July 24 to 30, 2011

Sunday ; Well, today was sunny and hot. Finally ! The hot weather is at least a month overdue !

Today was a relatively easy day of delivering trailers in Osoyoos and Penticton. Except ... we lost Bo's tie-out in a campground in Penticton. On Wednesday when we go to Penticton we'll return to South Beach Gardens Campground and hopefully his tie-out will be there at site G-18.

In the evening we went to Princeton for River Road Theatre's second of three productions this summer ; Barefoot In The Park by Neil Simon. Play was good. On the way to Princeton we stopped at Bromley Rock Provincial Park to have a picnic dinner. Picnic was great. We like Bromley Rock !

Monday ; It rained for much of today, a rather odd occurrence for this area at this time of the year. Today Joanne received an unsolicited job offer from the owner of the two fruit stands where she worked for the past two summers. She turned down the offer. I'm disappointed, considering what a colossal failure Similkameen Day Tours seems destined to be.

Tuesday ; One of the main reasons why we selected lot 89 at Riverside RV Park Resort was because of the beautiful, tall Douglas Fir tree. Over the last two years, due to Tussock Moth damage, it slowly died. Today we had it removed < huge sigh >. I just want to cry !

Around supper time I went for my daily bicycle ride. On the road a few sites down from us I found ... a baby rattlesnake sunning itself on the warm asphalt ! I went home, got gloves, caught the snake, took a couple of pictures of it, showed it to the neighbour's three year old granddaughter, then took it across the highway and released it. The danger with baby rattlesnakes is that they haven't developed the maturity to know how to moderate the volume of venom they release when they strike. So ... when a baby rattlesnake bites, it releases all of its venom ! Very dangerous !

Wednesday ; Another long, hard day of running errands in Penticton. And Joanne went to Penticton Hospital for a mammogram ( half a mammogram ? ), the last for this year of her many annual cancer screening procedures. We also went to South Beach Gardens Campground and retrieved Bo's tie-out which we had left in site G-18 on Sunday.

Friday ; Today we dug a very small Saskatoon bush ... more of a Saskatoon twig, actually ... out of the forest and transplanted it in the back of our yard against the rock wall. Wish us luck !

Saturday ; Today was a hot day, temperature reaching into the 90's. Our trailer delivery work covered a lot of miles today ; Keremeos to Penticton to Osoyoos to Okanagan Falls to Penticton to Summerland to Penticton to Keremeos ! And our final delivery of the day, at Wright's Beach in Penticton, was the most difficult positioning of a trailer we've had in two summers of doing this job. But ... we make a good team ! We attracted quite an audience, most convinced that I wouldn't be able to get the trailer into the site. HA ... take that !

DSK

July 17 to 23, 2011

Sunday ; Went to the Hedley Farmers' Market today. Even allowing for the fact that it was Hedley ... that was a pretty poor excuse for a Farmers' Market !

Saturday ; Well, today was a nicer day of delivering trailers. Warm weather, relatively easy deliveries, no sewage mishaps, no bitchy customers.

After we returned home late in the afternoon, I checked e-mail and ... HUH ? ? ? There was an e-mail from a cousin of mine ... whom I had never met ! He was passing through Keremeos and wanted to visit. Around 6 PM. And I was reading that e-mail at ... 5:40 PM ! ! !

Fifteen minutes later ... my cousin Geoff ... a few months older than me ... dropped by and we visited for a couple of hours.

DSK

July 10 to 16, 2011

Sunday ; Had to break into a neighbour's home this morning. They are away for a few days and there was an alarm of some sort howling inside since yesterday evening. WOW ... "B & E" is amazingly easy ! HA HA HA ! The propane alarm had malfunctioned as a result of a very brief power outage.

