Oscar and Bella come to visit

Somehow I missed a day posting here, not that we're crazy busy.  Monday we headed off to the local GM dealer in Palm Springs, as Donald wanted to make an appointment for tire rotation and maybe an oil change on Wednesday.  Wednesday of course, is quilting day.  That done, we headed off to Rancho Mirage and a stop in Costco.  We noticed the black smoke coming from an RV Park, feeling bad for whoever it was that was going through the tragedy, and hoping no one was hurt. 

Yesterday, I really cleaned and rearranged furniture inside the 5th wheel, and Donald tackled washing the roof and the front of the outside.  Looking uptown!  I needed a better space for my sewing machine other than the kitchen table, and we picked up a small portable table at Costco that fits in the corner of a slide just tickety-boo.  After Rick and Paulette went on their uphill morning hike, she picked me up for another trip to Joanne's.  This time, no lineups but the good sales were still on!

The highlight of yesterday was a quick visit from friends, Rick and Lynda, from our northern BC hometown.  Rick also retired from the RR.  They were on their way to Mexico and would have loved to stay here, but the Sands does not accept truck campers, even though theirs is pretty deluxe! 

It had been a long time since we had seen their dogs, Bella and Oscar, so of course they had to have their picture taken!  The last time we were camping/glamping together was about 5 years ago at the Crabfest in Gingolx, B.C. ( waaayyyyy north, near Alaska, on the coast ).

Bella and Oscar

The end of the day was a great video call to our kids on the Island, and some online chat to our youngest son. Congrats for lining up school in February, N! 

Loving Google's header today : Mark Twain's birthday.

Busy Sunday

College of the Desert has a street fair in their parking lot every Saturday and Sunday with over 150 vendors, music and foods.  It is great fun.  An early start to the day had us leaving the Sands at 8:45 and we really enjoyed it. Just ahead of us pulling into the parking lot were Rick, Paulette, Allen and Lolita, and the furgirls.  We said our goodbyes to Allen and Lolita there, as they were heading back to work ( yuck! ) in the next day or so.

Isn't that the cutest little pink bear? Of course, we did sample the greek gyros and picked up a few vegetables.

So good!  After BF shopping on Friday, I had a $45 certificate from Kohl's, so we headed there to spend it, this time on something that perhaps Donald needed. He rarely buys clothes for himself, sticking to the usual (many!) years T shorts, shorts, and sweatshirts.  Of course, I didn't read the small print that the certificate wasn't good till tomorrow, but the sales were still on and he picked up a couple of shirts. The exciting part was when he was outside the doors of Kohls, waiting for me as I paid at the till just inside.  Sirens!  Emergency vehicles pulled right up to the door, and proceeded to get a stretcher ready to enter the store.  Donald mentioned to the Paramedic that the stretcher delivery gave new meaning to the phrase" Shop till you drop".  That gave some chuckles to the emergency crew.

If that wasn't enough excitement, we came home and washed the outside of the 5'er.  Lots of comments from neighbours about how we should come do their rigs after we were finished.  Hmmph. We are VERY expensive! Our timing was perfect, as we finished the big wash just as they were announcing the referee's for the Grey Cup.

 Later, just after the big game ( whoo hoo B.C.! ) I went to do laps in the pool and then the hot tub, as Donald drove to Valero to see how much their propane fill was ( $28 for a 30lb tank, I don't think so! ).

a planned quiet day turned into new friends and an invite

After Black Friday shopping, we thought Saturday was going to be quiet and just a 'hang around the rv' day.  Donald spied some nice looking outdoor plants at Lowe's on his galavanting Friday, so we made a trip to see if we could brighten up our patio area. The prices for plants were the same as at home, so I nixed that, and he suggested Home Depot since it was close by.  We picked up two lovely little mixed planters there, and a fellow shopper commented on how lovely they were, but too bad they were in a short planter. Why? Well, the rabbits will eat them all up pretty fast.  So, they are now at home, on the patio, up on top of upside down plastic milk crates.  We use those milk crates to transport our 30lb propane bottles in the back of the truck when they need refilling.

When we ran by Rick and Paulettes to drop off her casserole dish, Don heard someone yell out his name. Oh boy, he thought... I should know this guy.  Well, they hadn't met, but it was Allen from Corona, Cal., who has commented on our blog and the solver of the rice question at the border. He then graciously invited us to dinner that evening at their spot, joining R and P and Russ. What a dinner it was. Lolita is an amazing cook. I would post about it, but you can look at  Rick and Paulette's. 
Thank you so much for the invite guys and what a lovely couple!

This morning we are schedule for a quick chat on Skype with our kids in Victoria, then off to College of the Desert for the street fair there.  I think Donald hears the Greek food booth calling his name.

