Sunday ; Sunny and very warm.
Started the day by removing the fifth wheel hitch from the truck bed and getting the truck parked back underneath the camper. Just about got my head crushed between the truck and the camper. Thanks a lot, my dear ! ! ! ! ! < dripping sarcasm >
Picked Saskatoons. A lot of them. In two different locations. First at our RV park's front gate, then in the Crown land area "behind" our RV park's southern fence line, down by our RV park's natural beach on the Similkameen River. The berries at the front gate bush were bigger, down by the beach they were more plentiful. Great crop of sweet berries this year, but will probably be a very short Saskatoon picking season. I think we'll try again in a few days.
Visited Jeanine very briefly to arrange for dog sitting of Charlie tomorrow while she goes to Penticton for her first chemotherapy session. Did agility and obedience with Bo. Well done, Bo, good dog. Updated my blog. Updated investments. HMPH ! ! ! Did a minor repair on our "new" binoculars. They're ready for Polar Bear viewing in October. Watered all our plants and gardens and composters.
Forgot to mention yesterday ... on our way to Langley to deliver the trailer, we viewed two deer and one Bald Eagle. On the way back home we viewed another deer and a Black Bear.
Monday ; Mostly sunny nad very warm, a few drops of rain around suppertime when
I was fishing. < heavy sigh re : "nad" >
Early this morning Jeanine's dog Charlie joined us for the day while Jeanine was in Penticton for chemotherapy. Joanne got up very early, walked Bo, got Charlie, walked Charlie, then we all went back to sleep for a few more hours.
Joanne and I went into town to run errands. We refilled our water jug. While I went to Keremeos Home Hardware to shop for roofing supplies she went to Busy Bee Flowers, the Sears mail order outlet, to return a purchase. Busy Bee is closed on Mondays
< sigh >. Then she went to the Post Office. We met at the grocery store and bought quite a bit of meat products on sale. WOO-HOO ... lots to barbecue. Final stop was Sanderson Farms for fresh fruits and vegetables.
Around suppertime I went fly fishing in the Similkameen River at our RV park's beach in the adjacent Crown Land. I fished for about an hour or so until it started to drizzle. I had three "bites" but caught no fish. I think I was using a fly that was too large. I was just switching to a smaller fly when it began to rain, so I went home. The water level in the Similkameen River is down to "summer" level, although the water is still very cold and the current is still very strong. While I waded in the river I wore the life jacket Joanne bought me in Yuma.
Tuesday ; Sunny and very warm.
Joanne went to Penticton by herself this morning for a day of running errands. I picked Saskatoons. I chatted with a neighbour. I cleaned the barbecue. I phoned a Princeton metal roofing contractor to come and give me a quote on re-roofing our entry landing roof and deck roof. I walked the dog. I napped. I did monthly computer maintenance and file backups. I did some minor maintenance on the truck. I cooked supper.
HEY ... being me is a tough job, but somebody's got to do it. HA HA HA !
In the evening we visited briefly with Jeanine. Joanne will take her to Penticton Hospital Thursday morning for the installation of an IV catheter line for her chemotherapy treatments.
Wednesday ; Sunny, hot, humid.
Joanne and I were just discussing ( at 10:30 PM ) the MasterCard bill that I've just paid. Our expenditures on MasterCard this month were about $4200. I pay our total balance each month. BUT ... according to the disclosure information "fine print" on the statement, if I paid only the minimum monthly payment of about $90, this balance would take ... wait for it ... 41 years to pay off ! ! ! It's no wonder that people dig themselves such deep holes with their credit cards !
We started our day with a fun obedience / agility / hide & seek play session with Bo. Well done, Bo, good dog ! I watered all our plants and gardens. We went for a long walk with Bo ; to the clubhouse to return a book to the library, through the orchard to check on how all the park's fruit trees are doing, along the riverfront walkway, and around the RV park to home.
I did a bit more disassembly work on the entry landing roof reconstruction project.
I repaired some shoddy construction. We picked more Saskatoons ! I downloaded, printed, and reconciled this month's MasterCard statement. I cooked one of the best meals I’ve ever prepared.
Cajun seasoned, barbecued lamb chops and barbecued, then creamed "smashed" baby potatoes with sautéed mushrooms. MMMMM ... that’s going to become a “serve to company” dish ! With a lot of thanks to my Aunt Lena for teaching me everything there is to know about cooking with cream when I was fourteen years old ... forty six years ago. It’s just too bad that Superstore in Penticton didn’t have any Crema Salvadoreña. HA HA HA !
And you wonder how it is that I hit 200 pounds at 12 years of age, and grew up to be a man with no neck ? ! ? HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !
Thursday ; Sunny and hot, temperature near 100 degrees F / 38 degrees C. First day of a three or four day heat wave. A good day to catch my first fish of the season. And a good day to find a large crow feather in perfect condition !
Joanne took Jeanine to Penticton Hospital this morning for a procedure. They were home by mid-afternoon. I replaced the shelf underneath the bathroom sink in the truck camper. It was damaged last winter by a leaking bottle of a strong cleaner. Replacing the shelf was easier than I expected it to be. What a pleasant change !
When we were walking to the mailbox early this evening I found a large black feather in perfect condition. At first I thought it was an eagle feather. < sigh > I would love to have an eagle feather, but I know it is illegal for a "pale face" to possess an eagle feather.
I did some research on the Internet to identify the feather. It's not an eagle feather. It's a raven or crow feather, more likely crow than raven. Good ... I can keep it. I "mounted" it in the band of my Tilley hat. In Native lore, a crow feather denotes "balance, skill and cunning". Yeah ... as a Libra, that works for me !
I went fly fishing down at our park's "beach" in the Crown land ( "public" land just outside our RV park's southern fence ) for about half an hour before supper tonight. Caught a lovely little Rainbow Trout ! And a lovely little Whitefish ! I kept the Rainbow, released the Whitefish. I'm looking forward to cooling off during the upcoming heat wave by wading into the river to fish.
Friday ; Sunny nad very hot, temperature over 100 degrees F / 38 degrees C. Joanne cooked one of my favourite meals in the Sun Oven today, a Mexican chicken dish with rice, tomatoes, and many herbs and spices. MMMMM !
DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN ! ! ! ! ! Not only did I just type "nad" again ... BUT ... I have just returned home ( at 7:30 PM ) from a couple of hours of fishing, and ... the two lovely, large Rainbow Trout that I caught are ruined ! And I have tossed them into the garbage. What a waste !
I caught the two fish within the first half hour of fishing, then ... they sat in a ( black ) plastic pail half filled with river water. Usually, fish that I catch stay alive that way, and
I kill them immediately prior to cleaning them. But today ... temperature over 100 degrees, pail sitting on the shoreline in sunlight ... by the time I returned home, not only were the two fish dead, their flesh had turned mushy ! ! ! DAMN !
While I was fishing a deer walked into the river to have a drink a few hundred feet downstream, and a Bald Eagle was fishing over the river a few hundred feet upstream.
Saturday ; Very hot, intermittent thin cloud preventing use of Sun Oven.
This morning we headed to Princeton, about 45 minutes west on Hwy. 3, for their "Ginormous Community Garage Sale". What a waste of time and fuel ! The community garage sale was held in the town arena, and there couldn't have been more than about a dozen tables of "stuff" ... none of it of any interest to us. Before leaving Princeton we shopped for groceries at Cooper's, the supermarket in town.
This afternoon I went to pick Saskatoons. Uh-oh ... too late. The heat wave has ended the Saskatoon picking season. The berries on the bushes are all dried out. SO ... I went fishing. Fished for about an hour. Not even a bite. HMPH ! No Saskatoons ! No Rainbow Trout ! What a gyp-off ! HA HA HA !
Our neighbour / friend Jeanine came over for supper tonight. Due to her illness she's been having some difficulty finding the motivation to feed herself. I barbecued Dan-O-Burgers. And I sent her home with a nice little Rainbow Trout that I caught on Thursday.
