May 22 to 29, 2021 ; Virden to Steinbach, Manitoba

Saturday ; Virden to Portage La Prairie

Overcast and cool.

At last ! Our two week quarantine upon entry to Manitoba is over !

This morning and well into the afternoon we did errands in Virden before departing. Joanne did a lot of laundry in the one washer one dryer laundromat of Jay’s Inn, our home for the last two weeks. I shopped and prepared for departure. I bought some needed RV repair parts at Four Seasons RV, then installed them. I refilled a propane tank at the Co-op Fuel Bar, then bought a small amount of groceries in the Co-op Grocery Store. I had actually gone into the store to buy only one item, an advertised special, but by the time I found my way to the advertised special, I had selected three additional items. I shouldn’t be allowed to go shopping after being in quarantine for two weeks. HA HA HA !

After having a very late lunch we departed Jay’s Inn, and Virden, at 2:50 PM. We drove east on Trans-Canada Highway 1 about an hour to Brandon, where we found our way to Superstore for grocery replenishment. YIKES ! As we pulled into the Superstore parking lot we could see that it was crowded with vehicles and … <blink blink> … there was an incredibly long line-up of people waiting to enter the store. Manitoba had imposed new Covid restrictions for the long weekend ! It didn’t take much discussion between us (over our two way radios) to decide to forego the Superstore shopping.

Back to the highway we went, continuing east on TCH 1 about another hour or so to Portage La Prairie. We arrived in the parking lot of Wal-Mart at 5:30 PM. Joanne went into Wal-Mart to do some of our grocery replenishment, but not all. We/she will go to Superstore in Steinbach on Tuesday. I got in the minivan and drove a short distance to Canadian Tire to get a refund on one item and purchase a couple of other items.

Before supper we went for a long exercise walk. Where we are parked in the Wal-Mart parking lot is bracketed by two railroad tracks ; a CP track about 500 feet southeast of us, and a CN track about 500 feet north of us. Both lines have frequent train traffic, all blowing their whistles as they approach the level crossings. Welcome (back) to the Prairies ! For the last two weeks we endured frequent train whistles day and night while in Virden, although not as close as here in Portage La Prairie.

Sunday ; Portage La Prairie to Winnipeg

Overcast and cool.

Before leaving Portage La Prairie this morning we went for our regular morning long exercise walk, then pulled out of the Wal-Mart parking lot and drove across the highway to refill both vehicles with fuel at Co-op Fuel Bar. We found our way, with a lot of assistance from GPS, to the municipal sani-dump station behind the local arena. We dumped our waste holding tanks and refilled our freshwater. It was difficult and complicated to find the sani-dump station due to construction and detours. And even more difficult and complicated to find our way out of town from there !

Forty years ago (!) in 1981, when I joined the Industrial Engineering department of the Midwest Division (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and N.W. Ontario) of Canada Post, shortly after it became a Crown Corporation, one of my first assignments was an operational audit of the Portage La Prairie Post Office. I spent two weeks in Portage La Prairie at that time. Like in many small towns, the Post Office was housed in a beautiful old brick government building that looked almost like a castle. When we drove through town today, I noticed that the beautiful old Post Office building was now … <sputter> … a Cannibis store ! HMPH !

We continued east on TCH 1, reaching the Perimeter Highway around Winnipeg around 1:30 PM. We found our way to the Wal-Mart in the Lindenwoods neighbourhood, our boondock home for tonight, and the Wal-Mart location nearest to the seller of the bedroom suite we recently purchased online. We had lunch, then phoned the seller of the bedroom suite to arrange for us to view it, and finalize the purchase. Driving only the minivan, we arrived at their home in Tuxedo (very nice !) at 2:30 PM, viewed the bedroom suite (very nice !) and completed the deal.

Or so I thought at the time ! ! ! ! !

Near their home was a Superstore, so … we returned to the Wal-Mart, I drove the truck and camper across the street from the Wal-Mart to the Canadian Tire parking lot, poached their free Wi-Fi, and got some online work done while Joanne went in the minivan back to Superstore to replenish groceries. She returned to the Canadian Tire when she was finished at Superstore, and we drove both vehicles back across the street to Wal-Mart again. We went for a lengthy exercise walk around the commercial and residential neighbourhoods before having a late supper.

WOO-HOO ! Fiddleheads with supper ! Joanne found and bought fresh Fiddleheads at Superstore. What a rare treat !

