Going Rogue Day 1 again

Our first day in the U.S. We woke up and piddled about getting ready to cross the border, but I forgot to throw out the rice. The crossing was pretty uneventful, we were boarded and I had to sacrifice my Jasmine/Basmati rice which I had intended but forgot to throw out. The border guards were pleasant unlike some that I have met in the past (when just jaunting through to another part of Canada, years ago).

I remembered to take some pictures along the way, woohoo, I have a memory after all..

Shortly after crossing, those are satellite dishes in the distance

A mini Grand Canyon, called Grand Coulee or Dry Falls

Grand Coulee

Grand Coulee

We drove a few hours and decided to look for somewhere to stop for the night. Drove past Country Mercantile and I remembered having seen it on OvernightParking so we turned around and I asked permission to stay. No problem, apparently you don't even need to ask. Stay in the back of the parking lot. Had a few trucks come in last night but didn't hear anything once we went to bed. We went in for a sandwich for supper, very filling, so worked out well and did a bit of browsing. What a shop, they have tons of stuff from decor to jams, pickled veg, produce and a deli with plenty of tables to enjoy a meal while you watch everyone spend all their husband's money - I mean shop :)

Did I mention it is also a chocolate factory? NO? Oh, well its also a CHOCOLATE FACTORY!!! If it was warmer at night you'd never get me away from this place, let me tell you. The boxes pictures above were buy 2 get 1 free. So naturally...

As we are trying not to plan anything for this trip, we have no idea where Day 2 will take us. Just drive until we get tired of it, stopping at anything intriguing along the way. Our only 'rush' would be in getting to warmer weather but we're just going with the flow to reach it. 

His Lordship wants to go through Las Vegas, but I know that would be a mistake. We've already agreed to stay away from any major centers and I'm pretty sure that one counts. The 'plan' if there is one is to see as many states as possible in the interior enroute to (we think) Arizona but that's completely negotiable should we find something good. I would like to see Texas, Louisiana, Alabama so it will be interesting to see where our travels take us.

I would love to meet up with some fellow boondockers who can teach us a few tricks of the trade so Arizona seems a good bet.

As always, thanks for following along and I love getting comments. I actually have some regular commenters, which is totally awesome!

Onwards and Upwards.

PS- For anyone following the solar thing... the CPAP only used 10% of the batteries last night. BONUS!

I know, I know...

So yesterday when I was taking Robbie for his morning walk, our neighbour asked if Brad would like to go with him to Oliver to check out a new race track that has been built - just for something to do. Well yes, of course he would. So I quickly made him a bacon sandwich while he was getting himself sorted and off he went for a Boy's Day Out.

Worked out perfect for me as it is easier for me to get things done around here when he's not here. He has difficulty doing some things because of his back/neck issues and I think it makes him feel awkward when I'm doing things that in his mind are 'guy' things. Out the door he goes with the neighbour and I promptly set about rinsing the black tank.

Drained the black tank, stuck the whirlybird stick down the hole, rinsed and flushed. Still gooped up so I did it again, still gooped up. Filled the tank to the top, let it sit for about an hour while I removed the inside door trim, wrapped some insulation stuff around the frame and replaced the trim. Then drained the tank again, stuck the whirly in it again and just kept repeating (probably 5 or 6 times) until only clear water came out. Bleached the whirly and put it out the window lowering it to the ground so I could walk around and sort it out. Broken. No idea how but it broke, at least I was finished and had cleaned it down so dealing with it was soooo much easier than it would have been had I not bleached it.

Back at the house we had had a couple of remote temperature watcher gizmos (I'm a gadget queen, remember) and I had one of them in a bay underneath. Realizing I should have put it in the water bay I moved it yesterday so that we have a gauge inside the rig to let us know what the temp is in the water bay itself. The bay is heated by a duct but I think its wise to keep an eye on it regardless.

I also managed to vacuum copious amounts of dog hair from the 3 floor mats, did a load of laundry and just a general cleaning up around the 'house' and because it appeared likely to rain I took Robbie for his afternoon walk a little earlier than usual.

Brad returned with tales of not only a racetrack but apparently they went off-roading in the back hills, something I would never have been able to do. I have an inner ear issue which sends me into a cat-on-the-ceiling fit if I tip or even perceive the possibility of it, so I am glad I chose to stay home and let him have a guys day out. He even took lots of pictures for this blog, what a guy! With all the stuff I was doing it never crossed my mind to take even one picture, I know, I know.....

New racetrack in Oliver, BC

Racetrack

Osoyoos from above

Wild horses

Snow in the hills

Osoyoos, BC

Spotted Lake

We went out for dinner as the meat I had out to thaw was not looking appetizing and had a lovely meal in a nice restaurant atmosphere, though the 'Potato Salad' had a twist -and parmesan, making it inedible for me. Without the parm I would have eaten it for sure, I did try but I just can't stand parmesan and couldn't get more than about 4 pieces in me. The ribs were phenomenal though.

