July 25, 2009
Well, Teddy is still alive. And that's nothing short of a miracle, given his condition yesterday. He was as close to death as a creature can be, and not be dead ! Blood and mucous coming out of his nostrils, unable to breathe. Gurgling sounds as he struggles to breathe, drowning in the attempt. Barely conscious.
We decided that instead of administering 200 ml. of saline solution subcutaneously every second day as instructed by the vet, we would administer 100 ml. daily. So yesterday and today we poked a butterfly catheter needle into the scruff of his neck and injected two huge syringes of saline solution into him. And I think that's been a big help in keeping him alive. Today his condition wasn't quite as critical as yesterday, so we're hopeful that the worse is over, and he will survive. Hang in there Teddy ... the antibiotics have begun to work, and you're going to get better within a week.
This afternoon was an "extraordinary meeting" of the Riverside RV Park Society, our "homeowner's association", to deal with a voting issue which has been plaguing us for 2 years already. And because most lot owners were here today for the meeting, the Society's Board of Directors scheduled a "Volunteers' Appreciation Barbecue" for tonight. The Board of Directors was going to put on a barbecue to express appreciation for the lot owners who have, in one way or another, volunteered their time and services to the benefit of the park.
A week or two ago, I received a request by e-mail, from a member of the Board, asking if I would "bring my barbecue and help cook". I found that request rather odd, given that I'm not a member of the Board, but I considered it to be bad form to say "no" when requested to do something, so I said "well ... okay". Well, here I sit, very late at night, stunned and appalled at what took place at this barbecue.
There was no organization ... no "leadership" ... no sense of "who's on first". Pretty much a complete abdication of responsibility by almost all the members of our Board !
I showed up with my barbecue, and "reported for duty" to the member of the Board who had made the request to me. She led me to the fridge in the Lodge where there were two large boxes of chicken legs and thighs to be barbecued. And another member of the Board who apparently had also been "recruited" to cook. I surmised that he was "in charge" and I was going to be "helping" him. It soon became obvious that he thought exactly the opposite. So ... after he and I danced around the "who's on first" issue for a few minutes ... being the impatient control freak that I am ... I took charge. And barbecued chicken for 85 people ! ! !
Another resident jumped in to help out, and certainly pulled his fair share of the workload. He and I manned three barbecues, to cook chicken for 85 people. The member of the Board whom I had initially assumed was "in charge" helped quite a bit, as I barked commands at him. Of the remaining members of the Board, one was absent, despite having attended the special meeting a couple of hours earlier. One disgustingly played "hospodar"! Ask a Ukrainian what that means ! The rest of them mingled and socialized, all apparently believing that "it was somebody else's responsibility".
That's called "abdication", people ! And I say to our Board ... tonight's "Volunteers' Appreciation Barbecue" was an appalling example of lack of organization, lack of planning, and lack of responsibility ! And ... just for balance ... I can't say I'm all that impressed with the 80% of the 85 people who have never lifted a finger to "volunteer" for anything in the park, but have no qualms about attending a "Volunteers' Appreciation" event with free food !
When I was finished cooking the chicken for 85 people, I sat down by myself to eat a couple of pieces of chicken and some potato salad, then picked up my barbecue and went home to take care of Teddy. The word that Joanne thought was apt to describe what happened to me tonight was "railroaded".
DSK
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
July 21 & 23, 2009
July 21, 2009
Yesterday morning we both went to see a doctor at the Keremeos Clinic. Our doctor is on vacation, so we saw the locum doctor that is filling in for him. Joanne reviewed with the doctor all except one of the test results of the multitude of annual cancer screening tests that she gets each summer. All is fine, with one test result still to be received.
I had the stitches removed from my thumb. That hurt ! ! ! When the stitches were removed, my thumb swelled up again, and was sore and tender for the rest of the day. And the stitches, or rather the remaining stitch wounds / stitch marks, look like the stitching was done by, well ... a retarded eight year old. HA HA HA ! I guess the bleeding at the time was so profuse that Dr. Partridge was essentially stitching blindly. Either that, or it's time for him to get new bifocals ! Come to think of it ... I don't think he wears glasses. Today ( the next day ) the swelling has subsided somewhat, and my thumb doesn't look quite so gruesome. But ... I basically sliced the knuckle off from the nail bed to the base of the knuckle, so the wound, along with the stitch marks, leaves the back of my thumb looking somewhat like something from a low budget horror film. I can bend the thumb a little, so obviously the extensor tendon wasn't cut all the way through, and hopefully, with more healing, the thumb eventually will bend more or less normally.
And ... ( big sigh ) ... overnight, Teddy seems to have had a stroke. His left eye lid is drooping. And the pupil in his left eye is completely dilated ... and unresponsive. It seems as if he has gone completely blind in the left eye. Poor Baby Teddy Cat ! His vision in both eyes was already diminished significantly due to cataracts. This morning he seemed to have slight mobility impairment on one side, but by supper time that had disappeared. This evening he was ... disoriented.
July 23, 2009
Well, Teddy lives to eat toasted bagel crumbs another day.
This morning we took Teddy to the veterinarian in Penticton. We were worried that we might be returning home without him. Our primary concern was what we suspected was a bacterial nasal infection. A couple of weeks ago he developed a foul odour coming out of his nose. A week ago he started to choke and gag from post nasal drip. Yesterday a discharge started coming out of one nostril. It looked similar to the discharge in his ear when he had a bacterial infection in his ear a few months ago. Our diagnosis was correct. A week of antibiotics and he should be fine. In the meantime, his breathing gurgles, and he sounds like he's drowning.
And our diagnosis on the eye problem was also correct. He's now blind in one eye. It was either caused by a stroke or head trauma. Well ... DUH ... he didn't hurt his head, and he's over 17 years old, so ... you do the math !
The problem that we did miss, and which the vet was quite concerned about, was dehydration. Teddy's been having what we thought were intermittent bouts of dehydration ever since last November in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. But the vet thinks his dehydration is chronic, and severe. She injected 200 ml. of saline solution subcutaneously, teaching us how to do it in the process. YIKES ... that looks like enough fluid to choke a horse ! We have to do the same, at home, every couple of days until his nose infection is cured, then twice a week thereafter. And admittedly, after receiving that much fluid, Teddy quickly looked a bit better. By the time we got him to Penticton, and waited to see the vet, then he got poked and prodded, he was looking pretty much like death warmed over. By the time we left the vet's office, and were driving back to Keremeos, he was already looking and feeling better.
Well, except for that cloudy, blind eye with the droopy eyelid. He now looks qualified for a job at the Post Office. HA HA HA ( SNORT ) HA HA ... sorry ... old "inside joke" at Canada Post.
DSK
Yesterday morning we both went to see a doctor at the Keremeos Clinic. Our doctor is on vacation, so we saw the locum doctor that is filling in for him. Joanne reviewed with the doctor all except one of the test results of the multitude of annual cancer screening tests that she gets each summer. All is fine, with one test result still to be received.
I had the stitches removed from my thumb. That hurt ! ! ! When the stitches were removed, my thumb swelled up again, and was sore and tender for the rest of the day. And the stitches, or rather the remaining stitch wounds / stitch marks, look like the stitching was done by, well ... a retarded eight year old. HA HA HA ! I guess the bleeding at the time was so profuse that Dr. Partridge was essentially stitching blindly. Either that, or it's time for him to get new bifocals ! Come to think of it ... I don't think he wears glasses. Today ( the next day ) the swelling has subsided somewhat, and my thumb doesn't look quite so gruesome. But ... I basically sliced the knuckle off from the nail bed to the base of the knuckle, so the wound, along with the stitch marks, leaves the back of my thumb looking somewhat like something from a low budget horror film. I can bend the thumb a little, so obviously the extensor tendon wasn't cut all the way through, and hopefully, with more healing, the thumb eventually will bend more or less normally.
And ... ( big sigh ) ... overnight, Teddy seems to have had a stroke. His left eye lid is drooping. And the pupil in his left eye is completely dilated ... and unresponsive. It seems as if he has gone completely blind in the left eye. Poor Baby Teddy Cat ! His vision in both eyes was already diminished significantly due to cataracts. This morning he seemed to have slight mobility impairment on one side, but by supper time that had disappeared. This evening he was ... disoriented.