Packed a picnic lunch and headed for Osoyoos. Dropped off business cards and had a brief meeting with the Supervisor of Guest Services at Watermark Beach Resort. Will be taking some of her staff on a "familiarization tour". Drove back towards Keremeos looking for road near Spotted Lake up to top of Mount Kobau. Found it, drove it ! Research for Similkameen Day Tours. Also found Testalinden Lake up there. Drove back down to highway and to Osoyoos for picnic lunch in parking lot of Visitor Information Centre. Drove from Osoyoos to Oliver. Saw sign advertising freshly caught, wild Sockeye Salmon for sale. Very hard / impossible to get wild Sockeye Salmon ! Think maybe only Indians can catch them wild. Found pickup truck with three Indians and an ice and water filled tank in the back containing ...
< big eyes > ... salmon ! Caught on the "rez" near Port Alberni on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Nice salmon ! ! ! Bought a big one. Twenty bucks !

Drove from Oliver to Cawston over Fairview Mountain. Research for Similkameen Day Tours. Nice route, but not a "destination". Can't build a "day trip" around it. Might be good alternate / wilderness route from Osoyoos / Oliver to Cawston. Saw two deer ... and a large rattlesnake. HMMMM ... maybe a good "wildlife viewing" day trip option ! ?

Filleted the salmon at home, outside on the picnic table. WOW ! ! ! Nice fish ! Produced about four pounds of fillets. Isn't canned Sockeye Salmon about two bucks for a three ounce can ? !

Monday ; MMMMM ... barbecued Sockeye Salmon for supper !

Tuesday ; HA HA HA HA HA ... Bo is sooooo adept at picking Saskatoon berries ! I pull the truck up alongside the big Saskatoon bush / tree at our park's front gate, he and I climb into the bed of the truck, he stands on the bed rail and ... CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP ... while I pick berries into an ice cream pail. What a funny little dog !

Wednesday ; Our Similkameen Day Tours rack cards arrived yesterday afternoon so today we went out to deliver them to five locations. First was the Keremeos Visitor Information Centre, followed by the Osoyoos Visitor Information Centre, Watermark Beach Resort, NK'MIP Campground, and finally, Spirit Ridge Resort, all in Osoyoos. I bought an RV part I needed at the RV dealer in Osoyoos. There was a traveller in the RV dealership looking for some simple "emergency" service work to be done on his trailer, but the dealership's service department was closed. I offered to do the work he wanted done, for a charge of five bucks. "Hey, there's no free lunch !" He balked at that, but reluctantly agreed. I did the work, and did it well. He paid me ten bucks ! We had a picnic lunch in "Bo's picnic park" on the waterfront of Osoyoos Lake. Bo gets excited every time we pass that park, expecting we will stop there for a picnic lunch. And he's disappointed when we pass that park and don't stop for a picnic lunch. We have our lunch there on most of our trailer delivery work days.

After lunch I spent the ten bucks on ice cream treats at Dairy Queen. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing day trip research, driving up Kruger Mountain and finding Blue Lake and Kilpoola Lake.

Saturday ; Well, today was a lot easier day of delivering trailers than last Saturday was, even though we delivered the same number of trailers and earned the same amount of money today as last Saturday. We drove a lot less miles today. And I didn't even get sprayed with sewage today ... as I did last Saturday ! After finishing our day with a delivery to Gallagher Lake, we went to do some shopping in Oliver at Shoppers Drug Mart and the brand new Canadian Tire. But both stores were out of stock of some of the advertised specials we were shopping for, so we'll have to go to Penticton on Monday.

DSK

July 3 to 9, 2011

Sunday ; Bad cold !

Monday ; Bad cold ! Gave Bo a haircut. Gave Bo a bath !

Tuesday ; Not as bad cold !

Wednesday ; Health improving slowly. Joanne spent the day in Penticton running errands. I stayed home and worked on Similkameen Day Tours marketing. And enjoying the lovely weather, spending part of the afternoon in the gazebo with Sully and Bo, reading and recuperating.

Thursday ; Big hailstorm today ! ! !

