August 23 update

August 23, 2007 blog update

 

Well, August has been a very nice, hot, dry month so far. Just a few days of rain and / or cool temperatures. We've done some exploring of the local area, and attended some events. We went to Naramata to attend the Naramata Faire. Naramata is on the east side of Okanagan Lake, across the lake from Penticton. We attended Kars Under The K in Memorial Park in Keremeos, an annual "show & shine" event for classic and antique cars. We went to Penticton for PeachFest, and watched the Peach Festival Parade.  We attended a "Bard In The Park" evening performance of Taming Of The Shrew in Skaha Lake Park in Penticton. We were joined by Gil and Maria, neighbours of ours. Joanne prepared a lovely picnic dinner for us which we ate in the park before the performance.

The "orchard" area in our RV park has kept us well supplied with fresh fruit. And Joanne has been baking lots of fruit desserts. MMMMM ! The cherries were finished around the end of July, but since then we've had lots of apricots, plums, apples, and peaches. Our park had its first potluck dinner recently, following a "Bear Aware" presentation by a provincial conservation employee. Black bears have been coming to eat the apples that fall off the trees in our park's orchard. Some of the lot owners are ... concerned. Hey, guys ... take a look at where we live. We're on the banks of a crystal clear river, surrounded by mountains, tall Lodgepole Pine and Douglas Fir trees all around us, Bald Eagles soaring overhead. You can't have your cake and eat it too ! If you can't accept an occasional rattlesnake or bear, move to downtown Toronto ! We're hoping that now that we've had a potluck dinner at Riverside RV Park Resort, they will become a regular social activity. There is much lot development and construction work happening in the park. Many lot sales took place this summer, and there became a backlog in lot development and construction. The contractor whom everybody had been using became sick, and work stopped for about a month, creating a backlog. Ben, the contractor of choice, became ill a couple of months ago. Unfortunately, he has cancer of the liver and / or colon, with a very bleak prognosis. He won't be able to return to work, and has now turned all his work over to another contractor, who is very busy trying to get caught up on the backlog of lots awaiting development. We will miss Ben. In the short time that we knew him, we came to like him. He's a nice guy. He owns a couple of lots in the park himself, and so was a "neighbour" as well as our contractor.

I've done some flying out of Penticton Airport. My first solo flying in almost 4 years ! Yup ... just like riding a bicycle ! But I continue to be intimidated by flying in the mountains. I'm going to stay within the Okanagan Valley at least until I attend Southern Skies Aviation's mountain flying course in the fall. And I don't think I'm going to do any night flying.

Joanne's elbow continues to heal slowly. The pain is minimal. The range of motion continues to increase, but there is still a long way to go to restore full range of motion. She does her exercises daily, with me nagging her to do them, and coaching her through them.

A few days ago we were visited by Cathy and Jan Emrick, Escapee friends of ours from Texas. They have been full time travelling RV’ers for about 4 years now. They spend their summers here in Canada, and have explored all the provinces and territories extensively over the last few years. They are much more knowledgeable about Canada and Canadian geography, history, politics, and society than most Americans. Well, and probably most Canadians as well. We first met Cathy and Jan a couple of years ago at Rainbow's End, the Escapee headquarters and RV park in Livingston, Texas.

They arrived Sunday afternoon and visited for 2½ days. Sunday evening and all day Monday it was raining lightly, on and off, so we spent that time sitting in our screen tent "gazebo", just relaxing and chatting. On Tuesday we drove up Nickel Plate Mine Road, halfway up the back side of Apex Mountain. Jan did some nature photography. It was the first time we drove back "down" Nickel Plate Mine Road, giving me a completely different perspective, seeing the scenery from the driver's seat, heading downhill. As we drove back towards Keremeos, I saw a "wild" apricot tree on the side of the road. We stopped and picked apricots. They were small, but very sweet ! Joanne made a lovely apricot crisp dessert with them. We drove over Red Bridge to the "opposite" side of the Similkameen River, then up Ashnola River Road following the Ashnola River, again just to explore and take photographs. Jan and Cathy treated us to dinner at Arleigh's in Keremeos. So far we've eaten at Arleigh's three times. The first time was great. The second time was terrible, and made me reluctant to return. This last time was a combination of both. Good food and good service, marred horribly by many flies in the restaurant. Cathy and Jan left yesterday, Wednesday morning, heading for Vancouver and Vancouver Island.

DSK

July 31 update

July 31 blog update

Happy Birthday to my brother, Russell.

Well, we have just finished saying farewell ( at 10:00 A.M. ) to the Carlson family who were here visiting with us for the last 3½ days. Joanne's sister Lorraine, her husband Doug, and their 2 little daughters Madeleine, age 8, and Amelia, age 6, drove 4 days across the Canadian Prairies and Rocky Mountains in blistering summer heat to visit us here in our little piece of paradise.

