September 20 to 26, 2015 ; Rock Creek, British Columbia to Winnipeg, Manitoba

Sunday ; Rock Creek to Cranbrook, B.C.

Partially sunny, mild, raining at Cranbrook in the evening.

This morning we left the Rock Creek Fall Fair and continued east on Hwy. 3. At Grand Forks we refilled with diesel at the Extra Foods Fuel Bar then drove to the municipal sani-dump station behind the arena and curling rink to dump our waste holding tanks and refill our freshwater holding tank. From there we drove to downtown Grand Forks and parked near the Russian restaurant where we wanted to have a bowl of their famous borscht for lunch.

WHAT ? ! ?   CLOSED ON SUNDAY ? ! ?   Shit !   We left Grand Forks and continued east on Hwy. 3, planning to stop at Christina Lake for lunch. As we approached Christina Lake I saw a road sign indicating that we were only about an hour away from Castlegar. MMMMM ... Castlegar ! With the Doukhobor Museum ! That has the wonderful Doukhobor restaurant ! That serves that wonderful borscht ! AND ... varenyky ( Russian version of perogies ) swimming in melted butter ! ! !  MMMMM ! ! !  
I suggested to Joanne that I could easily wait another hour for lunch if it meant I could eat at the Doukhobor Museum Restaurant ! She concurred. WOO-HOO !

When we arrived at Castlegar, and found our way to the Doukhobor Museum Restaurant ... WHAT ? ! ?  CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS ? ! ?  SHIT ! ! ! ! !  We parked on the museum grounds and had a late lunch in the camper.

As Joanne was preparing lunch I took Bo for a walk. Underneath a windbreak of decorative Norway Spruce trees I found some LBM’s ... little brown mushrooms. My wild mushroom identification book cautions very strongly against picking and eating LBM’s if they can’t be positively identified. I picked one mushroom and while eating lunch in the camper I pored over my wild mushroom identification book.

WHAT ? ! ?   KING BOLETES ? ! ?   a.k.a. PORCINIS ? ! ?   To quote the book ... “one of the five most highly esteemed mushrooms in the world” ! < blink blink > Am I certain of my identification ? I read that section of the book again and again. I read it out loud to Joanne. She concurred. We “tested” as indicated. We compared to the pictures. The locale, trees, ground cover, time of year were all correct. Okay ! Let’s pick some and cook ‘em ! We took Bo for a fun obedience / hide and seek session, searching for more mushrooms under the trees, in the mossy ground covered by spruce needles as we played with Bo.

We continued east on Hwy. 3. Shortly before reaching Cranbrook we took a short detour to check out a B.C. Forest Service Recreation Site wilderness campground as a potential overnight boondock spot. It wasn’t suitable ! We continued on to Cranbrook where we parked overnight in the Superstore parking lot. We arrived minutes before darkness and the rain began. Joanne easily peeled the slightly slimy skin off the caps of the mushrooms, as instructed in the wild mushroom identification book, sliced them, seasoned them, and sautéed them, serving them with our supper of Lazy Cabbage Rolls. Which was appropriate, since the book said that King Boletes go very well with grain or rice dishes.

They were excellent ! I am typing this a couple of hours after supper, and neither of us is sick.   Yet !   Wish us luck ! ! !

Monday ; Cranbrook, British Columbia to Taber, Alberta

Sunny and warm in B.C., sunny and cold in Alberta. Is Alberta always cold ?

Taber, Alberta ! Tagline should be ; "Taber ... Nothin' but losers and Hutterites" HA HA HA ! Did I just say that out loud ? Hopefully nobody from Taber will ever read my blog ! Why would they ? I use sentences with more than five words ! HA HA HA HA HA ! Oh, Dan ... you have to stop now ! HA HA HA ... Joanne just looked out the window at the Wal-Mart parking lot, noticed that we're the only RV here, and asked ; "So ... Taber is so "low brow" that even RV'ers won't stop here ?" HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! See ! It's not just me ! Now ... a few minutes later ... Joanne has gone out to the truck cab to put away her sunglasses and noticed ... a pickup truck in the Wal-Mart parking lot sporting a Confederate flag ! ! ! SEE ! I'm tellin' ya !

Last night while parked in the Superstore parking lot in Cranbrook, B.C. I was able to connect to an unsecured Wi-Fi signal. YIPPEE ! I had some online work to do so this morning I fired up our little generator and spent an hour or so doing online work, including e-mail and some banking and posting last week's blog entry. While I did that Joanne went shopping to Superstore and Dollar Tree. We refilled with diesel at the Superstore Fuel Bar, then drove to the municipal sani-dump station behind the Chamber of Commerce where we dumped our waste holding tanks and refilled our freshwater tank. So ... by the time we left Cranbrook it was already 1 PM.

It was a long, tiring day of driving through the Canadian Rockies. As we came through the Crowsnest Pass from British Columbia into Alberta, and passed through the little town of Blairmore, I couldn't help but think of the little two year old girl murdered there less than a week ago, abducted after her young father was killed. Today was likely the funeral day for both of them.

Shortly after the Crowsnest Pass the Rocky Mountains ended and Alberta's ranch lands began. Our objective for today was to make it to Medicine Hat, but due to our late start from Cranbrook we didn't make it.

AND ... more than twenty-four hours after our "Great Mushroom Adventure" we feel fine. No ill effects whatsoever. SO ... my identification of those mushrooms as King Boletes / Porcinis was obviously correct. We picked and cooked so many that we ate them again as leftovers at lunch time today. They were even good cold !

