Settling into our motel for the night, I discovered that the wireless USB thingy for the laptop is broken, so even though the motel provides wireless internet we can't use it. I also seem to have misplaced the USB cable for the camera. Great. I know I have that, it's just been dropped somewhere between the van and the room. So I've got some great pictures of Day 1 but no way of sharing them.
Mary did well. She had one or two total meltdowns and a few partial ones. Got some good naps in, too. She got her first diaper change at the summit of the Hope-Princeton pass. We stopped for gas in Princeton ($1.19, got 37 litres for $45) and still have half a tank left. Diapers changed before Princeton, at Castlegar, at our friend's house outside Nelson, and lastly in the motel before bed. Doesn't seem like much, but she's not peeing as much as usual. Only 4 (plus two in the morning before we left home).
One of the highlights: getting kicked off the beach in Osoyoos, where we made a pit stop for the dogs. We thought the bylaw officer was after us for no leashes, but apparently that's not an issue. No dogs are allowed on that particular beach after June 1. Oops!
My friend Beth and her family are doing well. I haven't seen her since 2002 (on a camping trip with a previous boyfriend, teehee), and we met in 2001 when I was on a summer work term here in Nelson. We ate dinner with her and her husband Rob as well as an international student doing a homestay with them, Leoni from Germany. Leoni and Mary were fast friends, and their dog Daisy was very interested in this miniature human. Mary was the first baby she'd met and I guess she felt the need to show off since Mary was receiving all the attention. She did a LOT of doggie "talking" during our visit.
Mary fell asleep on the ride back to the motel so we're skipping the hot springs. Perhaps in the morning, but likely not. A shame.
Perhaps tomorrow I'll find the camera cord, and I guess there's a trip to WalMart for the cheapest wireless internet thingy we can find.
PS. We still haven't seen any of the thunder and lightning they promised in the weather report.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Thunder bolts of lightning, very very frightening
Thunder storms are forecast all the way across the southern portion of the province today. Cool!
High temperatures and a 40% chance of rain in Nelson. Humid. Mmm. Might have to skip the hotsprings.
High temperatures and a 40% chance of rain in Nelson. Humid. Mmm. Might have to skip the hotsprings.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
My Wife syas she is a cool blogger..............
Now she is a good typist and is known to play on the internet a little to long, but I think she needs a touch of reality. Am I the one to take her out of her chair of self placed platitudes. Her wise indulgence in cyber space may come back and bite her in the future. I love my wife, but she needs a place to meditate with candles and not the soft glow of a LCD screen. Maybe a fulfilling Mantra will start her on her way like MMMMMMMMMMMMMMeditation. Wish us like on our trip.
Itinerary
Curious where we're going?
June 4: Leave home in Port Coquitlam, BC. Drive along the scenic southern route of Highway 3 to Nelson. Stay in a motel, visit my friend Beth and her family, and go to Ainsworth Hot Springs.
June 5: Leave Nelson and travel as-yet-undetermined route to Calgary, Alberta, where we'll stay with Scott's friend Dave and his family.
June 6: Leave Calgary early and head northeast to Drumheller to visit the dinosaur museum and look at dinosaur bones (boys! Scott's been drooling about this since we started planning the trip). We'll spend a few hours before heading off to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (actually a little bump in the road called Grandora), to stay with my step-dad's sister.
June 7: Leave Saskatoon and drive as fast as we can through field after field to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Plans to stay with my dad's cousin fell through, so we're spending more than budgeted for a hotel with high speed internet. Scott has a test tonight.
June 8: Leave Winnipeg and spend the drive arguing about whether or not to stay in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Scott has an unexplainable hate-on for Thunder Bay. My dad was born here. Camping or motelling will depend on weather and mosquitos.
June 9: Leave Thunder Bay (or nearby town) and drive to Sault Ste. Marie. Apparently it's quite scenic. Accomodations as per Thunder Bay. Possibly try to meet up with my friend Tekla who lives in northern Michigan.
June 10: Leave Sault Ste Marie and drive to Ottawa. Spend the night at a nice hotel.
June 11: Be tourists in Ottawa. The dogs will be dropped in doggie daycare somewhere. Scott wants to see the Museum of Civilization. Of course we'll look at the Parliament Buildings.
From here we're undecided. We may spend the night somewhere between Ottawa and Montreal camping or motelling, or we might drive straight to Montreal and stay at another nice hotel, since it's a nice city. If we do the former, we'll spend the following day in Montreal being tourists and then drive to Quebec City for a night's stay in a nice hotel.
Our last leg takes us to Port Howe, Nova Scotia. My step-dad's brother has a cottage on the beach where we'll stay for a few days before heading on our western journey home, through the US.
June 4: Leave home in Port Coquitlam, BC. Drive along the scenic southern route of Highway 3 to Nelson. Stay in a motel, visit my friend Beth and her family, and go to Ainsworth Hot Springs.
June 5: Leave Nelson and travel as-yet-undetermined route to Calgary, Alberta, where we'll stay with Scott's friend Dave and his family.
June 6: Leave Calgary early and head northeast to Drumheller to visit the dinosaur museum and look at dinosaur bones (boys! Scott's been drooling about this since we started planning the trip). We'll spend a few hours before heading off to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (actually a little bump in the road called Grandora), to stay with my step-dad's sister.
June 7: Leave Saskatoon and drive as fast as we can through field after field to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Plans to stay with my dad's cousin fell through, so we're spending more than budgeted for a hotel with high speed internet. Scott has a test tonight.