They arrived late Friday afternoon. While Joanne, Lorraine and Amelia unloaded the Carlson's car and brought their stuff into one of the two "motel rooms" in our park's office building, Doug, Madeleine and I went wading in the Similkameen River to cool them down after another long, hot day of driving. We discovered that we could wade completely across the river onto the island in the middle. Then we took the entire family to the orchard area in our park to pick fresh fruit off the trees. Unfortunately, the Bing ( sweet ) cherries were just a bit past their prime, and were dried out from the heat. The sour cherries were still okay, but they're really only good for baking, not eating fresh. Well, Amelia actually liked eating them fresh. We picked and ate some fresh apples. I took the girls to see the small patch of little Brittle Prickly Pear Cactus growing in our park. Uh-oh ... thanks to Uncle Dan's exploration, all 3 of us ended up with teensy little cactus quills embedded deep in our fingertips. Doug and Lorraine have now imposed a new rule on the girls ; don't touch anything Uncle Dan tells you to touch. HA HA HA ! Doug and Lorraine were surprised that the Pica Pica incident in Costa Rica a few years ago didn't teach me anything. HA HA HA HA HA ! Hey ... one can't learn about life without touching and smelling things. We ended the day by having "Christmas in July" and giving them some gifts we had purchased for them during our travels over the last year. I read the girls a bed time story from my book of Indian legends. This story was about the creation of mankind by Man Maker / The Magician, and how Coyote's interference resulted in "mistakes" that resulted in the creation of dog, white man, and black man. The correct result was "red" man.

On Saturday we drove to Keremeos and went to Farmer John's Petting Zoo. On the way we stopped on the side of the road and I found some wild sagebrush so that the girls could experience the wonderful fragrance of wild sage. At the petting zoo there were rabbits, guinea pigs, peacocks, goats, sheep, donkeys, llamas, ducks, turtles, and ponies to be fed and petted. The girls seemed to really enjoy this outing, Amelia in particular. She said that handling baby guinea pigs was the highlight of their time visiting us. She handled the baby guinea pigs very well, and exhibited quite an affinity for animals. We went to Pine Park in Keremeos to have a picnic lunch Aunt Joanne prepared, then we drove around the area looking at orchards and vineyards, so the girls could learn where fruits really come from. We looked at apple trees, peach trees, pear trees, cherry trees, apricot trees, and grape vines. We drove west on Hwy. 3 about half an hour to Bromley Rock Provincial Park where we spent the afternoon frolicking in the Similkameen River. We played in the shallow parts of the fast flowing river, on the rocks sticking out of the rapids. Not a typical beach outing ! And the cold river certainly cooled us down on a hot day. We watched in amazement as teenage boys jumped off the top of 60 foot tall Bromley Rock into the river below. YIKES ! Made Doug and Lorraine grateful that they have girls ! Madeleine and Doug said that this experience of wading, swimming, and playing around in a wild mountain river surrounded by jaw dropping mountain scenery was the highlight of their time with us. We ended the day with another Indian legends bedtime story for the girls by Uncle Dan. This one was about Coyote's creation of the Big Dipper constellation. After I read them the story, Joanne and I took the girls outside to show them the Big Dipper.

On Sunday we headed off for Uncle Dan's favourite, a four wheel drive adventure driving up the back side of Apex Mountain. We drove a few miles west on Hwy. 3 towards our neighbouring village, the little gold mining town of Hedley, then headed up Nickel Plate Mine Road through the Upper Similkameen Indian Reservation. It's a narrow, very winding, rough, steep trail up the mountain, with amazing views of the Similkameen Valley below. We stopped a few times for photo opportunities, and I think one of the photos may end up becoming the Carlson's family Christmas card photo. Shortly after passing the Nickel Plate gold mine we arrived at Apex Mountain Ski Village. We ate the picnic lunch once again prepared by Aunt Joanne before riding the chair lift to the top of the mountain. At the top of the mountain, at an elevation of 7200 feet we wandered around awhile, taking pictures and enjoying the views. Amelia expressed some discomfort at riding a chair lift to the top of a mountain, and being on top of a mountain. Lorraine, however, said that it was the highlight of her time with us. We rode the chair lift back down to the village, and drove down the "civilized" road on the "front side" of Apex Mountain back towards Keremeos and "home" to Riverside RV Park Resort. As we drove through Keremeos, Doug expressed an interest in exploring the "other" side of the Similkameen River. We crossed the Similkameen on Keremeos' famous wooden Red Bridge. We drove west along the north shore of the Similkameen briefly before turning south to follow the Ashnola River up into the Cathedral Lakes region. We stopped at a small unserviced campground along the Ashnola River to spend some time exploring. The Ashnola River is smaller than the Similkameen, and is truly a rugged, wild, little river running down out of the mountains. Madeleine and I built a small Inukshuk on the shore. Late in the evening we went to the clubhouse in our park, where Amelia and Madeleine learned to play shuffleboard while Doug and I shot a game of pool. I forgot to read the girls their Indian legends bedtime story.

Sunday morning we headed for Penticton and a day on Skaha Lake Beach. We stopped in Keremeos, and while Joanne wandered around the village window shopping with Doug and Lorraine, I took the girls to the playground in Memorial Park. Halfway to Penticton we stopped for another of Aunt Joanne's picnic lunches at Yellow Lake, a beautiful, emerald green coloured mountain lake. I wonder why it's called Yellow Lake ? We spent the hot afternoon playing on the beach, in the lake, and the water park at Skaha Lake Beach. Penticton Airport is across the road from Skaha Lake Beach. I offered to take the Carlson family on a sightseeing flight in a Cessna 172 over the Penticton and Skaha Lake area, but they weren't interested. After an early supper of East Indian food purchased for us by Doug and Lorraine in Keremeos on the way home, it was time for my "finale". For Amelia and Madeleine, and all the grandchildren visiting grandparents at Riverside RV Park Resort, I presented Uncle Dan's juggling and magic extravaganza, featuring Danylo The Great. HA HA HA ... I had a great time being a somewhat silly juggler and magician. I hope all the children enjoyed it. I read the girls their final Indian legends bedtime story about how Coyote's mischief resulted in the creation of winters.

