Kelowna, B.C. to Toppenish, WA

The last couple of days in Kelowna were spent shopping, visiting with family and getting ourselves ready to head south.  We were up this morning at about 6:30 am and ready to hit the road by 8am.  A bit cloudy and windy but at least the wind was behind us.  That's always a good thing.

 Heading up the street from Ian and Linda's

 Over the bridge to West Kelowna.

 The border.  Not too bad today although the border agent was a bit curt.  Actually he looked tired and hung over!  Asked us about fruit, alcohol, whether the vehicles both belonged to us, if we had any drugs or cannabis, if we were transporting anything for anyone else, whether we'd had any convictions or pardons and if all the goods in the truck belonged to us.  No issue for us with any of the above questions and we were on our way.  They always make you feel like you're a criminal!

 Over the border and heading south.

 Pretty day.

 Stopped in Chelan at the Beebee Bridge Park for a pee and lunch.  The first year we were RVing we spent a few days here on our way home.  Pretty little place.

 The Columbia River and all it's many dams.

 A huge body of water.

 I just love these bridges.

 Just a few windmills here and the wind was just howling.  Good thing we didn't have the RV behind us!

Lots of very long hills as we drove south but the highways were good.  We got into Toppenish and  about 4pm and booked in at the Quality Inn.  $80. US with a free breakfast. Room is good and there is a Mexican restaurant down the street so ....all is well. Tonight beer, a shower, a ballgame (go Washington Nationals!) supper and bed.  Tomorrow we are off to Coos Bay, Oregon to visit with Connie and Manny.
Just came back from dinner El Noa Noa...Mexican restaurant just down the street that the young woman on the desk suggested.  Good food and cheap...she was right!

Order food up the front from a picture of a plate for $5 a plate. 

Eric eating and my plate in front.  All very good and filling. 

Everyone in the kitchen working at high speed.  Making tortillas from scratch and cooking it all up. 

Couldn't find the name of the restaurant on the building but everyone knew where it was.  We were the only gringos in the place !

A good five block walk and back to watch the ballgame.  It's not going well... bottom of the 7th and Houston is up 7-1.  We can only hope. 

Quesnel, B.C. to Kelowna, B.C.

This was us leaving Terrace on Monday morning...a rainy cold day with temp around 6C

    Just south of Smithers up and over Hungry Hill, rainy but no snow.

    Tuesday morning and we are leaving Quesnel, temp around 11C and looking sunny up ahead!

    Getting lighter.

    Coming down into Williams Lake and you can see the Fraser River on the right.

   Now that's more like it!

    Up ahead Clinton.

    Pretty little town in the Cariboo.

    Still lots of leaves here.

    Up ahead Kamloops Lake.

We stopped for lunch at a look out over Kamloops Lake and you can see how filthy the vehicles 

     are....the poor little Jeep doesn't know what happened. 

   

    Coming through Falkland and it's really pretty.

    Hey wait a minute it's getting dark.  On the home stretch and almost into Kelowna.  It had been a
    lovely day and the temp got up to a balmy 20C.

    On Gordon Drive on our way to Ian & Linda's. 

    We were in, parked and having beer by 4pm.  Glad to be off the road and ready for a good night's
    sleep.  Linda made a lovely Jambalaya dinner and we watched the first game of the world series. 
    We've decided to cheer for  the Washington Nationals as they have never one the world series and         they knocked off the L.A. Dodgers who were at the top of the heap. However I really like Jose              Altuve on the Houston Astros too. 

    This morning we amused ourselves by washing both of the vehicles.  What a mess and what a
     job but they look better now.  No more driving in the rain if we can help it.  After that Eric
     worked on the truck.  He bought a new serpentine belt tensioner ($150.00.)  Replaced the belt and
     tensioner and now there is no more noise.  In the end he decided the belt that was put on when the        air conditioning pump was replaced this summer was the actual problem.   The belt is thinner and        seems wavy compared to the one he just bought.  Hopefully that's the end of that problem. 

     We'll hang out here for a couple of days and then on to Coos Bay, Oregon to see Manny and
      Connie. 

Made it to Quesnel!