July 23, 2009
Well, Teddy lives to eat toasted bagel crumbs another day.
This morning we took Teddy to the veterinarian in Penticton. We were worried that we might be returning home without him. Our primary concern was what we suspected was a bacterial nasal infection. A couple of weeks ago he developed a foul odour coming out of his nose. A week ago he started to choke and gag from post nasal drip. Yesterday a discharge started coming out of one nostril. It looked similar to the discharge in his ear when he had a bacterial infection in his ear a few months ago. Our diagnosis was correct. A week of antibiotics and he should be fine. In the meantime, his breathing gurgles, and he sounds like he's drowning.
And our diagnosis on the eye problem was also correct. He's now blind in one eye. It was either caused by a stroke or head trauma. Well ... DUH ... he didn't hurt his head, and he's over 17 years old, so ... you do the math !
The problem that we did miss, and which the vet was quite concerned about, was dehydration. Teddy's been having what we thought were intermittent bouts of dehydration ever since last November in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. But the vet thinks his dehydration is chronic, and severe. She injected 200 ml. of saline solution subcutaneously, teaching us how to do it in the process. YIKES ... that looks like enough fluid to choke a horse ! We have to do the same, at home, every couple of days until his nose infection is cured, then twice a week thereafter. And admittedly, after receiving that much fluid, Teddy quickly looked a bit better. By the time we got him to Penticton, and waited to see the vet, then he got poked and prodded, he was looking pretty much like death warmed over. By the time we left the vet's office, and were driving back to Keremeos, he was already looking and feeling better.
Well, except for that cloudy, blind eye with the droopy eyelid. He now looks qualified for a job at the Post Office. HA HA HA ( SNORT ) HA HA ... sorry ... old "inside joke" at Canada Post.
DSK
Thursday, July 16, 2009
July 14 & 15, 2009
July 14, 2009
When we returned home after a day of running errands in Penticton, there was a voice mail message on our phone from Brent at Doug's Homestead. He had called to advise me, in very vague and uncertain terms, that my employment was terminated. So ... I got online, and filed an employee's report of accident / injury with the Worker's Compensation Board. As a small business owner for 14 years, I have had more than a few occasions to deal with the Worker's Compensation Board from an employer's perspective. It was never a pleasant experience. And I never did anything as stupid as firing an employee because they were injured.
Let the chips fall where they may ! ! !
Tonight I removed the dressing applied by the doctor in the emergency ward, cleaned my thumb, and applied a fresh dressing. YUCK ... my thumb looks pretty gruesome !
July 15, 2009
Well, tonight I finished the rebuilding and replacement of the lower rear quarter of one side of the trailer that was damaged by the exploding tire in Mexico. It was a huge undertaking, but ... bit by bit ... I got it done. A custom engineered and fabricated new lower side skirt and wheel moulding, wheel well, and belly panel, made mostly from a 2009 Citation fifth wheel trailer’s fiberglass lower skirt and other fiberglass panels, all of which I scavenged from the scrap pile of a Penticton fiberglass manufacturer. And the job is near perfect.
I should be ecstatic. But all I can "see" are the two extremely minor ( and not visible ) flaws / errors in the job. My obsession / compulsion with perfection is in "overdrive", fuelled by the loss of my self-esteem that bled out through the gruesome, stitched laceration in my thumb !
I have a magic show to perform in 2½ weeks. I doubt that my thumb will be sufficiently healed by then to permit me to perform magic. ( sigh )
DSK
When we returned home after a day of running errands in Penticton, there was a voice mail message on our phone from Brent at Doug's Homestead. He had called to advise me, in very vague and uncertain terms, that my employment was terminated. So ... I got online, and filed an employee's report of accident / injury with the Worker's Compensation Board. As a small business owner for 14 years, I have had more than a few occasions to deal with the Worker's Compensation Board from an employer's perspective. It was never a pleasant experience. And I never did anything as stupid as firing an employee because they were injured.
Let the chips fall where they may ! ! !
Tonight I removed the dressing applied by the doctor in the emergency ward, cleaned my thumb, and applied a fresh dressing. YUCK ... my thumb looks pretty gruesome !
July 15, 2009
Well, tonight I finished the rebuilding and replacement of the lower rear quarter of one side of the trailer that was damaged by the exploding tire in Mexico. It was a huge undertaking, but ... bit by bit ... I got it done. A custom engineered and fabricated new lower side skirt and wheel moulding, wheel well, and belly panel, made mostly from a 2009 Citation fifth wheel trailer’s fiberglass lower skirt and other fiberglass panels, all of which I scavenged from the scrap pile of a Penticton fiberglass manufacturer. And the job is near perfect.
I should be ecstatic. But all I can "see" are the two extremely minor ( and not visible ) flaws / errors in the job. My obsession / compulsion with perfection is in "overdrive", fuelled by the loss of my self-esteem that bled out through the gruesome, stitched laceration in my thumb !
I have a magic show to perform in 2½ weeks. I doubt that my thumb will be sufficiently healed by then to permit me to perform magic. ( sigh )
DSK
Monday, July 13, 2009
July 12, 2009
July 12, 2009
WHAT A ****ING LOSER ! ! ! ! !
Well ... today was my first day of work at my new job ! And I spent half my shift at the South Similkameen Health Centre's Emergency Ward, getting my severely cut thumb stitched ! ! !
First time in my life that I've had stitches ! And the first time in my employer's two year history that they have a Worker's Compensation injury claim to be filed !
( huge sigh )
I accepted a summer job with Doug's Homestead, a "Mom & Pop" meat processing and sales shop on the outskirts of Hedley. I don't know how long Doug's Homestead has existed. The current owners bought it from Doug 2 years ago. They process all their own product. They seem to be very well known throughout the B.C. Interior for their beef jerky and pepperoni. In the 2¾ hours that I actually worked today, they did a booming business in beef jerky and pepperoni.
The owners are Brent and Linette, a couple in their thirties with a baby. Brent runs the operations side of the business. Linette seems to run the "business" side of the business, while caring for their baby. This morning I met with Linette to take care of hiring details, then began to work with Brent, and an employee, Patty. While slicing sides of bacon on an electric slicer, I ... I don't know ? ! ? The damn thing bit me ! Hard ! ! ! Now, late in the afternoon, I'm still trying to figure out what exactly happened, and why !
( huge sigh )
I spewed blood all over. The slicer will have to be completely disassembled and sanitized. A huge side of bacon had to be discarded. I bled all over the apron I was wearing, and all over the floor before I made it to the bathroom. Brent applied first aid, but the bleeding was profuse ! I refused to allow him to drive me from Hedley to the emergency ward in Keremeos. I felt that I had already caused enough of a disruption and inconvenience. I drove myself. Linette phoned the South Similkameen Health Centre ( known locally as the Keremeos Clinic ) to advise the doctor on call that an emergency was on its way !
When I arrived at the Keremeos Clinic, about 30 km. from Hedley, my thumb was still bleeding profusely. Dr. Partridge put me in an examining room while he finished with another laceration emergency. What ? Sundays are the day to cut your fingers ? ? ? The bleeding continued and continued. It's now 4 hours later, and my finger still seems to be bleeding ! Dr. Partridge ascertained that I had cut into, but not through, the extensor tendon in my thumb. It took 4 stitches to close the wound.
When I left the clinic, I crossed the street, to Dave's Fruits & Veggies, to advise Joanne of how my first day of work was going. HA HA HA ( SNORT ) HA HA ! ! ! I drove back to Doug's Homestead in Hedley, as I advised Brent and Linette I would do after I was finished at the clinic. Linette was gone home for the day.
I want this job ! I hope they will give me a second chance. Brent seemed inclined to, but ... there seemed to be an implication that Linette might not. And she seems to be the decision maker in personnel matters.
I feel like such a ****ing loser right now ! AND MY THUMB HURTS !
DSK
WHAT A ****ING LOSER ! ! ! ! !
Well ... today was my first day of work at my new job ! And I spent half my shift at the South Similkameen Health Centre's Emergency Ward, getting my severely cut thumb stitched ! ! !
First time in my life that I've had stitches ! And the first time in my employer's two year history that they have a Worker's Compensation injury claim to be filed !