Saturday ; Today was a looooong, sour day of delivering rental trailers. Our first pick up was a travel trailer at Gallagher Lake. We had delivered it there last Saturday. There was a plugged sewer line in the campground, and when I was emptying and disconnecting the trailer's sewage hose, there was an ... "incident" ! ! ! Raw sewage all over the ground ... all over my shoes, my knees, my gloves. I was not very pleased ! ! ! And it caused us quite a delay. We took that trailer to the Osoyoos storage yard to be cleaned and prepared to be sent back out in the afternoon. Our next trailer was supposed to be waiting for us in the Osoyoos yard. BUT ... there was some confusion or misunderstanding or something ... < fume > ... and it was actually sitting in the Summerland yard. Driving empty from the Osoyoos yard to the Summerland yard to pick up the trailer, and then driving it back to Osoyoos to deliver it to NK'MIP Campground added three hours to our work day. Again, I was not very pleased. Our work day started at 8:30 AM and ended at 7:15 PM ! Our last delivery of the day was "late". Fortunately the customer was patient and forgiving. And ... while connecting that last trailer's electrical cord to the utility pedestal ... I got stung by a wasp / hornet. There was a wasp / hornet nest underneath the lid of the utility pedestal. Not a great day ! ! !

DSK

June 26 to July 2, 2011

Sunday ; This morning we attended Riverside RV Park Resort's potluck breakfast. I would like to make disparaging remarks about one of the contributions to the potluck, but ... I really should restrain myself, shouldn't I ? Afterwards we performed ear candling on each other, a holistic health care practice of dubious merit that we're likely not going to repeat.

This evening we drove to Princeton for a performance of live theatre. We're "theatre snobs", having regularly attended live theatre at The National Arts Centre in Ottawa, the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, and the Shaw Festival in Niagara On The Lake, so I didn't have particularly high hopes for live theatre in Princeton. But ... it was pretty good, all things considered. Princeton's River Road Theatre is a summer stock theatre operated by five young, recent graduates of theatre school. The leader of the group of five is a native of Princeton. And I think starting and running a live theatre operation in a small town in the BC Interior takes a lot of courage and ambition. Bravo ! Tonight's performance ... in front of an audience of twenty people ... was a musical ; "I love you, you're perfect, now change".

Tuesday ; Happy 47th Birthday to Joanne's sister Lorraine and Happy 60th Birthday to our neighbour and friend Janet

We spent the late afternoon and evening at Janet's birthday party.

Friday ; Happy Canada Day

Usually we participate in Canada Day celebrations somewhere but today we just stayed home and worked on home and yard chores. Joanne continued working on cleaning and waxing the trailer. I washed the truck. Late in the evening I realized I had a cold coming on ... strong and hard !

Saturday ; Today was a long and difficult day. Or so it seemed, thanks to the bad cold I have. We delivered and set up two rental trailers today, one from the Summerland storage yard to a campground in Penticton, and the other from the Summerland storage yard to a campground at Gallagher Lake. Then we drove to Osoyoos to deliver Similkameen Day Tours business cards to the NK'MIP campground office. And while at NK'MIP we decided to drop into the nearby Spirit Ridge resort to check out if that would be a good place to have our rack cards placed. We think it would be. We're expecting our rack cards to arrive by mail in about two weeks.

We bought some groceries in Osoyoos and refilled a propane tank in Keremeos on the way home. WHEW ... lots of mileage today !

DSK

June 19 to 25, 2011

Sunday ; Boundary Creek Provincial Park to Keremeos

And so ends our two week camping trip exploration of the Kootenay region of the BC Interior. And so begins Year 8 of our full time RV life.

This morning we departed Boundary Creek Provincial Park and continued heading west on Hwy. 3. We stopped to have lunch in the parking lot of the BC Tourist Information Centre in Osoyoos. While there I went inside and obtained information on what needs to be done to get our business information cards racked in there.

WOW ... the Similkameen River is really high ! We stopped at Sanderson Farms in Keremeos to buy some fresh produce. And finally, we arrived home at Riverside RV Park Resort. The last two weeks were a great exploration adventure. Well, except for the continuing crappy weather.

Tuesday ; Well, today was the summer solstice. The longest daylight of the year. First day of summer. The sunny and warm weather has finally arrived ! Time for summer chores to begin in earnest.

Today I washed the truck and trailer. WHEW ! Joanne defrosted the fridge. The trailer's new fridge needs a lot less defrosting than the old fridge did. She began the difficult, tedious task of dewaxing / deoxidizing / rewaxing the trailer.

