5C's Que Pasa

Que pasa aqui?

This is where we live in the summer, the perfect compliment to our lifestyle.  There are two areas to check out, the park itself and all the amenities, as well as the real estate section with the for sales.  Do you remember Molly Kat and her parents Patti & Simon who we met in Mazatlan at the Tres Amigos RV Park on Stone Island?  They surprised us not only with a visit here the day we arrived home but with some great news.

Site #144 has new owners. Welcome to the park Patti & Simon.

They take possession on August 1st but will spend the rest of this season in Manitoba, only moving here next spring when we all return from the Isla.  I must have said some great things about this place?????!!!!!!?????

Patti & Simon are in the middle of the map, the yellow site marked #144. Our RV is on #319 on the beach while our home is #315, marked in yellow just above the word LAKE.

Meanwhile we are fairly organized in our home at #315 and the RV is settled on #319.  It is cool for this time of the year, very windy and some new snow fell overnight high up the hills.  Today Colin & I will be working at our desks.  Now isn’t that a pleasant thought.  Not really but it does enable us to travel six months of the year.  I’m on the countdown to October 20th!

Caeli spent the few hours of sunshine we had, just enjoying, she does love to be outside. Carmeh on the other hand is bored, she wants action, a walk in the park just won't do it for her. Mind you she did get to chase a rabbit the other day.

For those of you who are RVers you are all welcome to visit.  This park is open to the public and a great place to stay if you are visiting in the Okanagan.  Send me an email if you plan to stop by.

We left Chilliwack about 7:30AM Friday and the road was dry & bare while the Coquilhalla is still snowy & single lane.

The girls are snuggled in but getting tired of traveling.

We stopped just the once for an 30 minute break and the girls got to take in a hike.

We finally pulled into Holiday Park Resort at 2:00PM.  Now came the fun part, we pull up to our park home and try to unload as much as possible without  blocking the road too much.  Back & forth, up & down the stairs…where does all this stuff come from.  We’ve had one full day and a few hours on arrival day to unload yet there is still more stuff!

Sheer & utter....

...chaos!!!!!!!!

Six months of mail doesn't look too bad! Thanks Inger!

The mail is important as I  have to get it opened, sorted, handled and entered due to a company year end that needs to be done ASAP because we can’t get our personal taxes done until the company’s is completed.  We have been home 2 hours when the phone rang, it was our Vancouver accountant giving me a deadline!!!

As we continued to unload we heard a faint “hola”  from around the corner of the RV, it was Patti & Simon come to visit.  We had last seen them early March when they left Tres Amigos!  They have been in the area for a week and wanted to come say hola/adios before they left for Winnipeg on Saturday morning.  So I made an executive decision and had Colin & Simon carrying back & forth what I put into baskets to carry into the house….Patti kept me entertained with her stories!!  Colin with Simon’s help moved the RV to the beach site while us girls opened the wine.

Mucho gracias para tu ayuda Simon! Notice all the snow still on the hills!

We had a lovely visit but alas they had to go.  That left us with some unpacking.  It was great to say hello to some neighbors, give the girls a short walk and then sit and relax.  I think I was in bed by 8:30PM. Beyond tired.  It was 0C but at that point I didn’t care.

Saturday was spent unloading, unpacking, etc. just when I thought we were making progress Colin would bring in more stuff!!  Patti, who lives full time in their gorgeous 5th wheel, made a comment that we just had too much stuff!  I think she’s right but what if I need something and it’s not with me???  Today was a 7 load laundry day….I know some of you think I have  tomorrow, etc, remember I have to get to my desk for 3 days running!!!

Another relaxing evening, great meal & movie and early to bed again.  Today, Sunday is overcast and has warmed up to 8C.  I will never complain about 72F on the Isla again!  The laundry is calling me……….adios.  Thanks for visiting our life in Canada.  On rereading this post I think I should have named it stuff, but I haven’t got time to change it cuz I have to go do some stuff!

Rained overnight in the Everett, WA. area and was foggy this morning and about 36F.  The fields are under a lot of water.

Carmeh wanted to help drive so we could get back home sooner.

As we crossed into Vancouver at about 9:30AM today, the sun came out.  A great welcome!

Truck crossing, not Peace Arch.

