April 25 to May 1, 2010

April 25 to May 1 ; Cape Lookout State Park / Tillamook, Oregon to Keremeos, BC


Sunday ; Cape Lookout State Park to Ainsworth State Park, Oregon

This morning we prepared for departure, said our goodbyes to Julie and Triscuit, and left Cape Lookout State Park. We drove to Tillamook and headed east on Hwy. 6, then Hwy. 26 to Portland. We had quite a bit of shopping we wanted to do in Portland. First stop was PetsMart to buy Glucosamine treats to last Sully for the summer. Joanne had the address of about half a dozen PetsMarts in the Portland area because the last two PetsMarts we went to were out of stock. We found the first PetsMart. They didn’t have any. We found the second PetsMart. They had some. By then we realized we didn’t have enough diesel to make it through Portland and out the east side to where the Flying J was. I began to search for a service station with diesel. That’s usually easy. Occasionally it isn’t. Portland was one of those cities where finding diesel was difficult. Before I could find a station with diesel I was so low on fuel I had to pull into a station without diesel just to get off the road, put in my emergency two gallon supply, and get directions to the nearest station with diesel. We found our way to a station with diesel. The price was $3.399 a gallon ! ! ! I put in $20 worth, and hoped that would get me to the Flying J.

Next stop was Wal-Mart. Usually Wal-Marts are extremely easy to find, usually visible from the highway. Not so in Portland ! It was a long way off the highway, and difficult to find. We had a late lunch in the Wal-Mart parking lot then went into Wal-Mart to shop. I don’t shop in Wal-Marts on weekends, so I went in just long enough to select a couple of “guy” items, then left Joanne to do the rest of the shopping. I returned to the trailer hoping I might find a Wi-Fi signal in the parking lot so that I could enter a blog update. ( sigh ) There were four Wi-Fi signals reaching the Wal-Mart parking lot, but they were all encrypted, requiring a password. I started this journal entry while I waited for Joanne to finish the shopping. The Wal-Mart did not have much of what we needed, so our Wal-Mart shopping for “must buy before leaving U.S.“ items isn’t finished yet ! Fortunately she had better luck at The Dollar Tree in the same mall as the Wal-Mart.

From Wal-Mart we found our way to Interstate 84 and headed east to Camping World at Exit 16. Camping World did not have either of the two items I needed. Our next and last stop was to be Flying J at Exit 17 but near the Camping World there was a Safeway with a fuel bar with diesel. This year we have been disappointed a few times that the Flying J’s have not been the lowest fuel price in their area, as had always been the case in previous years. So we gambled that Safeway, which usually has very good fuel prices at their fuel bars, might be cheaper than Flying J. We refilled with diesel at Safeway. It was certainly much more difficult to enter and exit the Safeway fuel bar with the rig than it would have been at Flying J, but it paid off. When we drove by the Flying J a few minutes later their diesel price was indeed higher than Safeway’s.

It had been our plan today to boondock at a rest area on I-84 to position ourselves for a visit tomorrow with our friend Eilene who lives in Grass Valley. But we have phoned her every day for the last week and there’s been no answer. Joanne felt that we could not arrive for a visit without giving her some advance notice of our day of arrival. So … after a stressful day of driving in and around Portland doing shopping we decided not to drive as far today as initially planned, stop a little earlier in a nice state park, and have a campfire. We stopped at Ainsworth State Park. It’s very nice, as are all Oregon State Parks we’ve been to. And this one was quite inexpensive. I started a campfire, and realized as I was chopping wood how tired I really was.

Sitting around the campfire reading about the local area, we decided to explore this area a bit tomorrow, not drive very far, and stay at another Oregon State Park tomorrow night before crossing the Columbia River, which I-84 follows, into Washington. Washington’s State Parks are as nice as Oregon’s, but they’re twice the price. I cooked supper over the open campfire, something I haven’t done in quite awhile. We chatted briefly with out neighbours who are from Florida and are heading for northern British Columbia. We persuaded them to head north up Hwy. 97 through the Okanagan Valley, our route home and the dry, warm route, instead of their planned route up Interstate 5 through Seattle and into BC at Vancouver, the cold wet route.

We are more than 150 miles inland from where we started this morning on the coast. It’s a lot warmer and drier here ! After supper we took Bo for a walk around the campground as it got dark, which isn’t until 8:30 PM. I sat on the sofa with Sully cuddled in a blankie against my hip, and I worked on this journal entry and today’s credit card accounting. I even managed to work on our income tax returns for awhile tonight.

Monday ; Ainsworth State Park to Memaloose State Park, Oregon

Today was cloudy and mild. We decided to do a bit of exploring, do some chores and errands, not drive far, and have an easy day today. This morning before departing Ainsworth State Park I took care of some chores that I knew would get pushed aside if I let them wait until we got home. I drained the fuel / water separator filter on the truck. I “exercised” the generator. It needs to be run briefly on a monthly basis. I trimmed my beard. I repaired the trailer monitor panel faceplate that had come loose. I removed it, cleaned it, and reinstalled it.

We departed the campground and headed west on Historic Route 30 to see the series of waterfalls on this route along the Columbia River Gorge. We viewed Horsetail Falls from the truck as we drove by. We stopped at Multnomah Falls and took a relatively easy hike to a viewing bridge near the falls. We drove a bit further and viewed Wahkeena Falls from the truck. We stopped to hike a steep trail to see Bridal Veil Falls. Spectacular ! While on the viewing platform Joanne knocked her walking stick over the edge onto the rocks below. I had to climb down to retrieve it. She owes me for that one ! We had lunch in the parking lot at Bridal Veil Falls then drove back on Historic Route 30 to Interstate 84 where we continued eastbound.

At the city of Hood River we stopped to do more Wal-Martin’. While Joanne shopped I went into the trailer, cleaned up the cat vomit ( scowl ), then tried to find a Wi-Fi signal. No luck. I worked on this journal entry. This Wal-Mart did not have one item on our “must buy before leaving U.S.” list. Hopefully the Wal-Mart in Omak, Washington will.

We continued east on I-84 and stopped for the night at Memaloose State Park on the Columbia River. After getting set up in a site we went for a long walk with Bo around the campground. I had kept a few pieces of firewood to have one last campfire but as we finished our walk it began to rain lightly. Neither of us wanted a campfire in the rain.

I sat on the sofa and got Sully and Bo all cuddled up beside me, both tucked in under a blankie. I downloaded and processed today’s photos. I printed the list of all our winter season’s purchases that must be declared at Customs. After supper I worked on our income tax returns. Obviously I’m not going to complete them before we get home. But … I progressed far enough to know that neither of us will owe any income taxes. Which eliminates my motivation to have the income tax returns completed on time. Why break a streak that’s already lasted 22 years ? HA HA HA !

Tuesday ; Memaloose State Park, Oregon to Omak, Washington

Today was sunny and warm. Our plan was to drive hard and put on a lot of miles today. We certainly did that ! Our objective was Wenatchee, Washington. We made it all the way to Omak. We drove 550 km. / 350 miles, much more than we usually travel in one day. As a matter of fact, that’s the most miles of any one day this entire winter season. Most of the day we followed the Columbia River, first east, then north, then the Okanogan ( American spelling ) River.

This morning we departed Memaloose State Park and headed east on Interstate 84. As we drove through The Dalles we spotted a Wal-Mart from the highway. We stopped to check if they had the final item on our “must buy before leaving U.S.” list. They didn’t ! We continued east on I-84 to Hwy. 97, turned north, and crossed the Columbia River from Oregon into Washington. In the middle of nowhere, in a lovely forest setting we passed a Greek Orthodox monastery … with an attached bakery / restaurant. I pulled a U-turn and went back. Their prices were surprisingly high. I bought a chocolate marble pound cake. As we passed through Toppenish Joanne saw a KFC and wanted KFC for lunch. We parked in the Safeway parking lot and crossed the street to the KFC. And there was … WOO-HOO … a panaderia. Who’d have thought there would be a Mexican bakery this far north ? ! ? I went in and bought a lot of pan dulce. MMMMM !

After lunch we drove north just a few miles on Hwy. 22 to Interstate 82, then northwest on I-82 which is also Hwy. 97 for awhile. At Ellensburg we stopped at Flying J and bought a gallon of Lucas diesel fuel additive. We didn’t refill with diesel at Flying J because we know from previous experience that the Ellensburg Flying J is not the lowest fuel price in the area. We refilled with diesel elsewhere then headed east on Interstate 90 to avoid the difficult mountain route of Hwy. 97 from Ellensburg to Wenatchee. At George we turned north on Hwy. 281 to Quincy then northwest on Hwy. 28 to Wenatchee. From there we resumed heading north on Hwy. 97.

Hwy. 97 is pleasant route, nice scenery, good road. I enjoy driving this route. Like our area back home, this is predominantly a fruit growing area, mostly apples. The apple orchards were all in bloom. Very lovely and fragrant. Last night because of the rain we didn’t use the last few pieces of firewood we had. I had to get rid of it before we cross the border into Canada tomorrow. We stopped at Daroga State Park to get rid of the firewood. While I carried the firewood from the truck to a fireplace beside a group picnic shelter Joanne took Bo to the nearby playground to do some Bo-gility. HA HA HA … Bo loooooves slides. There was a large play structure with a high spiral slide. Joanne climbed up the play structure with him and … ZOOOOOM ! HA HA HA … he doesn’t even look, he just leaps onto the slide, without even knowing where it’s going to lead because it’s a spiral.

