June 27th to 29th - Spokane

June 27^th – Thurs – Spokane

When we were coming back yesterday, the dreaded “check engine” light came on in the truck.  It was accompanied by a “service exhaust system” light & message.  This has happened a couple of other times over the nearly 3 years that we have had the truck and mechanics could never find anything wrong so they cleared the lights.

After breakfast we went to a Chev dealer (Autonation) to have it checked out again.  They were full up and said they could not help us unless we came back tomorrow and left the truck for several hours.  We continued on the Becker Buick who were also busy but the service manager hooked up the diagnostic equipment to clear the lights.  He cleared the “check engine” light but could not find a problem or clear the other light.  So we continued on to Camp Chevrolet (“check engine” light came back on) where the front line guy said that first thing they would top up the DEF even though no indicators said it was low.  So we went to their parts department and put in 2 ½ gallons of fluid.  We made on more stop at a golf store and as we were driving back the “exhaust system” light went out!

We came back to the rig where I made a late lunch/early dinner.  Then we went to another casino.  On the way back the warning light came on again.

June 28^th – Fri

Terry went to George Gee Chev early this morning to see what they had to say about the message on our truck.  I used the time to request “no mail” from junk that we received when we picked up our mail.  George Gee was able to run more diagnostics and were still not totally convinced what the problem was but figured it had to be the pump so Terry told them to go ahead and order one.  The mechanic told Terry that without a fix the system would slow the truck to 55 mph so on the way home on the freeway Terry exceeded the speed limit by a lot and the darn lights both went out!!  He called and told the guy at George Gee and they decided to go ahead with the pump if it arrived in time.

I made a late breakfast and finished getting laundry ready to go.  We had to stop at a grocery store on the way as I forgot to include the detergent.  We picked up some produce and then saw a good price on baby backs so decided that’s what we would have for dinner.  While I was doing the laundry, Terry got the truck washed and checked the mail.

After we put everything away and made the bed, we went across the parking lot to the Elks lodge to have a drink.  We ended up chatting with some nice people.  Dinner & TV filled the rest of the evening.

June 29^th – Sat

The largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament in the world (?) takes place here in Spokane and starts today.  Weather forecasters warned of high temperatures and keeping hydrated.  Surprise – Mother Nature decided to do the hydrating.  It poured last night and on and off most of the day.

We puttered around most of the morning – I got more recipes transferred to new cards – and then went for lunch.  We made one quick stop and then went to visit Terry’s brother Gary and his new wife Clare.

They live on Long Lake which is northwest of Spokane but you hardly realize that you leave Spokane until a few miles from their house.  Even though it was still drizzly, it was comfortable sitting out on the covered deck to enjoy the lake, a glass of wine and 2 more fun people.  Gary’s large English water spaniel Stormy thought we were there just to visit him.  Clare put together burgers for dinner with help from Gary on the BBQ.  We shook hands with Clare when we arrived and hugged a new friend when we left – welcome to our crazy family!

June 23rd to 26th - to Spokane

June 23^rd – Sun - Sandpoint

The weather co-operated for our golf game at StoneRidge today.  They have a deal for $44.95 per person for golf, cart and a meal.  We ate about 11:30 before golfing so Terry had breakfast and the rest of us had good lunches.  The golf course is in great condition and has many interesting – make that “challenging” – holes.  I get tired and struggle with the last 5 holes which was the case today.  Terry just plain struggled!!!

We had put stroganoff in the crock pot so Kathy & I had an easy dinner.  The weather was still lovely so we were able to sit out on the deck with a drink before dinner.  There are lots of bald eagles in the area and little swallows were quite upset that we were sitting so close to their nest.

Skip & Kathy’s neighbors came over to introduce themselves.  They are from Alberta and still farm so haven’t spent too much time here.

After dinner we played cards again.  I was very lucky and won both Wizard and Three to Thirteen.

June 24^th – Mon - to Spokane

We didn’t have far to go today so we had coffee and Kathy made a nice breakfast.  Terry put everything that we had taken into the house into the back of the truck and we were off.  We got a site at the Elks club just north of I90 on Pines.  We were smart enough to try the satellite dish before setting up as the host is familiar with a tree that can interfere with the reception.  I did a bit of cleaning as I put everything back where it belongs.

First order of business was to pick up our mail.  Then we went across the street to get license tabs for both rigs.  We continued on to Costco and of course found several items that we needed.

Terry’s phone totally died – actually would just keep “rebooting” – so we stopped at the new big Verizon store at the Spokane Valley Mall.  We left there quite a while later with 2 new phones and a mophie which is a battery charger.

