5C's Que Pasa

Hey that is our RV heading south ( larger white blurb on the right ) and I’m not in it.  We had booked our annual service at Freightliner to coincide with Colin having to move the RV today as our three days were up parking in front of our house.

More activity up the street.  Good thing Colin was driving by 7:15AM.  There are three trucks there. I think they are building a fence because of the tall posts.

I did another three loads today. Here you see the 100% bamboo sheets we bought from a vendor at the Albuquerque Ballon Fiesta.  I had to wash them before using them and they needed some TLC.  First wash only in cold water.  Then you are supposed to hang them outside but we don’t have a line here.  So I tumbled them for about 20 minutes on low and then hung them over the furniture.  I later put them in for another 10 minutes before putting them on the bed.  So silky smooth.  Hope we like them.

Yesterday evening I discovered that not all of our mail is here.  I should have twelve  Visa  statements ( two different cards ) but only have two.  I am missing between three or four months of banking statements for both bank accounts as well as for two cell phones, our home phone, our business phone and the list goes on and on plus National Geographic and two different RV magazines.   I always come home to a few Christmas cards and there were none this year. My greatest concern is, what else is missing that I can’t figure out.   I later figured out at least two other things and am working on others.

I had received an email in December from our financial advisor saying that our statements had been returned.  But only because we were looking into something through their office and they could not find our information.  I said that it must have been a glitch with the post office or delivery.  So they were going to resend the statements.  When I discovered yesterday that I had other mail missing I became concerned.  I called the person looking after our mail and house and found out that there may have been a problem.  She had assumed that her partner ( who no longer is her partner as of early January ) was picking up the mail and I guess he didn’t 😯  I was beyond surprised and upset 🙁

This morning I spoke with the local postal outlet and they confirmed that on November 8th all the mail in our overstuffed mailbox was removed and on December 6th was returned to sender.  I was told that likely other pieces were sent back as well.  I think there may have been a pick up end of November as I had two months of missing statements and then suddenly something and then nothing again.  So it has taken me all day, well at least nine hours, to go back in my files to determine the last statement I had.  Then I noted what I actually did receive when we were away and then figured out which months I was missing.  Then I began calling everyone involved.  The bank was the nicest and said no worries and printed out new statements for us and they were ready end of day today.  Most places were sympathetic and some are mailing statements, others emailed them to me and others guided me thru an online process to find them and print them.  The worst  was our Visa company.  Third degree etc.  Plus they say it has nothing to do with them as to why we are not getting any statements at all.  I kindly suggested that they might have stopped mailing ours as we have received January, February and March from everyone else.  They will email me the statements in fours days and hopefully they will resume mailing our statements.  The onus will be on me to be aware of that for the next month or so.  Of course with us leaving in six weeks it may still be a nightmare when we get back.

It was easier to work from the dining room table where I could spread out.  At one point I had to use both the house phone and my cell as one Shaw account had a 45 minute wait and the other a 60 minute wait and both offered a call back which was great.  So I got some laundry done in between and sourced out possibilities to call tomorrow.  I am nowhere near done.  This is taking two full days of my time.  I did hire these people as in pay them to look after our mail and home.  However it is just something that happened and I have to simply deal with it.  But is does delay me getting our taxes done.

Our yard boy, as Norma would have called him, came by and the first thing his helper did was sweep up the winter road gravel that our RV had blocked the street sweeper from reaching.  Nice, now Colin won’t have to do it.

They dethatched the lawn, so much came out.  Then aerated and fertilized. We should be looking green real soon.

