April 25 to 30, 2016; In Chilliwack and family visits

APR 25, MONDAY; Affairs

It is cloudy but the sun is breaking through.

This morning I completed that package to send to the insurance for reimbursement on our insurance while in Mexico, got my passport application and mailed the whole thing today.  I also called BELL and reinstated our service for the satellite.  At least they didn’t screw that up.

Val went for lunch with her cousin and I was left to fend for myself but Rochelle rescued me! J

APR 27, WEDNESDAY; Visit with grand-kids

We left the house by 2:40 under cloudy skies.  We drove to Coquitlam, met Joanne and McKinley at the house and when John got home, we drove to Jenaya’s school to watch the “Track & Field” competition.  This was just “for fun” competition but the kids gave it their best.  Jenaya didn’t come first in any of them but she DID give a great effort, coming second in a couple of the games. 

We went their house and John cooked a marvelous dinner of a fresh Fraser River Salmon with BBQ vegetables and couscous rice.  We had a very nice visit, gave the kids their presents which they loved, especially the shell jewelry boxes.  We were home by 10 pm; we left early as the kids had to go to bed.

APR 28 to 30; Another month gone by

On Thursday, I got my on-line accounts set up with Bell and Telus.  It is cloudy again….boring!  Val decided to do a wash today.  Kevin helped me installing the new window for the MH door.  It went very well and we had no problems.  Took us about an hour to complete the project.

Friday, Val went shopping by herself to buy some baby shower gift.  We now have a new glass on the counter, between the sink and the couch, which Kevin helped installing.  It will give protect against water splashing into the couch. 

We drove to Port Moody to visit son Jeffrey.  It is cloudy with some light rain drizzle (boring!) however it was sunny in Port Moody.  My brother Johnny came with us.  We had a nice visit, went to the Pub for dinner.  We drove back to the marina, had a night cap then said our goodbyes and drove back home.  On the way home, we got a call from Audrey that they are in Chilliwack at the RV Park so we made arrangement to visit tomorrow.  Johnny went home and we went into the house to say goodnight to Rochelle and found Hayley, Vanessa and Sean also having a visit.  A short visit then we said goodnight to everyone.

Saturday, turned out to be sunny and warm!  We had Aud & Marcel and Johnny over for dinner.  We cooked a ham and scallop potatoes and it was all a success.  We even had enough for “Care Packages” for everyone.  Both Hayley and Vanessa dropped in and Nessa even brought desert which was a surprise and devoured with ice cream.  We had an enjoyable evening and as usual, it all had to end eventually!  Everyone left by 10 pm and Nessa got to take some scallop potatoes as a “Care Package”.

That’s it for this month!

April 21 to 24; Back in BC

APR 21, THURSDAY; Back in Canada and Chilliwack, BC

We headed out by 9 am and got on Hwy 99.  About a half hour later we entered I-5 North, drove through Portland with little rush hour traffic and finally stopped 3 hours later for lunch just past Seattle at a Casino.  We continued our journey north, turned onto Hwy 539 and eventually reached the Canadian Border at 3:45 pm but not before filling up with diesel, 56.7 gallons @ $2.15 US.

At the border, after buying a bottle of Bourbon at the Duty Free, we were across in 15 minutes after paying duties on the extra booze we had.  They were all very pleasant and talkative which was nice.  Back on Hwy 1, we soon arrived in Chilliwack where I dump our tanks at the Fairgrounds then drove to Rochelle and Kevin’s house, backed in and set up for the night; it is 4:40 pm. We sat out on their patio for a drink then went out to FRANK’S ITALIAN KITCHEN & BAR.  Unger Window installed all the windows and glass inside in that place.  Grand-daughter Hayley joined us and we made plans for a BBQ on Sunday at mom and dad’s place with all the kids present.  The restaurant is within walking distance from the house so we walked there and Kevin and I walked back.  The girls drove back with Hayley in her car.  We had lighting and thunder and rain just as we got home

I called son Jeff to let him know we were here, hope to see him on Sunday.  

It feels good to be home! 