I turned leftover pork tenderloin into pulled pork sandwiches for an easy dinner.  This left us lots of time to play with the new toys.

June 25^th – Tues

I sent a text message to Gloria yesterday – just because I could! – and found out that they were in Ritzville for the night.  They were coming through Spokane this morning so Gloria asked if we could meet for breakfast.  Of course!!!!  We met them at IHOP, had a nice breakfast & gabfest, hugged goodbye and they continued on their way back to Minnesota.The plug in the truck for the cable to the 5^th wheel has a broken piece that is supposed to lock the cable in place.  Terry has been using zip ties to secure the cable as we couldn’t find a replacement when we were travelling with Bill & Georgia earlier this spring.  We went to an auto parts store and bought a plug and then stopped at Verizon again.  Since contacts could not be pulled from Terry’s phone, he was supposed to get contacts from my phone via gmail.  This didn’t work so a Verizon employee copied contacts from my phone to his and we were on our way to Northern Quest casino.  First we had to return the plug which was not the same as the old one.

It started to pour just as we parked so we made a mad dash for the doors.  Terry once again found a slot machine that was nice to him so we were able to gamble for many hours.  We took a break to use a 30% discount for a late lunch.  We still had time when we got back to try to figure out the phones and found a bit of a mess with Terry’s contacts.

June 26^th – Wed

We puttered around with all sorts of things this morning – copied some papers, ran out of ink and luckily had new cartridges; tried & tried to print recipes on cards and finally realized the problem was the way I was using Print Shop and not the printer; filled out rebate forms;  and requested “no more junk mail” from several companies.  I finally made a big breakfast for lunch.

When we got going, we went to Great Clips for a haircut for me and then returned to Verizon where we decided to wait for Matthew who sold us the phones.  He was a bit baffled by the contacts on Terry’s phone so he cleared his phone, got most of the contacts from gmail and then used a Bluetooth connection to move missing contacts from my phone to Terry’s.  Not elegant but it worked.  We went to Dick’s to look at golf clubs and then stopped at WalMart for more items than we knew we needed.

After we unloaded and put everything away, I put out some veggies & dip to snack on with a drink.  Hamburgers were then ample for dinner.  I got the recipes to print correctly and spent quite a bit of time entering & printing.  I got a new recipe box & cards and will put everything in the computer and neatly print them on cards.  I soon discovered that I will be leaving out recipes that I haven’t used for years.

June 20th to 22nd - Sandpoint ID

June 20^th - Thurs – to Sandpoint ID

It was pouring rain this morning which is not the best condition for everyone to pack up & leave.  We were all wearing rain jackets and splashing through puddles to hug goodbye.  Moe & Trish left first and we caught up to them at a public dump station which we were all going to use before hitting the road.

We crossed the border at Christina Lake and had to hand over tomatoes and a bell pepper.  We stopped at a casino in Chewelah for lunch and of course to gamble a bit.  Terry did OK again while I carried on with my losing ways! 

We had to call Terry’s brother Skip to get directions to their house.  Too bad we didn’t call before we had to turn around in a cul-de-sac!  We arrived about 4:30 so it was soon time to sit down with drinks and talk, talk, talk.  We had a wonderful dinner with halibut caught by Skip.  We finally went to bed about 11:30 which is late for all of us old people. 

June 21^st – Fri

The weather continued cool & drizzly so Skip suggested heading to a casino which we did after having breakfast and finishing a load of laundry.  We went to Bonner’s Ferry 20-25 minutes north of here.  It is a nice facility with 3 separate slot areas.  We all wandered & gambled until close to 5 when Skip bought a round of drinks since he was “the big winner”!

We stopped at a grocery store on the way home to get some items for dinner.  We didn’t eat lunch so Kathy put out some snacks to eat with a drink.  We played a game of Wizard and were amazed to see that it was 10 when we put dinner on the table!

June 22^nd – Sat

It was nicer this morning so after coffee & muffins, we went to a street market in Sandpoint.  There were some very talented “crafters” and we enjoyed wandering around.  Next we strolled downtown and went to Coldwater Creek where Kathy & I shopped and the guys rested.  We checked out a few other stores before finding a place to have lunch.  We sat outside with a view of the river.

We were happy to see that there was no parking ticket on the car when we returned as we had been there much longer than the 2 hour limit.  We stopped again for some groceries on the way home.  Kathy & I did some prep for tomorrow’s dinner and we all settled into some serious card playing.  We played Wizard again and then they taught us a new game called Three to Thirteen which is a lot of fun.  Look out VVV card players!!  We also taught S&K the game that we learned from Dennis & Gloria where you pay 5 cents for each card left in your hand.

