October 16, 2003 Return
Greetings from Peachland……..finally!
Please excuse the long lapse in getting in touch. It has been a rather crazy, busy, tiring, exciting, sometimes frustrating and fun few weeks. It’s hard to believe all that has happened in such a short period of time. We were just able to get our internet connection last Friday and then Jeff and Nancy came to visit over the Thanksgiving day weekend.
Where to begin the story of our trip…………………..Travels to BC by truck.
We had 9 days to pack up the house following my final working day on Sept 5th as the house closing was on Monday Sept 15th and the moving truck had to be ready to go. Sounds like a reasonable period of time when you have all day. WRONG!!! It started off very well and we thought we had accomplished a lot as each room in the house was tackled for major items. However, as time marched on, there seemed to be a never ending pile of things to pack. I swear that “stuff” was multiplying in closets and drawers. I was afraid to open any closet doors or look behind them. We needed more boxes to pack “stuff’ and the pile of packed boxes was getting frightfully large. We were also taking a number of boxes for Jeff and Nancy which we would drop off in Calgary on our way to BC. Would it all fit in the truck? I was tired of packing, sore from dragging boxes around and dirty. We also had to fit in a number of appointments to finalize all the fun paperwork involved in selling your house and car and moving to another province. The hours and days ticked away and patience grew thin. We debated about what to take and what we would have to leave. Larry took countless boxes to Amity and another pile to the dump. Take my advice and start clearing your houses out now or plan to never move……and don’t let your kids stockpile their junk in your house! Most times you can make a number of trips to move your belongings but our move had to be in one load only. And of course we were doing it ourselves to save a considerable amount of money. As we say now, only once in our lifetimes.
Larry picked up the truck on the Saturday and started loading the boxes. By Sunday, all the big furniture items we planned to take were loaded and it looked like we might have room for the remaining boxes. Sunday night I was up till all hours cleaning to make sure the house was left as clean as possible. There were also still numerous small items to pack. Monday morning, the big day, started bright and early. We had told Sue, one of the new owners that we hoped to be on the road by 0930 and she could come by shortly after 8am and we would give her a key, so they wouldn’t have to wait for the official key from the lawyer. Sue arrived and asked if she could leave several of her boxes of supplies. I put them in the dining room which was now empty and then proceeded to continue with our final packing. Larry was getting more agitated as it was becoming apparent that all the remaining “stuff” wouldn’t fit into the truck. He just wanted some small boxes to squeeze in before we loaded Jeff and Nancy’s box spring and mattress that would be the last to be loaded. It was pouring with rain and we got soaked with every trip to the truck. Time still marched quickly and it was obvious we wouldn’t be on our way by 0930. Sue waited for us to vacate in her car outside as she didn’t want to intrude. To make a painful story shorter, we finally appeared to be ready for the final loading and to close the truck door about 1115. We lugged the box spring and mattress into the truck and after several maneuvering attempts we were JUST able to get the door closed. Now we had to attach the trailer to the truck and load the car onto the trailer. This took several attempts to get everything in the right position and now we had to attach these big belts to the front car tires. We had a hard time figuring out how the tightening levers worked and we had to play with the belt mechanisms while it continued to rain on us. As we struggled, Sue came out of the house and asked if I had moved her boxes from the dining room. I hadn’t moved them…….Larry had picked them up and packed them in the truck!!! Back we went and opened the door to the truck. We now had to remove the box spring and mattress to see anything behind them. Larry had shoved any of the remaining boxes as far back in the truck as he could. He now had to climb up among the boxes and search out Sue’s boxes. He finally did find them but only after removing a number of our boxes. These now had to be repacked, the box spring and mattress reloaded and try to close the door again…..in the rain. We managed to do it but there wasn’t an inch to spare. We went back to wrapping the belts around the car tires and finally succeeded. Now we had to load the cats into the car. We arranged their food and litter in the lowered hatchback before going back into the house and catching each of the 3 cats. They were all thoroughly spooked by now and were not happy as we cornered them and shoved them into the car before they could escape. We also had to pack our suitcases for the trip in the car as there was no room in the truck.
