Sunday ;
Overcast, warm, windy.
Joanne went to Penticton today
to run errands by herself. I did a 6000 km. inspection on the truck.
HMPH ! Truck needs a new muffler pretty soon. I have been patching
the truck’s original muffler with muffler cement for at least the
last seven years, but … it’s now beyond being able to be helped
with some muffler cement “goop” ! I spent quite awhile in the
clubhouse using Wi-Fi, getting work done online. I certainly am
getting eager ( read that as “impatient” ) for Wi-Fi service at
our home !
And
this is why I have not done business with the local Internet service
provider for the last nine or ten years, after using their service
for the first two or three years that we lived here. Their Wi-Fi
“technical” service is great, but … their “service” service
is atrociously bad ! ! ! <
sigh > Too bad I can’t find a better alternative ! I suppose
that’s part of the price one must pay for living out here in the
“bush” in the middle of nowhere !
Monday
;
Overcast
and warm.
Joanne
did a lot of laundry today. I watered and turned our composter. I
did some preventive maintenance on the truck, in preparation for a
trip to the Lower Mainland tomorrow. I placed a bid on a U-Ship job
to transport a dog from Penticton to Surrey, but the shipper let my
eight hour timed bid expire. < shrug > Good luck, pal ...
finding another transporter willing to transport your dog on the date
you require, for the amount of money you are offering ! I
was willing to postpone tomorrow’s trip for one week to accommodate
this dog transport job.
Tuesday
; home to Chilliwack to Abbotsford
Overcast and cool.
This
morning we prepared for departure and left home a few minutes before
noon, heading west on Hwy. 3, through Hedley, then Princeton, and
into Manning
Provincial Park. We stopped in the parking lot of Manning Park Lodge
to have a late lunch in the camper. After lunch we continued west on
Hwy. 3 until it ended and merged with Trans-Canada Hwy. 1 at Hope.
We arrived in Chilliwack right on time at 4 PM.
I
went to the parts department of O’Connor RV to buy a new water pump
and hardware for the camper. Their parking area is WAY too small for
customers in RV’s, but … their parts department employee Amanda
gave EXCELLENT
service ! I was finished shopping at O’Connor’s
and we were back on the highway about 4:30 PM. We arrived at the
Trans-Canada Hwy. 1 westbound km. marker 83 rest area at 5 PM. It
was a bit early to be stopping for the night, but … < shrug >
… Amanda advised that boondocking overnight at one of the three
Wal-Marts in Surrey was … not advisable. Surrey is a tough
neighbourhood !
The rest area provides free
Wi-Fi so I amused myself online until it was time for supper. Joanne
asked if I could find an interesting restaurant in the area. Maybe
we could have lunch there tomorrow ? So … I did find an
interesting restaurant ! And we are planning to have lunch there
tomorrow after we pick up our new mattress in Surrey.
Wednesday
; Abbotsford to Surrey to home
This
morning we left the rest area about 10 AM and drove west on
Trans-Canada Hwy. 1 to Surrey, then south on Hwy. 15 and west on 64th
Ave. in the city of Surrey to Royal City Bedding, arriving about 11
AM. Our custom made mattress was ready and waiting for us, as was
the purchase paperwork. We paid the bill, the staff loaded the new
mattress into the camper, and we were out of there in just a few
minutes. Very efficiently handled transaction. Thank you ! And …
as we were about to climb into the truck and leave, our salesperson
came out of the store and presented us with a lovely gift. Thank
you ! ! !
We returned to TCH 1 and drove
east, returning to Abbotsford. We found our way … thank you very
much Thomasina ( our GPS ) … to the restaurant where we wanted to
have lunch. And right beside the restaurant was a Co-op Fuel Bar, so
I refilled the truck with diesel before going into the restaurant.
It was difficult to squeeze the truck and camper into an urban small
“hipster” mall parking lot.
Brodeur’s Bistro is a French
Canadian / Cajun fusion. Rather expensive, very hipster, long wait
for food, but … rated on a scale of zero to ten, here are our
ratings on the food ;
- Joanne’s French Canadian pea soup ; 12 out of 10
- Joanne’s tourtière ( French Canadian meat pie ) ; 7 out of 10
- Daniel’s Montreal smoked meat, smoked Gouda, and cheddar grilled sandwich ; 11 out of 10
- Daniel’s Cajun poutine ; 11 out of 10 ( my three cardiac bypasses are LAUGHING with joy ! HA HA HA )
- Abbotsford’s tap water ; zero out of 10 ! EUUUWWW … what a lot of chlorine !