Skip used the rotisserie on the BBQ to cook a chicken to perfection for another great dinner.  We even had time for more cards after dinner and got to bed at a reasonable hour.

June 15th to 19th - Rock Creek & Jewel Lake

June 15^th – Sat – to Rock Creek

We had a short drive today.  We stopped to check out a farmer’s market in Rock Creek and wandered through “Rags, Relics & Rutabagas” which is a building stuffed with every collectible – and not so collectible – whatnot imaginable.  It started as a museum but then everyone brought in “stuff’ and it became mostly a consignment store.  We went across the street and had a very nice lunch at a rustic eatery where we sat at an outside table.

We carried on a few miles to Kettle Valley RV and checked into a pull-through site.  We went to the golf course across the road, made a tee time for tomorrow and then continued along Hwy 3 to Greenwood where we stopped at the visitor center to get directions to Jewel Lake.

There was a fishing derby at Jewel Lake so the campground was packed with vehicles but we found the owners – Jim & Caroline Harrison – and chatted for a while.  Jim & Caroline have a park model across the street from Julie & Larry in Val Vista Villages.  Darlene & Bob have stayed here a couple of times so Darlene put together a group to camp here for 4 nights starting tomorrow.

Back at our RV park, I cleaned the inside of the truck as I just couldn’t take the dust any longer.  After dinner, we wandered around the lovely lawn at the back of the RV park and enjoyed watching the river for a bit.

June 16^th – Sun – to Jewel Lake

Our tee time this morning was at 10 so we had time for a bite to eat and to pack up.  When we registered here, we mentioned that we might golf today so the lady at the office marked us for “late departure” so we didn’t have to maneuver the rig into the golf course parking lot.

The golf course is in very nice shape and we enjoyed our game once Terry settled down and found a few fairways.  Unfortunately, I ended up worse than I started.

I had left sandwich makings where I could access them with the slides in as we planned to park at a big empty area in Greenwood to have lunch.  As we entered Greenwood we saw Moe & Trish’s motor home parked on the side of the road so we circled the block, parked and walked over to where they were eating lunch.  We ended up eating there as well.

Even before we got our lunch, Darlene & Bob and Ron & Terri drove into town.  They parked a ways down and came back for a round of hugs & greetings before they went back to a pub for their lunch.  We and Moe & Trish went to the large parking area to wait for the others and to kill time until our arrival time of 2 at the RV park.  Caroline had asked us to wait until then as the fishing derby ended today and they needed time for everyone to leave after it wrapped up.  The road up to the lake is paved but narrow, steep and winding so we didn’t want to meet tons of traffic coming out.  We did meet quite a few rigs but Caroline had warned them that we were on our way.

We all set up in an area where we have lots of room for a communal gathering place between us and Moe & Trish.  We moved some picnic tables, set out lawn chairs and it was time for happy hour.  We were almost done when Dennis & Gloria and Julie & Larry drove in.  They will be staying in cabins just down the road.

 Trish & Moe and Darlene & Bob were responsible for dinner tonight so the rest of us just got to relax.  There is no burn ban here so we enjoyed a big fire.  Moe & Terry did the most “relaxing” and were the last to head for their beds.

June 17^th – Mon

Darlene had made tee times at the Kettle Valley golf course for tomorrow but the weather forecast yesterday made her change the reservations to today.  After Dennis & Gloria, Moe, and Ron & Terri came over for coffee, we decided to pick up some firewood that we had seen along the road when we came in.  Terry, Ron, Darlene, Gloria & I went in our truck and discovered that the nice rounds were from a green tree so we ended up picking up a bunch of dry limbs.  We just had time to unload the wood and load golf clubs before we had to leave again.

We all rented golf carts, loaded up & headed out.  Terry & Ron went first followed by me, Terri & Darlene.  Bringing up the rear were Dennis & Gloria and Moe & Trish.  We all had a great time.

Jim told us we could use a big shelter which sounded good after a bit of rain last night and the continued ugly weather forecast.  Six of us went to a different camping area to carry back the PVC frame – one for each leg.  Then we put on the plastic tarp roof, fastened it down and drove in some big nails so the whole thing won’t crash into Moe & Trish’s motor home if the wind comes up.

Dinner tonight was provided by Terri & Ron and Julie & Larry with some leftover ham from Trish.  Ron cooked a small turkey on their BBQ and Julie & I spent some time at their cabin cooking & mashing potatoes.  Caroline loaned Julie a golf cart to go back & forth from the cabins to our area which has come in very handy.  The rain held off for dinner & a fire.

