Sunday to Thursday, June 25 to 29, 2017 (Coquitlam, BC)

Sunday morning we said goodbye to Sue and Doug and hit the road at 9:50 a.m.
We took highway 97C towards Merritt, passing Mamette Lake...

 The Nicola River in Merritt is much lower than it was last May when we drove through...

We hit highway 5 (the Coquihalla) and headed south. A big climb up...Merritt down in the valley...

 Beautiful country...

A couple of classics passed by...

The Port Mann Bridge over the Fraser River...

We arrived at Chris and Angela's place in Coquitlam just before 2:00. Angela was at a friend's bridal shower but the three of us sat out on the deck in the shade. It was hot with the temps up into the 30's C (90's F)...another heat wave is coming through!

Around 4:30, we headed into Burnaby to Angela's parents place (checking out where we have to take the truck tomorrow morning on the way)...meeting Angela there. We sat outside on Lucy and Luigi's deck chatting until dinner was ready...another lovely Italian dinner of pasta, meatballs, sausages, salad and home made red wine.
Left to right...Nonna (Luigi's mom), Luigi, Lucy, Marco, Angela, Chris and Steve...






After dinner, we went back out on the deck where there was a bit of breeze...of course, it was "Limoncello time"!

Desserts, too! Yum!

We had a fabulous time...catching up with the Marzitelli clan. Thanks Luigi and Lucy for your hospitalilty!

Monday morning we all left the house at 8:00...I went with Chris to drop him off at work so we could have the use of his car (thanks, Chris!); Angela headed to work; and Steve to DBM Automotive in Port Coquitlam, just a short distance to the east of here. Steve was a little early so he went to a park at the end of the street near DBM...a lovely view of the Pitt River this morning...

Steve had an appointment to drop the truck off at 9:00 and wanted to stay and talk to Dave, the owner, about the truck. Unfortunately, Dave apparently had other plans for that morning picking up parts and who knows what else. In the meantime, while Steve waited, I decided to go back to Chris's place. Having given up on speaking with Dave, Steve called me shortly after noon to come pick him up. By the time I got there, though, Dave had arrived. Apparently Dave had stopped back at home and read Steve's detailed email showing all maintenance bills for the last 38 months. He made a few calls to others in the "bizz" for opinions and they all felt the emission system was the issue. The truck is a 2008 and in the early years the introduction of emission systems have been problematic. They recommended a modification that we can't really talk about, so are going to get back to us with a quote. Apparently we'll have more power and better fuel economy.

It was after 1:00 when we decided to stop at this local pub Chris had told us about. The Gillnetter Pub is on the Pitt River, not far away, so it was perfect. When we arrived there was a line up to sit out on the deck...we chose a nice table for two by the window....

Lunch...Steve had Gilly's Seafood Club (which he said was good)...and I had Mediterranean Caesar Salad (it was fabulous!)...

View of the river from the parking lot as we left....

Back home we chilled for a bit and when Chris and Angela got home (Angela picked up Chris), they made us a delicious dinner of bacon-wrapped steak medallions and roasted vegetables...along with some baby nugget potatoes that Angela's kindergarten class had grown.

After dinner, we all jumped in the car and went to Mundy Park, just a short drive away.
Mundy Park is Coquitlam’s largest park with 400 acres of coastal rainforest that is home to numerous plant and wildlife species, including a number of rare and endangered species. There are 16 kilometres of trails for park users to explore. We decided to hike the Perimeter Trail which is 4 kms/2.5 miles...a lovely walk and it felt so good to get out walking again. It's going to take a while for me to build up my stamina again....now that my foot seems to be settling down.

Tuesday morning after waiting for a phone call from DBM, Steve called them late morning. Apparently DBM and his contacts didn't have the ability to do the complete job on their own without farming part of it out and didn't want to be the middle man, so recommended Bernhauser Diesel. Dave had already spoken with them and luckily they were able to see us right away. Man was this place full of vehicles! They were also of the same opinion as the others and would get back to us with a quote after having a look as to what's involved. So that's 2 days down, but hopefully we're getting somewhere.

On the way to pick up Chris, I stopped at Costco and picked up dinner (roast chicken, shrimp and salad)...so we had a quick easy dinner that night. Then Chris and Angela did a little yard work while I cleaned up the kitchen..and Steve supervised the yard work.

Wednesday morning Chris drove Angela to work, leaving her car for us to use. She was going out with friends after work and wouldn't be home for dinner. It was really a day of "waiting for a phone call on the status of the truck", so we really didn't do much.
We did managed to drive over to Como Lake Park...the lake is located in the centre of the park and is surrounded by a one-kilometre long trail. It's a short but picturesque trail with lots of waterfowl...

