Shsuwap lake April 26th 2017

Meanwhile, back on March 20^th, 7 hours north of Lake Pahranagat, nice, gradually cooling weather found me at Cactus Pete’s Casino in Jackpot, Nevada (Hwy 93, almost at the Idaho border). I circled around their regular RV Park but decided that, since there was no water or sewer dump available - just power, I might as well park with the trucks and save $20. This I did but regretted the decision later as I was surrounded on one side by a “refer” that ran all night and on the other by a coach like mine that ran its generator for much of the night. The buffet, however, was very good. The next day - on to Farewell Bend State Park on the Idaho, Oregon border (N44 18.441 W117 13.442), just off 84 about 60 miles west of Boise, ID. This is a campground on a bend in the Snake River created by the Brownlee Reservoir. Almost empty at this time of the year, only power was available with water and dump facilities still closed for the season. I approached a fellow wearing a bright yellow vest to ask about the park. He turned out to be an inmate at a nearby penitentiary, so wasn’t too helpful. These guys, attended by a custodian, came around every day to handle maintenance chores such as washroom cleaning and trash pickup around the campsites, presumably a bonus for good behaviour at the jail. A little while later, the young Park official in charge told me that his department was being charged so much for these custodial services that they could no longer afford the help. Watching a few of these guys “work” certainly brought into question their value. A crew of about 6 were overseen by a guard who drove them around the campground and delivered cleaning supplies etc. in his truck. Every time he came to check on his men, there would be a flurry of activity. When he went off to see to his other crews, activity would slow, not actually stop, but slow. One man must have gone in the same washroom with the same mop about 4 times while I was watching. Quite often, he stood behind a corner of the building peering out from time to time to see whether he was about to be supervised, a situation that reminded me of the old days at Lake Louise when “management” rode the lifts and the operators were often seen, industriously shovelling their ramps on arrival at the top stations. I think these guys (or their agency) were definitely overcharging, whatever the price.

On a milk run through the local community of Weiser, I noticed a number of buildings that had collapsed. According to the campground manager, they had over 4’ of settled snow earlier in the winter and everything simply caved in from the weight. Included were a bowling alley, local supermarket, a church, barns and many other structures. Incorrect building standards were quoted as possible causes. To me, it looked like a tornado had come through town.

March 24^th Away from Farewell Bend in the morning and a short hop to Wildhorse Casino at the western foot of the dreaded Blue Mountain Pass. Rain at lower elevations presaged the possibility of snow higher up but this was not the case. Temps were high enough that it just kept on raining and an easterly wind blew me into the Wildhorse parking lots. Here the trucks and RVs are separated with semis getting a dirt area with gigantic potholes; RVs had a nice paved lot with painted RV-sized lanes.

Shuttle buses and tribal police circulate almost constantly, so one felt that this was a safe place to camp. The casino also has a proper RV park but I could see no need to pay $35 for something I got for free. The security people told me that I was good for 24 hours though I suspect that they didn’t really check as there was no form to fill or licence plate number required. Having missed breakfast I went inside for brunch and had an excellent chowder and salad bar with dessert at the senior’s rate of $10.80. To while away the afternoon, I put $20 in a slot machine, played for half an hour until I got bored and cashed out with a profit of $20. This seemed a shame to waste, so I went to a different machine that played for $1 a roll and won another $40.

Following, is a description of my accident with the Rad bike at Wildhorse Casino. It is part of an e-mail written to the Rad Power Bike company on March 25^th, 2017.

_{“I took delivery of my new Rad Rover e-bike from you over the course of a couple of days, March 2}^nd _{and March 3}^rd_{, 2017. The bike and various accessories (fenders and a headlight) arrived to the address of my friends Darch and Catherine Oborne in Apache Junction, AZ. A couple of the parts had to be replaced as they broke, one in delivery (the Shimano shift lever) and the clamp for the rear fender which broke when I tried to tighten it. I enjoyed several rides in the Apache junction area with friends but then had to begin the journey home to Canada.}

 

_{On the way home (driving my motorhome, towing a Jeep with the Rad Rover and my other bike on the bike rack), I stopped and camped at various places. At most of these I took the opportunity to get out and go for at least one ride and sometimes multiple rides. On March 21}^st_{, 22}^nd _{and 23}^rd_{, I camped at Farewell Bend State park in Oregon and took short rides around the campground area. In all these instances, the bike operated normally. On Friday, March 24}^th_{, I arrived at the Wild Horse Casino near Pendleton, Oregon after a drive during which there was some rain. Overnight, in the parking lot of the casino, there was more rain.}

