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TruckHouse Jr. – in a not-so-brief 2023 review
Greetings to the family and friends who have never deleted their subscription to Roadquill!
I hope that you have noticed that I now own my own website: roadquill.ca. As the name suggests, it exists for the purpose of writing a journal-style of travel notes. The earlier “Roadquill” notes were all within the WordPress site, and related stories of our travels in the 2006 Adventurer 8W camper, from which we finally parted company last Spring. We replaced it in May 2023 with a new “Truck House” – a 21’ 5th Wheel trailer from Escape, made in Chilliwack, BC. We have informally named it “TruckHouse Jr.”
We are thrilled with this new travel trailer, as my last blog note from June 2023 indicated.
Now…it is time to move on – again! However, I need to cover off on a few incidents that happened to us during the camping months of June to September of 2023. Our first trip after returning to Vancouver Island from our maiden voyage (Osoyoos’ Nk’Mip campground) was to Quadra Island. This is accessible via a ferry from Campbell River, BC. Loading onto the ferry was a bit in question due to the low tide, but we easily cleared the deck of the ferry. We stayed at Taku Lodge campground for a couple days, and rode our e-bikes around Herriot Bay to the Provincial Park at Rebecca Spit to enjoy the sunshine and lovely beach area.
Our plan for mid-August was to join a large Roland family reunion of close Saltspring Island friends – Dave and Moya Roland on August 12. Their son had prepared his 5 acre property near Black Creek for a number of RVs and tent campers, so we were excited to participate and show off our new TruckHouse Jr. We packed the trailer, hitched it up, checked security pins and safety chains and pulled away from the house. As we passed the house, we remembered something needed from the house, so I eased around the corner and up the hill onto Uplands Drive and circled the block.
I idled the truck in front of the house as Sandy took care of the issue in the house and once again, I turned the corner onto Uplands heading uphill, but a rapidly approaching vehicle behind me caused me to accelerate quickly. Suddenly there was a tremendous bang, the truck bounced, and I noticed, to my horror that the fifth wheel had come off the Anderson Hitch and was hanging by one safety chain while it rode on the now crushed tailgate of the truck. Since we were blocking traffic on the hill, I dragged the trailer 30 metres or so to a safe pullout. (The automatic brakes had been set when the trailer came unhitched, so we lost some rubber from our tires.)
Upon assessing the damage, we realized that the truck was drivable and the trailer undamaged, but the hitch, while usable in a short term, probably was dangerously compromised and must be replaced. I called a BCAA Tow Truck and the driver agreed with our assessment. He had no mechanism for towing us but said if I could get it hitched up again, he would follow me to a hitch place to assess the damage. The hitch guy replied that the hitch was a write-off but I managed to get TruckHouse Jr. home and safely parked while we headed off to Black Creek for a day trip instead of a camping experience. We ordered a new hitch from Trademasters in Chilliwack. I guess that the hitch failure was a failure on my part to ensure that the safety pin on the hitch had engaged!
By the end of August, the hitch had been replaced, the truck scheduled for body work (mostly tailgate issues) in December, and I had constructed, out of plywood, a new tailgate.
With TruckHouse Jr. in tow, we headed over to the Lower Mainland where we joined farming efforts at Sandy’s cousin’s Aldergrove Farm (and home of “Locality Brewing”). For several days we helped with harvesting barley, threshing, and finally hops picking.
With the harvest in, we headed east to Penticton for our annual visit to South Beach Gardens on Skaha Lake. After the Labour Day weekend, the campground quickly empties and we had many sites to choose from. We spent about 10 days in Penticton with visits to my cousin Jan Beebe, and her husband Darrell. They were the ones who first introduced us to Escape trailers, and we were once again able to enthusiastically compare notes on the many wonderful features of the 5th wheel. One day we rode our bikes around the oxbow pond to a modular home trailer park. (In May when we visited, we were at site C24, and a modular home occupant had called to us from across the water asking us if we were interested in a “5th wheel tailgate for the GMC Sierra”. At that time I replied “no” that we were okay with our own arrangement.) Now, however, after the hitch incident, I needed a new tailgate to replace my constructed plywood one.
