5C's Que Pasa

So very very happy to be home.  I still can’t believe that we have only been home from Mexico two weeks yesterday.  I am so tired and I know that Colin is even though he says otherwise.  We just drove 1120 miles ( 1800 kms ) round trip in the last four days and stayed in three different hotels.  Phew…..I sure missed my RV and its many comforts.

Sorry but too tired to do a proper post.  We are home safe and sound and I will update you with the very latest tomorrow…….after my vein treatment.  Yuck.

Need, wine, food and bed in that exact order.

By the way, thanks for your comments.  FYI the CD player was an important factor as you can’t add it onto this model after market and that is per Andres, the guru of electronics.  Colin likes to listen to his many classical guitar tapes not to mention his Spanish learning tapes.

Today our morning began with a wonderful breakfast compliments of the hotel in the restaurant just off the atrium.

It was a full meal from homemade porridge to quiche, to grilled tomatoes to wonderful pastries and everything in between.  So much fresh and tasty food.

At one point Colin went up to our room on the fourth floor and from up there took a photo of me down in the restaurant.  This new camera captures incredible detail.

We arrived back in Kelowna two weeks ago today.  Colin only returned to Las Vegas from seeing Mommio three weeks ago today.  During this last trip to Mexico Colin thought that we should upgrade our tow car.

So less than a week ago we listed our 2006 Chevy HHR and it sold within 48 hours.  We decided to list it after we saw the Jeep in Penticton last Saturday.  Good for Rod on spotting the type of vehicle we were looking at.

So we really did like the Jeep but it did not have a CD player which Colin prefers to use. So he kept looking online.  Finally he spotted something in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

So last Thursday we headed out on a  road trip in the Mercedes.

One might say that in less than a week, we sold a car, traded a car and purchased another car.  No wonder my head is spinning and I am tired.

The plan was for us to arrive in Medicine Hat early Friday morning and be on the road back home no later than noon that same day.  We spent Thursday night in Brooks and would spend Friday night in Golden, BC and be home on Saturday.  We didn’t find out till about noon on Friday that we would not even be able to see the vehicle until after 5PM that day.  Hence the lovely hotel accommodation.  However we were somewhat upset.  We actually initially only saw the Jeep about 6PM and did our first inspection and test drive.

However it was well worth the wait as the dealership had taken the car to an auto body shop to do a few touch ups but of course it took much longer than expected.  Long story short there was glitch after glitch.  Some of the documentation was out of date which necessitated a new mechanical inspection which they did this morning.  Then we had a 50 minute wait to get the Alberta Registry to issue us an transit permit and so on and so on.  Not serious problems but mostly time consuming and a comedy of errors.  So our trip ended up being delayed just over 24 hours which of course had its own set of problems.  The pain of the event is over and it is time to start enjoying our new purchase.

Adios Mercedes and hola  to our 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland.

The Jeep will serve as a work vehicle for Colin as well as our new toad.  We are happy to be down to two cars and one RV.  Our new to us vehicle has so many extras including Quadra Lift which is an air suspension system that you can control from inside.  You can raise the chassis up 4 inches for more clearance. Traveling  on the highway is like floating on a cloud; the chassis actually lowers to aero mode which is more aero dynamic.  When you park, the chassis drops down for easy exit and entry.

Colin loves his new car.

We finally left Medicine Hat about 1PM today already worn out. However the Jeep was like a dream ride and the seats were very soft.  It was close to riding in our RV.

We weathered a few rains storms.

We had a seven hour drive ahead of us but enjoyed the prairies for the first part.

We didn’t get into the Rockies until after 5PM and the light was not so good for photos but we enjoyed the mountains nonetheless.

So many incidents to share but we are tired and need to rest for the final leg of the journey.  One fellow, just as we entered Banff insisted we pull over, he wanted to tell us that we had no license plate and that we would get arrested.  We explained that we were in transit and had the proper permit.  We had already heard this a few times but this fellow almost forced us off the road in order to stop us.

We arrived in Golden, BC about 7PM. Sadly we had to change from our booked hotel as it just looked so very run down. It took a bit to find something acceptable.