Monday ; Victoria Day holiday in Canada ; Winnipeg to Ste. Anne

After she tossed and turned and fretted about it overnight, Joanne advised me early this morning that she did not want the bedroom set. <sigh> How difficult it is for me to have to advise the seller that I am reneging on a deal reached. That’s not my style ! ! !

Sunny and warm today.

Before leaving the Wal-Mart parking lot this morning I drove in the minivan across the street to Canadian Tire and sent an e-mail message to the bedroom set owner advising her that I was reneging on the bedroom set purchase. T’was neither easy nor pleasant for me to do !

We returned to Winnipeg’s Perimeter Hwy. 101 and continued east then a bit north around the city. When we reached the continuation of Trans-Canada Hwy. 1 we continued east. On impulse, when we reached the turn-off to Hwy. 207 leading into Lorette (where my sister lives) I decided to go see the site of the seniors’ condo development that we had been waiting for over two years for construction to begin. The last notification that we received from this project (in February) was that construction was planned to commence in March or April of this year. When we arrived at the project site … there was nothing but mud … and songbirds. No construction equipment, no construction materials … just a lot of peace and quiet ! And muddy ground beside the Seine River.

I guess I knew that that was what we would find. Still … I’m disappointed.

From Lorette we continued down back roads to the tiny (non-existent ?) village of Landmark. To see a condominium building that caught my eye a few months ago when a unit in that building became available for sale. I liked the unit. Joanne … not so much. Seeing the building today, and its cramped entry driveway and parking area … I wasn’t impressed. We stopped in the village’s lovely municipal park to have lunch, and a nap for me.

From Landmark we continued east down country back roads until reaching Hwy. 12 near the town of Ste. Anne, just a short distance north of the city of Steinbach, soon to be our new home. A couple of km. north on Hwy. 12, then a couple of km. east on TCH 1, and we were at our home for the next week and a half, Lilac Resort. We checked in, found our site, got set up, and spent a couple of hours sitting in lawn chairs, enjoying the sunshine and warmth, and bleeding off the stress of arguing about the bedroom set.

We went for a long exercise walk around this large resort property before having supper.

Tuesday ; Steinbach at last !

Bitterly cold and windy. HMPH ! Welcome back to Manitoba !

Late this morning we drove about 15 km. / 9 miles south on Hwy. 12 into Steinbach and got our first look at our condominium building, and neighbourhood. We were very impressed with both. After slowly walking completely around the condo building and grounds twice we drove around the neighbourhood exploring until we got hungry, then returned home to the camper at Lilac Resort to have a very late lunch.

Wednesday ; errands in Steinbach and area

Sunny, but windy and cold, with temperatures below freezing overnight. SHEESH !

After an early lunch we left our “home” at Lilac Resort and headed toward Steinbach. We detoured off Hwy. 12 to visit the town of Ste. Anne. It was smaller than we thought it would be. Then we headed down back roads toward La Broquerie to visit it as well. HMPH ! Made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in … Steinbach. Oh, well, that was where we were supposed to be going anyway.

Our primary reason for heading into Steinbach today was a meeting with our lawyer to wrap up the condo purchase details. Before going to the meeting at the lawyer’s home based office on the edge of town I refilled the minivan with fuel and took it through the car wash at the Co-op Fuel Bar. Our 3:30 PM meeting with the lawyer took longer than expected, and we were a few minutes late for our 5 PM appointment to view a roll top desk for sale at a rural home between Steinbach and La Broquerie. HMPH ! Gravel road right after I had washed the car !

After viewing the roll top desk we returned to Steinbach. I dropped Joanne off at Superstore and I went to Penner Building Supplies to buy an item I needed. I returned to Superstore, waited for Joanne to finish grocery shopping … Manitoba currently restricts shopping to only one family member in a store … then we went to Canadian Tire to refill our five gallon water jug. It seems as if all Superstores have closed their reverse osmosis water refill machines due to Covid. We returned to Lilac Resort, arriving home hungry and tired at 7 PM. We went for our second long exercise walk of the day before putting groceries away and having a late supper after 8 PM.

Thursday ; Sunny and cool, but with freezing temperatures overnight AGAIN !

I had a lengthy telephone chat this afternoon with the real estate agent who handled the sale of our new seniors’ condominium suite. And I started the final section of rust repair on our minivan. I left the smallest and easiest section for last. I had done all the rest of the rust repair work while we were quarantined in Virden. BUT … this final, small, easy section turned out not to be so easy after all. I ground out all the rust, and discovered that the damage was worse than initially apparent. So … I need to buy some supplies, in order to do some fiberglass repair work. I had initially thought that this section would require only grinding, priming, and painting.