When I knocked at the door, a small, very friendly elderly gentleman, answered and introduced himself as “Bob”. After I told him the reason for our visit, he said he still had the tailgate, but then added, “I am now a caretaker for my wife” and then invited us in to meet his wife. We were a bit concerned about whether this would be awkward, or appropriate or not, but we followed him into his unit where we met his wife, Judy, whose only disability was a badly broken arm in a cast. Her mental acuity was amazing and the two of them were wonderful hosts! I finally managed to close the deal on the tailgate for $75, and it was a perfect replacement for my wooden construction!
The other notable happening in Penticton in September was our 62 km round-trip ride up the Kettle Valley Rail Trail from Skaha Lake to several kilometers beyond the first tunnel. It was a wonderful ride and our e-bikes returned with lots of juice left in the batteries! (More than we had, I think!!)
In late September, our final stop for the season was at Kitty Coleman Provincial Park, a few kilometres beyond the Comox Ferry terminal. We were located in a beach-side site and were able to enjoy fabulous views of Georgia Strait and the mountains of Desolation Sound and behind Powell River. We enjoyed our e-bike rides, and rode in to Comox to invite Mike Harris to our site for a dinner. (Mike, and his wife Marlene, had accompanied us on two separate southern trips to Arizona a few years ago.) Mike was out, but his daughter Michelle said he would love that, so we later drove back to bring him to Kitty Coleman for supper.
The only further TruckHouse Jr. activity in 2023 was a full waxing on October 5 followed by excruciatingly painful parking process under our garage tent while we blocked traffic and onlookers (mostly the Quilter) shortened their finger nails!
And that, dear folks, brings us to the end of 2023, the end of TruckHouse 1 adventures, and the beginning of new RV experiences in our luxurious new Escape 5.0. We hope that we will be able to encounter some of you during our travels and show off our wonderful road camper – TruckHouse Jr.!
Much love and best wishes from…
Tony and Sandy
“Quill, and Quilter”
What happened to 5 years??
I am not sure why I stopped recording our summer (or winter) camper travels, but I’m sure it doesn’t matter. (COVID certainly was a major block!) I may be speaking to myself, so…to myself and those who still have a link to this blog…I will update my camping news!
We decided to upgrade our camping experiences to something a little more expansive and comfortable. We thought about replacing our Truck House Adventure camper, but the only camper we really felt was an upgrade was the Big Foot, and its weight was pretty well going to force us to trade our 2005 GMC Sierra Duramax 3500 to a newer model with larger GVWR. The costs for the 2 new units would have been prohibitive! So, last Easter of 2022, after visiting the Armstrong plant for BF, we stopped at Chilliwack to take a look at trailers – at the Escape Trailer Company.
We were sold! We decided to get on the rather long wait-list for a newly designed 23’ trailer, but since the prototype was not finished we informed Escape that we would opt for the E 5.0TA (fifth wheel) – whichever came first when our name came up on the wait-list. That final commitment – “Your turn” – came in early January and we booked production of our new E 5.0TA which was completed on May 23. We picked it up in Chilliwack on May 24 and proceeded to head east to the Okanagan Valley, where we spent 2 nights at a very empty South Beach Gardens in Penticton. (I used the empty sites to practice backing up into various sites, and then we had a wonderful time sharing notes with my cousin Jan and her husband Darrell who had been instrumental in our purchase of the Escape.)
On Friday the 26th of May we headed to Nk’Mip Campground on Osoyoos Lake where we joined 156 other Escape Trailer owners for a “Rally in the Valley”. Great company! Shared food! Fun Entertainment! And we were able to visit many trailers to examine their modifications.
Here is the new “Truck House – Jr.”
We have had a great few days getting to know our new road home. Tomorrow we will head back to Chilliwack to get a couple of small things looked to on Wednesday as well as get a reconfiguration of our Anderson Hitch.
Many happy greetings to any of you who still hold the link to this blog! I will be sending more pics of this unit soon!
Best wishes and we hope that we will be able to show our house to many of you soon.
Sandy and Tony Dobson
No shorts or t-shirts in Flagstaff – March 31, 2018
Dear family and friends!
As the clock runs out on our travel insurance (35 days this time) and the T-Mobile 30 day plan that I purchased, the draw of home increases! Technically, we have to be back in Canada by April 9, I believe. (T-Mobile fizzles out on April 5.)
