5C's Que Pasa

We were finished unloading by noon yesterday – Saturday. While I continued to put things away inside the house, Colin cleaned the inside of the RV.

We are allowed to keep the RV out front for three days and our time was up today about 11AM today.  Every year I forget how much work it is to unload and to put all the stuff away. I  think it must be like having a baby ( I have never had one but I have assisted at several births ), after a short period of time you forget all the pain and look forward to the future.

All the RV laundry was done and so I went in and together we made the bed and put out the towels, etc.  All ready for the next trip.  There was no point in cleaning the outside but as you can see it is really dirty.  All that rain, snow and slush that we drove through.  I don’t know why Colin always has it cleaned before we leave the Isla but it does look so pretty all shiny and clean.  However the next adventure won’t be a fun one.  More of something along the lines of getting the windshield replaced re the crack we got in Tucson back in November, the annual service at Freightliner along with the exhaust leak repair and new RV tires.  We had planned to get new tires as soon as we got back to the US but Colin had priced them and they were about $250.00 less per tire in Canada.  Usually tires are cheaper in the US but that has obviously changed.  We checked with Loves’ in Vegas and again further enroute and were told that our tires were fine and would get us back to Canada.  $1500.00 saved is a good thing for us considering all the other costs we had as we traveled to the Isla last fall.

Not easy to see but the tread is quite worn.  It was not this bad when we left on March 15.  Not sure if there is an alignment issue.

The tire also looks square in places.  It is called cupping.

The fellow on one side of us has gotten even closer to our side in the storage area.

A very tight area to back in.

Done.

Next was the tricky part.  Our understanding is that we are in a voluntary self isolation for 14 days as per the government of Canada as we have been travelling outside of Canada.  We are in total agreement with that.  However it is also our understanding ( and we confirmed this with the border agent last Wednesday when we crossed into Canada ~ as long as we have no symptoms ) that we are allowed to go for a daily walk as long as we stay away from others. I also really need to exercise my knee.  We do live in an RV park with many people all around us.  Everyone here is practicing self isolation to protect themselves and others which is admirable. However is appears that there is no understanding of being able to go for a walk until your first 14 days are over.  In fact the park has even sent out in a few bulletins suggesting that folks here should contact the health authorities if someone is violating their 14 day isolation period. Both the Federal and Provincial health ministers have okayed exercise ( and I have this documented in quotes from the media ) as long as one is practicing social distancing.  We are not in mandatory quarantine but in voluntary self isolation.  So I had to contact both the office and security to get permission for us to walk back to our home from the RV storage lot as we were in fear that someone would call whoever to complain about us being out walking.  We enjoyed our walk back and never saw another person.  In fact there is little to no traffic here in the park, either vehicular or human. I still believe that we should be able to go out for a secluded walk every day but we are remaining inside thus far. We still have much to do inside and I haven’t even begun to look at all the mail since last October not  to mention personal or business taxes.  Another side note, we have in effect been in isolation since we left the Isla at 5:30AM on March 15th other than going shopping for groceries in Las Vegas.  When we shopped we wore gloves and carried sanitizer with us, I even wore a mask a few times just in case.

We have a sanitizing station at the front door complete with sanitizer, wipes and gloves.  We keep one sanitizer outside and one inside.

The rain started five minutes after we got back to the house from storing the RV. Perfect timing.

If Africa can do this, we should all be able to do this.  Hand washing and social distancing are so very important.

It was three years ago today that we said a final goodbye to our girls. We still miss them ever so much every single day.

Wednesday morning we left the Ontario, Oregon rest area about 7:50AM.

Signs of snow here and there.  Eventually we encountered wet snow and icy slush on the road.

In an instant we were in fog.

Then snow.

Christmas card perfect.

It finally cleared up on the Pendleton Pass, thank goodness. Looks like this emergency ramp has gotten some use of late.

We got to the Omak Walmart just after 5PM and there were only two RV’s there.  We still had some energy in us so we pushed on to get into Canada, a long 490 mile day.  As you know from my last post we spent the night in Oliver at the Canadian Tire lot.  We slept very very well, partly because it was quiet and mostly because we were extremely tired. Our border crossing into Canada was easy.  We were asked where we had been, how long away, did we have tobacco or fire arms and what did I have in the fridge re fresh produce and fruit. I told him what I thought I had in the fridge and offered to go and check to be exact. He said not to bother. He never did ask how much alcohol we had. I did offer that we had two weeks worth of food on board. He asked how much money we were bringing back with us, was it over $10,000.00.  I said ” I wish” and he laughed. Of course we were told that we had to self isolate for 14 days and I told him that is why we had all the food on board.

This is along Okanagan Lake in Canada on Thursday morning. It was freezing when we woke up in Oliver but hey we were in Canada in March, what do you expect. So very beautiful.  It was only a hundred mile or a bit less drive to our home here in Holiday Park.

Little by little we are getting there.  The food was the most difficult to put away as we had so much.  Usually I leave a large bin of canned goods in Mexico but this time I brought it all back plus of course we purchased canned veggies which we don’t usually  eat and then a  few other things in case this turned out to be a very long isolation period.  Of course I had to read each label and put the most recent to be expired in the front, etc.  Still lots to do but we are at the point that we can just bring it in and put it away later.  Except for our hanging clothes which we will do tomorrow.   Colin will then clean the inside of the RV while I continue to put things away.  When I can that is.  Today I have had to stop and rest and ice my knee a few times.

