June 28 to 30, 2012; Duluth MN to Geraldton Ont.

JUNE  28, Thursday, Duluth to Geraldton, Ontario
We left Duluth at 8:20 under clear, sunny sky.  We drove north on I-35 through the city and it eventually became Hwy 61.  This was a really scenic drive with lots of cottages, tunnels(2), Lake Superior on our right; most of the town we drove through were touristic.  We stopped in Two Harbours for fuel @ $3.749 and again in Grand Marais @ $3.649.  Near the border, we stopped at Grand Portage National Monument where an old fort is situated.  This is known as the Grand Portage trail where trappers would by-passed the rapids of the river nearby.  It was used mainly by Canadians but Americans trappers frequently used it too.  The border crossing was anti-climaxing as we were asked only two questions then were on our way...if only they were all like this!!!  100 Km later, we by-passed Thunder Bay and turned East on Hwy 17.  We stopped at the Husky station in Nipigon and fuelled @ $1.18/litre.  We soon turned North on Hwy 11 which took us to Geraldton and Chris and Dorothea’s house where we will be station for the next 2 weeks.  We visited for a bit then Chris cooked dinner for the four of us.  It is very windy here and keeping things cool down...it is 25*C (80F) and sunny.

We drove 368 miles (596 Km) in 7hrs and 10 minutes @ an average 51 MPH.  We arrived here at 1800 hrs for a total 9 hrs and 40 minutes

N  49* 40.855
W 086 55.029
Alt: 1098 feet

JUNE  29, Friday, Geraldton
Cloudy with sunny period greeted us this morning.  Dori came over for a visit with grand-son Dallas.  Dorothea’s daughter also showed up.  In the afternoon, I took the truck to a local garage and had the A/C checked.  He filled the ozone container and that seemed to solve the problem, we will see!  I had a visit with Louie and checked all the renovations he did in his house.  Marcel and Audrey were there; they arrived earlier in the day. 
We had dinner at home then went to the local arena where there was a “Meet & Greet” event which consisted of all kinds of pictures of the town from its birth to now, people of that era and the mines of course.  The place was packed by 8 pm and Val had a marvellous time meeting people she knew from her time living here.  There were speeches of course and a bar was also set up.  The only drawback was the lack of A/C and air movement even though all the doors were open.  We left around 10 pm.

JUNE  30, Saturday; Parade and dance
It is cloudy this morning and we had rain overnight.  We went into town at 11 am and watched the parade.  It was small but had nice displays and a lot of enthusiasm.  Afterwards, we went for lunch at a local restaurant then came home after picking some groceries.  In the afternoon, I washed the Beast which was really overdue...it had 5 days of bugs and what a collection!  Marty (Val’s brother) and his son Ryan came over for a visit then Dori showed up for a short one.
After dinner, we went to the Town’s 75^th Anniversary Dance at the same place we were at yesterday evening but this time it was in the ring area and much cooler.  The live band, “Ring of Fire” played some really goodies and oldies.  They sold over 1000 tickets so it was a success.  We had a good time and the whole family was there.  We got home at midnight and to bed by 1 am.

June 27 2012; Jameston ND to Duluth Minnesota

JUNE 27, Wednesday, Jamestown North Dakota to Duluth, Minnesota

I was up at 6:30 am again this morning and took the truck to Express Lube garage for an oil & lube then fuelled up at $3.689.  Now I feel better!  I came back to our place, hooked up then we drove to McDonald for an “egg McMuffin” and coffee.  We stopped at Walmart and bought some groceries then we hit the highway (I-94).  For the first since leaving Olds, we had a tail wind all the way; what a nice change and much better on fuel consumption.  We drove through Fargo, a very nice little town, on Hwy 10; too bad we are so rush to get to Ontario.  We fuelled in Parks Rapids @ $3.899 and found cheaper fuel just 10 miles down the road @ 3.65.  Anyway, the scenery began to change from here; the farms became more apparent and the trees became more common.  In Detroit Lake, Minnesota, we turned on Hwy 34 then in walker, Hwy 200 to Hwy 2.  The last section of this highway was very rough and we had to slow down some.  Hwy 200 was mainly thick forest with some evergreen, not much to look at.  On Hwy 2, we headed for our final destination of the day...Duluth.  We took I-35 north and got off at exit 251A and down to our campground...Indian Point RV Park.  We set up and had dinner and caught up to our mail and blog.  I uploaded some pictures!

