Picking Up A Bighorn Fifth Wheel With A Friend

The Principal of Paulette’s former Elementary School called me this  week to ask if I could drive up to Qualicum with him on Sunday to pick up a Bighorn 5’er he had just purchased.  The main reason Dave asked me along is because he is now in the process of getting his driver’s license upgraded to pull his new 34’ 5’er.  To be legal, right now, he can only drive with someone who is licensed – that’s me!

Our friend Dave’s new Bighorn 3055RL

Dave has already taken and passed his written test so now has to complete the road test to get his license upgrade.  That’s scheduled for early January.  The new rig is a 2009 Bighorn 3055RL and it’s a real beauty.  The 5’er is like new both inside and out.  The owner just bought a park model unit in Mesa, AZ so reluctantly decided to sell his rig.  Dave saw it advertised on the Internet.

Not a bad view from the seller’s back yard in Qualicum

Qualicum is a beachside community about 2 hours north of Cowichan Bay.  It features a lot of golf courses and is pretty much a haven for retired folks tired of the rat race in Vancouver and to a much lesser extent Victoria.  It was a nice drive up even though it rained a bit but that was better than the light dusting of snow in the hills!

There’s a dusting of snow in them thar hills

On the way back home with Doug’s Chevy Silverado 350HD Duramax easily pulling the 34’ Bighorn, he asked me if I knew the route the Motor Vehicle examiners used for the road test.  I remembered the one I took for my road test so Dave and I did a loop of the course just to familiarize him with some of the places to watch out for – like sneaky school zones, crosswalks and round-a-bouts.

I never knew we could weigh our truck & rigs for free on Sunday

The category of ‘things I should know but didn’t grew a bit larger’ yesterday. On our way home, nearing Duncan, Dave pulled into a Highways Dept. Weigh Station even though the light was flashing closed. When I asked what he was doing he said he was going to weigh his entire rig as even though the scales are closed for business they leave them on and they work perfectly.

We drove up to the scales and weighed his truck front axle, back axle, both axles and then the same for his 5th wheel.  In fact, we did everything the sign said except ‘park and bring papers’.  Dave said he’s been using this weigh station, just 20 minutes from our home, for years as it’s always closed on Sundays and holidays.  How did I not know that?  I’ve never had our truck and rig weighed!

Two of the many Bald Eagles we spotted yesterday

Dave dropped me off at home just before 2pm and before I could even get my shoes off in preparation to sit down and watch a bit of the NFL on TV, I was in the car with Paulette, Molly and Rylie headed out to the Cowichan Estuary for a walk.  There were lots and lots of Bald Eagles around again – as many as a dozen in some trees.  It made for an interesting walk even though it was a bit cool.

Last night we watched the sad and solemn Faith Vigil for the residents of Newtown, CT.  Pretty much every faith was represented at the service.  It still boggles the mind as to how parents and friends of those killed will ever recover. 

President Obama has given a lot of great speeches in his relatively short political career, but last night’s ranks up there as one of his best.

The President said “We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change, surely we can do better than this.”  After the horrific slaughter of innocents at the Sandy Hook Elementary School it’s hard to argue with that.

Have a great Monday, and thanks again for visiting!