HOMELESS BUT NOT HOPELESS

Dec 27/09

One of our ambitions after retirement was to “reinvent” ourselves which we defined as doing things outside our comfort zones and searching for new experiences.  We’ve been stretched in a number of situations and are still looking for opportunities to learn and grow.

On Christmas Eve, we attended a church service at a downtown centre called the Metro.  It is one of 5 locations that are all part of one main Willow Park Church centred in Kelowna.  The Metro is a converted night club and the majority of the people are homeless, lost or down-trodden people who congregate in the downtown area.

The place was full of talk and laughter as most of the 50 plus people seemed to know each other.  Christmas carols were led by singers and guitar players on a small stage but it certainly wasn’t a formal service.  Many of the audience just kept talking through the songs although some of them listened, or joined in if they knew the song.  I think a lot of them were anticipating the hot roast beef dinner being served after the service.

The pastor (a regular guy wearing jeans and a shirt) welcomed everyone and reminded us that their purpose for gathering as a church is to seek God and pursue truth in an atmosphere of love where judgment is left at the door.  Much easier said that done, as it takes effort to see others through a neutral, non-judgmental lens.  The reality of these people’s lives really hit home for me when the pastor prayed for those who could not be there that evening as they were sick, in jail or still out on the streets.  And where did we sleep that night?

After we sold our house last summer, we often joked about being homeless as we have no fixed address.  Well, meeting the street people in Kelowna has given us a realistic view of what it means to be truly homeless.  However, the kindness and caring of the leaders of the Metro gatherings shows that there is hope for anyone and everyone who needs it.

ANTICIPATING CHRISTMAS

Dec 20/09

It’s interesting how we Canadians are almost obsessed with the weather and how it affects our activities, attitudes and even our traditions.  Many of us have grown up with white, snowy Christmases and we just don’t feel like its Christmas unless it snows.  Fortunately, that’s not a problem for us.  We had snow again this past week but it only stayed around for 2 days and we will enjoy Christmas no matter what the weather does.

We’re having a simplified Christmas this year and it is very relaxing and stress free.  We are keeping the traditions that are important to us—sending out Christmas cards and messages to friends and family, putting up some decorations and lights, picking fresh greenery, wearing Christmas earrings (for me, not Stuart) and having an eggnog while listening to our favourite Christmas carols.  We’ve simplified our gift giving as well so there will be no need for anyone to re-gift any silly items or knickknacks from us.

We have a turkey dinner planned although Stuart is reluctant to purchase a turkey.  He says there will be some really good deals in the last few shopping days before Christmas.  I hope he’s right or we’ll be having StoveTop stuffing and cranberry sauce that day!

So Christmas is a great time to relax, indulge yourself with some pleasures, rest from work and reflect on all the blessings in your life.

We wish you a merry and peaceful Christmas.

CITY LIVING

Dec13/09

Another week has gone by for us in the condo and we are learning many things about city living.  We go out 2 or 3 times a day and see very few people in the elevator, the lobby or the fitness room.  Perhaps it’s because this condo is part of a resort that is very busy in the late spring, summer and early fall, but not so much in the winter.  The building is only about 50% occupied and the people who do live here full time must go about their business on a daily basis, but we don’t see them.

It was very different in the RV park where most people were around during the day and we had all sorts of conversations with new people every few days.  I guess we had the common element of living in the park and camaraderie with folks who like to travel with, and live in RV’s.

We do lots of walking in the Waterfront Park and all through the streets of downtown.  Pedestrians can be “fair game” for motorists even with well marked crosswalks and traffic light controlled intersections.  We’ve been very vigilant in watching the vehicles even when we have the right-of-way, but that doesn’t always work.  Yesterday, two pedestrians were crossing the main street downtown in accordance with the WALK signal and a person making a left hand turn almost hit the first pedestrian and then hit the second one, killing her immediately.  It was shocking to see that on the news as we’ve crossed at that location many times.

The weather has been cold this week and we had about 1 cm of snow one day.  The snow was so dry and light that wind blew it all away overnight.  