DSK
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Sunday, June 21, 2015
June 14 to 20, 2015
Sunday ; Sunny and very warm.
I started the day with a Bo-gility session. Well done, Bo, good dog ! I reinstalled all the ( washed by Joanne ) mini-blinds in the camper. We removed the sealed bag off the new mattress in the camper, a more difficult job than it sounds like, now that the mattress is in the camper. We kept the sealed bag on the mattress during our recent four day camping trip, until we were certain of our satisfaction with the mattress. I did some replenishment and minor maintenance work on the camper.
Late afternoon and early evening we worked on carefully disassembling and removing the roof built over our entry landing. We plan to rebuild / replace the roofs on our entry landing and the deck off the living room. Removing the roof off the entry landing enabled me to understand its construction, and plan for its replacement / rebuild.
After supper I updated our investments summary file and updated my blog. HMMMM ... the stock market has not been doing too well lately, has it ? ! ? I also downloaded and skimmed through the operating manual of the GPS unit in the airplane I rent, in preparation for a "cross country" flight on Tuesday. I have not yet used the GPS in Cessna 172 C-GHBM. All my flights have been totally "visual" navigation. And given that the GPS manual is over 200 pages of techno-geek ... that may not change !
Monday ; Sunny and very warm.
I'm suffering with depression ! < shrug >
I started the day by watering all our plants and gardens, hoping that time in the sun would help me to feel better. I suppose it did.
This afternoon while Joanne did laundry I worked on two "auto body" repair projects.
I used my new Dremel style little grinding tool to grind all the rust off a rusty corner of the camper's bumper, then prime painted it twice, then painted it twice. Then I did the same thing on a rusted spot on a corner of the minivan's front fender. As with all the auto body repair projects I've done, both are less than perfect, but greatly improved, so ... good enough, I guess !
I'm still uncertain / undecided about which of three choices to choose for the entry landing roof and deck roof rebuilding projects.
In the evening I worked on planning for a flight from Penticton to Princeton ( and return ) tomorrow afternoon.
Tuesday ; Sunny and very warm.
This morning we headed to Penticton, to go flying to Princeton, for a very expensive picnic. HA HA HA ! Joanne dropped me off at the airport, then while I prepared to fly she went shopping for about an hour. When she returned, off we went.
As I was doing my pre-takeoff "run up" one of the aircraft's two fuel tank gauges failed.
I had to “return to base” and make a phone call to ascertain whether or not it was okay for me to fly with one fuel gauge inoperable. I had just refilled both wing fuel tanks, so
I knew the aircraft had full fuel, enough for more than five hours of flying. It was okay ... so off we went again.
DanAir flight 422 flew “direct” from Penticton to Princeton. I had to fly a couple of “circuits” around the Penticton airport to gain enough altitude before turning west to fly over the 8000 foot mountains between Penticton and Princeton. There was only about a 1000 foot gap between the tops of the mountains and the bottom of the building cumulus clouds, so there was a lot of turbulence from both the heated mountain tops and the undersides of the clouds. By the time we arrived in Princeton Joanne was feeling a bit queasy.
Landing in Princeton was difficult. There is only one runway, and the strong, gusting winds were blowing right across the runway, so regardless of which direction I chose to land, I would have to battle a ninety degree, strong crosswind.
We had our picnic lunch in Princeton’s fairly new, small “terminal” building. Princeton is an “uncontrolled“, and ... deserted airport. Upon landing, pilots phone the airport manager and are given the terminal building’s door access code.
I contacted “Pacific Radio” at Kamloops Flight Services Station and modified my return flight plan before leaving Princeton. I thought it was likely that flying back to Penticton via the Similkameen River Valley instead of “direct” over the mountains might be more pleasant. I was right. DanAir flight 423 took off from Princeton and followed the Similkameen River to Keremeos, allowing Joanne to see Riverside RV Park Resort from the air for the first time. And there was less turbulence in the valley. At Keremeos, we “turned the corner” and followed Hwy. 3A until I had gained enough altitude ( 7500 feet ) to cross over the mountains and come out over the south end of Skaha Lake at Okanagan Falls, to begin the long descent over Skaha Lake back to Penticton.
I used the GPS in Cessna 172 C-GHBM ( Hotel Bravo Mike ) for the first time. I quite liked it. While flying fairly low through the Similkameen River Valley to view Riverside RV Park Resort the GPS unit kept warning me about “high terrain” danger. The Similkameen River Valley is narrow, and twisting, with steeply rising mountains on each side of the river. There were mountains in front of the propeller, beside the left wing, and beside the right wing. Flying through the Similkameen River Valley at "low" altitude is akin to flying along a roller coaster track. Joanne found it to be quite disconcerting.
After landing in Penticton ... wind blowing straight down runway 16, thank you ...
I dropped Joanne off at Value Village while I went to refill the minivan with fuel and do some home improvement project shopping at Rona. When I returned to Value Village to pick up Joanne, she persuaded me to buy new ( to us ) large binoculars for polar bear viewing in October. My excellent ... but forty-five year old ... binoculars “died” about a year ago.
We were back home about 7 PM. Bo was a bit “out of sorts” because he didn’t get to go “drivey” today and was home alone all day < rolling my eyes >.
Wednesday ; Sunny and very warm, a bit humid.
This morning I took Bo outside for an obedience session. Good dog, Bo, well done !
I puttered around, watering gardens, putting laundered clothing back into the camper, returning books to our clubhouse library.
AND THEN ... < insert drum roll here > ... FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS SEASON ... AND EARLIER THAN ANY OTHER YEAR ... < insert LOUD drum roll here > ...
WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO ... ( said Bo ... HA HA HA ) ... WE PICKED SASKATOONS ! ! !
He was frantic ! HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ... Bo LOOOOOVES picking Saskatoons ! He's been eagerly awaiting this day since we returned home here in late April. HA HA HA ... EAT THOSE S'TOONS, BO !
The Saskatoon berry bush at our RV park's entrance gate is laden with ripening Saskatoons. Usually they are ready to pick about the first of July. Last year we picked too many berries, and some were not sweet enough and / or had too many seeds. Today we decided to pick only the choicest looking, largest, ripe berries ... the best of the best ... but pick less than usual, and pick more frequently as more ripen.
Walking back home, as we passed our RV park's motel style guest suites, coming out of one of the guest suites was a previous neighbour, here for a brief visit. He came over to our place and visited with us briefly in our gazebo, which he helped move from lot 89 to lot 4.
MMMMM ... for my supper tonight I barbecued my second last package of HUGE shrimp I purchased fresh in Los Algodones, Mexico, seasoning them with Cajun seasoning then barbecue poaching them in coconut milk. Too bad I ( slightly ) burned Joanne's pork chops. Sorry, dear ! BUT ... < snicker > ... my shrimp were EXCELLENT !
Thursday ; ELEVENTH ANNIVERSARY OF RETIREMENT
Mostly cloudy, warm, occasional light rain.
I used to consider June 18 to be our "full time RV'ing" anniversary and "homeless, unemployed vagabond" anniversary, but ... since we're no longer full time RV'ing, and are now receiving small pensions ... no longer "unemployed" ... it makes sense to consider June 18 simply our "retirement" anniversary. SO ... today ... eleven years of healthy, happy retirement ! Something that many people ... perhaps most people ... will never be fortunate enough to enjoy. Certainly none of our four parents were that fortunate.
In those eleven years we have travelled 329,138 km. / 205,711 miles. WOW !
Similkameen Trailer Towing got hired today to transport a large fifth wheel trailer from Holiday Park north of Kelowna to a residence in Langley, near Vancouver. Pick up tomorrow near Kelowna, deliver Saturday in Langley.
