So I suppose you have been thinking… “hey is that soap-lady still alive and kickin”? Or maybe you care not (since you wisely stocked up on soapy goodies like we told you). But I thought we’d check-in and let you know I am not dead-in-a-ditch somewhere along the great Canadian artery that is the trans-Canada highway!! Sadly, neither am I in my new home bossing around my progeny and the Hairy-Half yet.
Here is the long and short of the journey this summer:
Our end of the move from Yellowknife in late July was smooth and uneventful (the same could not be said for the Hairy-Half’s end). We managed to slip through the highway fire-closure during an 8 hour window right on schedule. Just from what we could see along the highway, the volume of timber consumed by the fires this summer was staggering. It was otherworldly to see fires burning 15 feet into the air as we whizzed by. (Though we didn’t miss breathing it in once we arrived South.) A huge ‘thank you’ is due my parents-in-law for their perseverance and physical support throughout the move. They subbed-in for the Hairy Half who was unable to be there, and drove my truck and camper to Winnipeg (where Hairy Half later collected and moved them to Seattle).
All our worldly goods…
The view south (as in ‘not much’) of Edzo
A short, family-filled rest in Kenora, ON, and the kids and I were off to Niagara Falls. I had promised the kids we would camp along the way in Lake Superior Provincial Park (on the stunning east side of the lake), and despite the misty rain (which they were happy to see after the drought), the kids would not hear of stopping at a hotel…. Imagine my consternation upon discovering at the campsite that I had forgotten to pack the tent poles….. Doh!! So like the resourceful Northerners we are, we scavenged branches and rocks and made a suitable shelter out of the tent fly! A dinner of chicken drumsticks on the fire, and we spent a most comfortable night despite a little wind and rain. Kids think it was the best camping – EVER!
Ah, the lake-life
Necessity (mother of invention and all that)
After arriving in Niagara, we (my father, brother, sister-in-law and I) laboured for 2 weeks to purge and pack 45 years of my parents’ worldly goods and move it into storage (my mother had just gone into a home for early-onset dementia and my father had sold the house). Please don’t ask me to help you move any time soon…. I need a few years off….
Dump Run!
Utterly exhausted (on every level), we packed ourselves up, pointed the cars westward, and crossed the country again, this time with my dad in tow. The Hairy Half met us in Abbotsford, BC to take possession of the kids and father-in-law and scoot across the border to our new home so the kids could start the new school year next day. As a condition of my immigration application, I am not allowed to cross into the US until my case is approved. So I remained behind, turning around a day later headed back to Toronto.
Nice rocks (too many trees)!
So, four car tires and a set of trailer tires later, I am spinning my wheels waiting for the grinding gears of a broken immigration system to spit me out and allow me to rejoin my family. In the meantime, I am parked at my brother and sister-in-law’s lovely home, with unfettered access to my 3 yr old niece. I am close to downtown and not too far from my bff and her kids! I am ever so fortunate (and only occasionally depressed)!
Somebody has self-confidence issues…
Update: I was hoping to publish this post weeks ago, but had to get into the bowels of my wordpress theme and fix some issues. I have since had a whirlwind visit to YK (seen my kiddies), been granted an expedite from the Montreal consulate, had the National Visa Center complete my case and send it up, and I am now awaiting an interview date. But, I will fill you in on those details in another post!