We enjoyed their visit. We thank the Carlson family for coming all this way to visit with us ! It was my objective to give the little "city girl" nieces some summer, outdoor, mountain, Uncle Dan adventures that they won't soon forget. I hope I achieved that.

DSK

July 22 update

July 15

 

Today's excitement was ... I assisted some neighbours in capturing a rattlesnake, then I relocated it. While we were walking Bo, and chatting with a neighbour, Ron, another neighbour, Betty came running down the road with her little dog Spencer, screaming in terror about a rattlesnake in her rock wall. Ron grabbed a rake, and we headed for Betty's. Her husband Dave was standing by their rock wall looking perplexed. There was a large, apparently very angry rattlesnake tucked in amongst the rocks, rattling its tail loudly, and flicking its forked tongue at us. Another neighbour, Jon, arrived with a big stick. Ron with his rake, and Jon with his big stick, began to try to get the rattlesnake out from the rocks. I headed for home to put on a pair of welding gloves, with leather gauntlets almost to the elbows. I thought maybe if they flipped the snake out onto the road, and held it down with the rake or stick, I could grab it and toss it into a garbage can.

By the time I returned a minute or two later, they had managed to flip the snake out onto the road, and then into a garbage can using the rake. I volunteered to relocate one very angry rattlesnake. I drove a few miles down the road, and released it on a dirt road leading up into the mountains. Boy ... it sure seemed angry ! I guess being whacked around with a stick and rake, then being trapped inside a hot plastic garbage can for awhile will do that to a rattlesnake. HA HA HA !

It was neat. I've never had the opportunity to hear an angry rattlesnake before. It sure can make a lot of noise with that rattle on its tail. And while I knew that this area is the northernmost "finger" of the Sonoran Desert, I didn't know we have rattlesnakes here. Watch out, Bo !

 

July 18

 

Today I resumed my life as a pilot at Southern Skies Aviation in Penticton. I have only flown once in the last 3½ years. To the surprise of both me and my flight instructor / examiner, my flying skills are not as rusty as we both expected them to be. I flew 1.1 hours in Cessna 172 C-GXTN ( X-ray Tango November ). Southern Skies' two Cessna 172's are both much older models than I am used to flying, so many of the controls and instruments are a slightly different design, in slightly different locations than I am accustomed to. We did upper air exercises over Lake Okanagan between Summerland and Peachland, steep turns at 45 degrees of bank, slow flight, stalls, and full power climbing turn stalls into incipient spins. Just like riding a bicycle ! We did a simulated engine failure forced approach. Aced it ! We did some touch and go circuits, including a high, hot, sideslip approach, and a full flaps approach. I will need at least one, maybe two more dual flights to be proficient enough to be allowed to sign out the aircraft for solo flight, and won't be allowed to fly outside the Okanagan Valley until I complete their mountain flying course this fall. I had a very brief mountain flying introduction / orientation at Boundary Bay ( just outside Vancouver ) in 1986 when we came out to see Expo 86, but ... well, that was 21 years ago.

Next summer ... aerobatics training in their Citabria. Woo-Hoo ... loops and rolls !

 

DSK

July 8 update

July 8 blog update

 

Okay ... due to many requests from readers of my blog, I will occasionally update my blog throughout the summer.

My last regular blog entry was on June 22. That evening, after I wrote and posted that entry, we had an "accident" that resulted in the loss of the awning on the side of the trailer. The wind gusted so strongly that the awning flipped up over the trailer. The awning arms smashed into the side of the trailer , then also flipped up over onto the roof, smashing the air conditioner shroud. The awning was severely torn, and the arms were bent and broken. The entire awning assembly, worth about a thousand dollars, was a total loss. And the air conditioner shroud, worth about a hundred dollars, as well. When it smashed onto the roof, it sounded like an explosion inside the trailer. The air conditioner vent on the inside ceiling of the trailer flew off when the awning hit the roof.

It could have been a lot worse. We have spoken to many RV owners who have lost awnings on their rigs due to strong wind gusts. And they have ended up with holes smashed through the sides of their rigs, or the roofs of their rigs, from the very heavy awning arms flailing around as the awning flips up and over the rig. All we lost was the air conditioner shroud. We have decided not to replace the awning. We rarely use it, and when we do, it inevitably needs to be retracted due to winds, usually in the middle of the night.

On July 1, we attended the Canada Day celebrations at Memorial Park in Keremeos. One of the activities was an exhibition of "dog agility". After the demonstration, dogs in the audience were invited to give it a try. I took Bo through a dog agility course for the first time. He loved it, and did great. We decided to enroll in a dog agility class at the local kennel in the village of Cawston. Yesterday ( July 7 ) we attended our first, and likely last, dog agility session. Bo had fun, but Joanne and I each had a litany of complaints, and will likely not be returning. Amongst other complaints, I didn't think it was worth the money they were charging. And Joanne was really angry that Bo got bit by the Border Collie that belongs to the kennel owner. She believes, quite rightly, that if the kennel owner's dog isn't well enough behaved around visiting dogs to resist biting them, he shouldn't be allowed to mingle with the visiting dogs. We're not sure exactly where Bo was bit during the little scuffle, but he was yelping for 10 or 15 seconds afterwards, so it likely hurt a bit. We think he was bit on the face, but there's no apparent damage. Maybe you should keep your nose out of other dogs' groins, Bo.

