Surrey

by

Museum Weather

I finally made it to the Surrey Museum! It’s not a large museum, but it’s highly focused and is therefore one of the better museums I’ve visited in my cross-country journey. Its sole purpose is to explain the history of the city of Surrey and it does so with interesting exhibits that highlight the people, events, and businesses which have built this community.

Irony of all ironies, their special exhibit this spring is about Iroquois beading (tied in to the history of Surrey by comparing the artwork with that of local First Nations artists). Why is this ironical? The Iroquois are based in the Saint-Lawrence Lowlands… where I grew up!

I took lots of pictures, so you’ll find them on the Surrey Museum page. PLEASE NOTE that after a too brief period of workingness, the internet here has gone back to its usual suckiness and it has taken me three hours to upload the full size pictures and that after an average of six attempts per thumbnail, I have given up on them for the time being. You should be able to click on the incomplete thumbnails or placeholders to access the full sized picture. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I’ve really had it up to the proverbial here with the internet at Pacific Border and don’t feel like wasting another three hours on this. An update of this page will be made once I move to a park with 21st-century grade internet. 🙁

by

Miscellany

1) I brought the toad in for an oil change tonight. As the service tech was handing me back my keys, he said: “Are you aware that you have damage to the front wing on the driver’s side?”

I grinned and replied proudly that I was the evil culprit who had done wrong to Pommette!

My cheerfulness about the matter confused him.

2) While waiting for the car to be done, I had a wonderful dinner of a tender grilled chicken sandwich on a ciabbata roll with fresh veggies; a crisp salad of romaine lettuce and thick slices of juicy beefeater tomatoes, all of which tasted like they’d been picked at the height of summer; and a fantastic iced coffee. I had this meal at a restaurant I haven’t eaten at much in the past twenty years and which sure has grown up since the last time I was acquainted with its menu. Had I been presented this food without any wrappings, I would never in a million years guessed that I was eating a McDonald’s meal!!!

3) I have decided that spring has sprung because I say so and have stopped heating, other than turning the electric heater on super low at night to cut the dampness!!!

4) Last fall, I spent three months mostly working with ingrates who constantly belittled me (mostly because there was one kind soul). This spring, I’ve spent three months working with lovely ladies who made sure I had flowers, a gift, and cake on my 30th birthday. The way this universe always balances itself out never ceases to fill me with wonder.

by

A Beautiful Spring Day!!!

WOW! It’s sunny and warm out, with just a hint of a breeze. (In all fairness, yesterday was a beautiful day, too, but I had more important things to do than enjoy it. 🙂 ) The entire park is out and about doing things outside. This weather seems to have also motivated everyone to do laundry. I think I’m 30th in line. 🙁 I would just wash at home in the Wonderwash as it would not be a hardship to spend a few hours outside doing laundry, but there are too many clothes to dry indoors and exterior drying is not permitted.

I finally swapped my winter clothes for spring/summer items, so I have quite a bit of ironing to do. Thankfully, the laundry room provides an ironing board, as did the park in Oliver, so I can continue to keep Miranda an ironing-free zone. 🙂

I took advantage of the beautiful weather to wash the toad, something I haven’t done since I arrived in Oliver!

I also topped up my new batteries, something I had to do for the very first time! I wish I had known during the winter that I wouldn’t need to top them up until a gorgeous spring day as it’s a lot of work. I have to remove five screws and manoeuvre the batteries into position, so it takes about a half hour in a very uncomfortable position to check the water levels. I would have saved myself a lot of numb fingers had I been able to predict the future. 🙂 Yes, a battery monitoring system is on my list of desired items at some point!

My cats have also been enjoying the weather seeing as birds like the cedar hedge behind Miranda. They also like to sit up front and ‘chase’ squirrels to the back by following them from window to window. It makes me think of the portrait subjects jumping from frame to frame in Harry Potter. 😀

(A tip for those RVing with cats: if you’re sitting in the lounge one day and noticing that it’s drafty, check to see if one of your cats cranked open a window in the cab!)

Speaking of windows, I opened a few today (ah, fresh air) as well as a two overhead hatches. I’ll be stowing away the hatch foam covers in my final step to fully dewinterizing the rig.

(There’s a FLY outside one of my windows. Between that and the robins I’m ready to concede that Mother Nature really does intend for winter to be over!)

by

Chlorine Overdose

My friend Donna is in the GVR this week, so we made plans to see each other. Since she had her boys in tow, she suggested we meet at an indoor pool where they could splash about without being bored while she and I got in a good gab fest. I proposed the wave pool at the Newton Centre, in Surrey. I’d discovered this pool while riding the bus to work in January, but had never been since I have a pool here at the RV park.

I was most impressed with the facility which boasted a wave pool, several smaller splash pools, two water slides, a steam room, and more. They were barely a notch down from the similar ones at the West Edmonton Mall. It was the most amazing municipal pool complex I’ve ever visited. Entry for an adult is a mere 5.05$, and a family can pay 2.55$ per person.

Donna and I had a great time lounging in the splash pool, treading water in the wave pool, and riding down the water slides. As is par for the course for us, the afternoon flew by in a fury of gabbing while soaking until we were prunes. Ah, girl time, there’s nothing like it. 🙂

by

Doing Laundry in an RV

Had some ‘unmentionables’ to ‘hand launder’ (using the Wonderwash of course!) this afternoon. It’s been pouring rain out all day, so stringing a clothesline outside for drying is out the question. I guess my only other option was to open up the laundry rack in the middle of the kitchen or dressing room and trip over it all day, right?

Here’s an RV tip: make use of its versatility:

laundry

My laundry rack squeezes in perfectly between the dinette benches and the table stows away in the cab.

It’s been damp in here the last few days (what a shocker), so I fired up the electric heater, which effectively turned the dinette area into a drying room!