One down - four to go

I can't believe we have been on the road for 4 weeks already!  The good news is we are still talking to each other..  Actually, Bev talks and I just say "Yes Dear". There was one tense situation.  We were in the middle of nowhere between North Bay and Temiscaming and we stopped for gas.  I went in to the store because I had been trying to find yesterday's Globe and Mail. (Jeremy had an interview in the car section).  I was able to find 2 and was quite happy because everywhere I'd looked in north Bay they didn't have them.  I came out just as Gerry pulled out and started driving down the highway.  I'm yelling at him and he doesn't stop. Meanwhile he's yelling at me, thinking I went to the washroom in our van. (When there are public toilets - please).  He's trying to tell me the mileage for me to record and doesn't realize I'm not in the van. He did finally clue in (when he saw me , in his rear view mirror, running down the highway  ) and pulled over.  We got over it by the time we reached Temiscaming.
We had a nice couple of days in Lloydminster visiting a friend and nephew. Lloyminster is an interesting place in that 1/2 of it is in Alberta and half in Saskatchewan. We headed towards Winnipeg on Highway 16 thinking we would stop whenever we saw something interesting. But there is really not much to see.  And the winds were blowing so hard !!!  I took the wheel for 1 hour to relieve Gerry but it was all that I could handle.  We did stop at Fort Battleford and found out that it was the capital of the North West Territories and an important site during the Louis Riel rebellion.  That night we took our first motel room.  It was pouring rain and they were forecasting severe thunderstorms for the area.  Wouldn't  you know it; 15 minutes after we checked in the skies cleared and it was a beautiful evening.  I' m thinking - Great.  Because Gerry told me if it rained the next night we would have to camp so I used my motel ticket too soon!
The next stop was Dryden which was nice but the water was so bad we had to throw out our morning coffee and use filtered water.  We spent the weekend in Thunder Bay with friends.   It is nice to have a break on the road from camping and have someone else to talk to besides each other.
We took 2 days to travel between Thunder Bay and Sudbury.  For most of that time we had no cell service.  I was going through serious withdrawal.  Spent another pleasant 2 days with family.  I think that is the last visiting we will be doing until we reach Welland in ???
We are now in Ottawa for 3 nights.  The campground sounded nice in the book but it sadly did not live up to it's description .  Today we are doing laundry (the first time we haven't done it at someone's house).  Tomorrow and Monday we will venture into Ottawa to sight see.
The weather has not been the greatest.  We have had rain off and on.  But we can manage that. As I type this it is pouring rain but we are dry sitting under the awning.  The mosquitoes are a bit more annoying.  One night was particularly bad and Gerry was slapping all night. We woke up in the Morne to find that we had opened the window and the screen so it was an open invitation to the mosquitoes! However we have found that Bounce sheets really do help. (Thanks for the tip Hazel).
Hopefully this will satisfy those who have made comments about me not updating the blog.  I will try to do better going forward.  But a lot depends on Internet service.

Don't trust the weathermen

When I last wrote we were facing a gloomy couple of days , according to the weather forecast, and were debating whether to stay in Jasper or push on through.  We compromised and decided to book 1 night and see how it went.  But when we got to the campground , at 11:30 am, it was already over half full and RV's were lining up, so we decided to book in for 2 nights.  That turned out to be a good decision.  In the brochure they handed out at the gate they had the top 5 things to do in Jasper in the rain ( I'm guessing it rains here a lot).  So after checking in, we took one of the recommended drives along the Maligne road. It was beautiful with rock canyons and waterfalls.  We spent the rest of the day exploring the area.  And the rain held off for the most part.  That night it rained off and on.  We had a campfire and Gerry put the canopy in the van up so we would move between the fire and the canopy, depending in the weather.  The next day we got up and drove to the Columbia Icefields.  It is 100 km south of Jasper, but it took us almost 3 hours to get there.  We stopped at a couple of waterfalls, several scenic lookouts and even in between.  Gerry took LOTS of pictures.  At the Icefields we hiked to the toe of the glacier.  Haven't used are bikes at all, except in Summerland but we are doing lots of walking.  The weather on Sunday was absolutely beautiful; sunny and warm, not the rain and thunderstorms forecast.  Today is another beautiful day and we are heading to Lloydminister for a couple of nights to visit.  We get to sleep in a real bed and do laundry.  Yeah!

