Hi Everyone,
Well, it’s been a long time since I updated this page, and for that I am sorry. Life has been tough in recent months and my ability to write has been somewhat stymied, and a bit of a writers block too. I am not too sure where to begin with this blog since it has been so long. I suppose we’ll start off with the personal stuff. As you may remember in a previous post, I told you all, that I was getting divorced from Lorraine. Lorraine and I had a falling out around a subject that I could not overlook anymore. The divorce started back in March of last year and will be finalized in March of this year. Since then, Lorraine and I have separated, and I moved her into an apartment of her own. I set her up with furniture, bed, TV and all the comforts of home. My Son helped me move her out and get her all setup. She is very comfortable in her new place and now that she has had time to decompress, she is I believe happy. I know that the change for me has taken me some time to work through, and that my decision to divorce was the right one for me. I am happier and no longer have to worry about Lorraine or our relationship falling deeper down the dark pit of despair. It has taken some time to make this all right with myself and yes, I did miss her, you bet, but our issues made it so that I was not too happy anymore and a change had to happen. So is it with relationships sometimes, and as we all know love is blind, but when the blinders come off and you look at what you have sometimes it is best to cut your losses and move on, as was the case with Lorraine and I.
Good News…
Ok so what’s the good news you may say? Well, I’m happy. My life is moving on and I have had the opportunity to live it as I see fit. Being single again has been a challenge and one that was not easy at first. I have made it work and my life is much more laid back and stress free, or at least as stressless as I can make it in turbulent times. Not that my life does not have stress in it, what with high inflationary costs, ever changing interest rates, and a paycheck that is not going up to cover the ever-increasing costs of life. I must say that that is stress enough. As it must be for all of you too. Skiing this year was cut out as it was just too expensive for me to indulge in. I am trying to save all my money for the summer camping season, though I expect it will not be as numerous as it has been in past years this year. I am planning for 5 trips but expect to only make maybe three or four trips out this year.
So, if I am restricting the travel this year where should I go? Well, I will be staying in Alberta this year and make all of my trips close to home. I have started to plan it all out and will start booking in April of this year. My first trip will be to a First Come and First Serve Campground for May Long Weekend. So where am I going you may ask? Here is my itinerary for 2023
2023 Camping Spots
Alberta
PLPP Interlakes Campground – First come / First Serve - May 17th to May 22nd
Crimson Lake Sites: F9 / D11 / D12 / C8 / - June 28th to July 4th
Beaver Mines Lake Sites: C58 / C56 /C54 / C52 /C49 / C59 – July 26th to Aug 2
Lundbreck Falls Sites: 35 / 34 – Aug 30th to September 1st
If I can afford it, I may make one last trip into BC to visit Kikomun Creek
Kikomun Creek Sites: Ponderosa P31 /p29 / p27 / p25 / p22 / p20 / p19 / P35 – Sept 1st to Sept 6th
As you can see, I have the sites that I am interested in booking listed as well. These sites are my favorites and I have visited them before. Also, all of these sites will fit my 32.5’ Motorhome. Scoping out sites to fit your RV is the smartest thing you can do in your pre-planning. This way you won’t be disappointed when you arrive and find out you can’t fit (this has happened to me before).
Maintenance…
As always, I am waiting for spring to sprung so that I can start working on the various maintenance jobs I have to do on the RV to get ready for that first trip May Long. This year I have a few projects to do beyond oil changes and grease jobs. This year I bought and Extend-a-Tee system for my onboard propane tank.
This tee will allow me to hook up an external propane cylinder to my RV and suck off it as my main tank depletes itself. This should allow me to get a couple of more days of dry camping in without having to pull up stakes and go search for propane when I have emptied my main tank. I already have a 30lbs external propane cylinder so that should work just perfectly. Realistically I only really need it for May Long as I tend to go camping in the mountains, and I use propane heavily to heat the RV.
