About Me

Lee Creek, North Shuswap near Chase, B.C, Canada
We went full-time Rving in October of 2005! We retired from full time to part-time as of the end of 2015. Our present "small but comfortable" Wagon is a 2008 Camper trailer(TravelAir Rustler), pulled by a 2008 Dodge Dakota, 4X4.l. Our home is now a Gated Community Park, in Oliver, British-Columbia, Canada. I retired in 2005 and my Life Companion, Valerie, retired October 1, 2006 from nursing. We invite you to follow and share our new adventures and mishaps. Life is but an adventure full of dreams yet to be fulfilled!

Monday, June 30, 2008

June 21 to 30, 2008 Visitors from B.C.

Saturday, JUNE 21 started sunny and warm, with a few clouds around. We went to Gaetan's place around 3 p.m. and the party was already started. A total of 32 people showed up and lots of fun was had by all. We even had live music from a friend of Gaetan. We even had Karaoke. I tried my hand at it but noone would lend me the mike!
We got home around 1 a.m. and the nice thing is that the weather cooperated.
On Sunday we went over to the Parc des Voltigeur and visited Therese and Michel at their site. They are here until Tuesday. We had hot dogs and marshmallow cook-out. We had a quite a heavy downpour in the latter part of the day but it quickly cleared up.
Monday was overcast and rainy with some heavy downpour. So much so that it cut the reception on the satellite and the antenna.WOW!
On Tuesday morning I left around 6:30 a.m. for Montreal and to meet Johnny and give him a hand again. I stayed at his place in Chateauguay for the next 3 nights.
I came home Thursday after stopping at Therese for a quick beer and to get my truck as I had left it there for the week. It rained on the way home and all that evening. It's really getting to be a bit much

Friday the 27th was overcast but some sunny period. We went grocery shopping early in the day then left for Montreal to pick up my son Jeffrey who is arriving later in the evening. We stopped at Therese's place to say hello and then went to the airport, fighting the traffic to the airport. Jeff and Crystal were on time and as we headed back, I called my brother Pierre and we met him in Longueuil for dinner. We had a nice visit then headed for my sister's place in Brossard where we spent the night.
Next morning, Saturday we went for breakfast then to Costco to pick up Val's lenses and some meat then headed to Drummond'Ville via highway 116, the scenic route and the old Trans-Canada highway before Hwy 20.
Arrived in Drummond and visited with Gilles and his family. Of course, it began raining in the evening and we were stuck inside one more time. It poured all night long.
Sunday the 29th began humid and overcast but turned out to be a nice day. My niece, Veronique, came over with her mom and visited with her cousin, Jeff, whom she hadn't seen for over 15 years. We decided to all go out for dinner in town and after a somewhat disappointing dinner, we ended up at Christiane's place for a drink and a campfire. The weather cooperated and it didn't rain until we got home around 11 p.m.

On Monday the 30th, Veronique came over for a last visit before heading back to Massachusetts, a 5 hour drive from here. We had another nice day, sunny and warm. I took a load of stump and fire wood to have cut at a neighbour who had a power splitter and we got half the truck loaded with firewood which we took home and unloaded. Gilles left for his job around 6 p.m. and we all had dinner together; Lise cooked a very nice hot chicken sandwich, my favourite. After dinner, Gaetan and his wife Diane came over and we visited by the fire. He cut a CD of photos we all took at his "St-Jean Baptiste" Party and we watched it....music and all. Pretty cool. went to bed by 11 p.m.
Another month gone!!!

Saturday, June 21, 2008

June 15 to 20, 2008

Sunday the 15th...HAPPY FATHER's DAY!!!  It is warm & raining.  Rochelle and Jeffrey both called to wish me a good day.  It was wonderful to talk to both of them.  Also talked to Kevin and learned about his success in his new business.  We are really happy for them and their success.  Otherwise it's been a quiet day.
 
Monday the 16th to the 20th was spent in Montreal at my sister's place.  I went to work for my kid brother, Johnny, and earned a few dollars giving him a hand meeting his deadline, renovating a house in Montreal north.  It was fun and refreshing physically working again.  My sister Therese cooked us a wonderful meal every night and I talked to Val every evening ( she stayed in Dr'ville for the week keeping company to Lise)
Life is turning to a routine of sort.  I just wish the weather would improve.  It's been stormy all week but warm enough to wear shorts.
Came home Thursday evening the 19th; it felt nice to be home again.  Friday the 20th was spent getting haircuts for both of us, doing some shopping and just relaxing.  Visited with Gilles and his family and we had a little camp fire in the evening.  Johnny came over to spent the night and for the "BIG" party tomorrow. 

Sunday, June 15, 2008

JUNE 8 to 14, 2008; Drummond and a visit from Ontario

Sunday the 8th was hot and humid and I woke up with a slight hang-over (too much beer and Tequila) so didn't do much all day.
Gilles, Lise and Anthony left for Latuque around 6 p.m. and we babysat the 3 dogs and cat for the next two day. We had a big thunderstorm and a deluge just after dinner. Lasted about an hour

Monday the 9th, was cloudy and humid (typical weather for this part of the country) Val did her laundry and I flushed and cleaned the sewer tank and the hot water tank (drained and flushed) We got our mail today so I can now read my magazines. We went to town for some groceries.

