Wednesday 29 August 2012

August 28th Valemount BC to Carvel Ab


August 28th Valemount BC to Carvel Ab                               Weather – Scattered clouds 17 C

Total kilometers this trip  - 1375.5                                          Kilometers today – 448.2

Today's drive was uneventful,  nice drive actually, weather was nice and it seemed to be pretty quick.

John was at work, and we arrived there the same time that Debbie was getting home from work.
Shelley is very sick again, but she is at home.  She will be under the weather for at least another two days.

Debbie was kind enough to drive us to Morinville to pick up the brake package this evening.


Monday 27 August 2012

August 27th – Prince George to Valemount BC.



August 27th – Prince George to Valemount BC.                                   Weather – Scattered clouds 20C
Total Kilometers this trip – 926.7                                                               Kilometers today – 297.5

Before I write a short blog of today. I would like to wish Vadie and Cyndi, my daughter A HAPPY BIRTHDAY.  I won’t tell you their ages LOL.
 SMILE Vadie, you are one year older today hehe

Both Vadie and I had a terrible sleep.  The trucks were moving, unloading and making all sorts of noises all night long.  We checked the casino parking lot and will be staying there the next time.

We went out for Vadie’s birthday dinner with Stu and Theresa, dinner was delicious.

Today was a very uneventful day, other than a few little items with the bus, everything is running like a top.
Rest stop along Hwy 16  - nice area dogs don't like the cold water though

August 26th – Terrace to Prince George BC.



August 26th – Terrace to Prince George BC.                                       Weather – Scattered clouds 15C
Total Kilometers this trip – 629.2                                                         Kilometers today – 559.9

Our original plans were to go to Fort St James, but my mother, Mary, sister, Mary, and niece, Caroline and her husband, Sean, were all in Prince George.  
 Sister Mary, Mom Mary, niece Caroline
Our regular stop is the Costco parking lot, there is lots of maneuvering room.
For supper we took an old friend Connie Graham out.  She was excited to see us as it had been almost two years.  Vadie and her had lots to talk about.

 Connie Graham and Vadie

After we took Connie home, we headed to the baseball field.  Sean was playing for the Prince George team as a shortstop.  We were lucky to catch them in the last one and half innings, and they became the national champions (Gold) beating  a team from Ontario.

August 25th – Kitimat to Terrace BC - Start of Long Vacation


August 25th – Kitimat  to Terrace BC
Total kilometers this trip  - 60.3                  Weather – Scattered clouds  13C

We have been finalizing all the things that had to be done for this trip. We were going to start on the August 17th but the lab lost my blood tests which I had done, so we had to wait one extra week.
During the week, it seemed that the trip just would not get off the ground, but finally we were all ready to leave today.

We said our goodbye to Dave, gent looking after the house, and George our neighbour.

We hooked up the car, but some of the lights would not work properly, so  I had to fix that before we headed on the road.

We dumped the waste water and filled up with fuel in Terrace.

Well, as usual, we stopped at the Northern Motor Inn in Terrace for the first night.

Desire, please follow the blog and make comments too.

Thursday 16 August 2012

August 10 - 15th - Kitimat BC


August 10 to 15th
During these past days, it has been very busy and I have not had much time to update the blog, or even for myself as far as that goes.

I continued with the installation of the floor. I had to redo things a number of times as I kept forgetting things like the holes for the seatbelts. 
.

 AC power transfer box
 Pedestal that was bent well out of shape
 Wood under flooring ok
 New flooring underway
 Passenger seat base plate

Other things which needed to be repaired and were done at the same time, eg.drivers chair so it could be swiveled,

I had arranged for a gent with a front end loader to dig out along the tree area so we could build a  retaining wall with tires.  He called and said that he wanted to do it on Sunday, so on the 12th, Dave Jones gave me a hand and we built a retaining wall, 6 hours of long hard labour, and it was hot too.
Other than it being dug out with the tractor, the rest was done by hand.



August 13th, was another very good day. Other than the entry way, the flooring is complete.  I installed carpet in the drivers area.  The drivers chair is fixed, and all the other stairs have been installed.
 Another little job - NOT, cleaning off years of smoke accumulation
 front cabinet had to be taken apart for flooring

August 14th,  a day that I knew was coming, a very dirty job, but the coolant hoses were replaced.  Also repaired some wiring for the circulating pumps and solenoid valves.
 So, August 15th was cleanup day.  The coach is going to Terrace tomorrow to get the sheet metal put into the stepwell.

Before I go today, all of this work could not have been done without some very special people.  Vadie, while I have been very busy trying to get the coach ready, she makes meals, does the laundry and many of the house chores.  She is also there when I need a second hand, which has been often at times.  Thanks Vad.

Also Vadie and I would also like to thank Dave, our dear friend who lives in the basement and will be taking care of the house while we are gone.  He too, has been the second hand, made a few meals but mainly his thing is looking after the yard.  Thanks Dave.




And we get surprises from our friends, extended family, from Holland.  Instead of coming to Canada this year, they chose to go to South Africa, I am sure they are having a great time.  They are fortunate to be able to go to these places.
Picture memory book from the last trip to Canada
and
2012 Holland's Euro souvenirs

 

Friday 10 August 2012

Aug 9th - Kitimat - Working on Squanderlodge II


August 9th

I continued with removal of the floor then installing of underlay etc. Not much to say except it was a lot of hard work, but I was actually enjoying it.
 removing carpet
 and underlay
 edging strip against marble
plywood then rubber flooring with metal strip