boy ... only about six and a half more weeks to American Thanksgiving. HA HA HA !
Tuesday ; Cloudy and mild.
I haven't been in this foul a mood in a very long time. I spent the entire afternoon trying ... and failing ... to install new wiper blades on the minivan.
Wednesday ; Cloudy, cool, raining.
Was up early this morning to head for lab at Keremeos Clinic for blood tests. Hate going to Keremeos Clinic lab. ALWAYS a line up more than an hour long. So ... went early ! Arrived at 8:40 AM, ten minutes after opening. GREAT ... only two people ahead of me. AND ... < sputter > ... old woman in front of me was there for ECG that took fifty minutes ! ! ! Despite signage on wall that indicates 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM reserved for fasting blood tests. After emotional short circuiting of yesterday, very difficult to "not sweat the small stuff" this morning.
After having blood drawn went to Napa Auto Parts in town. Bought three new wiper blades for minivan. Installation took ... < thinking > ... maybe twenty seconds per wiper ! Hope I can get refund from Canadian Tire on three ( pieces of junk made in China ) wiper blades bought there. Blister packaging is destroyed, plastic clips on wiper blades are damaged from hours of installation attempts, etc. Discovered yesterday that even the first wiper blade ... installed "professionally" by safety inspection service facility was broken during installation. Would have been nice for them to have mentioned that to me, n'est-ce pas ? ! ? WHEW ... how could wiper blade installation difficulty have brought a reasonably intelligent man to his meltdown point yesterday ? ! ? If Canadian Tire won't issue refunds for three wiper blades ... maybe I can shove them up somebody's ass for my satisfaction ! ! !
While walking the dog Joanne discovered some mushrooms growing near our park office building. So ... out came the Mushroom Hunter book she bought for me as a birthday gift. The mushrooms are edible Shaggy Manes. I harvested some young ones, and Joanne will cook them following the instructions in the book, first sautéed, then in a Shaggy Mane mushroom soup Wish us luck !
If there is no blog entry next week ... I've probably died from eating poisonous mushrooms. HA HA HA !
Thursday ; Sunny and cool.
I puttered around with preventive maintenance on the truck and minivan. Joanne did laundry. AND ... made Shaggy Mane mushroom soup for lunch. This afternoon our neighbour / friend Jeannine dropped by for a visit. We invited her to join us Saturday evening at Taste Of Our Valley, the local annual fall harvest festival in Keremeos.
This evening I made a four jar batch of my "secret recipe" pine sap and beeswax salve using the remainder of the expensive jar of pine sap I bought two and a half years ago at a Native PowWow at 150 Mile House near Williams Lake, B.C. Making this batch of salve did not go smoothly, and I have decided it's not worth the effort to make this kind of stuff by myself anymore, when herbalists and other assorted wing nut types make similar salves and sell them at farmer's markets and other outdoor events for ten bucks or so per jar. Joanne was not pleased about how difficult it was for her to clean out the thin coating of beeswax lining the inside of one of her stainless steel bowls that I had used to melt the beeswax. Sorry !
Friday ; Sunny and cool.
Yesterday Joanne experienced a problem with the starter function in the minivan.
I spent some time this afternoon attempting to diagnose and repair the problem. I'm not sure I accomplished either objective. Most auto repair nowadays is a bit beyond my skill levels.
I the evening I worked online evaluating travel medical insurance plans. YIKES ! I had not counted on the immense increase in our travel medical insurance premiums now that we've reached the "60 years and older" category !
Saturday ; Sunny and mild. Nice day !
The minivan's intermittent starter problem persists. This afternoon I began working on my "fall pre-departure" chore list. This evening we went to Taste Of Our Valley in Keremeos, with our neighbour / friend Jeannine. We spent a couple of hours munching on local foods and sipping local wines and visiting with other neighbours who were there. Not surprisingly, the minivan did not want to start when it was time to return home. After many attempts, it finally started. We drove home, dropped Jeannine at her home, then we returned to Keremeos, Joanne driving the minivan, me driving the truck. We dropped the minivan off at a local auto repair facility in town for service on Monday. < sigh >
DSK
Cloudy and mild. Raining lightly at bedtime.
I spent the afternoon working on building a raised garden using pressure treated landscape ties. I'm almost finished. And the only thing I'm worse at than spray painting is ... working with wood !
At supper time we drove to Penticton with the truck camper. For the third year in a row we went to LambFest at Bogner's Restaurant. LambFest is an annual Okanagan Fall Wine Festival event. Bogner's Restaurant spit roasts a lamb on the barbecue, and Hester Creek Winery pairs a different wine with three of the meal's four courses. We both like barbecued lamb, and have made LambFest my birthday and / or our anniversary dinner for the past two years. But previously I felt uneasy about driving home after drinking three glasses of wine, even though it was over a period of more than two hours. So this year ... we took the truck camper and parked about three blocks away from Bogner's Restaurant behind a sports field park. We walked to the restaurant, had dinner, walked back to the camper, and boondocked overnight. Very nice not to have to drive home in the dark, in the rain, after drinking wine.
Great meal, as always at Bogner's. < BURP > Maybe a bit heavy on the garlic !