It was such a lovely day, the road was easy, I felt rested, we just drove and drove, making it all the way to Omak, the final Wal-Mart before Canada. We had supper, then while I worked on this journal entry Joanne went into Wal-Mart to refill a water jug and shop for the final item. They didn’t have it which I think suggests it’s just not available anymore. She settled for an alternative … that we could have bought many Wal-Marts ago ! In Oregon with no sales tax !

The McDonald’s across the street from the Wal-Mart had an unsecured / open access Wi-Fi signal that reached our trailer so I was able to retrieve and send e-mail. But it was too late in the evening, and I was getting too tired, to post last week’s blog entry.

Wednesday ; Omak, Washington to Keremeos, British Columbia

Today was sunny and mild, windy at home in Keremeos. This morning we departed the Wal-Mart parking lot in Omak and went next door to the Home Depot. I wanted to look for a particular sealant that Camping World no longer carries. Home Depot didn’t have it, but they did have nice pressure treated wood. Nicer and cheaper than what I can buy at home. I bought two pieces of 12 foot long pressure treated 2 x 4 that I need for my new gazebo project. I thought it would actually be easier to transport 12 foot long pieces of lumber inside the trailer than it would be to transport it with just the truck if I bought it in Keremeos or Penticton. Before leaving Omak I adjusted the air pressure in all the trailer tires.

We drove north on Hwy. 97 to the U.S. / Canada border at Oroville. We refilled with diesel in Oroville because fuel is cheaper in the U.S. than in Canada. Crossing the border from Oroville to Osoyoos was a painless process that took no longer than about a minute. We had passports ready. I had a list of all our purchases and their value. We were within allowable limits. I had 2 cartons of cigarettes and 5 cans of beer, within tobacco and alcohol limits. We had no fruits or vegetables. The border agent did not ask about meats or pet foods. I don’t volunteer information not asked for.

Driving west from Osoyoos to Keremeos on Hwy. 3 through the Similkameen Valley upon our return each spring reminds me of why we live here. It’s beautiful ! In Cawston we stopped at the home of the service technician employed by China Creek Internet Service to pick up our Wi-Fi transceiver antenna. As is the case every spring, it wasn’t ready for me, despite an e-mail sent a month ago and a phone call made a week ago ( fume ). He will bring it tomorrow and configure it. We stopped in Keremeos to have lunch in the trailer, then Joanne went into the grocery store and I went to the community newspaper office to renew our subscription. About halfway from Keremeos to Riverside RV Park Resort Bo finally realized where we were. He went nuts ! HA HA HA … welcome home, Bo.

We got the trailer positioned in our lot, and I connected all the utilities. What a mess our lot was ! Tumbleweeds all over, lots of weeds growing. Joanne began working on cleaning the lot. I napped briefly with Sully. We reassembled and repositioned our steps and landing, placed our park bench, placed our picnic table … and hauled a truckload of tumbleweeds to the burn pile ! We visited with neighbours. Seems as if we are the last “Snowbirds” to return to the park. Well … DUH … why would one want to return in mid-March ( as some of our neighbours did ) ?

As per my request, Joanne prepared perogies for supper. AHHHHH … welcome back to Canada ! After supper I went to the clubhouse to access our park’s Wi-Fi signal to send and retrieve e-mail, check on the progress of some investment transactions, and update my blog.

Thursday ; This past winter season … 180 days out of Canada … we travelled 13,800 km. / 8500 miles, much less than a usual winter season. The lowest diesel price was $2.599 in Arizona. The highest diesel price was yesterday, $3.439 in Washington.

This is the fourth consecutive spring that I have been frustrated and angered by having to deal with the service technician employed on contract by China Creek Internet Service. He’s unprofessional ! He’s unreliable ! ! ! He doesn’t answer his phone ! He doesn’t return phone messages ! He’s an ******* ! ! ! If there was an alternative to China Creek, I would use it ! Not surprisingly he did not show up today as he was supposed to, to install and configure China Creek’s Wi-Fi transceiver / antenna. Since China Creek is now forcing me to purchase their equipment, instead of “renting” it, which means I won’t have to return it to them each fall, maybe this will be the last time I will have to deal with that *******. Let’s hope !

This morning while walking the dog, Joanne met our neighbour Betty, and she retrieved our April mail and mailbox key from her. Thank you, Betty, for a job well done ! Joanne then went to the swimming pool for the morning water aerobics session. I slept late, then did some outdoor work … in the cold rain. BRRRRR ! After water aerobics Joanne went to the office and reserved the guest suites for her family’s summer visit in July. I went to the clubhouse … twice today … to get online and make some phone calls. My phone calls were not very successful ( sigh ). One of “those” days, I guess. Joanne worked intermittently on cleaning and weeding our lot. I went through the somewhat frustrating process of programming our new TV to work with our satellite dish receiver’s remote control. ( sigh ) After going to the clubhouse to get online and download the manual for the remote control.

Because we left two days earlier last fall than initially planned, forcing us to return two days earlier, and I had already made arrangements for seasonal disconnect of our satellite TV service, it’s not programmed to resume until tomorrow. I phoned Star Choice to get it turned back on today so that we could watch Survivor tonight, but I didn’t have the patience to wait the “expected waiting time of more than 20 minutes” to speak to an agent.

I did eventually reach the owner / manager of the RV rental business in Summerland that I am hoping to obtain employment with as a delivery driver. We made tentative plans to meet on Saturday in Osoyoos. I reviewed April’s mail while Joanne cooked supper … and ruined the Arrowtooth fish fillets we bought in Oregon recently ! Yup … definitely one of “those” days ! Now we both remember why I cook fish … and she doesn’t !

I spent the evening working on our income tax returns. I finished the working copy of mine. Hurray ! I still have to finish Joanne’s, then copy both from the working copies to the copies to be filed, so … still a few more hours of work to do on them. We ended the evening by going to the pool complex to soak in the hot tub.

Friday ; Sully woke me up very early this morning, wanting food, fresh water, and affection. I decided to stay up and get my day started since I had to go to the clubhouse and make a phone call at 8 AM. I phoned for a doctor’s appointment then phoned Alliance Woodcraft to see if they could advise me of the expected delivery date of my gazebo. Next Thursday ! I did some computer work until it was time to go to town for my doctor’s appointment. Joanne came with me, dropped me off at the clinic, then went to do some grocery and produce shopping. She returned just as I was coming out of the clinic. Good timing ! I dropped some prescriptions off at the pharmacy to be filled and we drove home.

( FUME ) In the one hour we were gone, that ****** service technician from China Creek came by to install my Wi-Fi transceiver / antenna. ( INSERT A LOT OF PROFANITY HERE ! ) I guess he thinks showing up at 10:30 AM on Friday is close enough to his stated “Thursday between noon and 2 PM” ! ! ! I went to the clubhouse and phoned him. Why did I bother ? ? ? I know the ******* doesn’t answer his phone ! I had to go to the clubhouse either to get online or use the phone many times today. And the aggravation grew and grew each time ! I’m going to blow a gasket ! ! ! It’s a damn good thing they don’t allow Canadians to own guns ! ! !

Joanne did laundry and continued to work on cleaning / weeding our lot. I did a lot of computer work, online and offline. Late in the afternoon I resumed working on our income tax returns. I was hopeful that I could complete her working copy today, but nooooo … I have to download and complete a form T-2036 for her !

Saturday ; This morning I headed back to the clubhouse to make more phone calls. First was to RV Days, the RV rental business in Summerland that I hope will employ me this summer as a delivery driver. I was to phone to confirm tentative plans to meet for an interview in Osoyoos this afternoon, where the owner was going to be busy dewinterizing some of his trailers there. He postponed the interview ( sigh ). Next I phoned China Creek’s service technician and ( ahem ) left a firmly worded message instructing him to come today to “install” the Wi-Fi equipment. I got online and activated some new credit cards we had just received in the mail to replace the ones that expired yesterday.

Shortly after I returned to our trailer, the China Creek service technician showed up. He wanted $295 for the equipment, which I had already reluctantly agreed to pay, and … ( sputter ) … $125 for “installation”. I … ( ahem ) … instructed him to leave. That wasn’t quite how I phrased it. I hammered out an e-mail to China Creek advising them that we wouldn’t be doing business any more. Finally … good riddance to a thorn that’s been in my side for three years !

I went to town to pick up my prescriptions at the pharmacy. They weren’t ready ! I felt my anger rising, then I noticed that the pharmacist / owner seemed a bit overwhelmed with some high maintenance customers, some impatient customers, and an assistant who didn’t seem to know what she was doing. I decided if I was going to give anybody a break today it should be her. I’ll return for my prescriptions on Monday.

After lunch I napped with Sully. Joanne continued working on cleaning the yard. And true to her word of a month or so ago, she made a batch of holuptsi for me. Thank you, my dear. I made arrangements with a neighbour to share his Wi-Fi signal. We have arrangements with another neighbour to share garbage pickup service, so maybe it’s feasible to share a Wi-Fi signal.