It was a beautiful day and sadly we both spent it inside.  Colin was glad that he waited for the RV ( although it took much longer and cost more than we expected ) as he was there to answer questions about when such and such was last done snd specific other details.  Generally what was done included lubrication, oil change, oil filters, engine filters, check belts, check airlines, check brakes, transmission fluid change ( done every five years ) etc.  They also noted that the house batteries were slightly bulging and might need to be changed.  Which of course we already know.  By the way we did discover that the current batteries are only four years old but we do use them a lot.  They also discovered an exhaust leak caused by loose clamps.  Very detailed and professional.  Colin paid and head back here.  The plan was to park the RV in storage and then head to ICBC ( our provincial insurance company ) to stop our coverage as as have storage under Aviva.  As he drove he could still smell exhaust.  So he stopped and called Freightliner and will return in the morning.  The source of the exhaust smell must be found 😯

Meanwhile I called the front office and arranged for Colin to be able to park in the RV front overflow for the night at no charge.  It is too much trouble to park in our storage spot now that they are much smaller ( after the flood two years ago they redid the storage area to fit more units = smaller spaces ).  So we have been hard at it since he got back and here we are yet again at 9PM.  Time to make dinner.  Another early morning tomorrow.

Check in tomorrow for the sequel…….

It was cool enough today with rain showers that had us putting on our fireplace first thing this morning.  As it turned out it has been on all day.  Which is a good thing as I did another three loads of laundry.  These were my things such as blouses, tops, dresses and my Mexican sundresses that needed to be hung to dry.  I had 34 pieces of clothing hanging all over the house and the heat from the fireplace is helping with the drying.  These are items that need to dry by hanging and not a dryer.  Wherever I could, I hung things from chair backs to my exercise machine handlers etc.  I still have more laundry to do which consists of Colin’s shirts and shorts, but I had no more hanging space. Tomorrow is another day.  Despite the drizzle and at times rain we were cozy and warm in our house.

We have new neighbours whom we have not yet met.  But it looks like they have removed their cedar hedge and are going to build a fence.

It was interesting to watch the delivery which was not too stable.

Our telephone provider showed up about 9:30AM and was here for over three hours.  It was a true hunt to find where our telephone wires were.  He and Colin walked up and down a few blocks.

They call these buckets and there are so many wires per area. They found our telephone connection here @site #353.  All the wires here were under water and as deep as the lake level.  From here our very dedicated Telus repair man kept trying to find the source of the problem.  He did, a full block up @ site #341.  I mention these details as in years to come when we have a problem I will just check the blog to find the site numbers where our wires lay.

More new ducks here on Duck Lake as they migrate.

Colin spent the day out in the RV doing a deep clean while I did laundry and others things.  We are doing well in getting back to normal but have a ways to go.  We also had some surprise visitors which we will see in a few days.  Finally Colin was able to have a good conversation with Mommio in which she could hear him.  She is not at all happy and wants to get out of the facility she is in.  Amazingly she was very clear about being there against her will and not being fed properly.  She said she was going to keep an eye out for a man with some money so he could get her out.  She realizes that she has lost control of where she is and her finances because the other two sons have power of attorney.  So very very sad to listen to a 104 & 1/2 year old complain about her lifestyle and wish she could get away by finding a man who cares for her and will move her away.  At her age she wants to live the life she wants.  We feel so very sad for her plight.

Then the shoe dropped and I discovered some not so good things about what happened while we were away regarding our mail 👿   I will save that for the next post as I have no idea how to handle this yet and I am fuming 😯  😡

Our reflection sunset tonight.

The actual sunset.  So special to see some colour in the sky.  I guess I could look at sunsets all day long 🙂

It got down to a chilly -1C/30F last night. However we had blue sky this morning and eventually the sun warmed up the house.  Inside the RV, it was freezing so I quickly did some packing up and had Colin cart things back to the house.  We did that back and forth until everything was out.  While I put things away inside Colin emptied the basements of his tools and other items that we use here over the summer.  He had to empty the shed of our patio furniture in order to have space to place his things.  So as of this evening the RV has been emptied.  I managed to get six loads of laundry done, all of it going back into the RV.  While I was between loading, unloading and folding I kept putting things away.   The kitchen is totally done as is the bathroom and bedroom ( clothes, vitamins, jewellery, shoes, purses ( about 5 plus 2 totes ) and my first aid baskets of which there are many.  We don’t travel light and l like having my things around me as does Colin.  I mean he traveled to Mexico with four guitars 🙄

I was surprised to see all the berries still on the Mountain Ash. I thought that the birds would have enjoyed them over the winter.