Monday ; Canadian Thanksgiving
Partially sunny, mild, windy.
We slept in a bit this morning. I guess three glasses of wine with supper does that ! We could see from our overnight boondocking spot that Canadian Tire was open today, so before leaving Penticton we went over to Canadian Tire to buy a few items we needed. And we took the opportunity to dump the camper's waste holding tanks at Canadian Tire's sani-dump station. And then we went to Lordco Auto Parts for an item that Canadian Tire didn't have. And then we refilled the truck with diesel. And then we went to Superstore for some groceries. SO ... it was pretty late ( early afternoon ) by the time we got out of Penticton and headed home. BUT ... I think we eliminated the need to go back to Penticton to run weekly errands this coming week.
When we arrived home we had a very late lunch then Joanne began preparing Thanksgiving Dinner while I worked outside on the raised garden project. And I finished the project just as it got dark. And that was the last item on my "Summer 2014 To Do" list.
Thanksgiving Dinner was great. And ... as always ... I am thankful for Joanne's cancer survival. She's thankful for our lifestyle ; used to be "homeless, unemployed vagabonds" ... now I guess it's just "unemployed vagabonds". If we were still "homeless" I wouldn’t be building a ****ing raised garden, now would I ? ? ?
Oh, boy ... only about six and a half more weeks to American Thanksgiving. HA HA HA !
Tuesday ; Cloudy and mild.
I haven't been in this foul a mood in a very long time. I spent the entire afternoon trying ... and failing ... to install new wiper blades on the minivan.
Wednesday ; Cloudy, cool, raining.
Was up early this morning to head for lab at Keremeos Clinic for blood tests. Hate going to Keremeos Clinic lab. ALWAYS a line up more than an hour long. So ... went early ! Arrived at 8:40 AM, ten minutes after opening. GREAT ... only two people ahead of me. AND ... < sputter > ... old woman in front of me was there for ECG that took fifty minutes ! ! ! Despite signage on wall that indicates 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM reserved for fasting blood tests. After emotional short circuiting of yesterday, very difficult to "not sweat the small stuff" this morning.
After having blood drawn went to Napa Auto Parts in town. Bought three new wiper blades for minivan. Installation took ... < thinking > ... maybe twenty seconds per wiper ! Hope I can get refund from Canadian Tire on three ( pieces of junk made in China ) wiper blades bought there. Blister packaging is destroyed, plastic clips on wiper blades are damaged from hours of installation attempts, etc. Discovered yesterday that even the first wiper blade ... installed "professionally" by safety inspection service facility was broken during installation. Would have been nice for them to have mentioned that to me, n'est-ce pas ? ! ? WHEW ... how could wiper blade installation difficulty have brought a reasonably intelligent man to his meltdown point yesterday ? ! ? If Canadian Tire won't issue refunds for three wiper blades ... maybe I can shove them up somebody's ass for my satisfaction ! ! !
While walking the dog Joanne discovered some mushrooms growing near our park office building. So ... out came the Mushroom Hunter book she bought for me as a birthday gift. The mushrooms are edible Shaggy Manes. I harvested some young ones, and Joanne will cook them following the instructions in the book, first sautéed, then in a Shaggy Mane mushroom soup Wish us luck !
If there is no blog entry next week ... I've probably died from eating poisonous mushrooms. HA HA HA !
Thursday ; Sunny and cool.
I puttered around with preventive maintenance on the truck and minivan. Joanne did laundry. AND ... made Shaggy Mane mushroom soup for lunch. This afternoon our neighbour / friend Jeannine dropped by for a visit. We invited her to join us Saturday evening at Taste Of Our Valley, the local annual fall harvest festival in Keremeos.
This evening I made a four jar batch of my "secret recipe" pine sap and beeswax salve using the remainder of the expensive jar of pine sap I bought two and a half years ago at a Native PowWow at 150 Mile House near Williams Lake, B.C. Making this batch of salve did not go smoothly, and I have decided it's not worth the effort to make this kind of stuff by myself anymore, when herbalists and other assorted wing nut types make similar salves and sell them at farmer's markets and other outdoor events for ten bucks or so per jar. Joanne was not pleased about how difficult it was for her to clean out the thin coating of beeswax lining the inside of one of her stainless steel bowls that I had used to melt the beeswax. Sorry !
Friday ; Sunny and cool.
Yesterday Joanne experienced a problem with the starter function in the minivan.
I spent some time this afternoon attempting to diagnose and repair the problem. I'm not sure I accomplished either objective. Most auto repair nowadays is a bit beyond my skill levels.
I the evening I worked online evaluating travel medical insurance plans. YIKES ! I had not counted on the immense increase in our travel medical insurance premiums now that we've reached the "60 years and older" category !
Saturday ; Sunny and mild. Nice day !
The minivan's intermittent starter problem persists. This afternoon I began working on my "fall pre-departure" chore list. This evening we went to Taste Of Our Valley in Keremeos, with our neighbour / friend Jeannine. We spent a couple of hours munching on local foods and sipping local wines and visiting with other neighbours who were there. Not surprisingly, the minivan did not want to start when it was time to return home. After many attempts, it finally started. We drove home, dropped Jeannine at her home, then we returned to Keremeos, Joanne driving the minivan, me driving the truck. We dropped the minivan off at a local auto repair facility in town for service on Monday. < sigh >
DSK
Monday, October 13, 2014
October 5 to 11, 2014
Sunday ; Sunny and warm, an absolutely gorgeous fall day.