 

_{On Saturday, March 25}^th_{, I took the bike out for a short ride around the parking lots at the casino and went to their RV Park to inquire about rates etc. The bike performed normally at this time. On arrival at the RV park, I stopped the bike and put it on its kick stand while I looked for the manager. While I was talking to the manager, I heard a sound and turned to see the Rad Rover moving in circles because it had somehow self- activated and was rotating around the kickstand. I tried to get to the bike before it created some damage and was attempting to grab it when the bike pulled me over and I fell on top of it with my left knee getting caught between the parts of the framework and my left ankle receiving a gash from parts unknown – possibly the chain or pedal.}

_{In the end, I righted myself and did get the bike to stop by shutting off the battery. Even though a little shaken with a wrenched knee and a bleeding ankle, I was still able to ride the bike back to my camper. All the way, it wanted to go at full throttle, even with the “mode” level set at “0”. In order to get back to my camper, I used the brake at first and then turned the “mode” completely off.}

 

_{To my way of thinking, I now own a dangerous piece of equipment and consider myself lucky that I wasn’t up in the mountains or on a narrow trail when the bike started making decisions for itself. The casino, as it happens, has a security camera video of the incident which they would not show me citing “security reasons” but that they did confirm existed. I will put their contact information on the bottom of this letter.}

 

 _{I have recommended several friends to buy your bikes (different models) and will alert them to the possible hazards involved, presumably, when there is wet weather.} 

 

 

One night, after the buffet, I almost lost my $20 budget, then recovered and eventually won $2.00, enough to keep my winning streak alive.  With time to spare, I decided that I would move over to the RV Park for a couple of days of hook-ups, laundry, showers, tank refilling and dumping etc. I had thought to go over to Boardman RV and Marina but as I was now feeling a little stiff in the knee, the bike trails wouldn’t get much use. I reckoned it was time to leave as I lost my $20 stake the next night on the slot machines, having experienced 20 consecutive “spins” without a single win - was up about $40 for the visit, though eating the buffet every night can’t be all that good for me – tasty, though!

Rad Power Bikes agreed to send me a new bike, plus some accessories that I didn’t have before (2 panniers) as a result of the accident. They said that they would pay the Canadian shipping surcharge, taxes and duty as well. In their e-mail, they were quite apologetic and have dealt with me in a positive way – I think they might have been worried that my situation could lead to a lawsuit, though I told them that I would have no intention of suing as I dislike people who use the courts to get benefits that they don’t deserve. My knee has recovered a bit and I think that I might be back to my normal limping gait quite soon.

Made it home safely with one camping spot after Pendleton. The Omak Walmart parking lot had a few motorhomes in residence, so I just slid in between a couple of them. The next day (March 30^th), crossed the border with my list of things to declare. There was no duty on the new bike, which got classified as an exercise machine but GST and PST added up. The border agents spent an inordinate amount of time calculating my excess rum and brandy.

I arrived home to find construction of a new house happening over at the farm next door. The roadway was very muddy from recent rain and heavy equipment driving in and out. In making my turn-around, the CC slid sideways in mud and got stuck. Luckily, Eric (the gravel-delivery man) was on hand and pulled me sideways with his loader to get me on the road again. After that - no problem backing into my slot in the driveway.

I had called a friend, Bryce Thomson from down the road to get help activating the pump this year (tossing the ejector into the lake and priming the lines in two stages using a small electric pump). That went well until I turned it on, at which point, spray appeared from split pipes under the sink and behind the shower as well as from the “pump drop” pipe. All these sections had cracked lines, meaning that they froze up in the winter and that, possibly, I didn’t properly drain everything last Fall. This occasioned a run into town for new parts and a fair bit of plumbing work by Bryce to repair but, finally, everything was operational again with hot water for dishes and showers. Despite the fact that I have a nice shower in the CC, it is always a pleasure to come back home where there is endless water.

Since arriving home, I have been

 occupied by opening five months of mail, boxing up the “killer” bike and shipping it back to Seattle, putting together the new bike and taking a few short rides, digging out the culvert that goes under my gate to drain the area above it, doing taxes both for myself and my mother’s estate and keeping the fireplace fed as it has been cool, windy and wet most of the time.

And speaking of rain, a mudslide occurred down the road, wiping out a couple of houses, a fifth wheel trailer, at least two vehicles and a pontoon boat. Two people were injured and carted off to hospital. I feel fairly secure, perched here on my bedrock but have to think that anyone building a house at the bottom of a very steep slope should question the location as these mudslides do come down every once in a while when it rains.