April 29, 2011 by Rae

The Potato Chip Experiment

Jody and Gary needed to go to Fruitvale, BC, yesterday and insisted I come along for the ride. It was a fun little overnight trip and we obviously aren’t yet ready to kill each other since we’re road tripping again tomorrow!

The title of this post comes from something Jody likes to do when she drives this route. It takes you to the Salmo Creston Pass, which is a full mile above sea level. The change in air pressure is remarkable and well evidenced by bringing a bag of potato chips, then watching it swell as you climb up to the summit. Potato chip delivery drivers are not allowed to take this route because the bags, being crowded into boxes, often explode!

I would not want to do this route, highway 3, in an RV at any other time but a very dry summer day; not only is it a long, steep climb and descent, but there is no guard rail along a good chunk of it. There was a lot of snow at the pass yesterday.

I got up at oh-dark-thirty to do two flier routes, with the other two to be done tonight. It figured that these were extra-large batches where I would be paid a supplement but which would take longer! We took off around 9 and with a bunch of stops made it to Fruitvale at five MST, four local time.

We pushed on a little past Fruitvale so I could see the former mining town of Rossland, then we had dinner in Trail at the delicious Chinese ‘Double Happiness’ restaurant.

On the way back today we stopped in Creston so I could see the sasquatch at the Kokanee brewery. Pity there were no tours today!

We got in around, oh, nearly fiveish and Jody went out with me so we could do my fliers in record time. Thank you!

random MyCatsAreSoCute! pic

snow at the summit of the Salmo Creston pass

crossing the Columbia River into Trail (yes, the same river as that in Oregon/Washington)

welcome to Trail

daffodils in Trail

public walkways in Trail all have this red covering; you can see them going up the side of the hills

welcome to Rossland

Rossland mine

nice building in Rossland

BC has bright green grass

bag at the bottom of the pass on the Salmo side, very flexible, no problem creating the crease

air pressure is still low

air pressure is still low but changing as we climb up

air pressure keeps mounting

nearly at the top and the bag is getting very hard

white-out conditions at the summit

cresting the summit, the bag was fully inflated

on the Creston side of the pass

Creston, nice dump station

Creston

fountain at rest area in Creston

“Beer Run”, the Kokanee Sasquatch

RV park right across from the Kokanee Brewery!

Cranbrook sign, similar to the one in Sparwood

we saw lots of these goats on the highway

coming up to the short tunnel

short tunnel

election sign: Vote for Bush! (as an independent)

April 20, 2011 by Rae

Friends and RVs

Jody needed to run an errand in Calgary today so I came along for the ride. We stopped in Mossleigh to visit Donna. She is working at Aspen Crossing this summer and gave us a tour of the place. It combines a campground, a superb gift shop, a restaurant (great Sunday brunch apparently), cabins, and more. I was particularly impressed by the tour of the caboose that was converted into a luxury cabin that would be a great motorhome layout! Donna is very enthusiastic about camphosting in the nearly new campground (this year will be the second in operation). It was so, so, so good to see her and Ken, but I didn’t get to visit with Midnight.

Our visit done, Jody and I pushed on to the town of High River where we spent hours climbing into and out of travel trailers, fifth wheels, and a few motorhomes. I’d never spent so much time in a bumper pull trailer before and was astounded by some of the layouts!

Before I get into my discovery of the day, I have to say that I have finally decided on what my next rig is going to be. I’ve vacillated between getting excited about fifth wheels and considering a B+, but I finally came down to earth and made a decision. I want to downsize and I can do that two ways: going smaller or going bigger. So, my next rig would be one of two choices.

The first choice, going smaller would mean going down to a B and seriously reducing my cargo. I’d have to be in the mode that this is my only vehicle and that everything has to be prepped for travel.

The second choice, going bigger would actually be going smaller in terms of over-all rig length without sacrificing my current lifestyle of having an apartment with a car: a toy hauler super C motorhome, such as those made by Haulmark, with a Smart Car in the garage.