This afternoon we went into Keremeos. Joanne ran a few errands in town while I got a haircut and beard trim. HMPH ... cost four times more than in Mexico ! HA HA HA ! Afterwards Joanne wanted to go to Cawston to visit the new apple cidery, Twisted Hills Craft Cider. We tasted some of their products and bought two bottles, one alcoholic cider and one non-alcoholic cider. < shrug > For Joanne mostly ... I'm indifferent.
Back at home we removed the truck out from under the camper, installed the fifth wheel hitch into the truck bed, and put tools and supplies for trailer towing into the truck for tomorrow's trailer pick up. I did some measuring and planning for the entry landing roof replacement project. < sigh > I have not yet figured out all the answers to all the questions.
Friday ; Sunny and warm.
We left this morning at 10:15 AM heading for a trailer delivery job. Well, more precisely, a trailer pick up job. The delivery is tomorrow. East on Hwy. 3 to Keremeos, north on Hwy. 3A to Kaleden, north on Hwy. 97 through Penticton, Summerland, Peachland, West Kelowna, and Kelowna to Lake Country. < sigh > The traffic through Kelowna was terrible ! I HATE going through Kelowna !
We picked up a nearly new thirty-four foot fifth wheel trailer from a very large RV park, so ... a relatively easy job. Surprisingly, the traffic congestion had eased by the time we returned southbound through Kelowna. We stopped at Wal-Mart in West Kelowna and ate our picnic lunch in the cab of the truck. We arrived back home at 4:30 PM.
Joanne was eager to visit our neighbour / friend Jeanine who had just returned from Vancouver where she spent a couple of days having an ovarian cancer treatment plan worked out. Her chemotherapy treatments start Monday.
Saturday ; Mostly sunny and warm, a few drops of rain during the last twenty minutes of driving home. WHEW .. tough, long day. Left home at 10 AM, returned home at 8:30 PM.
Left home towing a thirty-four foot fifth wheel trailer, heading west on Hwy. 3, through Princeton to Hope. That's considered to be one of the most difficult and dangerous sections of highway in British Columbia. Very tough to do with a big trailer ! Stopped at Flying J in Hope to refill with diesel and eat our picnic lunch.
From Hope, west on Trans-Canada Highway 1 to the Lower Mainland / Vancouver area, to Langley, a "suburb" of Vancouver. Heavy traffic from Chilliwack all the way through Abbotsford and into Langley. Got a little bit lost in Langley trying to find the delivery location.
Arrived at delivery location exactly when I told client we would. Dropped the trailer off on the client’s fiancé’s driveway, positioned precisely where they wanted it. Received a generous tip, so ... must be doing something right !
On the way back eastbound we stopped at a farm market produce store in the Abbotsford agricultural area and bought some fresh mushrooms, raspberries, and tiny potatoes, all grown locally, and a loaf of homemade bread. Stopped at Flying J in Hope, and refilled with diesel ... again !
Arrived home tired and hungry, with a pocket full of money, and a sense of another job well done !
DSK
I started the day with a Bo-gility session. Well done, Bo, good dog ! I reinstalled all the ( washed by Joanne ) mini-blinds in the camper. We removed the sealed bag off the new mattress in the camper, a more difficult job than it sounds like, now that the mattress is in the camper. We kept the sealed bag on the mattress during our recent four day camping trip, until we were certain of our satisfaction with the mattress. I did some replenishment and minor maintenance work on the camper.
Late afternoon and early evening we worked on carefully disassembling and removing the roof built over our entry landing. We plan to rebuild / replace the roofs on our entry landing and the deck off the living room. Removing the roof off the entry landing enabled me to understand its construction, and plan for its replacement / rebuild.
After supper I updated our investments summary file and updated my blog. HMMMM ... the stock market has not been doing too well lately, has it ? ! ? I also downloaded and skimmed through the operating manual of the GPS unit in the airplane I rent, in preparation for a "cross country" flight on Tuesday. I have not yet used the GPS in Cessna 172 C-GHBM. All my flights have been totally "visual" navigation. And given that the GPS manual is over 200 pages of techno-geek ... that may not change !
Monday ; Sunny and very warm.
I'm suffering with depression ! < shrug >
I started the day by watering all our plants and gardens, hoping that time in the sun would help me to feel better. I suppose it did.
This afternoon while Joanne did laundry I worked on two "auto body" repair projects.
I used my new Dremel style little grinding tool to grind all the rust off a rusty corner of the camper's bumper, then prime painted it twice, then painted it twice. Then I did the same thing on a rusted spot on a corner of the minivan's front fender. As with all the auto body repair projects I've done, both are less than perfect, but greatly improved, so ... good enough, I guess !
I'm still uncertain / undecided about which of three choices to choose for the entry landing roof and deck roof rebuilding projects.
In the evening I worked on planning for a flight from Penticton to Princeton ( and return ) tomorrow afternoon.
Tuesday ; Sunny and very warm.
This morning we headed to Penticton, to go flying to Princeton, for a very expensive picnic. HA HA HA ! Joanne dropped me off at the airport, then while I prepared to fly she went shopping for about an hour. When she returned, off we went.
As I was doing my pre-takeoff "run up" one of the aircraft's two fuel tank gauges failed.
I had to “return to base” and make a phone call to ascertain whether or not it was okay for me to fly with one fuel gauge inoperable. I had just refilled both wing fuel tanks, so
I knew the aircraft had full fuel, enough for more than five hours of flying. It was okay ... so off we went again.
DanAir flight 422 flew “direct” from Penticton to Princeton. I had to fly a couple of “circuits” around the Penticton airport to gain enough altitude before turning west to fly over the 8000 foot mountains between Penticton and Princeton. There was only about a 1000 foot gap between the tops of the mountains and the bottom of the building cumulus clouds, so there was a lot of turbulence from both the heated mountain tops and the undersides of the clouds. By the time we arrived in Princeton Joanne was feeling a bit queasy.
Landing in Princeton was difficult. There is only one runway, and the strong, gusting winds were blowing right across the runway, so regardless of which direction I chose to land, I would have to battle a ninety degree, strong crosswind.
We had our picnic lunch in Princeton’s fairly new, small “terminal” building. Princeton is an “uncontrolled“, and ... deserted airport. Upon landing, pilots phone the airport manager and are given the terminal building’s door access code.
I contacted “Pacific Radio” at Kamloops Flight Services Station and modified my return flight plan before leaving Princeton. I thought it was likely that flying back to Penticton via the Similkameen River Valley instead of “direct” over the mountains might be more pleasant. I was right. DanAir flight 423 took off from Princeton and followed the Similkameen River to Keremeos, allowing Joanne to see Riverside RV Park Resort from the air for the first time. And there was less turbulence in the valley. At Keremeos, we “turned the corner” and followed Hwy. 3A until I had gained enough altitude ( 7500 feet ) to cross over the mountains and come out over the south end of Skaha Lake at Okanagan Falls, to begin the long descent over Skaha Lake back to Penticton.
I used the GPS in Cessna 172 C-GHBM ( Hotel Bravo Mike ) for the first time. I quite liked it. While flying fairly low through the Similkameen River Valley to view Riverside RV Park Resort the GPS unit kept warning me about “high terrain” danger. The Similkameen River Valley is narrow, and twisting, with steeply rising mountains on each side of the river. There were mountains in front of the propeller, beside the left wing, and beside the right wing. Flying through the Similkameen River Valley at "low" altitude is akin to flying along a roller coaster track. Joanne found it to be quite disconcerting.
After landing in Penticton ... wind blowing straight down runway 16, thank you ...
I dropped Joanne off at Value Village while I went to refill the minivan with fuel and do some home improvement project shopping at Rona. When I returned to Value Village to pick up Joanne, she persuaded me to buy new ( to us ) large binoculars for polar bear viewing in October. My excellent ... but forty-five year old ... binoculars “died” about a year ago.
