Apr 18, 2015
Home safely but we have a few problems
We did not get out of the service bay until 6:00PM on Wednesday. Our friend Judy arrived about 4:30PM and in true RVer style just hopped in and we started the party while still being serviced. Once out of the bay Colin hooked us up to be ready to leave. Meanwhile I made dinner.
Just as Judy was leaving I realized we had not taken any photos, so here is a quickie.
We must have been driving by 8:55 PM or so and arrived at the Hope rest area about 10:40PM. The day after we got home I received a most special email from a long time blog reader. With his permission I am sharing it with you. So sorry we never got to meet A but I know we will one day.
Hello Colin and Contessa,
I would like to say how much my wife and I have enjoyed your posts from the Isla. Over the last couple of years it has become part of our routine each day to read your blog. We love Mexico and have driven the Baja a couple of times and ended up buying a place in Cabo that we have now sold after 18 years of ownership. We are now retired and have an R.V and look forward to heading south this coming winter perhaps even to Tres Amigos. Having never driven the Mex. west coast.
Great job on the air bag repair Colin. I also have had that sinking feeling when something suddenly goes wrong on the road but what a relief when you can resolve it yourself. Good on you.
I have a small confession to make. I drove out to the Hope rest area last night( Hunter Creek, exit #160 just south of Hope and got there about 7:15 pm. I did not want to take up any of your time as this being your last night on the road. I had a small gift for you both as a thank you for the wonderful reading we had this past winter and just wanted to say a brief hello. Too bad we missed you but our paths will cross of that I am sure.
As a footnote, we have friends that refuse to to go to Mexico , not even to an all inclusive resort due to the perceived “danger” . Since Mar. 9 in Surrey/Delta there have been 21 drive by shootings due to a current drug war
Thank you again,
A and L
I so hope that you follow your dream and do RV through Mexico. There is so much for you to discover and enjoy. Thank you for making the attempt to meet us and for this message, it came at the perfect time when I needed a lift. Looking forward to our first meeting.
Woke up to fresh snow on the local mountains in Hope.
Of course we ended up doing the longer route via the Fraser Canyon and we had no issues what so ever.
This route follows the Fraser River, we cross over it and back again, over and over. A very scenic route for certain and well used by tourists over the summer.
Inserted for my non Canadian readers. This is the quickest way to get to Vancouver from Kelowna. However this road does go over very high elevations between Merritt and Kelowna aka the Connector.
So to be safe from snow and dirt grit we traveled North of Merritt to Kamloops and came home the round about way which used to be the only way a while back. This route is at lower elevations and has a rather windy road to deal with and takes an extra 90 – 120 minutes but it is nice to have the choice. I think we have used this route the last three years due to spring storms and snow.
Finally back on home turf. These lakes are why we live here.
We were about 20 miles away when the girls became alert. As we turned down Commonwealth Road they knew we were home.
Then began the unloading. I have no idea how Rod & Sylvia got their RV unloaded in 4 hours. We have been home now for 1.5 days and are not yet done, might take another day yet. Hmm, I think I should hire them next year to show us how it is done 😀
The first problem we discovered was a window break. It is very puzzling as is appears to have been done from the outside in. Perhaps a bird who hit the glass hard but here was no bird body beneath the window or perhaps the seal gave way. Anyway I had called a glass repair company who were supposed to have been here be end of day Friday. He never got here.
However the most vexing problem is our on demand hot water heater. As I filled baskets to be carted from the RV to the house Colin started to set up our water system. We had no hot water 🙁 Many many phone calls later, the builder of our home arrived. I want to add here that 98% of the plumbers we called did not even take messages on their phones 👿 So finally our builder showed up and discovered the problem. Yes we were blown out last winter the day before we left but it seems that something went awry. Fortunately we do not have to replace our entire hot water on demand system but just the one cracked part. Meanwhile we were able to bypass a few systems so we had cold water ( ie toilet ) but no hot water. We were promised the replacement part to be installed by end of day yesterday. So here we are at 8AM Saturday with no hot water. That means no showers nor my 18 loads of laundry.
