Month: June 2020

We moved to our new camping location but not before going into Black Creek for a few more supplies: Yes, you guessed it, more wine. Rosalie drinks more than I calculated.

Our new site was better than the last one except we were worried that our connections may not reach the sewer cleanout. We made it, although we did have to get the maintenance guy to come by and modify our electrical plug-in once more.

Peter and Suzie came for a visit and we had a great day with them. We went for a walk, drank lots of wine, lit a fire, Peter and I told lots of lies and we generally had a great time. For lunch, I made my world-famous hamburgers. Then in the afternoon, I cooked my equally world-famous Jalapeno poppers. Unfortunately, they didn’t turn out a good as I would have liked. We forgot to bring a cookie sheet so I had to BBQ them and they made a right mess.

Most of the campsites around us have kids. It’s great to watch families at play. The kids were all great and the parents did a great job of keeping them under control. The other good thing is that we hardly saw any kids with cell phones or tablets; most were hurtling around on bikes trying to run people down. But it’s okay, they were having fun and Rosalie and I were in no danger.

Camping is a great way to raise kids. We saw many of them with their fishing rods heading to the marina to get the catch of the day. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any of them with a single fish. Much like my fishing experiences.

In the middle of the afternoon, a three-quarter-ton pickup truck pulled into the site behind us. A petite young woman and two kids hopped out and started to put up a tent; well the Mum did, the two boys took off playing. She was by herself and put up a  tent with great expertise. I guess her husband was working as he showed up later. Just another example of families having fun.

I think it’s sad to see fewer and fewer tents. My first experiences with camping were in a tent. When I was about six, my family would camp in the orchards and spend the late summer and early fall picking first fruit,  and then hops. During that time we lived in a surplus army tent.

Actually, my first experience with a friend was under a plastic sheet in the pouring rain. Rosalie and I still own a tent and I still enjoy the feel of sleeping in one. Sadly the time has come to move on, so we plan on selling it. I hope it goes to a young up and coming family.

There seems to be more money these days. When I was first camping, everybody had a tent and eventually, as we became more affluent, a  tent trailer and then perhaps a slide-on camper. Now, all young families seem to have huge trucks and equally huge trailers and campers.

I still wouldn’t trade the way we started camping, for starting out in an RV. Tents are great but you have to be a lot younger than we are.

We got cabin fever in our trailer so we went RVing in our little motor home; how silly is that?

First, we had to decide where and when are we going. As it happened our neighbours bought a new trailer and with it came 5 free days of camping at Pacific Playgrounds in Black Creek. They didn’t need it as their trailer, like ours,  won’t ever be moved, so, they gave it to me as a bribe to help them reposition their unit and help build them a deck. An awesome exchange. 

The next thing to do was to make sure the motor home had everything we needed for five days. I made a list. On the top was DON’T FORGET THE WINE. I also loaded a lot of firewood. On the drive there, we had the philosophical debate as to whether it was “campfire wood” or “camp firewood.” The things we discuss, it’s no wonder we are so worldly. That discussion didn’t last too long so we settled in, to ignoring each other for the rest of the trip.

We didn’t seem to forget too many things. Rosalie forgot a table cloth so we had to improvise, now we have a lovely “Frozen” motif. I’m hoping some kid steals it in the night.

 

 

Isn’t this just frickin lovely?

We stopped in Courtenay on the way to pick up a few extra things that we needed and carried on with our adventure. One of the things we needed was to talk to Best Buy about the keyboard on Rosalie’s iPad. It stopped working just three weeks after the warranty ran out. I checked the batteries and they seemed okay, lots of voltage etc. (don’t know what the etc is but it adds a little drama). The batteries are supposed to last for four years. It turns out that they only last one year and three weeks. We bought new batteries and everything is peaceful again.

After I had backed into our site, I started to do the hook-ups. The first thing I found, was that the electrical plug wouldn’t fit in the socket even though the pin configuration was the same. At the office, we were told that a maintenance guy would drop by and solve all our problems. I liked this guy: he took one look and proceeded to dismantle the socket with a pair of side cutters and some pliers. Once it was demolished my plug fitted perfectly. I was so happy I almost, but not quite, gave him a tip.

It was amazing that the campground was packed with trailers and fifth wheels. I thought that because of social distancing it would be mostly empty. However, how can you not abide by the rules in a campground and out in the open air and sunshine?

H14 is our site for tonight but tomorrow we move to B14. Ooh! Another adventure. At least it’s not C19.

Blog is a week late, but there you go!

We’re free! At last, we can go about our semi-legal business.

The first thing we did, even though we still had a couple of hours to go, was to go and liberate the wine from storage. We had to go a bit early as Rosalie was starting to get a bit edgy. I couldn’t handle the whining and crying anymore. We were so happy to be free that we took the long way home. Even Coombs looked good.

I did a deal with Bruce, our neighbour,  who gave us a cartload of firewood in exchange for? You guessed it, another cartload of firewood when we got ours delivered,

Laundry had been piling up for the last few weeks so Rosalie had to do it while I settled in by the fire with a nice glass of wine. I did drag myself up to carry it into the trailer afterwards, and spent a few tiring minutes watching her fold it all.