We went to Montreal on Tuesday the 10th. Left around noon, took hwy 139 and headed south west through back roads and country side. I hadn't been this way since I was 17 so a lot had changed. In Granby we took hwy 112 and headed west towards Brossard and Montreal. As we got near, we could see a huge black clouds coming towards us. The temperature climbed to 36*C and within minutes dropped back down to 19*C and the storm hit us. The wind actually climbed to 110 km/hr (70 mph) and the rain was actually horizontal. We slowed right down to about 15 km/hrs but kept going. It eventually calmed down and we arrived at my sister Therese's house. There were uprooted trees, garbage blown all over and power lines down on almost every streets in the neighborhood. Therese and Michel house was out of power for almost 24 hours. The news showed the tremendous damages done all over the Montreal region and that was when we learned about the wind spped earlier. It was incredible. Ignorance is bliss and we were lucky nothing happened to us driving through that!

Wednesday was much quieter and we went out for breakfast then went to Costco to buy some vitamins. We saw more damages by the storm but this section of town had power. Val saw a take-down by the police in the Reno parking lot while Therese and I were inside the store. We saw police in plains clothes with shot guns, revolvers and bullet proof vest mingling around this van and we saw a young women on the ground handcuffed. We got the heck out of there. ( We presume it was a drug bust!?) Enough excitement for the day, we went back home.
We met Val's sister, Dori, at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth hotel around 5 p,m. and we had a 4 hours visit with her. Went out to the Keg for dinner. Came home around 10 p,m.

Thursday the 12th, I got up at 7 a.m. and went to work for my brother Johnny. Helped him all day in renovating a house in north Montreal that he has been working on. I came home sore and tired around 5 p.m. Therese and Val went cycling while we were gone. We had a delicious lamb dinner, visited for a while and went to bed by 10 p.m.

On Friday, I went back with Johnny ( he spent the night at Therese) and we worked until 3 p.m. It wasn't as bad today. Johnny dropped me off at Therese and he went home. Andre (brother) came over for dinner. Claudette joined us later in the evening and Michel came home around 10 p.m. after working overtime. We stayed up until 1 a.m. visiting.

Saturday the 14th was hot and humid again. After a late breakfast, I helped Michel put his awning up over the gazebo and we left for Dr'Ville around 1 p.m. Drove straight here and after putting everything away, cooking dinner, we visited with Gilles and Lise for a while and went to bed early.
Body is feeling a bit better now and the old bones are reminding me of my age!!!

Sunday, June 08, 2008

June 1 to 7, 2008, Drummond'Ville & visitors from USA

Sunday June first was cloudy and rainy on and off. We got up late. Michel and Therese came over for a visit with Christiane in the afternoon and we visited all afternoon. They left around 4 p.m.
Gilles left around 7 p.m. for his job in Latuque and we watched TV for the rest of the evening

On Monday, we decided to go for a drive so we followed 4th Rang to hwy 243 through Richmond (approx 25 miles from here) and got on hwy 143 to Sherbrooke. We stopped for lunch in Windsor near Sherbrooke and I proceeded to get lost in the town of Sherbrooke. Finally found our way after asking for directions and got on Hwy 55 and returned to Drummond'Ville.
Got back around 4 p.m. and I went back to town to get some propane ($24. for 30 pounds tank)
We had lighting and thunder in the evening accompanied by heavy rain.

Tuesday the third was greeted by more clouds and rain in the morning but it did clear up in the afternoon. Val did exercises with Lise in the morning and we went shopping for groceries in the afternoon. I got the jacks that I had ordered from "Camping World", delivered by UPS. I bought those at $55 a pair and they were selling them here in Quebec for $135 a pair....quite a difference in price, ain't it????? I thought it would be a good idea to have those under the slides for support as we are here for a long term period. Call it preventive maintenance!

Thursday the 5th was sunny after the clouds cleared up and much warmer. Starting to feel like summer finally. Got a call from St-Cyr RV that they just got authorization to go ahead and order the parts for our repairs. Fleetwood has refused to replace the sink in the kitchen but will replace the one in the bathroom. Go figure!? A month to get this far?????? Good thing I am not paying full prices in a camping spot! Anyway, our appointment for the 16th was cancelled and re-scheduled for July 6
I also called Vallancourt RV about my suspension and have set up a tentative appointment for July 9
I vacuumed and cleaned the inside of the truck and replaced our sewer hose as it developed a small leak. I also replaced the light fixture in the bathroom which decided to quit, after the warranty is over of course.

Friday June 6 was cloudy and rainy in the morning. Went to town to pick up a couple of items for Gilles and our comforter at the dry-cleaner

Saturday the 7th was clear but humid and hot. We had the A/C on for the first time as the temperature in the rig climbed to 85*F and the humidity to 90%. My niece, Veronique, and her two daughters came over for a visit and spent the day with us. They drove all the way up here from Springfields, Massachusetts, a 6 hours drive. The kids swam in the lake but we didn't have the courage....water too cold. When she learned that Jeffrey was coming on the 7 of July, she promised to be back. We had a very nice visit and a big fire with marshmallow and the works. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the kids enjoyed swimming in the lake and riding the canoe.