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
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