Riverside RV Park Resort had a summer solstice party tonight in the orchard on the waterfront. What lovely grounds we have. There is a large outdoor "fireplace" beside the river and we had a "potluck weenie roast". The party lasted until 11 PM. It was daylight until after 10 PM and just as the party was breaking up around 11 PM the Northern Lights / Aurora Borealis became visible.

Saturday ; A few days ago Joanne discovered a hole in the flower bed beside our storage shed. The hole obviously led to underneath the shed. We thought it might be a pack rat hole. I set the pack rat trap. This morning the trap contained ... a baby pack rat. Aw, shit ... must be a nest of them under our shed.

This morning we headed to Oliver to attend a memorial service for a friend of ours from the Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33. Diane died recently after a heart transplant. We extend our condolences to Murray. After the service we went to Oliver's Centennial Campground to visit with the half dozen or so Chapter 33 members who were camped there.

We returned home late in the afternoon. We were only home briefly before leaving again, this time in the opposite direction, to Hedley. We attended a dinner concert at The Hitching Post Restaurant in Hedley. This was definitely the last time we go to The Hitching Post. In the four years that we've lived here they have gone from excellent food and excellent service to atrocious service ( I mean really bad ) and food that is mostly quite mediocre. After waiting for fifty minutes for our order to be taken, we finally had to flag down a waitress and ask her to take our dinner order. The previously excellent Russian borscht has deteriorated into tasting ( and looking ) like dishwater. Joanne's pork chop was tasteless. And the vegetables might as well have been made out of rubber ! On a more positive note, the performance by the blues guitarist / singer from Nanaimo on Vancouver Island was good. Too bad it was slightly marred by the drunk and very obnoxious grey haired biker bimbo. Too bad her balding old biker bozo boyfriend couldn't shut her up !

DSK

June 12 to 18, 2011

Sunday ; Box Lake to Nakusp to Kaslo


Bo and I were both feeling ill today. This morning we departed the remote wilderness campground at Box Lake, drove the dirt trail back to the highway, then north on Hwy. 6 to the small town of Nakusp, a lovely little village on Upper Arrow Lake. It seemed similar in size and feel to Keremeos. At Nakusp we refilled a propane tank, got some money from an ATM, refilled a water jug, and bought some groceries We walked along the waterfront walkway on Upper Arrow Lake. We drove around the municipal campground, then had lunch in a lovely municipal park where the annual Nakusp music festival is held each July.

We left Nakusp and drove north about 15 km. to Nakusp Hot Springs. What a lovely drive ! We didn't enter the hot springs, preferring to wait until tomorrow at Ainsworth Hot Springs. We drove back to Nakusp, then south on Hwy. 6 to New Denver, then east on Hwy. 31A to Kaslo. On the way we entered a couple of provincial parks to check out their campgrounds.

At Kaslo we checked into Mirror Lake Campground. We spent what little there was left of the afternoon wandering around the campground and lakeshore. For supper we had home made borscht and home made flax seed and sunflower seed bread, both soup and bread purchased at the New Denver farmer's market a few days ago.

Monday ; Kaslo

Another day of clouds and intermittent rain ! ! ! I'm still sick. Bo isn't. Our plan for today was to spend the morning exploring Kaslo and in the afternoon head to Ainsworth Hot Springs. We didn't make it to the hot springs. Maybe tomorrow !

This morning, as planned, we headed into Kaslo for some downtown exploring. How fortuitous ... a parking spot right in front of the bakery. HA HA HA ! Fourteen bucks later ... ! We wandered around Kaslo's downtown. We browsed in The Live Art store, an artist's co-op. I bought a pine scented beeswax candle. I love beeswax candles ! We wandered over to the Langham Hotel. It now houses a collection of artists' studios and galleries, and the Japanese Canadian Museum. Yes, yes ... the Langham Hotel was another Japanese Canadian internment centre during World War II. It housed Canada's renowned scientist Dr. David Suzuki and his family when he was a little boy. We peeked in the open door of the studio of artist Robin Wiltse who does "felting", a form of fibre art. She invited us in and gave us an explanation and demonstration of felting art. Very interesting ! We strolled the length of Front Street and decided to have lunch at BlueBelle Bistro. Excellent food, ruined by bad service. I was so pissed off ! Soup and entrée arrived at the same time, after a very long wait. Soup cold ! Entrée hot. Sent soup back to be heated. By the time it returned, and I ate it, entrée was cold ! ! ! Tip zero ! ! ! ! ! Hope she got the message !

