This afternoon I cleaned both the small barbecue in the camper and the larger "home" barbecue. YUCK ! The home barbecue is now cleaned and stored for the winter. The camper barbecue is now cleaned and ready for use as we travel.
We planted a hazelnut tree in the park. I would like it to be a memorial tree for Bo. Joanne found this little hazelnut seedling in our composter early last spring and transplanted it into a pot. It grew well over the last six months or so, and we decided to plant it in the park near some mature hazelnut trees, hoping that it will be pollinated by being in proximity to other hazelnut trees.
Because of the very nice fall weather we took a couple of long, leisurely walks with Ozzie today, stopping frequently to chat with neighbours. And ... I said goodbye to Jake, a twelve year old beagle who lives in the park. He is ill and his life will probably have to end tomorrow.
Monday ; Penticton
Sunny and mild.
Late this morning we drove into Keremeos and I paid the bill for the truck repairs, but left the truck there at the auto repair facility in Keremeos until we were returning home from Penticton in the evening. We continued on to Penticton and spent a long, tiring day running errands in Penticton, including a doctor's appointment for me, and a meeting with our financial advisor. While I was seeing my doctor Joanne took the minivan to Canadian Tire and had the headlights aimed. When we were driving home in the early evening ... AHHHHH ... that's better !
On the way home we stopped in Keremeos again, Joanne refilled our five gallon water jug, and I drove the truck home.
Tuesday ; Sunny and mild.
I awoke at 6 AM to ... < sniff, sniff ... ahem > ... clean the litter box. And since that was 9 AM Toronto time, I phoned our travel medical insurer to find out what the hell is going on with our travel medical insurance policies, which we should have received in the mail at least a couple of weeks ago. AND ... < sputter > ... after some telephone tag,
I received a phone call from their doctor later in the morning. Medipac has decided that ... I need to fill out MORE forms ... provide a copy of my last echocardiogram and ... < sputter > … pay an additional $200 administrative fee ! ! !
With not enough time left before departure to switch to another travel medical insurer,
I feel as if there is no alternative. I'm livid, and feel manipulated. Despite their excellent reputation, I am extremely dissatisfied and will not be doing business with Medipac in the future ! Too bad I don't really have any other viable option for this upcoming winter season. I will take any and every opportunity I get to "bad mouth" Medipac to my Canadian Snowbird acquaintances. I hope Medipac thinks the extra two hundred bucks they suck out of me will be worth the lost future business I hope to cause them !
While walking Ozzie around lunch time we were joined by our neighbour Colleen and her new Cocker Spaniel puppy Quincy. Colleen has been having difficulty controlling Quincy while walking. Joanne took Quincy's leash, and we "pack walked" him with Ozzie. It didn't take Quincy very long to accept following Ozzie, his new "pack leader". Well done, Quincy. And ... well done, Ozzie.
Before lunch I drove into Keremeos to take my new prescriptions to the pharmacy to be filled. While I was there I got a flu shot. In the afternoon we mounted Elsie the camper back onto the bed of Lanoire the truck, in preparation for departure tomorrow on a short ( two day ) trip to see the Adams River Sockeye Salmon run.
Wednesday ; home to Kamloops
Sunny and mild at home, cold in the evening at Kamloops.
This morning we finished our preparations for departure, then took Ozzie for a long walk, accompanied by our neighbour Dave with Quincy the Cocker Spaniel puppy, before departing at noon. We headed west on Crowsnest Hwy. 3 to Princeton, then north on Hwy. 5A to Hwy. 97C, the Coquihalla - Okanagan Connector, then west to Merritt. At Merritt we refilled with diesel at the Mobil / Extra Foods Fuel Bar, then
I parked in the grocery store parking lot to take a nap for an hour.
After I napped we continued north on Hwy.5, the Coquihalla / "Highway Thru Hell". Minutes after leaving Merritt a passing car threw a stone up into our windshield, making a "star" chip in the glass. DARN ! As soon as we arrived in Kamloops, just before
6 PM, we headed for Canadian Tire where I bought a windshield stone chip repair kit. By the time it got dark at 6:30 PM I had completed about 95% of the repair procedures. I will finish the repair tomorrow morning. The last part of the repair requires sunlight to cure the resin.