Tuesday ; Taber, Alberta to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

Sunny ! Windy all day, cool in the morning, mild in the afternoon, COLD in the evening !

Before leaving the Taber, Alberta Wal-Mart parking lot this morning we pulled over to the Co-op Fuel bar to refill with diesel. At every fuel station I have been to, in three countries, where there are multiple fuel "islands", only the "outer" two islands have diesel pumps. In Taber, Alberta, every one of the half dozen or so islands had diesel. HA HA HA ... interesting demographic !

After refilling with diesel we continued eastbound on Hwy. 3. At Medicine Hat we merged onto Trans-Canada Hwy. 1. On the east side of Medicine Hat we stopped at a large RV dealer where I bought a new water pump for the truck camper. At the Alberta / Saskatchewan border we stopped at the ( closed for the season ! ) Alberta Tourist Information Centre. We dumped our grey ( shower ) waste holding tank at the
sani-dump station ... which had no freshwater available ! We had lunch in the parking lot. I played with Bo in the children's playground. He still loves children's slides. HA HA HA ! A local woman drove in to allow her three Jack Russell Terriers to romp around the park and playground area. WOO-HOO ... a dog party ! Bo LOOOOOVES dog parties !

After lunch, and crossing from Alberta to Saskatchewan, we stopped in the town of Gull Lake to refill our freshwater holding tank. And we drove, and drove, and drove ... I'm already tired of driving across the prairies ! We stopped to refill with diesel again in Swift Current. All day we were battling very strong crosswinds ... 30 km./hr. ( 20 MPH ) gusting to 50 km./hr. ( 30 MPH ) ... and as a result our gas mileage was poor. Just as it became dark we stopped for the night at a Wal-Mart parking lot in Moose Jaw.

Wednesday ; Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan to Brandon, Manitoba

The forecast was for sunny, warm, light wind. The forecast was wrong ! Today was the same as yesterday ; cloudy, cold, very windy. All day long I was wrestling a strong, gusting crosswind on the highway.

I felt quite ill for most of today with a flare-up of colitis.

We left the Wal-Mart parking lot in Moose Jaw this morning and continued eastward on TCH 1. We stopped at Superstore in Regina to refill with diesel and buy some groceries. We stopped at Grenfell to have lunch, refill our freshwater holding tank, and dump our waste holding tanks at the municipal campground. I felt so ill I had to snooze for about half an hour. We crossed from Saskatchewan into Manitoba and the Central Time Zone. I think Saskatchewan is also the Central Time Zone but while Saskatchewan stays on standard time Manitoba observes daylight savings time. With my short snooze and a change of time zone we didn't arrive in Brandon until 7:30 PM, at dusk. We found our way to Wal-Mart and while Joanne went into the store to refill our five gallon water jug I worked on getting the TV set up to watch the Amazing Race finale. I plugged the TV into the camper's new inverter, raised the roof top antenna, and was able to find a very weak CTV "over the air" signal, with just a few minutes to spare before the show started. Well done, Daniel !

By the time the show had ended ( Congratulations to Gino and Jesse on winning Amazing Race Canada ) and we had a late, light supper, I was beginning to feel less ill than I had for most of the day.

Thursday ; Brandon to Winnipeg, Manitoba

Thick low overcast cloudy ... mild.

This morning we pulled out of the Brandon Wal-Mart and ... drove across the street to the Riverfront Discovery Centre on the banks of the Assiniboine River, sort of a river science museum and city park combined. And the location of Brandon's municipal
sani-dump station. We dumped our waste holding tanks, refilled our freshwater holding tank, then played with Bo, doing some Bo-gility at the children's playground. We drove across the street again and refilled with diesel at the Safeway Fuel Bar. It was noon by the time we got back onto the highway.

We continued eastbound on Trans-Canada Highway 1. We stopped at the large shopping mall in Portage La Prairie to have lunch. When my colitis is flared, eating makes me feel ill, so after lunch I wanted to nap briefly. Joanne went shopping to the PET VALU store in the mall. That's the chain of pet food and supply stores that we owned four locations in Ottawa over fourteen years. WOO-HOO ... WUBBA ! She came back to the camper with a new WUBBA for Bo, a dog toy that he has, and that we have not been able to find a new one. Bo was very happy to have a new WUBBA !

We continued eastbound on TCH 1 towards Winnipeg. The final leg of this journey ! Just before reaching Winnipeg, we turned south onto a gravel road and followed it until it reached the village of Starbuck on Hwy. 2. There we found our way to Bridges Golf Course, the locale for my niece's wedding on Saturday. We wanted to be certain of where it was. From there we drove east on Hwy. 2 until it reached Winnipeg's Perimeter Highway 100, then east on Perimeter Highway 100 until we turned north into the city on Pembina Highway. We arrived at Joanne's sister's house about 5:30 PM.

We had dinner with Joanne's sister, her two teenage daughters and her relatively new boyfriend, whom we had not met before. And I met Sophie, the senior aged dog that Joanne's sister's family adopted a few years ago. Bo very quickly accepted being part of a pack with Macie the Bichon Frise and Sophie the Miniature Poodle. Good thing because he will be staying here while Joanne and I go to Churchill.

Friday ; Sunny and warm, a bit humid, a pretty nice fall day. Hope tomorrow is as nice a day for my niece's wedding.