Oh and we had water by 8:30 this morning.  It is the park itself here who turns the water on in the spring and off in the fall.  Our pipes are very old and mostly PVC and hence brittle.  Last week they turned water on somewhere in the park and had a major break which took days to repair and involved excavation.  So there is a new policy of not turning on the water after 2:30PM in case of a rupture.  Fortunately all went well for us.  Later in the afternoon Colin made a garbage run ( we like to purge when we get home, its like moving in again  ) and dropped off the two 5 gallon water bottles we travel with plus some empty wine bottles left from last fall.  The main purpose of the outing was to get solar salt for the water softener which is now up and running.  The water here smells horrible and is extremely rusty.

Then I saw that we had a visitor earlier today.

Someone suggested that we just put our feet up and relax for a few days and then put things away.  Nope, not our way of doing things.  We just have to get things done and then we can relax.  So I still have 6 – 8 more loads of laundry to do but mostly our clothes.  The RV needs to be cleaned inside.  We are only allowed to park it out front for three nights.  We have six months worth of unopened mail to deal with and of course both the company and personal taxes are due by month end.  Plus we are leaving mid May for six weeks in Europe so we have many tasks to complete every day to meet our deadlines.  But we are planning some fun and relaxation along the way, it’s just that the first three days are stressful.  And we have rain in the forecast for tomorrow so we had to really push it.

He came back later in the afternoon as well. I took these last two photos through the window as I did not want to disturb my feathered friend.

Colin was the Energizer Rabbit today and just kept on going.  Even though we pruned this tree in the fall it was obvious now that it was naked, that it needed more work.

Then there was the goose poop pick up to be done. My job which used to be Caeli’s is to chase them off the lawn and back into the lake.  Have done so both days now.

It has been another long day and for the first time in over six months my bath awaits 😳

We were on the road by 7:20AM. We crossed this intersection where we had turned left ( right in the photo from this direction ) to start our journey last September 27th.  We have been away 186 days or 6 months and 5 days.  We have come full circle.

We approached the Canadian border about 8:35AM.  Their big thing now ( must be the border guard union )is that you must shut down your RV but do not use the air brake.  So you have to keep your foot on the brake the entire time.  Then and only then will the border dude open the window of his booth.  So many questions.

~when did we leave Canada

~where did we go ( then he wanted to discuss  traveling to Mexico, was it safe, etc. ), he was surprised the we have been doing this since 2001

~what was the value of all the goods we were bringing back

~were all the belongings in the coach our own personal property

~exactly what fruits and veggies did we have onboard

~how much alcohol did we have with us

~did the Jeep belong to us; did the RV belong to us

~did we have any firearms or weapons with us

I guess he thought we answered the questions correctly and we were off.  Back into Canada.

Because there is no place for us to dump here in the RV park nor in Kelowna ( Canadian Tire’s dump does not open until closer to the end of April ) we always have a problem.  In the past we have been able to use  friends sites here in the park but they have all sold and moved away.  Last summer Colin found this dump station just before Summerland and so we stopped there to get rid of our business so to speak.

A lovely and relaxing drive in the sun along our huge lake.

We made good time and got back to Holiday Park about 11:35AM.   However Colin could not get the car unhooked.  He tried everything and in the end we had to move around the corner to another area that was more level.  Problem resolved.  Then I had to help him backup against traffic in order to turn around.  So off we headed to our wonderful home that we haven’t seen for a long time.

All of our usual extra parking in the area has been changed over the last several months.  New owners and renters.  But I was able to secure a site for a few days through a special friend.  So I came around the right way and passed our house and parked.  Colin had to come in via the wrong direction and had to wait so this street sweeper could go first.  Meanwhile I had already moved a contractors truck and trailer away as they had been parked in front of our site.

This was our new set up with the concrete block and post & chain barrier to stop the plows from piling the snow and crud up on our driveway.  It is did work except that now we had to stop and move it all before we could park the RV.  Too heavy for me to do on my own.  So eventually we got them moved and we got the RV parked. The RV has to be parked precisely as there needs to be enough room for a firetruck to pass us on the road.  We are allowed to be here for three nights and for a maximum of ten nights annually.