The problem with being free is that you have to go and spend money. Rosalie decided she wanted to torture me a bit more and sweetly suggested that we update the trailer. So for the foreseeable future, I will be painting hammering and generally wearing myself out in the name of marital bliss.

Since we’ve been home and I have to do my usual chores, I’ve noticed that I’m actually getting older. That was a shock! It started when I had to put the TV antenna on the roof. I realized that I should no longer be scrambling on metal roofs. As I said in a previous post, Rosalie was taking bets as to whether I would fall off or not. Fortunately, she didn’t make any money.

Then I had to stack the firewood. Rosalie was helping but after one load I had to quit. If I do one load a day I should get it all stacked by the time we leave again in October. But I’m hoping to burn it all by then.

The thing that’s holding me back right now is my hip. I was told 25 years ago that I would need a new one in five to ten years. Well me, being difficult and not wanting any more surgery, held it off for a few more years. But I think the time is coming. I have an actual face-to-face appointment with the Doctor in a few weeks so we’ll see if it’s ready for a replacement or I’m just a whining wussy.

“Come home,” they said, “It will be safer here they said.” That’s only if we don’t freeze to death first. It’s damn cold right now! I wanna go back.

Quarantine is coming to a close and we are making lists of things we have to do to get us up to speed for living here.

I’ll be out soon.

Monday is the big day. I drew up a list of supplies that we needed and then spent about an hour arranging it in order. I had to cut a few things because we just don’t have the time. And anyway who wants to spend all day buying stuff. I can hear all the ladies’ hands going up even as I think about this.

Of course, Rosalie will need to get her hair done.

Luckily we will be at Peter and Suzie’s at the end of it all and will probably have a glass of wine to help us relax. That’s if Peter doesn’t hold to his claim of wanting to keep a social distance of a half a mile from me. I think it may be okay because Rosalie will be with me and for some reason, he seems to like her better than me.

Sunday evening is the official end of our incarceration. At precisely 6pm I will be sitting in the car and ready to speed (not really) to our storage unit to pick up my wine.

Meanwhile, Rosalie will be sitting back relaxing at the campground laundry. Yes, they have opened it up so we don’t have to go into town to do it. It will seem odd having to change my undies every day again. Oh well!

Quarantine has not been too bad. I’ve had to talk Rosalie down a few times and actually sit on her to stop her from going outside the fence. She pleads “Just let me put one foot out. I’ll feel so much better.” But I have to say “No!” as there are too many little old ladies just waiting to turn us in. And not all of them are females. I usually give her a shot of tequila and she starts to calm down. I sometimes think she pretends just to get a shot of the good stuff.

I haven’t found it too bad but I’m looking forward to not having to sit outside watching my veggies grow for entertainment. Fortunately, the hummingbirds are prolific this year so I get to clean their feeder and refill it on a regular basis. If the weather was better I could hang out in my hammock and read. Even the firewood is conspiring against us by running out.

I wish we could say the same about our quarantine.

There’s no sign of Alan yet, or Alison or whatever we decided to call him/her. I’m going to stick with Alan and for me, that name is now gender-neutral. It’s lucky he’s not around as we ran out of peanuts at the end of last year and I planned to get more when we got back. So much for great plans. I found a few left-over human peanuts so if he shows up I can keep him distracted for a while so that I can get into the trailer just in case he gets mad.

So, Sunday get the wine, Monday supplies, Tuesday firewood. Life is good.

Considering that you only have one 75th, this was one in a field of one.

Seventy-five is such a milestone that we plan it for years ahead. Mine was a little different. We were in quarantine and I didn’t expect much to happen. We couldn’t go out, nobody could come in, so I reconciled myself to spending the day feeling sorry for myself and sucking my thumb. Rosalie gave me lots of hugs and fed me wine to make me feel better but it only helped a little…Heavy sigh!

And then it happened!  Zoom!

Barb said she wanted to do this and connect us all on Zoom using my birthday as an excuse. Glen and Cheryl had set up an account so that we could talk past the 40-minute limit and we all logged in.

It was awesome! We, friends from around BC,  reconnected and had a really good visit thanks to Glen and Cheryl and Zoom. They say that the security on Zoom isn’t very good right now. Well, anybody hacking into this session would have to have a serious rethink about what they are doing.

Of course, all the usual B.S. happened. Those drunken bums singing happy birthday sounded great because I was also half drunk. And I really appreciated it.

Gordie read me a telegram from the Queen but he was a bit premature. Gordie, IT’S MY 75th NOT MY 100th !! What were you thinking?

Peter had trouble connecting. For some reason, Peter always has the gremlins getting in his way. However, Rosalie talked him on board and he soon became part of the group. It wouldn’t have been the same without him and Suzie.

We bantered about a lot and I, as usual, took all the cheap shots with dignity and aplomb, and the afternoon went really well.

During all this, I was trying to cook a pork roast on the big green egg. I frantically checked the app on my phone every few minutes to see if I was ruining it as I am wont to do. I needn’t have worried as it wasn’t ready for several more hours. When it was finally done it tasted awesome.

I couldn’t have wished for a better 75th birthday.

Thank you all my friends, and especially to Rosalie who keeps me on an even path.