After a couple of lovely days in Penticton, we are camped out at the Nagle's in sunny Summerland. We were sorry to say good bye to the Parkers and our parking spot under the willow trees at the Park Royal in Penticton but it was just a very short drive north to our present spot.
Mary & I spent a couple of hours soaking up the warm rays of the sun and revelling in the fabulous view from their lawn while Alan & George went to hit a bucket of balls at the driving range. George put together his trademark 'deli chicken and kitchen sink salad' supper. Delicious! A little political forum on the CBC and we were ready for an early night. Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be just as nice as today's. We're still having fun!!
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Spring 2011 - We were snowbirds from mid-January until mid-April. Our travels with Kingsley included CA, AZ, OR, WA, BC & AB & then to Quartzsite, Arizona. We are not sure where Kingsley will take us next. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
The Sunny Okanagan doesn't disappoint.
It's Sunday night and we have had a great few days enjoying autumn here in wine country. We were in Osoyoos at the N'kmip Resort Thursday & Friday nights. The last time we stayed there was exactly five years ago, shortly after we bought Kingsley and we were real greenhorns! Actually, we were quite terrified about the prospect of owning this antique coach and getting it to operate safely.At that first rally, our fellow GMCers helped us with parts and expertise and many of them have become our good friends.
We were parked next to the water and it was a perfect spot.
Friday we rode the bikes into town and on to several resorts. Many changes in the last five years.
Saturday, we toured the N'kmip winery and the adjacent condos. They have done a wonderful job designing and decorating them. Later on we headed north to Penticton and the Park Royal RV park where we have stayed before. It's a lovely spot right near the beachfront.
Sunday, a very long bike ride and then Caryl(Alan's sister) & Warwick drove us to Naramata for some wine tasting and wine buying! They joined us for dinner in the coach, our first dinner guests since the renovation. It has been a wonderful day, weather-wise, warm and sunny.
More tomorrow and pictures too!
We were parked next to the water and it was a perfect spot.
Friday we rode the bikes into town and on to several resorts. Many changes in the last five years.
Saturday, we toured the N'kmip winery and the adjacent condos. They have done a wonderful job designing and decorating them. Later on we headed north to Penticton and the Park Royal RV park where we have stayed before. It's a lovely spot right near the beachfront.
Sunday, a very long bike ride and then Caryl(Alan's sister) & Warwick drove us to Naramata for some wine tasting and wine buying! They joined us for dinner in the coach, our first dinner guests since the renovation. It has been a wonderful day, weather-wise, warm and sunny.
More tomorrow and pictures too!
Friday, September 26, 2008
The Bloomsday sculptures at Riverside Park, Spokane, WA
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Here are the pictures of the art installation. Very inspiring!!!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
From Idaho to Washington and north to BC!
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Tuesday
I met a nice fellow named Mark in the hot tub last night. He lives in Phoenix but spends most of the summer in Post Falls at this place. He loves the RV park ($375.00/month)and says it is the best kept secret around! He is an independent contractor and is doing heavy duty aircraft maintenance on UPS planes nearby. His wife is an airline mechanic in Phoenix.. He came over after supper and had many interesting stories to tell. He has promised to send us some special oyster shooters??
Alan took the bike for a long ride today and we tested our walkie-talkies for range. They’re pretty good!
Wednesday
Left Post Falls around 11:00am headed towards Spokane. We wanted to see Riverside Park which we hear about all the time on PBS (Friends of Seven). There was no place for a motorhome to park anywhere nearby so I asked a fellow on a riding lawnmower for directions. He said “follow me” and led us down a side road to the Gonzaga University Parking Authority where we purchased an all day pass for $2.17! Our new friend, Brian, then led us to the perfect parking spot fifty feet from the Centennial Trail in the park. We rode our bikes right into the centre of Spokane. The trail passes through beautiful gardens, sculptures and major attractions such as a carousel and gondola over the Spokane river falls . This is also the site of the Annual Bloomsday Race. Spokane turns out in huge numbers for this event.