Rain, rain, go away

We have not had nice weather since leaving Victoria.  But we spent a nice couple of days with our friends Marilyn & Tim.  Good food, good friends what more could one ask for?  Oh I know; Marilyn played cards with me! She even let me win one game.  The weather wasn't that great but Gerry and I were happy to be inside a nice spacious house instead of a cramped camper.  They live in a beautiful spot.  We were going to cross over at Comox and head down the Vancouver coast through Campbell river and Gibsons, but the weather was so bad we just crossed over at Nanaimo to Horeshoe Bay.  The drive north to Whistler was beautiful and the weather was a bit better, so we stopped at a few scenic spots along the way.  All in all,  a nice day.  We stopped in Lillooet for the night at a campground I found on my smart phone; flush toilets, showers and free wi-fi.  There  was one shower in this cramped building with a toilet for boys and girls (yuck) and the wi-fi only worked when you were in the office which was the back of a camper.  Plus it was pouring rain.  In the morning Gerry got up at 6:30 to take a shower but they were locked, so he was watching, thinking someone was in there.  About 10 minutes later a gentleman came along with a key and went in.  When he was finished he RAN to his camper (Gerry was just heading out to take his turn), gave the key to his wife and she went in.  So we were not impressed. Now Emily I know that you would say hippies would embrace this opportunity and dance naked in the rain and wash themselves at the same time, thanking Mother Nature all the while.  But I have decided I am not a hippie - I am a princess.  Flush toilets and showers (preferably clean) for me, thank you very much.  Today we were going to stop and camp at Wells Gray Provincial park but it was pouring rain so we are now just outside of Jasper at a place called Valencourt.  We are planning to go to Jasper tomorrow.  We had originally planned to camp for 2 days in Jasper but that will depend on the weather for sure.  Thank heaven we have lots of wine...

Slowly but surely . .

Just sitting in Nanaimo having a coffee and updating the blog.  We have had more adventures to report.  After leaving Vancouver we travelled to Victoria to my sister Heather's place.  it's actually in Brentwood Bay.  It was nice to visit with her, Marshall, Sam and Zachary.  We went to mile zero and dipped our feet in the ocean.  Hopefully I can attach a picture.   We then proceeded to French Beach Provinical park just outside of Sooke.  Our first disappointment came when we realized there were no flush toilets, only pit toilets.  Truthfully they weren't that bad but I am a princess.  Pit toilets must be avoided as much as possible.  Then we planned a nice dinner which included an omelette to use up the eggs we had been hauling since Cranbrook. We pulled out the eggs and they wouldn't crack.  Finally Gerry stuck a knife in the egg to crack it and realized that it was frozen solid!  I guess we haven't got the fridge regulated quite right yet.  We made the omelette after peeling the shell off the frozen eggs, thawing and stirring at the same time.  Not the best omelette I have ever had, but we didn't get sick.  We finished the eggs off the next morning in French toast.
After leaving French Beach we went to China Beach and hiked the Juan de Fuca trail..  We hiked to Mystic Beach - absolutely stunning.  Then we continued on but it was quite muddy and hilly after that and I got quite muddy.  How does that work?  Gerry doesn't have a spec on him, but my pants and shoes were covered in mud!  Fortuneatly the campground we stayed at last night had showers and was pretty empty so we both got cleaned up.
Today we decided to empty the camper tanks.  We found a place in Lake Cowichan but could not find the disposable rubber gloves ; an absolute must for handling the sewer hose.  We literally took apart every cupboard and storage area in the camper and found them in the very last place we had to look,  in the most unlikely place - where I stored the winter coats.  Don't know what I was thinking with that one.  They are in a better place now.  Before we started we reviewed the written instructions  so we didn't have a Robin William's disaster.  one thing they recommended was putting a rock on the hose going into the sewer to make sure it doesn't slip out.  They said another choice would be to have your wife hold the hose, but this option was not recommended for obvious reasons.  So we get it set up and the hose is a bit short, but it works.  Then Gerry tells me to stand there and hold the hose!  I did.
Hopefully we have all the kinks out although we realized last night that our plug ins do not work when we have electrical hook ups.  We may try and get that fixed if we do not have to unpack everything to fix it.
We will be on the Island for another two days visiting friends,  then we will finally start heading East.