Finally, about noon, I climbed into the passenger side of the truck and Larry started up the engine. Have you ever ridden in one of those big trucks? It was noisy, ( diesel engine) bumpy and the bench seat was far from comfortable. Slowly Larry edged out of the survey. What a sight we must have been. I certainly give Larry credit for driving that big truck and trailer. The traffic into Toronto was terrible and there was an accident in the lanes just to the right of us when traffic was merging and 2 trucks also merged. It was about that time that I remembered I hadn’t packed the microwave. Oh well, too late now. We sure weren’t going to turn around.
To be continued……enough for now.
Carolyn and Larry’s story of the road to BC: con’t Part 2:
Our saga continues. We finally were on our way to our big adventure, just a little late.
We drove through the day on Monday. It was overcast and raining through much of the day. Larry had to drive a little slower than usual to maneuver the big truck. Normally on a long trip like that, I’d be snoring in very short time. However, I wanted to stay awake to keep Larry company and make sure he was alert. I could read for a short period but the bounce of the truck made it a challenge. The radio reception in the truck was poor and the engine noise made it hard to hear unless it was turned up quite load. The speaker was also right behind my head which made it rather unpleasant. We did have some CDs to listen to which we used at times. I just had to get the double cords set up so we could both have a set of earphones. This was a little tricky as there was also a big box on the seat between us that I had to move around to get all the connections. However this box held all our essential necessities for the day! CDs, magazines, pens, pencils, paper, cell phone, address book with contact numbers, binoculars, camera, water bottle, coffee mugs, fruit and junk food to snack on, etc. etc.
I routinely had to rifle through the box to get what Larry wanted so he could concentrate on the road and traffic. We made short stops along the way to check that the trailer with the car was holding and that the cats were OK. The food we had so carefully placed in the back was now strewn about and their water had spilt. However, we really didn’t want to open the car doors to fix it at this point in time as we were afraid they’d scamper out and escape. We knew our fat cats wouldn’t starve over the day. Magic bounced to the back window every time we stopped and watched our every move. He wanted out! We could never see Frankie, our adopted stray who is afraid of his shadow. At first this was alarming until we learned that his place was on the floor between the front and folded down back seats. There he felt hidden and secure. We now refer to our menagerie as our “cross country” cats, but Frankie never saw a thing.
Our planned schedule for the trip was:
Monday: Hamilton to Sault St. Marie
Tuesday: Sault St. Marie to Thunder Bay
Wednesday: Thunder Bay to Winnipeg, Manitoba ( where we would stop and visit my brother for supper)
Thursday: Winnipeg to Swift Current (Saskatchewan)
Friday: Swift Current to Calgary, Alberta where we would visit Jeff and Nancy and unload part of our
load off the truck
Saturday: Calgary to Kelowna, BC
Sounds like a reasonable and well thought out plan? Oh well, you know how the best laid plans go.
Monday we drove until about 7:30 and that was enough. It was dark and the roads were wet and slippery so we decided to stop in Blind River for the night which was just about one and a half hours from Sault St. Marie, our original goal. Our plan was to make up some distance the next 2 days so we would still reach Winnipeg on Wednesday to visit my brother.
Now, getting motels along the way was another challenge. Not all places accept pets. We were hoping that more motels now allowed pets as we didn’t want to have to drive all over the town looking for a specific motel. Since motels are not always what they sound like in the CAA book we also wanted to see the place. Hence we made no made no reservations. The first motel we stopped at in Blind River didn’t take pets. There was another nice place across the road so off we went. This time we didn’t say we had any pets and we took a room. ( I really don’t feel too bad about this deception as we always left the rooms clean with no trace of a pet.) There wasn’t enough room at the front of the motel to park the truck and trailer so we parked in an empty lot across the road. Now we had to inconspicuously take each cat across the road and into the room…..after we found and captured each one in the car. Magic and Moondust immediately set to exploring their new surroundings. Frankie bolted under the bed and stayed there except for time to come out and find his food dish. Since we had managed to stuff one of the suitcases into the back of the truck we now had to open the back door to the truck and pull out the mattress to get at it. We knew we would have to get better organized so this wouldn’t be a daily struggle. Thank goodness it was darker out so people couldn’t see all this madness. Finally, all we needed had been shuffled to the room. Suitcases, cats, cat food, litter. Each time we went in or out of our room we had to be careful that one of the cats was not lurking in the background to try and make an escape. Therefore any exits or entrances to the room was usually a 2 person affair. Now we could clean up and get a bite to eat. There was a restaurant within walking distance we went to, as we certainly weren’t going to stoke up the truck again. Talk about arriving in style! Exhausted by the fun of it all, we finally crawled into bed about 10 pm. We wanted an early start to our next day to make up some lost time.