June 26, 2012; Glendive MT to Jamestown, ND and a blow out along the way

JUNE  26, Tuesday, Glendive MT to Jamestown, ND & a blow-out
I was up at 6:30 and when to town to the Ford dealer about the A/C; once again there was a few days wait which is not an option so I looked for a place to get an oil & Lube and could find no one available.  Back to the park, hooked up and on the road by 9 am, on I-94 east.  Approx an hour later, we had a blow-out on the left front tire of Mr BEAR!  This is the LAST of the original tires on this rig; I wondered how long it would take!?  Anyway, a motorhome stopped to make sure we were OK and were soon on their way then we had a HWY DEP’T Employee stopped and he gave me a hand.  As I was finishing, two more cars stopped to assist but no need!  I had to put the blow out in the back of the BEAST as the crank jack system under the trailer would not operate...it was damaged at some point during our travels!???  Anyway, we continued on I-94 to Dickinson, North Dakota and bought a new spare, a TOYO this time.  Once this was done, we were on the road again and stopped in Bismarck at an RV place to see about a new jack-up for the spare but it ended up an empty exercises as it would cost too much to have it shipped to Ontario.  Once again back on I-94 and our final destination, Frontier Village Park, a PASSPORT AMERICA member.  This was another hot day, 104*F in Bismarck and 88*F in Jamestown.  The scenery changed quite a bit past Bismarck in that it became farm land, lots of trees and huge fields of wheat, corn and canola.  We also went through Roosevelt National Park and the National grassland.  We lost an hour just prior to Bismarck, hence moved our clocks one hour ahead.  We went to the Bar and Grill here in the Park and had dinner for really cheap, steaks and the works for both of us for $30. and 6 beers too.  Can't beat that!

We travelled 500 Km ( 301 miles) in 5.5 hrs at an average 54 mph.  We stopped for a total of 3 hrs.

N  46* 53.423’
W 098* 42.390’
Alt: 1474 feet

June 24-25 2012: Olds to Great Falls and Glendive, Montana

JUNE  24, Sunday, Olds to Great Falls, Montana
We got up late, 7:45 am.  We had a shower and Marcel cooked us breakfast...what a wonderful guy!!!  After saying goodbye, we were on the road by 9:40 am.  We drove south on Hwy 22 to Carstairs where we took on fuel @ $1.16 then onwards on Hwy 2 south.  At Ft McLeod, we turned east on Hwy 3 to Lethbridge and stopped for fuel again @ $1.139.  From here it was Hwy 4 south to the border where we had absolutely no hassles and were through within 5 minutes; the highway is now I-15.  Most of the way, we had mostly clouds and a little rain at times.  Temperature was 57*F when we left and 78* and sunny in Great Falls Montana. We arrived in Great Falls around 6 pm, fuelled at Flying J...$3.64/gal, and stopped for the night at “DICK’s RV PARK” by the river.  We are all set up and glad to be off the road; it was a long day!
We spoke to our friend Donna earlier and she told us news about our Park; the East section is all flooded now and she sent us pictures which I have posted in folder  #87

We travelled 383 miles (621Km) @ an average 56MPH in 6hrs and 55 minutes and stopped for 1.5 hrs.

N  47* 29.386’
W 111* 19.986’
Alt: 3332 ft

JUNE  25, Monday, to Glendive, MT
I was up and ready to go by 7:30 am.  I drove to the Ford Dealer to find out about fixing the A/C on the truck but they were booked solid so came back to the campground, hooked up and were on the road by 8:30 am.  I stopped at a Verizon dealer and got a stick for WIFI.  We then stopped for breakfast and were finally on the go by 9:45 am.  We headed East on highway 87 south/200 East and stopped in Lewiston for fuel at 3.69/Gal.  The scenery was mainly rolling hills and fields of grass and wheat.  From Livingston to Circle, the scenery was much the same except with a lot more rolling hills.  It really became tiring after a while.  In Circle, we fuelled @ $3.74/gal then it was south east on 200S to I-94 and our destination, Glendive.  We arrived here at 17:30 pm and camped at Green Valley Campground for $21.40/night.  We left this morning with cloudy sky and temperature of 18*C and arrived in Glendive in sunshine and 35*C (100*F).  It is hot and humid; we had a thunderstorm rolling through but right now it’s clearing up.  I didn't realize it but we have stayed here in Glendive in a different Park a couple years ago!