The next Project I have is to replace the Roof Vent in my kitchen as the plastic is old and is starting to break off. So, lets replace it now before it really breaks up and starts to leak into the RV. I have already replaced the bathroom vent, that happened the first year I owned the RV on our third trip I think maybe the fourth, the lid literally fell apart as we opened it. Plastic crumbled and the lid fell off its mounts. I was able to fix it temporarily with duct tape and a little ingenuity.
My new vent will be the following that I found on Amazon…
RVLOVENT RV Roof Vent 12V Fan Remote Control Ventilation 14'' 10 Speed Reversible Camper Van (Smoke)
Only $268.94 CAN. Not the cheapest vent and not the most expensive vent it’s more in the middle. I like the remote and the features this vent has. It has an auto rain sensor so if it gets wet it will close automatically. Nice feature. If I remember the last time, I replaced the bathroom roof vent it was an all-day affair…Sigh ☹
Finny…
How’s Finny? Well, Finny is doing really good. He misses Lorraine and the company through the day, but he has settled into being on his own during the day as I go to work. He is always very happy once I come home and gives me a big welcome, which I always enjoy and never gets old. Finny also reached a milestone late last year. Finny Has had his last specialist Vet appointment. The Vet has given Finny a clean bill of health and says that he is in permanent remission from his polyarthritis disease. So, no more steroids for Finny. He is doing really well and is a very happy go lucky dog. He loves life, his walks, and of course me. He is definitely living his best life and I suppose so am I. He is my best friend and companion, and always manages to make me smile when I need a good laugh.
Out of the Blue….
Don’t you just love out of the blue stuff that just takes you for a loop and makes you re-think your plans? Well, that happened to me last night. It looks like the family wants to hold a big birthday party for my Mom out on Vancouver Island in Nanaimo. My mother is the matriarch of our family, and she is very much loved and highly regarded. She is an amazing woman and has really remodeled herself since she retired back when she turned 55. Right out of the gate she took up running and turned herself into a marathon runner. Over the years she has run many marathons, and even qualified for the Boston marathon in her age group. She unfortunately turned that race down. But she has run all over from Nanaimo, Victoria, Vancouver, Las Vegas, the list goes on. During the pandemic she took up a new pursuit, Body Building. Last year was her first competition and had to compete against women almost 40yrs her younger. She came in second, which was just amazing. She will be competing again this year in Vancouver in July. Go Mom! So, in the end It looks like I need to plan a trip out to the coast for April. Her birthday is April 16th which is a Sunday. So, I am thinking of leaving the Thursday before and coming back the following Saturday. I will need to see if I can get into any campsites, as this will be an early opening for camping.
Work…
If any of you have been wondering work is going ok. I have been trying to setup my company to preform computer-based services on the side from my regular 9-5-day job. It has been somewhat successful in that I get the odd jobs occasionally and it is nice to bring in some extra money. The work I have been getting is fun and challenging, though I seem to get more Mac work then PC based stuff. Not that I am complaining, but Mac’s are a different breed and require a more advanced skill set to fix and configure. Not that I don’t have the skills, they just take longer to fix and or upgrade than a PC. The Day job is going well, and I am still employed. Back in December of last year I celebrated my 14th year anniversary with my company. Which is an amazing milestone. So, at the end of this year, it will be 15yrs with my company. Wow! That is the longest I have ever stayed in one place working for the same company. Yeah Me!!
Final thoughts…
Well, I think that is all I have to say and throw out there. As you can see life goes on and is always busy. IT looks like this year will be a busy one for me and I will have to stay on my toes especially where budgeting is concerned. Money is tight and it will be a challenge to complete my travels this year, but I will do my best to get out there and enjoy our backyard and hopefully the West Coast too. Remember planning makes the trips go better and less stressful. Planning allows you to ensure that you have places to stay and adventures to partake in, and by the looks of things as they stand, I will have my share of adventures this season.
Safe Travels
The Glampur