And now the big news ! On July 3 Joanne fell and broke her elbow. We were in Penticton for our weekly day of errands in "Pen". It was our last stop for the day, at a grocery store. As we walked from the truck to the store, Joanne stumbled on a bump in the pavement. She landed very hard on her knees, scraping them severely, then pitched forward onto her left wrist, and then, finally, onto her face, landing with her left eyeglass lens against the pavement and scratching it deeply. I picked her up and took her back to the truck where I did first aid on her shredded, bleeding knees. She just wanted to go home and lie down, but I insisted we go to the hospital because of the severe pain in her left wrist and elbow.

We were taken care of quite well at Penticton Hospital. The wait in the Emergency Department was only about 45 minutes. A doctor examined Joanne, then sent her for x-rays. The x-rays indicated a fracture of the head end of the arm's radial bone, at the elbow. Nowadays they don't apply a cast on an arm with a broken elbow. After 6 or 8 weeks in a cast, the broken elbow often heals with reduced range of motion. So they put a sling on Joanne, and sent us home with instructions to see our family doctor the next day. Our only complaint about Penticton Hospital's Emergency Department was inadequate explanation after the x-rays. The doctor never returned to see Joanne. He just sent a nurse in to apply a sling and send us home. The nurse was not able ( or allowed ? ) to explain the diagnosis and answer our questions.

The next morning I phoned the Health Centre in Keremeos for an afternoon appointment, then we drove back to Penticton Hospital for Joanne's scheduled mammogram, made a bit more difficult by the broken, painful elbow. In the afternoon we saw our new local doctor. Joanne's wrist may also be broken. If not, it certainly is severely sprained. We are to return to the Health Centre in Keremeos in a couple of days for another set of x-rays.

Joanne is in a lot of pain. She has difficulty sleeping, and her tossing and turning keeps both of us awake much of the night. She does some simple exercises, like slow, gentle arm swings, to decrease the risk of loss of range of motion in the elbow as it heals. I act as "Nazi coach" through the exercises, a role I also played a few years ago following her cancer surgeries.

Year 4 Week 1

June 17 to 22, 2007

Keremeos to Summerland, B.C. & return

Year 4 Week 1

 

Sunday ; Year 3 last day ; Keremeos to Summerland

This morning we prepared for departure in light rain. Haven’t travelled in a month and a half, and when we do finally need to prepare for departure, it’s raining. Story of my life ! We drove east on Hwy. 3 to Keremeos, north on Hwy. 3A to Kaleden, then north on Hwy. 97 through Penticton to Summerland.

We found our way to Summerland’s rodeo grounds, and the Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally. We got set up and registered, including joining Okanagan Chapter 33. Farewell, Escapees Ontario / Maple Leaf Chapter 18. The afternoon was spent at “social hour”, sitting around in a large circle, socializing, and munching on snacks. The evening was spent sitting around a large campfire. I brought Teddy to sit by the campfire for awhile. Teddy loves campfires.

We met two couples that we have met before, at the Escapees Alberta Chapter 44 Winter Rally in Mesa, Arizona in March, 2005. They have relocated from Alberta to B.C., and are now members of Chapter 33. Word got out that I performed magic at that rally in Arizona a couple of years ago. There were many “hints” tonight that they would like me to perform magic here, but I was feeling ill, so I ignored the “hints”. Maybe tomorrow if I’m feeling better.

I have met, and become friends with Spud and Lady, two Border Collies who live here on the rodeo grounds with the rodeo grounds caretaker. And I’ve met ( and fed strawberries to ) the resident lop eared bunny ( formerly domestic, now semi-wild ? ) that seems to live here on the rodeo grounds.

 

Monday ; Year 4 first day & Teddy’s 15th birthday

Happy Birthday to Teddy, my baby cat. And today is our 3rd anniversary of full time RV’ing.

Today was mostly sunny but fairly cool. It's been a looooong time since I've been up this early. This morning I was up at 6:00 A.M. to be ready for the job Joanne volunteered me for yesterday. By 7:00 A.M. I was in the clubhouse preparing for my job as pancake cook. By the time I was finished cooking pancakes around 8:30, I had no appetite. The smells of pork sausages being cooked, and lard on the grill, didn't leave me much desire to eat. Over some objections, I refused to cook "my" pancakes in lard. After breakfast was the Chapter 33 Annual General Meeting. I declined to accept a nomination for the position of Vice-President, but I did offer something new for this organization, which it appears has been doing the same things, the same ways, for a long time. I am going to host an Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33 “Snowbird” luncheon. See you all on December 11 at Famous Dave’s Barbecue in Yuma, Arizona.

This afternoon we went as a group on the Kettle Valley Steam Train, adjacent to the rodeo grounds. The Kettle Valley Steam Train is an old restored steam engine pulling four restored old passenger coaches on a 10 mile rail track around the Kettle Valley area of Summerland, ending on an old wooden trestle bridge over the Trout Creek far below. It was a pleasant outing. It would have been even more pleasant if I would have been able to keep my eyes open.

After we returned from the train ride, I napped briefly before "social hour", which was followed by a pot luck dinner. After dinner we were entertained by the musicians in our group ; quite a few guitars, a keyboard, a saxophone, some ... “singers” ... and a snare drum played by an old woman with a ... well ... somewhat imperfect sense of timing and rhythm. I guess one of the nice things about getting older is one’s inhibitions diminish.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and very warm. We had a really wonderful day.

