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.
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
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