We were back home about 7 PM. Bo was a bit “out of sorts” because he didn’t get to go “drivey” today and was home alone all day < rolling my eyes >.
Wednesday ; Sunny and very warm, a bit humid.
This morning I took Bo outside for an obedience session. Good dog, Bo, well done !
I puttered around, watering gardens, putting laundered clothing back into the camper, returning books to our clubhouse library.
AND THEN ... < insert drum roll here > ... FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS SEASON ... AND EARLIER THAN ANY OTHER YEAR ... < insert LOUD drum roll here > ...
WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO ... ( said Bo ... HA HA HA ) ... WE PICKED SASKATOONS ! ! !
He was frantic ! HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ... Bo LOOOOOVES picking Saskatoons ! He's been eagerly awaiting this day since we returned home here in late April. HA HA HA ... EAT THOSE S'TOONS, BO !
The Saskatoon berry bush at our RV park's entrance gate is laden with ripening Saskatoons. Usually they are ready to pick about the first of July. Last year we picked too many berries, and some were not sweet enough and / or had too many seeds. Today we decided to pick only the choicest looking, largest, ripe berries ... the best of the best ... but pick less than usual, and pick more frequently as more ripen.
Walking back home, as we passed our RV park's motel style guest suites, coming out of one of the guest suites was a previous neighbour, here for a brief visit. He came over to our place and visited with us briefly in our gazebo, which he helped move from lot 89 to lot 4.
MMMMM ... for my supper tonight I barbecued my second last package of HUGE shrimp I purchased fresh in Los Algodones, Mexico, seasoning them with Cajun seasoning then barbecue poaching them in coconut milk. Too bad I ( slightly ) burned Joanne's pork chops. Sorry, dear ! BUT ... < snicker > ... my shrimp were EXCELLENT !
Thursday ; ELEVENTH ANNIVERSARY OF RETIREMENT
Mostly cloudy, warm, occasional light rain.
I used to consider June 18 to be our "full time RV'ing" anniversary and "homeless, unemployed vagabond" anniversary, but ... since we're no longer full time RV'ing, and are now receiving small pensions ... no longer "unemployed" ... it makes sense to consider June 18 simply our "retirement" anniversary. SO ... today ... eleven years of healthy, happy retirement ! Something that many people ... perhaps most people ... will never be fortunate enough to enjoy. Certainly none of our four parents were that fortunate.
In those eleven years we have travelled 329,138 km. / 205,711 miles. WOW !
Similkameen Trailer Towing got hired today to transport a large fifth wheel trailer from Holiday Park north of Kelowna to a residence in Langley, near Vancouver. Pick up tomorrow near Kelowna, deliver Saturday in Langley.
This afternoon we went into Keremeos. Joanne ran a few errands in town while I got a haircut and beard trim. HMPH ... cost four times more than in Mexico ! HA HA HA ! Afterwards Joanne wanted to go to Cawston to visit the new apple cidery, Twisted Hills Craft Cider. We tasted some of their products and bought two bottles, one alcoholic cider and one non-alcoholic cider. < shrug > For Joanne mostly ... I'm indifferent.
Back at home we removed the truck out from under the camper, installed the fifth wheel hitch into the truck bed, and put tools and supplies for trailer towing into the truck for tomorrow's trailer pick up. I did some measuring and planning for the entry landing roof replacement project. < sigh > I have not yet figured out all the answers to all the questions.
Friday ; Sunny and warm.
We left this morning at 10:15 AM heading for a trailer delivery job. Well, more precisely, a trailer pick up job. The delivery is tomorrow. East on Hwy. 3 to Keremeos, north on Hwy. 3A to Kaleden, north on Hwy. 97 through Penticton, Summerland, Peachland, West Kelowna, and Kelowna to Lake Country. < sigh > The traffic through Kelowna was terrible ! I HATE going through Kelowna !
We picked up a nearly new thirty-four foot fifth wheel trailer from a very large RV park, so ... a relatively easy job. Surprisingly, the traffic congestion had eased by the time we returned southbound through Kelowna. We stopped at Wal-Mart in West Kelowna and ate our picnic lunch in the cab of the truck. We arrived back home at 4:30 PM.
Joanne was eager to visit our neighbour / friend Jeanine who had just returned from Vancouver where she spent a couple of days having an ovarian cancer treatment plan worked out. Her chemotherapy treatments start Monday.
Saturday ; Mostly sunny and warm, a few drops of rain during the last twenty minutes of driving home. WHEW .. tough, long day. Left home at 10 AM, returned home at 8:30 PM.
Left home towing a thirty-four foot fifth wheel trailer, heading west on Hwy. 3, through Princeton to Hope. That's considered to be one of the most difficult and dangerous sections of highway in British Columbia. Very tough to do with a big trailer ! Stopped at Flying J in Hope to refill with diesel and eat our picnic lunch.
From Hope, west on Trans-Canada Highway 1 to the Lower Mainland / Vancouver area, to Langley, a "suburb" of Vancouver. Heavy traffic from Chilliwack all the way through Abbotsford and into Langley. Got a little bit lost in Langley trying to find the delivery location.
Arrived at delivery location exactly when I told client we would. Dropped the trailer off on the client’s fiancé’s driveway, positioned precisely where they wanted it. Received a generous tip, so ... must be doing something right !
On the way back eastbound we stopped at a farm market produce store in the Abbotsford agricultural area and bought some fresh mushrooms, raspberries, and tiny potatoes, all grown locally, and a loaf of homemade bread. Stopped at Flying J in Hope, and refilled with diesel ... again !
Arrived home tired and hungry, with a pocket full of money, and a sense of another job well done !
DSK
Sunday, June 14, 2015
June 7 to 13, 2015 ; exploring Summerland - Princeton Road
Sunday ; Riverside RV Park Resort to Trout Creek Crossing Forest Service Campground
Sunny and hot. Day one of a four day camping trip.
We left home with Lanoire ( the truck ) and Elsie ( the camper ) late this morning. First destination was Penticton, for a teensy bit of Wal-Martin'. Next destination was Summerland. I wanted to offer a face to face apology to last week's trailer delivery client for the water heater bypass valve screw up that was my fault. The client was generous and forgiving, despite having had a cold water shower before going to work last Monday morning. Third destination was West Kelowna ( previously known as Westbank ) to pick up our new mattress for the camper.
Holy mackerel ! I'm typing this at 9 PM at the picnic table beside the campfire in our campsite, and ... I have just been deluged by mosquitoes ! Guess I'm going to have go inside the camper now !
As I was saying ... after picking up the new mattress we went to Superstore in West Kelowna / Westbank. We had a very late lunch in the camper then while Joanne went into the grocery store to buy a few grocery items I pulled over to the fuel bar and refilled Lanoire with diesel. WHEW ... a hundred and thirty bucks ! Thirsty truck !
We "back tracked" south on Hwy. 97 back to Summerland, drove through Summerland, then got onto the Summerland to Princeton road called ... wait for it ...
Summerland - Princeton Road ! HA HA HA ! It's about a 100 km. or so of gravel road through the forest, up and over the mountains. Our goal for this camping trip is to explore all the remote wilderness forest service campgrounds along this route. Our B.C. wilderness campground book indicates that there are four such campgrounds.
When we got to the first one, we decided after looking around that we liked it enough to stay overnight. It has three campsites, two of which have a picnic table and stone fire ring, beside the lovely little stream, Trout Creek, which runs down out of the mountains and into Okanagan Lake at Summerland. We got set up in a site then walked around for awhile exploring. Off leash exploring ! There was no one else in the campground, we had the place entirely to ourselves.
HA HA HA ! It's now 9:15 PM. Some tired little dog just climbed up beside me on the dinette seat and promptly fell asleep ! He's worn out from an afternoon and evening of off leash adventure, including wandering down to the stream to have a drink whenever he felt thirsty.