There was a table beside us all decked out with roses because apparently there was going to be a marriage proposal last night, sure hope that went well. We were gone before the couple arrived, and no I didn't think to get a picture of that either, I know, I know.

This morning we awoke to notice that our batteries were at 90% and then dropped to 89%. I sent an email to an RVer friend who knows TONS about solar/battery stuff and am waiting for a reply (its still very early). The reason this is a concern is because we are plugged in. Nothing should be running on battery. So unless its due to the cold I have no clue why our batteries would have dropped overnight. The sun is coming out now and they are replenishing but this could be problematic if we were not plugged in and something unknown is draining our batteries. We still don't have a TM-2025 monitor but it is high on our list once we get across - even higher today.

Quick day trip to Penticton

We decided to go to Oliver yesterday because there is a Canadian Tire there and Brad wanted to see about some bikes. Packed up the rig and off we went. The scenery around here is much like you might expect Italy or Spain to look with all the vineyards in the valley. So beautiful. I can't get a grasp on taking pictures of it though, it seems I'm so in awe of it all that the camera never enters my mind. Peculiar how that works. I will do better.

We couldn't find anything at Canadian Tire (its just a small one) so we decided to try an RV Parts Department because Brad thought they would sell the bike hitches. Didn't make sense to me but what the hell we're out for the day so why not make a day of it. Off we went to an RV dealership in Penticton. They didn't carry any bike racks but could bring one in for us, no thanks we need this sooner than later so we headed back to Osoyoos deciding to wait until we cross to get bikes.

There is an Asian restaurant in town here that Brad has been wanting to eat at since we arrived. There is only one and it is quite run down, but... what the hell. Well let me tell you, if your ever in this area- Don't Do It! We love ethnic foods and this place was such a disappointment I can't even tell you in words. In my attempt not to be negative because I really hadn't wanted to eat there, I didn't say anything and I nibbled away at the 5 different dishes we ordered. But eventually, even Brad had to remark at how gross the food was and that was the end of that. Totally disgusting. We left it on the table, have never done that before. We always order several dishes so that we have leftovers for lunch the next day but this food was not coming home. Then later I read an online review that said the owner locked some Patrons in and pulled a baseball bat on them because they argued the bill. Glad we just paid and left, that's for sure but I did leave reviews on Yelp and Google.

Spent the evening watching The Deer Hunter on Netflix, which was really good. Today my plan is to -finally- get some Vent Insulator whatsits and find that Geocache spot on the way, we'll see how that goes.

Meeting new friends in Osoyoos

Went for a walk yesterday, down the road along the many beaches. Found a nice little spot and sat for awhile dangling our feet and enjoying the view of America.

I checked the Geocaching App before we left that spot and there was a cache on our route home (or so we thought), we went looking for it. Unfortunately, we had already walked a couple of miles each way and the cache was on the other side of 'home' so we had to let it go but will likely go for it today as I want to walk down that direction for the vent insulators I mentioned the other day.

When we got back Brad went to take the garbage out while I made dinner, one of the neighbours was sitting outside and he learned that they are full-timers. After dinner I took the dog for his afternoon ritual and asked her if she would mind some company...

After several hours of learning and laughing we finally stumbled our way home. Really enjoyed ourselves visiting with them. They have a 40 odd footer Motorhome and gave us a tour, wowsers its one of those fancy schmancy ones - her husband clearly loves her ;) No pressure Bradley!

It was just so nice to sit in front of a (propane) fire and just chat with people about 'stuff', they gave us some input on border crossings and what to expect down south. Keep in mind Brad has never spent any significant time in the U.S. and I haven't been there for donkey's years.

I'm pretty sure Laurie got Brad's personality but not so sure Ron appreciated his sense of humour - at all but he also strikes me as the quiet type so its hard to know. Likely we will find out today. I wrote about this here. I've warned Brad he needs to let people get to know him before he carries on like that, but they were having a couple of drinks and I think he forgot.

Either way it was a good time - so if your reading this guys, thanks for a very enjoyable night.

Yesterday morning, I got an email from RVillage that there were new arrivals in the area. I sent them a message for a meetup and received a reply last night, perhaps we'll get together with them if we can get the timing right.

This meeting new people thing is great and we really enjoy it I must say. Though we do not particularly like crowds, small gatherings are great. Learning about and from others is fascinating and quite a change from our life experience of the last several years.

Happy Thanksgiving Canada

Good morning, we had a very quiet day yesterday, Brad wasn't feeling well so we stayed in the RV. Not that we could have walked far anyway with the wind we've been having here. We set the chairs up by the water but the wind was just too cold so that didn't last long.

