This morning I did some routine home and yard and vehicle preventive maintenance. Then I went next door to see Marcie and discuss with her the work I had done yesterday on her "classic" Mercedes-Benz. That resulted in some heated words being exchanged. Later in the day I exchanged some heated words with Gord over his new television set which I installed, and he now wants repackaged so that he can return it for a refund in order to buy a larger screen TV. I'm feeling that our generosity is being taken advantage of.
Yesterday in Penticton, while waiting for Gord's blood transfusion to be completed, Joanne bought me a birthday gift that she decided to give to me today. It's a lovely
fall / winter jacket that she thinks I might need to use on our upcoming trailer delivery job which will take us quite far north in BC. A few years ago we did a couple of trailer delivery jobs to Edmonton in early October. On the first of two back to back trips to Edmonton we left home wearing short sleeved shirts, and no socks, as was appropriate for the weather here. When we arrived in Edmonton ... there was an early winter blizzard. We were very unprepared ! So ... this time ... we'll be better prepared for cold weather. Thank you very much, my love.
By the way ... for those of you who remembered that I said "stay tuned" last Wednesday ... yes, yes ... Superstore refunded the cost of that "fresh" Coho Salmon, without any argument or questions. And yes, yes ... the rest of those Coho Salmon fillets were thrown in the garbage by us. And yes, yes ... the fillet that I ate for supper last Wednesday was, indeed, "bad". Just ask my now colitis flared colon !
Monday ; Sunny and cool.
We spent much of today preparing for our upcoming five day trailer delivery trip.
I worked on installing the fifth wheel hitch into the truck, and all the trailer towing supplies and materials. Joanne worked on clothing and bedding and food, etc. We took Bo for a long walk around the RV park, and visited with Jeanine as we passed by her place. I went bicycling. I watered our composter, and while doing that, made a "sales pitch" to a potential purchaser of Joe's and Lynn's lot next door to us. I trimmed my beard.
Tuesday ; home to Kamloops to Blind Bay to Kamloops
Sunny and cool. We were up early this morning and left home at 10 AM to begin our five day trailer delivery job. West on Hwy. 3 to Princeton, north on Hwy. 5 to Hwy. 97C, the Coquihalla / Okanagan Connector, west to Merritt where we refilled Lanoire with diesel. North on the Coquihalla / "Highway Thru Hell" to Kamloops where we stopped shortly after 1 PM to have a late picnic lunch at the Visitor Information Centre. We were back on the road by 2 PM heading east on Trans-Canada Highway 1 to Blind Bay where we arrived about 3 PM.
We were picking up a large fifth wheel trailer to be delivered to the buyer, our client. We were picking it up in Blind Bay from the seller ... not our client. Or more specifically, we were picking it up from the seller's wife. Suffice to say that the pick up went poorly ! We left Blind Bay, with the trailer in tow, about 5:30 PM, heading west on TCH 1 back to Kamloops. At Kamloops we turned north on Hwy. 5 and refilled with diesel again just as it got dark about 6:45 PM. We found our way in the dark to a shopping mall near the home of our friends Laszlo and Gail and Bo's buddy, their Pit Bull DeeOJee. We parked the truck and trailer at the shopping mall, Laszlo picked us up in their car, and we went to their nearby home for dinner and an overnight stay.
Gail had prepared a lovely supper for us ... thank you very much Gail ... and we enjoyed an evening of visiting.
Wednesday ; Kamloops to Hixon
Mix of sun and clouds, cool. After we showered etc. this morning Laszlo drove us back to the nearby shopping mall where we had left the truck and trailer parked overnight. We left the shopping mall about 9:30 AM heading back through Kamloops to Hwy. 5. We missed a crucial turn and got briefly lost in the city.
Once back on Hwy. 5 we headed north to Little Fort, then turned west on Hwy. 24. We reached Hwy. 97 at 100 Mile House and turned north. We stopped to have lunch at 108 Mile House. We refilled with diesel at Williams Lake. We stopped for the night at Hixon, staying in a small "Mom & Pop" motel with a parking lot large enough to accommodate our almost sixty foot long truck and fifth wheel trailer combination.
We ate our "picnic supper" in our motel room while watching Survivor. I spoke to our client on the telephone and made arrangements to meet tomorrow morning in Prince George, less than an hour north of here.
Thursday ; Hixon to Prince George to Francois Lake & return to Hixon
Cloudy and cool on the way out to Francois Lake, raining heavily on our way back.
This morning I slipped and fell in the motel's bathtub, injuring two toes on my left foot that had been broken before and are somewhat vulnerable to re-injury.