Well, now that I had a Wi-Fi signal in our trailer, I really got busy. I downloaded April’s bank statements. I downloaded April’s investment statements. I downloaded the form T-2036 I needed for Joanne’s income tax return. I printed all of that, and more that was sitting in the printer queue. I reconciled the bank statements. I worked on income taxes ( sigh ). I finished Joanne’s working copy. WHEW … finally ! Now all that’s left is copying everything from the working copies to the copies to be filed. Copying pages and pages and pages of numbers !

I spent the evening updating and analyzing our investments.

DSK

April 18 to 24, 2010

April 18 to 24, 2010 ; Coos Bay to Tillamook, Oregon


Sunday ; Sunset Bay State Park to Beverly Beach State Park, Oregon

This morning we left the campground at Sunset Bay State Park and drove a mile or two on the state park road to Shore Acres, an ocean viewpoint and sight of a seven acre botanical garden. A hundred years ago or so Shore Acres was developed as a personal estate by a lumber baron. It’s now a day use Oregon State Park. We parked in the parking lot, got out of the truck, and I realized I had left my cigarettes and lighter sitting on the picnic table in our campsite. ( sigh ) So back to the Sunset Bay campground we went to pick them up, then returned to Shore Acres. I took some photos from the viewpoint high above the ocean, then we walked around a bit of the botanical gardens. We drove another mile or two up the state park road to see Cape Arago, another high viewpoint looking out over the ocean and rugged beach beneath the cliffs we were standing on.

We drove back down and out of the state park and over to the little fishing village of Charleston. We stopped at Chuck’s Seafoods to buy some fresh fish. MMMMM … bought fresh Dover Sole fillets, Arrowtooth fillets, smoked oysters, and Dungeness Crab meat. Between Charleston and Coos Bay we stopped to buy a few bundles of firewood. We anticipate having some campfires with our friend Julie over the next few days at Cape Lookout where we are meeting her, probably tomorrow. Finally before leaving the area and getting back on the road we stopped at Wal-Mart in Coos Bay. I refuse to go into Wal-Marts on weekends, so Joanne went to do the shopping. I took Bo for a walk, then took Sully for a walk, then went into the trailer, turned on my computer and … WOO-HOO … an unsecured access Wi-Fi signal in the Wal-Mart parking lot. I haven’t had Internet access for the last five days. I got caught up on e-mail and investment status data, and downloaded some Windows and Adobe updates. Joanne still wasn’t finished shopping so I started working on this journal entry. When Joanne returned from shopping we had lunch … MMMMM … fresh smoked oysters on crackers with cream cheese … then hit the road. It was a very late start to our day’s driving.

We continued north on Hwy. 101 following the Pacific coast. We refilled with diesel in Florence and a few minutes later stopped at a roadside viewing area to see … HUH ? … carnivorous plants growing in a bog ? ! ? Darlintonia Californica plants ! Hey, Bo, better stay on the boardwalk. HA HA HA ! We stopped at a roadside viewing area where the Bob Creek flows into the Pacific Ocean. We stopped for the night at Beverly Beach State Park. We got set up in a site, then walked over to the beach. Saw some whales breaching offshore. We wanted to get this far today because Beverly Beach State Park has a few sites with cable TV. We wanted to see Amazing Race. ( sigh ) Which was pre-empted tonight by a country music awards show ( sigh ). I spent the evening processing the photos I took over the last few days.

Monday ; Beverly Beach State Park to Cape Lookout State Park, Oregon

Today was cloudy and warm, with a few drops of rain in the morning and steady light rain in the evening.

We departed Beverly Beach State Park this morning and backtracked about ten miles south on Hwy. 101 to the city of Newport to visit the Oregon Coast Aquarium. We had been there before, about five years ago, and decided it was worth a return visit. We weren’t disappointed. The Oregon Coast Aquarium has huge indoor display tanks and outdoor display pools. Outdoors there was a pool for sea otters, one for sea lions and harbour seals, and one for aquatic birds, including some species of auks, sort of the Northern Hemisphere equivalent of penguins. Indoors there were small and large display tanks, some of them “walk through” tunnels. WOW ! Most of the indoor displays were exhibiting sea life found in the Pacific Ocean along the Oregon coast.

We spent about three hours in the aquarium, had a very late lunch in the parking lot, then headed north on Hwy. 101. Near Tillamook we turned onto Three Capes Scenic Loop. At the south end there is Cape Kiwanda, in the middle is Cape Lookout, and on the northern end is Cape Meares. We were planning to meet our friend Julie at Cape Lookout State Park where she is going to live for the next 3½ months while she WorkCamps at Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge as a birding interpreter.

We found our way to Cape Lookout State Park and found a campsite “across the street” from Julie who had arrived a few hours earlier. We visited with her briefly, then got set up in our site, just as it began to rain. We invited Julie over for dinner. I prepared the fresh Dover Sole we bought yesterday. We visited with Julie for the evening.

( sigh ) We’ve been to Cape Lookout State Park before. We were here five years ago. It’s where we blew the transmission ( for the first time ! ) on our previous truck, Dee-Dee, while backing into an uphill sloped campsite. We spent the next week in Tillamook waiting for the transmission to be rebuilt.

Tuesday ; Tillamook

Today was cold and wet. BRRRRR ! ! ! This is why I’m not fond of driving along the coast in April or November.

We got a bit of a slow start to the day. I needed to sleep in a bit. We had an early lunch then decided to head into the nearby small city of Tillamook to run some errands. My priority was to make some phone calls and get Internet access. As we were leaving, Julie was just returning from a meeting with her “boss” regarding the WorkCamping job which she is to start this week. She came along with us to Tillamook to run errands. We drove into Tillamook, about eleven miles away and found our way to the public library. Julie and I went into the library to use Wi-Fi and Joanne went to buy some groceries at the Safeway across the street from the library, then explore “downtown” Tillamook on foot.

I was in the library for a couple of hours but I got a lot accomplished, by phone and online. When I was finished we decided to go visit Tillamook Cheese. The weather was too bad to do anything else. Tillamook Cheese is the large cheese factory in Tillamook that probably forms the backbone of the local industrial economy. We walked around the second floor viewing area overlooking the cheese factory below. It was very interesting. We went downstairs to their cheese and ice cream shop, bought some fresh squeaky cheese curds to take home, and some ice cream to eat there. On the drive back to the campground we drove around Tillamook to familiarize ourselves with the small city. Back at the campground we ( including Julie ) took Bo and Triscuit ( Julie’s Powderpuff Chinese Crested ) for a walk around the campground and over to the beach. BRRRRR … cold, windy, huge waves.

Joanne invited Julie over for supper, and made pizza. After supper we visited with Julie for awhile, then she went home … with a Coconug ! HA HA HA ! I worked on the photos I took yesterday at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

Wednesday ; Cape Kiwanda & Pacific City

Another cold, windy, wet day ! This morning I did some repairs on Julie’s rig. And thanks to my own stupidity and carelessness, I ruined the top of our dinette table in the process ! I certainly have been making a lot of mental errors these last few days ! I was using glue to repair a broken plastic part from the exterior door of Julie’s rig. I needed a workbench. It was too cold and wet to use the picnic table outside so I used our dinette table. And had a “glue accident“. And then tried using acetone to remove the glue. And ruined the top of the table ( sigh ). Joanne began working on repairing it. It will require a lot of sanding then varnishing.

Julie invited us out for lunch. We drove south on the Three Capes Scenic Loop to Cape Kiwanda at the south end, and the adjacent village of Pacific City. We had lunch at Pelican Pub & Brewery, a seafood restaurant and micro-brewery overlooking the ocean. KA-CHING ! Julie and Joanne had fish and chips. I had a bowl of Tillamook Cheese and beer soup, and an oyster po’ boy. After lunch we walked onto the beach and along the beach to a rocky area beside sand dunes at the edge of the bay, and explored tidal pools amongst the rocks. Very cool ! ! ! Lots of different sizes and colours of anemones and sea stars / star fish. The beach was also a boat launch area, so I drove Lanoire onto the beach and tore around in the sand and surf. HA HA HA … there goes Daniel, destroying the environment with his honkin’ huge six wheel drive truck.

We parked by a local restaurant that offered free Wi-fi, and sitting in the truck in the restaurant parking lot, used their Wi-Fi signal. Julie and I did our online work for the day, then we drove back to Cape Lookout State Park. Joanne and Julie went for a long walk with the dogs and I went for a brief nap with Sully.

In the evening I built a campfire and we sat around the campfire visiting with Julie until late at night.

Thursday ; Today was mostly sunny and mild, a bit windy at the beach.

This morning I completed some repairs on Julie’s rig. I installed a new cable TV hatch and installed a bracket on the inside of her exterior screen door to mount a wind chime which is now a sort of door chime. Julie prepared a large bowl of oyster chowder for lunch for all of us.

After lunch while the women did some chores and took the dogs for a long walk, I spent the afternoon doing “administrative” work. I reconciled our monthly MasterCard statements. I prepared instructions to our investment broker on what to do and how to do it, to get the funds I need to pay this month’s bills. I did some work on our income tax returns which I haven’t worked on for about a week, despite my intentions to work an hour a day on them.