Today was a day of "catch up" chores and errands. Seated at Lorraine's dining room table, with access to "big city" fast Wi-Fi, I did a lot of work on my computer. Joanne did laundry. She walked a few blocks to Safeway to buy some groceries. We took the three dogs for a long walk on the Churchill Drive waterfront walkway / parkway beside the Red River. Churchill Drive is the next street over from Lorraine's street. How nice to have such a lovely riverside parkway so nearby.

Joanne prepared supper for us and her nieces. Lorraine was not home tonight. She had to attend a Winnipeg Blue Bombers football game where her employer ( the University of Manitoba ) was conducting a fund raiser event at the football game's half time.

Saturday ; my niece Andrea's wedding day

Today was sunny and very warm, albeit windy. A pretty decent day for a fall wedding !

We visited with Joanne's sister and her daughters until mid-afternoon when it was time to head for the wedding venue, a golf course banquet facility near the small village of Starbuck, just a bit to the northwest of Winnipeg. The wedding was at 4:15 PM, followed by a cocktail reception for a couple of hours, then dinner and dancing until the wee hours. Everything went well ! The bride ( my niece ) and groom were pleased with the event ... which is all that really matters. My brother-in-law's speech to the bride / his daughter brought tears to many eyes. We visited with family members that we haven't seen in many years, including cousins, my brother, his wife, and two children.

Around midnight we left the wedding which was still partying strongly, drove back to Winnipeg, and found our way to a Wal-Mart parking lot to spend overnight. We did not want to return to park in front of Joanne's sister's home, waking up the entire neighbourhood at 1 AM with our loud diesel truck.

DSK

September 13 to 19, 2015

Sunday ; Sunny and hot. Surely the last hot day of summer ?

First big chore of the day was removing the camper off the truck and installing the fifth wheel hitch into the truck in preparation for a trailer towing job tomorrow. Joanne did quite a bit of "fall pre-departure" preparations, including gardening. I spent an inordinate amount of time reviewing / sorting / purging / moving clothing, both inside the house and in the camper. The camper contains all the clothing I usually need, but this upcoming trip to Winnipeg for a wedding and Churchill to view polar bears ( and go dog sledding ) necessitated a lot of additional clothing to the camper. And a lot of clothing to go the Salvation Army tomorrow. Dealing with clothing has always been an unpleasant task for me, all my life, as perhaps it is for many fat people.

In the evening we watched TV ; "Fifth Estate", a Canadian investigative news show, and "I Am Cait" which should be renamed "I Am Self-Indulgent". UH-OH ! I think that the jar of Oyster Mushrooms that I purchased in Yuma last winter, and that Joanne finally used in making lasagna for supper tonight, may have been ... uhhhhh ... less than "ideal" ? ! We both agree on that ! The leftover lasagna was tossed out !

Monday ; Cloudy, windy, and cool.

This morning we headed to Penticton to do a trailer towing job. Moved a trailer from one site to another within the same RV park for a widow whose husband died a month ago, at the same time as the sale of their long time family home was being completed. Now homeless and alone, she will be spending the winter in her fifth wheel trailer while she deals with her husband's will and estate. Sometimes when it rains, it pours !

When we were finished with the trailer relocation we went to Skaha Lake Beach Park and had a late picnic lunch. Afterwards I dropped Joanne off at Wal-Mart then went to run errands at Leisureland RV and Canadian Tire, refill Lanoire ( odometer rolled over 287,000 km. today ) with diesel, and drop off a garbage bag full of my surplus clothing at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. I picked up Joanne at Wal-Mart and we returned home, arriving about 5:30 PM.

YUP ... them mushrooms were BAD !

Tuesday ; Partially cloudy, mild. WOO-HOO ! Fishing on the Similkameen River is OPEN again ... after two months of closure due to low water levels and warm water temperature.

This morning we headed into Keremeos. I dropped Joanne off at the clinic for her doctor's appointment and I went to run errands in town. I refilled our water jug then went to PharmaSave to pick up my prescription refills. They weren't ready < fume >. I went back to the clinic and spoke to the Public Health Nurse about some tests and vaccinations I need her to administer next spring, as ordered by my gastroenterologist.
I went to the clinic's waiting room to wait for Joanne to be finished and ... there she was, still sitting there waiting to see her doctor, the perpetually behind schedule jerk who was supposed to retire ( again ! ) this month . < sigh > I sat and waited until she was finished seeing the doctor, then we returned to PharmaSave to pick up my prescriptions and drop off a new prescription the doctor wrote for Joanne today. My prescriptions were STILL not ready due to an ordering error made by the pharmacist. < FUME >

After returning home and having lunch Joanne went to work on pulling out our gardens. I removed the fifth wheel hitch from the truck and partially remounted the camper. I did some maintenance work on the camper. Our neighbour / friend Jeanine came by for a visit.

Late in the afternoon I went fishing ... for the first time in two months. WOO-HOO !
I fished for an hour and a half. I caught seven Rainbow Trout and one Cutthroat Trout, the largest I have ever caught. I kept four ... the daily limit ... and released four.
I returned home, cleaned the Rainbow Trout, and filleted the Cutthroat Trout. The Rainbow Trout from the Similkameen River are too small to fillet. I gave away the three Rainbow Trout to neighbours, and kept the Cutthroat Trout fillets for us.

Wednesday ; Mostly sunny, mild.

We spent the day preparing for departure on Friday. We went into town and picked up our prescriptions. We bought some Aurora Golden Gala apples, a rare type of apple developed near Oliver, only available locally, and Joanne's favourite apple.

