Campbell River and we are back home.

Monday, June 24th we had a leisurely morning packing up and getting ready to go. We only had a 2 1/2 hour drive to Campbell River and check-in is not until 1pm so we took it slow ... not our usual MO. lol

We had an uneventful trip and arrived right at 1pm. Quick greetings with Steve and Dianne, who are still at Thunderbird RV Resort until the end of the month. After minimal setup it was off to find some lunch. Back at camp we relaxed enjoying the sunshine watching the eagles on the beach across from us.

Ray calls this picture the "Human Zoo"!

It became quite windy so we eventually moved to the estuary side as there were a few empty sites that we could sit at next to Ray and Ann of Love Your RV.

As it was a travel day for us, Dianne kindly made us dinner again so we did not have to unpack the MH very much in preparation to heading home tomorrow. A fabulous evening again with great friends. Thanks a bunch. See you in August.



Ray took a walk on the beach on one of Freya's walks and snapped some pictures. Glorious scenery in Campbell River.

Always lots to see, eagles, boats, planes, tugs with barges and sometimes cruise ships.

Tuesday morning we were up an atem and on the road by 8:30 am. After fuelling up on the way out of town at the Shell, it was a straight shot home. We did stop in Ladysmith to give Freya a walk and I went and got us some KFC for lunch and dinner. I knew after we unloaded the MH we would not want to go anywhere else.

When we arrived in Lake Cowichan and stopped to unhook the car on our street, the front driver's wheel was smoking!!! Yikes. I carefully drove it the final few blocks home with very limited brakes. After backing the MH into the driveway, Ray carefully backed the car in, ready to be possibly towed. After conferring with our local OK Tire shop in town, we will drive it there carefully tomorrow morning for them to have a look. Dave thinks it is a stuck caliper? They will drive Ray back home. If it cannot be fixed in one day we will have to get Pat to drive us to National Car Rental in Duncan and rent a car for the duration. Always something. We need to get the bugs out of towing this car before we go down south.

The power went out on us at Cluxewe unbeknownst to us and I had an electric heater running. The inverter started screaming and I realized something was wrong. Our house batteries went down to 10%! Anyways we had the office reset the breaker and had permission to run the generator to speed up charging the batteries. It was not until we unplugged to leave that we realized the inverter system is not online, in fact no lights on the unit at all. We have probably killed the 300 amp fuse again due to the power surge of the heater when the power came back online. Plugging into power at Thunderbird, the fridge was not coming on ... so Ray plugged the fridge with an electrical cord straight into the post. The power did come on a while later, I think that the transfer switch was stuck between inverter and 110V. So the MH will have to go back in again. From now on when we plug in at an RV park we are going to turn the inverter off so if the power goes off we will know instantly before our batteries take a hit.

Fortunately this all happened during this shakedown trip before we leave for the states in the fall. A few other items need tending ... leaky toilet seal, leaky kitchen sink faucet and a broken hinge on a toilet seat lid that just snapped off. Amazing the things that happen when you don't use the unit for 18 months.

Came home to a beautiful day. My plants are doing well on the deck.

Mini Peppers

Cherry Tomatoes

Strawberries

We left with a "quiet lake" two weeks ago and now it is definitely summer with lots of activity right in front of us. Most people now have their boats in the water. Sailing, sailing away.

Our neighbour Darryl, with his grandson Sevie.

 It is lovely to be home.

Wednesday morning Ray took the car up to Dave at OK Tire for diagnosis. It turns out that all four brake pads, rotors and calipers are shot due to the air brake module not adjusted correctly on installation.  So our brakes were being applied way too hard all the way up to Port McNeill and back to Lake Cowichan. Ray called up Mainland Ford where we bought our car January 2018 where they swapped the module over from our other Ford Edge to the new one.  Needless to say we were not impressed. Anyways they told us that if we took it to the Ford Dealer in Duncan for repairs that they would cover the repairs under warranty. Fabulous. So Ray called Dave at OK Tire and said that we would be taking it to the ford dealer. However, we would be buying motorhome tires from him once he gets us some prices.

Once Ford in Duncan calls back that hopefully they arrange to give us a car to use for the week as I don't think we can get the car fixed until next week some time and it is not very driveable. Dave at OK tire said we could drive it to Duncan to drop it off instead of having it towed???

Update, once we got to Ford in Duncan they said they could fix it but would not warranty it! You can imagine how blue the air was from Ray. After 1/2 hour of ranting etc. got nowhere as Mainland Ford changed their tune as well. So .... I carefully drove the car back to Lake Cowichan, back to Dave at OK Tire and he will fix it by tomorrow afternoon hopefully. He kindly drove us home. Ray will be investigating what options for getting reimbursed later, now we just need it fixed so we have wheels.

Thursday morning we woke up to the much needed rain that was forecasted. It was nice hearing it on the roof. Our neighbour Pat, lent us her car for the morning as both Ray and I had dental cleaning appointments and the car won't be ready until tomorrow. The rest of the day was pretty quiet although by the afternoon the rain had quit.

Our neighbour Darryl, came home with a new toy to enjoy with his grandchildren. lol

Happy Grandpa with Ashton.

Sevie thinks it's pretty awesome.

Friday morning turned out quite nice, warm and sunny, but by noon it clouded over and by 3pm we were into the showers. Long enough dry weather that our grass was mowed by our gardener. I spent the day cleaning my stove and kitchen and Ray worked downstairs. We finally got our car back at 4pm today to the tune of $1400. It was confirmed that our Airforce 1 Air Brake module was set at the highest setting for our old car and should have been changed to the lowest setting for the new car. Everything including the front brake calipers replaced. Ray spoke to the E & H Hitch people that installed it in Surrey and the Accessory manager at Mainland Ford. Doubtful that any $$ will come our way but hopefully they have learned something so no one else has this happen.Doubtful though.

Our next door neighbour had his driveway put in with concrete while we were away and today brought in some topsoil to fill it in so it matches our side. Looks wonderful.

We should have a lavender hedge within the next year or two. Our plants are growing really fast. This long weekend should find the Lake Cowichan Community really busy, We have a Canada Day Celebration, there is a 3-day music festival at Laketown Ranch. Apparently this afternoon on Hwy 18 has been nuts including 2 guys taken away in handcuffs by the RCMP. I think Ray and I will sit on the dock and watch the world go by. lol