We went shopping at River Park Square and stopped for coffee and fabulous fries with blue cheese dressing at the Sawback Grill. We spent about five hours looking around before we returned to Kingsley and set out again. We drove 45 miles north to Deer Park and the Spokane RV Resort http://www.spokanervresort.com/
Thursday
This is a wonderful spot on the edge of a golf course. The air is so fresh! Alan hit a bucket of balls and we checked out some good real estate opportunities in the area. On the road again and we headed north on #395 and west on WA #20 to #97 to the border and Osoyoos, BC. So, tonight we are at Nk'nip RV Resort where we were last here five years ago with our newly acquired Kingsley. A tiring day for Alan on the windy road rising to 5500 miles above sea level....lots of up and downs and turns on the road to the border.
I met a nice fellow named Mark in the hot tub last night. He lives in Phoenix but spends most of the summer in Post Falls at this place. He loves the RV park ($375.00/month)and says it is the best kept secret around! He is an independent contractor and is doing heavy duty aircraft maintenance on UPS planes nearby. His wife is an airline mechanic in Phoenix.. He came over after supper and had many interesting stories to tell. He has promised to send us some special oyster shooters??
Alan took the bike for a long ride today and we tested our walkie-talkies for range. They’re pretty good!
Wednesday
Left Post Falls around 11:00am headed towards Spokane. We wanted to see Riverside Park which we hear about all the time on PBS (Friends of Seven). There was no place for a motorhome to park anywhere nearby so I asked a fellow on a riding lawnmower for directions. He said “follow me” and led us down a side road to the Gonzaga University Parking Authority where we purchased an all day pass for $2.17! Our new friend, Brian, then led us to the perfect parking spot fifty feet from the Centennial Trail in the park. We rode our bikes right into the centre of Spokane. The trail passes through beautiful gardens, sculptures and major attractions such as a carousel and gondola over the Spokane river falls . This is also the site of the Annual Bloomsday Race. Spokane turns out in huge numbers for this event.
We went shopping at River Park Square and stopped for coffee and fabulous fries with blue cheese dressing at the Sawback Grill. We spent about five hours looking around before we returned to Kingsley and set out again. We drove 45 miles north to Deer Park and the Spokane RV Resort http://www.spokanervresort.com/
Thursday
This is a wonderful spot on the edge of a golf course. The air is so fresh! Alan hit a bucket of balls and we checked out some good real estate opportunities in the area. On the road again and we headed north on #395 and west on WA #20 to #97 to the border and Osoyoos, BC. So, tonight we are at Nk'nip RV Resort where we were last here five years ago with our newly acquired Kingsley. A tiring day for Alan on the windy road rising to 5500 miles above sea level....lots of up and downs and turns on the road to the border.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Catching up
I’m sitting in the driver’s seat of Kingsley trying to catch up with the events of the last few days. We have been so busy with minor crises and irritations that there was no time to write! All problems have been resolved for now.
Going back to Thursday, mostly everyone from the rally (two busloads) went to the Rockin’B Ranch and enjoyed a shoot-out & melodrama outside followed by a wonderful barbeque dinner and a terrific wild west show inside the barn. This included a great fiddle player who had placed third in the national fiddling competition this year. Lots of fun!
Friday was a beautiful hot day. We had a shuttle bus provided by a new condo resort in CDA so we took it to the waterfront and saw the Wooden Boat Show. It was awesome…about 150 lovingly restored Chris Crafts & Century yachts from the ‘20s thru to the ‘70s. Took us back to our youth seeing all these great old boats. It was a perfect weekend for the show. After, we had a tour of the new condo development, Village at Riverstone http://www.riverstonecda.com/ Very swish!
Saturday, most of the coaches packed up and headed for home. Carol, Jean & I drove in Ole Yeller north to Sandpoint to shop and have lunch. The fellows went in Bernie’s coach to look at boats and motorcycles. Bernie’s in the market for a new boat (he has two-foot-itis)! There were six GMCs that stayed over Sat. night at the park.