After lunch we returned to Mirror Lake Campground briefly. Sick Dan ! Decided to postpone trip to Ainsworth Hot Springs. Took Bo and headed for Fletcher Falls instead. Nearby, tough downhill hike to waterfalls on Fletcher Creek just before it spills into Kootenay Lake. Very pretty. Bo loooooves hiking ! Drove back to Kaslo and explored town and surrounding area by truck. Another lovely, little BC Interior town about the size of Keremeos. Went for a very short hike beside the Kaslo River but it was getting late in the afternoon and I wasn't feeling healthy enough to hike any more.

Tuesday ; Kaslo and Ainsworth Hot Springs

This morning we went into the village of Kaslo to run some errands. Bought some groceries ... and some fresh baking, of course ... and checked voicemail. I noticed yesterday that Landmark Bakery had free Wi-Fi so today I used it to check our Skype home phone number voicemail. Although that bakery is not where we bought baking today. Today we walked down to Kaslo Sourdough Bakery and bought sourdough rye bread and sourdough sandwich buns called wagels.

After lunch in the trailer at Mirror Lake Campground, we headed south on Hwy. 31 to Ainsworth Hot Springs, about half an hour away. We spent the afternoon soaking in the hot mineral water ... "taking the waters", as it's called in Palm Springs. We alternated between the hot "swimming pool" and the horseshoe shaped cave that is the source of the hot springs. Inside the cave the water is hotter than in the pool, and it drips down from the stalactite ceiling, creating a steamy sauna like atmosphere. Walking through waist deep hot water in a dark, steamy cave is a pretty unique experience !
I remain convinced that soaking in hot mineral springs provides long lasting relief from arthritis pain.

In the evening, back at Mirror Lake Campground, I built a campfire and we had a "weenie roast" for supper.

Wednesday ; Kaslo to Gray Creek

Another mostly cloudy day with intermittent light rain. Every day of our camping trip ... 10 days so far ... has been the same. This morning we prepared for departure from Mirror Lake Campground and headed south on Hwy. 31 past Ainsworth Hot Springs to Balfour where we caught the ferry across Lake Kootenay. The 45 minute ferry crossing from Balfour to Kootenay Bay is the longest free ferry ride in the world ( so they claim ). From Kootenay Bay we continued south on Hwy. 3A through Crawford Bay to Grey Creek where we stopped at Cedar Grove Campground, a Passport America affiliated campground. What a lovely little campground in a beautiful wilderness setting. With friendly owners. And a cute little dog. And a very reasonable rate. With good amenities. Full hookups. Free Wi-Fi.

We got situated in our site then had a late lunch. After lunch I finished getting set up in our site, raised the antenna, turned on the TV and ... WOO-HOO ! One channel ... and it's CBC. WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO, WOO-HOO ! I get to watch the seventh and deciding game of the Stanley Cup finals tonight. I'm only interested in watching one hockey game per year, and this is it !

We gave Bo an overdue bath. Two weeks of Canadian wilderness camping, when he hasn't had a summer haircut yet ... what a stinky, filthy, little cur. With sticky tree things embedded in his fur. I downloaded and processed some photos then went to sit by the campground office to use Wi-Fi for a little while before watching the hockey game. The Wi-Fi signal doesn't reach the campsite we're in.

I watched the hockey game. Congratulations to the Boston Bruins on winning the Stanley Cup. From the perspective of one who has watched only one hockey game this year, it appears as if the better team won.

After the game I went back to the deck outside the office to continue to use Wi-Fi to work online until it got dark. When I returned to the trailer just before 10 PM I was appalled to see on the news that downtown Vancouver had turned into a riot zone following the hockey game.