This morning we joined two other couples and "car pooled" into Summerland to see some of the attractions. First stop was the Crafts & Farmers Market. I bought a cedar Blue Bird house. And I'm a bit sorry that I bought a plastic gazebo bird feeder a week ago, because the old gentlemen that I bought the Blue Bird house from was also selling his home made cedar bird feeders. Very nice, and reasonably priced. Joanne bought a few items around the market.

Next stop was Summerland Sweets, a local small business producing and selling fruit jams, jellies, and syrups. I bought a jar of Raspberry and Saskatoon jam, as well as a bottle of Maplapple Syrup, a syrup made from Maple sap and apples. Sounded interesting ! Pretty Canadian, eh ?

Next we drove to Summerland Ornamental Gardens at the Pacific Agricultural Research Centre. We enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather as we walked slowly around the grounds, admiring all the lovely flowers, and plants, and trees, and shrubs. We stopped at a Tim Horton's for lunch before returning to the Summerland Rodeo Grounds. Our driver got lost, so we took the "scenic route" back to the rodeo grounds.

Our Escapee rally group spent the afternoon playing beanbag baseball, and enjoying "social hour". Some members of the group still had sore heads from yesterday's social hour, where a couple of large jugs of home made rhubarb wine made the rounds. Joanne and I joined with four other couples and went into Summerland to have supper at Johnnie's Family Restaurant, where we enjoyed a Canadian and Chinese buffet.

We returned at 8:00 P.M., just in time for my magic show. I had been asked by the rally hosts / organizers to perform a short magic show to start off tonight's session of table games in the clubhouse. I started my show, juggling, to the music by which I learned to juggle. Sweet Georgia Brown, performed for me tonight, live, by Ernie Webster on his saxophone. That was great ... thank you , Ernie. I performed a very brief magic show, and I think ( hope ) it was well received. Afterwards, I taught a "disappearing handkerchief" illusion to Florence Archibald, who then performed it flawlessly for her mesmerized husband, Dale. Good job, Florence.

Joanne spent the evening sitting at a table with a group playing Mexican Train, the first time she has played the game. I sat at the only non-game playing table, and socialized.

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and hot, temperature in the 30's C. / 90's F..

This morning we lingered over the SKP rally's hitch-up breakfast, chatting and saying our goodbyes to our new Chapter 33 friends. We were procrastinating leaving because we had a 12:30 P.M. appointment for trailer service in Penticton. We had the Dometic fridge recall retrofit work done at Leisureland RV. The recall involved installing some heat shields and sensors around the burner unit. What sloppy workmanship. Of course, I'll be redoing some of it to tidy it up. After the fridge recall work was done, we did our weekly errands in Penticton, made a little more difficult because we were towing the trailer around.

It was nice to get back "home" to Riverside RV Park Resort. We fussed with the positioning of the trailer on our lot. We wanted to try a new position, to give us a better view of the river and mountains. Before we extended the slides, Joanne finished cleaning and waxing over the slides. Then I worked on removing a fiberglass repair I had done in Texas, on a stress crack in the fiberglass over the bed slide. The repair had cracked. After removing the repair, I did another repair, this time using an aluminum "Eternabond" patch. It looks okay, although I'm not sure if I can paint it. I'm going to put a little Eternabond patch on a piece of scrap wood and try painting it, as a test.

The mosquitoes are quite bad again. I think we might buy a screen tent.

 

Thursday ; Today was sunny and very warm.

Today we finished repositioning the trailer, and rearranged our yard. We unhitched the truck from the trailer, set up our new RV patio mat, and set out the trailer awning. We rarely have used the awning in the past, because we're seldom in one place long enough to justify setting it up. We moved the swing, creating a small "conversation space" beside the trailer in the shade of the big tree on our lot. We moved a cedar planter, and the picnic table. We now have the trailer positioned such that the view out the main windows is stunning, of the river and the mountain on the other side.

I spent the late part of the afternoon doing computer work. I updated my investment files. I retrieved this month's MasterCard statements. I processed the photos I took the other day when we went on the Kettle Valley Steam Train. We watched two movies in the evening. Movies based on Tony Hillerman mystery novels, featuring main characters Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, two Navajo Tribal Policemen, set in New Mexico. I enjoy reading Hillerman's novels. The actor who plays Jim Chee in the movies is a Native actor from Winnipeg, our home town.

 

Friday ; Year 4 Day 5 ... time to quit !

Today was sunny and warm, a "perfect" day just like the day we started travelling, June 18, 2004.

I have been writing a daily journal and posting it on my blog for 3 years, since we started full time RV travelling. Now that we've "settled down" in one spot, at least for the summers, I'm going to discontinue my journal. Our daily lives are now just that ... humdrum, routine living. Nothing exciting enough to justify writing a daily journal and publishing it on my blog.

I might occasionally post pictures throughout the summer.

I intend to resume writing a journal and posting it on my blog, when we resume travelling on November 1. Next winter we will be going down into the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico. Should be interesting !

Thanks for reading my blog. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed living it.

 

DSK

Year 3 Week 52

June 10 to 16, 2007

Keremeos, B.C.

Year 3 week 52

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and warm.

This morning Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and we set off to explore from here to Princeton, about 45 minutes west on Hwy. 3. The highway followed the Similkameen River all the way. It was a lovely drive, very scenic. At Princeton we drove around the town, checking out stores and services. Although Princeton is bigger than Keremeos, there isn't really anything in Princeton that isn't available in Keremeos. There was a small business that produces pine and cedar furniture, both indoor and outdoor. And they do custom work. I'm interested in returning there to shop, and discuss some ideas we have for a "portable" deck.