The RV is still parked out front which we are allowed to do for 3 nights before we are required to move it into the storage area which we will have to do Sunday. We are unloading all the while. However we are also able to use the shower in the RV, thank goodness. Seems like that we might not have hot water until Monday at this point. The laundry can wait, fortunately I laundered our undies in Yuma 😳
It has been an extremely busy time since we arrived. I apologize for not posting till now but with all the unsettled conditions it was enough to stop unloading and just make dinner and fall into bed. Plus I had a small issue that required me to go to the walk in clinic Friday afternoon and that took three hours of day just to get a prescription.
I have to say that I love my home. Of course we have the view, it is not the ocean Isla view, but it certainly holds it’s own. What I noticed the most the last two evenings was the abundance of stars. All I can say is that we are so very fortunate to have our home here as well as the very special Isla de la Piedra in our lives.
<< Older Posts Home Newer Posts >>
Welcome home!
Shame about that window. 🙁
Do you do all your laundry with hot water or are the connections to your washer damaged?
What bothers us about the window is why did it break? Can’t figure it out.
I like to wash with warm and cold. Some of these loads need warm or hot water like dogs beds, blankets, etc. May have to start washing sheets in cold water today.
Thankful you had safe travels to your home. 18 loads of laundry – yikes, but it sure feels great when you get it all done. Hope that is all the surprises you have with your “other” home.
I like to was everything when we get back, duvet, the cover, and all our clothes. Maybe I will be lucky and it will only be 10 loads.
Your window is an interesting mystery. It does appear to have happened from inside. I’m wondering if your seal theory is a partial answer and that it caused a change in pressure that stressed the window. Either that or a kid hit it with a ball hard enough to break it, but not hard enough for shards to go into the house.
I do most of my laundry with cold, but, like you, prefer hot for bedding, towels, and dish cloths and towels. I bet all the laundry in MX is done with cold, another reason I’m glad I could do my own here. I pay for the propane and power, so I haven’t felt guilty about using hot water for laundry! At home, hot water for laundry is quite a sport — I have to hook my garden hose up to the outdoor shower to tap into Miranda’s water heater!
As for the time to unload the RV, I guess it depends on how much stuff you have. 😉
You always mange to work things out. Very creative way to get your hot water.
As to the unloading we have ‘stuff’. For certain will cut done on bringing things next season.
Our trailer might have been empty in a few hours, but the house looked like an old fashioned dry goods store for a few days. We had stuff pretty well everywhere upstairs. It took 3 days to put everything in place and get the laundry done. At least we had hot water. Welcome home
Thanks! Glad to be here enjoying the view of the sun while I am inside. Now I feel better about not getting it done in 4 hours. Our place is less than 1000 sq ft and so only so much can come in at one time and then needs to be put away before we can bring in more. The RV is pretty much emptied of what needs to be taken out.
Wow..that was a long trip…just following the map along as you traveled..very glad you are home safely and hopefully things will get back to normal (ha..whatever that means). The picture of the lakes are simply gorgeous..I don’t know which is more beautiful the Isla or Canada..
How will things go with the girls and the back problems? My little Ellie did same thing in November and it is a circus act trying to watch her so she doesn’t jump on anything.
Thankyou for your frequent posts and letting us travel along with you on your journeys.
Mary
You are welcome Mary. Yes it is a long trip back, always seems longer returning than leaving. The plan is to build ramps here for the girls but it may take a few days more. Right now they use stools to get up on the sofa and the bed. Fortunately our stairs to the outside are not too high so that helps. Sorry to hear about Ellie. They are so stubborn and hard to control even if it is for their own good.
The same thing happened to our on demand water heater a year ago over the winter. We had to get a whole new one!
$$$$ Yikes.
Glad you made it home safely. Too bad about the problems you found there but sounds like you will get them taken care of fairly soon.
Thanks for checking in. Things are slowly coming together.
Welcome home, enjoy your time settling back into work.
How well you know me George. Yes I am already doing some business.