Sunday ; Princeton
Cloudy and cool. Very smoky !
This morning at 9 AM we picked up our neighbour / friend Jeanine and headed west on Hwy. 3 to Princeton to attend a performance of the RCMP Musical Ride. The RCMP Musical Ride is quintessential Canadiana corny kitsch, but ... it was great ! ! ! And so different from the baseball cap / hand over the heart jingoism we have experienced
( endured ? ) so often in the last fourteen years ... < ahem > ... "elsewhere".
After the Musical Ride performance, which was preceded by an RCMP K9 demonstration, we went to "downtown" Princeton to have lunch at Thomasina's, a bakery / café that we have been to before. We took the scenic route home, on Old Hedley Road, on the north side of the Similkameen River. It was an idyllic "Sunday afternoon drive in the country" that put Jeanine to sleep. HA HA HA !
This afternoon, after months of incorrect parts shipped and missing shipments,
I finished installing the new valve adaptors / valve extenders on the truck. The final piece of the puzzle arrived in the mail on Friday. I unloaded all the trailer towing equipment and supplies, including removing the fifth wheel hitch out of the bed of the truck so that I could park the truck underneath the camper again.
Monday ; Sunny and warm. Very smoky.
This morning I did outdoor chores, watered our composters, cleaned the barbecue.
I inspected the truck's exhaust system, to identify where the "growling" sound is coming from. HMPH ... seems to be the turbocharger. I wonder how many thousands of dollars that will cost ? ! ?
This afternoon I resealed the bedroom front window of the camper, removing all the old, cracked caulking, and applying new silicone sealant. Then we went to the swimming pool for an exercise session. Afterwards we took Ozzie to the dog park, and I returned some books to our RV park's library. In the mail today I received some valve extender parts that were due to arrive in June. I demanded and received a refund at the beginning of July for those parts. At that time I ordered the same parts from another supplier, and received them by mid-July.
Tuesday ; Sunny and hot. Very smoky. Unable to use Sun Oven because of smoke obliterating sun.
I spent too much time this afternoon on multiple phone calls with our travel medical insurer, who phoned repeatedly to question ( hassle ) me about our travel medical insurance application. Late this afternoon I went fishing. And to my surprise ... I caught nothing. I gave up after an hour of fishing !
Shortly before I gave up, I felt tired, so I sat down beside the river to rest. After a few moments I felt what I thought was a bug on my leg. I looked down, and ... slithering on the rocks underneath my leg was a teensy little baby rattlesnake. YIKES ! I yanked my leg up into the air, and squirmed away.
That's the second fishing trip in a row that I've had a close encounter with a small rattlesnake ! I wonder if a female rattlesnake gave birth nearby ? Or is that spot just a popular drinking location ? Could they be heading instinctively to the river's edge because of the thick wildfire smoke ?
Wednesday ; Sunny and hot. Extremely smoky, near zero visibility at ground level, IFR flying conditions.
This afternoon I repaired the kitchen sink faucets. They were leaking. I removed the faucet assembly, completely disassembled it, drove into town and obtained new faucet cartridges ... free because the faucet is by Moen ... drove home, installed the new cartridges, cleaned and reassembled and reinstalled everything. Well done, Daniel !
< whispering > I don't particularly like doing plumbing work !
Thursday ; Penticton
Thick smoke, heavy ash falling from the sky, very warm.
I left home this morning at 10 AM, heading for Penticton in the truck. Joanne left home at 11:15 AM, heading for Penticton in the minivan. We met at 1:15 PM at Burger King. My first stop was Penticton Hospital to get my knees x-rayed. Then I refilled the truck with diesel fuel, deposited a couple of cheques, and took the truck to a transmission shop to have the transmission fluid flushed and refilled, and the transmission filter replaced.
We had lunch at Burger King, then ran errands together until it was time for me to go to my 3 PM doctor's appointment. I discussed my knee x-rays with my new family doctor, then asked him to accept Joanne as a new patient. With a teensy bit of reluctance due to his patient load, he agreed. PHEW ! Now we both have a new family doctor. I'm relieved, and VERY glad to be rid of the Keremeos Clinic for both of us ! EAT SHIT AND DIE, GLORIA !
Did I just say that out loud ? ! ?
I picked up the truck from the transmission shop, and took it to another auto repair facility for a diagnosis of a new problem. That shop likely cannot fix the ( diesel ) problem, but they are excellent at problem diagnosis. We finished our errands around 5:30 PM and were home about an hour later. When we arrived back home around
6:30 PM, the sky was dark, with red glow behind the mountains across the river, and heavy ash was falling on everything. HMPH ! Seems as if there is a new wildfire across the river from us !
Friday ; Sky obliterated by thick, black wildfire smoke from fire behind the mountain across the river. Heavy ash falling on everything ! Picnic table plastic cover looks like ... war zone. Looks like the apocalypse is coming ! All day long two helicopters with buckets hanging on long lines were refilling their buckets in the Similkameen River, disappearing behind the mountain, and returning within a few minutes. They were refilling their buckets in the deep water of the Similkameen River a short distance upstream from our RV park's burn pile area. HMPH ... my "secret fishing hole" ! They better not have been scooping up all the Rainbow Trout in their buckets !
Received a phone call this morning with a diagnosis of my truck’s exhaust “growl” problem. Phoned the diesel specialty shop and made an appointment for a month from now for replacement of the exhaust manifold. KA-CHING ... couple of thousand
bucks ! Set up an appointment with a physiotherapist next week regarding my sore knee. Did preventive maintenance on the minivan. Fluid top-ups, battery terminal cleaning, that sort of thing.
Napped after lunch. Went to the swimming pool and did cardiac exercises. Went to the dog park with Ozzie. He’s so funny ! “I piss, I shit ... I want to go home and eat NOW !”
This evening wrote a lengthy letter to travel medical insurer !
Saturday ; Princeton
Warm and humid. Grey smoke so thick all the way to ground level we couldn't see the mountain across the highway or the mountain across the river. Difficult to breathe. Imagine having to sing at a music festival in these conditions !
We left home this morning at 11 AM and headed west on Hwy. 3 to Princeton for the first day of the annual Princeton Traditional Music Festival. We spent the day wandering back and forth between the two outdoor and one indoor stages, enjoying the variety of musicians. We arrived at the music festival around noon and left at 6 PM, arriving back home around 7 PM.
This afternoon, while I was drinking from a can of iced tea, a wasp crawled into the can. I did not notice that ! On my next sip, the wasp was in my mouth. Before I could spit it out, it stung me on the inside of my lower lip.
OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
J***S F*****G H C****T ! ! !
WOW ! Did that ever hurt for a couple of minutes. Then I had a swollen, sore lower lip for the rest of the day.
DSK
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