Peter Hope Lake August 19-30, Claybanks RV Park, Merritt Aug 31st

Not too much happening at camp. Lazy days. Fishing not great but Ray keeps trying. Had to run into Kamloops and get him a lead sinking fly line to be able to get deep enough to get to where the fish are hiding and other people are catching. We shall see how that works for Ray. Been doing some cooking though, keeping Ray happy in spite of the fishing! lol

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin on a bed of Quinoa with Roasted Vegetables

Neck is still sore but getting better slowly. Can't believe that it is taking 3 weeks to get over it!

Some people that we met 2 years ago at Peter Hope Lake moved in next to us, Ian and Lynn from Merritt. Looking forward to catching up. On the second to last night at Peter Hope I invited them over for dinner.

Weather has not been all that great. Hot the first week, but cloudy and cool for the last two weeks with the odd warmer day. Ray and I still look pretty tanned though. It's great to have 6 Saturdays and Sunday per week as the sun comes out Monday through Thursday and the weekends have not been all that nice.

Ray was out for an evening fish with the new set-up and first cast landed a 2 1/2 lb fish. It fought a hard battle jumping a few times out of the water and ran out a couple of times so he came in with a big smile on his face.

Only a couple more days and then it is back to South Surrey for a month preparing for our winter travels... doctors, dentists etc. We will overnight in Merritt from Peter Hope so we can dump tanks etc and then make the run first thing Thursday morning on September 1st to beat the long-weekend traffic. Should be at our spot at Peace Arch RV Park by 1 pm. The forecasted weather for the next week is not that great ... mostly damp.

Peter Hope Lake August 15 -18

It has been pretty quiet here at camp. On Monday we moved into our preferred site right on the water at 8 am as that was when the other people said they would be leaving. Took us 2 days to fully set up and get the pontoon boat operational. Tuesday we had to go into Kamloops so I could see a chiropractor as I have tweeked my neck while helping the fridge repair guy last Wednesday and every day it was getting worse and worse. Dr. Bebi said it was very "acute" and I would have to come back for another treatment so tomorrow it is off to Kamloops again. I do not think it is any better than when I saw her on Tuesday! Fingers crossed tomorrow.

Ray has been out twice to fish and has been skunked so far. Hopefully this changes soon or we might just go back to Paska Lake!

Yesterday, Wednesday, Paul and Giselle Owen stopped by for a visit and my come and camp this Friday. It will be fun to have them as neighbours hopefully.

Peter Hope Lake - August 11-14

Left Claybanks by 10:45 am and Ray went to Kamloops for an appointment with ICBC Claims Centre for the fiberglass damage that the tow truck caused. I did some shopping and then headed to Peter Hope Lake to secure a campsite for us. We had been told that the campsite was pretty empty. Not!!! There was only 1 spot available out the the 3 that were empty that we would fit. We do not have easy access to the water either so the pontoon boat will have to wait. Had we come here on Sunday with our original plan it would have been no problem ... but arriving Thursday with the heat wave upon us ... not so lucky. Fortunately, our favorite spot, the one we had at the end of August last year will come available on Monday so we will move to there for the remaining 2 1/2 weeks. As for now, we are just relaxing and enjoying the view and weather.

Site #28

The fridge is working great. Even the problem we have had for the past 3 years with the freezer defrosting once every day and melting the ice cubes seems to have been fixed. I guess the computer board was weak from the get go.

(Note to Steve and Dianne) The road into the campsite is now seal coated for the 7 km and only the entrance road to the campsite is gravel with calcium on it so there was no dust. :)

Merritt - August 5-10

While waiting for the fridge parts I had 3 weeks of laundry to tackle. Ray had a few fix-it projects on the go and he managed to get the coach washed over the 6 days we were here. Also since we were plugged in with no water restrictions, I managed to get lots of inside stuff done as well. After being on the road for 2 1/2 months a good clean was in order. Ray managed to use of the hot tub at the pool here a few times too. We did not know Merritt had an aquatic center until recently even though this is the third year we have stayed here at Claybanks. :)



Freya has enjoyed getting wet in the river and the spot we have is very large and private with lots of grass to roll on. So she is pretty happy here too. Our neighbours turned out to be the same ones who were beside us at Peace Arch RV Park for the month of April in South Surrey. It's a small world!