June 18^th – Tues

Ron & Terri were the last to leave last night and luckily they put all the chairs under the shelter as it rained during the night.  Terry asked me to make jelly biscuits this morning and then only Moe and Dennis & Gloria showed up for coffee and they had all had some breakfast – but they helped us with the biscuits anyhow.  I put together 2 pans of potato casserole as it is our turn for dinner with help from Dennis & Gloria.

About 10 we went to Greenwood with Dennis & Gloria.  Gloria just wanted to wander around the little town and I needed something for dessert tonight.  We wandered, had lunch, picked up whipping cream and came back.  I made dessert – cookies & cream – before some of us walked around the campground.  While we were gone to Greenwood, Bob & Darlene went fishing, Ron & Terri did some work and then went to Greenwood and Moe & Trish went on a short hike.

We had some time to kill so we and Dennis & Gloria played Ponytail Canasta.  When you are as lucky as the guys you don’t have to be good card players!!

Before we settled in for happy hour, the guys moved the 3 picnic tables under the shelter which was enough to keep the rain away.  Terry cooked pork tenderloin on 2 barbeques, Gloria cooked both pans of potatoes in the large oven in her cabin and I made a big salad.  Trish added some carrots to leftovers from her dinner and provided peas & carrots.

Thanks to Terry’s overestimating, we had lots of food for dinner but I was amazed at how few potatoes were left.  Some of us tried singing around the fire so I finally took out the tablet & speaker.  A few of us even did one line dance!

June 19^th – Wed

It looks as if the rain has settled in.  Everyone was moving slower this morning and did their own thing for a while.  Finally we all agreed to go to Grand Forks for lunch and maybe a bit of sightseeing.  But first we had to wait while Moe & Terry had showers as they both had antifreeze on them from fixing a leak under Moe’s motor home.

Julie was not feeling well so she & Larry stayed in their cabin to read.  Darlene gave us walkie talkies so our little 3 car caravan could find a pub for lunch but it didn’t take long for the hills and curves of the road to break up the signal.  We ended up at the pub which had been recommended by someone and had good lunches.  It was still raining so we and Moe & Trish decided we would just come back.

We cleaned tables, chairs and barbeques and packed up what belonged to us.  Caroline offered the use of a large room by the office for our dinner tonight so Moe & Terry carried a couple of tables over there.

I was working on the blog when Moe came back to say that we were going to play cards at Dennis & Gloria’s cabin so I got the Wizard game and our booze bag and headed over.  Moe won the first game and I won the second and by that time others were joining us.  Trish made spaghetti sauce yesterday so we were heating it and cooking the noodles in the cabin.  Terri brought some rolls to be warmed in the oven and Trish made a Caesar salad.  Jim & Caroline joined us for dinner again as well as their employee Benita.  They offered the use of their plates & cutlery which we accepted once we knew they could be put in a dishwasher.  A fine dinner was followed by birthday cake for dessert.  Gloria had bought the cake for any of us (me included) whose birthday is not in a month when we are all together in Mesa.  Dennis washed up all the cooking pots so we could sit and have a nightcap with them before dodging raindrops on the way back to the rig.

June 12th to 14th - the Okanogan

June 12^th – Wed

We had coffee & breakfast before leaving for Kelowna to shop and see Ernie & Dianne.  But first we made a stop at a visitor center to use their wifi to check email and post the blog.  We found that our email contact list had been hacked and everyone was sent a link for a weight loss program.  I sure hope our friends don’t think we were sending a subtle hint!!!!  It took a while to deal with 127 emails – deleting stuff and responding to anyone who questioned the hacked email.  We also did a quick check of bank accounts and all was well there.

We called Ernie & Dianne when we were in West Kelowna (Westbank to old timers) and Dianne asked if we wanted to meet them for lunch in the casino.  Silly question!  We had time to gamble a bit before they found us.  We had a good lunch and a nice long visit.  The restaurant in the casino is very nice.

We gambled some more and then went to Costco for a few items.  By this time we were ready to head back.  Traffic over the bridge was not as bad as we thought it might be.  We hadn’t quite decided what to do for dinner with Aunt Jessie and after a drink and chatting we decided to eat the leftovers from last night rather than go out.  This was partly decided when we said we were leaving tomorrow and Aunt Jessie didn’t want to eat leftovers for several days.

June 13^th – Thurs

We didn’t have to get a really early start so I washed the sheets before we left.  Actually, Aunt Jessie put them in the dryer when we made another trip to the visitor center to check email again.  No new ugly stuff so I just looked after more responses & cleaned things up.