Late in the afternoon we hitched the truck to the trailer. We have to move to another campsite tomorrow because the one we are on is reserved for the weekend. I built a campfire. A bigger one than yesterday ! Joanne and Julie had been moaning and whining repeatedly today about how cold they were last night around the campfire because I built such a puny little campfire. Hey, I was trying to conserve our limited supply of firewood. We ate a simple supper sitting by the campfire then visited until way too late … again.

Friday ; Tillamook

Today was mostly sunny but cold. It started to rain late in the afternoon. This morning we had to move to another site in the campground. Fortunately we found a site on the same loop as we were, and still fairly close to Julie, that was not reserved for the weekend. We left Bo in the trailer while we relocated, which only took a few minutes to get from one site to the other. Bo was very upset that he had to stay in the trailer while we went “drivey” to a “new place”. He seemed unaware that we were 500 feet from where we had been before ( rolling eyes ). And then, in a few minutes … WOO-HOO … HEY, LOOK … MY FRIEND TRISCUIT IS ALSO AT THIS NEW PLACE ! Sometimes Bo is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. After relocating we went to Tillamook to get online at the library and run some errands. Julie came along.

We did our online work at the library, then drove to the north side of town towards Tillamook Cheese Factory. Joanne wanted to check their daily inventory of packaged “end cuts” which are sold at a discount. I stopped at a service station and refilled an empty propane tank. We stopped at a hardware store to buy some hardware I needed to “fine tune” one of the jobs I did on Julie’s trailer. At the hardware store Joanne found a wood frame kit to create a “raised garden”. She liked it, we bought it. We went to Fred Myers, a large grocery store, and refilled a water jug. Finally we made it to Tillamook Cheese Factory. Today’s inventory of cheese end cuts wasn’t to our liking, but we bought some awesomely good ice cream.

We returned to Cape Lookout State Park and had a communal lunch of shared leftovers. I napped with the animals. I did a bit of minor maintenance. BRRRRR ! ! ! Joanne and Bo went for a walk with Julie and Triscuit. I did some accounting work, then worked on our income tax returns for awhile. Julie prepared supper for all of us, a wonderful smoked salmon and smoked oyster creamy pasta dish. She cooked supper in our rig because our kitchen is a bit more spacious than hers. After supper none of us wanted to sit by a campfire in the cold rain, so no campfire tonight.

Saturday ; Cape Meares & Tillamook

COLD ! WET ! YUCK !

Today was Julie’s first day of “work”. She is “working” at Cape Meares, about ten miles north of Cape Lookout. It is the most northerly of the Three Capes on the Three Capes Scenic Loop. At Cape Meares is a lighthouse, and a bird viewing platform. Julie works on the bird viewing platform, answering questions about birds, and perhaps most importantly, setting up and manning a birding scope aimed at a Peregrine Falcon nest. Her “employer” is U.S. Fish & Wildlife, and in exchange for her “volunteering” she is provided with her campsite here at Cape Lookout State Park. That’s what’s known as “WorkCamping”.

Our plan was to go and visit Julie at “work” today. But this morning was … YUCK ! I did a couple of minor maintenance chores. Around noon the rain stopped and the sky cleared a bit. We had an early lunch and headed off for Cape Meares. When we arrived there, the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds occasionally. We were surprised to find that there were a lot of people there, and Julie’s bird viewing platform was pretty busy. We visited with her briefly, and viewed the two Peregrine Falcons and their nest through the scope. We walked down the trail to Cape Meares Lighthouse. Beautiful views. The lighthouse had been vandalized a couple of months ago by local hoodlums who shot out eleven of the lighthouse’s glass panes. What a tragedy ! Original glass panes from the 1800’s destroyed ! We walked over to see the Octopus Tree, an old Sitka Spruce with many trunks coming out from just above the ground.

We drove from Cape Meares to Tillamook to do some shopping. We wanted to look at some folding director’s chairs that were on sale at Fred Meyers. We bought a couple of them for our new, soon to be built, cedar gazebo. And I bought a new folding step stool to replace the one that broke a few days ago. I use it to get in and out of the truck bed.

We returned to Cape Lookout State Park. Julie was home from “work”. When I bought a Fantastic Fan pop in screen recently, it came in a package of two. I only needed one. Julie wanted the other one so I removed her screw in screen and replaced it with the pop in one. Joanne and Julie went for a long walk on the beach with Bo and Triscuit. I did some computer work in the trailer, then went to Julie’s site to start a campfire. Joanne and Julie returned from their beach walk with two very tired dogs. They had been romping on the beach off leash. We sat around the campfire for only a few minutes when … ( sigh ) … it began to rain again. We abandoned the campfire and went inside to prepare supper.

While Joanne worked on preparing supper for the three of us, and again after supper, I worked on photos. I had taken a lot of photos today of Julie’s “workplace”. I downloaded them from my computer and “processed” them, adding captions, cropping some of them, enhancing the lighting on some of them, that sort of thing. For dessert after supper we had TillaMOOk Ice Cream, with peanut butter filled little chocolate cows in the ice cream. HA HA HA … MMMMM ! After supper Joanne and Julie visited, and when I finally finished with the photos I copied them onto a DVD for Julie.

DSK

April 11 to 17, 2010

April 11 to 17, 2010 ;  Coarsegold, California to Coos Bay, Oregon


Sunday ; Today was cold and raining, lightly in the morning and early afternoon, then heavier in the late afternoon. This morning we trimmed Bo’s and Sully’s claws. I posted my weekly journal to my blog. After lunch we were planning to attend the weekly ice cream social, but the weather made us ambivalent. We didn’t go, napping instead. We took the barbecue’s small propane tank for refilling to the park’s propane refill station. We took Bo for a walk in the rain to Coarsegold Creek which is near our campsite. I did some investments reconciliation work.

After supper I started work on our income tax returns ( sigh ). We watched a lot of TV ; Amazing Race, Undercover Boss, and Celebrity Apprentice, cuddled up on the couch under a blankie, trying to ward off the cold chill of the damp evening.

Monday ; Another cold, wet day. This morning I phoned Alliance Woodcraft, got my questions answered, and … WOO-HOO … bought a gazebo. Ten foot by ten foot, screened, made of Western Red Cedar. We’re looking forward to having it on our lot back home at Riverside RV Park Resort in Keremeos. I’m not really looking forward to having to build it. It’s a kit, comprised of pre-cut pieces of wood and, of course, a lot of hardware and instructions.

This afternoon we picked up the barbecue’s small propane tank from the park’s propane refill station then headed to the village of Coarsegold. While I went to the small grocery store in town to buy milk, Joanne went to look at the town’s small thrift shop ( rolling eyes ). Back at home we spent the rest of the damp, chilly afternoon reading and napping.

In the evening we watched TV. I started work on preparing a site plan of our lot back home, showing placement of our new gazebo. I will have to submit that to our park’s lot approval committee. And I did a bit of work on our income tax returns.

Tuesday ; Today was partially sunny and cool. This morning I disassembled and cleaned the Fantastic Fan in the kitchen, then thoroughly cleaned the barbecue. UGH … what a dirty job ! But the barbecue seems to still be in fairly good shape, and I hope it will last for the summer. I’ve already bought a replacement. Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and we set off for a day trip.

We headed north on Hwy. 41 through Coarsegold and Oakhurst then turned onto back roads leading to Bass Lake in Sierra National Forest. We drove slowly around Bass Lake stopping a few times to walk around a bit. Bo seemed a bit ill, with diarrhea. Poor Bo. We checked out a few National Forest day use / picnic areas and a campground. We had our picnic lunch at a boat launch area at Wishon Cove on Bass Lake. We drove completely around Bass Lake then just drove around on back roads, exploring until we found Manzanita Lake, and then the village of North Fork. From there we found our way back to Hwy. 41 and returned to SKP Park of the Sierras. Saw lots of beautiful wildflowers in bloom today !

Joanne quickly prepared a couple of loads of laundry to take to the laundromat, and we headed off with Bo to do laundry and go to the daily dog party, Bo’s last dog party here. Bo romped and we visited while waiting for the laundry to be done. Bo was a bit subdued, definitely not feeling great. We returned to the trailer, I downloaded and processed the photos I took today, and we hitched the truck to the trailer in preparation for departure tomorrow morning.

After supper I completed our gazebo site plan to be submitted to Riverside RV Park Resort’s lot approval committee. I worked for about an hour on our personal income tax returns. I’m trying to work for about an hour each evening on our income tax returns, hoping that I can complete them before the end of the month. If I do, it will be the first time in 22 years that I finish our income tax returns on time. HA HA HA !

Wednesday ; SKP Park of the Sierras to Sacramento, California

This morning we departed SKP Park of the Sierras and headed north on Hwy. 41 through Coarsegold to Oakhurst where we refilled with diesel. From Oakhurst we headed northwest on Hwy. 49 to Mariposa, then southwest on Hwy. 140 to Merced. What a lovely section of Central California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains this morning’s drive was. At the edge of Merced we stopped at a produce stand to buy some cheap, fresh avocadoes … and corn. The avocadoes are fine, but we had some of the corn for supper, and it was terrible ! At Merced we got onto Hwy. 99 heading north. We stopped at a rest area near Turlock to have lunch.