Made delicious pancakes for brunch using milk that had soured. Spent most of the day working on fall outdoor chores. Refurnished and rearranged gazebo with much new patio furniture acquired from Edmonton trailer delivery client. She was donating / discarding all the two month old patio furniture she had purchased and used during her short summer stay in Penticton. Spent time playing with Bo in the dog park.
Monday ; Sunny and warm, the beautiful fall weather continues.
Much of my day was taken up with phone calls back and forth to the auto service facility in Cawston where I took our new to us minivan for its B.C. safety inspection. It failed the safety inspection for a number of reasons, and I am more than a little dismayed to learn that the necessary repairs will cost well over a thousand dollars ! Which doesn't go all that far nowadays in the auto repair business !
We spent time playing with Bo in the dog park. We spent time enjoying the lovely weather while lounging around our newly refurnished gazebo. I phoned our bank in Penticton to get them to reverse an erroneous service charge ... yet again ! Second month in a row ! I phoned junk yards / auto wreckers in Penticton, Oliver, and Osoyoos looking for a front license plate holder for the minivan. Alberta vehicles don't need front license plates, so Alberta auto dealers order vehicles from the factory without front license plate holders.
In the evening I wanted to try connecting the computer to the TV and watching a DVD through the computer on the TV. Worked fine. Too bad the movie was so crappy. St. Elmo's Fire ... 1985 !
Tuesday ; Sunny and warm again, another lovely fall day. Perfect day for DanAir flight 419 !
Up early this morning. More telephone tag regarding minivan safety inspection and work required. Headed to Penticton. On the way stopped in Keremeos to adjust air in truck tire. In Penticton, while I went flying, Joanne went "secret" shopping.
For the last few years, all my flying has been done around supper time. MISTAKE ! What beautiful flying weather in the Okanagan region around lunch time ! Today I flew from Penticton south over Skaha Lake to Okanagan Falls, over Vaseux Lake to Oliver, then Osoyoos, over Spotted Lake ... WOW ... odd colours in fall ... then west along Hwy. 3 to the Similkameen River. I was looking for ... and found ... Vineglass Winery, a local vineyard that has "sculpted" their vineyard into the shape of a large wine glass. HA HA HA ... very cute from the air.
I learned about Vineglass Winery about a year and a half ago when I met the female owner of the vineyard at a theatre production. She was seated next to me and struck up a conversation during intermission. She was about my age, and born in Manitoba. She was excited about her new vineyard / winery operation. I was surprised a few months ago to read her obituary in the local newspaper. She died rather suddenly of a malignant brain tumour.
After viewing Vineglass Winery I continued west along Hwy. 3 and the Similkameen River to Cawston where I turned northeast and crossed over Fairview Mountain coming out between Oliver and Okanagan Falls. Kill the throttle, glide slowly and descend over Skaha Lake all the way down from 9000 feet to "grease it" onto Penticton's newly repaved runway. < deep breath > Days like today are why I learned to fly 29½ years ago.
We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening running errands in Penticton.
Wednesday ; Still sunny and warm.
Early this afternoon we took the tires I purchased yesterday in Penticton to the service facility in Cawston where the minivan is, getting the work done necessary to pass the B.C. safety inspection. We dropped the tires off and headed to Osoyoos where I had found by phone a junk yard that had the front license plate holder that the minivan needs. We picked up the license plate holder at the junk yard then went to Bo's favourite park for a bit of a romp ... and a fun obedience session. On the way back home we stopped in Keremeos to buy some groceries, refill our water jug and buy some fresh produce. Back at home we took advantage of the continuing nice weather and did some outdoor chores. Late in the afternoon our neighbour / friend Jeannine came by for a visit in the gazebo.
Thursday ; Still sunny and warm.
Worked on yard and garden today. Started building a new raised garden using landscape ties. Submitted an Adopt a Highway application on behalf of Kofa Ko-op, our RV park in Yuma, Arizona, for the cleanup of the road in front of the park.
Friday ; DANIEL'S 60th BIRTHDAY
Still sunny and warm, another beautiful fall day ... and an especially lovely fall evening.
This morning we headed to Cawston to pick up the minivan's safety inspection certificate. The necessary repairs were complete. Paid for the inspection and repairs, and headed back from Cawston to Keremeos with the inspection certificate to the insurance agency. < sigh > Spent a long time at the insurance agency, jumping through bureaucratic hoops, paying the GST and PST owing, registering and insuring the vehicle. This will definitely be the first and last time I purchase an "out of province" vehicle. Once we had the license plates and insurance documents we headed back to Cawston again to pick up the minivan. Joanne drove home in the minivan. I stopped in Keremeos again to run a couple of errands.