We left the Canadian Tire parking lot and drove a short distance to the Visitor Information Centre, our boondock "home" for tonight. While Joanne prepared supper,
I turned on the 12 volt DC to 120 volt AC inverter, plugged the TV into the inverter outlet, raised the rooftop antenna, and began searching for "over the air" TV signals. Found one signal, and fortunately it was the Global Okanagan feed from Kamloops. WOO-HOO ... the Global network carries Survivor, which is what we wanted to watch.
Thursday ; Kamloops to Adams River to Penticton
Mostly cloudy, cool.
This morning we dumped our waste holding tanks and refilled our freshwater tank at the Kamloops Visitor Information Centre before departing. We headed east on
Trans-Canada Hwy. 1 to Squilax where we turned north to Tsútswecw Provincial Park, and the "Salute To The Sockeye" Festival at the Adams River Sockeye Salmon spawning grounds.
This is a "dominant" Sockeye spawning year. Every fourth year, the Sockeye population is very high. This year about 750,000 Sockeye will be returning, over a three week period, to this small section of this small river to spawn ... then die. It's an astounding spectacle to witness. We did it once before, twelve years ago. When we arrived late this morning there were many school buses, and MANY school children there on field trips, to view and learn about the Sockeye life cycle. What a great way to learn !
We walked down to the river, then ambled along the riverbank for an hour or so marvelling at the sight of all those large, green headed, red bodied Sockeye Salmon jockeying for position to lay eggs or fertilize eggs, in water too shallow to cover their bodies. We returned to the camper and fed Ozzie ... ( "HEY ... MY LUNCH IS LATE !" ) ... then wandered around the small vendors' area, looking at Sockeye Salmon related Native arts and crafts. The food vendors' area was interesting, so ... for lunch we had Russian Borscht, a grilled Sockeye Salmon fillet on a bun, and an extremely large order of very good poutine. What do I care ? My arteries are bypassed ! HA HA HA
< SNORT > HA HA ! The poutine fed both of us for lunch and supper !
Because it was chilly Ozzie was wearing his multi-coloured fleece sweater. We call it his clown suit. He was a big hit with the teenaged schoolgirls. "< giggle giggle > He's SOOOOO adorable < giggle giggle>". HA HA HA ... who knew ?
We left the provincial park around 3 PM and headed east on TCH 1 to Salmon Arm where we parked in a shopping mall and I had a nap. At 5 PM we left Salmon Arm heading south on Hwy. 97B, then Hwy. 97A to Vernon, our planned destination for tonight. On the way we stopped at Armstrong to buy some cheese curds, but we were too late, the cheese factory closed at 5 PM. At Enderby we stopped to take Ozzie for a walk around a lovely municipal park.
When we arrived at Vernon about 6:30 PM, we were neither hungry nor tired, so we decided to continue south on Hwy. 97. Same decision at Kelowna. Same decision at Westbank. We stopped for the night at 8:15 PM in Penticton. Joanne has an appointment here tomorrow, and we have errands to run here. We boondocked overnight in the Wal-Mart parking lot.
Friday ; Penticton
Sunny and mild.
We spent the day in Penticton, running errands. Joanne had a medical appointment in the afternoon. We arrived back at home around 5 PM. Emma was very glad to see us, after being left home alone for two and a half days.
Saturday ; Sunny and mild.
This morning I finished the windshield chip repair that I started a couple of days ago. I did some work on the camper, removing an empty propane tank, and refilling the freshwater tank. Joanne helped me carry the fifth wheel hitch into the shed, to put it into storage for the winter. I drained the remaining two ( of our four ) garden hoses, and put them into winter storage in the shed. Joanne worked on camper interior cleaning. Late in the afternoon we went to the swimming pool for an exercise session.
Eleven days to winter departure !
DSK
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