Modify!

A few things about the trailer just weren't working for us. All of them, we probably could have lived with if we were just camping a few times a year. But we aren't camping and the band-aid solutions that might work for a few weeks are not going to cut it. This is our home and I am not interested in band-aid solutions. 

Time to modify! This week is a perfect time to tackle a few mods. We’re past the frenzy of moving in, don’t have any major urge to sight see (we lived in Edmonton for 10+ years) so can focus on really making the switch from vacation mode to “living”.  Plus, our friends here in Stony Plain have a garage full of tools and were willing to lend us some. Thanks guys!

Number one on the list – the cat box.  We have a cat. We have chosen to bring her with us on our travels, and that, of course, means we bring her litter box. So far it has sat beside the dinette for lack of a better place. That got old about 3 days after moving in. Definitely not ideal, but it had nowhere else obvious to go, until I opened up the panel under the tv. Voila!  Plenty of unused space just asking to be repurposed. Bob built a platform to protect some of the electronics, and sealed off the back, which was open to where the furnace & hot water tank are housed. 

 I’m sure Munchie would love being able to hide back there, considering she doesn't have any hidey holes in the main area, but I really don’t want to have to crawl around through the underbed to fish her out. And guaranteed she’d go down there right as we’re getting packed up to travel. Anyway, the cat box fits perfect, and best of all, is no longer out in the open. We do need to be careful moving it around though, as this space is also where all the wiring runs to the fuse box. We've intentionally left the front panel off for now. I want to see how much space Munchie will need to get in & out before making it look pretty.

Next up – the kids room.  The dinette in their room has the typical under bench storage.  There’s plenty of room underneath for toys or whatever, but getting into it meant dismantling that side of the bench.  The kids would do this and then (of course!) the cushions and plywood would be left out, along with all the toys.  What a mess!   An easy solution – open up the side.  This was a pretty simple job with the small jigsaw.  But so satisfying.  Ideally I’d like to install a pull out drawer (like the pull out pot drawers you can buy, but solid instead of wire), so that space would be more like a toy box. 

Bob got a new TV for the main area. The old one’s picture wasn't that great and this week we discovered that it can’t pick up over-air digital signals. He had brought along his 18” monitor, thinking it could replace the TV, but it has no inputs for the Wii or HDMI, and that all runs through the TV, not the blue-ray player, as he thought it might. So he wandered over to the local The Source store and picked up a 24” TV.  It doesn't quite fit in the housing, so now he gets to modify that too! (Gee, talking electronics really hammers home the difference between camping trailer and house –for me at least.)

There are still many other changes to make, and I know it will be a continual work in process.  A lot of it is typical home stuff -  hanging pictures, finding places for everything (shoes!!!), and moving things around so they’re in the most logical (or convenient) spot. There’s a fair bit of trailer maintenance to do too – resealing, killing rust and repainting the frame. I also want to change out some (or all) of the lightbulbs for LED ones. And then there are things that are specific to living in an rv.  The “wiggle” is one that will need to be addressed at some point. People move and the trailer moves. I think it bothers me most of all, since I already have some issues with my ears. It’s not comfortable feeling like I’m rolling in the ocean when I am on solid, dry land. If I wanted that I would live in a boat!

Sure, we’re missing out on some fun activities here, and this week feels extremely slow and lazy compared to last. But what we’re doing right now is every bit as important as exploring and learning. With every change we make, and every “household” task we do here, this feels more and more like our home. Which means that when we get back to exploring we can do it as a family, ready to face whatever the outside world offers up because we've got our own comfortable place to come back to each day.  

Achoo, achoo!

This is the sound I hear from my daughter every day. She has never shown any allergies before, but since we've moved into the trailer she sneezes.  A lot.  At first we thought she had a cold, or was sensitive to the pollen, but I started noticing a pattern. Anytime we’re away from the trailer she stops sneezing.  We return and she starts up again. And this pattern has been repeated enough now that I’m confident something in the trailer is bothering her.

This is an unexpected and definitely unwelcome result of our move into the trailer. My little miss is already having a hard enough time with the transition into our mobile lifestyle.  She certainly doesn't need this on top of it!

But, I guess I shouldn't be entirely surprised, considering the trailer has been gathering dust, and who knows what else for years. Every time I wipe down something in here, it comes away grubby – dusty, dirty, and greasy. Yuck! Obviously our new home needs a deep clean. Walls, floor, ceiling, all the blinds and valances, fabrics, cushions. Everything!  

My main goal right now is to make Lily comfortable and get rid of whatever is making her feel unwell (plus having a nice clean home).We’ll look at the remodel aspects of it later (J heh heh heh)

If anyone has suggestions on what to do, products to use, or what to remove, please send them my way. 