Steve finally spoke to DJ at Bernhausen later that afternoon. They aren't able to do part of the modification required without some additional engineering info from the UK. So he sent off an email request but with the time difference another day is lost.

We decided to go out for dinner that night, so shortly after Chris got home, we drove the short distance up to the John B Pub. We enjoyed great beer(s)...they have quite a selection of beer on tap...86 to be exact! And a great pub dinner. We had almost finished eating by the time we got the waitress to take a picture...

Thursday morning I drove Chris to work again, so we could have the use of his car. Other than getting out for a walk in their neighbourhood (we may have not been out long, but it seemed like the majority of the walking was uphill...except the last bit, which was down, down, down), it was another day of "waiting for a phone call". It was almost noon when Steve called DJ...he had not heard anything from his UK contact yet, so we might as well come pick up the truck at 4:30....which means we will have to come back down to the coast at some point, once they have the information they need. So that's now day four and we feel like we're still at square one.

I decided to go down to Super Store and pick up some groceries before heading back to Tunkwa. When I got back, it was time to head out to Langley to pick up the truck. Certainly not going to miss the traffic around here! It was just after 5:30 when we got home and wouldn't you know it, we get a phone call from DJ at 6:30...he just received the info he required. Says if all goes well he can have us in and out the same day. So we will return July 10th and hopefully this will be the end of our problems!

It's a holiday weekend in Canada this weekend,  July 1st and it's also Canada's 150th! The park is already busy so our plan is to head back to Tunkwa first thing tomorrow morning...early...

Sunday, June 11 to Saturday, June 24, 2017 (Tunkwa Provincial Park, Logan Lake, BC)

Hard to believe that another couple of weeks have slipped by...time for an update! Life here continues as usual...even though we are only working part-time, the days go by quickly without getting much else done. Seems by the time our usual 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. "shift" is over, we have lunch, shower and relax for a bit...it's late afternoon!

Sunday (11th) we actually didn't start work until 11:00. Steve headed out to clean sites at Tunkwa Campground. While sweeping under one of the picnic tables he noticed that one of the cement pads when poured had a visitor walk through it...

A kayak-er paddling away from the spit on a beautiful calm morning...

I stayed in the compound where all four water pump grates had been collected, ready for me to scrape and prep them for paint. They were all pretty wet and needed to dry out...so I left them in hopes that they'd be dry enough to paint tomorrow. I filled some wood bins, did a little recycling and then called it a day after 2 1/2 hours....giving me time to work on budget and expense recording (still trying to get that all up-to-date after being without my laptop for so long).

Monday Steve cleaned and fixed fire pits at Tunkwa Campground...it's amazing how many people think it's okay to dig them out and move them! After that, he decided to go out fishing. He really hasn't had a chance to get out much because of the wind. I heard that "Tunkwa" means "windy"...if that's true, then Tunkwa Lake is definitely living up to its name!

From the boat, Tunkwa Lake Resort. They pack the RV's in here pretty tight. Steve did lots of fishing but no catching today...

I spent my work "day" painting those water grates...they had dried out enough. I even managed to get two coats of "BC Parks green" on them.

Tuesday, Doug and Sue headed off for their weekly trip to Kamloops. Steve spent all day "weed-whacking" North Leighton and Tunkwa Campgrounds. I cleaned all outhouses, registered and collected from campers, sold firewood and did the recycling.

Not so many babies this year. The owner of the resort got a permit to shake any eggs he could find around the lake...

Wednesday was our day off...Steve made a couple of phone calls regarding our truck issue and after "taking care of business", we decided to get out for a quad ride.

A hunters camp...

This section of road had obviously seen lots of water last winter...

Luckily we were able to bypass it...

Leighton and Tunkwa Lakes in the distance...

Our destination is the old lookout shack on Greenstone Mountain...

Leighton and Tunkwa Lakes in the distance just to the left of Steve's head. It was a very windy day up here..

A close up...

Lots of communication towers up here. This shack has firewood available...

Forgot to get a photo of the outside...

Surrounding views...

The city of Kamloops in the distance...

Kamloops Lake...

Lots of logged areas...

Time to head back...

Back to the ruts near the hunting camp. The photo doesn't really show how deep these were...

Lots of blue flowers on the hills...

Free range cattle...

Hill climbing anyone...

We were gone for four hours...what a great way to spend the afternoon!

Thursday, after working the morning, we went into Logan Lake to run a couple of errands. I followed Steve in, driving Doug's truck, so we could drop it off for a little repair work. We stopped at the sani-dump to fill up our drinking water jugs...and met Ron and Bel Bishop there! They were filling up with fresh water before heading into Tunkwa (to North Leighton Campground) for their annual gathering with folks from the Lower Mainland ATV Club. We met them last year and got out for a couple of rides with them....looking for a repeat this year!