We can see snow across the lake in Westbank but it’s running shoe weather here again.

I have my treatment planning session scheduled for Dec 18 and will start the daily treatments on Jan 4.  That will work out well and there won’t be any extended breaks due to the Christmas holidays.

We were in Orchard Park mall on Friday morning and got a taste of commercial Christmas.  It was nice to see all the decorations and the people who were shopping seemed to be enjoying themselves rather than being frantic.  We weren’t buying much and didn’t have to stand in any long line-ups.

We’ll be putting up our Christmas decorations in the next few days.  We packed a small Christmas tree that has fibre optic lights, a red bead garland and a string of red LED lights that we’ll put out on the balcony railing.  We envisioned putting the lights on the RV awning in Arizona but this will look just fine.

CONDO LIVING

Dec. 6/09

Living in a high rise concrete condo isn’t too bad at all.  We are loving the view of the lake, the new bridge over Okanagan Lake, the waterfront park and even Tolko’s mill.  What a wide range of urban and nature activities to see from one place.

Last night we happened to look out at the bridge just before 5:00 p.m. and the vehicles were just crawling along in all 4 lanes for about 20 minutes.  Then it cleared up and no problems after that.  Not too bad if that was the height of rush hour.

We learned what happens in buildings like this when the power goes out.  Fortunately, it went out during the early afternoon so we didn’t need lights.  There are diesel generators that kick in and keep some hallway lights on and one of the elevators working.  The doors to the underground parking automatically open up and stay open until the power comes back on.

We headed out for a walk when the power went off and stopped at the library on the way back.  There was enough light from the windows to read the book covers so we chose a few as we’ve been reading a lot since we retired.  The check-out librarian had to write down our card number, name and all the bar code numbers from the books.  They sure missed having the automatic scanner working.


The power was still out when we got back to the condo and then the generator quit just before we entered the elevator.  There was a problem with the coolant level that needed to be fixed so we had to walk up the 12 flights of stairs.  A good workout especially for Stuart with a backpack full of books.


No firm date has been set for my radiation treatments yet but I will be doing the planning session sometime in the next 2 weeks.  It would be nice to get it all started before Christmas.

And it’s hard to believe that Christmas is only 19 days away.  I keep thinking that they’re just trying to fool us with all the songs, advertising and decorations as it still feels like autumn around here.  The only snow we see is on the mountain tops and the willow trees still have their leaves.  Maybe it’s like that here every December.

Every day is still an adventure and we are grateful for all the blessings.

THE NEW ROAD TAKEN

Nov.29/09

We moved out of the trailer on Tuesday and packed all our clothing, food, non-freezables and personal items into bags and boxes to bring to the furnished condo. We winterized the trailer next and left it all alone at the RV site while we headed for the big city and high tower living.

The check-in to the condo was fairly quick and we were asked to do an assessment of the condition of everything before we moved in. We found a few scrapes, scratches and marks and had a week to report any others. As expected, we found a few more things like a cracked sink, broken blind string and a leaky toilet that Stuart fixed. All the rest was okay but needed a thorough cleaning which we did over the next 2 days.

By Thursday we were fully settled in and had also re-arranged the living room furniture, closet linens and all the kitchen items to suit our preference. You wouldn’t believe how many dinner plates and towels are in this condo.

We’ve walked to the downtown area a couple of times and it is very convenient to the library, post office, grocery stores and a plethora of restaurants. We walked past more than one East Indian restaurant and they smelled incredibly good. Another convenience was a H1N1 vaccine clinic at Prospera Place (arena) which is only a block away, so we went for our shots. The line-up was small as there were about 20 nurses ready to poke your arm and make it hurt (or make you cry if you were a kid).

On Saturday we went back to the Holiday Park Resort and towed the trailer to the storage yard in Winfield. We wanted to do it before the end of the month in case the weather deteriorated, but it had already turned as we had rain and snowflakes while we were moving. A good sign that it’s time to be in a warm, comfortable location before winter truly arrives.