On the way back towards Keremeos, we stopped at one of the two ( well ... three actually ) provincial parks between Keremeos and Princeton. Bromley Rock Provincial Park had a small campground and a day use / picnic area. What a gorgeous place, on the Similkameen River. It's definitely a place we will return to when we have visitors, to show off this area. We sat beside the river, eating our picnic lunch, enjoying the lovely weather, watching the river flow by, smelling the blossoms on the trees around us. AHHHHH ! ! !

We also stopped at Stemwinder Provincial Park, on the way back towards Keremeos, and looked around. It was nice as well. We stopped at a meat market / butcher near Hedley we had been told about, but didn't buy anything. We turned onto Old Hedley Road, and crossed the river for more exploring. Old Hedley Road is, of course, the old road from Hedley to Princeton. We found another lovely camping and picnic area, this one operated by the B.C. Forest Service. The area had a lot of flat rocks that I thought would be good for the Inukshuk I have been planning to build. We drove around for awhile, exploring, stopping periodically to pick up flat rocks for my planned Inukshuk.

Back at home, Joanne continued working on waxing the trailer. I worked on attaching the shed base rails to the floor, until I ran out of screws and my cordless drill went dead. What a piece of junk this cordless drill is ! I've been meaning to replace it for a year now, but haven't yet done so. While Joanne prepared supper, I built my Inukshuk on the front corner of our lot. Hey ... very nice ! Joanne thought it was a bit too big, so I made it a bit smaller. Now it stands about 3 feet high, which is a pretty decent size for an Inukshuk, I guess.

After supper Joanne prepared a large bowl of fresh strawberries, and we went over to visit Gil, Maria, and Buppy.

 

Monday ; Today was cloudy and cool, with a bit of light rain.

This morning I phoned the Similkameen Health Centre in Keremeos and made an appointment for both of us to see a doctor this afternoon. I had heard some horror stories about the difficulties new residents of B.C. have finding a new physician, but apparently there's not a problem here in the South Okanagan Similkameen / Keremeos region. Joanne and I worked on calculating my prescription medication requirements for the next year. After lunch we drove into Keremeos for our doctor's appointments. The relatively new Similkameen Health Centre is quite an impressive little facility. As well as housing the village's doctors, it has a small emergency department, lab facilities, etc.. We met with our new doctor and got the ball rolling on our annual health care requirements ; a variety of cancer screening tests for Joanne, and a colonoscopy for me.

While in town we went to the Post Office, the grocery store, the hardware store, and the liquor store. Then we drove around town, exploring a few areas that Joanne wanted to see. We went to see Pine Park, a lovely, quite large municipal park on the banks of the Similkameen River. So, along with Memorial Park, where town events like Music Under The "K" are held, there are 2 quite large and lovely parks in the tiny Village of Keremeos. Well, 3 actually. Our next stop was Riparian Park, a "natural" rehabilitation area / walking trail along the river. Pretty impressive for a village of 1200 people.

On our way back into Riverside RV Park Resort, we stopped to chat with Gil and Maria. Gil was working on repairing the damage on their travel trailer caused by an exploding tire on their last camping trip a few weeks ago. Yeah ... been there, done that ! I finished attaching the base rails for the shed to the floor.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and warm.

Another long, tiring day of errands in Penticton < sigh >. This morning we drove to Penticton. First stop was the Bank of Montreal to pay some bills, get some cash, and most importantly, transfer our accounts from Kenora, Ontario to Penticton. Closing one account and opening another seems a lot more complicated than it should be. Is it just B.C. that makes things so complicated ? Or am I just getting old ? We had lunch at a great Chinese buffet restaurant near the bank.

We dropped off some forms at our new investment broker's office. We did some shopping at Canadian Tire and Rona. We made an appointment at an RV dealer to have our fridge repaired. It's one of the million Dometic RV fridges affected by a safety recall. We stopped at the Chrysler dealer to buy a new wiper blade at the Parts Department. I broke a wiper blade a few days ago. We bought diesel, we refilled water jugs, and we shopped at Wal-Mart. We got home about 7:00 P.M..

I spent the evening working on accounting and mail.

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and very warm.

I spent much of today working intermittently on building / assembling the new storage shed. By late afternoon, it was assembled / erected. Tomorrow I will install the 150 or so screws that are required to hold it all together. And it appears as if the toughest part of the job will be disassembling the storage crate it came in.

I did some work on the computer, composing e-mails, etc.. The couple from Bracebridge, Ontario that I spoke to a couple of weeks ago arrived today. Dan and Karen Cornwell are here to shop for a lot, having spent a week driving here from Ontario. After supper Gil and Maria ( and Buppy ) came over for a visit and a cup of tea. I invited Dan and Karen over as well. We spent the evening drinking tea and visiting. Oh ... and eating fresh strawberry cheesecake ! MMMM ! Bo thought it was absolutely great that his good buddy Buppy came back for a "reunion".

 

Thursday ; Another sunny, very warm day. How lovely !

This morning and early afternoon I worked on finishing the storage shed. Yesterday I assembled and erected it. Today I had to install the screws to hold it all together. YIKES ... 150 screws. Well ... the bag contained 150 screws, but when I was finished, there were 13 screws left over. I certainly hope there were supposed to be 13 extra screws. How could such a tiny shed require 137 screws ? Joanne continued working on waxing the trailer. She's almost finished. I spent the rest of the afternoon disassembling the shed's packing crate. I wanted to remove all the nails, so that the wood could be tossed onto the park's "burn pile". Or perhaps used as campfire wood at our upcoming Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally.