We were going to go to Vancouver via the Coquihalla as we have never travelled the portion from Merritt to Hope but decided that was a lot of miles for three days.  So we headed back to Kelowna thinking we could visit some more friends there.  We went to one really bad RV park and said no thanks.  A little further down Lakeshore Drive was a nicer park but the $62 (plus tax) price per night was a little too steep.

We decided to do the rest of our grocery shopping and went to a Superstore which took a while as I was out of quite a few staple items.  We stashed everything as best we could with the slides in, tried to decide where to go and ended up heading south again!  On our numerous trip up & down Hwy 97, Terry had noticed a park that he liked so that is where we ended up.  It is Gallagher Lake Resort between Okanogan Falls & Oliver and the $39 price was better.  There aren’t many rigs in here and we didn’t check out the trees before we put up the satellite so we don’t get many channels but it is very clean & organized.

We didn’t have lunch due to our indecision so after setting up I immediately started boiling baby backs for a treat on the BBQ.   After dinner we took a walk through the lower portion of the park to a little lake and just relaxed.

June 14^th – Fri

We did something this morning that we haven’t done in this rig – we had coffee in bed and watched TV.  There were some shows on TV that we didn’t get in the living room and we didn’t have to be anywhere so we ended up having leftover rice & Roger’s Golden syrup for breakfast in bed also!

We needed propane so Terry loaded the tank and we went north where we found a station just past Okanogan Falls.  There was only one employee and a lot of people getting fuel so we had to wait until everyone finished & paid before he could lock the door and fill our tank and another one that was there before us.  No schedule, no worries!

We continued on to Penticton to – of all things – a casino that we haven’t been to previously.  We spent a few hours there – Terry lost his allowance and I broke even which is kind of like winning sometimes.  We stopped at a grocery store to buy shredded frozen hash browns that we couldn’t get yesterday.  Once again we didn’t have lunch so we headed back thinking about steaks on the BBQ.

After dinner we went for a walk to the lake again.  We were sitting at a picnic table watching some young people in a couple of inflatable rafts when the father of a couple of them came over and we started chatting.  He (Darryl) & his wife (Wendy) have just retired and are thinking about going somewhere for a couple of months this winter so of course we had to tell him about Val Vista Villages & Mesa.  He ended up coming back with us to get phone numbers and a brochure.  It would be nice to introduce them to the retirement lifestyle that we enjoy.

June 6th to 11th - Pemberton & Summerland

June 6^th – Thurs

We finished loading everything up in Marg’s motor home – including the desk that we cleaned out – and were on the road about 10.  As Terry was checking our rig after we hooked up, pulled in the slides and drove off the leveling boards, he noticed that our spare tire was gone!!  The wind-up cable that secures the tire was still all the way wound up so we have no idea how it came off or where.  I was very nervous about driving without a spare so Terry agreed that we should see if we could get a new tire in 100 Mile.  Marg had a couple of errands to run and ended up leaving town while we were still waiting for the tire to be mounted on a rim.  Of course, we had a mag wheel on the spare just like the other tires and now have a plain white rim.  Marg & Aunt Jessie waited for us at Hat Creek Ranch and then we followed them to a picnic area just out of Lillooet for lunch.

There wasn’t too much traffic on the Duffy Lake road but it is definitely winding & hilly.  I managed to get a picture of the sign for a 13% grade but missed the sign for the 15% grade.  We arrived at brother Bob’s farm in Pemberton about 3:45, pulled in behind the root house and set up.  Not long after, our brother Doug arrived from Port McNeil on Vancouver Island and it was time for everyone to relax with a drink. We were able to sit outside without too many mosquito bites.

Bob is not a very good housekeeper so Aunt Jessie HAD to start cleaning while Marg & I made dinner.  We had just finished eating when the minister, Dave, arrived for a meeting to discuss the “Celebration of Life” for Dad.  We all decided that it would be very informal (and not religious) and had a hard time trying to figure out Dave’s role.  He kept asking questions until we had a rough agenda.  A good friend, Allan, was also there and will give the eulogy so we had to help him with information and ended up with many stories and actually lots of laughs.

June 7^th – Fri

Bob had eaten breakfast and fed his cows by the time we had coffee and headed to the house.  Marg waylaid us on the way and asked if we would make her a cup of coffee while she got dressed.  Aunt Jessie had eaten and was ready to start cleaning again so after a bit I helped her clean the bathroom and part of the kitchen.  I put a big beef roast in the crock pot for dinner.