We had lunch on the deck off our living room. What lovely weather. My sister phoned to wish me Happy Birthday and we chatted for awhile. We took Bo to the dog park. We gave Bo a bath. I puttered around with minor maintenance chores on the minivan, then we washed it. I mounted the front license plate holder we bought at a junk yard in Osoyoos. Then I mounted the license plates. I checked the air pressure in the tires.
I tightened the lug nuts with a torque wrench. You know ... puttering around. I entered the financial particulars of the purchase in my computer records. I entered the maintenance records in my computer. You know ... OCD puttering around !
Joanne made me my favourite dinner. We had a glass of wine with dinner, a rare occurrence for us. We watched Amazing Race while having dinner. We went for a soak in the hot tub as a special treat. We really should walk down to the pool building to do that more often. Joanne made me my favourite cake. We had some as a bedtime snack.
She also bought me a few books as birthday gifts. When I picked up the first wrapped gift from the coffee table, Bo's eyes bugged out. HEY ! ! ! IS IT CHRISTMAS ? ? ? HA HA HA ... what a funny little dog. He LOOOOOVES unwrapping gifts. So ... HA HA HA ... I let him unwrap my birthday gifts. HA HA HA ... he was SOOOOO happy !
Thank you for dinner, wine, hot tub soak, cake, and books, my dear. You made me feel very special today.
Saturday ; Cloudy and mild.
This morning we trimmed Bo's and Sully's claws. Sully screamed loudly. He sure is crabby in his old age. Well ... as am I ! HA HA HA ! This afternoon we mounted the truck camper onto the truck. I continued working on building a raised garden.
I borrowed a chop saw from our RV park's workshop and cut the fifteen landscape ties
I bought on Tuesday to the correct sizes. I puttered around with the minivan some more.
In the evening I worked on "birthday" investment target analysis and planning. After ten and a third years of retirement, we're doing okay. No thanks to the atrocious stock market declines of the last month ! ! !
DSK
Made delicious pancakes for brunch using milk that had soured. Spent most of the day working on fall outdoor chores. Refurnished and rearranged gazebo with much new patio furniture acquired from Edmonton trailer delivery client. She was donating / discarding all the two month old patio furniture she had purchased and used during her short summer stay in Penticton. Spent time playing with Bo in the dog park.
Monday ; Sunny and warm, the beautiful fall weather continues.
Much of my day was taken up with phone calls back and forth to the auto service facility in Cawston where I took our new to us minivan for its B.C. safety inspection. It failed the safety inspection for a number of reasons, and I am more than a little dismayed to learn that the necessary repairs will cost well over a thousand dollars ! Which doesn't go all that far nowadays in the auto repair business !
We spent time playing with Bo in the dog park. We spent time enjoying the lovely weather while lounging around our newly refurnished gazebo. I phoned our bank in Penticton to get them to reverse an erroneous service charge ... yet again ! Second month in a row ! I phoned junk yards / auto wreckers in Penticton, Oliver, and Osoyoos looking for a front license plate holder for the minivan. Alberta vehicles don't need front license plates, so Alberta auto dealers order vehicles from the factory without front license plate holders.
In the evening I wanted to try connecting the computer to the TV and watching a DVD through the computer on the TV. Worked fine. Too bad the movie was so crappy. St. Elmo's Fire ... 1985 !
Tuesday ; Sunny and warm again, another lovely fall day. Perfect day for DanAir flight 419 !
Up early this morning. More telephone tag regarding minivan safety inspection and work required. Headed to Penticton. On the way stopped in Keremeos to adjust air in truck tire. In Penticton, while I went flying, Joanne went "secret" shopping.
For the last few years, all my flying has been done around supper time. MISTAKE ! What beautiful flying weather in the Okanagan region around lunch time ! Today I flew from Penticton south over Skaha Lake to Okanagan Falls, over Vaseux Lake to Oliver, then Osoyoos, over Spotted Lake ... WOW ... odd colours in fall ... then west along Hwy. 3 to the Similkameen River. I was looking for ... and found ... Vineglass Winery, a local vineyard that has "sculpted" their vineyard into the shape of a large wine glass. HA HA HA ... very cute from the air.
I learned about Vineglass Winery about a year and a half ago when I met the female owner of the vineyard at a theatre production. She was seated next to me and struck up a conversation during intermission. She was about my age, and born in Manitoba. She was excited about her new vineyard / winery operation. I was surprised a few months ago to read her obituary in the local newspaper. She died rather suddenly of a malignant brain tumour.
After viewing Vineglass Winery I continued west along Hwy. 3 and the Similkameen River to Cawston where I turned northeast and crossed over Fairview Mountain coming out between Oliver and Okanagan Falls. Kill the throttle, glide slowly and descend over Skaha Lake all the way down from 9000 feet to "grease it" onto Penticton's newly repaved runway. < deep breath > Days like today are why I learned to fly 29½ years ago.
We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening running errands in Penticton.
Wednesday ; Still sunny and warm.
Early this afternoon we took the tires I purchased yesterday in Penticton to the service facility in Cawston where the minivan is, getting the work done necessary to pass the B.C. safety inspection. We dropped the tires off and headed to Osoyoos where I had found by phone a junk yard that had the front license plate holder that the minivan needs. We picked up the license plate holder at the junk yard then went to Bo's favourite park for a bit of a romp ... and a fun obedience session. On the way back home we stopped in Keremeos to buy some groceries, refill our water jug and buy some fresh produce. Back at home we took advantage of the continuing nice weather and did some outdoor chores. Late in the afternoon our neighbour / friend Jeannine came by for a visit in the gazebo.
