This morning I loaded firewood and fishing gear into Elsie in preparation for a short camping trip starting tomorrow. I checked truck fluids. I checked tire air pressures.
< sigh > Found a flat rear tire. I removed the wheel liner and hub cap, and remounted the valve extender which was leaking.
While Joanne was harvesting lettuce and radishes, and I was repairing the eavestrough I had recently installed on our deck ( I had made an installation error ), our neighbour / friend Jeanine and her little dog Charlie came by for a visit. We visited for a couple of hours in our gazebo. After Jeanine and Charlie left we had an extremely late lunch and
I had a brief nap.
I continued re-caulking the yard shed base. We went to the park's "burn pile" area to dump some garden waste and fill a bag with wood chips to use as gardening mulch. Joanne took care of some WCB paperwork for Gord and I administered drops in Ozzie's ears again. Since Gord's mesothelioma ( asbestos caused lung cancer ) is work related, he is applying for assistance from the Province of Saskatchewan Worker's Compensation Board.
Monday ; home to Granite Creek Forest Service Recreation Site
Partly sunny and warm in the morning, cloudy and intermittent light rain in the afternoon, cloudy and cool in the evening ... with lots of mosquitoes.
This morning we finished packing and preparing for a few days of camping. As we were preparing to leave, Gord and Marcie came outside to go for a ride on their golf cart. Gord was feeling well enough to want to come outside and get some fresh air. He's looking better than a few days ago, now that he has a larger chest tube and it's draining well.
We left home at 11:45 AM, heading west on Highway 3 through Hedley to Princeton where we stopped to buy some groceries at Save-On-Foods. From Princeton we headed northwest on Coalmont - Tulameen Road following the Tulameen River until we reached Coalmont. From there it was just a couple of km. to Granite Creek Forest Service Recreation Site. We selected a campsite and got set up. We had a late lunch, then I went to nap with Bo while Joanne sat outside doing Sudoku puzzles. I had a long nap because it kept raining on and off. When it finally finished raining I got up and went fly fishing for about an hour.
Right behind our campsite Granite Creek spills into the Tulameen River. That seemed like an excellent spot for fly fishing. HMPH ... I was wrong ! I gave up after about an hour and returned to the camper. I thought it was time to light a campfire and cook supper on the campfire, but Joanne didn't want that. It was a bit chilly, still threatening to rain, and there were lots of mosquitoes. She wanted to cook supper inside the camper, and forget about a campfire for tonight ! I did some fly fishing gear maintenance at the picnic table, then went inside the camper to work on my laptop while Joanne prepared supper.
After supper the sky cleared and it warmed a bit. We went for a long leisurely walk, to the river, around the campground, down the road to the bridge over Granite Creek, to the edge of the village of Coalmont. We returned to the campground and I lit a campfire. We sat around the campfire until 11 PM. Daylight lasted until 10:30 PM tonight, the summer solstice.
Tuesday ; Granite Creek Forest Service Recreation Site to Otter Lake Provincial Park
A mix of sun and clouds, mild. HMPH ! Lost my pocket knife today. HMPH ! Had it about fifteen years. Got it for free. Had TECHNI-CAL ( a Canadian pet food manufacturer ) branded into the wood handle. HMPH ! I'm pissed off at myself for losing it !
We got a slow start to the day, then lazily prepared for departure. We left Granite Creek Forest Service Recreation Site, drove through the little village of Coalmont, and headed north, reaching the little village of Tulameen about 15 km. later. Just beyond Tulameen was our destination for today, Otter Lake Provincial Park. Inside the park we refilled the camper's freshwater tank then selected a campsite. Joanne walked back to the entrance gate, thinking that there was a self-register / self-pay kiosk there. There wasn't ! But while she was perusing the information board there she sensed something behind her. She turned around and ... WHOA ! A BEAR !
The bear stepped off the road behind Joanne and began grazing, mostly unconcerned about her presence. The bear was blocking Joanne's return to the campground, so she stepped out of the park, onto the highway, and waited for the bear to move on, which it did shortly.
We had lunch and I napped for awhile. I went fishing for a couple of hours, catching nothing. But I had an interesting view of a dispute over fishing territory between a Bald Eagle and a Hawk. As the eagle flew over the lake, the screeching hawk "dive bombed" from above. Just before the hawk, with its talons stretched out, hit the eagle, the eagle flipped over onto its back in mid-air and the two birds "bitch slapped" at one another. WOW ! KEWL ! The hawk apparently won the battle, and the eagle flew away. But it returned about half an hour later and the scene repeated itself. WOW ! KEWL !
After fishing I started a campfire and cooked supper on it, one of my favourite things to do when camping. Joanne wrapped meat, potatoes, carrots, onions, and mushrooms in foil packets and I cooked them on the fire to perfection. Well ... my packet was cooked to perfection. The meat in Joanne's packet was slightly burned on one side. DARN ! We ate supper at our campsite's picnic table, then spent the rest of the evening sitting around the campfire.