We had some shopping to do  for the gathering tomorrow so we, Marg & Aunt Jessie went to town in our truck and Doug rode his bike – nearly 10 miles but it is all flat and he is used to a lot of hills.  We took a little detour through some very nice houses on a hill above town, discovered that the liquor store was not in the old spot and stopped at the hardware store to get a BBQ for Bob.  We found the liquor store and were still figuring out what to buy when Doug joined us.  Then we all traipsed over to the grocery store and spent quite a bit of time getting what we needed there.  It was 1:30 by now so we went to McDonalds for lunch.

Back at the farm we unloaded everything, Terry helped Bob put the BBQ together and I loaded some music on the tablet before making gravy.  Friends Toni & Micheal from 100 Mile arrived with their little dog Poppy and we all sat outside to enjoy a drink.  There are mosquitoes but luckily for me they like other people better.

We had a great dinner and others did the dishes – perfect again.  Marg, Toni, Micheal, Jessie & Doug went for a walk, Terry & Bob watched TV and I messed with the tablet before joining a group in the house.

 

June 8^th – Sat

Showers threatened this morning so Bob borrowed & set up a couple of pop-up shelters just in case.  We continued with some cleaning, prepared plates of snacks and set up our picture boards.  We had a late breakfast so we wouldn’t be too hungry waiting until after the service to eat again.  We just had time to change clothes before the first people arrived when were still trying to get tables organized.   The organized part of the afternoon was supposed to start at 1:00 but it was a bit late as people were still arriving.

I had a hard time recognizing people that I haven’t seen for anywhere from 10 to 30 years.  Our Aunt Barbara Mitchell arrived from Sardis with 2 of her sons – Russell and Andy (with his wife Colleen).  Another cousin Wayne Becker and his wife Patti came from Chilliwack.  Our elementary school teacher (grade 1 for me) Norma Fraser also made a long trip.  Doug’s son Dennis, his wife Nina and their 7 month old daughter Adele also came from Port McNeil. Marg’s good friends Francis & Nicole came from 100 Mile and will stay overnight in their camper. Marg managed a partial count and somewhere between 55 & 70 people were there to pay their respects.

The weather co-operated and the sun broke through partway through the eulogy.  Of course it was very emotional so it is a good thing that Marg stocked up on Kleenex!

Lots of people stuck around to eat the platters of food contributed by many people.  Naturally we provided a cooler of beer and lots of wine.  A few people stuck around to join us for hamburgers for dinner cooked on Bob’s new BBQ.

June 9^th – Sun

I went to the house fairly early to get a rhubarb cake in the oven and then came back to join Marg, Francis, Nicole, Terry & Toni for coffee.  I decided to make breakfast burritos and Aunt Jessie made a fruit salad for breakfast.  Toni & Micheal left for their trip home and we coordinated the rest of “the group” for a drive up the valley to bury Dad’s ashes beside Mom in a small cemetery.  Nothing like the informality of a small community!

At the gravesite were us 4 “kids”; Terry; Dennis, Nina & Adele; Bob’s son Trevor & girlfriend Sara; very good friends of Dad Don & Mary Millerd who were unable to attend yesterday;  Francis & Nicole; and Aunt Jessie.  The cemetery custodian had marked the site boundaries with small stakes and we actually buried the ashes and reset the headstone.  He also allowed us to place one of Dad’s metal flowers on the site as it could be removed and replaced easily for mowing.  This blog entry may seem a little odd & morbid but although many tears were shed it was actually a good ceremony.

Francis & Nicole left for 100 Mile when we got back, Don & Mary came back with us to visit and ended up staying for lunch.  They had to go back to their home in Horseshoe Bay today so left soon after lunch.  Terry, Marg & I made a trip to town for some potatoes and also Cool Whip to go with the rhubarb cake.  We took the opportunity to take down some of the posters that Bob put up in town.  Doug took another ride on his bike, Aunt Jessie had a well deserved nap and Bob worked on some farm equipment.

We used up some leftovers to make Shepherd’s Pie for dinner and added a salad of already mixed greens so it wasn’t too strenuous.

June 10^th – Mon

The remaining 6 of us showed up for breakfast about 8.  We each did our own thing for the meal and then started gathering up stuff that had to go with us and making sure that Bob knew what was being left for him to use.  More tearful farewells – at least for Marg & I!! – and Terry & I and Aunt Jessie pulled out at 9.