Well things are going much better now (touch wood).  We had a nice day and a half with Emily ,
Jon and their new puppy Taika.  I have never been exposed to such a young pup and although Taika is very cute she is as much work as a new born.  Emily & Jon were both quite tired.  She gets them up every 2 to 4 hours.  And like it is with a newborn, most of our time was spent sitting around watching Taika's antics.
Monday morning we travelled all the way from Winfield to Summerland where we stayed with an old friend Mark.  (His wife, Louise was in Ontario ).  We went on a lovely bike ride long the Kettle Valley railway and spent the rest of the time visiting over a glass or two of wine.
Tuesday we headed to Cultus Lake Provinical park near Chilliwack.  Jeremy met us there and we spent two great nights relaxing.  This was the first chance we have had to camp.  Camping has gotten much more expensive than I remember.  It cost us $30/ night plus another $12 for Jeremy.  And that is for no services; although they did have flush toilets and showers.  As well we had to pay $20 for green firewood for 2 nights.  But on the positive the camper is very comfy for sleeping and we seem to have everything organized quite well.  Plus nothing can compare to sitting around a campfire listening to Jeremy play the guitar and sing.  I think everyone around us was jealous!
We are now at Jeremy's for one night.  It is good to be plugged in again.  Didn't realize how dependent I had become on my toys.
I also realize that we have been on the road for almost a week and are only in Vancouver.  I guess it is a good thing we have 5 months, at the rate we are going. LOL!

Water, water, everywhere

We did not get off to a very auspicious beginning.  It all started on Friday; the day before we were scheduled to take off.  The night before we had a small get together/barbecue with our friends. The rain put a bit of a damper on our plans for a fire, but did not dampen our moods.  Friday was spent doing last minute preparations.  While I was in the house doing laundry and house work, Gerry was outside getting the camper ready.  He had to fill the water tank.  So he connected the outside hose to the tank and then left to put the car into the garage and do a few other chores.  When he got back to check the camper water was pouring out the back and side of the camper!  He had forgotten to re- connect one tiny, but oh so important,  piece of hose so the water was flowing from the hose into the camper.  Everything that was on floor level was sopping wet;  he had to take the bikes off and we had to unpack all of the stuff that was in the benches.  The rest of my day was spent drying out coats and tools while Gerry was in the camper with a space heater and my blow dryer drying out all the nooks and crannies in the camper.  By 8:00 we had everything dry, the stuff re-packed, the floors re-washed and the bikes back on.  We were good to go!

We got up about 6:00 am on Saturday ready to hit the road.  I ran downstairs to the pantry for something I had thought of in the night and I noticed water on the rec. room floor.  I looked up and saw water dripping from the ceiling tiles.  "Gerry!".  It seems like one of the pipes leading to the main floor shower had cracked.  it took a while for Gerry to Identify the problem, then his buddy Roger came over and pinpointed the exact source of the problem - a crack in the shower assembly unit.
We had decided we needed to wait until 8:00 am before we started calling for help.  Then I started calling friends, plumbers who we had used in the past and then anyone in the yellow pages, without any success.  Where do al the plumbers go at 8:00 on a rainy Saturday?  That's what I'd like to know.  Finally just after 9:00 we got hold of the fellow who will be staying in the house while we are away.  We wanted to let him know about the problem and also he mentioned he had a friend who was a plumber.  When Gerry explained the problem he figured he could fix it or get his friend to do it.  He told us to get going and he would look after It.  Bless him for that.  By 9:45 we had the cooler packed and were on the road.
We have such good friends!  But I hope water is not going to be a theme for this vacation.
 Stay tuned . . .