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!

Thursday, September 30, 2010

September 26 to 30, 2010; Gateway

On Sunday we worked around the yard for a while then went over to Ron & Theresa to play cards for the rest of the afternoon. It was a very warm day although the wind had a bit of a bite to it. We had happy hour around their fireplace then we went inside for dinner. The days are getting shorter and shorter!
Monday the 27th we went to Salmon Arm for our mail and more groceries then came home. It was another very nice day, warm and sunny!
Tuesday was a quiet day at home for me. Val has 3 days left at work, her replacement has come back and is orienting with her. She’s asked Val when she will be available again as she is planning on replacing her second hip and will be off again for a few months. It will all depend on whether we go to Alaska or not next spring. It was sunny and very warm today.
Wednesday I washed “the Bear” and got all the bugs off the front end. It’s now ready to go! Thursday, the 30th... the last day of another month; time is going by pretty fast. It was sunny today and this is Val’s last day at work. For dinner we went over to George and Paulette where we had happy hour by the fire then delicious steaks for dinner then we proceeded to get happy on wine tasting. We came home around 10 pm and went straight to bed.

Monday, September 27, 2010

September 20 to 25, 2010; Gateway

We went to Salmon Arm for our usual Monday shopping. A rainy and windy day so we spent most of it in the house after returning. We rented a couple movies and relaxed in the warmth of our little house.
Val went to work Tuesday; she sure is looking forward to the end of the month and the end of the job. It was sunny with cloudy period so I cleaned the leafs off our pad from the wind storm yesterday while we were away in S.A. I got the rack on the roof of the truck for the kayaks, loaded the golf club, the power plant and re-arranged the front locker on “Bear”. Afterwards, I cooked a Sheppard pie for dinner. A good day, indeed!
Wednesday was sunny again and a quiet day at home. Just read and walked around the park. Val had a ceremony to attend this evening so I had to fend for myself for dinner. Thank goodness I made that Sheppard’s pie yesterday. She came home around 8 pm and modelled the new jacket she got from Berwick for 3 years of service. She also got a certificate attesting to that fact. “Way to go girl”! Donna came over to visit with Val. I’ve been monitoring the government site for advisory to Mexico and it sure doesn’t look very good. Even Baja North is included which is highly unusual. We may have to re-think our trip south!???
Thursday the 23rd was cloudy but warm. Didn’t do much except walk Tucker and get dinner ready. Friday was pretty well the same as far as weather is concerned except more sunshine. We stayed home this evening and had dinner in.
Saturday, we did laundry in Chase and purchased some groceries. For happy hour, everyone went over to Bob and Gail and Val brought some sausage rolls and spicy mustard.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

September 13 to 19, 2010: Gateway

We went to Salmon Arm early Monday so that we could be back early. Lynden and Charlene, form Logan Lake, came for a visit and stayed for dinner. Of course we showed them our pictures of the wedding and got info on their trip to Alaska. They didn’t want to drive back in the dark so we had an early dinner.
Tuesday, Val went to work with Donna as they were having a “retirement” dinner party for her (Donna). She got home around 9 pm and says that she had a marvellous time. I took her car to the garage and had the steering fluid box checked as it was leaking again. They fixed it without any charges. I also went to bottle our wine then came home and made myself dinner. Bob and Gail are back from their trip to his mom and brought over some electrical wire as I want to wire the shed because we plan on buying a small fridge and freezer. Does it sound like this place is becoming more and more permanent?????
On Thursday, we had our carpets cleaned and in the afternoon, I took the truck in to have a switch controller for the A/C replaced on the truck. Bob came over and gave me a hand putting electricity in our shed. We changed the breaker from a 15 Amps to 20 Amps so now I have an outlet for electricity.
Friday was sunny so I took advantage of it and cleaned the truck inside and washed it. I put a few things away for the winter. We are slowly getting ready for our departure in mid-October.
Saturday the 18th was laundry day in Chase. Val was in the mood to wash everything including comforter and runners. Cost a fortune but she is content now. We had lunch while there. At 4 pm, we had a big reunion of everyone in the park; a chilli dinner with all the trimmings and lots of different deserts. We even had a live band (ADD) and they were good. Unfortunately it rained pretty well the whole evening but there were lots of tarps and awning out to protect everyone. We even had a few people from Scotch Creek and Sorrento. We even managed to dance and had three fires going to keep everyone dry and warm. It lasted until the wee hours of the night but we called it quit around 11 pm. It was a good time!
Sunday was more rain so we rented a couple movies and stayed home.