We reinstalled Elsie the truck camper onto Lanoire the truck. Joanne did laundry. I did vehicle preventive maintenance. We hauled garden waste to the park's burn pit. I did an obedience session with Bo. We took him to the dog park for a play session. We went for a long walk around the park with him. I processed some photos. I sorted medications and packed them in the camper. I did medication records keeping and accounting.

I cooked Cutthroat Trout fillets for supper, while Joanne cooked the green beans harvested from our garden, and an apple pie made with apples from our RV park's orchard. Yes, yes ... definitely a "one mile" meal ! HA HA HA ! If we included the potatoes ... grown at Sanderson Farms in Keremeos ... it's still a "ten mile" meal.

Thursday ; Mostly sunny and mild.

My day started poorly. I knocked over a cosmetics basket of Joanne's in the bathroom and a jar of nail polish shattered on the floor, splashing polish on the floor and wall, and into a floor register. < sigh > What a difficult mess that was to clean !

We both spent the day preparing for departure tomorrow.

Friday ; Riverside RV Park Resort to Rock Creek

Mostly sunny and mild. Things went poorly for me today until we departed home at 3:30 PM.

Until departure Joanne spent her day moving stuff ... mostly food ... from the house to the truck camper. And assisting me with departure preparations that didn't go well ! This is the third or fourth time that I have "winterized" our park model manufactured home, so one would think that by now I wouldn't have too much difficulty, and that I wouldn't be inept ! But ... NOOOOO !

Just as I was almost finished winterizing the house, and we were almost ready to go, we discovered that the water pump in the camper had malfunctioned ... for the second time this summer. < sigh > It took me an hour and a half of teeth gnashing effort to repair it. Joanne thinks ... quite rightly ... it's time to replace it. She does not want another water pump failure when we're up north at Thompson, Manitoba, in winter weather, with no replacement likely available nearby. The problem of losing its "prime" and not being able to re-prime seems to occur after the camper has sat for awhile, as it will do for five days or so in Thompson while we're gone to Churchill by train. So ... we had better buy one in Alberta ( provincial sales tax free ) and install it while parked in my sister's driveway, with access to my brother-in-law's tools, before heading north to Thompson and Churchill.

By the time I had the water pump removed, repaired, and reinstalled, it was past time to have lunch. Joanne prepared a late lunch in the camper, I finished the winterization process on the house, and we were off ! Well ... not quite. We drove over to the other side of our RV park to say "goodbye" to our neighbour / friend Jeanine, and wish her well with her upcoming cancer surgery. And then we chatted with more neighbours. And then more ! And then more ! ! !

We headed east on Hwy. 3. We stopped in Keremeos to buy a large bag of Ambrosia apples ( developed in Keremeos area ) to take to Winnipeg. We stopped again in Osoyoos to buy some luncheon meats ... AND ... to have a brief rest at Veteran's Park a.k.a. Bo's PP park. HA HA HA ! He gets frantic when we approach Osoyoos. He recognizes the smell of Lake Osoyoos, and gets extremely excited about the prospect of visiting his favourite waterfront park. We don't know what the attraction is, but ... Bo knows !

We continued east on Hwy. 3. Our plan for this evening was to boondock at Jolly Creek B.C. Forest Service Recreation Site wilderness campground close to Rock Creek. We were concerned that perhaps Jolly Creek campground might have been destroyed by the recent Rock Creek wildfire which was HUGE ! When we arrived we were pleased to see that it was untouched by the fire, but ... for a few miles around, the forest was destroyed by fire, as were many ranch homes and buildings. We decided to go see nearby Kettle River Provincial Park where we were planning to refill our freshwater tank tomorrow and the day after.

Oh my goodness ! ! ! There is no more Kettle River Provincial Park. Just ... a lot of burned forest ! Even the provincial park roadside signage is burned ! We drove to the nearby village of Rock Creek and to the fairgrounds where the Rock Creek Fall Fair will be held tomorrow. We checked out the fairgrounds and its campground, then drove back into the village to see if there was somewhere that we might be able to refill our freshwater tank tomorrow and / or Sunday.

We pulled into the Husky Fuel service station and found that not only did they have a conveniently located water spigot with garden hose attached, there was a small park behind the station. I went inside the Husky and asked whose park was it ? Theirs !
I asked if we could park there overnight ? Sure !  I asked if we could refill our freshwater using their garden hose tomorrow morning ? Sure ! Thank you very much, Husky Fuels.

Saturday ; Rock Creek Fall Fair

Cloudy, chilly, drizzle rain until late afternoon.

We slept in a bit this morning. Too cold to get out of bed ! We refilled our freshwater tank at the Husky Fuel station before leaving their Creekside Park. We drove to the Rock Creek Fairgrounds and found ourselves a parking spot in their large, wooded, camping area.

We entered the Rock Creek Fall Fair around noon. We wandered around the many buildings, viewing agricultural exhibits, arts and crafts exhibits, etc. We spent some time at the outdoor arena watching horse "agility" type events, and mutton busting ... young children, aged three to eight, riding "bucking bronco" sheep. HA HA HA ... too funny !  Gee, some of those sheep are pretty mean when it comes to tossing kids off their backs. We wandered though all the barns, viewing farm animals, large and small.