I fly fished in Trout Creek for awhile, then started a campfire. I cooked supper over the open fire using the folding campfire grill I bought at the SunKatchers RV Park yard sale yesterday. Works great !
Had a great day !
Monday ; Trout Creek Crossing Forest Service Campground to Link Lake Forest Service Campground
Today was sunny and very warm. AHHHHH ... the loons on the lake are "calling" ( at 8:50 PM, just before dusk ).
We had pancakes for breakfast this morning before departing Trout Creek Crossing Forest Service Campground. Bo was incredulous as we left. "What ? We're leaving here ? But ... it's perfect here !" We continued west on Summerland - Princeton Road. Our objective for today was to check out the four remaining Forest Service campgrounds before reaching Princeton.
First one we reached ... Thirsk Lake ... no longer existed. Thirsk Lake is the drinking water source for the city of Summerland, and the perimeter of the entire lake is now fenced, to ensure security for the water.
BO ... stop barking ! It's just a loon ! < rolling eyes >
The next one we reached ... Osprey Lake ... was so lovely we decided to stay for a few hours. I napped. We had lunch. The third one we reached was Link Lake. We drove around checking out the lovely, small, deserted campground, then continued down the road to the final Forest Service campground at Chain Lake West. Chain Lake West was a larger campground, with about twenty campsites, some of them occupied. We decided we would prefer the seclusion of the empty campground at Link Lake and drove back there.
We had a wonderful, lazy afternoon and evening. We read. I fished. We read more.
I fished more. We went for a long hike. While we were hiking down a trail that appeared to be for ATV use Bo was suddenly gnawing on something that was crunching as he chewed on it. BO ... DROP IT ! ! ! ! ! I had to stomp over to him as he chewed rapidly ... < CRUNCH CRUNCH > ... grab him and wrestle it out of his mouth. EEEEEUUUUUWWWWW ... a sun dried fish head ! J***S F*****G H C****T, BO ! ! ! ! !
Early in the evening I lit a campfire. Joanne wrapped chicken thighs, potatoes, carrots, and onions in foil packets and I cooked them to Gordon Ramsay perfection over the campfire. MMMMM ! We sat around enjoying the campfire for awhile then while Joanne went inside the camper to wash dishes I went fishing again. I only fished for about fifteen minutes or so when I realized I was being eaten alive by tiny "no-see-ums" ... little teensy black flies. I retreated to the camper.
Had another great day !
Tuesday ; Link Lake Forest Service Campground to Granite Creek Forest Service Campground
Sunny and very warm.
This morning we leisurely prepared to depart the lovely, secluded campground at Link Lake. We returned to the Summerland - Princeton Road and continued west until we reached Princeton. We refilled our freshwater tank at Barry Beecroft Fuel Distributors. Thank you very much BBFD. We drove northwest on Coalmont - Tulameen Road to the little village of Coalmont and then just a short distance beyond to Granite Creek Forest Service Campground, where Granite Creek empties into the Tulameen River. What a lovely setting. Another really beautiful, remote wilderness, B.C. Forest Service campground.
We selected a site that had its own private beach on the Tulameen River. Joanne prepared lunch and we ate it al fresco. I napped for awhile then went fly fishing.
I walked upstream a few hundred feet to where the mouth of Granite Creek spills into the Tulameen River. It was a teensy bit too windy for fly fishing ... for a rookie like me.
I fished for half an hour or so then returned to our campsite.
We went for a long hike. The campground was surprisingly large, with about two dozen or so campsites spread around a fairly large piece of land, some sites close to the river, some sites much further back into the woods. There were a few other campers in the campground, but everybody was far enough away from each other that everybody had lots of privacy.
I built a campfire again, third in three nights. Again I cooked supper over the open fire, this time Joanne prepared foil packets of sausages, potatoes, carrots, and onions. Shortly after we finished eating supper around 8:30 PM the little black flies /
"no-see-ums" began coming out in full force. We retreated into the camper. It did not become dark outside until after 9:30 PM.
Another great day !
Wednesday ; Granite Creek Forest Service Campground to Princeton to home
Sunny and hot.
We got a lazy, slow start to our day, departing Granite Creek Forest Service Campground about 11:30 AM. As we were preparing to leave, Bo was outside the camper, "exploring" around the campsite and surrounding area by himself when suddenly ... some "buddy" of his showed up. A very friendly and sociable Australian Shepherd from ... somewhere else in the campground ? Or some nearby ranch ? Or from the nearby village of Coalmont ? Bo "introduced" his friend, who made it obvious he wanted to come inside the camper and look around. HA HA HA ... come on in, pal ! He took a look all around the inside of the camper, then ... left. HA HA HA ... see ya, pal !
We drove back to Princeton where we shopped for groceries at Cooper's Foods, the town's supermarket, then we went to Dairy Queen for ice cream treats. Joanne's idea ! About forty-five minutes of driving east on Hwy. 3 and we were home at Riverside RV Park Resort by 3 PM.
What a great four day mini-vacation we had !
MMMMM ... my dear little wifey made my favourite dinner tonight. Thank you so much, my love. And we even had enough leftover Adam's Apple wine from Forbidden Fruit Winery to each have a small glass.
Life is good !
Thursday ; Sunny and hot.
This morning we removed Elsie the truck camper from Lanoire the truck. I reinstalled the fifth wheel hitch into the truck in preparation for a trailer delivery job tomorrow.
I rinsed the gravel road dust off both Elsie and Lanoire. I did some minor maintenance work on Elsie, including removing all the mini-blinds as Joanne requested. She's going to wash them. I downloaded and processed the photos I took on our back roads wilderness camping adventure. Joanne drove into Keremeos and ran some errands. We visited our neighbour and friend Jeanine. In the evening, after a very late supper, we watched the movie "Analyze This" with Billy Crystal and Robert de Niro. AND ...
< swoon > ... Lisa Kudrow !
Friday ; Sunny, cool, windy, sometimes very windy.
Late this morning we headed out in the truck to do a trailer delivery. Same client as two weeks ago. We moved their trailer from Summerland Beach RV Park in Summerland to Barefoot Beach Resort in Penticton. Everything went smoothly. And their new place is much nicer than their previous place. After finishing setting up their trailer we ran errands in Penticton ; refill the propane tank for our barbecue, groceries and supplies at Wal-Mart, refill Lanoire with diesel, groceries at Superstore. We arrived back home about 7:30 PM.
Saturday ; Sunny and warm.
Joanne went by herself to a manufactured home community's "garage sale" near Olalla this morning. We did a bit of gardening this afternoon. Most of the day was a waste ... lost to squabbling !
DSK
Sunny and hot. Day one of a four day camping trip.
We left home with Lanoire ( the truck ) and Elsie ( the camper ) late this morning. First destination was Penticton, for a teensy bit of Wal-Martin'. Next destination was Summerland. I wanted to offer a face to face apology to last week's trailer delivery client for the water heater bypass valve screw up that was my fault. The client was generous and forgiving, despite having had a cold water shower before going to work last Monday morning. Third destination was West Kelowna ( previously known as Westbank ) to pick up our new mattress for the camper.
Holy mackerel ! I'm typing this at 9 PM at the picnic table beside the campfire in our campsite, and ... I have just been deluged by mosquitoes ! Guess I'm going to have go inside the camper now !
As I was saying ... after picking up the new mattress we went to Superstore in West Kelowna / Westbank. We had a very late lunch in the camper then while Joanne went into the grocery store to buy a few grocery items I pulled over to the fuel bar and refilled Lanoire with diesel. WHEW ... a hundred and thirty bucks ! Thirsty truck !
We "back tracked" south on Hwy. 97 back to Summerland, drove through Summerland, then got onto the Summerland to Princeton road called ... wait for it ...
Summerland - Princeton Road ! HA HA HA ! It's about a 100 km. or so of gravel road through the forest, up and over the mountains. Our goal for this camping trip is to explore all the remote wilderness forest service campgrounds along this route. Our B.C. wilderness campground book indicates that there are four such campgrounds.