Wednesday ; Otter Lake Provincial Park back to Granite Creek Forest Service Recreation Site
Sunny and warm.
This morning we slowly prepared for departure from Otter Lake Provincial Park including refilling our freshwater tank at a water spigot in the campground. We left the campground, drove south through the village of Tulameen, to the village of Coalmont, then to the Granite Creek Forest Service Recreation Site ... again. We pulled into the same campsite that we had a couple of days ago. And there ... lying on the ground right beside the truck was ... MY LOST POCKET KNIFE ! WOO-HOO !
Must have been all that clean living I did in the 70's ! HA HA HA !
The weather was lovely. We had a very pleasant day. We had lunch. I napped. I went fly fishing. Caught nothing. We read. We went for a hike up a logging road following Granite Creek. The problem with hiking up a logging road in B.C. is ... it's always "up" !
I went fly fishing again. Still caught nothing ! Bo spent the entire day off leash. What a good dog ! I lit a campfire. I baked potatoes and grilled burgers over the open fire. Well done, Daniel ! We sat around the campfire until dark.
Life is good !
Thursday ; Granite Creek Forest Service Recreation Site to Princeton to home
Mostly cloudy and mild. Heavy rainfall for the last 15 km. of driving home, between Hedley and home. I'm still suffering with intermittent symptoms of a colitis flare up.
This morning just before leaving, as Joanne was walking the dog, she found two interesting mushrooms. Using my Mushroom Hunter book we were able to identify them as members of the Agaricus family of mushrooms, but were uncertain whether they were the "Pink Bottom" or "The Prince".
We leisurely prepared for departure and left the Granite Creek Forest Service Recreation Site about 11 AM. We drove south on Coalmont - Tulameen Road back to Princeton where we stopped in town to buy a jug of milk. From Princeton we took the "scenic route" heading east on Old Hedley Road following the Similkameen River on the north side. Highway 3 follows the river on the south side. When Old Hedley Road ended at Highway 3 a few km. west of Hedley we turned east on Highway 3 and stopped at Picard Forest Service Recreation Site to have lunch.
After lunch we continued driving home eastbound on Highway 3, with heavy rain starting as we passed through Hedley, about fifteen minutes from home. The rain stopped as we arrived home at Riverside RV Park Resort. We dumped the camper's waste holding tanks at our RV park's sani-dump station, then got parked in our yard. While I napped ( not feeling well ! ) Joanne unloaded the camper.
Our next door neighbour Marcie came over to use our stove to cook their supper. They can't use their stove because Gord's oxygen generator is too close to the kitchen. I will try to rectify that problem tomorrow. I got caught up on e-mail and other online work.
I made reservations on the ferries to Vancouver Island and back, and motel reservations, for an upcoming trailer towing job to Vancouver Island. I sent a quote ( $6000 ! ) for a trailer towing job from Edmonton, Alberta to La Peñita de Jaltemba, Mexico ( 4600 km. ) !
Friday ; Heavy rain until mid-afternoon, cold.
This morning Joanne left in the minivan for a day of running errands in Penticton by herself. I went next door to do some maintenance work for the neighbours. Using screws and clips I mounted the vinyl hose from Gord's oxygen generator in their living room up and along the ceiling to their bedroom, then down to their bed. Until now it had been awkwardly draped along the floor, under the dinette table, down the hallway, etc., from one end of their manufactured home all the way to the other. Then I brought Ozzie over to our place and treated his infected ears again. I think I made a breakthrough today. One of his ears has been responding well to treatment, and one has not. Today
I was able to remove a large amount of "gunk" from the ear that has not been responding well. I think the ear has been clogged with infection "gunk" and the drops have not been getting as deep into the ear canal as they need to be.
I had a late lunch, then napped with Bo for awhile. When I awoke the rain had stopped. I did some preventive maintenance on the truck. I took Bo for a walk, checked the mailbox, and returned some books to the library in the clubhouse. Then I removed the camper off the truck, a difficult job to do without Joanne's help.
Joanne returned home about 6 PM. We made pizza for supper and spent the evening watching TV.
Saturday ; Mostly sunny and mild.
We got a late start to the day. We gave each other back and neck massages with the new massager Joanne bought yesterday. She had borrowed a massager last winter to deal with sore muscles in her neck, and she quite liked it.
This afternoon Joanne did laundry. And harvested lettuce and radishes out of our garden. I puttered around with minor maintenance chores on the truck and the camper. I did a thorough cleaning of our "Bupkis" barbecue. That would be "Bupkis I" barbecue. "Bupkis II" barbecue is in Yuma. HA HA HA ! See what happens when you don't follow along ? HA HA HA !
Later in the afternoon, at my desk, I reconciled and paid our monthly MasterCard bill. YIKES ! We certainly do spend a lot of money every May and June after returning from the winter down south ! I also did monthly and yearly computer file backups.
After supper we watched the 1953 ( older than us ! ) movie "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" with Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe. What a classic ! We ended the evening with a hot tub date.
DSK
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