( huge sigh )
I accepted a summer job with Doug's Homestead, a "Mom & Pop" meat processing and sales shop on the outskirts of Hedley. I don't know how long Doug's Homestead has existed. The current owners bought it from Doug 2 years ago. They process all their own product. They seem to be very well known throughout the B.C. Interior for their beef jerky and pepperoni. In the 2¾ hours that I actually worked today, they did a booming business in beef jerky and pepperoni.
The owners are Brent and Linette, a couple in their thirties with a baby. Brent runs the operations side of the business. Linette seems to run the "business" side of the business, while caring for their baby. This morning I met with Linette to take care of hiring details, then began to work with Brent, and an employee, Patty. While slicing sides of bacon on an electric slicer, I ... I don't know ? ! ? The damn thing bit me ! Hard ! ! ! Now, late in the afternoon, I'm still trying to figure out what exactly happened, and why !
( huge sigh )
I spewed blood all over. The slicer will have to be completely disassembled and sanitized. A huge side of bacon had to be discarded. I bled all over the apron I was wearing, and all over the floor before I made it to the bathroom. Brent applied first aid, but the bleeding was profuse ! I refused to allow him to drive me from Hedley to the emergency ward in Keremeos. I felt that I had already caused enough of a disruption and inconvenience. I drove myself. Linette phoned the South Similkameen Health Centre ( known locally as the Keremeos Clinic ) to advise the doctor on call that an emergency was on its way !
When I arrived at the Keremeos Clinic, about 30 km. from Hedley, my thumb was still bleeding profusely. Dr. Partridge put me in an examining room while he finished with another laceration emergency. What ? Sundays are the day to cut your fingers ? ? ? The bleeding continued and continued. It's now 4 hours later, and my finger still seems to be bleeding ! Dr. Partridge ascertained that I had cut into, but not through, the extensor tendon in my thumb. It took 4 stitches to close the wound.
When I left the clinic, I crossed the street, to Dave's Fruits & Veggies, to advise Joanne of how my first day of work was going. HA HA HA ( SNORT ) HA HA ! ! ! I drove back to Doug's Homestead in Hedley, as I advised Brent and Linette I would do after I was finished at the clinic. Linette was gone home for the day.
I want this job ! I hope they will give me a second chance. Brent seemed inclined to, but ... there seemed to be an implication that Linette might not. And she seems to be the decision maker in personnel matters.
I feel like such a ****ing loser right now ! AND MY THUMB HURTS !
DSK
Monday, June 22, 2009
June 18, 19, & 20, 2009
June 18, 2009
Today was Teddy's 17th birthday. Happy Birthday, my Teddy Baby Cat. And today was the fifth anniversary of us starting our full time RV life. Wow ... 5 years ! Over 167,000 km. / 103,000 miles of RV living.
We both went to our local family doctor today. Joanne to get some test results. Me to get a prescription refill. And to request a requisition for my next colonoscopy, in about a year. The wait time for a screening colonoscopy with my gastroenterologist in Penticton is over a year, so I wanted to get the requisition done this summer. Except ... I found out today that my gastroenterologist, the only gastroenterologist in Penticton, had an accident last fall. He was injured in a downhill bicycling accident. One of the sports he was involved in was downhill bicycling in rugged mountain terrain, called BMX biking, or mountain biking, or something like that. Not exactly what I would have thought would be an ideal sport for a middle aged man ... but to each his own. The accident has left him ... a quadriplegic ! How very tragic ! ! ! My family physician here in Keremeos will send a requisition for a colonoscopy for me next summer to the closest gastroenterology clinic, which is in Kelowna. I'm not very happy about having to go all the way to Kelowna for a colonoscopy ... and probably an office visit before and again afterwards. Kelowna isn't one of my favourite places. And it's at least a two hour drive from here.
June 19, 2009
We have just returned from having dinner at The Hitching Post Restaurant in Hedley. We walked the dog from a few minutes before to a few minutes after 10:00 P.M. and it wasn't quite dark yet. What a pleasant change from those December days that are dark by 5:00 o'clock.
Today I began to work on rebuilding the trailer's fiberglass lower skirt. It was not possible to obtain a replacement fiberglass lower skirt section from the manufacturer in Indiana. I found out that there is a fiberglass manufacturing company in Penticton that manufactures the fiberglass lower skirt sections for General Coach in Oliver who manufactures the Citation brand of fifth wheel trailer. A few days ago I went to Fiberglass Specialties in Penticton to see if I could buy a section of fiberglass "J" panel that I might be able to use to rebuild Harvey's lower skirt. Even better ... they allowed me to have a moulded fiberglass lower skirt section from a Citation trailer that was on their "reject" pile. And best of all ... at no charge ! With a lot of cutting and drilling, I believe I can make it fit on our trailer quite nicely. Wish me luck !
Tonight we went to a dinner concert at the Hitching Post Restaurant in Hedley to celebrate our fifth anniversary as full time RV'ers. The performer was a ( Mississippi ) Delta Blues slide guitarist from Vancouver Island. Great meal, great blues music !
June 20, 2009
Today was sunny, very warm, and humid. The mosquitoes were not quite as bad as they have been for the last three weeks or so. Mosquitoes are a brutal problem here during June. I continued work on rebuilding the trailer's fiberglass lower skirt panel. So far, so good !
Today was the second in a series of themed potluck dinners Joanne and I have planned and organized for Riverside RV Park Resort this summer. Today's theme was "Favourite Family Recipe". Joanne prepared my favourite dish, spaghetti with meat sauce, a meat sauce recipe she "inherited" from my mother. Not surprisingly, the potluck dinner was extremely poorly attended. For the life of me I can't figure out why the residents of this park are so disinterested and unsupportive of community social activities. Oh well, the food was great !
DSK
Today was Teddy's 17th birthday. Happy Birthday, my Teddy Baby Cat. And today was the fifth anniversary of us starting our full time RV life. Wow ... 5 years ! Over 167,000 km. / 103,000 miles of RV living.
We both went to our local family doctor today. Joanne to get some test results. Me to get a prescription refill. And to request a requisition for my next colonoscopy, in about a year. The wait time for a screening colonoscopy with my gastroenterologist in Penticton is over a year, so I wanted to get the requisition done this summer. Except ... I found out today that my gastroenterologist, the only gastroenterologist in Penticton, had an accident last fall. He was injured in a downhill bicycling accident. One of the sports he was involved in was downhill bicycling in rugged mountain terrain, called BMX biking, or mountain biking, or something like that. Not exactly what I would have thought would be an ideal sport for a middle aged man ... but to each his own. The accident has left him ... a quadriplegic ! How very tragic ! ! ! My family physician here in Keremeos will send a requisition for a colonoscopy for me next summer to the closest gastroenterology clinic, which is in Kelowna. I'm not very happy about having to go all the way to Kelowna for a colonoscopy ... and probably an office visit before and again afterwards. Kelowna isn't one of my favourite places. And it's at least a two hour drive from here.
June 19, 2009
We have just returned from having dinner at The Hitching Post Restaurant in Hedley. We walked the dog from a few minutes before to a few minutes after 10:00 P.M. and it wasn't quite dark yet. What a pleasant change from those December days that are dark by 5:00 o'clock.
Today I began to work on rebuilding the trailer's fiberglass lower skirt. It was not possible to obtain a replacement fiberglass lower skirt section from the manufacturer in Indiana. I found out that there is a fiberglass manufacturing company in Penticton that manufactures the fiberglass lower skirt sections for General Coach in Oliver who manufactures the Citation brand of fifth wheel trailer. A few days ago I went to Fiberglass Specialties in Penticton to see if I could buy a section of fiberglass "J" panel that I might be able to use to rebuild Harvey's lower skirt. Even better ... they allowed me to have a moulded fiberglass lower skirt section from a Citation trailer that was on their "reject" pile. And best of all ... at no charge ! With a lot of cutting and drilling, I believe I can make it fit on our trailer quite nicely. Wish me luck !
Tonight we went to a dinner concert at the Hitching Post Restaurant in Hedley to celebrate our fifth anniversary as full time RV'ers. The performer was a ( Mississippi ) Delta Blues slide guitarist from Vancouver Island. Great meal, great blues music !