Thursday ; Still sunny and warm.
Worked on yard and garden today. Started building a new raised garden using landscape ties. Submitted an Adopt a Highway application on behalf of Kofa Ko-op, our RV park in Yuma, Arizona, for the cleanup of the road in front of the park.
Friday ; DANIEL'S 60th BIRTHDAY
Still sunny and warm, another beautiful fall day ... and an especially lovely fall evening.
This morning we headed to Cawston to pick up the minivan's safety inspection certificate. The necessary repairs were complete. Paid for the inspection and repairs, and headed back from Cawston to Keremeos with the inspection certificate to the insurance agency. < sigh > Spent a long time at the insurance agency, jumping through bureaucratic hoops, paying the GST and PST owing, registering and insuring the vehicle. This will definitely be the first and last time I purchase an "out of province" vehicle. Once we had the license plates and insurance documents we headed back to Cawston again to pick up the minivan. Joanne drove home in the minivan. I stopped in Keremeos again to run a couple of errands.
We had lunch on the deck off our living room. What lovely weather. My sister phoned to wish me Happy Birthday and we chatted for awhile. We took Bo to the dog park. We gave Bo a bath. I puttered around with minor maintenance chores on the minivan, then we washed it. I mounted the front license plate holder we bought at a junk yard in Osoyoos. Then I mounted the license plates. I checked the air pressure in the tires.
I tightened the lug nuts with a torque wrench. You know ... puttering around. I entered the financial particulars of the purchase in my computer records. I entered the maintenance records in my computer. You know ... OCD puttering around !
Joanne made me my favourite dinner. We had a glass of wine with dinner, a rare occurrence for us. We watched Amazing Race while having dinner. We went for a soak in the hot tub as a special treat. We really should walk down to the pool building to do that more often. Joanne made me my favourite cake. We had some as a bedtime snack.
She also bought me a few books as birthday gifts. When I picked up the first wrapped gift from the coffee table, Bo's eyes bugged out. HEY ! ! ! IS IT CHRISTMAS ? ? ? HA HA HA ... what a funny little dog. He LOOOOOVES unwrapping gifts. So ... HA HA HA ... I let him unwrap my birthday gifts. HA HA HA ... he was SOOOOO happy !
Thank you for dinner, wine, hot tub soak, cake, and books, my dear. You made me feel very special today.
Saturday ; Cloudy and mild.
This morning we trimmed Bo's and Sully's claws. Sully screamed loudly. He sure is crabby in his old age. Well ... as am I ! HA HA HA ! This afternoon we mounted the truck camper onto the truck. I continued working on building a raised garden.
I borrowed a chop saw from our RV park's workshop and cut the fifteen landscape ties
I bought on Tuesday to the correct sizes. I puttered around with the minivan some more.
In the evening I worked on "birthday" investment target analysis and planning. After ten and a third years of retirement, we're doing okay. No thanks to the atrocious stock market declines of the last month ! ! !
DSK
Sunday, October 5, 2014
September 28 to October 4, 2014 ; Crossfield, Alberta to Keremeos, B.C. to Edmonton, Alberta to Keremeos, B.C.
Sunday ; Crossfield, Alberta to Kelowna, B.C.
Cloudy and cold ... freezing level ... this morning in Crossfield, clearing and warming by early afternoon, sunny and mild by the time we reached B.C.'s Okanagan Valley.
Up early again ! Just before pulling out of Crossfield Country Inn's parking lot I did my routine tire thumping to ensure air pressure in all the truck's tires. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, SPLAT ! HUH ? ! ? I thumped the last tire again. SPLAT ! What the **** ? ! ? A flat tire ? ! ? It was the same rear tire that I recently had a valve problem with, so before changing the tire ... an hour of very hard work on the rear of a dually ... I wanted to attempt to refill the tire with air, and check if the problem is simply a bad valve extender. From the hotel's parking lot I could see a Kal Tire. We drove over there. Closed on Sundays. < sigh > I found an Esso station in town. It was one of those service stations that charges a dollar to use their air compressor. Put in a Loonie, get a minute or so of air compressor time. I hate that ! And this station had a particularly pathetic air compressor. It cost me FOUR DOLLARS to fill the tire with air ! ! !
South to Calgary, then west to Canmore where we refilled with diesel and I checked the tire pressure. It was okay ! Into and through Banff National Park, through Banff and Lake Louise and into British Columbia. We stopped to have a picnic lunch at Finn Creek in Yoho National Park. Beautiful ! ! ! I checked the tire pressure again. Still okay !
After lunch Joanne drove for a couple of hours to give me a much needed and well deserved break from driving. Which turned out to be a bad idea for everybody !
I napped for awhile, then tried to "coach" her through the difficult drive through the Canadian Rockies. Up, down, around, through tunnels and construction zones !