Monday, September 13, 2010

September 7 to 12, 2010; Gateway

I had an appointment with a neurologist in Kelowna on Tuesday the 7th. Kelowna is about 1.5 to 2 hours from where we live. I stopped in Salmon Arm to pick up our mail then continued on. Ms Daisy took me on a back road when nearing Kelowna which made me miss all the traffic light in. At first, I was sceptical but it worked for the best. It was set on “Fastest distance”.
After the visit and more pills to take, Tucker and I came home. The traffic in the Okanagan was very heavy (still lots of Albertans) but light in the Shuswap. I finally got home around 4 pm.
Wednesday was cloudy and allowed me to work on the shed, sorting things out and washing the truck box and load some stuff for our trip south.
Talking about the trip, I’ve pretty well decided on our route which will take us on Hwy 93 to Montana, Yellowstone National Park, Rock Spring, Wyoming, to the Arch National Park in Utah then onwards to the four corners (Colorado, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico). In Arizona, we will be visiting Camp Verde, near Sedona; Tubac south of Tucson near the Mexican Border on I-19; Yuma for a trip to Algodones and some dental work. All of the above is depending on the weather and snow levels, some of the passes in Colorado and Wyoming are above 8,000 feet so it may affect our routes and destinations.
Thursday was more organizing and what a busy day it was! First, I took everything out of the shed and while doing that, I sorted what is going to the main storage, garbage and staying in the shed. After lunch, Dennis, Jack and Ed came over and we moved/rolled the shed over onto the new cement pad behind “Bear”. They left and I replaced everything back in the shed except the stuff going to the garbage or main storage, of course. That was my day in a nutshell and a beer was had as a reward! For dinner, Val cooked her famous chicken stir-fry.
Friday the 10th, I went to Chase to get our satellite stand fixed, picked up some groceries and mailed our property taxes. Back at home, I continued working on the yard, raking the gravel, putting everything in its final place, moved the fireplace to a more central area, moved the fire wood to the back and with Marcel’s help, moved the kayak stand and the kayaks to the compound between my shed and his. It fitted just perfect and is now out of the way and out of sight.
Val was quite pleased when she came home and after a short happy hour, we all went out to dinner at the Greek restaurant in Sorrento.
It rained overnight into Saturday morning but the day was beautiful and warm. I worked some more on the yard and finalized it as best as it would allow me under the circumstances. The ground is not quite level but I don’t want to do anything until we get the rest of the cement pad completed next year. Sunday was a total wash-out! It rained all day so we spent it inside either watching movies or visiting with the Lessard’s next door. We heard from the Kirkby’s finally and they will stop in tomorrow in the afternoon.

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

September 1 to 6, 2010; End of summer work

It was rainy and cold the first two days of September but then warmed up in time for the week-end. Friday evening, we all went to “The Loft”, a restaurant in Chase and although we had to wait a while, the food was good. This has become a ritual now for a few of us which is kind of fun.
Saturday, Donna and Marcel had a fried turkey cook-out and about 26 people showed up. Everyone brought a dish so it made for a great dinner. Even the rain held up so that we could enjoy it.
Sunday was my last day at work and it wasn’t all that busy. The park is full and there will be an exodus tomorrow, being the last day of the long week-end and school starting the next day. The park will be shut down except for 4 rows(there is 14) and the crew will be down to 4 people.
Monday, Labour Day, was rainy and cool. I washed my uniform and bagged everything to return. I filled one of the propane tanks, dumped and cleaned/flushed the tanks. At 3 pm, we went over to the park for the employees’ BBQ put on by management. It was supposed to be held in under canopy in the group camping site however because of the heavy rain and coldness, it was held in the garage back at the compound which turned out to be just fine. Steaks, chicken and hot dogs for kids were served along with beer, wine and hard liquor. There were also all the trimmings for the food including salad, potato salad, coleslaw.
About 25 people showed up, some I knew and some I met that evening. The party lasted until 7 pm when people started dwindling away. An excellent day overall despite the weather

I HAVE UPLOADED NEW PICTURES IN FOLDER 59, Life in BC