Tuesday, September 16th
We were up at 7 the next morning to start a bright new day. We walked to a Tim Horton’s down the street to start our day the right way with good coffee and a bagel. We took a little longer walk on the way back to the motel to stretch some muscles before we had to sit in the truck all day. Larry checked the truck and the car. The front wheels of the car were turning to the side and we needed to tighten the straps that attached to the car tires to the trailer. That meant unhooking the car, driving it off the trailer and starting again. This took a little time and maneuvering but we got it done. Larry also wanted to reorganize the boxes etc in the very back of the truck so we could hopefully put everything we needed on a daily basis within reach. Not an easy task. That meant we now had to pull out the mattress and box spring and reshuffle. However, we managed to rearrange the load so we could get to the suitcases without pulling out the mattress and box spring. Quite an accomplishment. Now we were ready to start the reverse cycle of getting all our bags and the cats out of the motel. We put the cat food, water and litter in a shallow box to hopefully keep it from spilling all over. Larry had to drag Frankie from under the bed where he had firmly entrenched himself. When Larry went to one side of the bed, Frankie went to other side. It was quite a battle that took an ambush by the two of us to finally grab him. Gee I wish I had a video camera. I’m sure we could have won some money from America’s Funniest.
Finally, about 0900 we were ready. Larry purged the air brakes (or whatever it was he had to do with them), the engine chugged to life and we slowly edged our way out to the highway. Gearing up speed in this truck was always a rather bumpy experience. We bounced along and I could see Magic and Moondust peering out the car windows obviously meowing in protest of their confinement. Boy am I glad I didn’t know anyone up there. What a sight!
Our itinerary for the day was now to reach our original Tuesday destination of Thunder Bay. That would mean about nine and a half hours on the road. We knew we were in for a long day of traveling but the route to Thunder Bay along the north shore of Lake Superior was supposed to be quite beautiful. The weather was quite changeable as we drove along. We went through alternating rain squalls and sunshine. The scenery was indeed beautiful. I was glad there was little traffic to contend with on the road. Some of the hills were quite steep and the truck litterly crawled up these big hills as it was such a heavy load. It was also obvious that the truck was an older model so perhaps it didn’t have as much power as the newer ones. We held our breath and kept our fingers crossed as we inched up each long steep hill. We knew it would now take us even longer to reach Thunder Bay since we were going so slowly at times but we were actually enjoying seeing this part of the country. We made pit stops about every two and half hours to stretch our legs and get away from the noise of the engine in our ears. Of course we also had to stop where there was diesel fuel to gas up the hungry engine. Getting the truck in the right position at some fuel stations proved a little tricky. Going in reverse with the truck and trailer/car attached was a real
“no, no”. Larry was great at going forward but backing up was not his forte. We just went around again …..and again if necessary accompanied by Larry’s muffled mutterings of discontent.
At 2 pm we were halfway to our goal of Thunder Bay. The sun was shining, the scenery great, we were making reasonable time, we had settled into somewhat of a routine and then it happened. We had just made it to the top of another nail biting big hill and Larry needed to change gears. The clutch wasn’t working right. Larry let the truck roll to a stop and tried to change gears again. No luck. He turned off the engine and would make a fresh start after a minute or so. He restarted the engine, did the brake thing again and tried to put the truck in first gear. No way. The clutch wasn’t engaging (or whatever it’s supposed to do) and we were not going any further. Larry turned the engine off and made a few choice unrepeatable remarks. We would have to phone the CAA for help and the U-Haul contact number. I dug the cell phone and U-haul info out of the box to look up the number. Larry tried the number but the cell phone wouldn’t work out in the boondocks.