We really enjoyed our drive today in the Jeep and look forward to many miles of fun and exploration.  Meanwhile it is time to hit the sack as tomorrow is another day of will we be able to get it done or not.

Late night thoughts…..

~ the main reason we drove all the way to Medicine Hat was because this was on the only Jeep Grand Cherokee in all of Canada, that had both a beige exterior and interior which is what we really wanted.  The one we saw in Penticton last week had a black interior plus it was not an Overland and this one had the CD player.  The deal we got was more than sweet.

~ I thought that we were back on PST time but not true.  Not until we reach Revelstoke.  That means that we kept the restaurant open 30 minutes later than their closing time and that we have a wake up an hour earlier than anticipated.  Why did I not know that just driving from Alberta to BC did not mark the time change?

~ I only packed clothes and underwear for three days, not four.  Also meds and vitamins.

~ I will never ever travel anywhere without a nightlight again.

Done for the night……..

We were on the road early in anticipation of our 9:30AM appointment.  Lots of wide open prairie and the odd oil well.

Our arrival in Medicine Hat did not go as planned.  Things were not ready for us.  After 3 hours of waiting we were sent out for a nice lunch at their expense.  After lunch things went a bit more downhill.  A hotel for the night was offered.  I sort of lost it and a much nicer hotel rather the earlier suggested Super 8 was booked for us.

A lovely king size suite in the only 4 star hotel in town.

Complete with water slides and three hot tubs. A few hours later the place was crawling with kids. Our room was on the other side and we did not hear anything nor smell the very potent chlorine that permeated the lobby.

Once we were settled and rested a bit we went back to check if any progress had been made.  It had and things were looking very good but the paper work was not in order.  Nothing to do but go back to the hotel for the evening.

We stopped to pick up a bottle of wine and this butterfly bottle of pinot grigio shouted out to us.  Were the girls letting us know that they were around us.  The wine was lovely.  Alberta has a wonderful selection of wines at very reasonable prices.

A lovely sunset from our window.

The Medicine Hat Lodge is a wonderful place to overnight.  There is a convention centre attached as well as a casino and two lovely restaurants.  We dined at the Italian one where we enjoyed 20% off our meal thanks to a coupon we received at check in.

These teens spent at least two hours snuggled in this oversize chair chatting and sharing their phones.  Each time we walked past it was as if they had not moved.

Wanting to walk off our excellent pasta dinner we decided to check out the casino. As you can see I was having a good time.

I was doing really well. I kept going up and then down to my personal minimum but then would go up again.

It was fun and I could feel the stress of the day easing away.

We went home $129.00 richer.

Hopefully tomorrow things will sort themselves out and we can actually head back to Kelowna.  We shall all have to wait and see what the morning brings.  Wish us luck.

We left Kelowna about nine this morning along with the cold and snow covered hilltops.

Heading East our first stop was in Salmon Arm where we were surprised to discover a full service gas station complete with ties and white shirts.  We also stopped at the library to pick up some language learning CD’s.

We continued to head East.

The  weather was a mixed bag but we managed to catch some of the Rockies in their full glory.

The new camera appears to be a winner, many of these photos were taken through the windshield.

We missed getting a photo of the bear that we both saw standing on the train tracks as we sped towards Banff.

The female elk were more stationary.

Quite the long tongue.

We were so lucky to enjoy nature on this trip. We kept seeing and commenting on locations that we had stopped to walk and pee the girls over the years.  Good memories.

We truly had a mix of weather, sun, rain and then snow as we approached Banff.  Then back to sun but shortly after Canmore, perhaps mid way to Calgary we hit a snowstorm that left the highway slick with ice and strewn with car wrecks.  We could not believe what we saw in such a short stretch of highway, a wreck, spin outs and minor crashes.  The entire drive in the Calgary area was horrible not to mention yet another snow squall.

Tonight after 480 miles we are in Brooks, Alberta.  A long day which with very few pit stops we ended up being on the road for  10.5 hours.  We are both tired, the RV is much easier to drive 500 miles in than the Mercedes.