Yeah … the food was THAT
good ! ! ! And we are very tough to please ! ! ! Except for the
long wait for the food … a kitchen problem, not a server problem …
the service was extremely good as well.
After
lunch we continued east on TCH 1 a short distance to the MM 99
eastbound rest area … not the one where we boondocked overnight
last night ( MM 83 westbound ) … and we dumped our waste holding
tanks at
the sani-dump station.
We continued east on TCH 1 to
Chilliwack where
I once again stopped at O’Connor RV to buy some more installation
hardware for the water pump
I bought yesterday. Finally, our chores
in the Lower Mainland were finished. We continued east on TCH 1 to
Hope, then east on Crowsnest Hwy. 3 to home. We stopped at Manning
Park Lodge for a bathroom break for all three of us. We arrived home
at 5 PM.
We had a late supper at 8 PM,
as the three hour season finale of Survivor was starting.
Thursday
;
Overcast,
cool, intermittent light rain during the day, steady rain late in the
evening.
WHEW … busy day ! At 10 AM
the China Creek Internet installation technician showed up to install
the antenna and cabling to provide me with Internet service. He was
finished around noon. AHHHHH … Internet service at last ! I opted
for an Ethernet cable directly into my laptop instead of a router and
wireless Wi-Fi in our house. The Ethernet cable provides faster
service than a router / Wi-Fi.
Between
noon and 1 PM we took Ozzie for a walk, then removed our old mattress
from the house and put it into our shed, and moved our new mattress
into the house. At 1 PM the gas fitter I hired showed up to
reposition our home’s propane regulator, in accordance with
regulation changes. I assisted him with the work. I appreciate
tradespeople who are willing to allow the client to help and learn by
doing. The propane regulator repositioning was finished at 2 PM. We
had lunch, I took a nap, then we took the truck and camper to our
park’s
sani-dump station, only about fifty feet or so from our
home, to back flush the camper’s grey and black waste
tanks.
Next chore was to trim Ozzie’s
and Emma’s nails. < sigh > I was rushing, because it was
raining lightly, and I carelessly cut two of Ozzie’s nails too
short. Sorry, Ozzie ! < sigh >
After supper we watched the
series finale of Big Bang Theory. < shrug >
Friday
;
Overcast,
chilly. BRRRRR !
We slept late this morning.
By the time we were ready to head into town it was afternoon. First
stop in Keremeos was Sanderson Farms for some produce. Then while I
discussed muffler replacement with my mechanic Joanne walked to the
grocery store for a couple of items. I picked her up at the grocery
store and we continued to Cawston where we bought some strawberry
plants at Little Bush’s Nursery.
Back at home we had a light,
late lunch then I napped for awhile with the animals. This gloomy,
chilly weather leaves me uninspired. I did some replenishment of
toiletries in the camper, and refilled its freshwater tank. I did
some online work, getting caught up on some e-mails I needed to send,
and doing some bill paying.
Joanne bought fresh Steelhead
Trout at the grocery store today. I cooked it tonight for supper,
using a recipe I found online. Turned out pretty good … maybe a
tad too much garlic ! < BURP >
Saturday
;
Sunny,
mild, windy.
This
morning we removed the camper off the truck, in preparation for
taking the truck for service next week. And the process of removing
the camper was plagued by electrical problems. < sigh > When
we were finished removing the camper I went looking for causes of the
camper’s recent electrical issues.
< sigh > And discovered
two problems. First, a wire leading from the roof top solar panel
into the camper had
become disconnected. Then … I discovered
a switch in the battery
compartment was … in the disconnect position.
< sigh > Where it probably has been since I replaced the
battery in Oregon a few weeks ago.
After I rectified both those
problems, the electrical problems were resolved. Including … the
malfunctioning water pump was no longer malfunctioning. That’s
good news, except … now I have a brand new water pump, purchased in
Chilliwack earlier this week, at a cost of about $125, that I have
absolutely no use for … now ! And … it makes no sense to return
it for a refund. The fuel to Chilliwack and back would exceed the
cost of the pump ! So … unless if I get hired to transport a
trailer to the Lower Mainland in the next two weeks … extremely
unlikely … it looks like I now have a spare water pump for the
camper !
Joanne
planted the strawberry bedding plants we bought yesterday. I
drained
the camper’s water heater then reinstalled
the camper’s water heater winterization bypass plumbing …
correctly this time … using hardware I purchased in Chilliwack. My
last outdoor chore of the day was to remove the truck’s hub caps,
wheel liners, and valve extenders, in preparation for a tire rotation
service next week.
After
a late supper we watched the season finale of Saturday Night Live.
DSK
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