What I think is "coaching" she thinks is criticizing. By the time we reached a place where we could get off the road and change drivers, I was angry and she was demoralized. < huge sigh >
We continued west to Salmon Arm, the northern end of the Okanagan Valley. We turned south and drove to Kelowna where I have a trailer to pick up tomorrow morning. We stopped at Superstore to buy something for supper, then checked into our hotel for tonight, the Recreation Inn. A few days ago a problem arose with the Recreation Inn, and our reservation for a "pet friendly" room. I had to get the booking website I had used, Hotels.com to resolve the issue. And they did ! Or so I thought ! When we arrived at the hotel our "pet friendly" room reservation was screwed up ... AGAIN ... and it took way too long to sort out and resolve. And probably would not have been resolved if not for the perseverance and good customer service skills of the lady at the front desk tonight, a recent immigrant from Finland named Eeva-Maria. Too bad her superiors are such ****wits ! ! ! Good job, Eeva-Maria, thank you.
Monday ; Kelowna to Willowbrook to Osoyoos to Keremeos
This morning we checked out of our hotel and found our way to the location in Kelowna where we were supposed to pick up a cargo fifth wheel trailer for transport. We picked up the trailer and headed south through Kelowna on Hwy. 97. We stopped to refill with diesel in West Kelowna. We delivered the trailer to a rural location in Willowbrook, up in the mountains west of Okanagan Falls. Fairly easy job, fairly easy money.
We drove down out of the mountains into Okanagan Falls and continued south on Hwy. 97 to Osoyoos. I bought some screening at Home Hardware. We had lunch in Bo's favourite park ... on Osoyoos Lake. He LOOOOOVES that park ! We picked up our Edmonton client's second trailer in Osoyoos and headed home, stopping in Keremeos to adjust air pressure in the trailer's tires. We arrived home late in the afternoon.
There was a couple of hours of daylight left, and we put it to good use, taking care of chores before heading out tomorrow morning for our second trip to Edmonton. We're all tired already, and all dreading another trip to Edmonton. Well ... Joanne and I are dreading it. I suppose Bo and Sully don't know what's coming yet. HA HA HA !
Tuesday ; Keremeos, B.C. to Hinton, Alberta
SULLY'S EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY ! ! !
WOO-HOO ! ! ! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SULLY ! ! !
We adopted Sully five years ago today at the BCSCPA in Penticton. He was my 55th birthday gift. Sully's life was about to be ended by the animal shelter after having been there for six weeks ! Nobody wanted a thirteen year old cat ! I promised him a five year "second chance". His part of the deal was to live to his eighteenth birthday, a ripe old age that neither of our previous two cats quite made it to. Well, Sully ... we each lived up to our part of the deal, didn't we ? Way to go, old boy !
Variable weather today, mild, with occasional rain.
We were up early again, for another long, hard day of driving, this time with a long, heavy travel trailer, much more difficult to tow than a fifth wheel.. We left home about 9:30 AM and headed west on Hwy. 3 to Princeton, north on Hwy. 5 to Merritt, then Kamloops where we refilled with diesel. We continued north on Hwy. 5, stopping at a rest area near McLure for lunch, then all the way to Valemount where we refilled with diesel again. WHEW ... lots of fuel getting used today ! At Tete Jaune Cache we turned east on Yellowhead Hwy. 16, passing through Mount Robson Provincial Park and into Alberta and Jasper National Park. We arrived in Hinton about 8 PM, checked into our overpriced hotel room, and had supper.
Wednesday ; Hinton to Edmonton and back to Hinton
Poor Sully. He woke up in the middle of the night ... third hotel room in five nights ... and ... "HEY ! WHERE THE HELL ARE WE ? AND WHERE THE HELL IS MY LITTERBOX ? ? ?". Poor Sully ... I know what you mean ! BUT ... since it's the middle of the night ... would you please use your indoor voice ? I think he woke up half the hotel !
Cloudy and cold ! Winter has arrived in Edmonton.
We were up early again this morning, and continued heading east on Yellowhead Hwy. 16. We refilled with diesel in Edson. We arrived at the client's storage yard north of Edmonton about 12:30 PM. As we arrived ... so did a little early winter sleet squall.
< sigh > I unhitched the travel trailer in the cold, wet, windy squall, then did a small repair on the client's fifth wheel trailer that we had delivered a few days ago, again working in the miserable weather. We were finished and out of there about 2 PM. We drove into Edmonton, refilled with diesel, and had lunch in the truck in a grocery store parking lot before heading back west on Yellowhead Hwy. 16, back to Hinton.
Upon arrival in Hinton about 6:30 PM we bought a few groceries at the supermarket across the street from our hotel, then returned to our hotel room for supper and an evening of watching Shipping Wars on TV. HA HA HA ... what a bunch of amateurs !
Thursday ; Hinton, Alberta to Keremeos, B.C.
Sunny and cool.
WHEW ... nine days ... four trailers delivered ... 5000 km. / 3100 miles driven ... to Edmonton and back twice ... one minivan earned.