DETOUR

Nov 22/09

What a busy week!! It started as usual and built up to lots of activity and decision making. My birthday (don’t ask about the number!!) was on Tuesday so we went into Kelowna for shopping, lunch, hanging out and a gourmet supper by chef Stuart at home. It was a wonderful and relaxing day.

On Wednesday, we packed up the trailer and towed it into Kelowna where Stuart had to take a towing road test. Anyone who tows a trailer over 10,000 lbs. needs an endorsement to their licence which includes passing a learners’ knowledge test and also a road test. He aced the pre-trip inspection part, which is very detailed and then had the challenge of towing the 38 ft. trailer through the busy streets of Kelowna. He did extremely well and passed with only one comment about making right hand turns. Good work, Stuart!

On Thursday I met with a radiation oncologist and he has recommended that I have radiation treatments to follow-up on my surgery. The treatments should not be difficult, or have many side effects, but it will take time. The planning session is in two weeks, and then treatments start about Dec. 14 and take 3.5 weeks. So, I should be finished in early January.

We were hoping that all this would happen more quickly and that we’d be able to head south in December but that is not going to work out. We decided that we don’t want to spend the winter months in the 5th wheel here in Winfield, so we have signed a 3 month lease on a furnished condo in Kelowna until the end of February.

It’s been 3 months “on the road” for us with many days and weeks of uncertainty and now we have some definite timelines and expectations. We’ve been stretched in faith and patience and believe that we are stronger now and much more adaptable to changes. God never gives you more than you can handle.

IT HAPPENS

Nov 14/09

Another week has flown by and it included some bizarre things happening to people around us.  We had neighbours from Alberta next to us for a few days who had travelled across the Rogers Pass in snow and slush and arrived here just as it was getting dark.  It is not easy to back up a big trailer when you can’t see much around you, but they did okay.  They stayed for a few days and told us that they were heading out for Tijuana, Mexico on Thursday.

So they hooked up and pulled out that morning and we expected them to turn the rig around and come back out past us which is the normal exit.  We never did see them again so I figured that we just missed them.  We went into Kelowna for a couple of hours and when we got back, we went over to the activity centre to log on to the internet.  We saw that one of the condo carports had collapsed on top of the vehicle parked under it.

We were told that our neighbour was driving out that way and clipped the carport with the corner of his trailer.  Apparently, he damaged his trailer and it looked like the car in the carport was wrecked.  As it turned out however, when they cleared the rubble away, the car had very little damage.

But what a horrible experience for those poor people towing the fifth wheel.  We don’t know what they had to do to get it fixed, or if they will make it to Tijuana as planned.

Stuart talked to some other people who said they were stopped at a red light in Kelowna and a semi truck rear-ended their trailer.  They were planning to take it to the manufacturer in La Grande, Oregon to get it fixed.  It snowed here yesterday morning so they had to postpone the trip until today.  It is so sad when bad things happen to people.

The snow we got was predicted, but there were still accidents on the road in this area.  We were glad we were able to just stay home.  Here is what it looked like for us—sure glad that it melted by the end of the day.

FRIENDSHIP

Nov 8/09

It’s been an amazingly warm start to November and we are finding it quite comfortable at these temperatures. We have the heat tape and insulation on the water hose and we keep the inside of the RV warm with the fireplace and an additional electric heater.

We’ve been enjoying the facilities here at the resort and have established a regular workout routine with the weight machine, treadmill and stationary bike. We’ve also walked into Winfield a few times on the back roads to go to the library and purchased a few groceries. Exercise with a purpose is very enjoyable.

Yesterday, we went on an outing up into the hills to Beaver Lake, which is to the east of Winfield. It is about 16 km on a rough road that is paved part of the way but the gravel portion was smoother than the pavement most of the time. We had thoughts about driving to the Forest Service Recreation site on the lake and tossing a fishing line in the water. Not!! The lake’s elevation is obviously higher than that at home and the road to the site was covered in snow and ice. Time to give up on open water fishing for us.

We had friends from Armstrong visit us for a few hours this afternoon and it was so nice to see familiar faces and talk about things in common. We’ve visited with other friends in the past few weeks and we realize how much those relationships are missed when you are on the road. Sure, we talk to people we meet every day but it is nothing like sharing your life events with those who know you well.

