Sunny and hot.
After a fitful night of sleep sharing a room with three other people, we awoke at 7 AM and were out of the Surf's Inn Hostel in Ucluelet by 8:15 AM. Suffice to say we're not hostel kind of people ! We drove to the Visitor Information Centre between Ucluelet and Tofino, and stopped there to eat our simple breakfast before continuing on to Tofino. We arrived at Crystal Cove Resort at 9:15 AM, and had the client's trailer hitched up and ready to go by 9:45 AM.
We drove about 40 km. back to Hwy. 4, then east on Hwy. 4 crossing Vancouver Island from west coast to east coast. We stopped for a bathroom break at a rest area and
I discovered that the very difficult road conditions had caused the trailer tongue coupler to jump up and off the hitch ball on the truck ! ! ! The weight of the trailer, and the equalizer / anti-sway bars, kept the closed coupler just resting there on top of the ball. What a disaster that would have been had it jumped off the hitch ball completely. The trailer riding with the closed coupler resting on top of the hitch ball caused the coupler mechanism to be jammed, but ... HEY ... solving those kind of problems is why I get paid the big ( although entirely insufficient ) bucks ! I quickly rectified those problems, and we were back on our way, relieved that a catastrophe had been averted !
We stopped at Wal-Mart in Port Alberni for another bathroom break, and to return a phone call to the client. We continued west on Hwy. 4 back to Qualicum Beach, then turned south on Hwy. 19 back to Nanaimo. We arrived at the Duke Point ferry terminal at 1:30 PM, checked in, and got parked in the correct ferry line up. We had a leisurely picnic lunch at a food court table inside the air conditioned ferry terminal.
The ferry departed Nanaimo on time at 3:15 PM, and arrived in Vancouver five minutes late at 5:20 PM. We drove through and out of Vancouver on Hwy. 17 / South Fraser Perimeter Road, then east on Trans-Canada Highway 1. Around 6:30 PM we stopped for a picnic supper at a lovely roadside rest area in the Abbotsford area. Around 8 PM we stopped at Flying J in Hope and refilled with diesel. From Hope we travelled northeast on the infamous Coquihalla Highway a.k.a. Highway Thru Hell to Merritt. WHEW ... extremely difficult section of climbing highway towing a big trailer, especially from the "snow shed" to the summit.
We endured thick fire smoke from Merritt all the way until we arrived home. At Merritt we turned east on Hwy. 97C, the Coquihalla Connector, and at Peachland we turned north on Hwy. 97 into the Okanagan Valley. Through Westbank and Kelowna, we arrived at the client's home at 11:30 PM. It took us about half an hour to detach the trailer and reinstall the bicycle rack that I had removed from the trailer's rear bumper when we picked up the trailer a couple of weeks ago.
Through Kelowna, then south on Hwy. 97 through Westbank and Peachland. We stopped to refill with diesel again in Summerland. After standing outside in the thick smoke while refilling diesel fuel, I suffered burning, itchy eyes. Through Penticton, then southwest on Hwy. 3A to Keremeos, then west on Hwy. 3 to home at Riverside RV Park Resort. We arrived home at 2:30 AM ! ! !
We started work at 8:15 AM. We finished at 2:30 AM. That's an 18¼ hour work day ! I'm too old ! I'm too affluent ! I don't need the money ! And I sure as hell don't need to work that hard ! ! ! Doing this job was a mistake that won't be repeated !
However ... I am very good at what I do ! And the client is satisfied !
Monday ; Sunny and hot. We slept late this morning. Well deserved !
This morning, after a late start, I did yesterday's credit card accounting, and wrote yesterday's journal entry. I unloaded stuff from the truck. Joanne did the same. Once everything was unloaded, and the truck was tidied up, we got it parked underneath the camper once again.
I visited with a neighbour who has hired me / us to do some inspections and winterization of their fifth wheel trailer this fall. We treated Ozzie's infected ear. It's improving nicely. I moved some loading ramps from the park's maintenance garage to our yard. The ramps belong to our next door neighbour, Gord. I had stored them for Gord in the maintenance garage a few years ago. Today I retrieved them. And "negotiated an acquisition deal" with Marcie.
I phoned the hostel in Ucluelet where we stayed Saturday night, and paid them by credit card for our one night stay. We had checked in very late, and checked out before their office opened Sunday morning, so I had not yet paid for our stay. I took a "thank you" card and gift to our neighbour Betty for caring for Bo on Saturday and Sunday.
I harvested tomatoes. Our vegetable gardening has gone poorly this summer. And
I think one of our two Saskatoon bushes may have died from heat and lack of watering this summer.
Tuesday ; Warm ... thick smoke ... ash falling !
This morning I drove into town, got appointments for a chest x-ray, blood tests, and an ECG next Tuesday at the South Similkameen Health Centre, refilled our five gallon water jug, and filled some new prescriptions at Similkameen Pharmacy.
This afternoon I did some preventive maintenance on the truck, watered our composters and gardens, and ... < cough cough > ... cleaned the camper's small barbecue. Hard to breathe outside because of the thick smoke !
In the evening we watched Amazing Race and I spent a lot of time spinning my wheels, trying to resolve a Windows 10 update problem. I eventually solved the problem, and got Windows Edge to work properly again, but ... it gobbled up a lot of time that I could have put to better use !
Wednesday ; Warm. Even thicker smoke than yesterday. Even more ash falling than yesterday.
Today ... again ... I tried to work indoors more than outside. I did a bit of outdoor work, but not much. I spent time chatting with a couple of neighbours who have become a bit more "involved" with helping our next door neighbours than they are comfortable with. Yeah .. been there ! Good luck !
Today I finally got around to filing a complaint of "use of excessive force" against an RCMP officer in Hay River, Northwest Territories. Bully ! ! ! I replenished medications and first aid supplies in the camper and truck. I did quite a bit of work on the computer.
Thursday ; Very warm ... smoke so thick the mountains across the highway and across the river are not visible ! I can't spend more than fifteen minutes outdoors before I experience angina discomfort. And once it starts, it persists.
This morning Joanne took Marcie to Penticton to visit Gord and run errands. They left about 10:30 AM and were back home about 5:30 PM. Gord has been moved from Penticton Hospital to Moog Hospice nearby. He's being cared for well, and is as happy as can be under the circumstances.
I walked Ozzie then treated his infected ear which is improving. I walked Bo. I chopped firewood for just a few minutes before I needed to head back indoors, where I stayed.
I spent the day reading, napping, and doing work on the computer. After Joanne returned home we took Bo for another walk, then I barbecued thick, juicy, marinated steak and baked potatoes for supper.
Friday ; Still smoky, not as bad as yesterday. Brief, heavy rainfall around suppertime.
Did some minor maintenance on the camper this afternoon. Disinfected and refilled the freshwater tank. Drained the water heater's pressure relief valve. Removed some dried out, cracked, old caulking and applied new silicone sealant. Adjusted the air pressure in my bicycle tires. AND ... reached my heart's limit of tolerance for the smoke in the air ! < cough cough ... angina pain >.
Read, napped, worked at my desk, took Bo to the dog park, returned a book to the library. < cough cough >
Saturday ; Mostly cloudy, warm, no more smoke.
I chopped some firewood. We picked two types of plums in our park's orchard. We washed / scrubbed the front of the camper. It was thick with baked on bugs from our Northwest Territories trip. I did the upper section, Joanne did the lower section. Late in the afternoon we went to the clubhouse to very briefly attend the 50th birthday party of a neighbour.
It was nice to be able to have the house windows open again !
DSK
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