We travelled 584 KM (359 miles) in 6hrs 25 min, at an average 56 mph.  We stopped for 2 hrs and 45 minutes

N   47* 07.270’
W 104* 43.648’
Alt: 2070 feet

June 20 to 23, 2012; visit family in Olds, Alta

June  20, Wednesday, OLDS
SUNNY!!!!  Finally, a nice day!  By the way, we are set up in their yard with electricity; we use the rig for sleeping only and we are still hooked up.  Marcel is at work, we went to town to the bank and Shopper Drug mart for Val’s make up and stuff.  We had lunch at a local pub then came home and relax.  At 2 pm, I took Tucker for his walk then the three of us went into Calgary to meet Marcel at 4 pm.  We had dinner at a local pub that we’ve been to before then the girls went to the stadium to watch Brian Adams Live!  Marcel had bought two tickets for them and Val was really surprised and excited.  Marcel and I came home in Olds and had a few drinks then it was bedtime.  Val got home sometime around midnight but I was asleep.

JUNE  21, Thursday, Olds
Another sunny day!  We went to Red Deer for some shopping and we had lunch there.  Val had to get a few items for her toiletry and we stopped at Costco to redeem a couple rebates I had and to buy some vitamins.  Nice not to have to pay the infamous HST!  Marcel got home around 5:30 pm and we had dinner then watched the tube and chatted until it was his bedtime, 10 pm. (he gets up at 4:30 am). 

JUNE  22, Friday, wash day
Val did the laundry this morning then she and Audy went to town.  I stayed home with my little buddy and watched a movie.  When Marcel got home, we had dinner, salmon from Costco and baked potato with salad.  Afterwards, we drove to Red Deer lodge near here to a music jam.  Marcel had his guitar and played of course.  This went on until 10 pm when everyone left as the place was closing.  We drove to Sundry and did a couple of bars, both with live music but the second one was much better and livelier.  We got home around 1 am!

JUNE  23, Saturday, Last day in Olds
It rained overnight and it is cloudy right now.  We decided to leave a day earlier to give us more time to make it to Geraldton, ONT, in time for the big party.  Marcel and Audy will be leaving next Tuesday and are taking the car only with a stop in Saskatchewan to see his son and grandson.
We went to Sundre, about one hour West of here to watch a rodeo.  We were there the whole afternoon and luckily, it didn’t rain.  It was fun and interesting.  Afterwards, we went for dinner at a local Pub then came home.  We watched a movie in the evening and Val decided to bathe Tucker.  I was in bed by 10 pm.

June 16 to 19, 2012; Chilliwack to Olds Alta

JUNE  16, Saturday, Visit in Coquitlam
We got up to rain this morning!  Val phoned her daughter and made arrangement to see the kids.  We read for a while and at 3 pm, we drove to Coquitlam to visit Val’s grand-kids Jenaya and McKinley.  We ordered in Chinese food for dinner and had a very nice visit with everyone.  After the kids were in bed, at 9 pm, we came home after saying our goodbyes.  Rochelle & Kevin were still up when we got home but not for long as we went to bed shortly after.

JUNE  17, Sunday, Father’s Day and Back to Lee Creek
Cloudy this morning but no rain so far!  Rochelle cooked breakfast for father’s day and it was DELICIOUS!  She made French bread and “toad on a bun” which is a cut out round part of the bread, then soaked in the batting then put on the grill with an egg in the middle where it was cut out.  Once cooked, you put the cut out part on top of the egg and VOILA!!!  It was a success, one of Kevin’s favorite and now mine!  Unfortunately, Graeme didn’t show up and Hayley was sick and didn’t feel like breakfast but Jeffrey did show up which made it a bonus.  Jeff was down in Chilliwack to play floor hockey with friends so left soon after.  At 12:30 pm the four of us went to Kevin’s parents (Sid & Vera) for his birthday, he just turn 65 so we celebrated two events in one day...his birthday and father’s day!  After cake and ice cream, it was time for us to say our goodbyes and hit the road back to Lee Creek.  It rained on and off most of the way; we stopped in Merritt for coffee at Tim Horton, in Kamloops for fuel and wine and were home by 6 pm.  We unloaded and packed away everything then took Tucker for a walk.  Val decided to go to go Donna and spent some time there; I caught up to the blog and pictures

JUNE  18, Monday, Last day in Lee Creek
It poured rain overnight but right now, it’s cloudy!  After breakfast and morning toiletry, we loaded the kayaks and the bikes, the last two items to load.  I went to Chase and bagged up our homemade wine then back to Sorrento to pick up our meds.  The rest of the day was just relax until 4 pm when our get-together and pot luck at Donna and Marcel.  The sun finally came out to warm us a bit.
The potluck dinner was a success!  There were 18 people out to share in the meal and to say their goodbyes.  It’s great to have such fantastic friends!  We came home by 8 pm and to bed by 9.