We are taking Jessie home to Summerland and decided the best way with the 5^th  wheel would be back over the Duffy to Cache Creek, then onto Hwy 5 just out of Kamloops, over the Connector from Merritt and down Okanogan Lake to Summerland.  We stopped for diesel in Pemberton and dragged our bike rack on the steep slope which put holes in our bike cover.  We had lunch in Cache Creek and got more fuel in Merritt.  The 13% grades that we went down on Thursday really sucked up the diesel today and we are trying very hard not to run our tank so far down that we have to worry about where we will find a station.

We arrived at Aunt Jessie’s at 4 and Terry backed into her downhill, side-ways sloping driveway in one shot.  It didn’t take us long to set up and take our drinks inside to relax a bit.  Aunt Jessie took her car to get a few groceries and we went to find a car wash.  There were only a couple of basic, do-it-yourself washes so we just stopped at A&W to pick up chicken for dinner.  Yes, there is no Kentucky Fried here!!

After eating, we all went for a walk around a long block with one uphill side.  The weather was clear and the temperature perfect.  Aunt Jessie stopped to visit with some neighbors while we continued on, put up the satellite dish and plopped on the couch.

June 11^th – Tues

Aunt Jessie had been up for hours by the time we went inside with a cup of coffee about 8:30.  After a bite of breakfast, I put in a load of laundry and Terry checked out the laundry tub which w are going to replace.  Then we went shopping – first to the Home Hardware here in Summerland where there was a tub but it was quite flimsy so we continued on to Penticton.  We found a car wash to get most of the bugs & dirt off the truck and then went to Home Hardware where they had a better tub and taps and Aunt Jessie got some lawn fertilizer.  We made another stop to get mushroom manure, stopped at the grocery store back in Summerland and came home where I made sandwiches for lunch.

Terry didn’t have any problem putting in the new laundry tub – just the usual lack of space to work behind it as it is sandwiched between the washer & dryer.  I finished the first load of laundry and started another and then cut the old blooms off a lilac bush.  Aunt Jessie was puttering around in the house & garden so we spent some time in our rig watching TV and I wiped down a lot of the woodwork.

My cousin Kelly and his wife Sam joined us for dinner.  Aunt Jessie made a pork roast and Yorkshire pudding which was new for Terry – and very good.  We chatted for a while after dinner so we were all ready for bed when Kelly & Sam left around 9:30.

June 4th & 5th - 100 Mile House

June 4^th- Tues

Marg & Aunt Jessie were eating breakfast by the time we got in this morning as I had done a couple of extras with the chores.  Marg was a bit early as she had a meeting at 9:30 and had to run errands first.  Aunt Jessie started a batch of bread – yum!

Terry & I hooked up the new trailer and loaded junk to take to the dump.  There was a concrete sink that was so heavy that Terry had to break it up with a sledge hammer.  Marg had OK’d some items and on others I made the decision.  But we got to the point where Marg had to say aye or nay so we left it until she returned.  Terry moved Marg’s motor home from the barn to the front of the house so it could be cleaned for Thursday when we are all leaving for Pemberton.  I washed sheets, Aunt Jessie wiped everything & cleaned windows and I vacuumed.

When Marg got back, we had a short window of time before she had to go get a haircut so she helped us load up a bunch more excess “treasures”.

Terry & I took the load to the dump while Aunt Jessie got the cabbage rolls in the over and Marg got her haircut.  We stopped on the way back to return a borrowed license plate to Quille’s trailer since Marg picked up the plate for the new trailer.  Marg & I sorted through a desk that was Dad’s and is going back to Pemberton and then went through a dresser that also had Dad’s stuff with decisions to be made.

We were just finishing dinner when Francis & Nicole stopped by for a chat.  I don’t quite know how Nicole ended up doing dishes but I wasn’t going to complain!  Marg & I worked on spreadsheets for her taxes and we didn’t finish until after 11. 

June 5^th – Wed

Marg had a meeting & conference call this morning with a woman arriving at 10 so she cleaned off a table in the basement for all their paperwork.  I made a batch of rice krispie squares.  Terry & I took the ATV and first packed water for the lame ewe & her lamb – yes I added a small bucket and we both ended up with wet butts!  Then we took the chain saw to trim up limbs on a few trees.  BC Hydro trimmed branches that could fall on power lines but they left lower branches intact which is a really weird look and Marg thought Terry could stand on the ATV to get at higher branches.  Some branches were too high so we got the tractor and I lifted him in the bucket.  Then we found out that we did the wrong trees so we went back for a couple more.  We got the wagon, loaded up one batch of branches and dumped them by the burn pile.

By now Marg was finished with her meeting.  We finished our outside job just in time as it poured rain for about 10 minutes.  I made more squares before lunch and Aunt Jessie made date squares after lunch.  We filled the afternoon with cleaning, loading stuff in the motor home, doing the last spreadsheet for Marg, laundry, working on the jigsaw puzzle and visiting with Marg’s friends Bev & Diana.