Some thoughts on “Home”

We’re parked in Stony Plain until Friday.  Long enough to rest and relax and hopefully get some “admin” type things done. We also need to figure out our route for the next leg of our journey. This should be a good spot to do that.  It's close to a major commercial center, friends (who have tools!), and familiar enough that we know where to find what we need. The campground has many longer term stays and so is pretty quiet.  Their showers are hot, clean and free, which makes me very happy. J Bob has always bugged me about my long showers, saying I take Forever! Ten minutes is not forever!!!  But, it was a consideration that I’d have to give those up when we moved into the trailer.  It’s nice to find that’s not totally true. And it makes for feeling more at home.

This brings me to an ongoing family discussion from since well before we moved out of our house. What is home?  Is home a physical place that doesn't move (your address; your house – which technically we don’t have anymore)? Is home where all your stuff is (regardless of if you’re there or not)? Is it where you are? Or is it something else entirely?

I feel that home is wherever we (and the stuff we have with us) are. Every time we have traveled (albeit we have never gone very far away) I find myself saying “Time to go home” and I mean to wherever we are setup at that moment.  It could have been a hotel room, the grandparents, someone’s house, or in our own trailer (or tent trailer before we bought this monster). 

Bob says he’s moved enough in his life that he’s home wherever he is.  In his words “Maybe that means I’m adrift. But with the internet and cell phones nowadays people can get a hold of me wherever I am”. 

So Bob and I view it relatively the same way. The trailer is now home because that’s where we and our stuff are. That’s not to say the change isn't a bit uncomfortable at the moment (and that we don’t squabble as we figure out our way into this new life), but we know it’s a work in progress. 

The kids are having a harder time making the adjustment. Lily feels that home is a physical place. Home to her has always been an address, and there has only been one. We moved out of our house in Airdrie almost three weeks ago and I’m pretty sure she’s missing that stability. In those three weeks she has been to 3 different campgrounds and in front of my parent’s house. Today she said “This isn't our home. This is our trailer. Homes don’t move. If we stayed in this campground and our trailer didn't move, then it would be home.” 

Morgan has been telling everyone he meets that we now live in the trailer and are traveling around North America, but I've noticed that he has shifted his story from “We’re going to travel for a long time” to “We’ll move into another house soon”. I haven’t actually asked him directly about what “home” means to him since we moved, but will have to soon. He’s gone to bed for the night, so will ask him in the morning.  edit: I asked him and in his words "Home is shelter and family and happiness".  I asked if the trailer is home and he said "It will be."

Both are acting out more, misbehaving, and giving “attitude”. I know it’s in part due to the changes that have occurred in their lives. There have been several days this past week that I have wanted to have a monumental tantrum worthy of any three year old, complete with stomping my feet, throwing things around and screaming and yelling and pouting. So, how can I blame my kids for the same?

Sure, it all sounds so simple on paper, before it all actually happens. Reality is a bit different - we've just upended our whole lives and given them a good shake! In the frenzy of preparation, there isn't really time to think about after.  But now that we’re here (and still in transition,) right now, nothing feels “normal”. We’re all realizing that it’s going to take a lot longer than a few weeks for everything to settle again and find our new groove. Until it does we’ll just have to muddle through as best we can.  And figure out how make the trailer become “home” for all of us.  

Tired

After our busy trip to Jasper we are all tired. We've been in vacation mode since we moved out of Airdrie, which has meant later bedtimes (not so great), lots of activities (which is good, but wears a person out), and just generally being off schedule (equals cranky!). It’s time to slow down, do some laundry and finish unpacking and organizing. 

Even the trailer got tired today! Well, re-tired. We blew a tire somewhere near Hinton. I noticed the flat when we pulled into Hinton to have lunch. Didn't feel a thing, so I can’t really say for sure when it happened. A non-event, really.  Which is a blessing, considering how it could have gone.  I’d been half expecting it, since the tires on the trailer were 6 + years old and had sat pretty much idle for at least a year. It was definitely time for new ones, and we replaced them all. Hopefully we’re good to roll for a long time now. In hindsight we probably should have had them replaced at the dealer instead of taking our chances. Ah well, live & learn. I’m sure there will be many lessons like that along the road. Hopefully no more blowouts though!

Hinton looked to be a really nice town, and we saw the local IGA had an RV parking section with a big sign.  In hindsight, we should have stayed there for the night & explored the area, but I think we were all kinda done with exploring for a while and Bob wanted to get a bit further from Jasper before stopping.  He drove from Hinton to Edson, and was having trouble staying focused, so at 4 o’clock we called it a day and plunked ourselves in the Walmart parking lot. Sure, it’s cheap, but I may fast come to hate these overnight parking lot stops. It just feels so exposed. I admit, I do feel a bit more secure when others are parked for the night too. 