Cherish your friends while you have them close to you.

ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL

 Nov 1/09
We were on the road again this past week and drove all of 44 km from Vernon to Winfield as planned. Our site at the Holiday Park Resort is nice and very private although there is quite a bit of traffic on the roadway past our home at certain times of the day. There are probably 300 long term residents in park models, RV’s and condos here at this time of year.

It takes us about 2 days to get used to a new location. The inside of the house is the same as always, but the view and the facilities are all different. We’ve used the fitness room, games room, internet centre and laundry room and will be getting to the pool and hot tub one of these days. Our social calendar is quite full. Like many of the “older folk” out there, it is full of appointments with all types of health care professionals including optometrists and doctors which keeps us very busy.

The most wonderful thing about our location is that there are California quail everywhere and a few rabbits as well.


The quail are so fascinating in their travel habits and overnight routines. They hang out in coveys of 10 to 20 birds. 

When it’s time to cross a road, they usually dash across one at a time. It reminds me of old war movies where the good guys are trying to cross an open area that is under sniper fire. They shout “Cover me!” and run like crazy across to the other side.

When it starts to get dark, a small covey comes to our site, hops up into the cedar bushes and crawls inside for the night. We can hear them getting settled and after that, no one would know they are roosting in there. I’m convinced that when they hear loud noises during the night, their little eyes pop open wide and they clench the branches tighter with their little feet. In the morning, they pop out to see what’s going on before flying out for the day. We were able to get this picture from our dining room window.

We continue to focus on enjoying the present with the hope that we will be going south before Christmas.

IT’S NOT A VACATION AFTER ALL

Oct 24/09

We’ve been in our RV for 6 weeks now and the reality that this isn’t a vacation has become very apparent. We have adapted amazingly well to the “more compact” environment and realize how much we (and probably all of you) take certain things for granted.

For example, when the weather gets cold, you don’t need to go out and check to see that your water line is not freezing up. When you drain your sinks or flush your toilet, you never think about having to drain your storage tanks; It all just “goes away” somewhere. When you get up in the morning, you head for the shower without much fuss. We have a good shower house here so we get dressed and walk there for our morning showers. Not so much fun when it’s freezing cold or raining.

One thing that is extremely convenient here is that we are within walking distance of the Swan Lake Fruit and Garden Centre, which has a bakery, deli, canned goods, dairy section and a huge selection of both local and imported fruits and vegetables. We have been eating pears, apples, fresh peppers, onions, potatoes, yams, cabbage, carrots and Brussels sprouts. Sounds way too healthy, doesn’t it?

We meet new people almost every day and the conversations can be very interesting. We met a woman from Boston (heavy accent) who has been vacationing in BC for 3 weeks and we were able to hear some of her travel experiences and perceptions of our province. We met her at Winfield and they enjoyed the Okanagan and the wineries near Naramata. She and her husband are very impressed, and that’s after spending 5 days in Hope. Go figure!!

Another interesting couple are 2 full time RV’ers who spent 6 months as Park Hosts at Ellison Park this past summer. They moved here about 10 days ago and will be staying until mid-November before going south for the winter. They have been full timers for 3 years now and had a nasty experience crossing the border at Sumas last year.

The U.S. Customs and Immigration Officer grilled them excessively especially when they said that they had no permanent address and their “home” was attached to their truck. They were questioned for a couple of hours, finger-printed and then told that they could not cross the border and should not try again for a year. They were devastated and came back to the Okanagan to figure out what to do. They went down to the Osoyoos crossing to find out what they needed to do to get permission to cross and were told that there would be no problems. Sure not an experience that we want to have!!

My doctor’s appointment is scheduled for November 20 in Kelowna so we will be staying in the Okanagan area until then. We are moving down to Winfield on Tuesday, but are not sure exactly where we will be for the whole time yet—depends on the weather and the RV parks that are available. As we aren’t fishing and golfing these days, we need to find some other activities to keep us occupied. It’s all good though, and we have no regrets about this adventure that we are on.