Up early again. Left Hinton about 9:30 AM. West on Yellowhead Hwy. 16, through Jasper National Park, into British Columbia, through Mount Robson Provincial Park, follow the Fraser River, cross the Fraser River at Tete Jaune Cache and head south on Hwy. 5. Refill diesel at Valemount. Late picnic lunch at rest area. Stop for groceries at Kamloops. Refill diesel again at Merritt. South on Hwy. 5 to Princeton, east on Crowsnest Hwy. 3 to home, arriving at 8:30 PM.
About half an hour from home, between Princeton and Hedley, came upon horrific traffic accident involving large Class A motorhome and SUV. Police on scene already. Survival in SUV looked unlikely.
Friday ; Sunny and mild.
Spent the morning rearranging parking spot fencing in yard to accommodate both truck and minivan. Easier said than done ! Made arrangements by phone for minivan safety inspection. After lunch went into town to run errands. Picked up parcel at Post Office. Refilled water jug. Went to insurance agency to arrange temporary transport permit to allow minivan to be driven for safety inspection. Joanne bought fresh produce at "fruit stand". That's what produce stands are called in Keremeos ... "Fruit Stand Capital Of Canada".
After returning home I puttered around for most of the afternoon with the minivan while Joanne did laundry. Watched second episode ... first episode we've seen ... of new season of Amazing Race.
Saturday ; Sunny and mild.
Went into Keremeos this morning with both vehicles to have insurance agency "verify" minivan's VIN, then drove to Cawston and dropped off minivan for B.C. safety inspection on Monday. Purchase of vehicle from other province more complicated than
I had expected.
This afternoon did some work on truck, hoping to solve problem with one tire losing air repeatedly, but not consistently. "The Mystery Of The Declining Tire Air Pressure !" Washed the truck ! Very filthy, lots of road grime from two trips to Edmonton and back.
In the evening watched a Gene Kelly movie ; An American In Paris. What a stinker of a movie !
DSK
Cloudy and cold ... freezing level ... this morning in Crossfield, clearing and warming by early afternoon, sunny and mild by the time we reached B.C.'s Okanagan Valley.
Up early again ! Just before pulling out of Crossfield Country Inn's parking lot I did my routine tire thumping to ensure air pressure in all the truck's tires. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, SPLAT ! HUH ? ! ? I thumped the last tire again. SPLAT ! What the **** ? ! ? A flat tire ? ! ? It was the same rear tire that I recently had a valve problem with, so before changing the tire ... an hour of very hard work on the rear of a dually ... I wanted to attempt to refill the tire with air, and check if the problem is simply a bad valve extender. From the hotel's parking lot I could see a Kal Tire. We drove over there. Closed on Sundays. < sigh > I found an Esso station in town. It was one of those service stations that charges a dollar to use their air compressor. Put in a Loonie, get a minute or so of air compressor time. I hate that ! And this station had a particularly pathetic air compressor. It cost me FOUR DOLLARS to fill the tire with air ! ! !
South to Calgary, then west to Canmore where we refilled with diesel and I checked the tire pressure. It was okay ! Into and through Banff National Park, through Banff and Lake Louise and into British Columbia. We stopped to have a picnic lunch at Finn Creek in Yoho National Park. Beautiful ! ! ! I checked the tire pressure again. Still okay !
After lunch Joanne drove for a couple of hours to give me a much needed and well deserved break from driving. Which turned out to be a bad idea for everybody !
I napped for awhile, then tried to "coach" her through the difficult drive through the Canadian Rockies. Up, down, around, through tunnels and construction zones !
What I think is "coaching" she thinks is criticizing. By the time we reached a place where we could get off the road and change drivers, I was angry and she was demoralized. < huge sigh >
We continued west to Salmon Arm, the northern end of the Okanagan Valley. We turned south and drove to Kelowna where I have a trailer to pick up tomorrow morning. We stopped at Superstore to buy something for supper, then checked into our hotel for tonight, the Recreation Inn. A few days ago a problem arose with the Recreation Inn, and our reservation for a "pet friendly" room. I had to get the booking website I had used, Hotels.com to resolve the issue. And they did ! Or so I thought ! When we arrived at the hotel our "pet friendly" room reservation was screwed up ... AGAIN ... and it took way too long to sort out and resolve. And probably would not have been resolved if not for the perseverance and good customer service skills of the lady at the front desk tonight, a recent immigrant from Finland named Eeva-Maria. Too bad her superiors are such ****wits ! ! ! Good job, Eeva-Maria, thank you.
Monday ; Kelowna to Willowbrook to Osoyoos to Keremeos
This morning we checked out of our hotel and found our way to the location in Kelowna where we were supposed to pick up a cargo fifth wheel trailer for transport. We picked up the trailer and headed south through Kelowna on Hwy. 97. We stopped to refill with diesel in West Kelowna. We delivered the trailer to a rural location in Willowbrook, up in the mountains west of Okanagan Falls. Fairly easy job, fairly easy money.
We drove down out of the mountains into Okanagan Falls and continued south on Hwy. 97 to Osoyoos. I bought some screening at Home Hardware. We had lunch in Bo's favourite park ... on Osoyoos Lake. He LOOOOOVES that park ! We picked up our Edmonton client's second trailer in Osoyoos and headed home, stopping in Keremeos to adjust air pressure in the trailer's tires. We arrived home late in the afternoon.