The home two over from us has sold since we left last September.  They are doing some excavating , taking a hedge out, etc.  These are folks who we have yet to meet  had their contractor parked in front of our site.  They very kindly moved as we asked but we also were stymied by the street sweeper.

Then the “things” began to happen.  I was simply opening a blind but I neglected to move back my ‘keep the blind close to the window device’.  This is often a bottle of wine or a vase or a thick book.  My theory is that the closer the blind is to the window the less heat loss we will have over the winter.  Anyway, the device in this case was a vase full of marbles which tipped and sent the marbles flying all over the place.  Not a biggie.  But what was a problem, is that we had no telephone service 🙄 I won’t go into detail but it took over an hour to speak to a human and they kept saying it was our fault, etc.  Someone will come out on Wednesday 8-10 am to check out the line.  However if it is our phone and not their line, then we will have to pay.  Plus it turns out that I have not been getting an invoice since we left, but the account has been paid. I still have to sort that one out.  Money is being billed to our credit card monthly but I have no idea how much, etc.

I had just finished dealing with the phone problem when our plumber arrived.  Last year we had a problem with connecting our water softener and Colin decided that it was time to hire someone to help once we we arrive.  This is the link to what happened last April.  So we had made arrangements for the same fellow who blows our lines out in the fall to come hook us up.  So our not so cheap plumber arrives and we discover that the park had not turned on our water 😮   I had sent them an email dated March 25th that we were arrving April 1st and needed our water turned on.  Long long long long story but bottomline, now the park will not turn on our water until tomorrow morning.  No matter what I said nor who I called, no way Jose!!!!  So we pay the plumber for an hours worth of work and off he went. So here we are with no water to start my 13 loads of laundry, have a shower, nor even use the toilet.  We can’t use the RV ( not allowed even if we could ) as we had dumped the tanks earlier in the day.  I have even had to change  my meal plan for tonight as I need water to wash my lettuce.  However as it turns out, I did not have any extra of my special salad dressing here in the house.  Sigh 🙁

So we are learning to adapt  bit by bit such as using a bucket of water to flush.  Fortunately Colin had filled our two 5 gallon water jugs and we still have 1.5 left, well one left now.  They promised to come about 8:30AM in the morning to get our water turn on.  The main reason they did not do it today is they now have a new policy where they do not turn on water after 2:30PM in case the pipe breaks.  Somehow no one got my email and no work order was issued.  Hopefully the morning will give us water with no water line breaks.

Another street sweeper came past later in the afternoon.  There is so much mud on the road that it is not doing any good.

So we unpacked until we were done for the day.  As in no more, no mas, done, done, done.  So here I am posting @ 9:45PM while Colin is napping until I figure out a dinner that will work with no water.

Certainly not the way we expected today to go.

Gosh,  just realized that I never even thought to check the sunset.  Pretty sad for me 🙁

But first lets start with a photo taken just as dinner was about to be served last evening.

FYI Corelle not only breaks, it shatters. I have had these dinner plates since 1999.

We slept well at our overnight at the rest area.  From here we turned and headed straight North all day.

I love my new camera and the zoom lens.

For the first time in years we were seeing a lot of snow. But we do happen to be about two weeks earlier returning home.

Who lived here? Where did they go? What happened?

Just before Deadman Pass on I 84 @ Pendleton, Oregon.

Just in case you missed the first and the second warning.  This is a serious descent.

After several sharp turns we will end up down there, a long six mile drop.

I was torn and wanted to head West to the Portland area but instead we kept heading North.

Any further North and we will be in Canada.

Still some snow up there.

The beauty of the Soap Lake area.  Notice how close we are to the hillside.

Further along in the Sun Lakes area we saw this family of four fishing.  Only three here in the photo.

Today seemed like an extra long day but we did the same amount of miles as yesterday, 435 miles.  Tonight we are stopped at the Walmart in Omak, Washington along with 13 other RV’s.  All of us wanting to head back to Canada in the morning.  We are approximately 40 miles from the border but then we have a way to go after that to get home.

The last sunset of this trip.