Friday ; After freezing temperatures overnight, today was sunny and mild.

WOO-HOO … we’re number one <sarcasm>! As of today … Manitoba is the Covid hotspot of North America, with the highest infection rate in Canada, United States, and Mexico. Isn’t that just ****ing wonderful ?!?!!!

Joanne went shopping by herself in Steinbach this afternoon. She was disappointed, and has concluded that we will be doing more of our shopping in Winnipeg than we had anticipated. While she was out shopping I flushed the mineral deposits out of the camper’s water heater, removing, inspecting, and cleaning the sacrificial anode plug, flushing the inside of the water heater with a high pressure flushing wand, then reinstalling the sacrificial anode. Another annual maintenance task done !

Saturday ; Sunny, cool, windy.

I had been planning to go to Canadian Tire in Steinbach today to buy some auto body supplies to continue working on rust repairs on the minivan. But … the weather made me lethargic, so … I didn’t. I worked online researching and arranging local Internet and cell phone service. And you know how much I hate Wi-Fi and cell phone service drama ! I did accomplish having our BC cell phone service discontinued and I obtained Manitoba cell phone service with a new Manitoba cell phone number. Hopefully I will pick up the Internet equipment I require on Monday at Kildonan Place while I am nearby picking up our U-Box at U-Haul on Regent.

DSK

Quarantine in Virden, Manitoba

 

British Columbia to Manitoba

 Thursday, April 29, 2021 ; Gallagher Lake, BC

Sunny and warm. Summer arrived here in the Okanagan Valley today. So … we’re preparing to leave, heading east across the Rockies and into the remnants of winter in the Canadian prairies. <sigh> Story of my life. HA HA HA !

We begin our journey from here to our new home in Steinbach, Manitoba in two days, on Saturday. We will travel relatively slowly, partially because we are travelling in separate vehicles, and Joanne is not as experienced or comfortable with cross country driving.

We went into Oliver this afternoon for our final grocery shopping trip before travelling. Somewhat like our trip a year ago from Arizona to British Columbia, we have to ensure that we have enough food stockpiled in the camper to allow us to remain isolated/quarantined for two weeks upon our arrival in Manitoba.

Yesterday the Lions Campground in Virden phoned, to advise us that they were required by new Manitoba Covid regulations to cancel our two week reservation. BUT … since only campgrounds in Manitoba are now closed to out of province visitors, and hotels are not, they referred us to a very nice local hotel. So … now we will be spending our two week quarantine in Manitoba at a Virden hotel.

Saturday, May 1 ; Gallagher Lake to Nancy Greene Provincial Park, BC

The day started sunny and warm in the Okanagan Valley, and ended partially cloudy and chilly, high in the Kootenay Rockies.

This morning we prepared for departure, chatted with a neighbour, went for our morning exercise walk, and pulled out of Gallagher Lake Resort at 11:30 AM heading south on Hwy. 97 through Oliver to Osoyoos, then east on Crowsnest Hwy. 3. Goodbye, Okanagan Valley. Goodbye Similkameen Valley. Goodbye, Oliver and Osoyoos. Goodby, Bo’s peepee park ! HA HA HA ... Bo’s favourite place for a lunch stop when we were towing and setting up RV trailers.

We stopped in Grand Forks to have a late lunch and refill both vehicles with fuel. And I had a nap, of course. Shortly before reaching Castlegar we stopped for the night at Nancy Greene Provincial Park. It was closed ... we boondocked overnight in the parking lot at the entrance. Before having supper we went for our late afternoon exercise walk, meandering around the closed campground and around the shoreline of the lake. BRRRRR ! Still snow on the ground and ice on the lake.

Sunday, May 2 ; Nancy Greene Provincial Park to Castlegar to Cranbrook

Sunny. Cold in the morning at the high altitude of the provincial park. Warm in Castlegar. Cold at high elevations while driving. Warm when we arrived in Cranbrook.

Hwy. 3 across southern BC is a difficult, dangerous road to drive. Yesterday Joanne made a serious driving error. Today she made another one. That scares and worries me. <sigh> We have one more day of difficult and dangerous driving across southern BC on Hwy. 3, up and over the Rockies through the Crowsnest Pass. Then the road will become flat, straight … and safer … across the prairies.

I awoke this morning at 6 AM, wakened by a soul sucking nightmare. <sigh> I was unable to fall asleep again. I tossed and turned, and read for awhile, then finally got up shortly before 8 AM. We left the provincial park about 10 AM, forgetting to go on our morning exercise walk.