There was a couple of hours of daylight left, and we put it to good use, taking care of chores before heading out tomorrow morning for our second trip to Edmonton. We're all tired already, and all dreading another trip to Edmonton. Well ... Joanne and I are dreading it. I suppose Bo and Sully don't know what's coming yet. HA HA HA !
Tuesday ; Keremeos, B.C. to Hinton, Alberta
SULLY'S EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY ! ! !
WOO-HOO ! ! ! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SULLY ! ! !
We adopted Sully five years ago today at the BCSCPA in Penticton. He was my 55th birthday gift. Sully's life was about to be ended by the animal shelter after having been there for six weeks ! Nobody wanted a thirteen year old cat ! I promised him a five year "second chance". His part of the deal was to live to his eighteenth birthday, a ripe old age that neither of our previous two cats quite made it to. Well, Sully ... we each lived up to our part of the deal, didn't we ? Way to go, old boy !
Variable weather today, mild, with occasional rain.
We were up early again, for another long, hard day of driving, this time with a long, heavy travel trailer, much more difficult to tow than a fifth wheel.. We left home about 9:30 AM and headed west on Hwy. 3 to Princeton, north on Hwy. 5 to Merritt, then Kamloops where we refilled with diesel. We continued north on Hwy. 5, stopping at a rest area near McLure for lunch, then all the way to Valemount where we refilled with diesel again. WHEW ... lots of fuel getting used today ! At Tete Jaune Cache we turned east on Yellowhead Hwy. 16, passing through Mount Robson Provincial Park and into Alberta and Jasper National Park. We arrived in Hinton about 8 PM, checked into our overpriced hotel room, and had supper.
Wednesday ; Hinton to Edmonton and back to Hinton
Poor Sully. He woke up in the middle of the night ... third hotel room in five nights ... and ... "HEY ! WHERE THE HELL ARE WE ? AND WHERE THE HELL IS MY LITTERBOX ? ? ?". Poor Sully ... I know what you mean ! BUT ... since it's the middle of the night ... would you please use your indoor voice ? I think he woke up half the hotel !
Cloudy and cold ! Winter has arrived in Edmonton.
We were up early again this morning, and continued heading east on Yellowhead Hwy. 16. We refilled with diesel in Edson. We arrived at the client's storage yard north of Edmonton about 12:30 PM. As we arrived ... so did a little early winter sleet squall.
< sigh > I unhitched the travel trailer in the cold, wet, windy squall, then did a small repair on the client's fifth wheel trailer that we had delivered a few days ago, again working in the miserable weather. We were finished and out of there about 2 PM. We drove into Edmonton, refilled with diesel, and had lunch in the truck in a grocery store parking lot before heading back west on Yellowhead Hwy. 16, back to Hinton.
Upon arrival in Hinton about 6:30 PM we bought a few groceries at the supermarket across the street from our hotel, then returned to our hotel room for supper and an evening of watching Shipping Wars on TV. HA HA HA ... what a bunch of amateurs !
Thursday ; Hinton, Alberta to Keremeos, B.C.
Sunny and cool.
WHEW ... nine days ... four trailers delivered ... 5000 km. / 3100 miles driven ... to Edmonton and back twice ... one minivan earned.
Up early again. Left Hinton about 9:30 AM. West on Yellowhead Hwy. 16, through Jasper National Park, into British Columbia, through Mount Robson Provincial Park, follow the Fraser River, cross the Fraser River at Tete Jaune Cache and head south on Hwy. 5. Refill diesel at Valemount. Late picnic lunch at rest area. Stop for groceries at Kamloops. Refill diesel again at Merritt. South on Hwy. 5 to Princeton, east on Crowsnest Hwy. 3 to home, arriving at 8:30 PM.
About half an hour from home, between Princeton and Hedley, came upon horrific traffic accident involving large Class A motorhome and SUV. Police on scene already. Survival in SUV looked unlikely.
Friday ; Sunny and mild.
Spent the morning rearranging parking spot fencing in yard to accommodate both truck and minivan. Easier said than done ! Made arrangements by phone for minivan safety inspection. After lunch went into town to run errands. Picked up parcel at Post Office. Refilled water jug. Went to insurance agency to arrange temporary transport permit to allow minivan to be driven for safety inspection. Joanne bought fresh produce at "fruit stand". That's what produce stands are called in Keremeos ... "Fruit Stand Capital Of Canada".
After returning home I puttered around for most of the afternoon with the minivan while Joanne did laundry. Watched second episode ... first episode we've seen ... of new season of Amazing Race.
Saturday ; Sunny and mild.
Went into Keremeos this morning with both vehicles to have insurance agency "verify" minivan's VIN, then drove to Cawston and dropped off minivan for B.C. safety inspection on Monday. Purchase of vehicle from other province more complicated than
I had expected.
This afternoon did some work on truck, hoping to solve problem with one tire losing air repeatedly, but not consistently. "The Mystery Of The Declining Tire Air Pressure !" Washed the truck ! Very filthy, lots of road grime from two trips to Edmonton and back.
In the evening watched a Gene Kelly movie ; An American In Paris. What a stinker of a movie !
DSK
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