Sunday, about noon, the three other coaches left the park heading for Kalispell and north to Calgary/Edmonton. We had a great time with our buddies and lots of good memories from the trip and the week at the rally.
We left shortly after heading back to Costco in the pouring rain and then traveling west to Post Falls where we encamped at the Walmart for the night. This morning it was back to CDA to get our exhaust pipe welded back in place and the tires checked. It was pouring with rain so we went back down the road to an RV park which is next to Walmart where we are tonight. The sun came out for a while so we took all our wet things out of the coach to dry while we tackled the latest water leak in the coach. It is never ending! Anyway, this is a really nice park where we are. It has a swimming pool, jaccuzzi and a huge clubhouse with a stone fireplace. I talked to the doctor in Edmonton today and he says the X-Rays show that I have osteoporosis in both wrists but not necessary to rush home...just carry on with the penicillin, etc. so we will stay away for a while yet. The finger is a little bit better today.
Monday, we went back to CDA to have the exhaust pipe secured. It came loose in the mid-section and needed to be welded. We also wanted to get the tires checked at Les Schwab as we bought them at their outlet in Santa Rosa this past spring. Back to Post Falls and checked in to the Coeur d’Alene RV Park so we could dry all our stuff out and tackle the latest leak in the water system. We tore the bedroom section apart and found a short section of hose with two jets of water coming out every time we turned the pump on! We are pretty sure it was mice cause we had one or two visit us during the rally. Two little teeth marks. Alan replaced the hose and we put everything back together. So we are dry inside and out now! It’s so nice that we are staying tomorrow too. We haven't traveled very far.
We are not sure where we’ll go from here but, we will keep you posted. Bye for now. Janet
Going back to Thursday, mostly everyone from the rally (two busloads) went to the Rockin’B Ranch and enjoyed a shoot-out & melodrama outside followed by a wonderful barbeque dinner and a terrific wild west show inside the barn. This included a great fiddle player who had placed third in the national fiddling competition this year. Lots of fun!
Friday was a beautiful hot day. We had a shuttle bus provided by a new condo resort in CDA so we took it to the waterfront and saw the Wooden Boat Show. It was awesome…about 150 lovingly restored Chris Crafts & Century yachts from the ‘20s thru to the ‘70s. Took us back to our youth seeing all these great old boats. It was a perfect weekend for the show. After, we had a tour of the new condo development, Village at Riverstone http://www.riverstonecda.com/ Very swish!
Saturday, most of the coaches packed up and headed for home. Carol, Jean & I drove in Ole Yeller north to Sandpoint to shop and have lunch. The fellows went in Bernie’s coach to look at boats and motorcycles. Bernie’s in the market for a new boat (he has two-foot-itis)! There were six GMCs that stayed over Sat. night at the park.
Sunday, about noon, the three other coaches left the park heading for Kalispell and north to Calgary/Edmonton. We had a great time with our buddies and lots of good memories from the trip and the week at the rally.
We left shortly after heading back to Costco in the pouring rain and then traveling west to Post Falls where we encamped at the Walmart for the night. This morning it was back to CDA to get our exhaust pipe welded back in place and the tires checked. It was pouring with rain so we went back down the road to an RV park which is next to Walmart where we are tonight. The sun came out for a while so we took all our wet things out of the coach to dry while we tackled the latest water leak in the coach. It is never ending! Anyway, this is a really nice park where we are. It has a swimming pool, jaccuzzi and a huge clubhouse with a stone fireplace. I talked to the doctor in Edmonton today and he says the X-Rays show that I have osteoporosis in both wrists but not necessary to rush home...just carry on with the penicillin, etc. so we will stay away for a while yet. The finger is a little bit better today.