I’m sure that you are wondering why we are one a road trip. Tomorrow,  possibly all will be revealed.

How times flies when one is preoccupied and busy, busy, busy.  It is a great way to keep one’s mind occupied which we both need at the moment.

We got my Lexus out of storage last Friday which gave me freedom to roam about but I have yet to get behind the wheel  The first thing I saw when I opened the door was the girls water dish.  We have one in each of the three cars.  Of course we are missing the girls but we are talking more about special memories than dealing with raw pain.  We have just the tiniest of scabs over the great deep wound.

Our tow car, the Chevy HHR  is in the foreground, the Lexus is next and the Mercedes under the grey tarp is in behind.  This is our RV storage spot which is where we store our vehicles while in Mexico.  The RV at the moment is at Freightliner Kelowna getting its annual check up.

The cover I had purchased was excellent as the car was totally dry under it.  Sadly the Mercedes ended up wet under its cover which was sufficient last season but not this year with all of the rain and snow.

Last fall before we left I had purchased three bottles of organic liquid probiotics for the girls, hoping that it would help heal Carmeh’s gut from the pancreatitis.  When we unloaded ten days or so ago I found an unopened bottle in the RV.  The pet store, the Bone & Biscuit Co.,  very kindly accepted the return and refunded me the full $66.62.  Very generous of them.

The temperatures have remained cool and rainy for the most part.  Every now and then we are teased with some sunlight but not for long.  We have never ever seen the local hills so full of snow at this time of year.  Most of us are still wearing layers of fleece.  I have no idea when we will feel warm enough to head to a nursery to buy our annuals.  Flower planting season is definitely delayed. However we are starting to see buds on the trees.

The other day the fog was so thick that we could not even see the lake.

We have been very good at staying home and eating in, which of course includes the odd ( ?? ) glass of vino.  Note the double bottle size!  The other night I put a second bottle in the freezer and forgot to set the timer.  Fortunately Colin had reason to go into the freezer in the morning and rescued this bottle from total destruction.  It was leaking from the lid.  I have first hand knowledge that the wine was still wonderful after unthawing.

We took a mini road trip last Saturday to Penticton.  We are thinking of changing our tow car.  It was a full day, that included test drives and a lovely lunch.

We came to look at this car. That is my Lexus behind it.  What fun to take it for a 4 hour round trip spin. The vehicle we looked at was nice but not quite right. It did not even have a CD player which is essential to us.

We have been looking for a better camera since last fall.  I did purchase the Canon SX600 HS for the winter but it is only just okay.  Certainly not as good as the previous Canon we had which is no longer made.  I saw a blog that had wonderful photos and discovered that the blogger used a Canon SX60 HS.  So Colin did some research and actually had to order one into Kelowna from Vancouver.  We get a 15 day user trial after which we can return it if we don’t like it.

The zoom is great.

These canoes are way off down the side of the lake.

Closeup and detail is great also. Because of the rain we haven’t used it as much as we would have liked to.

I did take this candid shot as we were driving back from Penticton, just a quick point and shoot out of a fast moving car window.  Not bad.  The camera is heavier and larger than what I am used to and of course more expensive.  A decision will need to be make soon.

I started my annual varicose vein treatment this last Monday.  I get treated every Monday and Tuesday for three weeks in a row.  Thank goodness I am 1/3 done.  It is not a pleasant experience.  Who likes having multiple injections?  How I despise wearing the thigh high compression stockings.  A big problem is that I have developed an allergy to the silicone rim of the self staying up stockings.  I break out in an itchy rash.  Nothing I can do about it but suffer.  You can be rest assured that I do not suffer quietly.  I just now have to decide how many more years I can deal with this before I decide the heck with it and whatever happens to the veins in my legs….so be it.  I am supposed to wear these stockings for a full month 😈   Yesterday while doing my obligatory 30 minute walk after the injections I found the most wonderful dog park.  I so wish I could have brought the girls there.  They would have loved it.

Overall we are managing by keeping ourselves occupied.  I did get the taxes completed and Colin is back in the work groove.  Not sure what the next week will be like but I do have a few ideas up my sleeve, some of them fun.