We had a lovely time at Squaw Lake (I know!…Politically incorrect, but I’m pretty sure that I’m not allowed to rename places, otherwise, I’d start with Weed, CA, Parump, NV and Vancouver, WA!) We got to know 2 Canadian couples – Cheryl and Cal, from Barrière, and Barb and Ray, from Burnaby, and an American couple from Fort Smith, Montana – Judy and Tom. Judy and Tom had a rough time recently. While out cruising slowly along in their ATV, an impatient and rage-filled pick-up driver deliberately ran them off the mountain road totalling their vehicle and forcing both of them to seek hospitalization. His only saving grace is that he drove them in for help. Judy had to be helicoptered to Phoenix, but with frequent physio trips to Yuma, she and Tom are both recovering.
Weather at SL this year was disappointing with several chilly days and a few days with very strong winds which meant cancelled biking plans and kayaking. On the few days that we were able to kayak, I spent more time trying to position the kayak than focusing on fishing lines. (I know, Mike…poor excuse for not catching fish!)
Yesterday, our 2 week stay at the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) ran out, so we packed up on a calm and very warm day (of course!) said good-bye to our new friends as we headed off to visit our cousins in Phoenix. We had a brief stop at Quartzite to visit an “every tool you can imagine – at low, low prices” store and, of course, I added a few minor items to my inventories. No quilting stores! I am winning! [Unauthorized insert: “He is definitely winning, as I have not been in to a quilt shop – look out Fabric Depot, I am on my way!!” SD]
In Phoenix, we managed to make it unscathed to the Judd household, where we set up camp and awaited the return from work and school of the 5 of them, including baby Abigail! We enjoyed our visit, but were surprised to hear that Good Friday and Easter Monday are not statutory holidays here.
So, we decided to push on today, with no clear plan for our destination. We gave some consideration to Sedona, but as we approached the city, traffic slowed to a crawl/stop and with about an hour to get through, we quickly agreed to move onto Flagstaff. 
The climate is very different here from Phoenix…we were the only two people in shorts in the large Fry’s Grocery store. After trying two RV sites unsuccessfully, we finally found a place at Black Bart’s RV. (The name beats KOA, which was full anyway.)
Tomorrow we’ll try to squeeze into Zion – the Utah kind, not the heavenly one!
Meanwhile, here on Earth at Black Bart’s (the name suggests that he might also have trouble getting into Zion) the temperature is heading for freezing (-2C), not the 32C forecast for Phoenix! Yay!
Love and best wishes to all!
The Quilter (Sandy) and the Quill (Tony)
Musing in Truck House – March 22, 2018
Dear family and friends,
After 4 years, we are once again camped in the lower parking lot of Squaw Lake in the Bureau of Land Management territory on the California side of the Colorado River. One dam looms above us, and the other, holding the water of Senator’s Wash lies just over the ridge. We are almost in the same parking spot that we enjoyed while camping with Mike and Marlene Harris 4 years ago, and next to Betty and Les Nault at the time of the Japan tsunami.
The camping area has been expanded, and the water is a bit lower, but otherwise all remains the same: private wifi sometimes available up in the Long-Term Visitor Area, no cell phone service, many Canadian snowbirds, ignored No Trespassing signs on the Senators Wash dam, a few burros about, a mix of very cool weather and very hot weather. We read, cycle, and kayak regularly and sometimes I fish – though unsuccessfully so far. As I say – some things never change, though the first day of Spring brought me a dinner at Yuma’s Olive Gardens and another year closer to maturity, Sandy hopes! (No birthday cake, but an old favourite from Mexico – Bimbuñuelos!)
And speaking of my organized partner, I wanted to provide a little anecdote of this penchant of hers. Originally, I cruelly mocked her behaviour, but now I see some wisdom in her plan. One day she announced (and I was listening!) that she was re-organizing the cutlery drawer. From now on, soup spoons would have their handles towards the drawer opener, and teaspoons would face the other way in the same slot. Likewise with forks and dessert forks thus saving slots for other utensils of course. It works! In the sometimes poor lighting, reach into the spoon slot and any handle will always provide you with a soup spoon! I can now eat crow in the dark with a regular fork!