JUNE  19, Tuesday, depart for Olds, Alta
Cloudy with some rain throughout the day!  We left at 8:40 am; Donna came over to say goodbye.  We stopped in Salmon Arm to dump at Save-on-Foods (we are leaving in time as the water and sewer system were shut down as of today due to extremely high water levels on the lake; the park is partly flooded in some places) then to OK Tire to have the slow leak repaired on the rear wheel on BEAR, they didn’t charged us anything, quite nice of them.  We went on to UPS to pick up our mail then to JAVA JIVE to have our usual breakfast sandwich.  Finally we hit the road for good after fuelling @ $1.24.  There was very little traffic which was nice however when we hit the Alberta border, that all changed.  Lots of constructions and verrrrrryyy slooooow, stop and go for about 10 miles!

We stopped in Cremona on Hwy 22 for fuel @ $1.11/litre.  In Golden, BC, it was 1.37/litre so I had only put in $50 worth.  We arrived in Olds at 7:30 pm local time.  Audy had dinner ready for us so we had dinner and caught up to all the news.  We are here until Sunday, inclusive.

We travelled 653 Km (403 miles) in 7 hrs and 40 minutes @ an average 51 MPH and were stopped for 2 hours total

N  51* 47.225’
W 114* 07.835’
Alt: 3388 ft

June 11 to 15, 2012; Hayley's Graduation

JUNE  11, Monday, to Salmon Arm for Doctor visit
We left early as our appointments were at 10:20 am.  It is a lovely day out, sunny and warm!  After our doctor visit, we picked up our mail and had our usual breakfast sandwich and coffee at “JAVA JIVE”.  We stopped in Cdn Tire to check on a couple things then to Rona.  At 1pm we went the Vet and had Tucker checked out and found out he has a heart murmur!!!  Nothing serious but needs monitoring.  We stopped in Sorrento where I picked up our insurance for the truck, made arrangements at the Pharmacy for our drugs for the next 9 months then drove to Chase to the lab for Val (Salmon Arm had a half hour wait) then it was home for HH at Bob and Gail.  Donna invited everyone for dinner and we had chicken stew; delicious!  In the evening, we watched the last episode of “Hatkins & McLeod’s”, a true story of a deadly feud between two families in 1888.

JUNE  12, Tuesday, Last of preparations for departure.
We are going to the Coast tomorrow at my son’s place so this is our last day officially here at our site.  We packed all the ornaments inside, all the stuff outside, put away in the shed the stuff that won’t be coming with us; the kayaks and bikes will be loaded next Monday.  I went over to help Bob who is building a storage box for under his balcony.  We had some drizzle in the afternoon but the sun did come out in time for HH.  We now have a new system on the perimeter gate that requires a remote; we got two!  HH was at George and Paulette this evening.  We had a nice visit and came home around 7 pm, in-between rain falls.

JUNE  13, Wednesday, To Langley, Lower Mainland
We were up by 8 am and after coffee, we packed the last few things, loaded the truck, hooked “Bear” and moved it to Allan’s lot for the week-end so that our renter can move on this week-end.  We drove to Sorrento about our meds than to Langley.  We stopped in Kamloops for breakfast and at BCCAA for truck insurance.
We arrived at Jeffrey’s place at 4pm.  It rained most of the way except Merritt where it was sunny and surprisingly, it wasn’t raining but in fact, the sun was out!  WOW!  My brother John cooked us steak, lobster and crab for dinner, it was DELICIOUS!  Afterwards, we proceeded to drink which turned out to be too much for me; I got quite drunk.

JUNE  14, Thursday, Chilliwack
Woke up with a hang over this morning and a cloudy and much cooler day!  After a hearty breakfast with Johnny (Jeff had already left for work), we packed and came back to Chilliwack to my daughter Rochelle & husband Kevin.  First, though, we stopped at the Mall as Val needed hair stuff.  We visited friend Murielle who lost her husband of 55 years just 4 months ago.  She misses him greatly.  We came back to the house at 5 pm and after HH, we all went out for dinner then came home and proceeded to drink wine (moderately).  Hayley, Vanessa and husband Garrette joined us and we had a nice family gathering.

JUNE  15, Friday, GRAD DAY!
A beautiful sunny day, finally!  Hayley went to school for the last time.  We had an appointment in town and attended that then we went for lunch.  The rest of the day, until 3 pm, was doing baking, cooking, preparing and setting out all the food for the gathering.  At 3 pm, everyone arrived including Jeff and Johnny and we had a great visit and devoured the delicious meal.  Vanessa made her famous cupcakes and they didn’t last long.  At 5 pm, we headed out to the hall for Hayley’s “Commencement”.  There were 180 students graduating and the whole thing lasted until 9:15 pm.  Our girl got her certificate and a scholarship to boot.  We were all very proud of her.  We came  home and had a few glasses of wine, toasted our new “Grad”   and had laughter and joy as a family.  We went to bed at 1 am!