Well, there we were. Stopped in the middle of nowhere with no phone to call for help and little traffic on the road to flag down.
Our second day and we weren’t even out of Ontario! Not an auspicious start. This adventure was not turning out to be a fun time as planned.
Anyone still wish they could have come along?
And there I will leave my sad story for now. Any guesses about what happens next? Shall I continue?
Carolyn and Larry’s story of the road to BC: con’t Part 3:
Our saga continues……as per the end of part 2
There we were. Stopped in the middle of nowhere, only halfway to our Tuesday destination of Thunder Bay with no phone to call for help and little traffic on the road to flag down. Our second day and we weren’t even out of Ontario! Not an auspicious start. This adventure was not turning out to be a fun time as planned.
Well at least we had the car available to drive to the next town for help, but we would have to get it off the trailer. Thank goodness it had stopped raining and the sun was shining. We climbed out of the monster truck and started to work at the straps holding down the car tires. Within 5 minutes a police car miraculously drove by and stopped. A female officer got out and asked if we were having a problem. Indeed we were having a problem and we proceeded to tell her our sad story. She told us we were only about 10 minutes away from White River and there was a garage there that could tow us to their garage. She was able to use her police radio to contact the garage. The garage would send their tow truck in about half an hour. What great luck. She stayed and chatted with us until the tow truck arrived. Both she and her husband were police officers and lived about 45 minutes outside of White River. Now that’s out in the boondocks but they both loved their jobs and their location. (to each their own)
About 3pm the tow truck arrived. However, the driver soon determined that the tow truck wasn’t big enough to tow our big load. He would have to radio the garage and get the BIG tow truck they use for buses and big trucks. He radioed the garage but the BIG tow truck would not be available for about another hour. It was decided that we would unhook our car and drive into the garage in town. We would first coast our truck down the hill a bit and further off the road for safety. It could stay there until the driver came back for it and we would meet him at the garage. We unhooked the car, loaded any essential bags, the cats, their food and litter into the car and off we went. Apparently there was a mechanic at the garage and hopefully he could repair or replace the clutch and we could be on our way a little later. Another great plan.
Indeed it was only a short drive to White River and we spotted the garage. Of course there wasn’t too much else to spot in the big metropolis of White River. There was a motel and a restaurant beside the garage and on the other side of the highway there was a truck diner/ donut shop and a souvenir shop. We went in to the garage and introduced ourselves and they assured us their mechanic would look at our truck as soon as it arrived at the garage. Indeed about 4:30 the BIG tow truck arrived hauling our truck and trailer. They backed it into the garage and the mechanic started his assessment. We waited like anxious new parents for his diagnosis. Hopefully it wasn’t more serious than the clutch. At that point I was having a nightmare about having to unload the contents of the truck and repack it into another one. I believe I would then just walk away into the bush, never to be seen again. About an hour later the mechanic gave us the news….good news and bad news. The good news was, it was just the clutch and not the transmission or some other biggie problem and it could be repaired. The bad news was, they didn’t have a replacement clutch at the garage. They would have to contact U-Haul to find out the part number for the clutch required and then find out where one was. There could be one in Thunder Bay but if not, it would have to come from Toronto. Hopefully, they could get one from Thunder Bay the next day, (Wednesday)
and could put it in by early afternoon and we could be on our way. So we would have to wind down and resign ourselves to this short delay. Wasn’t this what retirement includes? Relax, take your time, no hurry, no stress? Yeah. Well you know me and a lot of you know Larry. His normal speed is three times as fast as mine and patience is not one of his virtues! We both took a deep breath and reminded ourselves that we were retired, we didn’t have to be in Kelowna by any specific date, so get with it! Easier said than done.