We drove east on Hwy. 3 to Castlegar, to the Visitor Centre. We dumped the camper’s waste holding tanks at the sani-dump station, and refilled the freshwater tank, then parked the truck and camper. We drove in the minivan north on Hwy. 3A to Sentinel Meats in the village of Tarry’s. We bought quite a bit of Sentinel Meats’ excellent beef salami. We drove back to Castlegar, to Kootenay Market, the grocery store in town. There we bought three jars of Kelly’s Doukhobor Borscht, one for supper tonight, two to take to Manitoba for later.

We returned to the Visitor Centre to retrieve the truck and camper. We drove to Canadian Tire to await the delivery at 3 PM of our sausage order from Silly Sausage Company in Nelson. We had a late lunch in the camper, did some chores, I napped, and shortly after 3 PM our sausage order arrived. We repackaged the sausages, put them in the freezer, then hit the road about 3:30 PM, continuing east on Crowsnest Hwy. 3.

Between Castlegar and Cranbrook we encountered a burning semi-trailer on the side of the road, blizzard conditions, a rockslide with huge boulders strewn across the road, mountain goats on the road, and deer on the road ! About halfway we stopped at Kidd Creek Rest Area to have a snack and an exercise walk.

When we arrived in Cranbrook shortly after 7 PM … (8 PM actually) … we parked behind the Visitor Centre to boondock overnight. While Joanne prepared a salad to go along with the borscht for supper I went for another exercise walk. Our evening was shortened when we realized that we had just crossed from Pacific time zone to Mountain time zone.

Monday, May 3 ; Cranbrook, BC to Fort MacLeod, Alberta

Cloudy and cool.

Well ! That’s three for three for Joanne ! Three days of difficult and dangerous mountain driving, a potentially “life or death” driving error each day ! I surely hope that now that we’re out of the mountains and on the prairies the driving dangers and errors will decrease. Today there were wild turkeys, deer, and Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep on the roadsides.

We got a late start to the day. We slept late, partially due to the time zone change late yesterday. After morning toilette routines and breakfast, I reset the clocks in the truck and minivan, dumped the camper’s waste holding tanks and refilled the freshwater tank at the Cranbrook Visitor Centre’s sani-dump station, then we went for a long exercise walk to Home Depot and back to the Visitor Centre. We refilled the minivan with fuel and the truck with diesel at Superstore Fuel Bar, then headed out on the road shortly after noon, continuing eastbound on Crowsnest Hwy. 3.

We stopped for a late lunch in chilly, rainy Fernie, BC. We crossed the Crowsnest Pass over the last of the Rocky Mountains and into Alberta. AHHH … flat land, straight roads ! We arrived at the Visitor Centre in Fort MacLeod, Alberta around 5:15 PM. The Visitor Centre was an abandoned building with the freshwater spigot at the sani-dump station turned off for the winter. Oh, well … it was still a good overnight boondocking parking spot, and in the morning we can dump the waste holding tanks and find somewhere else later in the day to refill our freshwater.

I napped briefly then we went for a long exercise walk in town, through business and residential areas. Fort MacLeod seems to be a bit of a scruffy little redneck town. Used car dealers with no cars on the lots, only pickup trucks. <shrug> Typical Alberta small town, I guess. We walked by a residential area baseball field, with a Little League team practice taking place. Boys around eight to ten years of age. Quite pathetic baseball players for boys that age, I thought. Not headed for the major leagues … nor rocket science, it seemed. HA HA HA !

Tuesday, May 4 ; Fort MacLeod to Medicine Hat, Alberta

Sunny and cool in the morning in Fort MacLeod, mix of sun and clouds and intermittent light rain as we drove, heavy rain in the evening in Medicine Hat.

This morning we went for a long exercise walk, dumped our waste holding tanks at the Visitor Centre sani-dump station, refilled the minivan and truck with fuel at Independent Grocer Fuel Bar, then left Fort MacLeod at 10:30 AM, continuing east on Crowsnest Hwy. 3. We stopped at the Wal-Mart parking lot in Taber to have lunch and a brief nap for me. This is the third time we have been to Taber in the last few years. Taber seems like … well … kind of the armpit of Alberta. We arrived in Medicine Hat around 5:30 PM. We parked in the Wal-Mart parking lot to boondock overnight … and probably tomorrow night as well … on the Canadian Tire side of the Wal-Mart parking lot. Excellent Wi-Fi signal coming from Canadian Tire !