Despite the many enticing food vendors ... including Hunky Bill's Perogies ... haven't seen Hunky Bill in about forty years ... we decided to return to the trailer about 3 PM for a late lunch. After lunch Joanne returned to the arena to watch more horse events while I napped briefly with Bo. I met up with her at 5 PM and we continued wandering around viewing arts and crafts exhibits, then we wandered around the vendors' alley adjacent to the midway / carnival area. At 7 PM we found ourselves a comfortable bench under a tree where we sat and watched / listened to the evening's main stage entertainment, Willie & the Poorboys, a Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute band. They were talented musicians and played excellent renditions of all of CCR's greatest hits. By the time their show ended at 9:15 PM we were cold, tired, hungry, and more than ready to return to the camper for a very late, light supper.

DSK

September 6 to 12, 2015

Sunday ; N'Kwala Forest Service Recreation Site to Lytton to Botanie Forest Service Recreation Site

Sunny and warm, just like a perfect "June 18 day".

We got a late start to the day, departing N'Kwala campground about 11 AM. We headed northwest on Hwy. 8 to Spences Bridge, then south on Trans-Canada Hwy. 1 to Lytton. Shortly before reaching Lytton we stopped at Skihist Provincial Park to refill our freshwater tank and have lunch. At the provincial park's sani-dump station where we were refilling with water I assisted a young couple in a rental motorhome with their waste tank dumping process. They were tourists from Germany and this was the first time they were dumping the rental motorhome's waste holding tanks. I chatted with them briefly, and suggested that they consider attending the Lytton River Festival, where we were headed.

We had lunch then continued on to the village of Lytton, arriving there about 2:30 PM. Lytton is at the confluence of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers, and at "The Forks" there is the strange phenomenon of a two coloured river. The Fraser River is brown, and the Thompson River is sort of green, so right where the Thompson flows into the Fraser, the river is two colours for awhile. The two rivers are Lytton's "excuse" for having a festival annually on the Labour Day weekend.

Just as we arrived the festival's event was "The Battle Of The Birds", an Indian legend transformed into a one act play, being performed in the park in town. I'm a big fan of Indian legends and of live theatre, so seeing an Indian legend being performed as a play was just great ! After the play we wandered down about a block to the main area of the festival. We browsed the vendors, most of them Native, selling a variety of Native arts and crafts. One fellow was selling Eagle feathers decorated and presented in a variety of ways, both Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle feathers. I have always coveted eagle feathers, but know that it is "illegal" for a white man to possess an eagle feather. The vendor was unconcerned with the colour of my skin ... as any good salesman should be. HA HA HA ! He had a Bald Eagle feather inserted / mounted into a thin slice of a deer antler, with a rawhide lace attached, for hanging on a vehicle's rear view mirror. I wanted it SOOOOO badly !   I had such difficulty resisting the temptation. But ... I knew that I wouldn't have many border crossings before some sharp eyed border agent ... either Canadian or American ... would ask ... "what kind of feather is that hanging off your mirror ... sir ?"

While browsing the many vendors we bumped into the German tourists again. I was glad that they had accepted my suggestion and had decided to come.

At 5 PM we sat down in front of the main stage to watch / listen to an Indian blues band perform. a group of old Indian men making jokes about when they used to perform in the bar in town ... about fifty years ago ! Worst musicians I've witnessed in a long time. But having a lot of fun. And not taking themselves too seriously. No endless "sound checks". And playing every classic blues tune ever written. With a teensy bit of whining about their arthritic fingers. HA HA HA ! I do the same thing myself nowadays when
I perform magic !

Around 6 PM the band took a break, and the communal community dinner was served. Once before, at a PowWow, we attended a Native community communal dinner. The community prepares dinner, and serves everybody. What a great Native custom. After dinner was served the band resumed playing.

Around 7 PM we decided to leave, to see if we could find a suitable place to boondock overnight before it got dark around 8 PM. We left town, driving across the Thompson River on Hwy.12, then driving up ... and I do mean "up" ... a gravel road for 17 km /
11 miles to Botanie Forest Service Recreation Site. What a scruffy campground ! But ... < shrug > !

With a lot of fussing and fiddling I finally managed to get the truck and camper parked on a somewhat level piece of ground, then stepped out of the truck, calling Bo to come out with me. He jumped out of the truck, without a leash. I walked around the back of the camper and ... WHOA ! ! ! TWO BEARS ! ! !   I turned around, grabbed Bo, and picked him up, fortunately before he saw the bears. The bears turned around and began to wander away, looking over their shoulders as they left. Bo never even saw them. Good thing, probably !   I called Joanne over to quickly come see the bears before they disappeared into the woods. They were a big bear and a small bear, so probably a mother and her cub, although the cub was half grown already.

Monday ; Botanie Forest Service Recreation Site to Boss Lake Forest Service Recreation Site
Sunny and warm.

This morning we departed the Botanie campground and drove back to the town of Lytton ... all downhill ! We travelled northeast on Hwy. 12 along the Thompson River to Spences Bridge, stopping at Skihist Provincial Park to refill our freshwater tank, then southeast on Hwy. 8 along the Nicola River to Merritt. Before reaching Merritt we stopped at N'Kwala Forest Service Recreation Site to rest and walk around a bit. We will return here in the future. It was the most desirable of the four Forest Service wilderness campgrounds we visited for the first time on this short camping adventure.