First experience of Black Friday

Well, the invitation was there from Paulette and Karen, for me to join them to experience Black Friday.  I am not a shopper, except when I have to for supplies and staples.  Just a minute, I correct that.  Quilt stores are different. Then I can spend and hour or more in a small wee shop. Usually buying little.

Today?  Bargoons to be had! No way for the midnight kerfuffel, that would be for the true BF shoppers, but we did start at 6 am. In the dark! First stop: Joanne's for fabrics. See paragraph 1: aka: quilt store. Mucho bargoono. There were 7 staff cutting fabrics, and we knew there were 50 people waiting all the time to have their fabrics cut to their desired lengths, because they have a pull ticket system with numbers like in Lee Valley Tools.  In the door we went, the other two gals headed off in one direction and I bee lined it to the number ticket dispenser. I KNEW! Then I went shopping for fabrics. We all bought a roller bag for your sewing machine, and a Rowenta iron. Not only a great sale, but we had coupons for additional 25 - 50% off!  Then to Kohl's for awesome sale items, and again, we had coupons for another 15% off! Who hoo!  Macy's: not much on sale.

bargoons in the back(seat)

Paulette tried to take some pics of the fabric shoppers carts at Joanne's. We were amazed! Check her blog for Nov.26th.

Donald says he didn't do too much. Checked on and topped up the rig's batteries. He went over to Costco and Walmart for coffee grounds. He was glad that the didn't have to go on BF shopping. Says he now has to look for a part time job for the bargoons.

Yesterday afternoon's American Thanksgiving fest was indeed a feast. To think we even had the energy to go back to the main hall for the dance later in the evening. Thanks Rick for the pictures of dinner, because we couldn't find the camera. It was found later .. in my purse... typical of me. Mentalpause.

Well, the temps are heading for the 80's.. so some outside activities are calling. Main Hall , 7 am tomorrow for coffee and muffins, followed at 8 am by a monster garage sale at the park.  I suggested College of the Desert street fair for Sunday.

Tonight we are watching Idiot Abroad on Discovery Channel. Funniest thing we have seen for a long time.

Karen attempting to negotiate stairs into her 5th wheel with her shopping loot.

Quilting and Skype

Wednesday is the day for any interested quilters to bring along their projects, sewing machines and lunch and spend the day together in the North Hall.  Kim was ready a day early with about 4 projects on the go, and since the hall is only about 20 yards away, it was easy to lug everything over.  Fun day.
Later: go here to see camera crazy Paulette's pictures of our projects on the go: Sweet P . I must have gotten up earlier than Paulette to post - Paulette you need to practice getting up even earlier for Black Friday!!! Ha!

Donald, however, had on his list to go to W*mart for some items, and was totally blown away by the crowds there, shopping for Thanksgiving dinners.  The truck, though, looks shiny and pretty as he visited a detailing shop in Palm Desert that he found when he dropped Kim off at Monica's Quilt Shop.

In the evening, we had a 'date' with our kids in Victoria on Skype.  The RV park has internet, but it doesn't work very well with Skype, so we use our Verizon Mifi.  We have a plan with 5G a month, so we will have to keep track of the usuage, as Skype apparently can scarf that up pretty quick. The kids managed to find a wee little sitting chair that our little new grandson can sit in, while he 'talks' to his grandparents! It was pretty wonderful, and we are very grateful for the technology to see him as he grows this winter. ( and his parents and the dogs! )

Speaking of dogs, we really miss going to the dog park here.  No, we don't want another dog at the present time.  Ok, todays agenda:  see if Safeway is open to get some more salad ingredients, go to the Thanksgiving Dinner at 2:30 ( why, why at 2:30?? ) then maybe the Dance this evening.  We might also start cutting the 11 foot Oleander hedge, as we have been waiting 5 days now for the park crew to show up, and we have our 'lopper' with us.

A lovely welcome back BBQ

What a feast!  Rick and Paulette were so gracious and kind to invite us over for a BBQ this evening, for our first real night back at the Sands RV and Golf Resort.  It is so much fun to meet new people that you have " RV blogged" with over the past couple of years, and so this evening we met a wonderful couple, Russ and Donna from Oregon who write " Travels in Therapy ".  As everyone always says it is a small world, we also met Ken and Karen.  They live only 7 km away from us in Scotch Creek, BC in the Shuswap area.  Even though we were not meant to meet Ken and Karen till the BBQ in the evening, we actually met first thing in the morning at the laundry room!  So, by supper it was like meeting old friends - ha! They had been going to Mexico for the past 7 winters, so we had lots of questions about their trips there.  If you take a look at Rick's blog, you can catch some pictures of the BBQ. I had my camera with me, but forgot it was in my bag with all the conversations.  Speaking of conversations, the topics varied from RV/truck stuff and quilting stuff. Guess which one of us was interested in what!