Before supper … and the heavy rain … we went for a long walk around the residential community behind Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire. What an interesting “planned community” with lots of parkland and paved walkways around the community.

Wednesday, May 5 ; Medicine Hat ; Happy 20^th birthday to Joanne’s niece Amelia

Sunny, chilly early in the day, warming throughout the day.

We did not drive today. Today was intended to be a day of rest and running errands. There wasn’t much rest. There was a lot of running errands. We went for long exercise walks in the morning and late afternoon. We dumped the camper’s waste holding tanks and refilled the freshwater tank at the Medicine Hat Visitor Centre. We shopped (unsuccessfully) for a roller blind for the camper at Rona and Home Depot. We refilled the minivan with fuel and the truck with diesel and the camper with propane at Co-op Fuel Bar. Because … the Superstore Fuel Bar had neither diesel nor propane. We shopped at Wal-Mart. Joanne shopped at Dollar Tree. I shopped at Canadian Tire.

While exercise walking this morning we came across a group of four obviously domestic (pet) bunnies that had escaped from some nearby home and were trying to live “independently” on both sides of a tall fence separating Wal-Mart’s rear yard and the adjacent residential community. AND … a well fed, collar and tag wearing cat stalking the bunnies. Joanne and the cat had a … <ahem> … “discussion” about the inadvisability of a well fed cat stalking escaped little bunnies. Joanne thinks she won that debate. I don’t ! HA HA HA !

Thursday, May 6 ; Medicine Hat, Alberta to Swift Current, Saskatchewan

Sunny and mild.

This morning as we were leaving the Wal-Mart parking lot in Medicine Hat, we had just come out of the camper, I was locking the camper door, Joanne was walking to the minivan parked beside the truck and camper, an unmarked police cruiser pulled up behind me, and the officer rolled down his passenger window. For those who are unaware, I have nothing but disdain and contempt for law enforcement. And it has only gotten worse in the last year or so.

The police officer failed to identify himself, or his agency. There were no markings on his car, just a lot of antennae sticking up out of a grey SUV. I don’t know if he was RCMP, or Medicine Hat municipal police. I suspect he was RCMP. He started by advising me that he had already checked our BC license plates, knew who we were, and where we were from.

Yeah ? Really ? Well … tell someone who gives a tiny rat’s ass !

He attempted to adopt a friendly, conversational tone as he asked me a series of questions that I felt were really none of his business. Where was I going ? Why ? I was of the opinion that he had absolutely no cause to be talking to me about anything. Alberta currently has no Covid related travel restrictions for out of province visitors. Does he question the occupants of every out of province vehicle he comes across ? ! ? Does he run the license plate of every out of province vehicle he comes across ? ! ?

Every comment of his that was phrased as a question, I answered with one word, and a scowl on my face. Every comment of his that was not phrased as a question, I answered with a mute, dirty look. He soon tired of my bad attitude, and left. Good riddance … officer ! Have a nice day, indeed ! Go have a donut !

Before leaving Medicine Hat we returned to the Visitor Centre to dump our waste holding tanks and refill our freshwater tank. We headed east out of Medicine Hat on Trans-Canada Hwy. 1. WOO-HOO ! Four lane divided highway, should be all the way to Winnipeg and beyond.

We stopped at a rest area about halfway to Swift Current and had lunch. I napped briefly. We crossed from Alberta into Saskatchewan. We arrived in Swift Current around 5 PM, refilled both vehicles with fuel at Superstore Fuel Bar, then got parked for overnight boondocking at Wal-Mart. We went for a long exercise walk, then drove around in the minivan for awhile looking for a place to refill our freshwater tank tomorrow morning, and an RV dealer where I can shop for some camper fridge repair parts I need. I think it’s about time to replace the fridge propane burner’s igniter and igniter control module.

Friday, May 7 ; Swift Current to Regina, Saskatchewan ; Joanne’s 20^th anniversary as a cancer survivor !

Sunny and warm, extremely windy, having a large impact on the truck and camper handling at highway speeds. And fuel consumption !

WHEW … long, tough day ! We departed the Swift Current Wal-Mart about 11 AM this morning and drove a short distance to a local RV parts and service business. Yesterday evening I had ascertained that the camper fridge igniter was okay, but the igniter control module wasn’t. Today I bought an igniter control module at the RV parts and service business and replaced/installed it while in their parking lot. I learned a lot of years ago … about 16 years ago in Nova Scotia … not to buy RV repair parts and then install them 300 miles later, only to discover that they’re the wrong parts ! ! ! Those particular parts purchased 16 years ago in Nova Scotia are still in a storage compartment in our fifth wheel trailer in Yuma. Before leaving Swift Current we refilled our freshwater tank at FasGas.