We left our daughter Erika's this morning just after 8am. Light rain and temp around 6c.  The rest of the day was much the same but the good news was there was no snow. Now for the little glitch.  We had the A/C in the truck repaired in the summer. We'd had trouble with the A/C in Mexico and had repairs there.  Here at home in the summer the pump seized, there was smoke from the serpentine belt and Eric just made it to the GMC dealer.   It was fixed for big bucks but then Eric noticed a chirping noise.  Had the noise issue checked by our mechanic but he couldn't find any solution. Nothing obvious.  A little soap and water on the belt was suggested which Eric did and then it was quiet..today..not so much!  Chirp, chirp as we drove so we stopped at the dealer in Smithers 120 miles from Terrace and picked up another $100 belt..just in case it is the problem.  Arrived in Quesnel with absolutely filthy vehicles and checked into the Sandman around 5:30.  At this point we have had beer, showers and a not so fabulous dinner at Denny's.  Tomorrow is another day..on to Kelowna.  Never a dull moment!

I'm back with lots of news and it's time to hit the road!

So...my last post was in April of this year when we were heading home and now it's October.  A lot has happened since then.

I was quiet about a lot of things since then and now it's time to share.  Last winter while we were in Mexico we decided it was time to look for a house to buy.  There were a lot of reasons and briefly they are....the RV was constantly breaking down, the truck is getting old, we didn't want to rent, we didn't want to buy or rent a condo and that left buying a house.  At our age getting a new RV seemed a little silly as the time will soon come when we don't want to drive to Mexico.  I won't bore you with all the details but in the end it was a long drawn out procedure for a number of reasons.  Stressful dealing with all the paperwork and money transfer remotely ( we hired a nice young woman to be our power of attorney for signing} and the rest was up to us.  This was a private deal but the owner did hire a real estate agent to help with the paperwork.  A large part of it we just figured out ourselves by calling the notary in Mexico as well as the company handling the trust.  A trust is required to buy a property within 50 km of the ocean or 100 km from the border.  The land is held in trust by the bank.  So...it's done and now we will have a house when we get to Mexico in the first week of November.  At that point there will be lots of paperwork still to be done.  Here are few pictures.  We are a stone's throw from the the RV park where we have been staying for the winter for almost ten years.  It is a gated complex with approximately 100 houses, two swimming pools and just across from the beach.  The buses run out front and all our friends are in Mazatlan which we really love and enjoy.


Three bedroom, 2 1/2 baths, detached. 

    Nice carport which was something Eric really wanted.

Part of the back wrap around patio.

    Kitchen.

    Washer/ dryer in the utility room.

    1/2 bath and stairs to the second floor.

                                          Looking north I can see our trailer off the front balcony.

                                          Upstairs TV sitting area.

    Second full bath.

                                          Master bedroom.

    Upstairs sitting area.

    Second and third bedrooms.

     Front second bedroom.

                                          Downstairs living room by front door.

The next part of the puzzle was how were we going to travel and what would we bring with us.  Obviously not the RV so that left driving and staying in motels.  Not something we like but sacrifices have to be made.  What about the motorcycle that has always traveled in the back of the RV?  Eric tried to find a motorcycle trailer in the Terrace area but it was not to be.  We will try to find one on our way home in the spring so next year's travel might be different again.  In the end we decided to tow our small Jeep with the truck so we could get out and about with it while we are in Mexico.  It is small enough to get into the small towns where we like to go and...we can take the top off and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.  We needed to drive the truck as we have a ton of stuff to bring with us this year.  So...the truck has it's canopy on, it's loaded to the gunnels with things for the house.  Ye,s the house came fully furnished right down to bedding and silverware but it didn't have all the things we wanted.

                                          Hooked up and ready to go...it was sunny yesterday!

                                          Still green and all the leaves are not down.

                                          Follow me!

                                          You can see the Cyclone RV in the covered building.

                                          Still pretty...when the sun shines.

Today we shut the house down.  Blew out the water lines and packed the rest of the perishables up to take to our daughter's house where we are staying tonight before we head out tomorrow.  Seems like we have been packing forever.

             Dinner at our daughter's with her husband Wade and daughter Abby.  Erika and Abby                            cooked  and...we ate!  Just delicious!  Lovely spinach, red onion and apple salad.

                                          Yum....pulled pork.

                                          A plate that's fit for a king....or in this case Eric. 

Tomorrow we are off.  First stop Quesnel, B.C where we'll overnight, then three nights in Kelowna with Eric's brother Ian and wife Linda, then on to Coos Bay, Oregon where we'll visit with friends Connie and Manny before heading south.  I'll keep you posted!