We booked ourselves into the motel beside the garage and unloaded the cats and our usual baggage. We had to get a few items out of the truck before they locked up the garage for the night. Since we were now relaxing and the sun was still shining we decided to take a walk into the town beyond the highway strip. There really wasn’t much more to see besides the grocery store, the railway station ( trains stopped 3 times a week) and a miniscule library that was open a half a day, 3 days/wk. We did discover a small park dedicated to Winnie the Pooh. Did you know that the bear that was the inspiration for Winnie came from the White River area with a soldier? See……you’ve learned some history. Check it out on the internet.
We also had to call my brother, David in Winnipeg to let him know what had happened. David and his wife, Kara were expecting us for supper in Winnipeg tomorrow. We told David that we probably wouldn’t make it to Winnipeg until Thursday evening. If the truck wasn’t repaired until later on Wed afternoon we would only make Thunder Bay by evening and we would need Thursday to travel the distance to Winnipeg. We had a nice chat and David would also call my Mom to keep her up to date. It was now time for us to take time and enjoy some of the goodies from the survival kits from the managers and the staff. We opened some wine and crackers and read the magazines that pictured all the perfect things in home, garden and travel. Ah, some day that could be us. Doubtful…..but we could hope.
Wednesday, September 17th:
Thank goodness the sun shone again Wednesday morning. This allowed us to get out and explore or Larry would develop cabin fever within an hour. He had already gathered information about tourist attractions in the immediate area and had decided that we would drive about an hour down the highway to a town called Marathon. After breakfast at the truck diner we checked with the garage to tell them our plans and that we would be back in the afternoon. Hopefully, they would have received the clutch part from Thunder Bay, installed it and we could be on our way. We also had to book the motel another night as we couldn’t check out by the usual time of 1100 and the cats had to stay somewhere. We then set off for Marathon about 0930. The drive was picturesque except for about a ten mile stretch just outside of White River where the forest had been destroyed by a serious forest fire that threatened the town about 4 years ago. Not a pretty sight and we wondered what forest damage we would see when we got to Kelowna. Marathon turned out to be only a little bigger than White River but there was a nice coffee shop where we stopped for a break. Interestingly, you don’t find many Tim Horton’s in northern Ontario. Instead the most common are Robin’s donut shops. Lots of A&W’s too. Marathon originated as a lumber town and still has a large pulp and paper mill. It is situated right on Lake Superior and there were beautiful views across the lake. For our daily exercise we walked through a forest trail to the huge rocks along the beach where the waves were crashing in. Of course Larry had us scrambling up the steep rocks on the shoreline and picking our way through the boulders on the beach between the water. A typical “Larry” walk! After exploring Marathon we headed back to White River as we hoped the truck would now be ready and we could resume our journey. We made it back to the garage about 3pm. The news……….the replacement clutch had to come from Toronto. It was being delivered the next day ( Thursday) by bus. They expected it by 2:30pm and they would install it as soon as it arrived. Oh well. What do you do? There was nothing we could do, but wait and hope.
Back to the motel to tell them we would be staying another night. We called David again to tell him we now wouldn’t be in Winnipeg until probably Friday. I also forgot to tell you that Nancy and Jeff were expecting us in Calgary on Friday. They were waiting for their furniture, boxes and mattress! We called them to say we were now 2 days behind and we probably wouldn’t reach Calgary until Sunday. We also had to call the motel we had reserved in Kelowna from the Saturday to the following Friday as we expected to move into the rental home on the Saturday. ( Sept 30th ) Calls made, I decided that it might be nice if I put Magic on a leash and let him outside. The cats had been peering out the screen door at the activity around them. I knew they missed their time outside. Except for Frankie of course who had taken up residence under the far corner of the bed as usual. He only slinked out for food and litter box when absolutely necessary. I put a leash on Magic and out the door we went. He quickly set to exploring until the next big transport truck thundered by. Completely spooked, he tried to dash away. I grabbed him and he jumped onto my shoulder with claws extended. Needless to say, that was the end of that and back into the motel he went. Again we relied on the care packages to soothe ourselves for the evening.
