Spent our time shopping, going to the movies - "The A-Team" (Hey there was NOTHING else on) - Toy Story 3 3D (fabulous), and starting work on the RV.
We had a visit from Father Richard and wife Gwen, Teddy, Kim and Nathan went to the UK for a visit, Tim went to Kelowna and back and did I say we started work on the RV?
When we bought it there was damage inside to the floor which we took care of last year but there was also damage to the outside which I only started in Indiantown last November.
Originally one of the damaged areas looked like this.
After filling the gaps with epoxy I had to start working on the boat back then so it got left until there was time to do some more.
On the way to New Brunswick last year we had the Subaru transmission replaced near Quebec City and all appeared to be well until suddenly we have this problem that it's become really jerky. On checking the fluid it's down - really down. It took 4.5 litres of fluid to top it up - this is not good.
Monday 28th June
It's into the last week and working on the RV became critical with sanding, painting and hardware refit to do.
This is how the patches looked before sanding.
Just before Teddy left for the UK he lent me his mother-in-law's electric hand sander and boy was that a godsend.
Carol started cleaning the inside of the RV while it was relatively empty, previously a job she never had chance to do as thoroughly as she would have liked.
Tuesday 29th June
Sanding large flat surfaces is no fun. I'm in awe of these people who do bodywork on cars and make beautiful curved surfaces. Perfection is really hard.
Wednesday 30th June
Finally it's in a good enough shape to paint; miraculously we found the right paint match on the first go and the rain is holding off.
Now it's starting to look half decent.
Although when the sun reflects off the side a certain way...
Meanwhile the transmission fluid seems to be pouring out of the car. So we called the guy who did the work (the unit is warranted for a year) and we were instructed to take it to a garage to have it assessed for driving it to Quebec City. We talked to a sales guy at the Subaru dealer (they were already closed for the holiday) who said bring it in first thing Friday and maybe they could look at it. Just what we'll need the day before we had planned to leave.
Thursday 1st July
It's Canada Day but the work at the RV must go on with trim installation.
Friday 2nd July
We drove the Subaru down to the dealer for 7 am and Tim gave us a ride back to their place where we could borrow one of their cars. This is the day Teddy and family return and the day before we leave so after a quick trip to Kent Building supply to get some longer screws for the awning mount, it's on with the job. Everything was going to plan until the head one of the screws sheared off, necessitating removal of the trim causing damage to my lovely finish. However, I had a spare screw and the job was officially done.
We got a call from the Subaru dealership to say they’d found the problem and fixed it – a leak in the pipe that connects the transmission cooler. Whew! A big relief.
After checking the tires for the following day's journey (very necessary step with RVs) we trundled the old gal over to Jean and Tim's to load up our stuff.
Our extensive loading process was interrupted by a trip over to Teddy & Kim's place for supper and farewells and we finally finished loading the RV at 11 pm.
Saturday 3rd July.
We managed to get going just after 8 for our 9 hour trip to St-Jean-Chrystostome and sailing friends John and Rejeanne.
We made it in very good time although we don't usually make such long daily trips usually and it's been a while since Carol has driven for that long.
Sunday 4th July
Time to use our Costco card for the benefit of friends (and us too) again; what else do you do on a Sunday afternoon? Loaded up with even more frozen fish plus meat for the neighbours; we got the combined bill up to >$400.00.
Monday 5th July
Buddy was starting to get very hairy again and with the high temperatures he needed a haircut. This time I was determined to do it myself. So we took a trip to Wal-Mart to buy some clippers (and a Buddy Chariot – more on this in future blogs). After two hours of shearing and snipping we determined this might be a more skilled job more than you might think.
Tuesday 6th July
Last day before we move on again to places with no a.c. power, so it’s a quick scramble to do a couple of RV jobs. It was another hot one so most of it was spent outside the stifling RV.
After an early supper, John drove us to Levis and the ferry terminal for a trip across the river
It was a beautiful warm evening for being on the water even for such a short trip.
Quebec has got to be the most picturesque Canadian City starting with the approach from the water.
which Carol and I had never seen before.
Our reason for the trip to the city was to see a free Cirque du Soleil performance that’s done outside in the dark.
Everything associated with the Cirque du Soleil is always innovative and spectacular. The sound was outstanding with concert level volumes with speakers all around the audience.
Note the fellow in this (rather blurry) picture walking round the outside of this rotating thing.
We all enjoyed the performances even though we had to stand up the whole time.
After a leisurely walk back to the ferry we made it back home some time after midnight – late for us.
Wednesday 7th July
Late nights don’t make for early starts so it was around 11 before we got going and then wasted half an hour trying to locate a propane place.
We made it to Drummondville and after a visit to the dump station it was mid-afternoon, However, Ira and Ann had got there the night before and saved us a lovely spot with some shade but with enough sun to hit our solar panel (no power in this free parking lot.)
Thursday 8th July
Everyone in Ontario and Quebec experienced prolonged heatwave that made life in the RV somewhat uncomfortable. We spent most of the time outside where at least there was some breeze.
In the afternoon we went looking for somewhere to swim in the river. We found one place and were told to move on. Ira, Ann and I found another spot and spent nearly an hour just floating around in the cool, if somewhat dirty-looking water.
Friday 9th July
Another hot one but at least it would cool down in the evenings and the schoolyard which we were in has a water outlet and with the help of a hose, showers can be had.
Saturday 10th July
Yet another hot one but in the evening we cycled down to the festival to watch Jorge Martinez, a frenetic flamenco guitarist and his band. Well, I liked ‘em anyway.
Sunday 11th July
The weather had been forecast to change, so we stuck around the RVs and sure enough thundershowers rolled through and the temperature dropped (a little).
Monday 12th July
A cloudy start to the day but soon it was quite sunny again with rising temperatures.
Ira and I did some shopping for LED lighting bits for more economic (in terms of battery drain) RV lighting.
Tuesday 13th July
A day at the library doing on-line finances and updating the blog – finally!
.jpg)