After lunch Joanne drove from the rest area to Lodi while I napped. She did extremely well considering that she hadn’t driven the rig for at least 5 months, and the traffic on Hwy. 99 was very heavy. I drove from Lodi to Sacramento, stopping to take some photos of the stupendous wildflowers blooming alongside the highway. We entered Sacramento from the south on Hwy. 99, the South Sacramento Freeway. We turned northeast onto Business Route Interstate 80, the Capital City Freeway, then continued through and out of Sacramento on Interstate 80 to the suburb of Rocklin, where we found our way to Camping World.

At Camping World I bought a new propane regulator with tank changeover, and a snap in screen for the Fantastic Fan to replace the screw in screen. That will make disassembly for cleaning easier. Joanne thought it would be a good idea to install the new propane regulator / tank changeover in the parking lot of Camping World, then boondock there overnight. Good idea ! It’s a good idea to install RV parts right in the parking lot of where they were bought. If any problems arise, it makes solving them so much easier. And it was already pretty late in the afternoon and we had driven a reasonable amount for the day. I removed the old propane regulator / tank changeover, and installed the new one. There was even enough daylight left that I removed the Fantastic Fan screw in screen and installed the new snap in one.

We had supper, and while Joanne washed dishes I did today’s credit card and traveller’s cheque accounting and worked on my daily journal. I worked for about half an hour on my income tax return.

Thursday ; Sacramento to Francis B. Mathews Memorial Rest Area between Burnt Ranch & Selyer in Shasta - Trinity National Forest, California

Oh, for crying out loud ! ! ! I’ve just sat down on the sofa to begin working on this journal entry, and I knocked over my mug of iced tea ! ! ! I’m tired, and beyond peak efficiency, I guess.

Today was a very pleasant, sunny and warm day. We departed Camping World fairly early this morning and decided to head north on back roads instead of the Interstate. We left the Sacramento suburb of Rocklin heading north on Hwy. 65. It was a very pleasant drive. Between Thermalito and Chico we used Hwy. 149 to cut over to Hwy. 99 and up to Chico. At Chico we headed west on Hwy. 32 over to Interstate 5 at Orland. Then north on I-5 to the Flying J at Corning. We refilled with diesel, dumped the grey water waste holding tanks and refilled the freshwater holding tank. I love Flying J’s ! We continued north on I-5 to Red Bluff where we stopped to have lunch in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

After lunch Joanne went into the Wal-Mart to replenish supplies while I napped with the animals. She was in the store about 45 minutes and was almost finished shopping when the power went out. Customers were told to leave their shopping carts where they were and leave the store. What a waste of almost an hour. We continued north on I-5 to the next city, Anderson, where we again stopped at Wal-Mart. This store was also without power. We later found out that the power outage was fairly widespread in Northern California, and lasted over 2 hours ! We decided to defer our Wal-Martin’ for a couple of days until we are in Oregon where there is no sales tax.

We continued north on I-5 to Redding which had been our objective for the day. But it was way too early in the day to stop so we headed west on Hwy. 299 heading for the Pacific Coast and the California Redwoods forests. It was up, over, and through the Shasta Mountains, following the Trinity River through, of course, Shasta - Trinity National Forest. It was a difficult drive, but very scenic. The Shasta Mountains are part of the Cascade Range, and the drive reminded me of back home, driving along Hwy. 3 following the Similkameen River.

We stopped for the night at a rest area about an hour or so from the Pacific Coast. We had driven a lot and I was tired. ( sigh ) When we turned the fridge on, the propane refused to light, I had to partially disassemble the burner / igniter assembly and light it manually with a barbecue lighter. There seems to be two parts to the problem. Firstly, the new propane regulator seems to pump propane at a lower pressure than the old regulator did. And secondly, driving on bumpy roads seems to have dislodged desert dust, dirt, and old cobwebs that have fallen down around the burner and igniter assembly. Getting in there to clean it all out and adjust the igniter will take quite a bit of disassembly, and I didn’t have enough energy or daylight left to tackle the job today. I’ll just have to watch the fridge function light and whenever it malfunctions I’ll just have to go outside and relight it manually. Of course that will only be a problem when the fridge is on propane function, like when we’re boondocking. When we’re connected to power in a campground, the fridge will function on electricity.

Friday ; Shasta - Trinity National Forest , California to Harris Beach State Park, Oregon

Today was sunny and warm. This morning we left the rest area and continued heading west on Hwy. 299 until it ended at Interstate 5 at the city of Arcata on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. We found our way to Safeway and replenished groceries. Not very big rig friendly streets in Arcata. Not a very big rig friendly parking lot at Safeway. About fifteen miles or so north of Arcata we stopped at a roadside rest area in a redwood forest to have lunch, walk around a bit, and take some photos.

For the rest of the day we were driving either through redwood forests or along the Pacific coast. What fantastic scenery ! We stopped at the first stretch of ocean beach where it was obvious I could park the rig. Bo was sooooo excited to be back on an ocean beach. We trudged along through the soft, deep sand taking photos, and playing fetch with a piece of redwood driftwood. As we drove through the Yurok Indian Reservation we stopped at Paul’s Famous Smoked Salmon and bought a few pieces of smoked salon and candied salmon. Very expensive but very worth it. Fresh Chinook Salmon caught by Natives near the mouth of the Klamath River where it empties into the ocean, then smoked and/or candied. MMMMM ! ! ! We stopped at a California Redwoods museum and gift shop called Trees Of Mystery. They didn’t have what I was specifically looking for. As we drove we saw a fox and some Roosevelt Elk. We stopped to refill with diesel at Crescent City. Geeeeez …. We’re spending more than $100 a day on diesel when we travel !

Late in the afternoon we crossed from California into Oregon and stopped for the night at Harris Beach State Park. While I got the trailer utilities ( electricity, water, sewer ) hooked up in our site, Joanne quickly put together a stew and got it cooking. We walked through the campground and down a very steep, difficult trail to the ocean. WOW ! ! ! We were on a rugged rock beach filled with tidal pools, facing a huge offshore rock with an arch through which the incoming tide surf was crashing. Bo and I scrambled over the rocks and found anemones and star fish in little tidal pools.

We couldn’t stay and explore for very long because it was almost dark, the stew was on the stove, and we had to climb back up the difficult, steep trail. Whew ! As we walked back through the campground to the trailer to have supper, it began to rain very lightly.

For the second night in a row, I ran out of day long before I ran out of work. For the second night in a row I did not work on our income taxes. After supper I did today’s credit card accounting, downloaded the last few days’ photos out of the camera, and worked on this journal entry. Along with the income taxes the processing of the photos will have to wait for another day. Bo was very tired and went to sleep by himself quite early. Hey, Bo … you’re getting old !

Saturday ; Harris Beach State Park to Sunset Bay State Park, Oregon

Today was cloudy and warm. We slept in a bit and I needed to do some maintenance work this morning so we didn’t leave Harris Beach State Park until 11:30 AM. We continued north on Hwy. 101 enjoying the lovely scenery along the Pacific coast of Oregon. Near the town of Ophir we turned inland for a couple of miles looking for Honey Bear RV Resort. It’s owned by an elderly German couple and the restaurant they operate at their RV park was highly recommended to us by a woman at SKP Park of the Sierras. We wanted to have lunch there. When we arrived we found that the restaurant is open only for supper. HMPH … too bad. Further north on Hwy. 101 we stopped for lunch at a picnic area at Humbug Mountain. Had smoked salmon with cream cheese on a bun for lunch. MMMMM … MMMMM … MMMMM ! ! !

At the town of Bandon On The Sea we pulled off the highway into historic Old Town, parked, and wandered around the two square block shopping / tourist attraction area. I wanted to buy some fresh fish, but the two fish stores’ prices were not to my liking. I wanted to buy some fresh baking at a bakery but again the prices were not to my liking. I bought some day old pastries at half price, which made the prices almost reasonable.

Heading north, approaching Coos Bay from the south, we wanted to take a back road “rear” entrance to the state park we were headed for. The highway along the coast is hilly and winding. It takes all my concentration to drive. Joanne’s job is to navigate. She missed signage in advance of the turn off we were looking for. By the time I saw the road sign, it was too late. Nevertheless, and with traffic following close behind me, I slammed on the brakes and yanked the wheel, making a hard left turn way too fast. What a bonehead manoeuver ! ! ! I’ve been driving for four days now, three of them on somewhat difficult to drive winding mountain roads. I’m fatigued and made a wrong, split second decision. That’s how pilots and highway drivers kill themselves … and their passengers ! I know better ! I reacted with rage for the next few minutes. I was very angry at Joanne for missing the sign. I was very angry at myself for the bad decision making. The experience left me feeling sour and negative for the rest of the day.

And after all that, we didn’t travel down that road. After a few miles it became gravel. We turned around and returned to the highway. We drove north to and through the city of Coos Bay, then turned toward Sunset Bay State Park. We found the state park, got set up in a site ( even this tired I still have the skill to squeeze a 47½ foot long rig … backwards … into a 43 foot long campsite ), then walked through the campground and down the road a little way to the day use area and beach on Sunset Bay. We wandered the length of the beach in the sheltered bay then scrambled around on the rocks looking for tidal pools and the interesting things that inhabit them. Found a Dungeness Crab and some small sea anemones. Bo loves beachcombing !

