We are still getting emails and comments on the trip.  Just to update you that we have been taking trips by car and Motorcycle.  Thought we had our fill but no…… we are even looking at another coach…heaven forbid.

In the meantime Jack and Cate say hi!

We wish all of you safe times and hope one day soon you too can find the time to do something like this in your lifetimes.  We pass on this little saying which is our way to say to all of you …. keep on!

“You know, I’m sick of following my dreams….. I’m just going to ask where they’re going and hook up with ‘em later….  )”
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You can still contact us at:  rving@thelaundry.ca

Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want….

Grief

Grief is like the wake behind a boat.

Big enough to swamp and drown you -

if you suddenly stop moving forward.

But if you do keep moving -

the big wake will eventually get calm again.

That is when the memories of those who have left,

begin to shine,

As bright and as enduring as the stars above.”

- Jimmy Buffet from ‘A Salty Piece of Land”

But the good news is we should have our coach within the month or less!!  Yahoo!!

 Now trying to get acclimated to these new surroundings and living in a condo is getting tough for Jack and I.    No running right outside to hit the grass (we live on the third floor) for trees for our regular blessings, only so many rooms we can run around in or hide our stuff in and as if that isn’t tough enough a big, noisy wind hit the beach last night on the lake and knocked down a big sign and tree right by our place….how’s a girl to get any sleep with all that noise.

Ah Cate but with every negative you have to look at the positive…. I didn’t have to go far to find a new place to bless and it reduced the traffic for a few hours so I got back to sleep, no problem……

So let’s see….

• get trailer in Kelowna and return to Chilliwack to collision center… check
• ride motorcycle over to Victoria on Vancouver Island and deliver it to dealer for sale… sad day…. check
• visit family, pick-up mail, enjoy ferry rides…. check
• spend 7  hours unloading and unpacking  coach ready for trip to Peachland… our new home… check
• take a few pictures of the poor coach… check
• try and load all this stuff into a 5 x 8 trailer… check
• drive 3 1/2 hours same night to Peachland and unload stuff into condo…. check
• try and get around all the boxes, sort of like moving back in again…. check

Don’t forget walking and stops along the way for us to do our dog duty….. check

And then there is the……… to be continued!!!

Thanks for all the concern you have sent to our people and to us of course!  I think I can speak for Jack and myself when we tell you this stuff was scary.  My fur is still standing on end in places….. but we are safe and well cared for.

Yeah Cate and we’re even still able to fool them with our cute moves to get treats playing up on the “poor pups routine” is paying off in spades, especially in turkey leftovers tonight!! Thanks Aunt Trudy!!”

We made it with some butt puckering and watching a few vehicles head off into the snow drifts… Luckily, Kirk and Al met us at the condo and helped to get us unloaded for the evening, thank-you again guys!  Then still later, we were off to the storage facility in Peachland where our Ford Escape and trailer have spent the last 8 months.  Jumper cables in hand we got the reliable Escape going and home for the night.

In the morning we packed up and headed back down the highway in both vehicles and trailer to Chilliwack and the collision shop to drop off their car and our trailer for the weekend.  I put on some rain gear and got the motorcycle off the back of the coach which is already undergoing work.  We headed down the highway to the BC Ferries, Tracy in the car and me riding in the very heavy downpour.

2 hours in the rain, while stopping for a serious roll over accident on the freeway while it was dealt with we arrived at the ferry terminal in time for the 9 p.m. ferry to Victoria.  $36 for the motorcycle.  I am sure getting old, when I started taking the ferries, oh a few years ago on motorcycles, it was $8!

A change into dry clothes on the ferry and another 1/2 hour rain soaked ride on the other side and we arrived at Trudy’s place in Victoria for a visit and to deal with the motorcycle.  Now comes the trip to Nanaimo to pick up months of forwarded mail at Delphines place and back to Vancouver to  load up the trailer and see how our poor coach is doing………..

Our island trip with the coach was not to be, ICBC got us in to a local adjuster center by noon, less than a day after the mishap. Sorry we can’t recommend a repair shop but your vehicle can be repaired but can’t leave the Lower Mainland due to it’s undriveable condition. Spent 1/2 an hour at their center looking for a shop. A shop with a reputation for big rig repairs in a timely fashion!

Call, search some more, call, search some more and presto!! A mere 50 miles away in Chilliwack, O’Connor RV and Collision has a new shop just opened, state of the art specializing in Fleetwood. Off we toddle but now how do we get our stuff, the motorcycle and the pups home?? And how long is this gonna take to fix???

Budget doesn’t have any vehicles available till tomorrow to haul everything…..yada yada with all the other companies. O’Connor’s steps up and we can take one of their cars if we promise to be back the next day with our car and trailer to remove what we need and get the motorcycle to the island somehow! So the road to H#ll is paved with good intentions…. we head off into the mountains and off to Kelowna…………

Hello Kirk, can you meet us at the condo, we don’t have a key…. yes that’s right we are a bit early. No, no we won’t be staying long. Oh that, it’s still in Vancouver….”

the time is now 9:30 p.m. and still not home…. see video tomorrow!

Tracy and I look at each other with red eyes and decide that we must return to the home turf to get this taken care of. DUCT tape, having the knowledge of how well the windshield is installed and not being in a hurry we set off. It is now 8 p.m. and into Washington state. You’d think we were a circus act the looks and stares and notes of concern from other truckers and RV’ers which made the disappointment seem not so bad.

Stop for fuel outside of Seattle and lots of onlookers there. Lots with stories to relate but we are still hoping the duct tape holds and the rain doesn’t get any worse as the wipers are able to clear both sides, believe it or not. Arriving at customs around 1:30 am, what a story we had to tell. The agent was professional, polite but did crack a smile with the understanding that we were trying to return where we could get all this damage dealt with at once. OUR WHOLE life is presently in the coach and we didn’t have another 3-8 weeks to spend hoping things got done if we waited in Oregon.

DID you know that if you have body or glass work done in the U.S. upon your return you are responsible for the GST on all work and labour…… learned from our friendly border guard.

Now where to spend the night until we can contact ICBC once again as the coach has now been deemed non-drivable.