When we got to the first one, we decided after looking around that we liked it enough to stay overnight. It has three campsites, two of which have a picnic table and stone fire ring, beside the lovely little stream, Trout Creek, which runs down out of the mountains and into Okanagan Lake at Summerland. We got set up in a site then walked around for awhile exploring. Off leash exploring ! There was no one else in the campground, we had the place entirely to ourselves.
HA HA HA ! It's now 9:15 PM. Some tired little dog just climbed up beside me on the dinette seat and promptly fell asleep ! He's worn out from an afternoon and evening of off leash adventure, including wandering down to the stream to have a drink whenever he felt thirsty.
I fly fished in Trout Creek for awhile, then started a campfire. I cooked supper over the open fire using the folding campfire grill I bought at the SunKatchers RV Park yard sale yesterday. Works great !
Had a great day !
Today was sunny and very warm. AHHHHH ... the loons on the lake are "calling" ( at 8:50 PM, just before dusk ).
We had pancakes for breakfast this morning before departing Trout Creek Crossing Forest Service Campground. Bo was incredulous as we left. "What ? We're leaving here ? But ... it's perfect here !" We continued west on Summerland - Princeton Road. Our objective for today was to check out the four remaining Forest Service campgrounds before reaching Princeton.
First one we reached ... Thirsk Lake ... no longer existed. Thirsk Lake is the drinking water source for the city of Summerland, and the perimeter of the entire lake is now fenced, to ensure security for the water.
BO ... stop barking ! It's just a loon ! < rolling eyes >
The next one we reached ... Osprey Lake ... was so lovely we decided to stay for a few hours. I napped. We had lunch. The third one we reached was Link Lake. We drove around checking out the lovely, small, deserted campground, then continued down the road to the final Forest Service campground at Chain Lake West. Chain Lake West was a larger campground, with about twenty campsites, some of them occupied. We decided we would prefer the seclusion of the empty campground at Link Lake and drove back there.
We had a wonderful, lazy afternoon and evening. We read. I fished. We read more.
I fished more. We went for a long hike. While we were hiking down a trail that appeared to be for ATV use Bo was suddenly gnawing on something that was crunching as he chewed on it. BO ... DROP IT ! ! ! ! ! I had to stomp over to him as he chewed rapidly ... < CRUNCH CRUNCH > ... grab him and wrestle it out of his mouth. EEEEEUUUUUWWWWW ... a sun dried fish head ! J***S F*****G H C****T, BO ! ! ! ! !
Early in the evening I lit a campfire. Joanne wrapped chicken thighs, potatoes, carrots, and onions in foil packets and I cooked them to Gordon Ramsay perfection over the campfire. MMMMM ! We sat around enjoying the campfire for awhile then while Joanne went inside the camper to wash dishes I went fishing again. I only fished for about fifteen minutes or so when I realized I was being eaten alive by tiny "no-see-ums" ... little teensy black flies. I retreated to the camper.
Had another great day !
Tuesday ; Link Lake Forest Service Campground to Granite Creek Forest Service Campground
Sunny and very warm.
This morning we leisurely prepared to depart the lovely, secluded campground at Link Lake. We returned to the Summerland - Princeton Road and continued west until we reached Princeton. We refilled our freshwater tank at Barry Beecroft Fuel Distributors. Thank you very much BBFD. We drove northwest on Coalmont - Tulameen Road to the little village of Coalmont and then just a short distance beyond to Granite Creek Forest Service Campground, where Granite Creek empties into the Tulameen River. What a lovely setting. Another really beautiful, remote wilderness, B.C. Forest Service campground.
We selected a site that had its own private beach on the Tulameen River. Joanne prepared lunch and we ate it al fresco. I napped for awhile then went fly fishing.
I walked upstream a few hundred feet to where the mouth of Granite Creek spills into the Tulameen River. It was a teensy bit too windy for fly fishing ... for a rookie like me.
I fished for half an hour or so then returned to our campsite.
We went for a long hike. The campground was surprisingly large, with about two dozen or so campsites spread around a fairly large piece of land, some sites close to the river, some sites much further back into the woods. There were a few other campers in the campground, but everybody was far enough away from each other that everybody had lots of privacy.
I built a campfire again, third in three nights. Again I cooked supper over the open fire, this time Joanne prepared foil packets of sausages, potatoes, carrots, and onions. Shortly after we finished eating supper around 8:30 PM the little black flies /
"no-see-ums" began coming out in full force. We retreated into the camper. It did not become dark outside until after 9:30 PM.
Another great day !
Wednesday ; Granite Creek Forest Service Campground to Princeton to home
Sunny and hot.
We got a lazy, slow start to our day, departing Granite Creek Forest Service Campground about 11:30 AM. As we were preparing to leave, Bo was outside the camper, "exploring" around the campsite and surrounding area by himself when suddenly ... some "buddy" of his showed up. A very friendly and sociable Australian Shepherd from ... somewhere else in the campground ? Or some nearby ranch ? Or from the nearby village of Coalmont ? Bo "introduced" his friend, who made it obvious he wanted to come inside the camper and look around. HA HA HA ... come on in, pal ! He took a look all around the inside of the camper, then ... left. HA HA HA ... see ya, pal !
We drove back to Princeton where we shopped for groceries at Cooper's Foods, the town's supermarket, then we went to Dairy Queen for ice cream treats. Joanne's idea ! About forty-five minutes of driving east on Hwy. 3 and we were home at Riverside RV Park Resort by 3 PM.
What a great four day mini-vacation we had !
MMMMM ... my dear little wifey made my favourite dinner tonight. Thank you so much, my love. And we even had enough leftover Adam's Apple wine from Forbidden Fruit Winery to each have a small glass.
Life is good !
Thursday ; Sunny and hot.
This morning we removed Elsie the truck camper from Lanoire the truck. I reinstalled the fifth wheel hitch into the truck in preparation for a trailer delivery job tomorrow.
I rinsed the gravel road dust off both Elsie and Lanoire. I did some minor maintenance work on Elsie, including removing all the mini-blinds as Joanne requested. She's going to wash them. I downloaded and processed the photos I took on our back roads wilderness camping adventure. Joanne drove into Keremeos and ran some errands. We visited our neighbour and friend Jeanine. In the evening, after a very late supper, we watched the movie "Analyze This" with Billy Crystal and Robert de Niro. AND ...
< swoon > ... Lisa Kudrow !
Friday ; Sunny, cool, windy, sometimes very windy.
Late this morning we headed out in the truck to do a trailer delivery. Same client as two weeks ago. We moved their trailer from Summerland Beach RV Park in Summerland to Barefoot Beach Resort in Penticton. Everything went smoothly. And their new place is much nicer than their previous place. After finishing setting up their trailer we ran errands in Penticton ; refill the propane tank for our barbecue, groceries and supplies at Wal-Mart, refill Lanoire with diesel, groceries at Superstore. We arrived back home about 7:30 PM.
Saturday ; Sunny and warm.
Joanne went by herself to a manufactured home community's "garage sale" near Olalla this morning. We did a bit of gardening this afternoon. Most of the day was a waste ... lost to squabbling !
DSK
Saturday, June 6, 2015
May 31 to June 6, 2015
Sunday ; Sunny and warm.
WHEW ... a long day of work for Similkameen Trailer Towing. We left home at 9:15 AM. I was hoping we would be back home around 5 PM. We actually arrived back home at
7 PM. BUT ... the very generous tip ( $111.25 ) given by the client made up for the extra couple of hours.
We drove to Penticton and met the client. We followed him to Lake Country, a bit north of Kelowna on Hwy. 97. Picking up the 36 foot long, 14,000 pound fifth wheel trailer was routine / uneventful. I suggested to the client that we stop at a mall in Kelowna so that he could have lunch at a fast food restaurant while Joanne and I ate our picnic lunch in the truck. While parked in the mall parking lot I noticed anti-freeze leaking out of the trailer's water heater. Uh-oh ! A winterization problem. UH-OH ! ! ! The anti-freeze was green ! ! ! Toxic automotive anti-freeze was used to winterize the trailer instead of the correct pink, non-toxic, RV plumbing anti-freeze.