DSK

April 4 to 10, 2010

April 4 to 10, 2010 ; Palm Springs to Coarsegold, California


Easter ; Today was sunny and hot, becoming very windy late in the afternoon, as it has every day that we’ve been here.

We spent the afternoon at the City of Palm Springs dog park, behind city hall, beside the airport. It’s a great dog park, with one section for small dogs, and a larger one for large dogs. Bo likes to visit and play in both sections. It’s a joy to spend time in a dog park with Bo. He’s such a sociable little fellow, visiting everybody and playing happily with all dogs, small and large.

Joanne had a brief Skype video chat with her sister. For Easter dinner we roasted a chicken, pollo asado style, marinated in achiotte. I started out barbecuing it, but couldn’t keep the barbecue lit because of the extremely strong winds. After supper we watched Amazing Race, Undercover Boss, and Celebrity Apprentice.

There was a very strong earthquake ( magnitude 7.2 ) today south of here centred in Mexicali, Mexico, that caused some local damage. We were in the dog park at the time and didn’t feel anything.

Monday ; Today was extremely windy, uncomfortably so. We considered leaving today, but the wind would have made travel difficult, perhaps even dangerous.

Late this morning we headed to downtown Palm Springs to have lunch at Sherman’s Deli. MMMMM … sweet & sour cabbage soup, hot pastrami, chopped liver … MMMMM ! ! ! After lunch we headed to a downtown charity thrift shop called Revivals. It’s operated by, patronized by, and is in support of Palm Springs considerably sized gay community. Revivals has free HIV testing every Saturday. The concept of thrift stores in Palm Springs is different than anywhere else. Racks of men’s tuxedos and women’s “designer original” gowns. All priced between $25 and $50. I was admiring a double breasted tuxedo in my size, and a gorgeous evening gown in Joanne’s size, and had to remind myself that our tuxedo and evening gown wearing days are behind us.

From downtown we headed out to the suburbs of Cathedral City. We refilled Lanoire with diesel in anticipation of travelling tomorrow. While Joanne went into Wal-Mart for a few groceries I went to PetsMart to buy some more Glucosamine treats for Sully. They only had one package, so we still don’t have enough to last the summer.

We picked up a couple of real estate guides while we were downtown, and then browsed through them later in the afternoon at home. Joanne would like to buy the actor William Holden’s home estate in Palm Springs which is for sale … for five and a half million dollars !

Late in the evening the wind finally stopped, so we went to the mineral hot springs pool for one last soak. A few feet away from stepping into the pool we were stopped and told that the pool area was closing for the night and we had to leave. HMPH !

Tuesday ; Palm Springs to Lebec, California

Today was sunny and warm in Palm Springs when we were leaving, sunny and mild when we stopped for the night at an elevation about 4100 feet. We travelled scenic back roads today, mostly to avoid Riverside, San Bernardino, and the eastern suburbs of Los Angeles. Also we wanted to travel a route that we haven’t taken before.

We left Caliente Springs RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs this morning and drove west on Dillon Road until we came to Hwy. 62. We headed north and a bit east on Hwy. 62 to the town of Yucca Valley, then turned northwest on Hwy. 247. Ever since recently reading a true crime book called Twentynine Palms, I can’t help but think of Yucca Palms and the nearby towns of Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms as the armpit of California. Hwy. 247 and Hwy. 18 followed along the north side of the San Bernardino Mountains through the Lucerne Valley and Apple Valley. At Victorville we stopped for lunch then continued west on Hwy. 18 and Hwy. 138 to Palmdale. North for a little while on Hwy. 14 then west on the continuation of Hwy. 138 through the Antelope Valley.

Joanne wanted to drive along Hwy. 138 through the Antelope Valley to see an area marked on the map as Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. WOW … miles and miles of fields coloured bright orange by California Poppies. And this seems to be peak blooming time for the poppies. Off in the distance from the highway the fields just looked brighter and brighter, so I found a dirt road leading off into the distance and decided to drive down it to explore. It seemed dry and hard enough to drive on even with the trailer in tow. And the gently sloping fields of poppies were flat enough that if necessary I could turn around, although that would result in the destruction of a lot of poppies ! We drove a few miles up into the densest parts of the poppy fields, stopping frequently to take photos. I made a couple of turns on crisscrossing dirt roads and looped around back to the highway following a dirt trail underneath some hydro lines. What a great experience that was, to see all those poppies in bloom.

When Hwy. 138 ended at Interstate 5 we turned north on I-5. Our objective for today was going to be Bakersfield. We wanted to buy a few items at Camping World, replenish at Wal-Mart, refill with diesel at Flying J, and then boondock for the night at one of those. But … it seemed unlikely that we would get to Bakersfield before Camping World closed, and we didn’t know if we could enter their lot after closing. And we found out last November that Wal-Mart in Bakersfield has prohibited overnight parking, although that prohibition is only loosely enforced. And Flying J is ten or twelve miles north of the city, so if we stayed there we would have to backtrack in the morning to shop at Camping World.

As we crested the summit of Tejon Pass on I-5 near the town of Lebec there was a rest area on one side of the highway and a Flying J on the other. Joanne thought it was sensible to stop for the night already, even though we were still 45 miles or so south of Bakersfield. We went into the rest area to check out its suitability for an overnight stay. Then we crossed the Interstate to refill with diesel at Flying J and check out their RV overnight parking area for comparison. Joanne liked the rest area better so after refilling with diesel we returned to the rest area. The days are getting longer, so there seemed to be enough daylight left for me to tackle a maintenance job that arose today. The uneven surface of the site we were in at Caliente Springs resulted in some bending damage to one of the trailer’s front jack foot pads. I removed it, straightened it, removed the adjusting leg assembly on that foot ( I never did like that adjusting leg mechanism ) and reinstalled it.

Joanne made us each a cup of tea, then we took Bo for a long walk along the arroyo alongside the rest area. Like many of California’s rest areas, this one is developed very attractively in an attractive area. When we returned to the trailer Sully felt it was his turn to go outside, so I took Sully for a brief walk, although he’s always a bit afraid of new areas, and particularly areas where there is nearby traffic. Especially big, noisy transport trucks !

Wednesday ; Lebec to SKP Park of the Sierras, Coarsegold, California

What a beautiful “June 18” day. This morning before pulling out of the rest area we took advantage of the rest area’s trailer sanitary station to dump the shower waste holding tank and top up the fresh water holding tank. In the ( almost ) four years that we’ve owned Lanoire we’ve never had a breakdown, but two years on the road with Dee-Dee taught us that we should always travel with empty waste tanks and a full freshwater tank if possible. One never knows when one will unexpectedly be boondocking in a repair facility’s parking lot !

We continued northbound on Interstate 5 until Hwy. 99 branched off I-5, then northbound on Hwy. 99 to Bakersfield. We shopped at Camping World, buying trailer wheel bearing seals so that I can repack the trailer wheel bearings this summer. I’ve never done that job myself, but I’m ready to give it a try. We shopped at Wal-Mart then continued north on Hwy. 99, stopping for lunch at a rest area near Kingsburg. At Fresno we got onto Hwy. 41 leading into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and SKP Park of the Sierras near Coarsegold.

Bo recognized Park of the Sierras as we arrived at the gate. “HEY … THIS IS THE DOG PARTY PARK ! ! !” We checked in, and got assigned a site. How ironic … it’s the site belonging to our friends Lynn and Micha ! We rushed to get set up in our site, then took Bo to the dog park for the daily 4 PM dog party. Alas, it’s now the daily 3 PM dog party. Nevertheless, Bo enjoyed some time in the dog park. When we returned to our site, I unhitched Lanoire from Harvey, and removed an empty propane tank from Harvey and put it in Lanoire to be taken for refilling.

I downloaded and processed the photos I took yesterday in the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. WOW … spectacular ! Late in the evening Joanne went outside for something and thought she smelled propane. I discovered that the propane regulator switch that switches from one propane tank ( the empty one ) to the other ( the full one ) had failed. Since switching to the full tank and removing the empty tank 5 hours earlier, propane had been leaking, filling the propane tank compartment and finding its way into the adjacent “pass through” storage compartment. YIKES ! Close call ! That’s the sort of thing that can result in RV’s exploding, and people inside being killed ! ! !

Thursday ; Another perfect “June 18” day.

This morning I removed and disassembled the trailer’s propane regulator and tank switch assembly. It will have to be replaced. I phoned a propane service company in nearby Oakhurst, and left a message for their parts and service technician to call me back. He didn’t ! I guess I’ll just have to drive over there tomorrow. I phoned Telus in BC to enquire about their Internet service availability in the Keremeos area and pricing. Our current Internet service provider at home, China Creek, will no longer “rent” their Wi-Fi transceiver equipment, and want $300 for it ! It’s about 50 bucks worth of technology ! But the only alternative is Telus … and their only service available in our area is dial-up. Oh, I don’t think so ! Guess I’ll be forking over 300 bucks to China Creek !