We continued eastbound on Trans-Canada Hwy. 1. We stopped to have lunch in the municipal campground of the very small, very scruffy village of Chaplin. After lunch we went for a long exercise walk through the village. It was difficult to breathe because of all the sodium sulfate dust blowing around. It was extremely windy today, and the village of Chaplin is surrounded by large deposits of sodium sulfate being mined.

We arrived in Regina around 5 PM and found our way to Superstore. First we refilled both vehicles with fuel at Superstore Fuel Bar. Then we did a lengthy and expensive grocery replenishment shopping trip, buying enough groceries … we hope … to get us through two weeks of quarantine in Virden, Manitoba. While Joanne put away all the groceries in the camper I walked over to Rona to buy a replacement roller blind for the camper’s entry door.

<gritting teeth> … Repeating the unpleasant experience at Rona in Penticton, BC a couple of weeks ago, today at Rona in Regina I had a roller blind cut to size three times … by three different staff members … on two different blind cutting machines … taking a total of thirty-five minutes of wasted time. Each time the cut edge of the blind looked like a beaver had chewed it ! ! ! Exactly the same as in Penticton ! Why can’t Rona teach its staff how to properly use the blind cutting machine ? ! ?

After stomping back to the camper from Rona, I took the minivan a short distance to another mall where I got our water jug refilled at Giant Tiger. Superstore has closed their water refill machine due to Covid (huh ?) and referred me to Giant Tiger.

By then it was 7 PM. We were tired and hungry. We drove … with blind faith in our GPS … to Cabela’s, a large chain of large sporting goods stores that permits overnight RV parking, our boondock location for tonight. We had discovered while searching online for a Regina area Wal-Mart location to boondock overnight that Regina area Wal-Marts are located in malls that do not allow overnight RV parking.

May 8 ; Regina, Saskatchewan to Virden, Manitoba

High thin cloud cover, mild.

HMPH ! We have sodium sulfate footprints and dust all over the floor of the camper and both our vehicles.

Before leaving the Cabela’s parking lot this morning we went for a long walk around the neighbourhood, both commercial and residential areas. We pulled out of Cabela’s parking lot at 11:15 AM, heading through and around Regina on their ring road, then continuing east on TCH 1. We stopped for lunch at the municipal campground in Grenfell. We have spent overnight here a few times on our travels across the Canadian prairies on our way to or from Winnipeg. We refilled both vehicles with fuel in Moosomin, the last opportunity for “freedom” in Saskatchewan before crossing the border into Manitoba where we are required to self-isolate/quarantine for the next two weeks.

At 5:30 PM we arrived in Virden and checked into Jay’s Inn & Suites where we will be living in quarantine for two weeks as the only occupants of their very small RV park behind the hotel.

I’m proud of Joanne’s accomplishment of driving a third of the way across Canada, from Oliver, BC to Virden, Manitoba. Seventeen years ago she drove across another third of Canada, from Ottawa to Winnipeg.

<moaning quietly> Colitis flare today. First time in quite awhile.

Purchase of seniors' condo ... and leaving home

 Saturday, March 27

Recently I set up to receive “alerts” from Kijiji when condos near Winnipeg, south and/or east of the city, become available for sale. This morning I received a Kijiji alert for a lovely seniors’ condo for sale in Steinbach, a community about 35 miles / 56 km. southeast of Winnipeg. We have long been interested in Steinbach, now Manitoba’s third largest city, but still a very small city with a population less than 20,000.

The seniors’ condominium building is now 22 years old. The unit for sale is a one bedroom with den unit, with a balcony that has been enclosed to become a sunroom.

Very nice !

Sunday, March 28

Today was the final opportunity for us to haul unwanted items to the local landfill site. It’s only open Sundays and Wednesdays, and we will not be available to haul stuff to the dump next Wednesday, our final day at our Riverside RV Park Resort home.

So … off to the dump we went ! We discarded everything that we had that was not worth moving to Manitoba, nor donated to charity. Except … two items that could very well have been repurposed … if only people weren’t so lazy ! I tried, for three weeks, with a variety of online classified ads, to give away my desk. And I received quite a few telephone calls and online responses but … it was always “OH … it’s an hour away from me ? OH … tsk tsk !”