No problems at the border but some new questions, several about purchasing firearms or ammunition.  Also did we buy any new pets outside of Canada.  Apparently it snowed on the Coquihalla last night so not sure which way we will travel to Kelowna tomorrow.

We are in the shop! Can you see me sitting inside working on this post?

Every year the first thing we do once we cross the border, is come to Walker Heavy Duty to have the annual to do’s done on the RV.  Sometimes I stay with the rig and get some personal to do’s done while Colin visits clients or we might do some grocery shopping.

Buzz has been servicing this RV since day one! Today will be it's tenth annual five hour check up! The RV is getting lubed & oiled, new filters; Buzz will be checking the hoses, belts, airlines, brakes, fluids and looking for anything that might be wearing out. Now that this general maintenance is complete we are good to go.....ready to head back to Mexico!!

Once we are all paid up ( gulp ) and hooked up we head towards Tsawwassen and our annual visit & dinner with Gramma Katie & Louie.  The girls recognized the neighborhood from about 2 blocks away and as we turn onto their street they start baying….they know where we are going.

We had a lovely gourmet dinner, the first fresh halibut of the season but first we all had appetizers…..

The girls love Katie but for more than one reason, she is a great cook!

Dinner conversation was lively and we had a truly, as always, outstanding visit.  It was so easy when we lived just down the street from Katie & Louie but we did have to press on so about 8:30PM we headed out.

The serious side of the table....

The fun side of the table.....

Cheers and adios, Colin was drinking the tea!

We have often spent the night in the RV on the street but we have to meet friends in Kelowna tomorrow afternoon so about 8:30PM we headed NE, I really hate that direction, south or west is best.  We fueled up in Chilliwack, diesel @ 1.259/liter and propane @ .699/liter and bedded down in the now empty Walmart lot.  What ever happened to this Walmart, is there another one???

Buenos noches!  We are off early in the morning, traveling via the Fraser Canyon route due to snow & mucho gravel on the Coquihalla and also only the one lane open at the summit.  Too bad as it means an extra hour of travel.

After saying adios to friends Mari & Dale (guess the dogs were still in bed) we realized that we were but 48 hours from entering back into Canada!!  Reality check, the vacation is almost over!  It is a good thing we are heading back to work, all this resting and visiting is wearing us out.

Daffodils, cherry blossoms, new born colts & wee lambs, that is what we are seeing along I5.

Mount Shasta was in it’s glory on Tuesday.  We often only see it 1/2 way down wearing a wreath of clouds. By the way does anyone know why there is an airport in Weed, Ca????

Lucky us...

Just enjoying....

Are we there yet? - asks Carmeh?

Spent Tuesday night in a Walmart on the outskirts of Eugene, Oregon but as I had outdated directions we ended up driving thru the U of O campus, several smaller colleges and all the Frat houses.  A bit tight for the driving but fun to see.

Colin's Cycle Shop!

We did disconnect the car as the tires looked low and Walmart put in about 6 LBS @ N/C, gracias.  A quiet evening in the RV enjoying antenna TV

Today was a 351mile day.

We awoke Wednesday early AM to rain, rain & more rain and very cool temps, maybe 39F.

Drip, drip, drip, drip.....

Colin was happy with the rain as it was suppose to clean all the ocean salt out of the nooks & crannies!  It rained the day we left on Oct. 23/10 and on the 24th and this was our first taste of liquid precipitation in over 5 months.  It took a few minutes to remember how the defrosters worked.

The girls are now covered in blankets and just keep shivering.  Actually I have a blanket on also…if it’s too hot in the RV Colin gets sleepy!!

They have no idea of what lies ahead, certainly not crabs on a beach!

Wednesday was an interesting ( not ) day.  We had two unscheduled stops to adjust the windshield wipers.

My very own personal mechanico!

The outdoor temps were about 45F so when we had potty stops we usually turned on the generator and an electric heater, on the last stop we neglected to shut the heater and the inverter was on for me to use with the computer…………well the inverter shut down and the electronic board was flashing red and show 0 batteries.  Fearing the worst we stopped in at Camping World where they suggested traveling with the generator on with the hope it would recharge the batteries and several hours later it did.  We love our RV even more, it is smarter than us and knew what to do.  I was worried I would have to cough up $600.00 for new batteries and travel home cold!!  We had rain showers off & on as well as a snow shower near Mount Rainier.  However as we pulled into Everett for a chiropractor appt for Colin (booked last Oct.) we took a wrong turn, which resulted in being 15 minutes late, being caught in a downpour and parking facing the wrong way on a dead end street.  Sigh!  The worst though was the snow that then started to fall.  Colin went to his appointment and I opened the wine.

