No More Rain!

Here we go again.

It rained all night and we had to walk Cleo and get ready to go in a huge down pour.  We were  both pretty wet by the time we left.  

We learned something new by travelling in the rain all day yesterday.  When we extended our slide last night we discovered the edge of the carpet where it overlaps was wet.  We panicked and thought there was something terribly wrong with our RV.  After googleing it last night we discovered it is a common problem (due I'm sure to really poor design).  When the slide is in and you are travelling down the highway in a torrential downpour your tires will kick up all of the water onto the bottom of your trailer.  I know I won't explain this right but to my understanding, the water sprays up, hits the "seam", soaks into the edge of the very absorbent carpet, you open the slide and VOILA:  It is wet all along the seam. Like I said, very poor design.  I imagine if you pay really big bucks these things don't happen.  Also, in sunny Manitoba we rarely see this much water.  We read on the internet that you can purchase a D-channel, (don't quote me), a rubber seal, flat on one side, circular on the other and install it.  I'm sure we will be getting one in our future.

Speaking of water, while living in BC we experienced major condensation in our RV like we have never seen before.  Besides the inside of the windows being soaked every morning, we found moisture in some upper cupboards and along one wall.  We quickly learned to wipe all windows every morning, run the bathroom "fantastic" fan almost constantly, always use the kitchen exhaust

 fan when cooking, etc., etc.  Maybe if we had a top of the line, super insulated, winter package trailer we wouldn't have these issues but we are learning to work with what we have.

We drove on highways today with nine lanes of merging traffic with at least three levels of roads.  It might have been slightly less scary if we weren't in torrential rain and could actually see where we were going.  

Our new GPS, "Samantha", has been a lifesaver although she has steered us wrong on occasion.  Let's just say we've made some very interesting detours.  Mostly when we couldn't understand what she was trying to tell us.  Obviously Samantha does not know we are towing a 30 foot fifth wheel.  She does tell us about traffic delays and suggest alternate routes to save some time.  Since I don't usually trust her, I have ignored her sometimes and done my own thing.  She doesn't like it, but I am usually right.

Blue sky!!

We were very excited to go to Camping World for the first time.  We got some awesome deals, a lot were not so great.  We were smart though and waited to shop in Oregon which has no sales tax.

We stopped for a brief rest stop today and when I got back in the truck Dave said "I have really bad news".  Of course I'm thinking there is something terribly wrong with either the truck or trailer.  He said that when he & Cleo got back into the truck, she stepped on my journal which caused the iphone (which was sitting on the journal) to launch into the air and land in Cleo's water bowl.  Luckily, it seems to be fine.  :o)

I booked our campsite in Oakland, Oregon over the phone today and was told the rate was $2.00 more than I thought it was supposed to be.  I am getting really tired of finding out the price has gone up since the book or whatever was published.  I guess I decided I wasn't going to just accept it this time.  As we  were getting close to the campground I decided to check into where I had seen the price.  It was on the campground's own website.  Since we arrived after 6:00 p.m. it was self check-in and you put your cash in an envelope.  I put in the amount that was advertised on the website with an explanation.  Dave was worried that we'd get up in the morning and all our tires would be flat.  I noticed that the office doesn't open until 10:00 a.m. on Saturday and was relieved that we would be long gone before we were discovered.  As I was walking Cleo I met a woman walking her dog.  She introduced herself as the campground host and asked if I was the person she had talked to on the phone.  Uh oh, busted.  I confessed to what I'd done.  She said she was sure the website had been updated but thanks for telling her and she'd check into it.  Haha

She also told me she had lived in the Baja for 13 years and told me lots about it.  I guess we won't be arrested for the $2.00.

California or bust tomorrow!  I told Dave I'm taking the electric blanket off.

On the Road Again

 

We said goodbye to Parksville this morning.  We had some great family time.  I have attached a few more BC pictures.  I have very few pics of today's travels mainly because there was nothing to see but rain & roads.

Cleo before & after fun in the ocean.

Fun with the grandkids.

Beautiful walk in Nanaimo.

Why don't we have a Cactus Club in Winnipeg?

Who knew this was hiding behind the clouds?