Tomorrow we’re headed to the Stony Plain Lions Campground. They have space for us for 4 nights and I’m hoping something will open up so we don’t have to move. We have friends and family in the Edmonton area and I’m really looking forward to visiting with everyone before heading away from our “home area”. It’ll hard to be away from friends and family for so long. I will miss the family & friends I see regularly very much, but I will especially miss the ones I see only infrequently because those opportunities to visit are already so precious simply because they don’t happen as often as I would like. I’m trying not to think about it too much because I know I’ll miss everyone and that will make me second guess our travel plans. Technology makes it much easier to stay in touch, but it’s not the same as being face-to-face.  

Mt. Edith Cavell

Munchie and I are just hangin at the trailer, waiting for the family to get back from the playground.  Perfect time for a blog! (rather than 11:30 at night, which seems to be my new norm)….. lol.  Or so I thought.  About three seconds after I typed that I was off to the in-laws campsite for supper. 

Our trek today was to Mt. Edith Cavell, a very cool mountain just south of Jasper.  This mountain is home to two glaciers, and a moderate uphill walk from the parking lot brought us to the meltwater pond, and whole lot of glacial ice.  But first we had to drive 16 km up the mountain on a narrow (thankfully paved!), winding road.  Our lane was just slightly wider than the dually, and multiple switchbacks with blind corners tested mine & Bob’s driving ability and comfort. (But a good lesson in learning exactly how big and maneuverable the truck actually is.)  It all worked out just fine, and we arrived at the top just around noon. We passed the rest of Bob’s family, who were coming down, on the way up – they had managed to actually get up and going to the mountain by 9. We rolled out of our campsite around 11, in part thanks to a little girl who had a nap on the way back from Maligne Lake yesterday and then didn't go to bed until 11:30. Some days it just doesn't work out, no matter how much we’d like it to. 

Anyway, back to the mountain… Angel Glacier, the larger of the two glaciers, had several small avalanches while we were there.  This is a common sight during the summer when the sun warms up the ice, and I remember seeing an avalanche there when I was a kid.  It makes for a more exciting walk, for sure. We’d hear a low crack & rumble, a bit like thunder, look up and see ice and snow tumbling down. We learned that in of Aug 2012 most of the second glacier, Ghost, crashed down the mountain all the way to the meltwater pond, setting off a rather spectacular flash flood. Wouldn't that have been a sight to see!  There were many signs warning of the risk of walking past the viewing area up to the pond, but we chose to go down anyway.  The kids enjoyed seeing the floating chunks of ice and throwing rocks in the pond.  They both did really well on the walk and hardly complained at all. I was very proud of them. One of my personal goals on this adventure is to get out & be active with walks and such more often. It’s much more enjoyable when everyone is happy though!

We finished up at the mountain, got back into the truck & headed further south to Athabasca Falls. We stopped briefly to take pictures and then headed into town. Bob had promised the kids slurpees. Alas, there were no slurpees to be found as the machines were out of order. What a terrible thing! (at least according to my family, who , I swear, are all closet slurpee-holics). Back to the campground for supper and then we went to the kids Interpretive talk. The park runs several talks, and entertainment each night during the summer. Tonight, the kids’ one was about geocaching.  We've never done it before but thought it would be rather fun to try.  And it was! We were given a gps preprogramed with the locations of four caches nearby.  The kids each took turns guiding us to near the cache and then we all hunted for the box. None were very difficult to find, but they definitely kept the kids engaged. They both took the guiding quite seriously and I can see doing more geocaching in the future.

Tomorrow is move day.  Blech! I’d like to stay longer, but we've decided to move east towards Edson and then continue on to Edmonton area.  

The Maligne River tour

Just east of Jasper the Maligne River empties into the Athabasca River.  Not that exciting, but the drive south on Maligne Lake Road from this point to Maligne Lake, near the headwaters of the river is rather interesting.  A few kilometers down the road brings you to Maligne Canyon, where the river plunges down and through a very deep gorge; over 38 meters down in places.  The sign at the entrance to the trail speculates how exactly this gorge was created.  All I know is that it is impressive, and a bit scary (Lily definitely found it scary at first).  

One of the "shallower" spots in the canyon - still a long way down

We all (us, Bob’s parents & his brother and family) hiked along the canyon trail to the fourth bridge.  By that point, the kids were ready to turn around (me too). The walk was in total probably an hour.