BUT … <sputter> … the one that really got to me was … I ended up discarding my perfectly good fifth wheel hitch, 18 years old but in excellent condition, and arguably worth $200. I reduced my asking price every two days from $200 down to … yes, yes … zero dollars ! And couldn’t even get someone to drive out to our place for a free $200 fifth wheel hitch ! ! ! So … to the dump it went, to be processed as scrap metal ! That’s nagging at me !

Monday, March 28

With a lot of valiant effort by the listing real estate agent in Winnipeg, and conflicting pressures brought to bear on him by an impatient, cranky old man (me) and his bosses, we bought the seniors’ condo unit in Steinbach. WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO ! ! ! ! ! Thank you Daniel F (the real estate agent) for a tough job done well, under pressure.

Today we finished packing the contents of our home, and loading them into the U-Haul U-Box. After completing that late in the afternoon we moved into the truck camper for our last few days here.

Tuesday, March 30 ; home to Westbank/West Kelowna to Oliver to home

This morning we pulled the truck out from underneath the camper, hitched up to the U-Haul trailer that the U-Box was sitting on, and hauled the U-Box back to U-Haul in Westbank/West Kelowna. We bought a small electric toaster (for the next two months that we will be living in our camper) at Value Village across the street from U-Haul, had a very quick and late lunch at McDonald’s, then headed quickly back south towards Oliver where we met our home buyer’s lawyer to sign some documents.

The pompous ****h charged us $280 to witness our signatures ! ! ! ! !

Wednesday, March 31

Our final day at Riverside RV Park Resort. Joanne spent much of the day cleaning the house. I installed the camper onto the truck, made a reservation at the Gallagher Lake Resort to live there for the next month or month and a half, depending on whether or not Manitoba will still require travellers arriving in May from outside of the province to quarantine for two weeks.

Thursday, April 1

A beautiful, sunny spring day in the Okanagan.

Before leaving our Riverside RV Park Resort for the last time we went for our regular lunch time exercise walk, stopping at the dog park (where his ashes are scattered) to say goodbye to Ozzie’s spirit. In our yard, at our vegetable garden, where her ashes are scattered, we said our final farewell to the spirit of Emma.

We pulled out of our driveway, in both vehicles, for the final time, at 11:36 AM. With me in the lead in the truck and camper, Joanne following in the minivan, we drove to our home buyer’s pompous lawyer’s office in Oliver to deliver the house key and pick up our payment cheque. We both drove in the minivan back to Osoyoos to deposit the cheque at the Bank of Montreal. We returned to Oliver and ate a late lunch in the camper. We bought some groceries at Buy-Low Foods and some household supplies at Dollarama, then drove a short distance north of Oliver to Gallagher Lake Resort, our campground home for the next month or more.

Good Friday, April 2

We slept late this morning, very tired from the efforts of the last few weeks to get moved out of our home.

The campground at Gallagher Lake Resort was expecting to be mostly empty from April 1 until the May long weekend, but … a forecast of very nice weather for the upcoming Easter weekend resulted in a barrage of arrivals all day, until by early evening the campground was almost full. No problem, they’ll all be gone on Monday, and we’ll have a mostly empty campground to ourselves for the rest of the month.

Saturday, April 3

Today I did a task that I have been dreading doing for the last few days. I advised the Lorette, Manitoba seniors’ condominium development project (that is now about two years behind schedule !) that we will not be buying one of their units after all. They are (allegedly) very close to starting construction, and will be needing the pre-purchase payments very soon from their committed buyers, to enable the project to get its construction financing.

<shrug> A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush !

SALE OF OUR HOME

 Wednesday, March 3, 2021

The long awaited and anticipated day finally arrived. We put our Riverside RV Park Resort home up for sale. I placed an ad in Kijiji classifieds. I mounted the custom signage I had made at a sign maker in Keremeos. One sign on the front of the house, one sign on the rear of the house,and a small sign on the “for sale” sign tree by our community’s mailboxes.

By day’s end I had been contacted by the woman that I anticipate will be the buyer of our home. She was on the road, in Ontario, on her way to the BC Okanagan region from near Ottawa, Ontario. We communicated by e-mail, and … I was hopeful that this would be our buyer.

Thursday, March 4, 2021

More e-mail communications back and forth with the Ontario woman. Nosy neighbours dropping by to “kick the tires”.

Friday, March 5, 2021

More e-mail communications back and forth with the Ontario woman. And a lengthy telephone conversation in the evening. HMPH … seems very promising. Hate to count chickens before they’re hatched, but … ! To ease her anxiety, I offered not to sell to anyone else for a week, until she has an opportunity to arrive here and view our home. I hope I don’t regret that.