I spent much of the day working on rebuilding the broken back of a dinette chair. I thought this would be a good place to do that because of the very well equipped “Pole Barn” maintenance facility here. First thing I did at the Pole Barn was find a section of pipe that was the right diameter to serve as a tool to install the trailer wheel bearing seals into the hubs when I repack the trailer wheel bearings this summer. Then I used the shop’s “chop saw” to cut off a short section of the pipe. Perfect bearing seal installation tool ! Then I found a section of scrap plywood that was perfect for cutting some pieces I needed to rebuild the chair back. I used the old broken pieces to trace on the plywood, then cut them very precisely with a band saw. What a nice piece of equipment. Back at our site, I rebuilt the chair back frame, installed the cardboard backing and foam padding, and reupholstered with the cloth material. Drilled a couple of holes, and reinstalled the chair back. Nice job … well done, Daniel !

I finished that job just in time for the daily dog party at the dog park. Bo enjoyed meeting some old friends and some new ones. He romped with dogs, and we visited their owners, for an hour and a half. We put him in the truck, then went into the clubhouse to browse the bargain table and replenish books at the book exchange library.

A 2010 U.S. census taker visited us in our site today. Gee, that’s twice ! A census taker visited us at The Palms in Yuma about ten days ago. Chatting with people at the dog park revealed that some people have been visited more than once, in different locations, and some have not been visited. Except for us, they were all American citizens, and understandably their confidence in the census process for full time RV’ers is very low !

I barbecued a thick chunk of Ahi Tuna for supper. Apparently Sully loooooves tuna ! We watched Survivor. I did some investment work on the computer.

Friday ; Another perfect “June 18” day !

This morning we headed north on Hwy. 41 a few miles to the village of Coarsegold, to the Post Office where we picked up our batch of forwarded March mail. For the last three months our mail forwarding “system” has worked perfectly. Thank you, Betty ! From there we continued north a few more miles to the town of Oakhurst. At Pro-Flame Propane I refilled an empty propane tank and tried to buy a new propane regulator / tank changeover assembly. They didn’t have one. I’ll have to try Camping World in Sacramento after we leave here next week. The service technician that refilled my tank seemed a bit inept. While disconnecting his refill nozzle from my tank, he jammed the refill nozzle’s shutoff valve, spewing a great cloud of propane into the air around us, enveloping us in propane, until he finally managed to get the valve closed. Sure am glad there weren’t any “sources of ignition” nearby ! And then he broke my propane tank’s valve dust cap ! And didn’t have a replacement ! ! ! Yes, it’s still hard to get good help ! ! !

We shopped at Vons for some advertised grocery specials, then CVS Pharmacy for more advertised specials, then crossed the street for even more advertised specials at Raley’s. In the last couple of weeks we’ve been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time to get great specials on local strawberries and local artichokes. Today we bought huge, fresh artichokes for 77 cents each ! They’re about 4 bucks in Penticton during the summer ! At Raley’s I bought a new propane barbecue ( that I don’t really need yet ) and a new picnic table umbrella.

We drove home from Oakhurst, quickly put away the groceries, then headed to nearby Chuckchansi Gold Resort & Casino for their senior’s buffet lunch special. Chuckchansi is our favourite casino buffet restaurant. We ate and ate and ate … until Joanne had to **** … HA HA HA … her buffet “cue” that she’s finally had enough … HA HA HA ( SNORT ) HA HA … and I felt so stuffed it seemed difficult to breathe ! We played penny slot machines until we each lost a dollar. That didn’t take long ! We returned to SKP Park of the Sierras just in time for the daily dog party. Bo was eagerly waiting for us to get home, worried that he would miss the dog party. After Bo played with his buddies for an hour or so we put him in the truck and we went to the clubhouse for the weekly Friday afternoon Happy Hour. We didn’t stay very long because Bo was waiting in the truck … a black truck … with a black interior … on a warm day ! We chatted with a couple who had just arrived today, and had a scary incident upon arrival. As they were driving through this very hilly park to get to their assigned site their fifth wheel trailer became detached from their truck ! ! ! The trailer fell onto the truck bed rails, slid backward, smashed through the truck’s tailgate, and fell onto the road. And fortunately stayed there … instead of rolling backwards downhill ! No damage to the trailer, a bit of damage to the truck’s bed rails, and a destroyed tailgate ! That’s what happens when one misses the step of locking the fifth wheel hitch ! And neglects to perform a “pull check”. Could have been worse ! Could have come detached while travelling on the highway ! ! ! Aren’t you glad that I’m a bit obsessive / compulsive … and as a result of pilot training always use a checklist for hitching and unhitching ? ! ?

When we returned to our site I reinstalled the broken propane regulator / changeover switch assembly. As long as both propane tanks are installed, it will be safe to use until I can buy a replacement. It can only leak when one of the tanks is removed.

I checked the website of Alliance Woodcraft and… WOO-HOO ! ! ! Alliance Woodcraft is a manufacturer of very expensive cedar gazebos in Vancouver. We want one of their gazebos for our lot at Riverside RV Park Resort. Every month … or every few months to be more precise … they have an advertised special. I have been checking on a monthly basis for over two years, waiting and hoping that the model and size we want might go on sale. And now it has ! ! ! And for an exceptionally good price ! We were planning to leave here on Monday, but now I think we might stay an extra day or two so that I can phone them, get some questions answered, and buy the gazebo. And maybe go for a picnic to the Bass Lake area a bit north of here.

In the evening I reviewed the batch of March mail that we picked up in Coarsegold. It was almost all income tax information slips. I guess it’s time ( sigh ) to start working on our income tax returns.

Saturday ; Today was another lovely day, perhaps the last one for awhile. The weather is forecast to deteriorate. I had a slow, lazy start to the day, doing nothing until after lunch.

This afternoon we gave Bo a bath. We spent a longer time than usual at the dog park today, with a larger than usual number of dogs. Back at our site I polished my shoes and sandals. I did some trip planning. I sent some e-mails.

There was an ad posted on the bulletin board in the clubhouse by a park resident selling a folding clothesline contraption that fits onto the roof access ladder found on the rear of most RV’s. Joanne wanted to see it. I thought it was a commercially made used product being sold by someone who no longer needed it. I was wrong. An elderly gentleman in the park makes these contraptions, designed by him, out of plumbing pipe, in his spare time ( which I guess is all his time, given his age and lifestyle ). Very well designed and made. Very well priced. We bought one.

After supper I reconciled the batch of income tax information slips that was in the March mail.

DSK

March 28 to April 3, 2010

March 28 to April 3, 2010 ; Yuma, Arizona to Palm Springs, California


Sunday ; Today was sunny and hot … again … as expected. We spent much of the day squabbling and being miserable … again. It’s been about three weeks of that, off and on. I certainly hope we fix it soon ! ! ! ! !

This morning I lubricated the trailer slides’ weatherstripping with silicone spray lubricant, just one of many chores in anticipation of beginning the long trek home in a few days. This afternoon while Joanne was at Wal-Mart I inventoried all our medications, to see if we need to buy any medications in Mexico before we leave here. We spent the hottest part of the afternoon cooling off in the swimming pool. After the temperature cooled a bit we took Bo to the dog park for his daily play session with Lucy and Sophie, his Bichon Frisé friends.

Sunday evening is our TV night ; Amazing Race, Undercover Boss, and Celebrity Apprentice.

Monday ; WHEW … it was brutally hot today. Just about time to start heading north.

This morning while Joanne was doing laundry I phoned the Kelowna Gastroenterology Clinic to see if they had scheduled a colonoscopy for me next summer. HMPH … not yet. I returned some books to the library then met Joanne at the laundromat and while the laundry was being done we played a game of shuffleboard … real shuffleboard, not tabletop … on the very spiffy shuffleboard courts between the pool and the laundromat.

We went to Pizza Hut in The Foothills for their buffet lunch … using a discount coupon, of course. From there we went to a nearby Asian specialty store to buy some makeup that Joanne likes that is available there. As we were driving away we saw Dave and Joy, neighbours of ours from Riverside RV Park Resort back home. We followed them to see their new home in Yuma that they recently purchased, a new park model home in a 55+ mobile home park.

After I had a nap with the animals we spent the hottest part of the afternoon cooling off in the pool, then went to the dog park with Bo where he played with Lucy and Sophie. We spent the evening watching TV, cuddled on the sofa with Sully.

Tuesday ; Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico

Whew … temperature in the 90’s today. Gotta start heading north soon !

We had a very successful day of shopping in Los Algodones today, filling our “must buy before leaving Mexico” shopping list. Creminos, Nugs, Coconugs … WOO-HOO … Joanne’s beloved Nugs Crujientes ( Crunchy Nugs ), which we’ve never found on the Baja before, only in mainland Mexico, and a new version of Nugs called Nugs Recreo. HA HA HA … “Recreational Nugs”. Nougat, cajeta, y cacahuate cubierto de chocolate / nougat, goat’s milk caramel, and peanuts covered in chocolate ! MMMMM ! ! ! Bought some Canasta, little chocolate cups filled with Rompope liquor. Should have enough chocolate bars to last her … oh, at least a couple of months ! HA HA HA ! Also bought some antibiotic ear drops ( for me ), an arthritis ointment ( for me ), a bottle of fresh vanilla, and 2 small boxes of achiotte powder. We had lunch … and a free Margarita ( coupon ! ) at El Paraiso, a lovely outdoor restaurant that we have eaten at many times before. And I got a haircut and beard trim. Three bucks ! ! ! The line up to cross back over the border today was 35 minutes.