We drove 328 miles in 6.5 hrs @ an average 53 mph.  Stopped a total of 2 hrs for fuel, lunch and rest

N   49* 07.798’

W 121* 52.760

Alt 38 ft

APR 22, FRIDAY; Chilliwack

I think that from here on, I will reduce my time consumption writing my blog by reporting a weekly recap.  It is going to become quite monotonous especially when we start working in May.  It is cloudy outside but warm.

Today we went to town to re-connect our Canadian phone number and re-started our BELL TV programs.  Well not quite; when I got to Bell store I found out that Bell had cancelled my account in January thereby cancelling my cell phone that I have had for the past twelve years.  I stormed out of there swearing that I will NEVER deal with them again.  If it wasn’t so expensive to change my satellite, I would also cancel my TV programming with them.

We walked over to ROGERS kiosk and I got a new sim card with them.  Our new number is now 250-515-0922.  I also got a cell phone for Val # 25-515-1104.  

APR 23, SATURDAY;

Cloudy today!  I spent the morning catching up to our Income Taxes and putting the papers in order to get our insurance refunds.

We went for groceries and found the prices not too outrageous.  We stopped for a beer at our favorite Pub in Sardis then home to put everything away. 

HH with R&K and Ron & Babe.  We ordered Chinese food for dinner then watched the Revenant.  In bed by 11pm

APR 24, SUNDAY; visit and dinner with grand-kids

The day began slow and lazy.  We were finally showered and dressed by noon.  Visited with R&K for a while then we began getting thing ready for dinner.  Everyone showed up by 5 pm and we sat around and caught up to everyone’s news and recent trips.  Jeffrey was supposed to show up but he didn’t.  I texted him and he stated he was caught in a wind storm by his marina!???  Now, why he was out there when he told me he would be here makes no sense to me.  Whatever, that is his excuse and I guess I have to believe it or feel miserable and full of doubts which I don’t want to do.

We had a very nice dinner and Kevin did a superb job in cooking the steaks.  He takes so much pride in doing that!  For dessert, Doreen brought an ice cream cake that she made that morning and it was delicious!  It was all over too soon.  

We went back to our house and watched some tube then to bed.

APRIL 22,16

OUR NEW PHONE NUMBER IS NOW 250-515-0922

April 17 to 20, 2016; Exploring Eugene and to near Portland

APR 17, SUNDAY; Cycling tour

We were gone by 10 am and drove to a park that was to be the beginning of our ride.  When I got out and went to take the bikes off the rack, I realized that I didn’t have the key for the chain lock so back in and back to our MH where I got the keys and drove back to the Park.

We got on the trail ok and cycled East to the last bridge then crossed over to the north shore of the Willamette River and cycle back.  The scenery was great and there was lots of young people and families along the trail.  We stopped in a huge area where there were covered picnic sites and had lunch.  We continued on to the next bridge where we crossed back to the south shore and cycled back to our starting point.  What a fantastic day, the sun is shining and it is warm…almost 80*F.

On the way back, we stopped at a “Beer Garden” near our place and had a couple beers.  Back at home, we sat out for a while then in for dinner and “60 minutes”, “Madame Secretary” and “The Good Wife”

APR 18, MONDAY; To Florence

Once again up at 7 and out by 9 am.  We decided to go to Florence to explore.  First, we had to go next to Monaco at Coach RV Glass to pick up the window for the door; boy is that a heavy glass, looks solid too!  Anyway, we got back on Hwy 126 W and drove towards our destination.  It sure looked a lot different than our last drive through here especially with the sun shining.  We stopped at a small roadside café and had breakfast/brunch and it was delicious!  We arrived in Florence and to our disappointment, there was no traditional downtown but just a spread out town on Hwy101 so we decided to head south and explore.  We made it as far as Winchester near Reedsport and visited the area.  Lots of sea food restaurant but we were still full from our brunch.  We did however drive to the Pacific Ocean and walked the beach.  The tide was out and the waves were roaring and crashing.

Like all good thing however, we had to head back.  We took Hwy 38 back for something different and found this road followed the Umpqua River most of the way and it was mainly flat meaning that there were no hills to speak of and fairly straight.  We stopped along the way at a pub north of GRAIN and had a late lunch.  We eventually came out on I-5 south of Cottage Grove and made our way home arriving around 4:30 pm and learned that the jack didn’t come in today so another night and day here!