Taking full advantage of campground wifi we spent the day watching Netflix and YouTube. Sorry to disappoint but it can't be rainbows and sugar plums all the time.

Apparently tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in Canada so Happy Thanksgiving to all of our Canadian readers, actually I better say it to all readers since we barely know what day it is never mind that its an event day and the American one will likely come and go without our noticing, though I will try.

We have so much to be Thankful for I don't even know where to start... suffice to say that we were retired under 50, we have a brand new house (in the wrong place, but..) and we are now living in our RV touring the continent. Not much to complain about thats for sure.

We have 4 children between us and 3 Grandchildren who are happy and healthy, of course Robbie (our dog) who has such a loving personality, our parents are doing well  and of course we are grateful for all of our readers.

Yep, nothing to complain about here. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We hope you have a great day stuffing Turkey with your family/friends (most people will likely do that today not tomorrow being a Sunday) and remember to enjoy the scenery wherever you are.

No plans today but we hope to do something once beautified. Perhaps we'll go out for lunch somewhere... tomorrow is moving day. Interesting to see what if any difference there is in the campground and the people. We've noticed a trend between friendliness and license plates - seems odd I know but there is a particular license plate that for the most part, is not very friendly. Very strange, and telling.

Onwards and upwards my friends, onwards and upwards.

Batteries connected and Laundry

Well yesterday was productive, kind of...

Brad got to putting the batteries together, but one of the cable thingys broke and we had to pack up the rig and drive to Lordco in town. Naturally, we forgot the blanket that was on the solar panels and when we remembered it it was gone. Returning to the campsite, we were going to stop at the office and inquire if anyone handed it in, not even a minute later there it was hanging on a fence along the road - thank you to whoever found it and put it there.

We didn't put the rig back into stationary (just in case) and sure enough we had to go to Lordco again. Very nice staff at the Osoyoos Lordco might I add. Anyway, after a lot of kerfuffling we returned to the campsite to get it done. A couple of neighbour guys came by and helped which was great, Big shoutout to them. Now we have 4-6v connected as one 12v battery! Yay!

Earlier in the day I tried to do laundry... while Brad was working on the batteries, I grabbed the 50 lb hamper, put the dog on a lead and away we went. Knowing there are at least 2 laundry rooms here in this campground, we went to the closest of course and someone had beat us to all 3 machines. I couldn't remember where the other one was so we stopped by the office for a campground map and went over. Unfortunately, the campground staff were doing an acid wash on that one and it was out of commission. We carried that damn hamper back to the rig. Thank god Robbie is a good walker on a lead because that hamper was crazy heavy.

Lordco to the rescue once again. While we were there I asked if they sold those red collapsible wagons I had seen people use and yes, they did, in black. On sale for $85CAD (about $65US) Regular $210. SOLD!!!

We now have a wagon capable of carrying 180lbs. Now THIS is something every girl needs! If we walk too far, Brad can pull me in the wagon ;) teehee

Suffice to say, I will be attempting laundry again today (3rd day in a row), thank god for the wagon because this hamper gets heavier and heavier with every attempt.

Once the batteries were completed and with the rig still in mobile, we drove over to an Italian restaurant we had seen, Campo, Very non-descript on the outside, but the service, the food (oh, the food), the atmosphere were phenomenal. Highly recommend. Hard as I tried, I could not eat all of mine and had to bring most of it home. They offer bread and buttter while you wait, its almost a subtle pumpernickle and the butter is garlic. Oh, let me tell you about that butter!! It was soo good they gave us one to bring home, and Brad even grabbed one we hadn't finished off the table. Clearly made with real garlic and just so good I can't even describe it. Fantastic. The restaurant is casual/dressy with exceptional service but the bill was only $50 with tip. I'm not one for pasta but we'll be going there again anytime we're in town.

Today, maybe we'll walk to town. I'd like to stop by one of the other campgrounds and see about Monday, not sure where today will take us but look forward to finding out.

I've been having some thoughts about writing 'current' blogs...

I know that many people post videos, blogs, instagram several weeks behind. As a viewer that is very frustrating but as a traveller, maybe that is how it should be done. We haven't had any trouble with creepers but there certainly is that possibility when you tell the world where you are in real time. Thoughts anyone?

The only reason this has come up now is because I have noticed a fair increase in readership the last week or two which is great and I appreciate all of you. I would love to meet readers but I want to be safe about it - obviously. My original intent was to write in the past tense anyway, only after having left a spot. I think perhaps my error was putting the specific campground we are staying at online that has me creeped out. Once we get south, we intend to be boondocking anyway... as long as I don't put specific current locations - I guess it will be fine. Yes, this is me talking to myself - You are welcome to join the conversation.