We were up early and left our motel room in Hixon at 9 AM, heading north on Hwy. 97 to Prince George, about forty-five minutes away. We refilled with diesel at the Superstore Fuel Bar and at 10 AM our trailer delivery client and his wife met us in the Superstore parking lot. Following them in their car we headed west on Yellowhead Hwy. 16 for about two hours to Fraser Lake, then turned onto Francois Lake Road for the final half hour or so to Birch Bay Resort on Francois Lake, our clients' trailer's new home.
It was an easy job for us to park their new ( to them ) large fifth wheel trailer. The client paid my bill, we all chatted for awhile, then Joanne and I left about 1:30 PM. We drove back to Yellowhead Hwy. 16 and stopped at a rest area to eat a late picnic lunch. We drove east back to Prince George where we refilled with diesel at Superstore Fuel Bar again, and bought some dog food at PetsMart. We left Prince George heading south on Hwy. 97 and arrived back at our motel about 6 PM. It was still daylight, and the rain had stopped, so we took Bo for a leisurely walk along the banks of Canyon Creek to relax and stretch our legs, tired and cramped from so much time in the truck over the last few days.
We ate our spaghetti dinner in our motel room while watching TV. We spent the rest of the evening watching TV, and I worked on my laptop doing trip accounting.
Friday ; Hixon to Kamloops
Gloomy, cold, raining.
This morning our trailer delivery client phoned with some questions regarding their new fifth wheel trailer which we delivered yesterday. I hope I answered his questions satisfactorily. We left the motel in Hixon this morning at 10:30 AM and continued heading south on Hwy. 97. We stopped in Quesnel to look for an advertised dog food special at Total Pet. They did not have what we were looking for. We stopped in Williams Lake to have lunch while parked at the Visitor Information Centre which is housed in a Pioneer Log Homes building that is ... incredible ! I always enjoy visiting the Williams Lake Visitor Information Centre just to marvel at the Pioneer Log Homes building. Pioneer Log Homes is a local Williams Lake business that is the featured subject of a television show called Timber Kings on one of the "educational" channels ; TLC or A&E or one of those similar channels. We stopped in 100 Mile House to look for the same advertised dog food special at PET VALU. Again ... they didn't have what we were looking for. Joanne saw a Bank Of Montreal, so we stopped to deposit the cash payment received from our trailer delivery client yesterday.
Just south of 100 Mile House we turned east on Hwy. 24, and an hour or so later we turned south again, this time on Hwy. 5. We stopped for a bathroom break and to stretch our legs at a rest area near McLure. Forty-five minutes later we arrived in Kamloops and found our way to Laszlo's and Gail's home, arriving at 6 PM. Gail had prepared a lovely supper for us ... again. Thank you ! The four of us chatted until late in the evening.
Saturday ; Kamloops to home
Gloomy, cold, raining heavily ... OR ... blizzard !
We left Laszlo's and Gail's home this morning about 10:30 AM. Thank you, Laszlo and Gail, for having us as dinner guests and overnight house guests ... twice this week. We drove to Superstore and did our weekly grocery shopping in Kamloops, to avoid needing to make a trip into Penticton for groceries soon after our return home. We also refilled Lanoire with diesel at the Superstore Fuel Bar, then headed out of Kamloops heading west on Trans-Canada Hwy. 1 for a few miles, then south on
Hwy. 5 / the Coquihalla / "Highway Thru Hell". Within moments, as the Coquihalla rose in elevation the heavy rain turned into a snow blizzard. WOW ! Finally ... I get to drive the "Highway Thru Hell" in whiteout conditions. HA HA HA !
It was brutal ! The temperature dropped to -1ºC / 30ºF. The slushy snow was accumulating on the road making it extremely slippery. The fog was thick. Cars were sliding off the road and into the ditch. And yet ... every few minutes some idiot would zip by in the passing lane, slipping and sliding as they passed the slowly moving line of traffic. And sometimes ... the idiot would be driving a fully loaded tractor-trailer unit ! ! ! As we descended into the Nicola Valley at Merritt, the temperature rose a bit, and the snow became rain again.
We turned east on Hwy. 97C, the Coquihalla / Okanagan Connector, heading towards Peachland. When we reached Hwy. 5A we turned south again heading to Princeton. We stopped at Gulliford Lake Rest Area to have lunch. When we reached Princeton we turned east on Crowsnest Hwy. 3 for the final leg to home. We reached Riverside RV Park Resort around 3:30 PM, safe and sound after a trailer delivery job round trip of 2152 km. / 1345 miles.
I had a well deserved short nap. Joanne unloaded food and our personal items from the truck. I spent much of the evening working on the computer, doing accounting and getting caught up on e-mail, etc.
This trailer delivery job made 2016 the highest earning year for Similkameen Trailer Towing in the seven years we've been doing this. Congratulations, Daniel ! Well done !
DSK
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