Monday, we went back to CDA to have the exhaust pipe secured. It came loose in the mid-section and needed to be welded. We also wanted to get the tires checked at Les Schwab as we bought them at their outlet in Santa Rosa this past spring. Back to Post Falls and checked in to the Coeur d’Alene RV Park so we could dry all our stuff out and tackle the latest leak in the water system. We tore the bedroom section apart and found a short section of hose with two jets of water coming out every time we turned the pump on! We are pretty sure it was mice cause we had one or two visit us during the rally. Two little teeth marks. Alan replaced the hose and we put everything back together. So we are dry inside and out now! It’s so nice that we are staying tomorrow too. We haven't traveled very far.
We are not sure where we’ll go from here but, we will keep you posted. Bye for now. Janet
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Hot & Sunny Daze!
We are having a very good time and enjoying this unseasonably hot, sunny weather here in Idaho. The last gasp of summer.
Alan & I have been out walking with the morning people every day. We usually go for 2.5 miles and there are 15 or 20 each time. The air is so fresh at 7:15 am! Then there's a huge breakfast including bacon & eggs to follow @ 8:30. Alan is playing golf today with a couple from Billings, MT and another 'older' fellow( late 70s). Hope they are staying cool.
Tonight we are all going to Rockin' B Ranch Dinner & Show.
Yesterday after a seminar on electronic fuel injection and it's merits, Alan spent the afternoon on the ground with his head under the side of our Kingsley, installing the new door step. A very tricky job when you can't elevate the coach or drive it over a pit! He did it and we are really enjoying the fruits of his labours!
I am still coping with my infected right index finger and it has slowed me down considerably. I started on penicillin a week ago and it seems to be working but I'm afraid it will be a while before it is completely healed. I have osteo-arthritis and this is an infection in the ganglion ...it is also painful.
Hope this great weather lasts. Talk to you all soon.....Janet
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Blackwell Island RV Park
Here's Alan & Carol at one of our pit-stops enroute.
We left Sandpoint and made the short trip down the highway to Coeur d'Alene and to the rally site just south of town, arriving at 1:00 pm. What a sight to see all the coaches in one place! Right away we ran into friends from previous events. Everyone was happy to have arrived in one piece!
Dinner was catered and excellent.
In the early morning a group of about 20 met at 7:15 for exercises and a brisk walk around the area. It was a beautiful morning and a good start to the day which turned out to be hot and sunny. It's nice to settle in one place for a few days. We are going to take advantage of these last few days of summery weather!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Travels south to the GMC rally in Coeur d'Alene
Friday, Sept 12th
After final packing and all the household preparations were done, we left home in Kingsley at 12 noon. We gassed up on our way out of town (south) @ $1.21.9/litre just ahead of the massive increase of about $.14/litre throughout the city due to Tropical storm Ike. We only put in about $100.00 worth. Drove straight south to Olds, AB and the Engmans. Bernie Bartko came later and the five of us had a good visit that evening and the next morning. We watched a great DVD of Bernie & Norm on their fishing trip to Kitimat. Joan Engman had knee surgery a week ago so they are unable to attend the rally in Coeur d’Alene.
Saturday, Sept 13th
We left Olds in the morning after getting more gas @ $1.27.9/litre and drove south to Nanton, by-passing Calgary. There we had a rendezvous with the rest of our little convoy: Carol Gray, Jean & Dick Lyne, Bernie, Alan & me. Everyone was raring to go and it was a perfect day for the journey. We headed west from Nanton to highway 22, south to the Crowsnest and west along #3. We arrived in Cranbrook and spent the night at the Mt. Baker RV park.
After final packing and all the household preparations were done, we left home in Kingsley at 12 noon. We gassed up on our way out of town (south) @ $1.21.9/litre just ahead of the massive increase of about $.14/litre throughout the city due to Tropical storm Ike. We only put in about $100.00 worth. Drove straight south to Olds, AB and the Engmans. Bernie Bartko came later and the five of us had a good visit that evening and the next morning. We watched a great DVD of Bernie & Norm on their fishing trip to Kitimat. Joan Engman had knee surgery a week ago so they are unable to attend the rally in Coeur d’Alene.
