Sunday ; Clearwater Provincial Park to The Pas to Benito
Sunny and warm. The day didn’t go particularly well. But … while it was a frustrating day of many problems, nothing was insurmountable nor too serious.
This morning we went for a long walk then dumped our waste tanks and refilled our freshwater tank before departing Campers Cove Campground in Clearwater Provincial Park. While doing my regular pre-departure preventive maintenance inspections I discovered ;
the passenger side rear inside dually tire was flat !
The new “house” battery in the camper was dead !
While Joanne was refilling the freshwater tank I inspected the flat tire and concluded that the problem was probably the valve extender, possibly the valve stem which is screw mounted into the steel wheel. I decided to drive to The Pas and let a tire shop deal with the problem. It’s extremely difficult for me to remove the spare tire from underneath the truck, and change a flat tire on the truck, when the 4500 pound camper is mounted on its “back”. It’s possible to drive a short distance on a good road at a relatively slow speed with one dually tire flat. <thinking> He hopes !
We drove the 30 km. / 20 miles south on Hwy. 10 to The Pas. First stop was Mobil Fuels to refill the truck with diesel. While there I got directions to the downtown laundromat and the two tire shops in town, located beside one another. We drove downtown and before finding the laundromat we found the municipal park with a sani-dump station and what was at one time the town’s municipal campground, although it is no longer in use. Still, it looked like a good spot to boondock overnight should that become necessary.
While Joanne did laundry I used the laundromat’s free Wi-Fi to get some online work done, paying bills and posting my blog entry. The laundromat’s TV was on CBC, with live coverage of the Pope’s arrival in Edmonton. All of the patrons in the laundromat … except us … were glued to the TV screen. <whispering> We were the only white folks in the laundromat. Perhaps the only white folks in the entire city of The Pas !
While parked on the street in front of the laundromat I did some diagnostic work on the camper’s new/dead battery and discovered two more blown fuses, one in the truck’s fuse box and one inside the camper’s “house” battery wiring. I replaced the blown fuse in the truck with my last spare fuse of that size, but did not have the correct inline fuse for the camper battery’s wiring.
We drove to the two tire shops. <sigh> Both closed on Sundays. While driving around downtown we found Ace Hardware. I went inside to see if they had automotive fuses. They did, but not the correct sizes for the camper battery wiring nor the inverter. I bought “close enough” fuses to use temporarily, so that the camper battery will recharge properly from the truck’s alternator when the truck engine is running, and so that I can temporarily repair and reinstall the inverter.
We drove back to the waterfront municipal park and parked in an old campsite in the no longer used campground. At least I was parked on grass and could work on the truck’s flat tire without having to get dirty working on dirt, gravel, or pavement. We had a very late lunch then I began working on the flat tire. I removed the wheel liner and hub cap and was able to see and reach the inner tire’s valve stem. I concluded that the screwed in valve stem seemed okay, and that the valve extender was likely the problem. Of course, I have spares ! Now I needed to put air in the flat tire to determine if I had solved the problem. Before we could leave the municipal park we were approached by an … <ahem> … “inebriated Indigenous” man trying to bum a cigarette.
We drove back to the two tire shops. Neither of them had left an air hose outside. We drove around town checking gas stations for an air hose. We found one at a car wash. I refilled the flat tire with air, and it seemed okay. We decided to leave town and continue our day’s planned journey.
We left The Pas around 4:30 PM and continued south on Hwy. 10. We stopped at a rest area at Red Deer River and I fished briefly. We continued to our destination for tonight, Primrose Wayside Campground. We did not like it, so … Plan B ! We continued all the way to the little town of Benito where there is a free municipal campground. We didn’t arrive there until after 7 PM. I was too tired to make a campfire, so while Joanne prepared supper in the camper I continued working on the camper’s new/dead battery problem. I replaced the blown fuse in the battery wiring, and used a multi-meter to ensure correct current flows and voltages. All seemed well ! I hope ! Wish me luck !
After supper we went for a long walk around town. Benito is a quiet and pretty little farming community. Today’s travels took us from the rugged forest wilderness of the north to the manicured agricultural fields of western Manitoba.
Monday ; Benito to Child’s Lake Campground in Duck Mountain Provincial Park
Overcast, mild, constant light rain from lunch time to dinner time. Horrific mosquitoes !