Note to self: The satellite needs to point just to the right of the cell towers on the hill, through the willow tree in site 14. It took us several hours and having the tree pruned to be able to get service. We drive straight in to the site.

Well here it is Monday ... the guy did not show up to fix the fridge. Ray called him at 1:30 to ask if the parts came in which they did, but "Jerry" decided to go on a call towards Princeton and said he would get to us when ever. Ray told him that he implied on Friday that the parts would be in by 11:30 Monday morning and that he would see us in the afternoon to install the new fan as he knew we were leaving Merritt first thing Tuesday morning. Jerry now says if we don't like it to go find someone else then to install the parts. What a jerk. Apparently according to the people running Claybanks, this guy is know widely for this kind of behavior, in fact, she is still waiting on a service call from him since 1989! Fortunately no money has exchanged hands! Anyways we found another service guy in Merritt recommended by the managers of Claybanks, who is well aware of Jerry's business practices and hopefully he will be able to get the fan tomorrow and install it. He told me that there is no way the computer board has anything to do with the fan (which Jerry had suggested we could order in case it was not the fan motor to a tune of $236. (What do we know?) Bottom line is if this does not happen by Wednesday we will go into Kamloops to another more reputable repair place that has been in business since 1914 and get it done. We are having to buy $10 of ice daily just to keep things from going bad. Of course I did the grocery shopping at noon expecting the fridge to be repaired today in preparation for our trip tomorrow to Peter Hope Lake. Bummer!

Tuesday the other guy, Rob Kennedy, came with the new fan motor and between him and I we pulled apart the whole freezer area to access the plug for the new fan behind the back panel of the freezer. We certainly got up close and personal as he was not very flexible nor I, crawling on our hands and knees. Anyways the fan did not work ... so onto google I went and according to a video on how to fix the fan problem it appears that the computer board is shot which requires us to take the whole fridge out to access the computer board from the back of the fridge. Rob has ordered the board and should arrive tomorrow ... he is also getting a "large strong friend" to help us get the fridge out of the built in cabinet so we can access the back. Now I don't have the freezer working either so we had to borrow a cooler from the manager to keep the meat from spoiling until hopefully tomorrow's repair! As my friend Dianne would say Yeesh! We will have to live with freezer parts all over the place until tomorrow. Hopefully Rob remembers how it all goes back together! Maybe Thursday we will be able to leave for Peter Hope Lake.

After Rob, the repair guy left, our new friends Paul and Giselle from Logan Lake showed up for a visit and we all went out for lunch at the Grand Hotel. Lovely visit although the fish and chips were not the greatest that 3 of us had. Paul had the burger and said it was tasty. Now we know for next time. Paul and Giselle had planned to go up to Peter Hope Lake to visit us but on the off chance we were not there yet swung through Claybanks and found us.

Wednesday morning at 11 am, Rob showed up with the board for the fridge. He brought a friend with him to help pull the fridge out of the built in cabinet. After unhooking the water and power we were able to change out the computer board. With me helping we put the plug in components back in the freezer temporarily so we could test it. We deemed it fixed as the fan was running so we shoved it back into the cabinet, reattached the water and all the screws and cover plate and then next came the 1 1/2 hours of remembering what went where to put it all back together. What a job. Rob was a great guy and only charged us for the parts and 3 hours labour. He actually spent 6 hours on the job. The rate was reduced as I helped him every step of the way "getting up close and personal" as we both crammed ourselves into the bottom freezer with holding lights, screws, passing tools etc. What a job. I think that the board and fan probably weakened when we blew that 300 amp fuse back in June. The 2 resisters on the board that operate the fan were burnt as per the video suggested.