Saturday, Sept 13th
We left Olds in the morning after getting more gas @ $1.27.9/litre and drove south to Nanton, by-passing Calgary. There we had a rendezvous with the rest of our little convoy: Carol Gray, Jean & Dick Lyne, Bernie, Alan & me. Everyone was raring to go and it was a perfect day for the journey. We headed west from Nanton to highway 22, south to the Crowsnest and west along #3. We arrived in Cranbrook and spent the night at the Mt. Baker RV park.
Sunday, Sept 14th
We departed Cranbrook about 11:00am PDT after Bernie made some repairs to Carol's 'Ol Yeler'. The gas when we all filled up was $1.33.9. We crossed the border about an hour later. Gas prices...$3.59 to $3.79/US gallon...much cheaper than at home! We drove to Sandpoint, a very pretty little resort/tourist town. All four of our coaches were lined up just off the main street and looked very smart together! Dinner at a cozy micro brewery/bistro and then we backtracked north on the highway to the local Walmart Supercentre for the night. A beautiful moon in the clear sky tonight.
Monday, September 8, 2008
The Finished (?) Product!
Is a GMC ever truly all done? Everyone who owns one of these classic wonders knows that it will always be 'a-work-in-progress'.
Alan & I worked on Kingsley all summer. It was challenging but...a lot of fun. The interior layout is re-configured, the flooring is all new, the plumbing now works and we should be much warmer/cooler with all that new insulation in the walls!
Today, we have to fix the pass. side rear signal light. I think it's a loose wire connection but, it's hard to get to. Just another challenge on the way to perfection!
More to follow.....Janet
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Hi Everyone:
We are off and running again with the new and improved "Kingsley"! I do apologize for promising lots of postings throughout the renovation project. I failed to make any posting...guess I was just too busy or tired! My last posting was way back in July when we were still immersed in the reno and now here we are in September and looking forward to a trip to Coeur d'Alene next weekend for a GMC rally. There will be four GMCs travelling south together....safety in numbers.
Just about everything is done in the coach now and it sure does look pretty! It took a while but it has been so worth it. We had it in yesterday for a lube job....first time out on the road since last May and it ran well. Kingsley is raring to go!
It has been a really nice summer here in Edmonton, the Festival City. We managed to attend Shakespeare in the Park, Heritage Days, the Edmonton Folk Music Festival(my favourite) & the Fringe Theatre Festival and that was only a fraction of what is offered here each summer !
Tomorrow, I start putting everything we took out, back in the coach along with our clothes, groceries and other supplies. We have lots of new storage and I want to use it wisely. We will leave Thursday or Friday for Calgary where we meet up with Jean & Dick Lyne, Bernie Bartko & Carol Gray. We will all be parked on Carol's driveway in Calgary 'til Saturday when we head for the border. I will keep you posted!!
Janet
We are off and running again with the new and improved "Kingsley"! I do apologize for promising lots of postings throughout the renovation project. I failed to make any posting...guess I was just too busy or tired! My last posting was way back in July when we were still immersed in the reno and now here we are in September and looking forward to a trip to Coeur d'Alene next weekend for a GMC rally. There will be four GMCs travelling south together....safety in numbers.
Just about everything is done in the coach now and it sure does look pretty! It took a while but it has been so worth it. We had it in yesterday for a lube job....first time out on the road since last May and it ran well. Kingsley is raring to go!
It has been a really nice summer here in Edmonton, the Festival City. We managed to attend Shakespeare in the Park, Heritage Days, the Edmonton Folk Music Festival(my favourite) & the Fringe Theatre Festival and that was only a fraction of what is offered here each summer !
Tomorrow, I start putting everything we took out, back in the coach along with our clothes, groceries and other supplies. We have lots of new storage and I want to use it wisely. We will leave Thursday or Friday for Calgary where we meet up with Jean & Dick Lyne, Bernie Bartko & Carol Gray. We will all be parked on Carol's driveway in Calgary 'til Saturday when we head for the border. I will keep you posted!!
Janet
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