We regrouped, fed the kids some snacks and continued on.  The road follows the river upstream, until the river disappears – literally.  One glimpse of the river shows a typical rushing mountain stream, the next time you see the river bed it is dry.  Somewhere along those few kilometers of tree lined road the river goes underground.  I guess there is a massive complex of underground limestone caves in the area which the water flows through.  It’s weird to see the dry river bed and wonder where the water is at that point. This empty riverbed continues for a couple kilometers until you come to Medicine Lake, a lovely blue-green lake with an impressive mountain range to the east of it.  This lake is where the river goes underground, making it a very unique lake.  It has a source, but no obvious outlet. And it actually drains away in the winter!

Driving past the lake, we continued on beside the (now reappeared) river until we reached Maligne Lake.  This lake both deep (97 m) and long (22 km).  Big lake!  And very pretty.  Glass-bottomed boat tours are offered hourly; unfortunately the next one was sold out when we arrived and we didn't want to wait 90 min to get on the next 90 min tour.  So we rented boats!  Hmm, do I hear a groan?
 
 Well, Bob & the kids rented themselves a rowboat.  I got a single person kayak.  I think I’m in love.  There was something so cathartic about being out in the kayak, slicing through the water or just sitting still.   After soaking in some “me” time, I turned around (I think I could have kept paddling until I covered that whole 22 km) and joined the family.  They hadn't gone nearly as far – Bob’s specialty being rowing in circles.  Or maybe that’s Morgan’s specialty.  I asked him what he did today.  His words were “I went to a lake and went on a rowboat.  It was pretty good.  I liked rowing.”

hamming it up for the camera

After the boats were returned, the kids and Sarah played in the cold lake and then we headed back to the campsite.  After supper we took the bikes down the campground trail to the showers and main playground before (trying to) get to bed early.  Lily is learning how to ride without training wheels!  She’s still a bit wobbly and unsure of herself, but she is doing a fantastic job.  Tomorrow is our last full day here. We are going to see Mt. Edith Cavell and Angel Glacier, a place I remember from when I visited Jasper as a kid.  I wonder how different it will be.    

My favorite view from the kayak

Lessons learned

Yesterday was our first long driving day.  All in all, I think it was nearly 8 hours from when we left Blackfalds to when we were finally unhitched at Whistlers Campground, just outside of Jasper, AB.  We headed west out of Red Deer and joined up to the Icefields Parkway, turning north towards Jasper.  The Icefields Parkway is an absolutely breathtaking stretch of scenery, with towering mountain walls on one side and a rushing river on the other.  As the name implies, there are also glimpses of the Columbia Icefields, and the famous Columbia Glacier is near the highway about 100 km south of Jasper.  When I was a kid, the glacier was nearly to the highway, but has been continually receding and the tongue is now several kilometers up the mountain.  I would have like to stop, but it was already after 6 when we reached this point, and so we drove on, making sure the kids took a good look out the window.

The Icefields Parkway may be beautiful scenery, but the road itself is a bit rough, and things got jostled a fair bit in the trailer.  I had tried to secure items, and stow things on the floor, but I obviously didn’t do a good enough job.  Everything in the cupboard had shifted – look out when opening!  The cupboards in our bedroom had opened, and thankfully only books had come out.  The one that really got me – the printer on my bedside table (because it won’t fit anywhere else!) had shifted forward, and I didn’t notice until CRACK!  as I put the wardrobe slide out.  The pressure cracked part of the board on the side of the wardrobe.  Luckily this board is only for prettiness and the veneer prevents the crack from showing.  But I know it’s there.  Grr.  I’m more annoyed at myself for not thinking to check.  Hopefully a bit of wood glue will strengthen the cracked area. 

Lesson 1:  Secure Everything way more than you think needs to be done.  The floor is good!

Lesson 2: Double check everything before putting out slides.

Oh, and the next, very important lesson… When backing up the trailer, check for trees!  Bob and I were so busy watching the back of the trailer to make sure it didn’t hit anything that we failed to pay attention to the proximity of the trees to the truck.  I came within inches (yep, probably 2 at the most) of doing some serious damage to the truck.  Pretty sure the tree would have been fine.   I’m really not sure how we failed to note the big tree, but it all turned out okay.  The tree was untouched and I learned that we need to pay attention everywhere!