APR 19, TUESDAY; Taking it easy & Bad news

I swear I have a black cloud following me!  We heard in the early afternoon that the jack didn’t arrive.  I told them that if it wasn’t here tomorrow we would leave; it’s been a week now that we have been here. The jack was supposedly ordered last Thursday from southern California shipped via UPS!????

Anyway, today we went shopping for groceries, had an oil change done on the Jeep and a haircut for me.  We sat around the MH enjoying the sun and just read our books.

APR 20, WEDNESDAY;

We have now been here seven days.  If the jack doesn’t arrive today, we are leaving.  We saw the UPS truck come in across the street but then continued on.  I was really disappointed.  We sat around for another half hour and just when I thought he wasn’t coming back this way, he pulled in the yard and we finally got our jack!  The guys were really good and went to work right away.  They were done by 2pm, we paid our bill and were on our way by 2:30 pm.  We got on Hwy 369 (the Beltline) to Hwy 99 where we got off and headed north.  We drove through a few towns and the scenery was incredible.  By 4 pm I started looking for a campground and we found one just before Portland in Tualatin.  We paid $39 with the discount from Good Sam and settle in for the night.  I washed the windshield and the front of the rig then we sat out for a drink.  That was short lived as it began drizzling and we even had thunder and lighting.  WOW, what a quick change!

We travelled 109 miles in 2.5 hrs @ an average 43 mph with a 15-minute stop in there for bathroom breaks.

N  45* 23.5581’

W 122* 48.1700’

ALT: 133 ft

April 11 to 16, 2016;Eugene, repairs, exploring

APR 11, MONDAY; To Eugene, I thought!

How things changed quickly; got up at 8 this morning to a beautiful blue sky and sunshine!  Posted my blog, showered and shaved and we were on the road by 10 am…Should be able to make it to Eugene!?  Well, we didn’t!

We left at a late time.  We drove through town and turned on Hwy 139 and began climbing almost right away over the ridge then down and up another one.  It was NOT a good way to go; the road was narrow, rough and it was up and down most of the way.  Definitely do not recommend it!  From ADIN to CANBY CA, the road was decent.  We stopped in Canby for lunch and we had this young blonde waitress that was the epitome of every bad blonde joke you ever heard.  In her favor, I will say that she was a very nice person and tried hard to sound knowledgeable.  Back on the road, we continued on 139 to Klamath Falls OR, where we got on HWY 97.  The sun was shining so it was nice driving.  Around CHEMULT OR, we began looking for a campground and finally got one in CRESCENT OR, named BIG PINES RV PARK.  A very nice Park that accepts Good Sam membership.  We got here at 4:25pm.  The owner walked us over to our site, we set up and relaxed under the sun and met people from Alberta and here I thought we were bringing the rear!  J

We drove 215 miles in 4 hrs @ 54 mph and were stopped for 1.5 hr.

N  40* 24.508’

W 120* 37.791’

ALT: 4160 ft

APR 12, TUESDAY; To Eugene, this time for sure!

We had a lazy start this morning.  We woke up to a beautiful sunshine and we took our time getting ready.  We were on the road by 10:15 am, headed to town then turned left on 58 by-pass which eventually connected to Hwy 58.  This is a highway you want to take from this side to Eugene as there is a long descend with #6,7grade. 

We arrived in Eugene safe and sound after enjoying the scenery on the way down and all the snow along the highway.  Just before the city, I stopped for fuel and took on 62 gallons @ $2.11/gal.  We got on I-5 for a bit then got off and went to 11^th Ave to QUALITY COACH where we will get some repairs done on our warranty.  We were here by 1pm, got the paperwork started, set up with electricity and water in their yard.  It is cloudy and only 60*F. 

We went for lunch at SHARI then to Walmart for some groceries.  We came home, put everything away then relaxed

We drove 97 miles in 2hrs and 15 minutes @ an average 44 mph.  We stopped for 53 minutes.

N  44* 02.860’

W 123* 09.938’

ALT: 376 ft

APR 13, WEDNESDAY; Repairs

We were out of the motorhome by 9 am.  I went over the repairs with the Technician, and left my number with the office.  We left and spent the day shopping, eating out, dealing with issues with Verizon then stopped at an Applebee for a drink.  When we got back, I learned that the Warranty was playing games again so we are waiting for a phone call from them.  I told them to go ahead anyway with the jack so that will be done mayana, hopefully.