Aunt Jessie cooked dinner again and Marg did dishes – perfect!

We are leaving for Pemberton tomorrow and I don’t know if I will have wifi available.  So no emails saying “why are you behind on your blog?”!

June 1st to 3rd - 100 Mile House

June 1^st – Sat

I spent more time looking & printing pictures and then going back to find the dates.  Can’t do everything in one pass!  I dumped out a new puzzle yesterday so Terry worked on it a bit even though he said the miserable puzzle we just finished was the last.

After a late breakfast and more puttering around, we went to Safeway to pick up some sale items and a few ingredients for dinner tomorrow.  We had lunch when we got back and since it wasn’t raining we decided we should do some mowing.  By the time I got outside and was plugging in the weed eater, Terry was mowing by the hay barn.  Mistake!!  He didn’t notice some big dips and the blades dug into dirt.  There was an unusual noise after that so we drove the mower up on the loading ramps on the new trailer so we could work on the mower deck.  Terry discovered a large metal piece that was broken in two spots so we tried unsuccessfully to get it out so we could order a new one.  Finally I suggested that we just drive the mower onto the trailer and take it to town where Marg bought it.  Luckily the store was still open so they lifted the mower off the trailer with a forklift and will order the part and make the repair – but it won’t be ready until next Saturday.

We were a little luckier in that we drove into town & back without getting stopped for no lights on the trailer as we don’t have the necessary adapter for the plug on the trailer.  It was still dry when we got back so we mowed the garden area & the rest of the yard with the push mower.  As we were taking the mower back to the garden, I felt a raindrop.

We were definitely ready for a drink before dinner.

June 2^nd – Sun

We took it easy with coffee & breakfast before we decided it was dry enough to do more mowing.  Terry mowed three strips by the firepit and ran out of gas.  Marg had emptied both gas cans in the boat when she went fishing so we had to go to town to get them filled.  At 1.41 per liter it is a bit of a shock that it costs $74 to fill 2 jerry cans.

Terry continued mowing and I got out the weed eater.  We were just finishing the side of the house when Marg & Aunt Jessie arrived.  

We saw a lame ewe so Marg decided that we should check her and count the sheep. Now was a good time as they were all in for a break from grazing.  We quickly opened & closed strategic gates – Terry had to move fast when the sheep decided they wanted to get the heck out – and had the sheep in a small pen in no time.  From there we let a few animals into a pen, got a separate count of ewes & lambs and used a rope to raise a small gate into a larger pen.  It is a pretty nifty setup which Marg can handle by herself when necessary.  When we finished, we had the lame ewe in a separate pen and we were short 6 lambs!  Terry took the ATV and found 7(!) lambs and a broken fence.  By then Marg had also seen the fence so while they were putting in 3 new posts, I was making dinner.  Marg can’t imagine what was big enough to do that much damage to the fence.

We brought up a couple of perfect pieces of hardboard –packing from the new laundry tub - for our photo display and Marg & I spent a lot of time finding pictures and laying it out.  This gave Terry time with Aunt Jessie which is good.

June 3^rd – Mon

I don’t know why the lamb of the lame ewe decided to wait until 4:00 am to start calling for mom!  The ewe has a croaky baa so it was quite a concert.  Luckily the lamb decided to go grazing with everyone else about 4:30 so I could get back to sleep.  When I was doing chores, I noticed that the lamb was back so I got Marg and we were able to get the lamb into a pen and then open it up to the ewe.

Aunt Jessie had breakfast ready by the time we got into the house.  We made a notice last night for Dad’s memorial service and had to email it to a couple of people since my brother Bob does not have a printer.  Amazing how long something like that can take especially since the internet connection was slow this morning.

Marg had a doctor appointment so we took Aunt Jessie to town for some groceries as Terry talked her into making cabbage rolls.  When Terry went to the liquor store, Jessie & I went to the Bargain Bin.  They didn’t have glue sticks so after we got groceries we HAD to go to the Dollar Store just down from the grocery store.

Marg beat us home so we carried everything in and Aunt Jessie made lunch.  We all did miscellaneous things in the afternoon – pictures, computer lessons, dismantling a sheep shelter, looking for recipes, jigsaw puzzle, phone calls.  Yesterday Marg brought home a nice, very pink trout that was caught in Logan Lake so I filleted & BBQ’d it for dinner.  Actually, Terry ate leftover pork chops & cabbage (his favorite) from last night.