June 20, 2009
Today was sunny, very warm, and humid. The mosquitoes were not quite as bad as they have been for the last three weeks or so. Mosquitoes are a brutal problem here during June. I continued work on rebuilding the trailer's fiberglass lower skirt panel. So far, so good !
Today was the second in a series of themed potluck dinners Joanne and I have planned and organized for Riverside RV Park Resort this summer. Today's theme was "Favourite Family Recipe". Joanne prepared my favourite dish, spaghetti with meat sauce, a meat sauce recipe she "inherited" from my mother. Not surprisingly, the potluck dinner was extremely poorly attended. For the life of me I can't figure out why the residents of this park are so disinterested and unsupportive of community social activities. Oh well, the food was great !
DSK
Thursday, June 4, 2009
May 31, June 2 & 3, 2009
May 31, 2009
Today was sunny and hot, as it has been here for a few days already. Summer has arrived !
This morning we gave Bo a haircut. Gee, his hair grows fast ! We cut about four inches of hair off him every six months.
This afternoon was Riverside RV Park Resort's first monthly ( during the summer season ) "Ice Cream Social", proposed by Joanne and me, and consequently organized and hosted by Joanne and me. It went very well, but as expected, not as well attended as I would have liked it to have been. The residents of this park are sorely lacking in community social spirit.
After the ice cream social we and some other neighbours were invited by neighbours Dave and Betty to an impromptu barbecue. We enjoyed burgers and an afternoon of chatting with neighbours. Bo enjoyed romping and playing with Spencer, Dave's and Betty's dog.
June 2, 2009
This morning the phone rang at 7:20 A.M.. Normally I would be pretty pissed off at somebody phoning that early. But in this case ... it was a job offer for Joanne. Congratulations, my dear. She's been hired to work full time for about 4 months at a local fruit stand. Joanne getting a full time job for the summer allows me to stop looking for work. And ... ( whispering ) ... I wasn't looking very hard anyways ! If a job comes my way as a result of the job search efforts I've already made ... fine. If not ... even better ! I have more than enough work projects to keep me pretty occupied for the summer. Especially the repair / rebuilding / replacement of the trailer's lower fiberglass skirt that was destroyed by a tire blow out in Mexico.
Around 9:30 this morning I heard a strange "pop" sound, and looked outside. On the vacant lot beside us was a pickup truck parked, pulled off the road diagonally ... with some hillbilly leaning out the driver's window with a rifle ... shooting at marmots ! Well ... I flipped ! ! ! ! !
I stomped over there, hollering at the guy, demanding to know who the hell was he and what the hell was he doing ? ? ? ! ! ! ? ? ? To make a long story short, he was the local “contractor” hired by our park to “exterminate” our marmots ... by live trapping them and relocating them. He had taken it upon himself to deal with the matter in a manner that he thought was a bit more effective. Shooting them with a rifle ! I loudly and angrily and unceremoniously ejected him and his rifle from the park before stomping over to our clubhouse to see our park manager or administrator. The park manager wasn’t in, so I loudly and clearly expressed my dissatisfaction to the park administrator about having this hillbilly shooting at a rock wall right beside my property, putting us at risk from ricocheting bullets ! A short time later the President of the Board of Directors of our park came over to discuss the incident with me, giving me yet another opportunity to holler and scream at somebody !
And ... despite how angry I am at feeling like we’re living in a “shooting gallery”, I’m just as upset with our park management’s decision to proceed with the “extermination” of marmots in the park, perceived by some ( but not us ) as a problem, now ... when the females have all just given birth to their young. As I told our Board President ... “anybody with half an eye and an asshole knows you don’t “exterminate” females when they’re nursing their young.”
What a bunch of ... ! ! !
June 3, 2009 ; Penticton
This morning I prepared pancakes as a late morning brunch before we left for Penticton. While we don't often eat pancakes, Joanne loooooves my pancakes. I learned to make wonderful pancakes watching my Aunt Lena when I used to spend my summers as a teenager working on her farm. Thanks, Aunt Lena !
At Penticton Joanne dropped me off at Southern Skies Aviation at the airport, then she went off to run errands all day while I flew my sixth and final Mountain Performance Course flight, a "show me" flight. My flight instructor Stuart and I took off in Cessna 172 Golf X-ray Tango November and headed south towards Oliver. Just past McIntyre Bluff I found Covert Farm where there is a private grass airstrip. I exhibited my ability to conduct a precautionary approach to this unknown ( to me ) grass strip by flying a circuit at a thousand feet and another at 500 feet to check the condition and suitability of the strip for landing. There was farm irrigation equipment on the private airstrip so I didn't land, just did a final approach to the flare, about fifteen feet above the field, then aborted and pulled up. As I did that I got a radio call on the Oliver frequency.
"Aircraft flying over Covert Farm, this is Mrs. Covert, who are you and what are you doing ?"
Flying around here in the bush and mountains is certainly a different experience than my previous flying, even the radio work. I'm more accustomed to hearing ;
"Cessna one seventy two Golf Charlie Victor Oscar, Toronto Centre, squawk ( transponder code ) zero four five six and ident, you are radar identified, turn now to heading three zero zero to ( Lake Ontario ) shoreline, maintain seven point five ( thousand feet ) along shoreline until over Pickering ( Nuclear Power Plant ) stacks, then descend at your discretion to not below two point five, contact Toronto Island Tower on one one eight point two, caution, aircraft at your eleven o'clock is a heavy inbound to Pearson descending through nine for four, maintain visual at all times, break, Air Canada four thirty one, aircraft at your two o'clock five miles is a Cessna at seven point five inbound VFR to Toronto Island."
I responded to Mrs. Covert, explaining that we were just an aircraft from Southern Skies using her field for a training exercise. We chatted briefly ! Nice lady ! I've never had a "personal" conversation on an aircraft radio before ! HA HA HA !
We proceeded to fly into Vaseaux Canyon. Stuart imposed an imaginary ceiling of solid overcast clouds at 6000 feet, forcing me to stay at a maximum of 5500 feet through a canyon with walls above 7000 feet, simulating that the canyon walls and mountain tops were shrouded in cloud. I had to find my way to Highway 33 by "contour crawling", winding and twisting at low altitude through interconnecting valleys, always trying to keep heading east. One valley turned out to be a dead end "box canyon", so I had to exhibit my ability to execute a minimum radius turn to get out before I smacked into the mountain. The point of all this was to exhibit my ability to fly in conditions and situations in the bush and the mountains that have resulted in the death of a lot of pilots.
Once I found Highway 33 we followed it north to the little town of Beaverdell where there is an abandoned airstrip. I did another precautionary approach procedure at a thousand feet and 500 feet to check out the strip, then again flew a final approach to the flare, about fifteen feet off the runway. Landing at the abandoned Beaverdell strip is no longer permitted. The huge evergreen trees surrounding the Beaverdell airstrip have not been cut back in a long time, so the strip is simply a 75 foot wide swath between tall evergreen trees. Taking it down to the flare at about 15 feet above ground required me to drop a 38 foot wide aircraft into a 75 foot wide swath through the trees, and flying along over the strip with trees about 20 feet off each wingtip. WHEW ! ! ! Not quite the same as landing on Ottawa’s 200 foot wide, 11,000 foot long Runway 07 which I could clearly see from 50 miles out !
From Beaverdell I had to fly through a valley along Crowse Creek to find the abandoned airstrip at the village of Crowse Creek. This time Stuart imposed an imaginary ceiling of 4000 feet, requiring me to fly at a maximum of 3500 feet along a valley whose floor continually rose until I was flying closer and closer to the ground, and the closing in valley walls. On this leg I was able to exhibit that, while not exactly comfortable doing so, I was capable of flying within 50 feet of the sides of the mountains, an objective stated at the beginning of the course when getting within 200 feet of a mountain side caused me to break out in sweat.
We did another precautionary approach at Crowse Creek, aborting the landing again at the flare point. The landing strip at Crowse Creek has been closed for about 11 years, since the last plane that "landed" there was a fatal landing accident in a Cherokee. Transport Canada was fed up with the high incidence of accidents at this dangerous airstrip and closed it permanently.