Thursday, September 18th:
The dawn of another sunny day. We had to begin our day with a “Larry” walk. We walked around all the outskirts of town which meant going up and down a number of steep hills. The sun was out but the morning air was chilly and the wind was strong. Only then was I allowed my rejuvenating coffee. We checked with the garage that didn’t open until a late 0930 hours. The latest……..they expected the clutch to arrive by bus about 2:30. They would then install it and the truck should be ready by about 4:30.
We intended to leave then and at least finish the drive to Thunder Bay so we could reach Winnipeg by Friday. It would be about a 3 hour drive. We booked the motel room another night.
Larry had again looked through all the local tourist information and decided that today we would drive to White Lake Provincial Park which was about 40 minutes back down the highway. We settled the cats and off we went. Thank goodness the sun still was out and we could escape the confines of a motel room. The park was a very quiet place at that time of year but there were many trails to explore…….and one more “Larry” walk through the bush to small isolated lake. We then were allowed to sit on the park bench and soak up the sun and read. We packed up our picnic and returned to White River by 3:30 so we could pack up our suitcases. We checked with the garage. The latest……….the bus hadn’t arrived yet. They now expected the bus by 5pm and yes, they would install it as soon as it arrived. I’m sure they couldn’t wait to get us out of their hair. I thought Larry would have a stroke! Two whole days of forced delays to relax was just about all he could bear. He decided he was going to drive into the main street of town where the bus was due to arrive and he would personally pick up that clutch and bring it to the mechanic. Off he spun in the car. I decided to idle away the time with a walk in the park area by the garage. Shortly before 5pm a bus turned into the garage. The driver got out and got a package from the storage area. Was this the long awaited for clutch? The package looked awfully small. He delivered the package to the garage mechanic. Indeed it was. Glory halleluiah. About 10 minutes later Larry drove back from town since the bus had not stopped there. I told him the bus had stopped here with a package. Off he went to check with the garage. He quickly scooted back and announced “start packing, we’re leaving tonight”. The mechanic was hard at work ( late) to install the clutch and the truck should be ready by about 7:30. There was no way Larry was going to spend another night in White River. We packed our suitcases, tidied up the room and waited. The cats knew all this activity meant something was up and they watched our every move …except Frankie who was ensconced in the dust balls under the bed. At last, about 7:45 they drove the truck out of the garage. Now we had to hook up the trailer, load the car and strap it down and do our usual routine with suitcases and cats. Our experience now permitted us to accomplish all this in good speed. Finally, about 8pm the Krar entourage departed from the White River motel. It soon became dark and it is VERY DARK on the lonely highway along the northern shore of Lake Superior. There are also numerous signs to be aware of moose crossings and the folks in White River had indeed cautioned us about the frequent wanderings of moose on the road. We tried to go as quickly but also as cautiously as we could. We made it just to the other side of Thunder Bay by 11:45 and decided that was enough. We pulled into a motel just off the highway just as the owners were getting ready to close shop. Can you imagine if we had waited a little longer and then found ourselves without a room for the night? We settled into the room which was no great shakes, but we wouldn’t be there for long. It had been quite a day and we quickly drifted off to slumber land hoping for easier days ahead.
To be continued……………………..
Carolyn and Larry’s story of the road to BC: con’t Part 4:
OK. This will be the last part of this saga. I’m sure you’ll be relieved.
