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...