Saturday, July 22, 2017

ROBBLOG #624


Time is fleeting!

Now as we get closer to the end of July we get closer to our departure date of Mid-August.
That's when we kick the tires, fire up Priscilla and start our monstrous 5,000 km journey through western Canada to our new home in The Cowichan on Vancouver Island.

We are excited to say the least but a little emotional too. We have been saying tah-tah for now to friends and neighbours. We have had dinner invites, coffee clutches and long days with old friends.
Last week we spent a day at our friend Sue's Muskoka Cottage on Clear Lake. Seven former Wardair employees laughed and reminisced with us. It was a wonderful day. Some of these "kids" I first met and trained back in 1986.
Cripes!
These are friendships that have endured and even though we don't see each other on a  regular basis, when we are together the years melt away.
Good times.

Friends for Life
Meanwhile at Pine Tree House the packing is moving along. Boxes are stacked on top of one another in two rooms. The garage is full of boxes. Some packed and others sitting empty waiting for odds and sods from various rooms. On August 1st we start packing larger items like our prints and pictures. We have special boxes and packing material to accomplish that job. Our home will look very empty when the walls are bare.

We made the decision to send our van west with Hansen's. We drop it off in Toronto at their Terminal in early August and it will arrive in Delta BC on August 21st. That should be the exact day we arrive in the Delta/Tswwassen area from our last cross country night in an RV Park in Sicamous- just east of Kamloops.

Priscilla at the Ready
 
Island Garden
If the van delivery- by Rail, is delayed a day or two, we'll sit it out in Priscilla for a couple of days. The final leg of our journey takes us from the ferry dock at Tswwassen to either Swartz Bay- near Sidney, or up island to Nanaimo. We haven't quite decided. An hour drive from Sidney or a 2 1/2 hour Ferry ride to Nanaimo. Our first destination is an RV Park called Country Maples just south of Chemainus where we'll set up house until our new home is ready on September 29th. Including the week from Orillia to The Island, we'll spend 7 weeks in Priscilla- our 30 foot RV.
It will be an experience to be sure.

In the meantime we are here in Orillia, Ontario passing time, packing and doing "things" for the last time. We know it will be tough to leave but it's the beginning of a new era. One we are looking forward to with great excitement.