Weekend, March 5 & 6, 2021

YIKES ! Our community was besieged by “drive by” home shoppers this weekend. Quite a few stopped by to pick up information on our home. Two couples spent quite a bit of time viewing and discussing. More shoppers by telephone. Hot market here this spring ! ! ! A couple of other homes in the community sold this weekend, bringing the total homes sales in the last month or so to five !

Monday, March 8, 2021

We drove to Oliver to pick up an item I had ordered online from Canadian Tire. Bought some groceries at the Buy-Low in Oliver. And … stopped by a number of RV parks in and near Oliver to look for a place to live in our camper for the months of April and May, should it be necessary. And it seems likely to be.

The Ontario woman wants possession of our home on April 1 if she buys it. And we don’t want to leave BC and head to Manitoba while it’s still winter there. Plus we would like to stay here in BC until we receive Covid-19 vaccinations, if possible. Our age group is scheduled for vaccinations around mid-May.

We visited an RV resort at Gallagher Lake that suits us. That’s where we’ll go when the time comes. Gallagher Lake is midway between Oliver and Okanagan Falls. After choosing this RV park we went to Okanagan Falls and had a picnic lunch at the waterfront park. We used to come here with Bo occasionally in the summer to have a picnic and play in the dog park. And the children’s playground. HA HA HA … Bo-gility !

Tuesday, March 9, 2021

More responses to our ad, by e-mail and telephone. Made an appointment with a woman from Vancouver Island who wants to view our home in ten days. OK … if it’s not yet sold by then !

Another home in the community sold today. WOO-HOO … rapidly diminishing competition !

Friday, March 12, 2021

Today at noon our prospective home buyer from Ontario arrived to view our home. At 2 PM we were signing a contract of purchase and sale. WOO-HOO … our home is sold !

Now … we face the daunting challenge of being ready to move out in twenty days ! ! !

 Thursday, February 4, 2021

This year the Palm Springs International Film Festival is being held “virtually”/online. A few days ago I bought an annual membership to the Palm Springs International Film Festival and yesterday we saw our first screening of the season. Tonight we saw our second screening.

Yesterday’s movie was “HUMAN FACTOR”, a documentary covering the United States’ failed attempts to mediate “peace in the middle east”, mostly attempting to broker a deal between Israel and Palestine, from 1991 to 2001, mostly during Bill Clinton’s administration. In addition to brokering a deal between Israel and Palestine, there were also failed attempts to broker deals between Israel and Syria. Also … <sigh> … Israel and Jordan, Israel and Lebanon … < sigh >. What a cluster**** !

Tonight’s movie was “Truffle Hunters”, a documentary about the elderly, secretive truffle hunters in the Piedmont region of Italy. Very interesting ! Makes me want to experience Eggs Benedict with shaved truffle on top. HA HA HA … not very likely !

Both movies were excellent. We’re looking forward to a few more screenings next week. It reinforces for us our opinion that there is SOOOOO much more to film making than < snort> Hollywood !

Also … tonight we participated in a ZOOM meeting regarding the seniors’ housing condominium development project in Lorette, Manitoba that we have been interested in for a couple of years already. The project has been stalled due to financial hurdles, but may soon get back on track. We hope ! Lots of people hope ! But people need to do more than just hope. Now people need to put their money where their mouths are. We’re ready !

DSK

 Thursday, January 28, 2021 ; Joanne’s 67th birthday

Happy Birthday, my love.

Joanne had a lengthy, pleasant, birthday chat on ZOOM with her sister.

For the first time in exactly one year, we went out for dinner to a restaurant. We left home at 6 PM and drove to Penticton, arriving at La Casa Ouzeria at our reservation time of 7 PM. It’s an upscale Greek restaurant that we have been to before.

They had the appropriate Covid protocols posted outside the entrance to the restaurant. Their dining room tables were appropriately spaced. Their staff were appropriately masked. Their cleaning protocols seemed adequate. The only problems were … many of their customers are assholes ! Before the hostess was even able to meet us at the entrance foyer and escort us to our table I had a confrontation with an unmasked “Karen” standing too close behind us, already in violation of the posted “must be masked” regulation. The multitude of problem customers in the restaurant all seemed to be in the 25 to 40 year old age range. Not surprisingly, the men were all enjoying their fine dining experience while wearing their grubby black baseball caps ! ! ! Older customers were masked, and behaving appropriately and carefully.

The meal was excellent. But … I’m not willing to resume/continue dining in restaurants until the risks are lower !

Self-centred assholes ! ! !