So, all that to say that if I’m going down to a B, then I’ve found it. It’s a Libero by Leisure Travel. It has a bed in the back, full bath and kitchen, and the dinette in the front is definitely usable as a desk, plus it has the solid construction of a high-end unit.

One thing I find neat when I look at RVs is that I see ways in which I could improve Miranda but I don’t get a burning desire to replace her yet. What can I say, the old gal is home!

inside of the dining car, which was PM Diefenbaker’s ‘western car’!

Vote for John G. Diefenbaker

letter from Diefenbaker (about a week after my birth!) about the state of the Canadian economy and how disgraceful Parliament was (nothing changes in this country!)

exterior of Diefenbaker’s car

inside of the cozy caboose cabin

Donna and Jody in the cabin 🙂

shiny stove

kitchen

love the loft: you climb a ladder to an area where they will put a reading chair, then climb up to the bunk!

bathroom sink

shower stall with gorgeous natural stone

all the door pulls are railway spikes!

exterior of the caboose cabin

speeder (Jody is obsessed with these things)

caboose that may one day be used as a shuttle

Jody ‘driving’ the speeder

I had to take a picture of the interior of this toy hauler: IT IS THE UGLIEST RV I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!

Jody and I thought that this shoe space was clever!

like the look of the fake stone, but it’s not practical

LOVE this livingroom in the top of the fifth wheel!

garbage can with exterior access could be entrance to kitty litter box!

exterior access to the can (sorry, forgot to rotate)

April 19, 2011 by Rae

Cold Snap

Last night was COLD. It apparently hit minus 12. I went to bed at 11 and within five minutes of turning off the electric blanket I was shivering, and that’s while I was under three heavy blankets including a down comforter! I decided to take a chance and sleep with the blanket on all night.

Next thing I knew, it was 9AM (!!!), I had two cats curled up tight against me, and I was snug as a bug. Love that little 12V wonder! I’m glad I now know I can sleep with it on all night if I need to. I wouldn’t do that when boondocking, but when I’m on shore power it’s more cost effective (and quiet) than running the furnace off and on.

Now, I’m waiting for things to get a little warmer (and less slick) before I go out and do my fliers. I need to do all six routes today since Jody and I are road-tripping again tomorrow. It’s going to be a long day, but the sun is out so if the wind cooperates the job shouldn’t be too onerous. I finally have my routes laid out in the most efficient way possible so my goal is to shave fifteen minutes off each to finish all six in four and a half hours instead of six hours.

March 26, 2011 by Rae

Giles French Park at John Day Dam

Here are a few pictures I took of Giles French Park when I went out to stretch my legs after the sun finally came out. The variations in the greens make for a striking landscape.

This really is a great spot! We’re perhaps a half dozen rigs spread out over the entire area. I parked as far away from everyone as I could because every single one of the other rigs had a generator sitting by it. I don’t hear the gensets from my rig. There is only the steady drone of I-84 traffic and the regular clatter of trains. Both are ‘white noise’ to me. The trains don’t bother me in the least since they don’t whistle. They made the cats uppity at first, but once they saw I didn’t care they stopped fussing.

March 17, 2011 by Rae

Pets are People, Too

Today was a hard day for Tabitha and Neelix. I had to ‘lock’ them in the back part of the rig all day with their food and litter. Add to that the strange noises and smells and they were on edge when I was finally able to spring them loose.

My house door doesn’t close well and it swung open without my noticing it, so I caught Neelix on the front step outside, enjoying the sun. He mewed pitifully when I called his name, but came back into the rig on his own. Even though it’s chilly out, I left the door open for about an hour with the screen door closed and put a mat by the stoop. Both cats immediately went to lie down on the cushioned surface to bask in the late day sunshine and fresh air.

I see so many people who are not considerate of their pets and it breaks my heart. If you have an animal at home, no matter what it is, please remember that it surely appreciates simple pleasures and comforts, and consideration, as much as you do.

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A Life By Design

"Sometimes in life, we reach to a right place by departing from a wrong port with a wrong ship!" ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan

Cats in an RV

The Potato Chip Experiment

Friends and RVs

Cold Snap

Giles French Park at John Day Dam

Pets are People, Too