Climbing out from Crowse Creek, heading back to Beaverdell, then Penticton, Stuart "jammed" the ailerons, preventing the aircraft from banking and turning. I had to fly the rest of the trip without ailerons, flying "by my feet", using only the rudder pedals to twist the aircraft around by yawing it with rudder. The next day ( now today ) I am having difficulty walking because the balls of my feet are bruised from all the rudder work. We climbed slowly to 9200 feet on our way back to Penticton. When I crossed over the last mountain ridge, and came out over Okanagan Lake about 15 miles north of Penticton, Stuart decided that since I was formerly an IFR pilot that I should exhibit my ability to "shoot" a localizer approach into Penticton. Okay ! Except I haven't flown a "blind" instrument approach in over ten years. But ... okay ! As I began to twist XTN around with only rudder, to intercept the localizer, Stuart pulled the throttle back to idle, simulating an engine failure.
Okay ! So now I'm 15 miles out from Penticton, at 9000 feet with no engine, and jammed ailerons, and in simulated "visually blind outside the aircraft" instrument conditions. Well ... with no engine power and no ailerons and shooting an instrument approach I got it "home" and down onto the runway, although I used a lot of runway to do so. Stuart's only critical comment of the entire flight, and it was a very tiny criticism, was that I used up a lot of runway on that "engine failure" landing. Hey ... my attitude is that with an "engine failure" it's better to come in a little "high and hot", and even overrun the end of the runway while braking on the landing roll out, if necessary, than to come in short and end up a smoking hole just before the runway ! He couldn't disagree with that, so he shook my hand and congratulated me for completing the Mountain Performance Flight Course. Congratulations, Daniel, you are now a Mountain Performance certified pilot ! WOO-HOO ! ! !
Joanne picked me up at Southern Skies and we drove over to the South Okanagan Events Centre to pick up our tickets at the Box Office for tonight's Blue Rodeo performance before we went out for dinner to a Chinese buffet restaurant. We had a leisurely dinner stuffing our faces with copious amounts of Chinese food before heading back to SOEC. The South Okanagan Events Centre is Penticton's recently completed new arena. Tonight's Blue Rodeo concert was the first "big name" event at SOEC. Blue Rodeo is a well known Canadian country / blues / rock band. We quite enjoyed the concert. The SOEC is a nice, medium sized arena seating about 6000, with good acoustics. It's been many years since we've attended a "rock concert". We didn't get home until almost midnight.
DSK
Today was sunny and hot, as it has been here for a few days already. Summer has arrived !
This morning we gave Bo a haircut. Gee, his hair grows fast ! We cut about four inches of hair off him every six months.
This afternoon was Riverside RV Park Resort's first monthly ( during the summer season ) "Ice Cream Social", proposed by Joanne and me, and consequently organized and hosted by Joanne and me. It went very well, but as expected, not as well attended as I would have liked it to have been. The residents of this park are sorely lacking in community social spirit.
After the ice cream social we and some other neighbours were invited by neighbours Dave and Betty to an impromptu barbecue. We enjoyed burgers and an afternoon of chatting with neighbours. Bo enjoyed romping and playing with Spencer, Dave's and Betty's dog.
June 2, 2009
This morning the phone rang at 7:20 A.M.. Normally I would be pretty pissed off at somebody phoning that early. But in this case ... it was a job offer for Joanne. Congratulations, my dear. She's been hired to work full time for about 4 months at a local fruit stand. Joanne getting a full time job for the summer allows me to stop looking for work. And ... ( whispering ) ... I wasn't looking very hard anyways ! If a job comes my way as a result of the job search efforts I've already made ... fine. If not ... even better ! I have more than enough work projects to keep me pretty occupied for the summer. Especially the repair / rebuilding / replacement of the trailer's lower fiberglass skirt that was destroyed by a tire blow out in Mexico.
Around 9:30 this morning I heard a strange "pop" sound, and looked outside. On the vacant lot beside us was a pickup truck parked, pulled off the road diagonally ... with some hillbilly leaning out the driver's window with a rifle ... shooting at marmots ! Well ... I flipped ! ! ! ! !
I stomped over there, hollering at the guy, demanding to know who the hell was he and what the hell was he doing ? ? ? ! ! ! ? ? ? To make a long story short, he was the local “contractor” hired by our park to “exterminate” our marmots ... by live trapping them and relocating them. He had taken it upon himself to deal with the matter in a manner that he thought was a bit more effective. Shooting them with a rifle ! I loudly and angrily and unceremoniously ejected him and his rifle from the park before stomping over to our clubhouse to see our park manager or administrator. The park manager wasn’t in, so I loudly and clearly expressed my dissatisfaction to the park administrator about having this hillbilly shooting at a rock wall right beside my property, putting us at risk from ricocheting bullets ! A short time later the President of the Board of Directors of our park came over to discuss the incident with me, giving me yet another opportunity to holler and scream at somebody !
And ... despite how angry I am at feeling like we’re living in a “shooting gallery”, I’m just as upset with our park management’s decision to proceed with the “extermination” of marmots in the park, perceived by some ( but not us ) as a problem, now ... when the females have all just given birth to their young. As I told our Board President ... “anybody with half an eye and an asshole knows you don’t “exterminate” females when they’re nursing their young.”
What a bunch of ... ! ! !
June 3, 2009 ; Penticton
This morning I prepared pancakes as a late morning brunch before we left for Penticton. While we don't often eat pancakes, Joanne loooooves my pancakes. I learned to make wonderful pancakes watching my Aunt Lena when I used to spend my summers as a teenager working on her farm. Thanks, Aunt Lena !
At Penticton Joanne dropped me off at Southern Skies Aviation at the airport, then she went off to run errands all day while I flew my sixth and final Mountain Performance Course flight, a "show me" flight. My flight instructor Stuart and I took off in Cessna 172 Golf X-ray Tango November and headed south towards Oliver. Just past McIntyre Bluff I found Covert Farm where there is a private grass airstrip. I exhibited my ability to conduct a precautionary approach to this unknown ( to me ) grass strip by flying a circuit at a thousand feet and another at 500 feet to check the condition and suitability of the strip for landing. There was farm irrigation equipment on the private airstrip so I didn't land, just did a final approach to the flare, about fifteen feet above the field, then aborted and pulled up. As I did that I got a radio call on the Oliver frequency.
"Aircraft flying over Covert Farm, this is Mrs. Covert, who are you and what are you doing ?"
Flying around here in the bush and mountains is certainly a different experience than my previous flying, even the radio work. I'm more accustomed to hearing ;
"Cessna one seventy two Golf Charlie Victor Oscar, Toronto Centre, squawk ( transponder code ) zero four five six and ident, you are radar identified, turn now to heading three zero zero to ( Lake Ontario ) shoreline, maintain seven point five ( thousand feet ) along shoreline until over Pickering ( Nuclear Power Plant ) stacks, then descend at your discretion to not below two point five, contact Toronto Island Tower on one one eight point two, caution, aircraft at your eleven o'clock is a heavy inbound to Pearson descending through nine for four, maintain visual at all times, break, Air Canada four thirty one, aircraft at your two o'clock five miles is a Cessna at seven point five inbound VFR to Toronto Island."
I responded to Mrs. Covert, explaining that we were just an aircraft from Southern Skies using her field for a training exercise. We chatted briefly ! Nice lady ! I've never had a "personal" conversation on an aircraft radio before ! HA HA HA !
We proceeded to fly into Vaseaux Canyon. Stuart imposed an imaginary ceiling of solid overcast clouds at 6000 feet, forcing me to stay at a maximum of 5500 feet through a canyon with walls above 7000 feet, simulating that the canyon walls and mountain tops were shrouded in cloud. I had to find my way to Highway 33 by "contour crawling", winding and twisting at low altitude through interconnecting valleys, always trying to keep heading east. One valley turned out to be a dead end "box canyon", so I had to exhibit my ability to execute a minimum radius turn to get out before I smacked into the mountain. The point of all this was to exhibit my ability to fly in conditions and situations in the bush and the mountains that have resulted in the death of a lot of pilots.
Once I found Highway 33 we followed it north to the little town of Beaverdell where there is an abandoned airstrip. I did another precautionary approach procedure at a thousand feet and 500 feet to check out the strip, then again flew a final approach to the flare, about fifteen feet off the runway. Landing at the abandoned Beaverdell strip is no longer permitted. The huge evergreen trees surrounding the Beaverdell airstrip have not been cut back in a long time, so the strip is simply a 75 foot wide swath between tall evergreen trees. Taking it down to the flare at about 15 feet above ground required me to drop a 38 foot wide aircraft into a 75 foot wide swath through the trees, and flying along over the strip with trees about 20 feet off each wingtip. WHEW ! ! ! Not quite the same as landing on Ottawa’s 200 foot wide, 11,000 foot long Runway 07 which I could clearly see from 50 miles out !