Just as I finished my outside work my sister phoned. We chatted for about an hour. Her new hip is great ! When I finished chatting with Sharon, I went outside to join Joanne who was chatting with our neighbour Stu. I sat down on the edge of Stu's new deck, rested my arm on my leg, and ... OW ! I lifted my arm quickly and glanced underneath. OW ... AGAIN ! There was a bee / wasp / hornet stinging the underside of my arm. I smashed it ! Take that, you little b*****d ! I didn't realize until a few minutes later that I was stung twice ! Can't bees sting only once ? It looked like a bee, but who knows ? I smacked it so quickly, and so hard, I couldn't exactly identify it. But it sure hurt ! ! ! The underside of my arm puffed up a bit, it hurt quite a lot for 10 or 15 minutes, and there were 2 little red marks surrounded by white "hives" where I was stung. And now, as I type this about 5 hours later, it hurts to rest my arm on the edge of the desk.

After an early supper I drove into Keremeos to attend a Lions Club meeting. There was an invitation in the local community newspaper inviting prospective new members to a meeting tonight. Well, to make a long, pathetic story short ... I won't be becoming a Lion any time soon. I'm sure that Lions International is a wonderful service agency / club, but the local Keremeos chapter is in horrible disarray, and is on the verge of having their charter revoked. I don't think Keremeos is a large enough village to support a local chapter. Their membership has declined from about 40 members a few years ago, to 9 members now. And some of them, especially the executive members are ... well ... uhhhhh ... quite < whispering > senile. I can see that they would benefit greatly from some “new blood” but unfortunately it won’t be mine.

 

Friday ; Today was partially cloudy and warm.

I had a somewhat non-productive "goof-off" day. It's about time. I've accomplished a great deal in the month and a half we've been here. Our lot development "basics" are completed ; site preparation, installation of utilities, yard swing, cedar planters, picnic table, park bench, and storage shed. Our relocation "basics" are completed ; driver's licenses, vehicle registrations, and vehicle insurance. Tomorrow is the "big meeting". The first Annual General Meeting of the Riverside RV Park Society ( lot owners' association ). And Sunday we leave for the Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally in Summerland. When we return late next week, maybe it's time for me to start lounging around on the swing, reading a book.

Joanne went into town to do some laundry and shopping. I puttered around with some minor maintenance chores. I chatted with neighbours. I did some computer work. I registered for an RV "caravan" trip down into the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico next January. Woo-Hoo ... we're looking forward to that ! I put up a bird feeder in our big old Douglas Fir tree. I took a long nap. Haven't done much of that lately.

 

Saturday ; Today was cloudy and raining. As a result, we didn't do much of anything today.

Tonight was the first Annual General Meeting of the Riverside RV Park Society. That's the lot owners' association. The meeting wasn't quite as heated as we expected it would be, but it did leave Joanne in a bad mood. I, on the other hand, with my easy going personality ... HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

DSK

Year 3 Week 51

June 3 to 9, 2007

Keremeos, B.C.

Year 3 week 51

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and very hot, temperature in the 30's C. / 90's F..

This morning Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and we set off for a day of exploring the Cathedral Lakes area. We drove to Keremeos, crossed the Similkameen River on Red Bridge, then headed up Ashnola River Road. We drove west along the south side of the Similkameen River until the Ashnola River reached the Similkameen. The road turned south, following the Ashnola River up into the mountains. The road was a narrow, winding, rough, dirt logging road. Joanne thought that she had read somewhere that it went up into the Cathedral Lakes area, for 24 kilometres after the pavement ended. I thought I had read somewhere that it went for 32 kilometres after the pavement ended. We drove 35 kilometres after the pavement ended before we decided to turn around.

The temperature dropped a lot as we got higher and higher. We decided that this would be a good drive to take on really hot summer days when we want to escape the heat. Every so often there would be a small, unserviced campground and / or picnic area, operated by the B.C. Forest Service. There were frequent signs warning drivers that the road was mostly for use by logging trucks. Watch out for fast moving, heavily loaded logging trucks barrelling down the mountain. Fortunately, there are no logging trucks on Sundays. When we turned around 35 kilometres up the gravel road, it seemed as if we were in the middle of nowhere. But there seemed to be a fairly steady flow of traffic heading even further up the mountain. Mostly Indians in old beat up Ford pickup trucks. I guess they live up there somewhere.

Back home at Riverside we took Bo for an obedience session, then a long pleasure walk. As we passed his dog pal Spencer, Spencer wanted to come along, so we took Spencer along with us for a long walk. Joanne and I helped Mitch and Dianne replace their extremely heavy fifth wheel hitch in the back of their truck. I helped Spencer's owner Dave move a heavy mattress from their truck into their guest room. We invited Dorothy and her dog Jimmy over to visit. We sat outside for awhile, Joanne, Bo, Dorothy, and Jimmy on the swing, visiting, drinking wine, fending off mosquitoes.

Life is good ! Well ... except for the mosquitoes !

 

Monday ; Today was cloudy and raining lightly all day. I think this is the first day of rain in the 5 weeks we've been here. This is Canada's only true desert area, so the rain is welcomed by all the ranchers, orchards, and vineyards, I guess.

However, the rain prevented me from doing most of the work I had planned for today. I did clean the barbecue thoroughly. And I took interior photos of the trailer for the insurance company. I napped, as did Teddy and Bo. Rainy days inspire us to nap. I finished reading the weekend newspapers. Joanne went to town to buy some groceries.