June 8: Leave Winnipeg and spend the drive arguing about whether or not to stay in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Scott has an unexplainable hate-on for Thunder Bay. My dad was born here. Camping or motelling will depend on weather and mosquitos.
June 9: Leave Thunder Bay (or nearby town) and drive to Sault Ste. Marie. Apparently it's quite scenic. Accomodations as per Thunder Bay. Possibly try to meet up with my friend Tekla who lives in northern Michigan.
June 10: Leave Sault Ste Marie and drive to Ottawa. Spend the night at a nice hotel.
June 11: Be tourists in Ottawa. The dogs will be dropped in doggie daycare somewhere. Scott wants to see the Museum of Civilization. Of course we'll look at the Parliament Buildings.
From here we're undecided. We may spend the night somewhere between Ottawa and Montreal camping or motelling, or we might drive straight to Montreal and stay at another nice hotel, since it's a nice city. If we do the former, we'll spend the following day in Montreal being tourists and then drive to Quebec City for a night's stay in a nice hotel.
Our last leg takes us to Port Howe, Nova Scotia. My step-dad's brother has a cottage on the beach where we'll stay for a few days before heading on our western journey home, through the US.
Final Frenzy
Apparently we're done packing. Of course everything got left till the last minute. The kid slept about 8 or 9 hours last night, then didn't nap more than a half hour all day. So of course she refused to fall asleep when we got home despite being exhausted and I spent 3 hours trying when I really needed to be packing. Brat. She finally fell asleep around 9.
We've got our camping stuff, food, towels, clothing, medical stuff, kid stuff, dog stuff, camera stuff. The van has been washed and vacuumed. Marcus, Watson, Chelsea and Elf are safely tucked away at Grandma's house (although apparently Elf is hiding; Chelsea, the pig, promptly came out to eat after the trauma of being shoved in a crate with her arch rival).
So, after temporarily freaking out about the amount of stuff left to do and the lack of time to do it, I think we're good to go. Just a few things to pack tomorrow (kit bag, pillow, baby's light box for sleeping).
We've got our camping stuff, food, towels, clothing, medical stuff, kid stuff, dog stuff, camera stuff. The van has been washed and vacuumed. Marcus, Watson, Chelsea and Elf are safely tucked away at Grandma's house (although apparently Elf is hiding; Chelsea, the pig, promptly came out to eat after the trauma of being shoved in a crate with her arch rival).
So, after temporarily freaking out about the amount of stuff left to do and the lack of time to do it, I think we're good to go. Just a few things to pack tomorrow (kit bag, pillow, baby's light box for sleeping).
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Too hot to handle
We leave in less than 48 hours and we still haven't packed a thing. It's close to 30 degrees outside and all three of us are hot and cranky. All we want to do it go out and eat, but we should really be saving all the money we can for the trip.
I spent two hours at the mall this morning because it was air conditioned. Got the small bin for garbage in the van as well as a body pillow to help stop the baby from rolling off the bed. And a bunch of new underwear for Josh. Yeah, productive.
Meanwhile, we haven't organized camping stuff, clothing, the baby's diaper bag... nothing. Scott put together a first aid kit. I did a bunch more laundry. I've done at least 10 loads.
I probably got myself a sunburn today. Mary's out sitting in the shade in her swing in a diaper soaking wet. We sprayed her with the hose and she loved it.
I spent two hours at the mall this morning because it was air conditioned. Got the small bin for garbage in the van as well as a body pillow to help stop the baby from rolling off the bed. And a bunch of new underwear for Josh. Yeah, productive.
Meanwhile, we haven't organized camping stuff, clothing, the baby's diaper bag... nothing. Scott put together a first aid kit. I did a bunch more laundry. I've done at least 10 loads.
I probably got myself a sunburn today. Mary's out sitting in the shade in her swing in a diaper soaking wet. We sprayed her with the hose and she loved it.
Friday, June 1, 2007
The floor of the van has grey carpet
So finally... FINALLY... after 8 months of owning this van, the man finally cleaned it. He agreed when we bought it that he wouldn't let it get like his previous truck, which had a pile of garbage on the passenger side filled up to seat level on a weekly basis that he'd have to clean out in order for me to sit in it. No joke, we couldn't see the floor of the van and none of it was mine. Food wrappers, clothing, shoes, random tools, random parts of cell phones, pop cans, coffee mugs, disposable dental floss sticks... it was nasty.
Promptly after clearing all this crap OUT of the van what does he go and do? Load a bunch more crap IN. Branches and leaves from his OCD pruning adventures. He's off to the transfer station now. Two benefits at least: the branches are finally out of the yard, and the van will smell like pine for a few days. People buy artificial air fresheners to do the same thing!
We're going to wash and vacuum it on Sunday so it's nice and fresh and new. Do I sound optimistic enough?
On the trip, it's not as easy as just putting all the garbage in a garbage bag, since the dogs would just tear into it. Maybe a small plastic bin with a lid to sit between the seats?
Who am I kidding? We're bringing back 12,000 kilometers of garbage with us.
Promptly after clearing all this crap OUT of the van what does he go and do? Load a bunch more crap IN. Branches and leaves from his OCD pruning adventures. He's off to the transfer station now. Two benefits at least: the branches are finally out of the yard, and the van will smell like pine for a few days. People buy artificial air fresheners to do the same thing!
We're going to wash and vacuum it on Sunday so it's nice and fresh and new. Do I sound optimistic enough?
On the trip, it's not as easy as just putting all the garbage in a garbage bag, since the dogs would just tear into it. Maybe a small plastic bin with a lid to sit between the seats?
Who am I kidding? We're bringing back 12,000 kilometers of garbage with us.
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