After lunch we headed into town to refill our five gallon water jug, buy some fresh produce, and attend Kars Under The "K", our local, annual, antique and classic car show. After returning home I spent most of the rest of the afternoon continuing to work on the truck camper rot repair project. Progress is slow but coming along well.
Monday ; Cloudy, hot, humid.
This afternoon our 94 year old friend Eilene came for a visit. On an annual basis, Eilene and her long time travelling buddy Dorothy and Eilene's daughter Alice drive from Oregon to Williams Lake, BC, to visit Dorothy's sister. The group left Williams Lake very early this morning on their way back home to Oregon, and stopped here for a brief rest and visit. These old ladies drive HARD ! Two days from Williams Lake, B.C. to The Dalles, Oregon ( Eilene's home ) to Portland, Oregon ( Dorothy's home ). Joanne prepared grilled mint julep peaches as a snack for the ladies. AND ... the candied "smoked" salmon that I prepared yesterday in the Sun Oven for today's lunch got diverted to become tonight's supper on the road for the ladies. Triscuit crackers with cream cheese and candied salmon. YUM ! Joanne would have put cucumber slices on the crackers as well, except that U.S. Agriculture would have probably not allowed the cucumber across the border, and Joanne didn't want to risk having the ladies' "road supper" confiscated and discarded.
I continued working on the camper rot repair project. Joanne did as well. She's working on cleaning / removing old, dried caulking and sealant from the aluminum skin and mouldings.
Tuesday ; Cloudy, hot, humid.
First thing this morning Joanne headed to town for a doctor's appointment. The visit with the doctor marked the end of her annual cancer screening processes. AND ... hopefully ... it ends her relationship with that jerk of a doctor who retires next month ! She looks forward to a new doctor next spring.
In addition to continuing to work on the camper rot repair project, today I also worked on two other projects, both best tackled while I have the rear lower skirt of the camper torn apart. First I worked on the removal, repositioning, and replacement of the freshwater tank drain hose and valve. Then I worked on finding and resolving the source of a small leak somewhere in the plumbing underneath the bathroom. The freshwater tank drain valve project will require the purchase of some hardware. And while I identified the location and cause of the leak ... a cracked drain pipe ... it's so inaccessible and complex a problem that it will have to be deferred until January in Yuma. It will be a big job to fix a small problem ! ! !
Wednesday ; Cloudy, chilly, raining in the evening. Had to wear long pants, socks, and shoes for the first time in a couple of months.
After I made pancakes for brunch we headed to Penticton. We ran a few errands before our early afternoon annual meeting with our financial advisor. After our meeting we ran more errands until it was time to head to Okanagan Lake Park at 5 PM for PeachFest's opening.
We found a good parking spot nearby ... right place, right time, car backing out of a parking spot ... and in Okanagan Lake Park we set up our folding chairs in a good spot to see the late evening concert. We wandered around looking at all the food and merchandise vendors. We bumped into and chatted with a previous trailer towing client. We watched the Lumberjack Show, a crew of young lumberjacks demonstrating their axe throwing, wood cutting, tree climbing, log rolling skills. Darn good things they have those skills ... 'cause they sure as hell wouldn't make it as stand up comedians !
At 6 PM everybody turned their attention to the Okanagan Lake waterfront, anticipating the half hour opening show performed by the Canadian Forces precision flight demonstration team The Snowbirds. My heroes ! ! ! HA HA HA ! The last time we attended the PeachFest opening with a performance by the Snowbirds a few years ago, their show was cancelled due to rain. And tonight was almost the same ! The clouds were low, and there was light drizzle falling. Everybody expected that the show would be cancelled. But at about 6:15 PM ... TA-DA ... THE SNOWBIRDS ! ! !
They put on a half hour show of precision formation and aerobatics flight. MAN ... they ****in' move me ! ! ! HA HA HA !
