Hitting the Road

[harmony]

If you could place a recreational vehicle (RV) in any country in the world, where would that be and why? Once there what would you check out first?

Small-town USA would be my choice for a RV journey. Less traffic for driving a large vehicle on the roads and a chance to possibly get to know people at stops along the way. A big city would be too much stress added on top of driving. Cannot imagine what parking an RV on a city street could be like. Unless I had a book that alerted me to city bylaws about when RVs can be around on the streets, I'd assume driving one was fine anytime of year.

More ambitious destinations--assuming that amenities could be found and the roads were passable and not necessarily on the edge of mountains (no Ice Road adventures for me, thanks), then I'd like to check out the cities of Torino (Italy) and Nagano (Japan) with an RV. Winter Olympic viewing memories would compel me to look for those venues that athletes had performed on. My RV would be "home away from home" and it would be a good spot for conversations with new acquaintances over a hot cup of soup or cocoa or tea.

[smitty]

Fortunately I live in a small town by the Okanagan Lake. I simple dread the idea of having to drive to the big city of Kelowna & the same with many ex-residents of Kelowna feel the same.

It was being in Westbank (part of Kelowna now) that I was in 3rd gear at only 60KPH & noticed this car/truck on the west road wanted to come onto Hwy 97. Decided NOT to wait for a proper gap or go a bit north or south & find Green/Red lights, but spotted my 6 seconds I keep for distance from the vehicle in front of me. Yes he/she decided to drop into my 6 second safety zone & then turn left.

Not possible, but they did & with my riot lights on others behind me was giving out warnings for by then I went down to 2nd gear to try & take the blow out of our two vehicles as they pushed into my SAFE ZONE of 6 seconds. If I Had stopped to let them on, at my forgiving, then I would have had a pile-up behind me as all were clocking around 100KPH & yes I would have been hit from the end rear traffic.

I think I will be going to the X-Ray office for the seat belt along with the four bumps was what they accepted to get into that 6 second gap & onto Hwy 97, enough to damage my left hip (repaired some yrs ago) due to the strain from my seat belts.[quote][/quote]

[smitty]

I was going to the m/c shop in Westbank to obtain a pair of protective m/c pants. Normally I would have used my m/c by on August 17th the Hwy 97 was a maze of traffic so shifted to my Subaru Forester.

Now several times a week I am at out gun range & easy to get off the outer & slower lane to the right & the twisties up to our club-house.

Mind you wanting to go back to Summerland is me having to get on a four lane road with all in a hurry & two dangerous to get onto the right lane towards the north.

This costs MORE, but I look at the oncomming traffic towards Penticton, pick a safe one & am going with the flow down to Penticton, to also onto a number of streets in that city to the Eckhart Street to be on the flow back to the north. Others usually clock 80 plus KPH area but I stay down to 65 or 70KPH as a lot of retired people living on both east & west side.

A while it is 100 KPH & others get clocking 130 to 150. True I can do that with ease on my m/c but again I stick to the slower paces on the road for the safety of all.

So these four lane roads are sort of out of whack when it comes to SAFETY.

[smitty]

The changing our two lane mountain roads, to four lanes is BASICALLY for tourists to also 18 wheelers, chip trailer, logging rigs & such. The trouists love it, but locally we liked out two lane roads, but it will keep on being changed two four lane which allows people to speed, since most like to, pass on non passing dual lanes to get ahead of others----in other words so many novice car drivers are overly dangerous to us locals.

Like last winter we had quite a bit of snow coming down. I was on the slower of the four lane road & pleased to find in front of me some drivers at a sensible speed. I know most whizzing by me were with just two wheel drive & most were with All Season Tyres. Personally I had Snow tyres on ALL WHEELS, to also be driving a Subaru 'Forester' which is so much supperior in All-Whell-Drive to the twol wheel drive form.

I use to drive up to the steep twisty one lane road with same all- wheel-drive & down with the same to even some with a truck into drive at front & back, still tended to spin out when going down or up.

[smitty]

That incident I mentioned about of the driver sitting at the West side of Hwy 97 & then feeling my 6 second gap of safety from the cage in front of me was ideal to get on the road with traffic being heavy, at the time as it was only 11:30am.

So this insident of my suffering due to the safety belt messing up a broken left hip of some years ago.

That is still going on. At times I have to use a cane, to also weekly I must go to the costly bit of a Physiotherpist this is weekly & honestly I do not think it will ever get back to normal for when at home I spend a lot of time rolling my body to that hip section onto a hard rubber ball that even a dog cannot mark up with its teeth. Plus an additional one.