This morning I checked the truck tires’ air pressures, reassuring myself that the valve extender I replaced yesterday had been the problem. I reinstalled the wheel liner and hub cap. Flat tire problem resolved ! We went for a long walk around Benito’s municipal park neighbourhood, dumped our waste holding tanks at the dump station behind the town’s arena (home of the 1983 and 1990 Men’s World Curling Champion, Ed “The Wrench” Werenich), and left Benito around 11 AM, heading south on Hwy. 83. About halfway to Roblin we turned east on Hwy. 367, a gravel road leading into and through Duck Mountain Provincial Park. We reached Child’s Lake, the first of Duck Mountain’s four campgrounds by about 12:30 PM. We checked in, drove through the campground, returned to the office to register and pay, refilled our freshwater tank, settled into our chosen campsite, and prepared lunch. By the time we were finished lunch it was raining, and continued to rain until supper time.
Oh, well … might as well nap. HA HA HA ! After napping I spent the rest of the afternoon on the inverter repair project. I replaced the two blown fuses inside the inverter, reassembled it, tested it, rewired it and reinstalled it inside the kitchen cupboard, then went outside (in the rain !) to reconnect the inverter’s power input cables to the “house” battery. I checked the two other fuses I replaced yesterday to confirm that all was well ; an inline fuse in the camper battery’s wiring, and the “trailer battery” charging fuse in the truck’s fuse panel.
Dead new battery problem solved.
Dead inverter problem solved.
Finally it stopped raining. Joanne was napping, so I went for a long walk by myself, then prepared supper … indoors.
Tuesday ; Child’s Lake to Wellman Lake
Mix of sun and clouds, warm, intermittent, brief, light rain throughout the day.
HMPH ! Spoke too soon yesterday. Tire flat again this morning ! ! !
This morning while preparing to leave Child’s Lake at noon I discovered the passenger side rear inside dually tire was flat. AGAIN ! Inspection revealed that the valve extender was loose and wobbly. BECAUSE … (insert drum roll here) … the loose fitting (due to age / wear & tear) wheel liner was rattling/vibrating against the valve extender, causing it to vibrate on the valve stem, causing the threads on the valve stem to slowly become worn/stripped. SO … while the new valve extender seems okay, the valve stem’s threads were so worn/stripped that it will need to be replaced. AND … the loose fitting wheel liner is headed to the garbage !
<sigh> The only solution, for here and now, was to remove the inside rear dually tire with the stripped threads valve stem, and install the spare tire. Back home in Steinbach I will have the stripped threads valve stem replaced. In the meantime, that tire will hold air, it just can’t have a valve extender installed on it. SO … it will be fine as the spare … for now.
<sigh> It took me two hours to change the tire, a near impossible task with the camper on the truck. And I’m not getting any younger ! Nor am I getting any more nimble ! ! ! Nor stronger ! ! ! <sigh > And the intermittent rain didn’t make the job any easier or more pleasant ! ! !
We had lunch, dumped the waste holding tanks, refilled the freshwater tank, and departed Child’s Lake Campground around 3 PM. We headed east on Hwy. 367. I stopped at Beautiful Lake and fished for half an hour. I didn’t catch anything, but I had an interesting and pleasant chat with the family sharing the fishing dock with me ; a young couple with two small children, all speaking a mixture of English and Spanish. SO … I broke the ice by speaking Spanish to them. They currently live in Brandon, having immigrated from Columbia fourteen years ago.
Continuing east on Hwy. 367, we turned north on Hwy. 366 at Blue Lakes. I stopped at Blue Lakes Resort and used their air compressor to refill the flat tire with air, another very difficult job because earlier I had nowhere to put the flat tire except back into the spare tire mounting position underneath the truck. I had to crawl underneath the truck AGAIN to put air in the tire. <sigh>
On the way north to Wellman Lake I stopped again to fish for half an hour, this time at Two Mile Lake, and used my fly fishing gear to fish for Rainbow Trout. No luck !
We arrived at Wellman Lake Campground around 6 PM. After selecting a campsite we went for a long walk, then I started a campfire. Joanne and I shared campfire cooking responsibilities tonight. And … <sigh > … as we finished eating supper shortly after 8 PM it began to rain AGAIN. We retreated into the camper and abandoned the campfire.
Wednesday ; Wellman Lake to Blue Lakes
Mix of sun and clouds, cool, windy, intermittent light rain.
This morning we prepared for departure, went for a long walk around the campground, dumped our waste holding tanks, refilled the freshwater tank, and departed Wellman Lake Campground around 12:30 PM. We headed south on Hwy. 366 back towards Blue Lakes Campground. We stopped at Perch Lake and I fished for half an hour, catching a small Perch. As Joanne was preparing soup for lunch she suddenly became quite ill ; dizzy, nausea, vomiting. She abandoned preparing and eating lunch, and went to lay down, falling asleep for a few hours. I had lunch, then also napped briefly.