The client was understandably not too pleased ! We pulled the sacrificial anode drain plug out of the water heater ... I happened to have the correct odd sized socket necessary to do that ... and drained the remaining small amount of toxic anti-freeze left in the water heater. We continued southbound to Summerland, to the RV park where the client had rented a site. With just a bit of difficulty we got parked in the ( too ) small RV site, then spent about three hours ... two hours longer than expected ... getting the trailer completely set up, and the client and his family "trained" / in RV systems operations. There was a problem with sewer connections that necessitated two trips to Canadian Tire in Penticton for sewer hoses and connectors, causing much of the delay. We also got the remaining toxic anti-freeze drained out of the freshwater holding tank and water pump. SO ... all's well that ends well !
Monday ; Started out sunny and warm, a bit humid, becoming cloudy and raining in the afternoon, at times extremely heavy rain.
First priority of the day was getting the fifth wheel hitch out of the truck and getting the truck parked back under the camper. This RV park does not allow campers to be "stored" in one's yard, off its truck. SO ... I have begun to "park" the truck underneath the camper which is raised up on its jacks. It appears as if the camper is "on" the truck, and everybody seems happy < rolling my eyes >. Then I used an electric grinder to grind the fifth wheel hitch plate down to clean, bare metal. I spray painted it with primer paint, then painted it with two coats of gloss black spray paint. Just like new !
Joanne continued working on cleaning the blinds in the house, requiring my assistance occasionally. I spoke on the phone with yesterday's trailer delivery client, trying but failing to solve his water heater problem. I reconciled month end banking statements. In the evening, while we watched The Bachelorette, I updated my investment files.
When I took Bo for a mid-day walk, we encountered six deer grazing beside the park's entrance driveway and down into the "burn pile" area. Bo barked loudly until the deer scampered away. He's SOOO pleased with himself when he "stampedes" animals away.
Tuesday ; Cloudy and mild.
This morning Joanne went to Penticton by herself for a day of running errands.
I installed the camper onto the truck. That's a job that's easier with two people !
I replaced a valve extender on the truck. One of the truck's tires has been losing air very slowly and that's almost always a dually valve extender problem. I loaded some stuff into the camper in preparation for an upcoming short camping trip. I gave Bo a bath.
< sniff sniff > He smells nice. That won't last ! I went bicycling.
When I removed the fluorescent green safety vest that I wear when bicycling, there was a small Black Widow spider on it. HMPH ! I flicked the spider off the vest off with my fingertip. BUT ... the spider stuck to my finger. Just as I was about to shake it off my finger ... it spewed venom all over my fingernail ! HEY ... I've just been "bit" by a Black Widow spider ! ! ! Good thing it was on my fingernail, and not on flesh ! Close call,
I guess !
Wednesday ; Cloudy, intermittent drizzle, chilly.
This morning we headed into town for lab appointments and other errands. I had blood drawn, and an electrocardiogram done. Joanne had blood drawn, left a urine sample, and picked up a FIT ( fecal something test ) cancer screening kit. It was tiresome listening to the backlog of "walk in" clients bitching about the new appointment procedures. HEY ... the new process works great. Select an available appointment time from the book, and come back in a week or less, whenever your selected appointment is. If you absolutely need your lab work done today ... head to Penticton ! Or sit there, shut up, and wait / hope that the lab technician will be able to get to you ... AFTER all the people with appointments are taken care of ! ! !
I picked up prescription refills at PharmaSave. I renewed the truck's insurance ,and purchased insurance for the truck camper. For the year and a half that we have owned the truck camper it has been uninsured. I've decided that it is a valuable enough asset that it should be insured.
This afternoon I received a phone call from a potential client requesting a quote on a long distance trailer delivery job. He was dissatisfied with my quote so I expect not to hear from him again. I did an obedience session with Bo. I harvested lettuce from our garden for the first time this year. Of course, I napped after lunch. I updated medical expense and prescription files. I'm so well organized / anal retentive / OCD. HA HA HA ! We took Bo for a play session in the dog park. It was a short session. BRRRRR !
Thursday ; The day started out cloudy and cool, and became sunny and warm.
Joanne went to Keremeos by herself this morning to run some errands. While she was gone I loaded some firewood into the camper in preparation for an upcoming short camping trip. This afternoon we visited briefly with our neighbour / friend Jeanine. In the evening I did some financial records reconciliation.
Friday ; Mostly sunny and hot. BUT ... just enough intermittent cloud to prevent the use of the Sun Oven. Oh, well ... maybe tomorrow ?
This morning I did a small amount of work getting the camper ready for our upcoming short camping trip, then blew off the rest of the morning chatting with neighbours about tomorrow's special budget meeting. Hopefully there will be enough opposition to defeat the budget proposal ... AGAIN ! It was already defeated at the annual general meeting recently, and now there is a revised budget proposal to vote on.
This afternoon we did some gardening, including some harvesting. We are already harvesting lettuce and radishes out of our garden. I watered all our gardens and planters and our two composters. I read. I napped. I read some more. I napped some more. HA HA HA ! We took Bo to the dog park, but there were mosquitoes there, so we went for a long walk around the RV park.
My trailer delivery client from last Sunday phoned. He wants to be moved. Okay ! There was an RV across the street from them destroyed by fire this week, and they were worried by how small the lots are and how vulnerable each unit is to fire damage if an adjacent unit catches fire. They have found an RV park in Penticton that they like better so in one week I will move them.
He also called to tell me that he identified and resolved the water heater problem that they had. AND ... < sputter > ... I feel that it was entirely my fault. I'm embarrassed ... and extremely sorry ! The water heater problem was caused by something I overlooked during set up. I will try to compensate him and his family for the inconvenience I caused them by "adjusting" my billing for next week's relocation. What an “amateur” mistake
I made !
Saturday ; Sunny and hot, 34° C / 93° F. AHHHHH ... summer has arrived ! Time to go "vagabonding". For supper we cooked a chicken, carrot, and potato recipe in the Sun Oven.
This morning we headed to SunKatchers, the RV park "next door" for their annual "yard sale". Every year we find interesting and useful things to buy at SunKatcher's yard sale, and this year was no exception.
This afternoon I continued my unsuccessful attempts to contact a campground in Thompson, Manitoba regarding our fall polar bear viewing trip. I was successful in contacting a campground near Grand Rapids, Manitoba, halfway between Winnipeg and Thompson, but ... < sputter > ... based on their quoted rate of $25 to provide an unserviced overnight parking spot and a freshwater tank refill in the morning, I don't think we'll be doing business with them !
This afternoon we prepared to depart tomorrow for a short camping trip. There wasn't much preparation to do. The camper is pretty much ready to go at any time. Joanne loaded food into the fridge. Before it got too hot I did an agility session with Bo. Well done, Bo, good dog ! For an old dog, you've still "got it". I hope the same can be said for me. HA HA HA !
We got the living room air conditioner functional for the first time this season. We brought the bedroom's evaporative / "swamp" cooler in from the shed and got it functional for the first time this season. We took Bo for a brief play session in the dog park, then went for a long walk along the riverfront walkway and around the RV park. WHEW ... too hot and too long a walk for an old, little dog. Sorry, Bo !