Paulette and Karen have talked Kim into going to Black Friday shopping. Since she is not a shopper, she'll be encouraging those 2 ladies what to buy. Well, except when they get to Joanne's for fabrics. O my.

We haven't fully set up our little site here, as the work crew is supposed to come and cut some of the Oleander again - in the back it is 11 feet high, and very messy. We are not very happy with that, however, in all fairness, we came earlier than expected.  The rig will get hooked back up today and moved over a couple of feet, as we cannot get the truck in easily to the lot.

You would think we would come here to relax. Yeah, right. The schedule has started, with the BBQ last night, running around today, quilting tomorrow, Thanksgiving dinner at the clubhouse Thursday, BF shopping on Friday...... whew.

Thanks again, Rick and Paulette. Fantastic evening. Fantastic meal. Fantastic company. Ok: Rick didn't say anything in his blog about Ryley. She thought she would have some steak as well. As Rick came into their 5th wheel, up the stairs with a plate full of steaks, Ryley helped herself to one off the plate. So, entertainment was added to the evening as well.

looking for Sun at the Sands

So sorry! We brought the rain with us as we arrived here yesterday in Desert Hot Springs and the Sands RV and Golf Resort.  We are still busy setting up our site, as we will be here almost 3 months, but maybe later today we will meet up with fellow park guests and old friends. 

There were some high winds to drive through yesterday on 395, but since it was Sunday, the I -10 and travelling through San Bernardino and Redlands was probably a lot quieter than midweek.  It did get to 3C on the Tehachapi Pass summit! 

Ah! A beautiful morning with sun! This is what we came for! The to - do list is long, but now we can relax and enjoy. 

too long a travel day for us....

We always seemed to be chased by wind and the weather and this trip down south is no different.  In Corning, where we spent the night last night, it was calling for 1.5 inches of snow by Saturday.  The morning skies were black-ish, and we left Rolling Feathers at 7:09 am, in very strong winds.  Luckily, we managed to stay just ahead of this storm cell so that the winds were calmer for the rest of the day.  A looooonnng day.

The smell of the orange trees are now wafting about us, and we'll rest it out here in Orange Grove RV, Bakersfield, for a couple of days. Perhaps even three. Accuweather was reporting snow for the Tehachapi Pass tomorrow.

An interesting thing today: our GPS re-routed us from the Bakersfield exit on I 5, to the Stockton Highway exit, also to Bakersfield.  She did it at the last minute.  It was not that much farther, only about 4 miles down the I 5, and took us to the south end of the city.  Apparently, she knows when rush hour traffic is, or how busy, and re- routes us.  Now, anyone else may think, of course the GPS does that.  In Northern B.C., we don't have rush hour, or even that much traffic, so hence this was new to us.  Well, we do have rush MINUTE. That means there is a line up of 6 vehicles at the stop light. ( near Tim Horton's ). Now you know why we dread driving into Los Angeles.

Did the Siskiyou just in time

Our early start from  7 Feathers in Oregon paid off with an easy drive, with sunny spots along the way. That was a wonderful surprise! The last two mornings we have left at 7:09 am and 7:32 am, which are records for us! There was a little bit of wind in Weed, and also when we arrived at Rolling Hills.  We tried the buffet dinner, and it was fabulous.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, it is the Senior's half price deal, so we both had an amazing meal for the total of $15.95, everything included. I was even able to get in on the senior's deal, as the age cut off was 50! Whoo hoo!

The other stop we made along the way was to the Olive Pit in Corning, just before we parked the rig.  There was plenty of RV Parking in their back parking lot, and we choose 2 bottles of olives: some Kalamata and Feta stuffed olives. Both of these should go very well with greek salad. A little agricultural education never hurts, so we learned that the small, bush like olive trees are for mechanical harvesting.  Along the I 5, you could see these massive fields of bush olives.  The mechanical harvesters pick olives that are used for oil only. The larger trees are still picked by hand, and these are the olives that are sold as whole olives.  Today, we look forward to seeing almonds and fruit perhaps.

Looking at the maps last night, we could not decide which way to go.  The weather of course, has turned very cool, rainy and in some spots very windy.  It looks like this right through till next weekend.  So glad we made it over the Siskiyou before this big storm rolls in.  Last year we travelled down the I 5 and overnighted at Santa Nella RV Park ( not recommended ) then continued to Bakersfield, with a big round trip through the Mohave Desert.  We thought we may try Highway 99, which might be slower to Bakersfield, but we have the time.