What gets me I was in 3rd gear around 6 thou so at 60 KPH being the speed limit. The othrs to my left were probably doing 80 or 90KPH & the chap to other behind me WANTED me to step up the speed past the maximum speed limit.

Thd driver in the wrong so really a Hit & Run incident driver, did not bother to drive a bit to the north or the left to have the advantage of the LIGHTS that were put there for good reason.

For after all I had done the same to drive a bit to the west then to the north to also spot the m/c shop & once I had obtained the protective m/c trouser I had driven away from the shop up to the lights on Hwy 97 so when a green came on I came on the hwy & swung right. That was obeying the law & so was my pace of 60KPH to also the RCMP would have agreed on my space from the vehicle in front of me being 6 seconds was a proper distant.

[CielOnTap]

With the snow and some fog at home, I would like to be in a hotel in downtown Toronto and walking the area to my heart's content. Actually that would be the ideal setup for the weekend---with the New Year's Eve program, if the night is cold, a hotel nearby would allow for warming up.


But the budget does not exist, while wishful thinking is free!

[smitty]

CielOnTap, you did name it correctly in the fact that the budget is not large enough, or something close to it. For powers of the almighty dollar can be a bummer.

Like the other day I was in the hospital for something to be done. Arrived a bit early as all pointed out BUT in my mind it is better to be at any form of a doctor a bit early rather then LATE.

So just before he does his thing I think about my SUV & previously with clothing on I could NOT find it.

Some time later on I FINALLY find the Subaru & I have been hit with a fine. That cost me $30.00. Thing is could I jump off the table with the lovely clothing they supply you, & run out looking for my SUV & FINALLY obtain a ticket for another hour for darn it the weather is COLD reqiring proper footwear (in my case an old retired mountaineer boots) & besides good thing the RCMP might toss me in clangerfor being almost naked.

Surely if a pateient is being operated on, even if it is not the main OR, the twit handing out the tickets should realize that some of the peoples cars out there are PATIENTS bing operated & NO we do not have on the proper clothing & footwear to chase out & obtain ANOTHER PARKING TICKET.

[smitty]

I agree with you for so many care drivers at scooting along on the iced up or snow covered roads at the same pace as in Summer time & while the Max Speed limit might me 90 or 100KPH they are clocking 140KPH.

The 18 wheelers are just as bad if not even worse for the attack some of the mountain passes with no chains on & complain about the people that TRY to keep it normal are in the wrong.

Give the 18 wheelers some windy roads & they are doing the same thing in well over the speed limit & just a few feet from each other, to where one might slide off the shoulder & suddenly there are 14 18 wheelers that have thumped into each other, out of surprise.

[fishandchips]

Smitty, you touched a good point--parking tickets for lots or meters that run out while someone's in with the doctor. It's such an issue that in Toronto, doctors have noticed their patients literally not staying for an hour-long appt. but making their way out well before the parking time is up. And there have been some public discussions about parking rates but for most hospitals, the lots have to fund themselves as the Ontario government does not give money to run hospital lots.

Maybe next time, you can have someone drop you off (and he or she can go to the library or anyplace with a public lot and something to do to wait for you) and collect you when you call to say you are ready to go. Bit of a bother but saves on the parking money.

It's not always possible to dodge a parking lot because side streets will be full with residents or staff using available spaces for their cards where the signs don't prohibit parking. And you don't want to have to walk more than necessary in the wintertime.

[smitty]

You have a point FishNChips, but when on the table, for the doctor, in one of those flimbsy cotten garments, is NOT the ideal time to jump off the table then in bare feet be trying to find your own vehicle especially when it is COLD.

True, when I did some damage to my left front ribs a friend hauled me to the hospital, previously & I was there for 4 hrs AT HIS COST. So really it is hard to lean on a friend like I just mentioned.

Wonder if the doctor at the hospital will accept me to arrive late on the said time? I sort of doubt it, but beans all was done when on the table & him doing his thing???????????????

The answer is if you are a patient at a hospital THEN your car should not be charged during the time you were with the dictor. YES you are right if you bum a parking spot off in font of a home dwelling then good chance you will find the car has been towed away at an additional cost.

Though looking at the tickets to the extra I was fined then said white boxes should also allow one to purchase a ticket for a good part of the day which would be less. Still I believe in the third last paragraph.

Better still DO NOT BE NEEDED AT A HOSPITAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!