DSK
WHEW ... a long day of work for Similkameen Trailer Towing. We left home at 9:15 AM. I was hoping we would be back home around 5 PM. We actually arrived back home at
7 PM. BUT ... the very generous tip ( $111.25 ) given by the client made up for the extra couple of hours.
We drove to Penticton and met the client. We followed him to Lake Country, a bit north of Kelowna on Hwy. 97. Picking up the 36 foot long, 14,000 pound fifth wheel trailer was routine / uneventful. I suggested to the client that we stop at a mall in Kelowna so that he could have lunch at a fast food restaurant while Joanne and I ate our picnic lunch in the truck. While parked in the mall parking lot I noticed anti-freeze leaking out of the trailer's water heater. Uh-oh ! A winterization problem. UH-OH ! ! ! The anti-freeze was green ! ! ! Toxic automotive anti-freeze was used to winterize the trailer instead of the correct pink, non-toxic, RV plumbing anti-freeze.
The client was understandably not too pleased ! We pulled the sacrificial anode drain plug out of the water heater ... I happened to have the correct odd sized socket necessary to do that ... and drained the remaining small amount of toxic anti-freeze left in the water heater. We continued southbound to Summerland, to the RV park where the client had rented a site. With just a bit of difficulty we got parked in the ( too ) small RV site, then spent about three hours ... two hours longer than expected ... getting the trailer completely set up, and the client and his family "trained" / in RV systems operations. There was a problem with sewer connections that necessitated two trips to Canadian Tire in Penticton for sewer hoses and connectors, causing much of the delay. We also got the remaining toxic anti-freeze drained out of the freshwater holding tank and water pump. SO ... all's well that ends well !
Monday ; Started out sunny and warm, a bit humid, becoming cloudy and raining in the afternoon, at times extremely heavy rain.
First priority of the day was getting the fifth wheel hitch out of the truck and getting the truck parked back under the camper. This RV park does not allow campers to be "stored" in one's yard, off its truck. SO ... I have begun to "park" the truck underneath the camper which is raised up on its jacks. It appears as if the camper is "on" the truck, and everybody seems happy < rolling my eyes >. Then I used an electric grinder to grind the fifth wheel hitch plate down to clean, bare metal. I spray painted it with primer paint, then painted it with two coats of gloss black spray paint. Just like new !
Joanne continued working on cleaning the blinds in the house, requiring my assistance occasionally. I spoke on the phone with yesterday's trailer delivery client, trying but failing to solve his water heater problem. I reconciled month end banking statements. In the evening, while we watched The Bachelorette, I updated my investment files.
When I took Bo for a mid-day walk, we encountered six deer grazing beside the park's entrance driveway and down into the "burn pile" area. Bo barked loudly until the deer scampered away. He's SOOO pleased with himself when he "stampedes" animals away.
Tuesday ; Cloudy and mild.
This morning Joanne went to Penticton by herself for a day of running errands.
I installed the camper onto the truck. That's a job that's easier with two people !
I replaced a valve extender on the truck. One of the truck's tires has been losing air very slowly and that's almost always a dually valve extender problem. I loaded some stuff into the camper in preparation for an upcoming short camping trip. I gave Bo a bath.
< sniff sniff > He smells nice. That won't last ! I went bicycling.
When I removed the fluorescent green safety vest that I wear when bicycling, there was a small Black Widow spider on it. HMPH ! I flicked the spider off the vest off with my fingertip. BUT ... the spider stuck to my finger. Just as I was about to shake it off my finger ... it spewed venom all over my fingernail ! HEY ... I've just been "bit" by a Black Widow spider ! ! ! Good thing it was on my fingernail, and not on flesh ! Close call,
I guess !
Wednesday ; Cloudy, intermittent drizzle, chilly.
This morning we headed into town for lab appointments and other errands. I had blood drawn, and an electrocardiogram done. Joanne had blood drawn, left a urine sample, and picked up a FIT ( fecal something test ) cancer screening kit. It was tiresome listening to the backlog of "walk in" clients bitching about the new appointment procedures. HEY ... the new process works great. Select an available appointment time from the book, and come back in a week or less, whenever your selected appointment is. If you absolutely need your lab work done today ... head to Penticton ! Or sit there, shut up, and wait / hope that the lab technician will be able to get to you ... AFTER all the people with appointments are taken care of ! ! !
I picked up prescription refills at PharmaSave. I renewed the truck's insurance ,and purchased insurance for the truck camper. For the year and a half that we have owned the truck camper it has been uninsured. I've decided that it is a valuable enough asset that it should be insured.
This afternoon I received a phone call from a potential client requesting a quote on a long distance trailer delivery job. He was dissatisfied with my quote so I expect not to hear from him again. I did an obedience session with Bo. I harvested lettuce from our garden for the first time this year. Of course, I napped after lunch. I updated medical expense and prescription files. I'm so well organized / anal retentive / OCD. HA HA HA ! We took Bo for a play session in the dog park. It was a short session. BRRRRR !
Thursday ; The day started out cloudy and cool, and became sunny and warm.
Joanne went to Keremeos by herself this morning to run some errands. While she was gone I loaded some firewood into the camper in preparation for an upcoming short camping trip. This afternoon we visited briefly with our neighbour / friend Jeanine. In the evening I did some financial records reconciliation.
Friday ; Mostly sunny and hot. BUT ... just enough intermittent cloud to prevent the use of the Sun Oven. Oh, well ... maybe tomorrow ?
This morning I did a small amount of work getting the camper ready for our upcoming short camping trip, then blew off the rest of the morning chatting with neighbours about tomorrow's special budget meeting. Hopefully there will be enough opposition to defeat the budget proposal ... AGAIN ! It was already defeated at the annual general meeting recently, and now there is a revised budget proposal to vote on.
This afternoon we did some gardening, including some harvesting. We are already harvesting lettuce and radishes out of our garden. I watered all our gardens and planters and our two composters. I read. I napped. I read some more. I napped some more. HA HA HA ! We took Bo to the dog park, but there were mosquitoes there, so we went for a long walk around the RV park.
My trailer delivery client from last Sunday phoned. He wants to be moved. Okay ! There was an RV across the street from them destroyed by fire this week, and they were worried by how small the lots are and how vulnerable each unit is to fire damage if an adjacent unit catches fire. They have found an RV park in Penticton that they like better so in one week I will move them.
He also called to tell me that he identified and resolved the water heater problem that they had. AND ... < sputter > ... I feel that it was entirely my fault. I'm embarrassed ... and extremely sorry ! The water heater problem was caused by something I overlooked during set up. I will try to compensate him and his family for the inconvenience I caused them by "adjusting" my billing for next week's relocation. What an “amateur” mistake
I made !
Saturday ; Sunny and hot, 34° C / 93° F. AHHHHH ... summer has arrived ! Time to go "vagabonding". For supper we cooked a chicken, carrot, and potato recipe in the Sun Oven.
This morning we headed to SunKatchers, the RV park "next door" for their annual "yard sale". Every year we find interesting and useful things to buy at SunKatcher's yard sale, and this year was no exception.
This afternoon I continued my unsuccessful attempts to contact a campground in Thompson, Manitoba regarding our fall polar bear viewing trip. I was successful in contacting a campground near Grand Rapids, Manitoba, halfway between Winnipeg and Thompson, but ... < sputter > ... based on their quoted rate of $25 to provide an unserviced overnight parking spot and a freshwater tank refill in the morning, I don't think we'll be doing business with them !
This afternoon we prepared to depart tomorrow for a short camping trip. There wasn't much preparation to do. The camper is pretty much ready to go at any time. Joanne loaded food into the fridge. Before it got too hot I did an agility session with Bo. Well done, Bo, good dog ! For an old dog, you've still "got it". I hope the same can be said for me. HA HA HA !
We got the living room air conditioner functional for the first time this season. We brought the bedroom's evaporative / "swamp" cooler in from the shed and got it functional for the first time this season. We took Bo for a brief play session in the dog park, then went for a long walk along the riverfront walkway and around the RV park. WHEW ... too hot and too long a walk for an old, little dog. Sorry, Bo !
DSK
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