Now for a good lesson.  Our truck can handle the trailer very well, even on steep grades up and down.  Whew!  I wanted more truck than was necessary for the trailer we chose, and I am very glad we did.  There was one small stretch of construction on the Parkway, and it was down to one lane in one spot.  There was a stoplight at this spot, and we, of course, hit red.  This spot happens to be just before the crest of a steep hill (not sure of the grade, but think mountain!), and we were at a standstill.  It was a bit unnerving to think “I really hope we can get started again.”  No need to worry.  The truck was able to hold the trailer and get up to speed again without a problem.  It’s very reassuring to know. 

Pyramid Mountain in the background

Today we went to Pyramid Lake, just outside of town and rented a 4-person paddle boat to take the family out on the lake.  Next time I’ll take a rowboat, or canoe.  I've never been a fan of paddle boats (sorry mom, but those boats drove me crazy!) and with the kids being the wild monkeys they are, I’m amazed one or both of them didn't end up overboard.  Their inability to really help with paddling also meant that mine and Bob’s legs are tired tonight.  So, for the moment, no more paddle boats!

After our boating we went for a quick walk to Pyramid Island and then to the doctor for Morgan.  He is constantly irritating the skin above his lip by licking and we’re constantly battling the irritation with various creams and such.  This time he’s ended up with an infection. He’s now on antibiotics, and I am definitely glad we have a good fridge to store them in. That all took longer to deal with than anticipated, and we were back for supper late. Thank goodness supper was planned and a group effort. Bob’s family came to our site and we all had our meal together. A bit of visiting, a quiet evening and then off to bed.  Somehow, even on a quieter evening, I still go to bed late! Tomorrow we’re heading to Maligne Lake, the deepest lake in the area. 

I can already tell we're going to run out of time to see everything we'd like to. I broke one of my travel lessons I learned last year when making this reservation, and am already regretting that. To see an area and not feel rushed, we need to stay places for at least 4 full days (longer preferably). There's nothing really stopping us from staying in the area longer if we decide to, but will have to move the trailer on Thursday.   

Catching up

I feel like I’m about 3 blog posts behind!  So, to catch up…

On Thursday we hung out for the morning, and then the kids wanted to go see Despicable Me 2 (in 3D).  It was cute, but nowhere near as good as the first. The kids thought it was funny though. 

Friday we moved up to Watipi Campground, a whole 6 minute drive north of Blackfalds in preparation for the 20^th anniversary party of my dad’s band, The Ducks.  We stayed in the group area – basically a big meadow.  (Which is a good thing, since it was full of party goers by Saturday evening.)  Bob and I managed to get the trailer leveled side to side, which was actually a bit of a difficult task since the meadow sloped quite a bit.  But then we couldn’t get the hitch open.  Since the get-go this hitch has been really hard to open (all three times so far), and we just couldn’t get it to go.  It didn’t help that we were twisted off to the side and weren’t at the right height for it to disengage easily.  A couple sets of helpful hands later, and we finally got the darned thing off.  Hopefully greasing up the king pin will help with that.

Learning about fifth wheel hook up has been frustrating, to say the least.  No one at the dealer showed up what to do.  They just directed us in and said, “okay, good to go”.  Well, no.  It’s not quite that simple.  It’s not really hard, but I’m used to bumper pull hitches.  This is just different enough that I have to learn it all from scratch.  Thanks to my dad for giving some pointers!

Anyway, the party was a huge success and great fun.  Well over a hundred people came out to partake in the music, food and revelry. The music was great, and it was wonderful catching up with people I hadn’t seen in years. There were some people I hadn't seen in at least 20 years. Crazy! 

Many of them knew about our travel plans, and we filled in the details for those who were curious. (Mom and Dad must have been talking).   It was interesting hearing other people's perspectives. Many were approving, some were envious, and the odd person was a bit resentful. Those are all okay reactions. At the end of the day, what they think doesn't determine how this adventure goes. Although I definitely appreciate helpful advice and suggestions on what to see when we're in an area. (PS, would someone please come up with a name for this thing we're doing! - or does "life" cover it?) 

We spent today travelling to Jasper National Park to meet up with Bob’s parents, and his brother & family.  A longer drive than I’d like (I want to be done driving by supper time!) but now I get to spend some time with my niece. Yay! We traveled on the Icefields Parkway, a beautiful stretch of road.  I’ll write more about it and Jasper tomorrow.  

Westerner Day fun

I was going to post about our day last night, but by the time we got back to my parent's we were all too pooped to do much.

In one of my earlier posts I mentioned that one of the family's goals is to visit many of the amusement parks around North America as we travel.  The kids are totally on board with this plan.  Me, I'm ambivalent, but do enjoy watching the rest of the family have fun.
We spent Wed afternoon at Westerner Days, which is Red Deer's Fair and Exhibition. We arrived after lunch and the kids & Bob headed straight for the rides. We had stopped at Macs on Tuesday eve and picked up Ride All Day passes for the three of them, which gave both admission and unlimited rides (and a slurpee!) for a good price.