In the rain in Oregon

Last evening we stayed in the parking lot at W*mart in Chehalis, Washington, along with about 15 other rigs.  It was fairly quiet, and we stocked up there with groceries to last us a few more days.  No, I didn't buy rice!  Speaking of which, thanks to Allen and Lolita, the mystery with the rice question at the border is somewhat solved!  Thanks! Effective July 30, 2011, you must declare your rice, or be subject to fines due to possible importation of the Khapra Beetle. Interesting!

Tonight we are at 7 Feathers in Oregon, and planning to hit the road very early in the morning to tackle the Pass.  The weather reports are informing us that things are going to turn for the worse, with snow and storms come Friday. Rain tomorrow.

Well, off to the Casino for a looky - see and maybe the buffet. 

Chehalis Chores

We took the Black Ball ferry this morning from Victoria, crossing the Hood Canal bridge and we also tried the Toll Bridge. This time is was a sunny driver, versus the rainy one we had last winter.  Of course, the sunny day means it is cold at night! Ah, always a trade - off. 

The border crossing went well, with the normal question of whether we had fruits or vegetables or firewood ( no ), and this year we had a new question: do you have rice? Nope. : "Are you sure?" Yes, we are. NO rice. I knew this because I cooked up the last of it at our kids house a few days ago. So, a stop at Walmart in Chehalis to stock up. We might buy rice. (ha)

The maps are out and we are planning which way we will go after Corning, California.  There may have to be an extended stay in Bakersfield, because two of the 5th wheel brakes are not working. Hmmmpf. I told Donald we had to call Orange Grove ahead of time and book, because Rick and Paulette just about didn't get in without a reservation.

miss our kids already.

Christening and the Family all together

This was the first time that our two sons, our daughter in law and ourselves have been together since the wedding in September 2009.  We hope to get together more often than just when there is a special occasion!  Life seems so busy and everyone going all directions, including ourselves.

with his favorite Uncle

The service at Centennial United Church was lovely.  This is a very old church in Victoria, with a gigantic pipe organ.  At the end of the service the organist played a postlude. The piece was " Noel #10 by Louis Claude Daquin, and the pipes were resounding! Our wee little grandson was very good during his Baptism, and slept afterwards till the pipes woke him up. However, he was all smiles for those congregants who spoke to us during fellowship time after the service.

Last evening we had our Christmas dinner with our children, even if it was just Salisbury steak, veggies and cookies for dessert!   For the rest of today, we will be watching the Seahawks play, picking up and cleaning the 5th, and getting ready to check out of the Rv Resort on Tuesday.  We are ready to get out of this rain.

Busy RV Park

We had our first babysitting adventure, night before last, with our new grandson.  He is growing like a weed and gaining lots of weight.  His mum and dad enjoyed a couple of hours out with friends, which is a good break for them.  We told them to take advantage of our offer while we were still here!

Oceanside RV Resort, where we are staying, has been very busy and almost full every night. Don has been out visiting with neighbouring RV'ers, and most are taking the Washington State Ferry to Anacortes, and then south.  There is a recreational vehicle 'promotion' on the ferry, and the cost is half of the ride on the Black Ball Ferry to Port Angeles.  We looked at that, but it gets into Anacortes late in the day, so most rigs overnight in Anacortes and start south the next day, driving through or around Seattle. Seems that the costs are now evened out between the two ferries, so we will be sticking with the Black Ball Ferry for now ( and avoiding Seattle driving ).

We haven't heard back from Jayco on our warranty issue.  We will follow up later this week, as we try to accomplish most of the other items on our list, prior to leaving after next weekend.

Definitely looking forward to warmer weather as we dislike having to scrape the ice off the windshield of the truck in the morning. Maybe we leave too early in the morning to do stuff.  I know, relax, relax.

5th Repairs

One the way to the Island, Donald noticed that he was not getting much in the way of trailer brakes.  We pulled over to the side of the road, and sure enough, only one wheel was warm.  So, he was very very careful travelling over the Coquihalla pass, using the truck and gearing down and was quite successful.  That is not the way we want to travel all the way south, though.

We stopped in at a local RV dealer here in Sidney, and they would not be able to fit us in for a week, so we waited, and now the 5th spent the day there yesterday and probably all day today as well.  Yesterday, they checked the passenger side wheels, and a bearing seal was blown, contaminating the brakes with grease. The fix for that was cleaning the brake drum and replacing the brake assembly and repacking the bearings.  Can you say " ca-ching $$"?  Today, they are checking the remaining three wheels and repacking the bearings in them.  Then we will be checking to see if they work, and also following up with Jayco and Dexter to see if they are willing to pay anything towards the cost under warranty. Our unit is still within its' 2 year warranty period.   The other item they fixed yesterday was fixing the hot water tank electrical switch ( the one inside the unit, on the wall ).  That should also be a warranty item. Not looking forward to arguing about these things.