More fun for Cleo.

Look what Dave installed for me.  A counter extension!!

We left Parksville to catch the ferry on a very soggy morning.  I'm sure our neighbours didn't appreciate us starting to hook up at 5:00 a.m.  The rain followed us all the way to our campground just outside of Seattle.  Once arriving in the U.S. we stopped to purchase a phone plan and a cellular plan.  They will only be good until we get to Mexico.  

Costco was on the same parking lot as AT&T so I ran in for some margarita mix.  I asked an employee where to find it and she said "It's with the liquor".  HELLO!  I forgot they sold liquor.  I picked up a huge bottle of Irish Cream for $12.00.  

Then we were off to WalMart for some groceries since we had cleaned out a lot of our supplies before entering the U.S.  BTW, they also sell liquor.  Dave bought rum and we couldn't believe the price of beer.  We're like kids in a candy store. 

Between the ferry crossing and the shopping it sure was a long day to travel such a short distance.  

I was very disappointed that we did not arrive in Seattle on time to go to the Pikes Place Fish Market.  It is on my bucket list of places to go.  Maybe in the spring.

Once we arrived at the campground, Lake Pleasant RV Park in Bothell, Washington, I took Cleo for a well deserved walk.  There are some awesome hiking trails here that I would love to tackle if they were dry.  They are very steep and after the monsoon they just had here I could just picture Dave & I re-enacting the scene in Romancing the Stone with Michael Douglas & Kathleen Turner.  

Here's hoping for a drier day tomorrow.  Doesn't look promising though.

D & D

Seniorville

Parksville is a beautiful city on the ocean on Vancouver Island.  It seems to be a favorite location for seniors to live.  There are some advantages to living in a "seniors" city.  One is the terrific selection of yarn for knitting.  :o)  So much better than Winnipeg! Another is free standing "cupboards" in random outdoor locations that have books in them.  It is a free book exchange.  Love it!
They are also into pickleball in a big way here.  It is supposed to be kind of a cross between tennis, badminton and ping pong.  Sounds like fun!  We haven't had the opportunity to watch a game yet. I think they have moved indoors for the winter.  We were hoping to try it out before going south.  We hear it is all the rage down south.
In the park next door to our campground they have outdoor exercise equipment that is used regularly by many seniors and their grandkids.
Now for the negative reasons about living in a "seniors" city.  The grocery shopping and the driving! They can both be very frustrating.
We take Cleo for a walk on the beach every morning.  We have seen sea lions, bald eagles and blue herons.  Sometimes the tide is way out in the morning and Cleo has a ton of fun running on the beach and through the water chasing the sea gulls.
We have been trying to spend a lot of time with our grandkids but between them being sick, and now me (Dar) being sick.........Oh well, better to be sick while we are here rather than on the road.  Colton & Teegan are adorable and unbelievably smart.  We are constantly amazed by them.  
We had an awesome Thanksgiving dinner.  We were invited to join the family of my Dad's friend, Elma and they made us feel very welcome. Our family and theirs have spent a few evenings together and we have made some great new friends.
Dave and I have been looking into some other campgrounds in Parksville and Nanaimo.  When we come back in the spring for two months we thought we might like to try another location.  Park Sands Resort where we are now, is a great location for walking to shop and to visit our grandkids but it's a little pricey and doesn't allow wood fires.  We explored Living Forest today which is about a 35 minute drive from the grandkids but it has a lot of positive things about it.  Less money, camp fires, great hiking trails and we can still walk to shop.  If our grandkids lived in Winnipeg we could be a 35 minute drive away so I'm sure it's do-able.
I don't think we've been having the great weather that you have in Winnipeg, but we can't complain. We've had a couple of days of non-stop rain but most days it just sprinkles occasionally and the rest of the time it's nice.  The best thing is that the nights don't get very cold.
We miss all of our Winnipeg friends and especially Shelley & Darren!
 

 Milner Gardens - a beautiful park where Jay & Elfie got married 4 years ago.

Teegan LOVES to wear her backpack!

 A fabulous Thanksgiving dinner!

 Whale bones being cleaned.  It will be put together and on display when complete.

 Black Goose Pub.

Cheers!