On our way home we stopped at Wienerschnitzel for a couple of milk shakes ( coupon ! ), then drove to Kofa Ko-op SKP RV Park to see where we are on the waiting list for a lot. After a bit more than four years on the list we are now no. 29 ! Should be another two, maybe three years before we get a lot there. Back home at The Palms RV Resort we headed to the swimming pool ! After cooling off for about an hour we took Bo to the dog park for his daily play session with Lucy and Sophie. Today was the last time he will see his Bichon Frisé friends.

We hit a bit of a milestone today in the “financial recovery”. It’s been a long time coming ! We don’t feel as much “in dire straits” as we did a year ago !

Wednesday ; Today was cooler due to wind. This morning while Joanne went to Fry’s in The Foothills to do some grocery shopping I began to put things away into their storage / travel locations. This afternoon Joanne did laundry. I went to the office and paid our hydro bill. It’s convenient that this resort’s practice is to settle the bill the day before departure. They “ignore” the hydro consumption for the final day. It allows for an easier and quicker departure. We have had some very irritating delays when departing some RV parks because of their complicated or inept check out procedures. I sent our final mail forwarding instructions to our neighbour. I did some online investment and financial work, and paid our MasterCard bill. I retrieved month end bank statements and investment account statements.

I took Sully for a walk. Just him and me walking down the road. Last week we had been taking him to the dog park when we took Bo. He enjoyed that at first, when it was only him and Bo in the dog park. But then one day there was Lucy and Sophie. He still thought that was okay. Then another day there was Lucy and Sophie … then two Cavachons ( “designer” dogs, created by breeding Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and Bichon Frisés ) … then a West Highland White Terrier … then a Golden Retriever … ! Well … when Sully had to share the dog park with Bo and four to six other dogs, he began to dislike it. After a few days of that he came to really dislike it ! Each afternoon when we would start getting ready with Bo to go to the dog park, Sully would get stressed out. So we stopped taking him. After a few days of not taking him … he would make himself scarce when he would realize we were getting ready to go to the dog park … he has resumed showing an interest in going outside. But obviously he doesn’t want to go to the dog park anymore. He just wants him and me to wander around a bit.

I hitched Harvey the trailer to Lanoire the truck. I printed the investment and banking statements. We took Bo for his final play session in the dog park here.

Thursday ; Yuma, Arizona to Palm Springs, California

And so begins the long journey from Yuma, Arizona to Keremeos, British Columbia. The weather was supposed to be poor today ; cold, wind, and rain. It wasn’t cold. There was no rain. It was a bit windy this morning in Yuma. It wasn’t windy while we travelled. It was quite windy late in the afternoon in Palm Springs.

We prepared for departure this morning and left The Palms RV Resort. We filled up with diesel and put air in the trailer tires at Barney’s, then headed west on Interstate 8, crossing the Colorado River into California. We got off the Interstate at Holtville to go into town to buy dos burritos con machaca y frijoles y arroz ( two burritos filled with shredded beef, refried beans, and rice ) at Holtville Taco Shop and ocho pan dulce ( eight Mexican pastries ) at Donut Avenue. From Holtville we decided to stay on “back roads” instead of going back to the Interstate. We headed north on Hwy. 115 then west on Hwy. 78 to Brawley, then northwest on Hwy. 86 to Interstate 8 near Palm Springs. On Hwy. 86, just after enduring the mile long line up to pass through the Customs & Border Patrol Inspection Station [ looking for Mexican “illegals” … ( rolling eyes ) … sure glad that‘s not my tax dollars at work ] we pulled off the road and into the desert to have our burritos for lunch. MMMMM … Holtville Taco Shop makes the best burritos ! ! ! And great pico de gallo on the side … made my eyes water and my nose run ! Even after I pulled out all the jalapeño peppers. HA HA HA !

Where Palm Springs is on the south side of I-8 we turned onto the north side of the Interstate to Desert Hot Springs. We arrived, checked in, and got set up in a site at Caliente Springs RV Resort. We were here four months ago. Very nice, very upscale, very expensive resort. Bo recognized the resort’s dog park as we drove in. “HEY … I”VE BEEN HERE BEFORE !” Late in the afternoon we took him over to the dog park … so he could urinate in it about three thousand times ! ! ! ! !

After supper we watched Survivor then “took the waters”, which is what people have been coming to Palm Springs for, for decades. Like all the resorts in Desert Hot Springs, Caliente Springs has a pool filled fresh daily with hot water from the mineral hot springs beneath the surface here on the San Andreas Fault Line.

Good Friday ; After a slow morning and an early lunch we headed into Desert Hot Springs to see if any of the stores were open. They were. Apparently Good Friday is not a holiday in the U.S.. First stop was Glossy, a woman’s wear store in Desert Hot Springs that usually has an excellent selection of mastectomy swim suits, and very reasonable prices. Joanne bought one swim suit there in December, and two more today. Now that I think about it, I think Glossy is probably the only place where she has bought swim suits in the last few years. From there we went to Angel View, a local charity thrift shop. I must confess, the clothing and prices at Palm Springs / Desert Hot Springs charity thrift shops are … well, incredible. Palm Springs seems to be the charity fund raising capital of the world. And I guess businesses donate a lot to local charities. The thrift stores here seem to always have a considerable amount of brand new, never worn clothing. Must be donated by businesses. Today I found a brand new pair of expensive Tommy Hilfiger slacks in my size. Regular price in this thrift shop for men’s slacks is $5. But today was a half price “clearance” day. So my brand new, never worn Tommy Hilfiger slacks cost $2.50 ! I’m fairly certain that the retail price must be upwards of $60. From Angel View we went to Stater Bros. for some groceries. Then Vons for groceries.

On the way home, driving down Dillon Road, I stopped to check on a cat lying in the middle of the road. ( sigh ) It had just been killed. A very lovely, Maine Coon tabby wearing a collar. I moved it off the road. It’s bad enough to discover one’s cat dead, killed by traffic, but at least whomever’s cat is was won’t discover a mangled piece of road kill that’s been repeatedly run over.

Back home at Caliente Springs I started to do a small repair job on a broken dinette chair. HMPH … what I thought was going to be a small repair turned out to be a very large repair. I’m going to have to rebuild the entire back of the chair. I’ll do that at SKP Park of the Sierras where we’re headed next. They have an excellent maintenance building equipped with every power tool imaginable. Joanne has been of the opinion for a few years now that it’s time to discard and replace our dinette table and chairs, but I’m stubbornly refusing, and I keep repairing the chairs as required.

Late in the afternoon we took Bo to the dog park. It began to be quite windy. I suppose that’s fairly common late in the day in this area. And explains why there is so much wind farming in this area. After supper I worked on updating my investment files. Late in the evening we went to soak in the mineral hot springs pool. Doing some exercises in the mineral hot springs pool last night eliminated a lingering mild backache I had for a couple of weeks.

Saturday ; The problem with going to Palm Springs is … we spend too much money ! The shopping opportunities are just too good !

This morning we headed out to buy cheap cigarettes and exotic foods. First stop was 7 Leaf Trading Post, a smoke shop that sells cheap Native made cigarettes. I think they’re tax exempt ? While I shopped for cigarettes ( including trying out some free samples, smoked inside the store ) Joanne went to the Goodwill Store next door. When I joined her in Goodwill she wasn’t finished browsing yet so I went to browse men’s wear. Bought two new pairs of shorts for myself. One pair for $4.49 and one pair for $2.25. Every item in Goodwill has a random coloured tag. Each day one colour is half price. Today the half price colour was red. So the shorts that I bought that were red tagged were half price. Okay by me ! Joanne found and bought a mastectomy swim suit tankini top … and it fit … for two bucks ! ! !

From there we headed over to Trader Joe’s, a California based chain of specialty / exotic / gourmet foods. I looooove shopping at Trader Joe’s. I indulged myself by buying things like wild mushrooms and black truffles with parmesan cheese in phyllo pastry. MMMMM ! But I spent a lot of money there ! After Trader Joe’s it was our intention to go to downtown Palm Springs to have lunch at Sherman’s Deli, a Jewish deli that we like a lot. But … we had bought so much frozen and perishable foods at Trader Joe’s that we decided to head straight home to get the foods into the fridge and freezer.

After a very late lunch at home, Joanne went to Vons in Desert Hot Springs while I read and napped with the animals. Yesterday when we were at Von’s we bought two pounds of fresh strawberries. They were on sale for 79 cents a pound ( regular price $3.99 ) ! ! ! Joanne decided she wanted to buy two more pounds today and make fresh strawberry pie for Easter tomorrow. Okay by me !

Late in the afternoon we took Bo to the dog park for a play session. But the wind was so strong that we drove to the dog park from our campsite. MMMMM … I’m typing this as I drink some Arnold Palmer Tee, a mixture of iced tea and lemonade that I can find only in Palm Springs. I had difficulty barbecuing supper because of the strong winds, but determination and persistence prevailed ! After supper I did my monthly computer maintenance chores, then we went to “take the waters”, a nightly ritual while we’re here. You know, I don’t believe in “hocus pocus” medicine, but there certainly seems to be something therapeutic about these mineral hot springs. My backache is gone. My sore, stiff knees, which usually make grinding, crunching sounds, feel like they’ve been lubricated with WD-40 ! I smoked the menthol cigarillo that was given to me to try by 7 Leaf Trading Post. I didn’t like it !

DSK