Friday, September 19th, 03
We were up and on the road before 0800 on Friday morning as we hoped to be in Winnipeg by 6pm to visit with my brother. We made an early pit stop for coffee and gas and Larry also wanted the oil checked as the oil light in the truck had come on. The gas station attendant couldn’t find the oil dipper(?) or whatever it’s called. However, Larry had them put in a couple of quarts of oil as he thought the truck was losing oil. Gassed and coffee’d up we departed. The drive from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg was rather uneventful, thank goodness. The landscape was relatively flat with some rolling hills but no major climbs to challenge the truck. We actually started to relax a bit and we listened to some audio tapes to help pass the time. We made it to Winnipeg close to 6pm as we had hoped and now we wanted to find a motel and get the cats settled before we went to David’s house. Luckily, David’s house was in a survey not far from the highway and there was a road with a number of motels only about 5 kilometers away. Larry turned off to the road with all the motels. It was a little tricky finding our way through the maze of streets and the road was under construction. We stopped at about 3 motels but none had an outside corridor to smuggle the cats in. Each stop meant more fighting through busy rush hour traffic and time was ticking away. We knew that David was expecting us. By this time, Larry was losing his cool and decided he was going to backtrack down the highway to a motel we had passed coming into the city. Back we went about 10 minutes down the highway and pulled into a motel. We quickly got our bags and cats into the room and called David to let him know we really were coming. We made it to David and Kara’s by about 7:30 and were able to spend a relaxing evening with them and their two children. David had prepared a lovely dinner and it was a treat to have a homemade meal. I hadn’t been to their new home before so it was nice to see all the things David had spoken of. He’s extremely handy like my father was and he has done numerous renovation projects. Their house and garden are beautiful. The evening was much too short for our long awaited visit.
Saturday, September 20th:
Getting out of the motel parking area the next morning proved to be one of the day’s challenges. The truck had to be backed out and as I mentioned previously, this is not one of Larry’s specialties! He tried backing up the truck and trailer a “few” times and it just wasn’t going to go in the right direction. In the end we had to unhook the trailer and car, then back up the truck and reattach all. This of course put Larry in a cantankerous mood to start off the morning. Time delays are not easily accepted. However, once we were in traveling order we drove from Winnipeg to Swift Current in Saskatchewan. Larry stopped a number of times to add oil to the truck as he was worried it was losing oil. It’s amazing how much oil and gas those big trucks devour! It took us about 10 hours of driving which makes for a numb rear by the end of the day. We’re both so used to being active, that sitting all day is very difficult. The scenery was also rather bland. Neither of us had driven in Saskatchewan before so it was novel, but monotonous. Lots of flat land with only the occasional hill. Staying awake through all this is also a challenge. However, we were finally beginning to feel that we were actually getting somewhere. Swift Current itself seems like a very isolated city in the middle of nowhere. I was glad we were just passing through.
Sunday, September 21st:
Today we anticipated a shorter drive of about 5 hours before we arrived in Calgary. We left at 8 am and Larry had told Nancy and Jeff that we would probably be at their place between 1 or 2 in the afternoon.
( He’s always so unrealistic). Considering traffic delays, more oil stops, construction on the highway, etc. we actually made it to Calgary by 2:45. Not bad really. Now we needed to find a motel and drop off the cats before we headed to Nancy and Jeff’s. Once again we did a tour of the city to try and find a motel that met our needs. The information package showed a series of motels on a street not that far from Nancy and Jeff’s. That’s where we headed only to find that none of the hotels or motels had suitable parking for our long load. Calgary is quite hilly and the truck slugged slowly up the hills. We ended up driving across the city again to the outskirts near the airport to find a motel with a decent parking area. Larry wasn’t going to do the same dance trying to get out as he had done leaving Winnipeg. We finally checked into a Day’s Inn with inside corridors. We smuggled the cats in one at a time, in our cooler. They were not impressed.( I really shouldn’t be telling you all this embarrassing stuff. I know that none of you would now never consider traveling with us. I know I’ll never travel across the country again, in a truck with Larry and three cats.)
We settled the cats as quickly as possible and then unhitched the car and trailer so we could just drive the truck to Nancy and Jeff’s. It was getting late and we still had to unpack their belongings from the truck.
At this point Carolyn ran out of gas so I will finish off:
After unloading Jeff and Nancy’s stuff, we had supper with them and headed back to our hotel. Our trip from Calgary to Kelowna the next day went off fairly smoothly. We had dropped the trailer that was used for towing the car so Carolyn followed behind me with the cats in the car. We made Kelowna in about 8 hours of driving. We spent 6 days in a motel in Kelowna before we moved into our rental home on the 27th. The pictures of our trip are “Fam 438 and 439” in the “Family Pictures – 4” section.