From Beaverdell I had to fly through a valley along Crowse Creek to find the abandoned airstrip at the village of Crowse Creek. This time Stuart imposed an imaginary ceiling of 4000 feet, requiring me to fly at a maximum of 3500 feet along a valley whose floor continually rose until I was flying closer and closer to the ground, and the closing in valley walls. On this leg I was able to exhibit that, while not exactly comfortable doing so, I was capable of flying within 50 feet of the sides of the mountains, an objective stated at the beginning of the course when getting within 200 feet of a mountain side caused me to break out in sweat.
We did another precautionary approach at Crowse Creek, aborting the landing again at the flare point. The landing strip at Crowse Creek has been closed for about 11 years, since the last plane that "landed" there was a fatal landing accident in a Cherokee. Transport Canada was fed up with the high incidence of accidents at this dangerous airstrip and closed it permanently.
Climbing out from Crowse Creek, heading back to Beaverdell, then Penticton, Stuart "jammed" the ailerons, preventing the aircraft from banking and turning. I had to fly the rest of the trip without ailerons, flying "by my feet", using only the rudder pedals to twist the aircraft around by yawing it with rudder. The next day ( now today ) I am having difficulty walking because the balls of my feet are bruised from all the rudder work. We climbed slowly to 9200 feet on our way back to Penticton. When I crossed over the last mountain ridge, and came out over Okanagan Lake about 15 miles north of Penticton, Stuart decided that since I was formerly an IFR pilot that I should exhibit my ability to "shoot" a localizer approach into Penticton. Okay ! Except I haven't flown a "blind" instrument approach in over ten years. But ... okay ! As I began to twist XTN around with only rudder, to intercept the localizer, Stuart pulled the throttle back to idle, simulating an engine failure.
Okay ! So now I'm 15 miles out from Penticton, at 9000 feet with no engine, and jammed ailerons, and in simulated "visually blind outside the aircraft" instrument conditions. Well ... with no engine power and no ailerons and shooting an instrument approach I got it "home" and down onto the runway, although I used a lot of runway to do so. Stuart's only critical comment of the entire flight, and it was a very tiny criticism, was that I used up a lot of runway on that "engine failure" landing. Hey ... my attitude is that with an "engine failure" it's better to come in a little "high and hot", and even overrun the end of the runway while braking on the landing roll out, if necessary, than to come in short and end up a smoking hole just before the runway ! He couldn't disagree with that, so he shook my hand and congratulated me for completing the Mountain Performance Flight Course. Congratulations, Daniel, you are now a Mountain Performance certified pilot ! WOO-HOO ! ! !
Joanne picked me up at Southern Skies and we drove over to the South Okanagan Events Centre to pick up our tickets at the Box Office for tonight's Blue Rodeo performance before we went out for dinner to a Chinese buffet restaurant. We had a leisurely dinner stuffing our faces with copious amounts of Chinese food before heading back to SOEC. The South Okanagan Events Centre is Penticton's recently completed new arena. Tonight's Blue Rodeo concert was the first "big name" event at SOEC. Blue Rodeo is a well known Canadian country / blues / rock band. We quite enjoyed the concert. The SOEC is a nice, medium sized arena seating about 6000, with good acoustics. It's been many years since we've attended a "rock concert". We didn't get home until almost midnight.
DSK
Friday, May 22, 2009
May 16 to 22, 2009
May 16 to 22, 2009
Victoria Day long weekend / Keremeos Rodeo / Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally
Saturday ; YEE-HAW ! Today was the first day of the 71st annual Keremeos Rodeo. And it was a partially sunny, warm day, a nice day to be sitting outdoors at the rodeo.
Late this morning our Escapee friends Ron and Mary arrived to spend the weekend with us before the Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally which Joanne and I are hosting. Ron and Mary are our rally co-hosts and mentors. After lunch we headed into Keremeos for the rodeo. This is our third time attending the Keremeos Rodeo. We quite like it. The first rodeo we ever attended was the Keremeos Rodeo two years ago. We went to the rodeo that first time not really expecting to enjoy it, but we were pleasantly surprised. We particularly like the barrel racing and the bull riding. This place is turning me into such a redneck. HA HA HA !
After the rodeo we returned home where we sat in our screen tent gazebo with Ron and Mary chatting about our winter adventure in Mexico. Mary prepared supper for all of us. While eating supper in Ron's and Mary's rig we noticed some of our neighbours staring intently at something across the highway. We didn't see it, but it was a bear.
Sunday ; YEE-HAW ! Today was Day 2 of the rodeo. And a sunny, very warm day.
This morning we sat outside at our picnic table and reviewed our plans for the upcoming Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally with Ron and Mary. Afterwards I showed them the Arpa Mágica ( MA heeka ) / Magic Harp I bought from a Chiapas Indian in Palenque, Mexico. Because he is a musician Ron has an electronic tuning device. He helped me tune my harp using it.
After lunch we headed to the fairgrounds for the rodeo. It was a lovely day to be sitting outdoors watching the rodeo events. And at the end of the two day rodeo, there were no injured animals and no injured cowboys, so that's a measure of success. The Keremeos Rodeo always ends with a big barbecue in Memorial Park in town. But the rodeo ended a bit sooner than usual, and we felt it was a bit too early to have supper. So we went to the Royal Canadian Legion Hall ( for my American friends / readers, that's the Canadian version of your V.F.W. ) in Keremeos and chatted while sharing a pitcher of beer before walking over to Memorial Park for a great barbecued steak dinner.
After supper we returned home to watch the three hour season finale of Survivor.
Monday ; Victoria Day ; Today was sunny and warm. It became windy late in the evening.
Every Victoria Day there is a parade in Keremeos, followed by lawnmower races all afternoon out at the fairgrounds. The lawnmower races are the third and last day of the Keremeos Rodeo. Ron and Mary were not interested in going to either the parade or the lawnmower races, and since Joanne and I have attended both events the last couple of years, we chose to miss them as well. We spent a relaxing day, enjoying the nice weather, chatting with Ron and Mary in our screen tent / gazebo, walking around the park and along the river. Joanne, Ron, and Mary went into town in the afternoon for some last minute grocery shopping for items we need for the SKP Rally which starts tomorrow. Joanne made supper for all of us. I hitched Lanoire to Harvey and did some preparations for departure tomorrow morning.
Tuesday ; Today had very variable weather, from sunny and warm, to partially cloudy, cool, and windy. It even rained for about half an hour in the afternoon.
This morning we prepared for departure and set off for the Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally which we are hosting. We drove ... about 15 km. west to Riverhaven RV Park at Hedley. We got set up in our site, then spent a few hours playing rally hosts, getting people into campsites, set up, and registered upon their arrival. We have 16 RV rigs, and one couple in a motel room, for a total attendance of 34 people. That's a great turn-out for a Chapter 33 Rally. One more couple is expected to arrive tomorrow. The rally "theme" is "New Orleans On The Similkameen". At 4:00 P.M. Joanne began her Cajun cooking class which resulted in a Jambalaya dinner for 34 people at 6:00 P.M.. Joanne's planning for, and preparation of, the Jambalaya dinner was superb ! Well done, my dear. After supper we had a campfire with a "Zydeco" theme. I played Zydeco music CD's, and told two stories ; the story of "Cajun" and the story of "Zydeco".
I was surprised and very annoyed by the amount of "arm chair quarterbacking" I was subjected to as rally host ! HEY ... when it's your turn to be rally host ... then it can get done your way. Until then ... **** off ! Nevertheless, it seemed that everyone was very pleased with the first day of the rally. The campground is great ! And in the bigger picture, our rally plan and execution were great !
Wednesday ; WHEW ... I'm typing this close to midnight, it's been a long day, and we're tired ! Today was the second day of hosting the Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally. It went very well. The rally is now half over. We're looking forward to the completion of the rally.