They moved through the kiddie rides, and then headed on to the bigger kid rides.  I swear my children are fearless when it comes to amusement rides. They certainly didn't get it from me! That's definitely a Bob thing.  I didn't go on any rides, (which is just fine by me). Both Morgan & Lily kept asking me to come on the slides and through the funhouses with them, which I'm sure I could have done, but didn't really want to pay for extra tickets.

I kept myself entertained while the rest rode by watching them and by reading about the rides. Many of them have an information plaque near the entrance which details when & where the ride was invented, a bit about it's physical or motion characteristics and it's history at the fairs. It was quite interesting and some of the rides have been around for a surprisingly long time.

We had the usual greasy fair food for supper and then discovered the wobbly ball pool.  Both the kids went in and had a blast.  Basically they put you inside an inflatable ball, fill it up with air, and then set you loose in a pool. Now that's an experience I should have done!  Frankly, it didn't even cross my mind until later. My focus was all about the kids and I was just along to facilitate.

Morgan getting into the pool

Whoops!

And he's okay! (look at his expression)

The kids both wanted to do it again, but at $ 15 a pop, that was going to be a one time deal.  Bob says some of the pools in Calgary have them.  I wonder if a lake somewhere would have something like it?






It was evening by then and we were all starting to slow down.  A few more rides (Lily wanted to go on the big one that goes upside down!  I think I'm glad she's too little still for those rides.), and then we wandered over to the petting zoo & animal exhibit.  Lily enjoys looking at the animals -she even tried her hand at putting the milking apparatus on a (fake) cow!  Morgan, not so much. He was tired and complained his knees were hurting. Bob took him out and found him some coconut milk ice-cream (yay!)and watched the last couple of chuckwagon races. Lily & I joined them, got our own treats and then we caught the people mover back to the car.

Everyone was pretty tired by that point, but I count it as a good day.  Most of us slept in this morning, (except Morgan who wakes up at the same time, like clockwork) and we don't have anything too exciting planned for today. It's time to rest up and take it a bit slower.
  

Discovery Canyon

After running some errands in Red Deer, we went to Discovery Canyon so the kids could have a bit of fun. It's a water play area, with a man-made concrete water slide area that you can tube down and a bit of beach & spray pond at the bottom. It was a nice warm day for splashing around in the cold water.

Lily made herself a friend and the two girls played together for several hours. It wasn't her first experience of making a friend and then having to say goodbye, but was her first since we've moved into the trailer. She's a very social child and I know she'll make and have to leave behind many new friends on our travels.  But she's also very resilient and I know she'll adapt.
Morgan got chilled quickly and spent most of his time huddled up with either myself or Bob.  After getting him warmed up again I did eventually entice him back into the water and we hopped from rock to rock for awhile.
While we were playing I looked over at Bob and noticed a fellow sitting next to him, chatting away.  I discovered this was a cousin of mine whom I hadn't seen in several years. He & his family live in Red Deer, but I certainly hadn't expected to see anyone I know while out and about.  What an excellent coincidence to run into him and get a chance to catch up! I love when the universe sends those my way.

It was well past 6 pm when we left the park and we had some treats on the way out. Consequently, supper was a grab whatever you want when you're ready. My mom coaxed Lily to eat, but Morgan refused to. By 8 he was looking rather ill and wanted to go to bed. I realized he was both overheated and had hardly eaten anything since breakfast. Some food & water, a cool bath and a quiet calm place to be set him right. Poor kiddo. I'll have to watch him a little closer when we're out in the heat.

Tomorrow I think we'll head to the Westerner for some rides and fun. Well, Bob and the kids can do the rides. I'll just watch. We'll have to make sure to bring plenty of sunscreen, water & keep Morgan (and the rest of us) out of the heat!

Moving day

Today we moved from Carstairs up to Blackfalds. Only an hour drive, but that was about all we could handle today.

The kids stayed up late last night, which meant Bob & I stayed up late too. So, we all got up kinda cranky and out of sorts today. We needed to make one last trip to the storage unit before leaving the area, so we prepped for that. It took us forever to get ourselves organized though, and it was after 1 before we even got back to the campground. Good thing they are rather casual about check-in and check-out times!
Lunch, packing & organizing and then the gong show began. The camp host had front row seats to watching Bob & I hook up the trailer by ourselves for the very first time. I'm sure he got lots of entertainment value for his time. I'm amazed that Bob & I actually kept the yelling down to a dull roar. It's really hard to be calm and collected when you're trying to communicate for the third time that you want the truck to move 2 inches That Way. No!!! The other That way!!!  (pointing again and cringing)  Please don't break the truck or trailer!!!