After all of this kerfuffle I sent Ray off to the hot tub at the pool. When he gets back I will again go grocery shopping to replace my mayo etc that has been unrefrigerated for 2 days and with only ice in the fridge for a week.

Anyways we will be off to Peter Hope tomorrow after Ray's ICBC appointment in Kamloops at 2:30 pm to show them the fiberglass damage that the tow truck drive caused to our front lower cap. I think I will head straight to Peter Hope and secure us a spot and wait for Ray to arrive sometime around 5 pm. I am looking forward to staying put for the next 3 weeks trouble-free, I hope.

July 28 - August 4th 2016 - Paska Lake

The weather's not been great but we managed to keep ourselves busy with fishing and visiting with our neighbours this past week. I managed to get out in my new lounger again floating on the lake and Ray's able to fish most days. I even managed to get out in Ray's boat and caught a fish. The guys were laughing at me as the electric motor is a little hard to control until you get the feel of it and I did donuts trying to unhook my line from the end of my rod!

Look at that line whipping over my head! I don't think I've the right technique yet!

Chris and Paul ... we caught a big one!

Got one!

There've been quite a few thunder and lightening episodes with downpours but fortunately they only last a few hours and then you are able to go outside again. Freya's lost a pound from all the shaking she does during these.  No problem with a fire ban this year! 

After the long weekend I collected a bunch more firewood left behind from empty campsites to keep us going and be able to save some for our next destination. The campsite is pretty packed for the weekend but sure emptied out Monday morning.

On Monday, August 1^st, the sun's out so we took a drive to Ashcroft to eat lunch and visit the just opened for the season, Desert Hills Farm Market. Jonathan, Paul and Giselle's son, asked to look after Freya for the day. She's adopted their family anyways, as they all throw the stick for her! The drive is only about 45 minutes on Highway 97C and most of it seemed to be beside the huge open pit copper mine, Highland Copper. This is the largest open pit mine in North America, not very picture worthy. The hill going into Ashcroft goes down for miles before you reach the Thompson River. The topography sure turns to desert from high mountain pines as you start down into the valley. It's also 5 degrees warmer in Ashcroft than in Logan Lake.

Ashcroft

The market is very pretty. They have goats, old farm equipment, a picnic area with hot dogs provided, a raspberry patch for kids (and adults) to pick a few berries, as well as the store to buy produce. 

Hello down there!

Field of green peppers

Paul and Giselle invited us over for Barbecued Ribs for dinner on Monday night … yummm.

Thanks a bunch for dinner guys!

Tuesday we took the coach into Logan Lake to dump (black tank full) and refill with water to last 3 more days. Did not want to bust a gasket climbing up and then down into Merritt! The plan is to stay at Claybanks RV Park for 2 nights (Friday and Saturday) so I can do my 3 weeks worth of laundry and then go up to Peter Hope Lake for 3 weeks.

Little Paska Lake

Bye, bye Paska Lake ... maybe see you next year!

As it turned out, Tuesday I noticed our fridge was not cooling and staying at 55 degrees. The freezer is still okay though. I checked my manual etc. and concluded the fan isn't working which was nothing that I could deal with. We contacted a repair guy in Merritt and he told us to stop at his house at 9 am Friday morning (the day we were leaving for Merritt anyways) so he could check it out and order parts if needed. He determined the fan isn't working as well. However, it could be caused by the fan motor itself or the computer board. We ordered both and if it isn't the computer board we will keep it for a spare as apparently these things do go. We didn't want to delay waiting another 2 days for parts if it turns out that we needed the computer board. I now keep a block of ice in the fridge so all my condiments will keep but got rid of milk etc. and bought a styrofoam cooler to keep milk, beer etc cold. So now I have 4 days to get the laundry done instead of 2! Yeah me. Thankfully Claybanks has space for us for the extra 2 days and possibly 2 more if we need it.