We awoke early this morning to have us and everybody else ready for the 8:30 A.M. departure to the Mascot Gold Mine Tour. The Upper Similkameen Indian Band, who operate the Mascot Gold Mine Tour, picked us up in their small bus right here at Riverhaven RV Park. I had made these group tour arrangements with the Upper Similkameen Indian Band's Director Of Operations who was also our bus driver and tour guide today. And he did an excellent job ! He drove us a few km. from the RV park into Hedley, to the Snaza'ist Centre, the headquarters of the Mascot Gold Mine Tour. In the Snaza'ist Centre we watched a short video presentation on the Mascot Mine, the Snaza'ist Centre, Hedley, and the Similkameen Valley. We got back on the bus to begin the exciting ride up Nickel Plate Mine Road, up the back side of Stemwinder Mountain, Nickel Plate Mountain, and Apex Mountain until we were at the top of Stemwinder Mountain overlooking the town of Hedley more than 4000 feet below. On the ride up the very narrow, steep, winding dirt road we saw a lot of deer and a Bald Eagle.
Our tour guide parked the bus and we walked about a km. downhill to the edge of Nickel Plate Mountain directly above Hedley. It was cold up there ... about 30 degrees colder than the valley temperature of 60 degrees. It was snowing lightly for awhile ! At the cliff edge, we began ( sigh ) climbing down the 589 stairs to the mine entrance. We toured around some of the mine's buildings perched precariously on the steep side of the mountain before heading underground into the gold mine. Joanne and I had never been inside a mine before. It was quite an interesting experience.
The Mascot Gold Mine began operation in 1935. It has been closed for many years. In 1995 the Upper Similkameen Indian Band acquired it from Heritage B.C. ( the provincial government's historical preservation department ) and began refurbishing it. They have been conducting these mine tours since 2004.
After walking about 200 meters / 600 feet underground we turned off our miner's helmet lights and had a "sound and light" show inside the mine tunnel, recreating the sounds and dancing shadow lights simulating what it was like to be a miner working underground in a gold mine. Very well done ! We walked back to the surface and ( huge sigh ) began climbing the 589 stairs back to the top. At the top of the stairs we sat down at a small picnic table shelter to eat our picnic lunches before ( another huge sigh ) the one kilometre uphill hike back to the bus. On the bus ride back down we stopped at a scenic viewpoint area to take some pictures overlooking the Similkameen Valley. This particular spot is a favourite of ours, and we usually take anyone who visits us there.
On the remaining trip down the mountain by bus our group decided that I should prepare some New Orleans French Quarter Café du Monde café au lait for them as soon as we got back to the RV park. That was supposed to be part of our special New Orleans French Quarter Hitch Up Breakfast on Friday morning. Okay ! While I prepared café au lait Joanne prepared for her 4:00 P.M. Cajun cooking class. Her Cajun Pistolettes cooking class went well, and was well received. She produced three dozen pistolettes which was our contribution to tonight's "finger food potluck". After the potluck dinner we had our campfire featuring Mississippi Delta Blues music. I told two Cajun stories / history lessons. I told a story explaining "Courir de Mardi Gras" ( Fat Tuesday Run ... actually a horseback ride ) and explained the Cajun phrase of hope "lache pas la patate ( don't let go of the potato ).
Thursday ; Today was sunny and warm, a lovely day. This morning was our SKP Rally's traditional pancake breakfast. What an amazing amount of bitching because we only bought 48 sausages to feed 34 people. Get over it, people ! ! ! After the pancake breakfast was our chapter's annual general meeting. Afterwards while people relaxed and enjoyed the fine weather Joanne cleaned, sorted, rearranged, and labelled the contents of the chapter's utility trailer full of miscellaneous equipment. Her lasting legacy to Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33. I worked on a minor repair on the trailer.
After lunch some of our group left for a golf outing in Princeton. Some played card games. Some sat around enjoying the lovely weather. I downloaded and processed the photos I took yesterday on the Mascot Gold Mine Tour. I did an obedience session with Bo. And ... I squeezed in a short nap before spending the rest of the afternoon sitting around socializing.
At 5:30 P.M. Ron loaded his musical equipment into the back of our truck and we headed for The Hitching Post Restaurant in Hedley. Less than a week ago I sent an e-mail to the owner of the restaurant to confirm our group dinner reservation and ask if he could prepare at least one of the three entrée offerings on our prix fixe menu as a Cajun dish, in keeping with our rally theme of "New Orleans On The Similkameen". Upon arrival at the restaurant I was thrilled to find that he had prepared all three menu items as Cajun dishes ; a Cajun Halibut dish, a Blackened Steak dish, and a Jambalaya over noodles dish. Jambalaya over noodles was certainly a creative twist. And ... the meals were superb ! ! ! Dessert was a freshly baked home made apple, rhubarb, and strawberry crumble. The owners of The Hitching Post certainly are good at what they do ! ! ! After dinner, it was time for ( sigh ) our Chapter 33 musicians to get up on the restaurant's small stage and ( sigh ) entertain us for an hour and a quarter.
We ended the evening back at Riverhaven RV Park with a relaxing campfire.
Friday ; Another lovely, sunny, warm day. Whew ... the Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally is over. And, in our opinion, it was an excellent rally. We prepared an excellent plan, and we executed it flawlessly. We deserve a pat on the back !
This morning while I began preparing New Orleans French Quarter Café de Monde café au lait Joanne drove into Hedley to pick up our custom order of 100 freshly made small beignets at The Hitching Post Restaurant. The members of the group ate their beignets, drank their café au lait, prepared for departure, and took off. Some of them went boondocking for a few days to a new B.C. Forest Services campground nearby. Before they left I had a photo taken of the group that I declared to be the new Chapter 33 "589 Club". Those brave souls who exhibited the courage to tackle the 589 stairs down to the Mascot Gold Mine and back up. Joanne and I cleaned up and put away the remaining equipment, tidied up the campground, then prepared ourselves for departure.
Back home at Riverside RV Park Resort we got set up in our lot, had lunch ... then took a very long and well deserved nap.
Victoria Day long weekend / Keremeos Rodeo / Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally
Saturday ; YEE-HAW ! Today was the first day of the 71st annual Keremeos Rodeo. And it was a partially sunny, warm day, a nice day to be sitting outdoors at the rodeo.
Late this morning our Escapee friends Ron and Mary arrived to spend the weekend with us before the Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally which Joanne and I are hosting. Ron and Mary are our rally co-hosts and mentors. After lunch we headed into Keremeos for the rodeo. This is our third time attending the Keremeos Rodeo. We quite like it. The first rodeo we ever attended was the Keremeos Rodeo two years ago. We went to the rodeo that first time not really expecting to enjoy it, but we were pleasantly surprised. We particularly like the barrel racing and the bull riding. This place is turning me into such a redneck. HA HA HA !
After the rodeo we returned home where we sat in our screen tent gazebo with Ron and Mary chatting about our winter adventure in Mexico. Mary prepared supper for all of us. While eating supper in Ron's and Mary's rig we noticed some of our neighbours staring intently at something across the highway. We didn't see it, but it was a bear.
Sunday ; YEE-HAW ! Today was Day 2 of the rodeo. And a sunny, very warm day.
This morning we sat outside at our picnic table and reviewed our plans for the upcoming Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally with Ron and Mary. Afterwards I showed them the Arpa Mágica ( MA heeka ) / Magic Harp I bought from a Chiapas Indian in Palenque, Mexico. Because he is a musician Ron has an electronic tuning device. He helped me tune my harp using it.
After lunch we headed to the fairgrounds for the rodeo. It was a lovely day to be sitting outdoors watching the rodeo events. And at the end of the two day rodeo, there were no injured animals and no injured cowboys, so that's a measure of success. The Keremeos Rodeo always ends with a big barbecue in Memorial Park in town. But the rodeo ended a bit sooner than usual, and we felt it was a bit too early to have supper. So we went to the Royal Canadian Legion Hall ( for my American friends / readers, that's the Canadian version of your V.F.W. ) in Keremeos and chatted while sharing a pitcher of beer before walking over to Memorial Park for a great barbecued steak dinner.
After supper we returned home to watch the three hour season finale of Survivor.
Monday ; Victoria Day ; Today was sunny and warm. It became windy late in the evening.