Not a lot os snow but still...SNOW!!!!!

a very very very dead end......................

Once we got sorted out it ,which took about 50 minutes, and involved disconnecting, realizing we couldn’t turn around, my having to stop traffic in the middle of rush hour while Colin backed out the RV, drove away, turned around and drove past me, finding each other, rehooking and moving on  we had had but a mere 10 mile drive to our Walmart hotel for tonight.

Rush hour in Everett, WA.

Sad to say it took 45 minutes to reach our exit and once parked at Walmart (near Tulalip),  Colin advised me that somehow the four way flashers had been left turned on on the HHR and for some reason had killed the car battery.  Good Sam was called and  came to the rescue.  The rest of the family ate earlier but I only ate about 10:00PM as I had a great wifi connection courtesy of Home Depot ( next door ).  About 10:30 Colin told me we had to move……what the h…!!  HECK!  There was a semi just next to us that was making a horrible noise and we would not have slept.  Now for some good news….I, yes I, decided when we got here that so many things had been strange today that I would not put down the jacks nor push out the slides, enough was enough!  Good thing, eh….because now Colin could move the RV easily.  He’s in the shower now and with the way the day is going I probably won’t have any hot water left but what the heck, it has been a great trip.  Colin thinks the reason all these things happened today, was because of ‘divine intervention’ and that the Universe wants us to stay in the USA but preferably return to Mexico.  it is now 10:40PM and my last post from out of Canada for a bit.

Much as it was difficult to leave our friends Chuck & Sandy, we had to press on for the plan this morning was a stop at Budget Auto Wrecking.

Just a tiny bit of a massive junk yard..

We needed to replace the passenger side marker light assembly.  A few years ago the original piece had fallen out along the road and we had replaced it with an after market piece but the chrome did not last.  The front left chrome frame needed to be replaced due to a rock chip so per Chuck this was the place to be.  The replacements pieces came from a 1997 Lincoln Town Car.  In fact Chuck had to do a similar replacement a few years ago.  So for a mere $160.00 USD we got our ‘new’ pieces, installation included.

Back on Hwy 99 heading north & enjoying the wild flowers along the way.

Time for fuel fill up.  We had been noticing the prices here in California, ouch!!!  We were able to fill up with diesel at 4.189/per gallon, cash price.  Just a bit further up the road the price became 4.35 per gallon cash price!!  I worked out that this same distance, from Parker, Arizona to Fresno, California cost us $100.00 more to drive this year.

As we were driving, Carmeh got rather antsy, enough already, I want to stop.

About 5:40PM, at the end of a long day of 365 miles, we approached Mari & Dale’s home in Red Bluff, CA.  We had met this delightful couple at Tres Amigos RV Park on the Isla.  They had graciously extended an invitation to stop in on our way north so we did.  They have a lovely home, a huge front yard, a massive fenced in backyard and a driveway large enough for 3 visiting big rigs!!  Their 5th wheel is parking in yet another area near his workshop.  I can just visualize the wisteria vines in bloom, sun sparkling on the pool and a cool drink on the patio.  Meanwhile we set up our home, walked  & fed our kids and poured the first glass of wine.  In their large, almost completed, renovated kitchen we chatted while Dale finished baking his homemade Italian bread for dinner ( served with real butter no less ).  Mari had created a lovely lasagna & salad.  A gourmet feast.

Great friends and an excellent meal, what more does one need in life?

They haven’t been home long and we are still on the road yet both of us had purchased the Mexico Train Domino game which was popular at Tres Amigos.  So like little kids we compared our sets and the sounds of our train horns.  Then of course we had to play a game or two.  We were so involved in playing & chatting that we neglected to get photos.  One of their poodles, I think it was Junior let us know that it was past his bedtime and hence ours also.  Where does the time go when you are with special friends?  Another late night, another great visit!!