We had let over or dinner then watched the tube and listened to the rain falling

APR 14, THURSDAY; Eugene

I bought a new GPS @ Best Buy for the motorhome and replaced the one in the Jeep with the one that was in the motorhome.  I had to take it back because I didn’t like the way it worked and got the next level.  While at the Mall, we went to a visitor info Centre and got some information on what to see around here.  The young man was very informative and we got a few things to do over the week-end.  As a matter of fact, he gave us a list of nice drives so we took one that began on Hwy 99 at Junction City then West on Hwy 36 to Mapleton where we had a beer at a quaint local bar that had a big friendly dog that kept bringing me this chewed up football so I accommodated by throwing in around the bar.  NEAT!!!  Aside from the constant rain, heavy at times, we enjoyed the ride and looked at two covered bridges.  Mapleton is also where we turned onto Hwy 126 and headed back to Eugene.  For my motor bike readers, Hwy 36 would be a fantastic road to go on a sunny day.  We finally heard from the insurance and they turned down our claim because we had surpassed our limit on the mileage by 1000 KM.  DAMN!!!  So now we are getting the main slide adjusted and the front jack replaced at our cost.  There goes any savings we had!

APR 15, FRIDAY; Exploring

We had a great day exploring this day!  We went to COTTAGE GROVE, south of here, off I-5.  We got out of the car and walked the Historic Downtown.  Lots of old buildings, beautiful murals and lots of antique stores.  Then we drove West on a road that eventually ends into a dead end but the part we saw had lots covered bridges and waterfalls.  We stopped at all of them and took lots of pictures.  We went around a huge lake and the scenery was fantastic.  Near the end, we stopped at this forestry campground and went on a half mile hike to see our second waterfall.  The forest was full of moss which created an eerie sight; we kept expecting the Sasquatch to come out of the forest.  This drive was part of directions we got from the Info Center.   Back on I-5 we headed north to Springfield where we stopped at a Brewery, BLANK TOWN” had a beer and lunch and then drove home.

I have to explain that we each got a pamphlet that list all the breweries in the city and region from the Info Center.  As we stop at a brewery, we get our pamphlets stamped and once we have 8 stamps, we will receive a free mug and a free vase.  So…our goal this week-end is to get all eight!  We got one so far!

Back at the repair shop, I took the Beaver to a local garage that had a dump station, dump the tanks and came back to the repair shop. We had a quiet evening at home.  These guys here sure work late, they didn’t go home until 7 pm; wonder if they get OT???

APR 16, SATURDAY; A pubbing day

 It was nice to sleep in this morning and wake up to sunshine.  The forecast looks good and promises temperature in the mid 70’s.  We went into town and found the street market.  We parked and walked the whole place.  We even found a section where there were a group of hippies smoking pot and playing drums.  The young people were dancing and enjoying themselves.  It was a bit like the street market in Palm Springs on Thursday evening.  We found of first pub in a series of eight, “STEELHEAD BREWING”, had a beer and lunch: Chicken tortilla soup which was delicious!  We then went to find eight more breweries on our list and got stamps from each of them.  Some were quite cool bars, others just plain brewery with a bar.  We didn’t have a beer at each one but a few we stayed and had one beer and chatted with the patrons.  Val didn’t care for the beer and since they didn’t sell anything else, she had water instead.  I have to say that hop beer is quite different and heavy.  It is an acquired taste.  I only liked a couple of them!  The last brewery “VIKING BRAGGOT CO” we found was very close to our home.  At first we couldn’t find it but found a winery instead so we stopped anyway and tasted their wine.  We ended up buying a bottle to share with our favorite son-in-law back home.  We were mentioning to the lady in attendance about our pamphlet with all the stamped brewery and mentioned the Viking that we couldn’t find.  With a big smile on her face, she announced that it was in the back and all we had to do is walk through this door which we did and found our last brewery.  FANTASTIC!  We chatted with this guy at the bar who seem to know all the beers on the menu and was telling us about the best and the worse.  He was quite knowledgeable and I suspect he worked for the brewery!?  We had one last beer here then headed home, about three blocks away!  It was a great day and we had fun.  We got stamps from nine breweries.