We will definitely need to work on our trailer communication skills.  We're both used to hooking up the standard ball trailers no problem.  The fifth wheel hitch is a whole 'nother ball game. We'll get it - just hope everything stays in one piece while we learn!

Finally we were all hooked and ready to go - to the sani dump.  Woohoo!  Or perhaps I should say pee-ew. This is one of the not so fun parts of having a house on wheels. You get to deal with all the systems, whether you want to or not. C'est la vie.  It's just part of the job, and really it's no worse that any of the pig barns I worked in for years.

The highway was rather challenging today, with lots of trucks & trailers on the road, and plenty of breakdowns on  both sides of the shoulder. We passed a bunch of carnival trailers. I'm guessing they were heading up to Red Deer for Westerner Days, which starts on Wednesday, or to Edmonton for K-days.  At the moment we still have two vehicles, so I followed behind the truck in the car.

We are now at Janine's parent's for the week. Her dad is hosting a big party on Saturday, at a local campground, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his band. Lots of family and long-time friends will be there and it will be a great opportunity to enjoy some music and visit with everyone before we are too far away to do it in person for a long while.

In the meantime, there's plenty to do around Red Deer. I think the mini donuts at the Westerner may be calling...

A quieter day

At least for the kids and I. Bob is busy in Calgary this weekend finishing up his SCUBA classes  He had class last night, all day today and all day tomorrow. Once he's done those he'll just need 4 open water dives to be fully certified.  Hmm, guess we'll have to go find him some open water somewhere on the road!

As for the rest of us, we took Munchie in to get her vaccinations and make sure everything was all set to take her across the border.  An important step, especially considering she's diabetic and needs insulin daily. It shouldn't be a big deal to cross the border, since it's a standard prescription and everything is documented, but I don't want to get caught off guard and have travel plans potentially ruined because of a missed paper.

Once that was all done, we returned to Carstairs just in time to catch the Farmer's market.  It's a pretty small market, but we got some fresh baking & eggs from the Hutterites and treats for the kids. And got a chance to say hello to a friend who happened to be working the market today!  An unexpected, but very nice, surprise.

The kids were squirrelly today, so I kicked them outside to play at the playground.  It was the first time since moving into the trailer that I felt like we were all on top of each other. They insisted on being in the same ten square feet constantly, no matter what the other was doing. Why!!!! I'm sure there will be many more times like that, but right now it's seriously annoying.

Bob arrived home just in time for supper, and then we went off in search for the elusive marshmallow. Downtown is a very short walk away, and a visit to the local Co-Op netted us the very last bag of marshmallows. (according to Lily - Bob says there was an entire shelf full)

Home again for s'mores and then off to bed for kids and parents alike! I think all the late nights have finally caught up to me, and it's time for a good night's rest. We're planning to move up towards Red Deer, and my parents on Monday, but there are still several things that need finishing up here. Hopefully I can get them done tomorrow. It's time to cut the tethers holding us here near Airdrie and get going for real.

High Tea

This afternoon Lily and I met up with my mom at the Blooming Fields for high Tea.  It was a perfect day when we arrived - not like yesterday, which was stiflingly warm.  The Blooming Fields is a nursery / u-pick / tea house between Didsbury and Olds and the gardens around it were lovely, with many flowers in bloom and plenty of growing vegetables.  Lily enjoyed smelling the roses.

She became bored while we waited for the tea to arrive, but then spotted the tire swing. She had great fun spinning on it, entertaining herself and the other ladies who had come for tea.  I think they were charmed by her boundless energy. I really don't know where it all comes from!

Once the tea (and treats!) arrived we tucked into the array of yumminess and mom and I proceeded to stuff ourselves silly. Soup, finger sandwiches, cheese and crackers, scones with jam & clotted cream, and a variety of sweets.  It was all oh-so-good.   Once we were finished with the food, we took a walk around the gardens and then followed Lily back to the tire swing for more spinning and some pretend play. We took a rocket ship to see the shooting stars.  Very exciting.  Our space faring play was cut short by the arrival of some dark clouds and wind and we decided to call it a day.  Saying goodbye to my mom (we'll see her more next week) we headed back home. All in all, a very enjoyable afternoon.

Settling in

I can't believe it's the end of Wednesday already.  The moments are flying by, what with unpacking, appointments, activities and settling into the trailer. We haven't really left our old life behind yet and it feels a bit like we're just on vacation.  We've been into Airdrie - and into our old neighbourhood - every day, for a variety of reasons, and will be back into Airdrie every day for the rest of the week.  I don't think we intended  to be back so much this week, but there are so many little details to finish up.  And every day life still goes on, no matter where we are.