At Merritt we stopped at Lions Memorial Park to have lunch. Seems to be a lot of nice parks in Merritt. While Joanne was preparing lunch inside the camper, to bring outside,
I was sitting just outside the rear door of the camper at a picnic table, waiting for lunch, with Bo on a tie out attached to the picnic table. Nearby was a family reunion picnic.
A family of immigrants from Iran. A woman about our age, who had left Iran about six months ago, and now lives in Vancouver, came over to visit Bo, to get a "dog fix" because she misses her Bichon Frise left behind when she left Iran. Well ... one would think that Bo spoke Farsi ! She cheerfully spoke Farsi to Bo, and he eagerly responded. HA HA HA ! On the other hand, I suppose "doggie / baby talk" sounds the same regardless of the language. After lunch we refilled Lanoire with diesel and bought a loaf of bread before leaving Merritt.

We drove east on Hwy. 97C then north on Hwy. 5A towards Princeton. Our objective for today was going to be either Otter Lake Provincial Park or Granite Creek Forest Service Recreation Site. However, I saw a sign leading to Davis Lake and Boss Lake Forest Service Recreation Sites and decided on impulse to go see them. We drove about
10 km. / 6 miles west on a decent gravel road before reaching Davis Lake, then shortly thereafter Boss Lake, then shortly after that, Tahla Lake, all with Forest Service Recreation Site wilderness campgrounds. After checking them all we selected ... with a little bit of indecision and squabbling ... a campsite at Boss Lake.

I lit a campfire, and we sat around the campfire doing some planning for our upcoming trip to Winnipeg to attend a wedding and Churchill to see Polar Bears. As we were sitting by the campfire, Joanne suddenly reached down and grabbed Bo by the collar. HUH ? WHAT ? BEARS ? No, no ... she just happened to notice .... fortunately before Bo did ... that cows were walking by our campsite. HA HA HA !

For the third night in a row, Joanne and Bo were in bed at 9 PM.

Tuesday ; Boss Lake Forest Service Recreation Site to home
Cloudy and mild.

I am typing this at 11 PM at night, in the very awkward arrangement of having my laptop computer displayed through our home television. I cracked my laptop screen upon our return home late this afternoon ! And it was only with a lot of serendipity ( and a bit of panic ) that I managed to get the laptop linked to the TV. Did it "blind" !

We left Boss Lake campground this morning and returned via back roads to Otter Lake and Tulameen and Coalmont to Princeton. We stopped at Granite Creek Forest Service Recreation Site near Coalmont to rest and walk around a bit. The water level in both Granite Creek and the Tulameen River are very low ! At Princeton we got onto Hwy. 3 heading east towards home. We stopped for a late lunch at Bromley Rock Provincial Park. I decided to have a nap after lunch before returning home.

We arrived home around 5 PM. As soon as we got home I wanted to reconfigure Skype to take it off "call forward". I was setting up my computer on my desk, and ... carelessly / stupidly broke my computer's LCD screen. < sigh > Don't even ask. EVERYTHING is on my computer !   I was panicking when I finally managed to get the computer to display on the TV. Well ... that will keep me going in an “emergency” mode, at least for a little while !

The other thing is ... our mailbox was empty !  I was expecting my pilot’s license renewal. My current pilot’s license document expired September 1. And I had submitted my renewal form more than a month ago ! No pilot’s license renewal document in the mail meant I had to cancel the airplane rental booking I had made for tomorrow.
< sigh > AND ... < sputter > ... without my computer functional we have neither telephone service nor e-mail ! ! !

By this time ... 11:20 PM ... I have a stiff, sore neck from working on my computer’s keyboard while looking up and sideways at the TV !

Wednesday ; Mostly sunny and warm.

Well ! I am now working on my new "Ukrainian laptop" ! My laptop computer, with its busted screen, now hooked up to a seventeen inch desktop display monitor. HA HA HA ! Will I ever look foolish hauling that into a Burger King to work on Wi-Fi. HA HA HA !

We spent the day in Penticton running errands. My priority was to find a solution to my busted laptop screen, temporary or permanent solution. I settled on a temporary solution. At Doc's Computers, a Penticton computer repair shop, I bought a small, used desktop monitor. That will work fine at my desk at home, and will even work okay in the camper, albeit a bit awkwardly, given that I installed a pure sine wine 120 volt inverter in the camper this summer. It won't work for the upcoming trip from Thompson to Churchill by train, but I think I have a PLAN B worked out for that. And ... realistically ... I can't haul a desktop monitor with my laptop into fast food restaurants to use Wi-Fi while we're travelling. BUT ... I'm hopeful that this solution will get me through to Black Friday, the day after American Thanksgiving, near the end of November. Black Friday is THE day to buy a new computer !

After running errands all day, we went to Bogner's Restaurant for supper. Bogner's is an expensive, upscale restaurant that we enjoy once per year, usually attending their LambFest event as my "birthday dinner" on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. Since we won't be here this year on my birthday we decided to attend their new Wednesday evening smoked / barbecued rib dinner. Joanne had pork ribs. I had beef ribs. Well ...
I guess it will suffice to say that after having dinner, we decided as we drove home that tonight will be the last time we spend our money at Bogner's !

We arrived home at 9 PM, just in time to see the Amazing Race Canada episode shot in Penticton, Summerland, Oliver, and Osoyoos ... in our neighbourhood, so to speak. Too bad it was a rainy day in the Okanagan Valley that day.

Thursday ; Sunny and warm.

Joanne left this morning to take Jeanine to Penticton for her weekly chemotherapy session. They were back home around 5 PM. I went into Keremeos this morning to get a haircut and beard trim, order enough prescription refills to last the winter, refill one of the camper's propane tanks, and wash the truck and camper.

Back at home, I had lunch, then ... well ... you know ... had a nap. HA HA HA !   I spent the rest of the afternoon on a variety of chores, including researching how to remove and replace my laptop's broken screen, and where to purchase a new one.