Thursday ; Gray Creek, Crawford Bay, Lockhart Beach, and Boswell

This morning we drove a few miles north on Hwy. 3A to the community of Crawford Bay. It's a little village of artists and artisans. There's a lot of those in BC. A lot of Canadians ... like us ... who don't want to get a real job, head for BC. HA HA HA HA HA ! We browsed through about a half a dozen artisan shops including a blacksmith, a fabric hand weaver, a glass blower, and most interesting, a hand crafted broom maker. I bought a teensy little broom for cleaning computer keyboards, and another little broom for cleaning mushrooms. The brooms are quite expensive, although I realize that all hand crafted items seem expensive. When the cost of specialized and usually "natural" materials, and artisans' time and effort and skills are taken into account I realize that the prices are justified however. I enjoyed watching ... and receiving an explanation of ... hand weaving on a traditional wooden handloom.

We stopped at a local nursery and produce stand to buy some fresh produce. Gee ... living in the "Fruit Stand Capital Of Canada" we're a little spoiled when it comes to fresh fruits and vegetables. Back at the community of Gray Creek we stopped at the old fashioned General Store to look around. And ... I found something I've been looking for. A leather sheath for my axe head.

After lunch in the trailer I napped briefly with Sully then we set off on Hwy. 3A to the south for more exploring. We drove around the campground at Lockhart Beach Provincial Park, then parked the truck and walked down to the beach on Kootenay Lake. There was a lot of driftwood washed up on the beach. We found a few pieces of interesting driftwood that we picked up to take home and use for yard landscaping. Just a day after getting bathed, Bo waded into Kootenay Lake. Seems he and I are both in the dog house for that ! HA HA HA ! We continued south on Hwy. 3A until we reached the community of Boswell before turning around and heading back to Cedar Grove Campground at Gray Creek.

Friday ; Gray Creek to Nelson

This morning we prepared for departure and left Cedar Grove Campground at Gray Creek and headed north on Hwy. 3A back to Kootenay Bay where we caught the ferry across Kootenay Lake to Balfour. Once off the ferry we headed south on Hwy. 3A to Nelson where we found our way to Nelson City Campground. We set up in our site, had lunch, unhitched, and headed downtown.

First stop was ... a French Canadian bakery. Well ... what did you expect ? HA HA HA ! Next was Kootenay Co-op, an eclectic "foodie" store filled with anything and everything organic / natural and mostly local. I felt indulgent and spent a lot. Shitake mushrooms, fiddleheads, exotic teas, locally made artisan cheeses, another beeswax candle ... ! We wandered around the downtown area browsing for a couple of hours. We drove around for awhile exploring. I stopped at an auto supply store and bought a part I needed to do a minor repair on the truck. I refilled Lanoire with diesel. We shopped at
Wal-Mart. While Joanne started the shopping at Wal-Mart, I did the truck repair in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The full time RVer's version of
multi-tasking. HA HA HA !

Saturday ; Nelson to Boundary Creek Provincial Park

7 years of full time RV'ing

WOW ... we are now 7 years into our 2 year plan. HA HA HA HA HA ! And while most people don’t “get it” ... what a privileged lifestyle it’s been !

This morning we departed the Nelson City Campground and headed southwest on Hwy. 3A to Castlegar, then west on Hwy. 3 to Grand Forks. We stopped at Cecil's Perogies in Grand Forks ( that doesn't surprise you, does it ? HA HA HA ! ) to buy some frozen home made perogies. AND ... some wonderful dill cream sauce to go with them after the owner gave us a sample perogy with her secret recipe dill cream sauce poured over it. MMMMM ... I want to try to replicate that sauce. And I think I've got a pretty good idea how to do that, even though the woman wouldn't give me her secret recipe. Like ... DUH ... ya think fresh dill might be involved ? And cream ?

We continued west on Hwy. 3 to Boundary Creek Provincial Park. After getting set up in a site I napped with Sully. We made a special "anniversary" gourmet dinner. Dandelion greens salad, baked salmon, new small potatoes, fiddleheads, Shitake mushrooms, all covered in Cecil's Perogies dill cream sauce. MMMMM ! ! ! After supper we spent the evening sitting outside by a campfire.

There certainly is a population explosion of deer in the BC Interior this year !

DSK