We went to the storage unit this morning to add some of the containers we had unpacked. I found it very overwhelming to see all my stuff just jammed into a small space. I know the guys were tired and wanting to just get the job done, but what I saw made me cry - literally.  I couldn't leave things the way they were, so fought with myself in the too small, too crowded space to move around certain items that weren't well protected.  I love him, but my hubby does not win the Tetris award for storage unit packing.

That finished (for today at least) we headed into Calgary to register Morgan for homeschool. So happy that is done!  I've been worrying over all the aspects of it, but the ladies at the homeschool association made me feel a lot for confident and comfortable about it all. Tomorrow morning I have my last orthodontics appointment before we head out, and then hopefully High Tea with Lily & my Mom at the Blooming Fields.  Stay tuned!

We're all tired, a bit out of sorts, and off schedule, so I tried to get us back to a somewhat normal schedule this afternoon just to help myself and the kids feel a bit better.  It's hard though.  I'm off to bed late - again.  The kids went to bed late because it was so hot and light out.  Had to wait for it to cool down (what are we going to do in truly hot weather?).  Ah well, tomorrow's another day.  In the meantime, I shall leave you with a look at our campsite.

  

And we're off!

After three and a half crazy days of garage sale, purging, packing into the storage unit and moving into the trailer, and getting the house ready for the buyers, at noon on Monday we officially became full timers.  What a weird feeling.  We are homeless, and yet we’re not. 

I had intended to blog yesterday, but everything ended up just a little crazier than expected and I ran out of battery power.  Go figure. We spent the night at Walmart in Airdrie, because we needed time to regroup and figure out where to stick all our stuff!    

This is what it looked like after we first tackled it (it was way worse to begin with). 

Now, most of the boxes and buckets have been unpacked and we’ll need to make a run to the storage unit to drop them off.  And start the purging! It’s easy to pack it all in, harder to find places for it all!

We moved from Airdrie up to Carstairs, a small town about 25 min north. We have activities in Airdrie or Calgary pretty much every day this week, so are sticking close by.  With the Calgary Stampede happening right now the campgrounds closer to Calgary are all full.   But perhaps this is a good thing. Even though Carstairs relatively close by to where we've lived for years, we've never had a chance to explore here.  This will give us the opportunity to. 

This afternoon we're back into Airdrie for haircuts and I think we'll go see a movie.  It's toonie Tuesday at the movie theatre!  

It will be nice to do something "normal" after what has felt like so much craziness.   

I think I can, I think I can

We're still in the midst of sorting and packing and preparing for the final garage sale, tomorrow and Sat.  By Sat eve all of the "extra items" will be on their way out of the house.  And Sunday we'll move the stuff we're keeping into the storage unit. The trailer came home from the dealer today and we spent the evening putting stuff into it. Finding places to put everything, and figuring out how to organize it is challenging, but I know it doesn't have to be perfect right now.
The hard ones today seem to be the kids' clothes and the books. We all love books, and it's hard to part with them.  Books are yummy and I devour them.  My children are the same.  But books are heavy, and it's not practical to take shelves full of books.  I can use my Kindle, but the kids need real books.  Part of me does want to take lots, just to satisfy their (and my) desire for reading material.  The other part of me knows that's ridiculous. I guess I'll just have to find a happy medium.  We're already sending four boxes of books to storage.  What's another box in the grand scheme of things?

There's still so much to do to clear the house, and I know we're getting there, but right now it seems like an insurmountable task.  I'm tired, sometimes I'm completely overwhelmed, and other moments where I'm just plain frustrated. But with every box of stuff that goes to the trailer, or out to the garage I know I'm one step closer to getting to where I want to be.
I think I can... nope... I know I can!  (well, I have to, regardless - there is a family waiting, rather impatiently, apparently, to take possession of our house)

Happy Canada Day!

Today my country is 146 years old.  Happy Canada Day! Canada is a big, diverse country - second largest in the world, after Russia - and is over 5000 km wide. I'm a born and raised Albertan, and have only spent a relatively small amount of time outside of my home province.  But what I have seen has never ceased to amaze me in some way.  I'm really looking forward to exploring and getting to know my country better.  And the opportunity to do this with the family all together is just icing on the cake.  

Today Lily and I rode in a school bus in the parade while Bob and Morgan watched. It was fun being in the parade.  We didn't see any other floats, but did get to wave to many friends along the parade route.  Now for BBQ, fireworks and a bit of packing in between!