Friday ; Sunny and hot. HMPH ... thought there wouldn't be any more hot days this summer, but ... was wrong !

Got hired today to move a trailer in Penticton on Monday. Joanne not pleased. She doesn't think the amount I'm charging the client justifies the trouble of taking the camper off the truck, driving to Penticton and back, and putting the camper back on the truck again. She's right, but ... you know ... I'm a sucker for old widows. HA HA HA !

Did maintenance work on Elsie the truck camper today. Replaced a couple of pleated shade hold down bobbins. Tough job, hate doing that !   Installed a new light fixture in the closet. Removed and replaced some unsatisfactory caulking on my recent dry rot repair project.

Took Bo to the dog park. Met new neighbours and their dog ... Beau. HA HA HA ! How funny to walk with two dogs with the same name. Bo ... come here ! Beau ... leave it ! Bo ... hurry up ! Beau ... heel ! HA HA HA ! Everybody was confused !

After supper, watched 1984 movie Ghostbusters. HA HA HA ... hadn't seen it before !

Saturday ; Sunny and hot. I never imagined that I would be doing "fall pre-departure" preparations dressed only in a pair of shorts, and drenched in sweat. HA HA HA !

We spent the day puttering around with fall pre-departure preparations. Joanne cleaned inside the camper. I cleaned both the home and camper barbecues. Joanne did work on clothing, which is complicated this year by us needing clothes for my niece's wedding, and clothes for polar bear viewing in Churchill, and some manner of "luggage" for the train trip from Thompson to Churchill and back. < sigh > The camper's closet capacity is very limited !

While walking around the RV park enjoying the lovely weather, we chatted with neighbours, including a lengthy chat with the owners of our previous lot. < sniffle > They have just dug out and discarded the two Saskatoon berry bushes that I planted about eight years ago, and lovingly nurtured for five years until we moved to lot 4 and sold lot 89. DARN ! And it's even more disappointing in light of the fact that the two Saskatoon berry bushes that I planted on lot 4 three years ago are doing poorly. DARN DARN DARN !

This evening I removed my laptop's screen, after viewing a "how to" video on the Internet. Before ordering a new screen, I phoned my sister. And as I suspected, the laptop computer that I gave to her as a Christmas gift almost three years ago ... same computer as mine ... is of little to no use to her. So ... in the grand, old tradition of "Indian giving" ... HA HA HA ... I asked for it back. AND ... HA HA HA ... she agreed to give it back to me. Well ... thank you very much ! I will consider it a birthday gift. That saves me the expense of having to order a new screen, which would cost close to a hundred dollars with taxes and shipping.

DSK

August 30 to September 5, 2015

Sunday ; Mostly sunny and warm.

This morning as I was sitting on the edge of the bed winding my watch, and Joanne was opening blinds around the house, she suddenly came screaming and running across the house.

DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANTHERE'SABATINTHEHOUSE

HUH ? WHAT ? How could there be a bat in the house ? ? ?

It was kind of interesting to see Joanne run. HA HA HA ... I haven't seen her run in twenty years. HA HA HA HA HA !

A little brown bat had inexplicably attached itself to the OUTSIDE of the screen door leading from our living room onto our deck. I had left the solid door open overnight. So ... when Joanne opened the vertical blinds, she saw the little bat hanging there upside down and ... ran and screamed. HA HA HA ! Not much scares her. Apparently bats do. HA HA HA HA HA ! And ... evidently ... bat removal and disposal is MY responsibility. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

I tried ... unsuccessfully ... to just knock it off the screen. It seemed to be sleeping, and had firmly grasped the screen with its little clawed toes. Eventually my tapping on the screen woke it up enough to cause it to open its mouth and scream, and spread its wings, but ... not let go ! HMPH ! I had to take a rag towel and "pluck" the bat off the screen. It screamed. HMPH ... what vicious looking little teeth you have, Mr. Bat !
I carried it all the way to our park's burn pile area to release it. As I was walking ... it seemed to fall asleep again, wrapped in a rag in my hands. HA HA HA !   I placed the rag down on a large rock, unwrapped it, and stepped away quickly. HMPH ... nothing ! The bat lay there ... sleeping. HMPH !

It was gone a few hours later when I went to retrieve the rag towel.

 

Monday ; Mostly cloudy, and warm.

I did some vehicle maintenance. Joanne did laundry. I did a paint touch up job on the rear of the camper. < sigh > ... My spray painting skills have not improved at all !
I downloaded, printed, and reconciled month end bank statements and investment updates. SHEEESH ... lots of money lost in the stock market this month. Even after the dead cat bounce. I visited our park's library and stocked up on books to put in the camper to read while travelling this fall / winter.

Tuesday ; Mostly cloudy, and warm.

This morning I advised Joanne that we were leaving as soon as possible for a "big surprise" outing that would take just a few hours. We left home around 11 AM and headed east on Hwy. 3. As we pulled into the parking lot of Osoyoos United Church about an hour later Joanne still didn't know where we were going, or why.

Osoyoos United Church was having a one day "bag sale" in their basement thrift store to raise $1000 to donate to the Rock Creek wildfire relief fund. As much clothing as would fit into a grocery store bag, for five dollars. Joanne found a couple of items she wanted. I found ... three ties, a long sleeved sweatshirt, a pair of dress pants, and a linen sports coat. Very "Miami Vice". HA HA HA ! Everything fit into two grocery bags. Ten bucks ! HA HA HA HA HA ! We were back home by 2 PM, Joanne's "deadline" to begin preparing supper. She prepared "Lazy Cabbage Rolls" for supper, and had invited Jeanine to join us.