Every Victoria Day there is a parade in Keremeos, followed by lawnmower races all afternoon out at the fairgrounds. The lawnmower races are the third and last day of the Keremeos Rodeo. Ron and Mary were not interested in going to either the parade or the lawnmower races, and since Joanne and I have attended both events the last couple of years, we chose to miss them as well. We spent a relaxing day, enjoying the nice weather, chatting with Ron and Mary in our screen tent / gazebo, walking around the park and along the river. Joanne, Ron, and Mary went into town in the afternoon for some last minute grocery shopping for items we need for the SKP Rally which starts tomorrow. Joanne made supper for all of us. I hitched Lanoire to Harvey and did some preparations for departure tomorrow morning.
Tuesday ; Today had very variable weather, from sunny and warm, to partially cloudy, cool, and windy. It even rained for about half an hour in the afternoon.
This morning we prepared for departure and set off for the Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally which we are hosting. We drove ... about 15 km. west to Riverhaven RV Park at Hedley. We got set up in our site, then spent a few hours playing rally hosts, getting people into campsites, set up, and registered upon their arrival. We have 16 RV rigs, and one couple in a motel room, for a total attendance of 34 people. That's a great turn-out for a Chapter 33 Rally. One more couple is expected to arrive tomorrow. The rally "theme" is "New Orleans On The Similkameen". At 4:00 P.M. Joanne began her Cajun cooking class which resulted in a Jambalaya dinner for 34 people at 6:00 P.M.. Joanne's planning for, and preparation of, the Jambalaya dinner was superb ! Well done, my dear. After supper we had a campfire with a "Zydeco" theme. I played Zydeco music CD's, and told two stories ; the story of "Cajun" and the story of "Zydeco".
I was surprised and very annoyed by the amount of "arm chair quarterbacking" I was subjected to as rally host ! HEY ... when it's your turn to be rally host ... then it can get done your way. Until then ... **** off ! Nevertheless, it seemed that everyone was very pleased with the first day of the rally. The campground is great ! And in the bigger picture, our rally plan and execution were great !
Wednesday ; WHEW ... I'm typing this close to midnight, it's been a long day, and we're tired ! Today was the second day of hosting the Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally. It went very well. The rally is now half over. We're looking forward to the completion of the rally.
We awoke early this morning to have us and everybody else ready for the 8:30 A.M. departure to the Mascot Gold Mine Tour. The Upper Similkameen Indian Band, who operate the Mascot Gold Mine Tour, picked us up in their small bus right here at Riverhaven RV Park. I had made these group tour arrangements with the Upper Similkameen Indian Band's Director Of Operations who was also our bus driver and tour guide today. And he did an excellent job ! He drove us a few km. from the RV park into Hedley, to the Snaza'ist Centre, the headquarters of the Mascot Gold Mine Tour. In the Snaza'ist Centre we watched a short video presentation on the Mascot Mine, the Snaza'ist Centre, Hedley, and the Similkameen Valley. We got back on the bus to begin the exciting ride up Nickel Plate Mine Road, up the back side of Stemwinder Mountain, Nickel Plate Mountain, and Apex Mountain until we were at the top of Stemwinder Mountain overlooking the town of Hedley more than 4000 feet below. On the ride up the very narrow, steep, winding dirt road we saw a lot of deer and a Bald Eagle.
Our tour guide parked the bus and we walked about a km. downhill to the edge of Nickel Plate Mountain directly above Hedley. It was cold up there ... about 30 degrees colder than the valley temperature of 60 degrees. It was snowing lightly for awhile ! At the cliff edge, we began ( sigh ) climbing down the 589 stairs to the mine entrance. We toured around some of the mine's buildings perched precariously on the steep side of the mountain before heading underground into the gold mine. Joanne and I had never been inside a mine before. It was quite an interesting experience.
The Mascot Gold Mine began operation in 1935. It has been closed for many years. In 1995 the Upper Similkameen Indian Band acquired it from Heritage B.C. ( the provincial government's historical preservation department ) and began refurbishing it. They have been conducting these mine tours since 2004.
After walking about 200 meters / 600 feet underground we turned off our miner's helmet lights and had a "sound and light" show inside the mine tunnel, recreating the sounds and dancing shadow lights simulating what it was like to be a miner working underground in a gold mine. Very well done ! We walked back to the surface and ( huge sigh ) began climbing the 589 stairs back to the top. At the top of the stairs we sat down at a small picnic table shelter to eat our picnic lunches before ( another huge sigh ) the one kilometre uphill hike back to the bus. On the bus ride back down we stopped at a scenic viewpoint area to take some pictures overlooking the Similkameen Valley. This particular spot is a favourite of ours, and we usually take anyone who visits us there.
On the remaining trip down the mountain by bus our group decided that I should prepare some New Orleans French Quarter Café du Monde café au lait for them as soon as we got back to the RV park. That was supposed to be part of our special New Orleans French Quarter Hitch Up Breakfast on Friday morning. Okay ! While I prepared café au lait Joanne prepared for her 4:00 P.M. Cajun cooking class. Her Cajun Pistolettes cooking class went well, and was well received. She produced three dozen pistolettes which was our contribution to tonight's "finger food potluck". After the potluck dinner we had our campfire featuring Mississippi Delta Blues music. I told two Cajun stories / history lessons. I told a story explaining "Courir de Mardi Gras" ( Fat Tuesday Run ... actually a horseback ride ) and explained the Cajun phrase of hope "lache pas la patate ( don't let go of the potato ).
Thursday ; Today was sunny and warm, a lovely day. This morning was our SKP Rally's traditional pancake breakfast. What an amazing amount of bitching because we only bought 48 sausages to feed 34 people. Get over it, people ! ! ! After the pancake breakfast was our chapter's annual general meeting. Afterwards while people relaxed and enjoyed the fine weather Joanne cleaned, sorted, rearranged, and labelled the contents of the chapter's utility trailer full of miscellaneous equipment. Her lasting legacy to Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33. I worked on a minor repair on the trailer.
After lunch some of our group left for a golf outing in Princeton. Some played card games. Some sat around enjoying the lovely weather. I downloaded and processed the photos I took yesterday on the Mascot Gold Mine Tour. I did an obedience session with Bo. And ... I squeezed in a short nap before spending the rest of the afternoon sitting around socializing.
At 5:30 P.M. Ron loaded his musical equipment into the back of our truck and we headed for The Hitching Post Restaurant in Hedley. Less than a week ago I sent an e-mail to the owner of the restaurant to confirm our group dinner reservation and ask if he could prepare at least one of the three entrée offerings on our prix fixe menu as a Cajun dish, in keeping with our rally theme of "New Orleans On The Similkameen". Upon arrival at the restaurant I was thrilled to find that he had prepared all three menu items as Cajun dishes ; a Cajun Halibut dish, a Blackened Steak dish, and a Jambalaya over noodles dish. Jambalaya over noodles was certainly a creative twist. And ... the meals were superb ! ! ! Dessert was a freshly baked home made apple, rhubarb, and strawberry crumble. The owners of The Hitching Post certainly are good at what they do ! ! ! After dinner, it was time for ( sigh ) our Chapter 33 musicians to get up on the restaurant's small stage and ( sigh ) entertain us for an hour and a quarter.
We ended the evening back at Riverhaven RV Park with a relaxing campfire.
Friday ; Another lovely, sunny, warm day. Whew ... the Escapees B.C. Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally is over. And, in our opinion, it was an excellent rally. We prepared an excellent plan, and we executed it flawlessly. We deserve a pat on the back !
This morning while I began preparing New Orleans French Quarter Café de Monde café au lait Joanne drove into Hedley to pick up our custom order of 100 freshly made small beignets at The Hitching Post Restaurant. The members of the group ate their beignets, drank their café au lait, prepared for departure, and took off. Some of them went boondocking for a few days to a new B.C. Forest Services campground nearby. Before they left I had a photo taken of the group that I declared to be the new Chapter 33 "589 Club". Those brave souls who exhibited the courage to tackle the 589 stairs down to the Mascot Gold Mine and back up. Joanne and I cleaned up and put away the remaining equipment, tidied up the campground, then prepared ourselves for departure.
Back home at Riverside RV Park Resort we got set up in our lot, had lunch ... then took a very long and well deserved nap.
DSK
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