As their show ended at almost 7 PM, the rain began falling heavier. We decided ...as did much of the crowd ... that it was too cold and too wet to watch local entertainers on the main stage until the headliners ... Canadian rock group from the 80's Barney Bentall & The Legendary Hearts ... came on at 9:15 PM. We left ... as did almost everybody else. Which created a pretty bad traffic jam in downtown Penticton ! Eventually we made it to China Palace, a buffet restaurant where we had supper. Wasn't great ! By then I was tired and ready to head home. Joanne insisted that we shop for groceries at Superstore first. She won that argument. Regrettably ! By the time we arrived home it was after 10 PM, and we were both very tired.
I hate driving in the dark in the rain !
Thursday ; Mostly sunny, cool in the morning, very warm in the afternoon.
Joanne took our neighbour / friend Jeanine to Penticton Hospital today for tests and chemotherapy. They were gone all day.
I replaced the truck camper's freshwater tank drain system this afternoon, using new hoses, new fittings, and relocating it. So ... now it actually functions ! As opposed to the original drain system installation by the factory some eighteen years ago, which has not been functional since we purchased the camper a year and a half ago !
I also continued working on the lower rear skirt rot repair / rebuild project. And today
I competed the "rebuild". So ... the real hard work is done. And all the questions are ( hopefully ) answered. And all the problems are ( hopefully ) solved. Now all that remains is reassembly. Although ... that's not as simple as you might think !
At 9 AM this morning the contractor that I hired to replace the metal roofing on our entry landing and on our deck arrived with the metal roofing panels, ready to start work. Two men, one young, two and a half hours, and the job was done ! It's disheartening to watch an agile young man scramble around on and off ladders, on and off the roofs, in and out of tight squeezes between lumber stringers, and realize ... yes, yes, I'm too old to do that < heavy sigh >. Which is why my dear little wifey nagged me to hire somebody to do the "up top" part of the job < another heavy sigh >. I'll do the "underneath" part of the job, installing new soffit panels. After the truck camper dry rot repair / rebuild project is finished.
Today I feel old !
After the contractor finished I drove into town to refill the barbecue propane tank, get some coinage and small bills at the bank ( for tomorrow's community yard sale ), and pick up a prescription at PharmaSave. While at PharmaSave I bought some stye medication for Joanne, who woke up this morning with a swollen, inflamed eyelid. When I got home ... < sigh > ... Joanne did not want the stye medication. Partially because it seemed to be old stock, with an expiry date soon. < sigh > I'll have to return it for a refund.
I continued working on the truck camper dry rot repair / rebuild project. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel ! It's looking great ! And more importantly, it's better than new ! Where the Lance factory used 1" x 2" strapping lumber and chip board ( known here in B.C. as "beaver puke" ), I used solid wood and metal plate. And I waterproofed the wood ! It might rot again. But not during my lifetime !
We were both up earlier than usual today to participate in Riverside RV Park Resort's annual community yard sale. First time for us ! We drove down to the front entrance area where participants were setting up their items for sale near our community mail boxes. I unloaded our items for sale from the minivan and left Joanne there to sell them, from 8 AM until noon.
The community yard sale was a dismal failure, for all concerned. The highway between us and town was closed all morning due to a fire between us and town. So ... no traffic could get through from town to us ! ! ! Four hours of sitting out in the hot sun, with no customers. Result ; tired, crabby wife !
I did a teensy bit of fussing and fiddling with the metal roofing installed yesterday.
I continued working on the camper rot repair project. I am very near to completing that project ! We drove into town late in the afternoon to refill our water jug, buy silicone caulking, return an item to PharmaSave, and buy fresh produce at Sanderson Farm. The local fire department was still working on the fire. It was on the Alexis Reservation. A couple of acres of scruffy brush had burned, some trees along the river front were still smouldering, under the supervision of the firefighters a local contractor was knocking them down with a bulldozer, a few decrepit old buildings had burned, a yard full of hulks of vehicles had burned. It was a mess, but then again ... that place had been a mess before it caught fire and burned ! ! ! Not exactly a "Better Homes & Gardens" kind of place. HA HA HA !
DSK
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