While supper was cooking we took Bo to the dog park, and I worked on some routine home maintenance chores. After supper ... which was very good ... Jeanine ( and her little dog Charlie ) visited with us.

Wednesday ; Mostly sunny, and warm.

We took Bo for a long walk around the park, incorporating some obedience training as we walked. Then we gave him a bath. I worked on taking inventory of medications and determining how much more we need of what, to have enough to last until next spring. Joanne picked apples in our park's orchards, then baked an apple cake.

Thursday ; Sunny and mild. Pretty chilly evening !

Joanne left early this morning to drive Jeanine to Penticton Hospital for a doctor's appointment followed by her weekly chemotherapy session. They were back home about 3 PM. I did some preparations for departure tomorrow for a weekend camping trip.

Friday ; home to Lundbom Lake Forest Service Recreation Site

Mostly sunny, some cloud, some precipitation, from light rain to hail to sleet, chilly to cold.

We left home at 10:30 AM, in the truck and camper, for half a day of errands in Penticton before starting a weekend camping trip. First stop was at Sanderson Farms in Keremeos to buy some produce before heading to Penticton. First stop in Penticton was the Bank Of Montreal where we had to sign some papers. Then it was refill the truck with diesel and buy some groceries at Superstore. We parked in my gastroenterologist's parking lot and had lunch before I went into her office for my 1:30 appointment to review the results of my colonoscopy. While I was seeing my gastroenterologist Joanne walked to the Dollarama store to buy a few items.

We left Penticton about 2:30 PM heading north on Hwy. 97 to Hwy. 97C ... "The Connector" ... heading west from the Okanagan Valley between Peachland and West Kelowna / Westbank to Hwy.5 ... "The Coquihalla / Highway Through Hell" ... at Merritt. At the Pennask Summit ... elevation 5668 feet ... we encountered a brief hail storm. Shortly after passing the Pennask Summit we left the highway and followed a series of Forest Service Roads about 15 km. / 9 miles to a couple of B.C. Forest Service wilderness campgrounds. The further we got from the highway the worse the Forest Service Roads became. With hindsight, I should have turned around a few miles before reaching our destination. The "road" was much too rough for a vehicle as large and heavy as our truck and camper. < sigh > Things broke !

First wilderness campground we reached was Brenda Lake. Five campsites ... all occupied. How the hell can a campground this far off the beaten path be full ? ! ? We travelled a bit further to MacDonald Lake. Five campsites ... all empty. AHHHHH ... this is more like it ! As we arrived, the light rain began to turn into ... snow / sleet ! We were at an elevation of 5600 feet, and the temperature was ... 36º F / 2º C ! Beautiful place, but WAAAAAY too cold to stay ! We backtracked to Hwy. 97C. Thirty km. / eighteen miles of really terrible roads for nothing ! Oh, well !

We continued west on Hwy. 97C and shortly before reaching Merritt we left the highway and travelled about 5 km. / 3 miles to another B.C. Forest Service wilderness campground at Lundbom Lake. The elevation here was much lower, and the temperature had changed from REALLY COLD to just chilly. There were a lot of camping units here, but there were about 35 campsites, and we were able to find one that was separate and slightly isolated from the rest. Most of the other campers seemed to be in groups.

We went for a walk through the campground and along the lakeshore. Joanne thought it was too cold to enjoy a campfire, and discouraged me from lighting one. DARN ! We cooked and ate supper inside the camper.

BRRRRR ! ! ! Cold night !

Saturday ; Lundbom Lake Forest Service Recreation Site to N'Kwala Forest Service Recreation Site on Nicola Lake

Sunny and warm, a very pleasant day.

This morning we left Lundbom Lake, returned to Hwy. 97C and continued west to Merritt where we went to Canadian Tire to use their free sani-dump station. We emptied our waste holding tanks and refilled our freshwater holding tank. Thank you very much, Canadian Tire. We went into the store to look for two items, but got neither one.

As we drove through Merritt on the way to Hwy. 8 ... oh, look ... Central Park. Looked like a nice place to take Bo for a walk and play session. After a walk in the park and a Bo-gility session in the playground, as we continued driving through town ... oh, look ... the Saturday morning Farmer's Market. We stopped and shopped, buying some fresh vegetables. Then, as we again continued driving through town ... oh, look ... Rotary Park ... with a Saturday lunch time free music concert. We sat in the park and listened to music for awhile. Pleasant little town, that Merritt !

We eventually made our way to Hwy. 8 and headed northwest towards the village of Spences Bridge. A short distance out of Merritt we stopped at a small butcher shop and bought some fresh beef sausages. We stopped for a late lunch at the N'Kwala Forest Service Recreation Site on the Nicola River. It was such a nice place we decided to stay for the night. After lunch I napped for awhile. We went for a long, leisurely walk through the campground and along the Nicola River. Looks like it might be good for fly fishing for trout. I'd like to return next summer. As we walked we met and Bo visited with many dogs ... and young children. He's very good with young children ... and other dogs Well done, Bo, good dog.

I made a campfire and cooked supper on it. First I barbecued fresh "peaches & cream" corn. It was excellent ! Although ... I have difficulty digesting corn so can eat a maximum of only half an ear. Then Joanne wrapped sausages and vegetables in foil and I cooked that. After supper we went for another long, leisurely walk.

DSK