We saw several signs like this.

At the moment I have 539 messages in my inbox.  So if I don’t get back to you for a while you know why.  While icing today, I took a break from reading Covid updates and read others blogs.  Much to my dismay once again I can no longer make comments.  What the heck is going on?

We drove 490 miles to get back to Canada yesterday.

So very true, B.C. is “the best place on earth”.  Except when I am on the Isla.

We love love our RV but being home is a different feeling.  We arrived about 10:00AM and for the first time ever we saw a good part of the lake frozen.  There was free flowing water in front of our home and there were a variety of ducks swimming about.  We were ever so fortunate to also see a few winter swans on the lake at the far end, away from the house.  Another first seeing them, but ever so briefly as we drove past.

We spent last night in the Canadian Tire lot. I had called and asked permission. Plus we arrived after they closed and left before they opened. This was at 7:15 this morning. A cool 32F/0C.  Certainly not a warm welcome home.

Lots of these signs around.

We worked for seven hours unloading the RV.  There is enough food for more than two weeks. At least a month. We will need to get some fresh veggies eventually but I have enough to make a few large pots of soup. Still have much more to unload but we have tomorrow and the next day before we have to move the RV to the storage area.  We were not impressed with our 4C/39F welcome, not what I would call a warm welcome home 😎

If you look between the second and third rain chain basket you will see a lighter colour on the lake.  That is the frozen ice.

It’s already 9:00 PM, but we both have had our first baths since October.  Simply divine.  Dinner is in the oven. Soon we will be sitting back with a lovely meal and some Australian Pinot  Grigio.

I wish that I could do a full post for you but we are both very tired and I had to ice my knee and do my exercises.  Tomorrow is another day.  We are only allowed to have the RV here for three full days so it must be moved by 11AM Sunday which does not give us a lot of time to unload and do some cleaning before storing it away.  Normally we take the insurance off once we get home but we do need to have some work done on it first.  Such as a new windshield, new tires and a long visit to Freightliner for a number of reasons mostly related to our November RV issues.  However we must first do our fourteen days of self isolation.  Fortunately yesterday was considered day 1 per the border agent as we had been in the RV all day and would not be getting out until we got home today. I leave you with something important to read.

Our stop for tonight is the Walmart in Omak, Washington.  Based on how fast everything is changing and how we will only be an hour away from the Canadian border we have decided to simply cross now.  We will stay somewhere near the border but I will have no data so I am publishing this just minutes before we cross into Canada.  You will next hear from me tomorrow.  We should be home by 10:30AM when the real work begins. Unloading 😎

We were driving by 8:10 this morning. A cool 38F outside. Interesting clouds along the way. Nice to have a bit of sunshine in the morning.

Lots of snow between Ely and Jackpot. We dodged a bullet with our travel dates. The forecast for Wednesday and Thursday is 6 to 10 inches of snow along here.

I think this RV just stopped for a bit, he did not seem to be in distress. We did see lots of RVs today and many were from BC and a few from Alberta.  Back in Mexico last week when a BCer passed us they honked and waved. Today they just kept driving.

When we passed through Wells and later Twin Falls I turned on my ATT hot spot and downloaded the news and updates to read to Colin as we drove. So many things happening and so very very fast.  I am more than ready to get home. We made a quick stop in Wells for Colin to go in and pick up two coffees.  Loves had just put in a new counter in their beverage area and a server poured what you wanted and passed it to you.  This new area had just been competed a few days ago.  They are really trying to keep everything clean and protect their product from everyone’s  hands all over everything.

We got to Jackpot about 12:15PM.  Their sign says ” We miss you too”.

Sweet older Airstream trailer.

Nice view of the Snake River gorge just on the outskirts of Twin Falls. Today we drove through Nevada, Idaho and Oregon – just for a few miles.

As we drove west on I84 the weather changed. We did drive through some rain showers off and on.

Two things here. First that white Sandpiper 5th wheel on the left must have passed us at least five times today. We drove our steady 55 mph with only three stops the entire day and none more than 15 minutes.  He drove fast and stopped often.  I want you to notice the sign.  We saw this about four time today.  “It matters keep your distance !”  Referring to Covid – 19.

It kept changing and this message said ” Stop the spread Covid – 19 Pls stay home “.

We fuelled shorty before stopping for the day.  I screwed up by saying to take exit 29 when it should have been exit 28 where a Maverick station was selling diesel for 2.759 versus 2.999 at Flying J and other truck stops. We only lost about 15 minutes.  We saved $16.52 USD today, so with the $17.77 savings from yesterday we are ahead $34.29USD/$49.35CAD.  Enough to go out for a nice dinner once this self isolation ends in weeks or months 😯 We were only three miles from stopping for the night when a huge thunderstorm with blinding rain and extremely strong wind gusts came out of nowhere.

436.6 miles later we stopped at the Ontario, Oregon rest area ( exit 1 ) for the night at 5:15PM. The storm passed within an hour. Still not using the jacks nor slides.

I am tired. My knee is not happy with all this travel. This photo was from last night when I was finishing my exercises.  Despite being somewhat cramped I am still doing them once per day.  I should be doing them twice per day but that time is coming.

We really are more cozy than squeezed in.  Enough room to move and relax, eat, etc.

The bedroom slide comes in to the foot of the bed but still lots of room for sleeping.

Adios for tonight, time for exercises, dinner and showers.  It is already 8PM and we need to do this all over again tomorrow.