I spent the evening working on Misty Ventures & Developments Inc.'s corporate income tax returns < sigh >.

 

Tuesday ; Today was cloudy and raining lightly all day again.

Today was another very long, hard day of errands in Penticton. This morning we drove to Penticton and spent a couple of hours meeting with our new Edward Jones investment broker. From there we drove over to Cherry Lane Mall, to meet with our new insurance broker at Valley First Insurance. < sigh > It took 3 hours to get the truck and trailer registered and insured. By the time we finished the rest of our errands and drove home, it was close to 8:00 P.M..

In Penticton I went to Mark's Work Warehouse to buy some new jeans, and use a $10 gift card we got from Safeway for purchasing $50 worth of groceries. My goodness ... I found 3 pairs of jeans in my size in a clearance bin ... for $5 a pair. With my $10 gift card, I bought 3 pairs of jeans for $5 ! ! ! HA ... beat that ! We went to Rona to order the storage shed we decided upon. They had it in stock, so we bought it today. Loading it into the back of the truck was quite a challenge, even after I removed the fifth wheel hitch and tied it ( the hitch ) down on top of the aluminum storage chest / tool box. I wonder how I'm going to get it ( the storage shed ) off the truck tomorrow ? ! ?

 

Wednesday ; Today was cloudy, cool, and windy.

This morning I sorted through all the registration and insurance documents for the truck and trailer. Sheesh ! B.C. sure makes vehicle registration and insurance more complicated than it needs to be ! And I found an address error on one of the documents < big sigh >. My thoughts yesterday while registering and insuring the truck and trailer were similar to the thoughts I've had every time I've checked into an airport counter to board a flight. What could they possibly be typing, tapping away on that keyboard for so long ? Are they typing their Master's thesis ? ! ? With that much typing it's impossible not to make a mistake !

I walked over to the trailer storage area where Ben is working, making the storage area larger, and asked him to help me unload the storage shed package from the back of the truck using the fork lift attachment on the front of his bulldozer / backhoe. He sent one of his employees over with the equipment, and we unloaded the storage shed package from the truck. I reinstalled the fifth wheel hitch in the back of the truck. Joanne did a bit of work on waxing the trailer. Bo had a great play session with Buppy when Gil and Maria came walking by. I made some phone calls, starting work on finding us new family doctors and arranging the annual medical tests we both require.

I watched game 5 of the Ottawa / Anaheim Stanley Cup finals. Ottawa lost the game. Anaheim won the Stanley Cup.

 

Thursday ; Today was cloudy and mild. A good day for working outdoors.

This morning we went to town. Joanne did some grocery shopping. I did some hardware shopping. Bo came along for the "drivey".

This afternoon I washed the truck. Joanne worked on waxing the trailer, a very time consuming, difficult, semi-annual chore. Working on it yesterday and today she waxed perhaps ¼ of the trailer. Our neighbour Stu built a wood platform base for the storage shed he has ordered. I watched how he did his, so now I know how to do mine.

I had a very productive evening. I finished Misty Ventures' corporate income tax returns, both federal and provincial. I reviewed and dealt with 2 incoming batches of forwarded mail.

 

Friday ; Today was sunny and mild.

This morning we invited our neighbour Dorothy to join us as we went to pick strawberries. We drove through Keremeos to the small village of Cawston a few more miles east on Hwy. 3. The strawberry farm was a small hobby farm with a few large strawberry gardens, some beautiful flower gardens, and assorted fruit trees around the yard. And it was for sale. We each picked a large ice cream pail full of very sweet strawberries. And then the farm owner invited us to pick all the cherries we wanted off one of her cherry trees. No charge ! So ... for 10 bucks, we picked 3 huge ice cream pails full of strawberries, and another one full of cherries. I surely am going to like living in this area !

We drove back into Keremeos and stopped for some shopping. I went into Keremeos Building Supplies and bought the lumber and hardware to build a base for the storage shed. Joanne and Dorothy went to the Post Office and grocery store.

This afternoon while Joanne continued working on waxing the trailer, I built the wood frame base and floor for the storage shed. Despite the simplicity of it, this is the first time I have ever built something like this. I really have no experience working with wood projects. Somewhat to my surprise, I managed to build this wood frame base and floor for the storage shed without screwing anything up.

The stock market crash of the last 2 days has been extremely "painful". I hope it's over !

Woo-Hoo ... Joanne made strawberry cheese cake !

 

Saturday ; Today was cloudy and mild, with a few drops of rain.

This morning I prepared the "site plan" for our storage shed and submitted it for approval to the park rules and regulations committee < rolling eyes >. I prepared the documents to request refunds for our Manitoba license plates and insurance. I prepared updated medical summaries in anticipation of setting up doctor's appointments next week.

This afternoon Joanne went grocery shopping in Keremeos, then she continued working on waxing the trailer. I worked on positioning and levelling the shed base. I put very little effort into levelling the base. Hey ... it's a shed ! I pried open some of the wood packaging the shed was packed in to get out the instruction manual and read it before starting assembly. The manual suggests that it should take about 3 hours to assemble the shed. I think it's going to take that long to disassemble the wood crate packaging ! I'm not very quick at these kinds of jobs. My experience has been that most of these kinds of jobs take me about 4 times longer than the manufacturer "suggests". So for me, this shed will probably be a 12 hour project. Not counting the building of the base. And not counting the attachment of all the base rails to the floor.

DSK