June 6 to 10, 2012; Lee creek

JUNE  6, Wednesday, Lee Creek
This is getting boring...3 days of constant rain now, it can stop anytime!  We spent the day in the house again, it never let up the whole day and we had strong winds from the West too.  We went to Ruth and Dennis’ place for Happy Hour and she served homemade pizza and jalapeno filled with cheese; both were a success and delicious!  We came home at 7 pm forfeiting dinner as we were full.  Watched the tube for a while then bedtime!

JUNE  7, Thursday
SUNSHINE!!!  Yes we got up to it albeit a few clouds around too but at least it is sunny!  I went to Ed and borrowed his chain saw and proceeded to cut the stumps left from my neighbour pulling and breaking away the trees behind us.   I stopped for lunch and surprise!!!! IT began to rain and never stopped for the rest of the day.  I’ll have to finish the job another day but at least I got most of the stumps.  HH was at Ed & Judy today.

JUNE  8, Friday
Cloudy but there is blue sky in the West and the sun is trying to shine through!  I helped cleaning our compound in the morning, cutting down cotton trees and low brush.  Donna and Marcel hauled all the stuff at the top of the hill where there is a big burn pile.  We had lunch then in the afternoon, I went behind our place and cut down two more cotton trees, cleaned the chain saw and returned it to Ed.  HH was at Marcel’s place then in the evening, we had a fire and George and Paulette joined us.  The sun did come out in the afternoon and warmed us all.  Around 9 pm, Ron and Theresa arrived from the coast for the week-end.  They bought a Park Model which will be delivered next week so they are here to empty their 5^th-wheel.

JUNE  9, Saturday
Back to rain this morning but did eventually stopped and the rest of the afternoon was warm but cloudy.  Val did some Tai-Chi with Kelly across the road from us.  Jack and Mim came out to Ed and Judy so we went over for a visit.  I had to get more propane today; I’ll be glad when the temperature warms up more in the morning.  Spaghetti for dinner then watched the tube.

JUNE  10, Sunday,
The sun is out one more time albeit with lots of clouds around.  This was a relaxing day (as if we need it!?).  I went for my morning walk, took Tucker for his and Val did some Tai-Chi with Kelly.  B&G and M&D worked around the compound some more.  Some feel that it is a waste of effort as there is no guarantee that the compound will be ours in the end and personally I think it should be the contractor doing that work, not us.  Anyway, the effort is appreciated and we do want to keep a positive outlook on things too!  Ron and Theresa left right after lunch; they have signed all the papers and made arrangements for delivery of their Park Model next Saturday.  We had HH at our place as it was sunny but the wind was a bit cool.  For dinner, it was spaghetti!  I got a call from my brother Johnny; he wants us to come down to the coast on Wednesday so that we can have a bit more time together so after discussing it, we will try to do it.
9 days left to our departure!

June 1 to 5, 2012; Lee Creek

June  1, 2012, Friday; Lee Creek
Raining today!  I went for my power walk in the morning then we spent most of the day reading and /or watching TV, too miserable outside.  We had HH at Marcel and Donna and even that didn’t last long as everyone was cold.  Val cooked a stir-fry for dinner, one of my favorites!

JUNE  2, Saturday, Medical exam
Sunny this morning but the forecast is for rain later in the afternoon.  I went for a walk around the park ( my new routine) and the health nurse came at 10 am to take a bunch of test and asked a hundred questions on my health.  The things you have to do to get Life Insurance at 65!!!  After she left, we went outside to work in the yard; I cleaned the last locker and organized it.  We are pretty well ready to go; the last thing to do is wash “The Bear” which I haven’t had a chance to do yet.

JUNE  3, Sunday, Lee Creek
Cloudy and it rained overnight!  A very quiet day consisting of walks, talking to neighbours, HH at Marcel & Donna.  We rented a couple movies and watched throughout the day and evening.  Val made a delicious turkey chili and salad. 

JUNE  4, Monday,
More rain!  Not much happened again today; we took the movies back and that’s about it.  No one had HH today as it was too miserable

JUNE  5, Tuesday,
RAIN, RAIN, and more RAIN!  I guess it’s needed!?  We went to Salmon Arm for groceries, to pick up our mail and see IRS about my CPAP.  They showed me how to reduce the air blowing in so that I can see if it will help the problem with my sinuses.  It is now 4 pm and it is just pouring out there.  Reading a good book with the heater on...life is good!  I posted new pictures of when my brother Johnny was here.