Daily sources of amusement are frequent, and begin and end with mocking dialogues pertaining to pyjamas which our daughter gave me for Christmas. The t-shirt has “GIFTED” printed on it, and while I extol Paula’s wisdom in this selection, Sandy doesn’t feel quite so convinced about the sentiment. We are now toying with new nicknames of “Gifted” and “Unique” instead of Quilter and Quill.
Truck House has performed well since the early concerns about its welfare. I obey all laws, and try to avoid traffic confrontations. A neighbour here at Squaw Lake (from Billings, Montana area) wasn’t so lucky. While crawling along a mountain road sightseeing, he didn’t realize that he was impeding the progress of a vehicle in a greater rush. A confrontation occurred, and the couple were forced off the road, injuring them both enough that she had to be flown to Phoenix for treatment. They are recovering, but once again, I am a bit concerned about my ability to see vehicles behind me. My back-up camera system works when it wants to – mostly after dark.
Well, ‘tis time cycle uphill and upwind to post this. It will be a sweaty climb up to the top of the dam road (or damn road).
Much love and best wishes to all, and many, many thanks for the wonderful birthday wishes that so many posted. I am truly grateful for all the kind thoughts!
“Gifted” and “Unique” (Tony and Sandy, though the other sequence might be more appropriate!)
P.S. after proof-reading this, the Quilter informed me that the utensil drawer had always been “thus” and, THERE ARE NO OTHER SLOTS! I stand corrected, but still GIFTED – with her presence (and Paula’s) of course!
Whilin’ and whittlin’ a little in Yuma
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Good day family and friends!
New visits – old scenes! Once again we are in Yuma, AZ. We arrived on Friday, after checkout time since we had forgotten about adding an hour to our clocks. “Robert”, on security, placed us on the “fishy” side of the park on Striper St. (The eastern streets are birds, the western – fish. “Striper” isn’t too bad…we could have been on “Crappie” street.)
On Saturday, though warm, we had rain showers most of the day so we trucked to two outdoor flea markets, and then wandered through Walmart. Back at Rivers Edge RV we met some of our neighbours – Prairie folk from Ponoka, AB, Calgary, Medicine Hat, and Manitoba. Their rigs are massive, and our 20 foot Truck House looks more suited to be their towed vehicle!
Neighbour from Medicine Hat
No WiFi at all anymore at Rivers Edge, and T-Mobile is too weak. (Besides, in 2 days it ran through 1.4 GB of my allotted 4 GB of LTE speeds.) On Sunday’s cycling we discovered that the tourist info about a 10 minute ride away has wifi, so we can communicate – with exercise!
Biking the canal
Previous blog notes describe our bike rides (e.g. on the canal) but I have discovered a new place of interest. Outside the laundromat on Sunday, a gentleman from Vernon – Neil – was carving some cottonwood bark while he waited for his clothes to dry. Since carving is now a huge part of my woodworking experiences, (you’ve seen my rocking horse and reindeer, have you not?), I showed interest, and he pointed me towards a community woodworking group in the old town area on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. So, on yesterday’s ride we found the place (a rather out-of-the way Community Rec Centre near the old Yuma Prison with some wanderers about), and Sandy chatted up some of the transients and bike-sat while I spent almost an hour inside getting info from carvers, and purchasing a new Flexcut carving knife, a honing board, and some basswood chunks. Sandy wasn’t quite as excited about this stop! This will give me alternative activity to reading when we finish our cycling, fishing and kayaking hours a Squaw Lake later this week.
Is Sandy having a good time? I’m glad you asked! She is! As you all know, she is an organized soul, and one of the purchases at a Walmart visit on Saturday was a magazine rack. Back at Rivers Edge, she was ecstatic when I mounted this rack above a window, and she re-organized her maps and brochures to fit into this rack. She sure is easy to please! And what will Sandy be doing while I am whittling??? – why organizing our 8’ home of course – an almost endless task with my careless “strewing” habits. (It is my duty, and pleasure to keep her happy!)
The magazine rack
And, on the exciting newscast…as of Sunday night we now have a new Grandniece – Mavie Lou Hancock – daughter of Brett and Ricki. She follows closely after another new Grandnephew – Theodore McIntyre, born on February 22, son of Laura and Allen. Welcome to our world little ones!
Much love and best wishes to all,
Tony, the Whittler, and Sandy, the Tidier (who tidies, even whilst I type!)
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