Before I start this blog post, a reader (Mike), asked me if I was going to elaborate on our border crossings into Canada during our Alaska trip. Since I forgot to previously, I will do so now.

In 2018, we traveled around Canada with friends. I took a shotgun along with us for protection from animals, of all kinds. I researched the subject and knew that there was a form to fill out to allow this inside Canada. Last year, I had no issues with any of our crossings.

In 2019 I got the same form, used the same shotgun, but a different border crossing. I did the same things as before which required me to go inside their office. Once inside I encountered an agent that really had a chip on his shoulder about all of this. He asked me how long I was going to be in Canada with the weapon. We had no idea or set plans and I told him that. He stated that we should be able to make it through to Alaska in 3 days. That is almost 2000 miles! We went back and forth about what route we were taking, how long we were going to take, etc. We didn’t know!

On the form, I chose “Protection against wildlife” as the reason to bring in the gun. He decided to change it to “In transit” and give us 90 days on the permit even though we are supposed to take the most direct route through Canada. It was best not to push things and just take what he decided to give us. He stated that Canadian citizens are not allowed to take shotguns anywhere in the country and he didn’t want to give ME more rights than they have. I took the lumps and got out of there.

Later I asked a worker at the gun counter in a Canadian Tire if they are allowed to take a shotgun anywhere in their own country. He said he could and didn’t know what the border guy’s problem was.

On our return trip, the form was still active and the passage in was uneventful. However, we never got a real “Welcome to Canada” feeling from the border crossings!

Back to our regularly scheduled program: A week or two in the desert turned into over a month. The situation we had in Sacramento kept getting pushed back to the point where we were unsure if it would happen.

Luckily the RV Park (Catalina Spa and RV) was flexible enough to work with us over the 3 times we extended our stay. Even though we didn’t know it was going to be a month initially, we ended up getting the monthly rate.

While we were there, it was a good time to work on a few projects on the trailer. During our Alaska trip, we hit some pretty rough roads. We have an accordian type privacy door that lost its’ top tang that held it in the track:

Another repair was to our Air Conditioner cover in the rear as it developed a hole. FlexSeal tape:

The next change was an upgrade. Shortly after we purchased our trailer (7 years ago) I upgraded the bathroom exhaust fan to a Fantastic Fan. I had some problems a year or two with the other Fantastic Fan, I contacted Fantastic Fan and they sent me a new blade assembly, free of charge! I was having problems with this fan and it would not start. I contacted Dometic and they told me to BUY a new fan blade assembly. It did not help and I returned it. I decided to replace the entire fan with a new MaxxAir setup.

Initially:

Removed the cover to unveil the old beauty:

A little more cleaning needed:

Test fit:

Screwed down and gooped up:

All done:

Inside:

It even has a remote control!:

We also took a day trip through Joshua Tree NP:

After our month was up we headed to Bonelli Bluffs RV Park in San Dimas:

We visited our friends, the Chens, while there. We also got tickets to see Jeopardy!:

It was more fun that Wheel of Fortune as you don’t have to clap as much! We also had tickets to go to The Price is Right but that was right when Drew Carey’s ex-fiance was killed and they shut down production. Our Jeopardy episodes should air on April 20, 21 and 22.

We will be messing around in California a bit more until we can head to Nevada for research!