After getting the water, we went into town, picked up a UPS parcel (my runners and orthotics are back from getting adjusted...yay!) and then went out for lunch at the Pick and Shovel Pub in the Logan Lake Lodge.

The next few days were busy with campers coming in for the Father's Day weekend. After another successful weekend, our duties Monday were over at the day use area. The four picnic tables needed to be painted as well as the inside of the outhouse...of course, while there, we might as well empty the garbage bins and clean the outhouse.

So we loaded all the required supplies into one of the trucks and headed over...we agreed, I would paint the inside of the outhouse while Steve painted the picnic tables...so many tables. Once done that, he would paint the black vent stack outside the outhouse. Steve dropped me off at the outhouse and continued on to scrape and wire brush the tables.
Well...later when he went to start the truck, it wouldn't start. Thank goodness we had remembered to take a radio this morning! Steve radioed Doug about our situation...and we continued our painting. Just as we were finishing, (volunteer) Brian (and his visiting brother) came and after they too were unsuccessful in starting the truck, had to go back to get the tow strap to give us a tow back.
(There's something about this Day Use area on the other side of the lake, because later in the week Hugh had trailer-ed the Zero Turn lawn mower here and the Gator broke down. Doug trailer-ed the Gator back and poor Hugh had to ride the lawn mower with no suspension several kilometres back on a very pot hole-ly road.)
It was a white knuckle trip back on the twisty, hilly, pot hole-ly road with next to no brakes and stiff steering...

Later that afternoon, the flat bed truck came to pick it up and take it into the mechanic in Logan Lake. Turned out to be a faulty fuel pump in the fuel tank...

About 4:30 Steve and I went over to North Leighton to join Ron and Bel and the group for happy hour. (So busy getting reacquainted we forgot to take pics of the group) The wild roses are blooming all over the place...beautiful...

Tuesday again...and Doug and Sue are off to Kamloops. It was a busy day for Steve and I. Steve worked on fire pits again and I cleaned outhouses and registered and collected from campers staying longer as well as new campers.

Wednesday morning just before 10:30, we packed a lunch and headed over to North Leighton on our quads to join Bel, Ron, John, Jodie, Ralph, Jennifer on a ride. Our goal today was to find Bose Lake...John had a general idea and had been there before, but it had been awhile and many of the trails have disappeared due to logging.

The meadow flowers were beautiful...

Tunkwa Lake is behind those trees...

Hey Ralph and Jennifer!

There are wild horses up here but this one was all alone...

He was very curious and started chasing after John and Bel as they passed by...

Then he turned and pranced away with his tail held high looking very majestic, then turned for another look...

We took lots of side roads that weren't getting us there and the one that would have had lots of trees down across it...

Steve tossing a log...

Not this way...

How about up here?

Back down we go...Tunkwa in the distance...

Turned back...

...and finally found a road that's badly washed out but eventually gets us to our destination...

Highland Valley Copper Mine and tailing pond...

So we had made a few wrong turns and had to back-track but, hey, that's what it's all about...exploring the area! But we eventually found it...Bose Lake! Tailing pond dam above the lake...

Campers on the other side...

Our leaders John and Jodie...

Me, Ralph, Jennifer, Bel, Jodie, Ron, and John...

Onto our next destination...

Jack Lake....apparently that gravel area behind the picnic table used to be a beautiful grassy field...

The weather last winter and spring had been very extreme all over BC...

Time to head home...

We got home around 4:30...another fabulous day out exploring the area on our quads. Thanks so much Bel and Ron for organizing a ride that we were able to join in on to areas we've never been!

Thursday was a usual work day for us...but that afternoon, we were entertained by a few Yellow-Headed Black Birds fighting over the birdseed in the feeder hung behind our back window. We finally found some birds that like this birdseed! We have been lugging this 20 lb bag of seed from Parker AZ around for the past year and a half trying to get rid of it...apparently it is not liked by many of the birds we have encountered.

Friday...and more entertainment at the bird feeder...a Redwing Blackbird...

Saturday morning, we both worked a short shift and then spent the rest of the day working around the trailer. Steve washed the truck in preparation for our trip back to Vancouver tomorrow. For the last few weeks Steve has had many phone calls and emails with the dealer where we bought our truck, Isuzu and a mediator. To make a very long story short Isuzu has blown us off and passed the buck saying it's the dealer and GM's problem even though we paid Isuzu for the extended warranty. The next step was taking them to court but Steve's research indicated that going to mediation was a first step, so he contacted a mediator but Isuzu refuses to mediate. Unfortunately our pockets aren't deep enough to take on a corporation and we are sick and tired of getting the run around from Isuzu. It's time to get off this merry go round we've been on for the last 38 months and try anyone but an Isuzu dealer. So we have an appointment to take it into DBM Automotive in Port Coquitlam for an assessment. The saga continues...