When she awoke around 5 PM she wasn’t feeling much better. We continued south to Blue Lakes Campground and selected a campsite. Joanne went back to sleep while I walked back to the campground office to pay for our campsite. She woke again around 7 PM and wanted to prepare supper for us, despite her not feeling much like eating anything. She made supper, and ate some of our lunch soup and salad. After supper I took her for a slow walk around the campground, hoping that fresh air might make her feel better. It didn’t !
Thursday ; Blue Lakes to Dauphin
Sunny and warm.
Joanne was healthy today. Her illness lasted only one day. It’s a long story but … I suspect she was ill with carbon monoxide poisoning.
We went for a long walk this morning then dumped our waste holding tanks and refilled our freshwater tank before leaving Blue Lakes Campground shortly after noon. We headed east on Hwy. 367 towards Garland. After 15 km. / 9 miles we reached Singush Lake and … <sputter> ... a road closure barrier ! We turned around and headed back to Blue Lakes, and Hwy. 366 heading south. Now … usually I wouldn’t be too concerned or upset by a 30 km. waste of time and fuel, but … the truck’s fuel level was getting pretty low. I hadn’t filled with diesel since The Pas.
At Blue Lakes we turned south on Hwy. 366. At Baldy Mountain, Manitoba’s highest point, we stopped to have lunch. Everybody and their dog has tall towers full of antennae at Baldy Mountain. SO … I was finally able to get a Telus cell signal. I phoned our pharmacy in Steinbach to order some prescription refills I need to pick up next Tuesday.
After lunch we continued south towards Grandview. I was feeling anxiety about running out of fuel. Shortly before reaching Grandview … and diesel fuel … <sputter> … there was a detour. We dipsy doodled on farming back roads following the detour, finally reaching Hwy. 5 and Grandview and its one fuel station. CLOSED ! <sigh> Now I was really getting worried. Next town was Gilbert Plains, about another 15 km. / 9 miles east on Hwy. 5.
We reached Gilbert Plains with the truck pretty darn low on diesel ! <blink blink> $235 to refill ! ! !
As we arrived in Dauphin we found a car wash with an outside bay. We washed two weeks of muddy roads off the truck and camper. We continued in to downtown Dauphin and found the Co-op Food Centre. We replenished groceries, then headed south through town. At the Co-op Fuel Bar on the southern edge of town we refilled one of the camper’s propane tanks. Across the highway was the town’s shopping mall. Joanne went to Wal-Mart for a few items while I went into Canadian Tire to buy the correct size of automotive fuses I couldn’t get in The Pas.
We drove out of town to the south on Hwy. 10 a few miles to Selo Ukraina, the site of Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival which we will be attending this long weekend. It has been forty years or more since we last attended this cultural festival.
AHHH … moya luda (my people) !
We arrived around 7 PM and got settled into our selected camping site, then went for our “before dinner” long walk around the festival’s (unserviced) camping area. We sat outside in our folding chairs for awhile enjoying the warm sunshine before going inside the camper around 8 PM to make dinner.
Friday ; Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival near Dauphin, day 1 of 3
Sunny and hot. Nice weather for a festival.
We attended the festival multiple times throughout the day, returning to the camper for lunch and rest breaks. In the late morning we watched the youth Ukrainian Dance competitions. In the afternoon we wandered through the vendor exhibits and culinary demonstrations. At 6 PM (much too early for us to eat dinner !) we had Ukrainian Buffet supper catered by a local firm. And from 7 PM to 11 PM we attended the Grand Opening ceremonies and entertainment on the grandstand stage. Lots of very entertaining Ukrainian Dance ensembles from all over Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.
Saturday ; Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival near Dauphin, day 2 of 3
Sunny and hot. By supper time Joanne was overwhelmed by heat, road dust, constant noise of generators running day and night, obnoxious loud music, in “campground from hell”.
We spent the afternoon exploring the Ukrainian Heritage Village adjacent to the festival site. It makes me feel very old to see all these museum pieces that were in my mother’s and my Aunt Lena’s kitchens. We also visited the Ukrainian Musicians Hall Of Fame. It was oddly satisfying (and perhaps vindicating ?) to see that our wedding band (Stan Kaskiw & The Polka Drifters) were inducted to the Ukrainian Musicians Hall Of Fame. HA HA HA ! Thanks, Mom and Dad, for hiring them 48 years ago.
Around 8:30 PM we headed back to the grandstand to watch the second half of tonight’s main stage variety show. About an hour later a sudden and violent thunderstorm began, bringing the evening’s entertainment to an abrupt halt.
DSK
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