Gilbert was growling out the side window towards the creek. He was one ferocious dog. I told him to knock it off. Then the neighbours came by and asked if we'd seen the black bear walk by our trailer. "Good dog, Gilbert. Good dog."
There are two trucks with campers nearby further up the stream deeper in the woods. I've parked the truck and trailer near the bridge and road at the first picnic table in the Charcoal Creek Recreational Site. I didn't know if I could turn around if I went any further. This turning around business with a trailer is quite a piece of work. I've had to walk up ahead and check out places to see if I can get out. At such times I feel like the settlers with covered wagons going ahead on foot to see if the road is okay for them. There's a long history of moving houses and I'm smack dab in the center of the gypsey caravanville.
This site though is supreme. No facilities except the outhouse that from the outside doesn't invite one to go inside. I was on a paved road at Falkland off Hwy 97 then this Falkland Chase Road turned to gravel. I didn't have any choice about continuing. There's simply nowhere to turn around. I passed two recreational sites because they weren't suitable for my rig. The young talk about their 'junk', the old talk about their 'rigs'.
Laura is in having a bath in luxury. It's like having a 5 star hotel room perched on the side of nowhere deep in the wilderness. I took Gilbert for a walk across the road along trails that might see passage by humans a few times a year. It's not that isolated but it's out there. Deep in the heart of beautiful BC back country. I've backpacked and bicycled and canoed into isolated places with tents but this hauling a house with a truck and motorcycle and bicycles, generator, solar panels, gasoline and such for a week of luxury seems it's own kind of adventure. I've been fiddling all week with pumps and freezers and batteries just like I do on my offshore sailing boat. A special sense of accomplishment comes with solving a 20th century problem in a pre historic setting.
A mosquito somehow got in last night and bit my ass. A tell tale itchy little lump I must resist scratching sits on a left buttock just below the belt line. The 'yard' is full of daisies outside the window. I enjoyed the sound of the creek before falling asleep last night. There was a thunderstorm with lightning galore.
Sunshine this morning. The clouds came by and sprinkled a little but then the sun came back out to glisten on the fresh washed leaves of trees I can see out the other window. Gilbert and I had a great walk along the creek. Then i came in and made Laura and I stovetop expresso. Gilbert went back to sleep. He was a tired dog after all his running. about. He does that. Gets me up at 6 or 7 then we walk and he comes back and has another nap. I've had some yoghurt, cold out of the fridge. The Starbucks dark roast with honey and cream tastes good out of the stovetop expresso maker. Theres purple flowers interspersed with the daisies on the lawn out the window.
I read the Bible this morning. The old testament verses were about David and Saul and Saul's daughter. The new testament was about Romans and Paul condemning lesbianism and homosexuality. He reminds me of the old Baptist minister where I grew up who used to use Sunday morning to harangue his audience condemming just about everything about modern society. Paul wouldn't be happy in the 21st century. In contrast I truly believe Jesus could be happy everywhere. Jesus never talked about sex but he sure condemned the bad lawyers and the nasty money lenders. Jesus had a real bee in his bonnet about people not caring for each other. He was a 'generalist' whereas Paul certainly was a 'detail' man. It's always appeared to me that the Bible is very clear that 'covetousness', 'greed', 'lying', 'hoarding' are all far worse crimes than anything sexual. Even regarding 'adultery' Jesus was clear saying essentially what man or woman has not broken that commandment mentally. Importantly Jesus teaches that it is what we 'think' as much as what we 'do' that decides our fate. I see many people, some church people, living what Henry Thoreau called 'lives of quiet desperation' because they won't live life out of fear. Jesus celebrated the children and living life to the fullest. He drew the line at addictions though and it is clear that he differentiated sensuality and spirituality. More importantly he was against the 'self willed' man which indeed our society celebrates.
I was alone at sea a thousand miles from shore in a storm proud of my ability to handle my sails and keep my course in these most trying of times. Yet even as I was enjoying my 'contribution' I was aware that the work of hundreds of others had gone into that journey. The myriad numbers of sailors before me, boat builders, sail makers, explorers had all taken a part in my little sail. As had my mother and father, grandparents, and brother. So many friends and teachers had contributed as had employers who had given me work to pay the enormous cost of expedition. Even now as I sit in this RV I 'm appreciative of all the workmanship and invention that came together just to create this moving house. I love the combustion motors, the generator and the truck. I'm just a part of creation. God is the great Creator but together we are a highly interconnected 'creation'. I know that the Bible teaches me that I have to realize 'humility'. I am a servant and must serve God and my fellows as others do with me. The homosexuals and the heterosexuals caught up in the 'dirty' are as amusing at times as the century long monastic debate about which way a monk's haircut should be. This is the time of the great 'ecclesiastical' wars of the "tonsure" in first few hundred years of Christianity. If we didn't have sex to fight about we'd probably slip back to fighting about hair cuts. Coiffed Christians, unite!
That said I'm pleased to invest in the ideas and genius that goes to making moving homes. The technology of the standard home is very little changed in thousands of years. Studying archeology I found indoor plumbing in the time of the Cretes. City planning has certainly come a long way especially in the last hundreds of years but mobile homes whether the yacht or the RV are truly cutting edge technology. I just love the chemistry of holding tank deodorants. The stuff I'm using is a light year beyond anything we had a couple of decades ago. Even the flushing mechanism is state of the art. I'm sure that NASA's advances have contributed to the design of even this simple motorhome. I picked up a solar panel at Canadian Tire and can't wait to set it up outside the RV. Energy from the sun. I remember when I put my first ones on my sailboat how excited I was. These ones are a couple of hundred dollars, a fraction of the price of my first ones and much more powerful and simple.
There's some reason the a/c doesn't run with the generator plug into the wall. I have to check this out for sure the next time I've actually city electricity tonight in Salmon Arm. I checked the fuses. Everything works but the wall sockets though the bathroom one does. So it seems that some sockets may only work when I'm connected to actual city electricity though I thought when I plugged a 2500 generator into the RV it would be the same. No problem I just ran an extension chord last night out the window to the generator and watched a DVD movie that way.
When Laura is ready the plan is to shoot cans out the back. She's got her new firearms certificate and her pink 22 rifle while I've got the 30-30 I had into the gunsmith for cleaning and stopping the 'sticky' loading problem.
Given that this is the first time I'v e had this rig off the grid I'm really pleased. I started out staying at the fabulous Cariboo Burnaby RV Site with all the facilities including pool and hot tub. Then we were up Canyon RV near Boston Bar in a site with water, electricity, cable, internet, and sewage at site. The provincial park had showers and running water but this is really the first time we've been dependent on our own resources. There is an outhouse but I'd rather use the tree, thank you.
The guys and I are planning a moose hunt this fall and I'm really pleased to think that this RV will make that trip all the more comfortable. Part of the joy of aging is thinking up ways of doing the old things with more comfort and pleasure. I'll never regret all those years of sleeping on the ground in tents but right now I can honestly say I really appreciated my luxurious bed last night. Also, I know Laura preferred being in the RV to being in the tent after the bear walked through the campsite
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