SEEING THE OGOPOGO AND HANGING OUT WITH SNOWBIRDS

Oct 17/09

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been here at Swan Lake Resort for over a week. We’ve kept busy with routine things around home as well as trips to town, to the library with our new “BC One Card” and just out and about. We hiked at Ellison Park on Thanksgiving Monday when it was clear but cold.

We walked over the top of a rocky point and spotted some unusual turbulence in the waters to the north. We watched it for quite a while speculating that it was a school of fish or perhaps, the Ogopogo.

We got our lunch out of the truck and walked to the north beach where we saw that the turbulence was moving into the bay, closer to shore. It moved inside the swimming buoys and we finally figured it out—it was scuba divers!! Who would be crazy enough to go diving in those frigid waters at this time of year!!

We had some problems with our microwave/half-time oven and took in into Kelowna Truck and RV for repairs. It is under warranty and they are going to have someone local try to repair it. If it can’t be done under a certain amount of money, the whole unit will be sent back to the manufacturer for repair. The option to give us a new one isn’t offered so it could be awkward getting it returned to us, as we don’t know where we’ll be. Not having a microwave is an inconvenience—you don’t realize how often it gets used.

Back at the RV resort, it seems like everyone is getting ready to go south for the winter and they all are looking forward to it so very much. Each day we talk with someone new who, after years of experience, has a favourite destination and a favourite route to get there. As snowbirds are limited to no more than 182 days per calendar year in the United States, everyone calculates how late they have to stay in B.C. before going south of the border.

Our neighbours on one side live in a park model here during the summer and store their trailer in Yuma. They left on Tuesday for a 4 day drive to pick up their trailer and then will go to Mexico and stay in the Mazatlan area. They’ve done it before and the fellow speaks fluent Spanish, but they are a bit concerned about the increase in violence in Mexico.

We aren’t sure when we’ll be able to head south ourselves as I am awaiting a doctor’s appointment to be scheduled in Kelowna. Hopefully, it won’t be too long from now and then we’ll be able to make some plans. In the meantime, we are looking at maps and different routes to the sunny south. So nice to dream!!

MOVING ON

Oct 11/09

The past week was different than the first 3 as we were preparing to move on to a new location by the end of the week. We took a quick trip to the Lower Mainland to visit with Stuart’s family and it was an interesting trip. After being in a small, slow town for weeks, we were transported into the fast pace of a big city with voluminous traffic, toll bridges (Golden Ears) and a bus and sky train ride to a Greek restaurant on Davie St. in downtown Vancouver. Ain’t nothin’ like that in Barriere!!

We weren’t able to get a last fishing day in as the weather was cool and windy. We packed up the boat, the fishing clothes and all the fishing gear and on Thursday, and took it to the storage locker in Kamloops. It was sad to put it all away, but also exciting to know that we were going to have new experiences in the next while.

We left Barriere fairly early on Friday morning and had to stop in Kamloops for a doctor’s appointment. We were on the road again by noon and drove to Vernon where we checked in to the Swan Lake Recreation Resort. What a culture change!! It is a full RV resort with wide, paved sites with small storage sheds (for the owners) and a grass area with trees at most sites.

There are ‘real people’ here who are regular RV’ers and they are very friendly. And no trains at any time!!

But it sure has gotten cold. The arctic front has settled in and it was minus 4 last night. We disconnected our water intake for the night and use the water pump to access the on board heated water tank. Some people have insulated the hose lines and water pipes and wrapped them with heat tape, but we also saw some of them replacing hoses and connections this morning. Glad that it is sunny so we can still sit outside and read in the afternoons.

Our plans to head south of the border are going to be delayed for a few weeks as I need to have some treatments done after my surgery. They will be done in Kelowna so we will be around this area for a while yet.

We are going to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal tomorrow with turkey thighs, cranberry sauce, yams, stove top stuffing and pumpkin pie for dessert. It is all smaller scale than a full roast turkey dinner but the flavours will be excellent. We have so much to be thankful for.