Apr 01, 2019
A different home coming than we expected
We were on the road by 7:20AM. We crossed this intersection where we had turned left ( right in the photo from this direction ) to start our journey last September 27th. We have been away 186 days or 6 months and 5 days. We have come full circle.
We approached the Canadian border about 8:35AM. Their big thing now ( must be the border guard union )is that you must shut down your RV but do not use the air brake. So you have to keep your foot on the brake the entire time. Then and only then will the border dude open the window of his booth. So many questions.
~when did we leave Canada
~where did we go ( then he wanted to discuss traveling to Mexico, was it safe, etc. ), he was surprised the we have been doing this since 2001
~what was the value of all the goods we were bringing back
~were all the belongings in the coach our own personal property
~exactly what fruits and veggies did we have onboard
~how much alcohol did we have with us
~did the Jeep belong to us; did the RV belong to us
~did we have any firearms or weapons with us
I guess he thought we answered the questions correctly and we were off. Back into Canada.
Because there is no place for us to dump here in the RV park nor in Kelowna ( Canadian Tire’s dump does not open until closer to the end of April ) we always have a problem. In the past we have been able to use friends sites here in the park but they have all sold and moved away. Last summer Colin found this dump station just before Summerland and so we stopped there to get rid of our business so to speak.
A lovely and relaxing drive in the sun along our huge lake.
We made good time and got back to Holiday Park about 11:35AM. However Colin could not get the car unhooked. He tried everything and in the end we had to move around the corner to another area that was more level. Problem resolved. Then I had to help him backup against traffic in order to turn around. So off we headed to our wonderful home that we haven’t seen for a long time.
All of our usual extra parking in the area has been changed over the last several months. New owners and renters. But I was able to secure a site for a few days through a special friend. So I came around the right way and passed our house and parked. Colin had to come in via the wrong direction and had to wait so this street sweeper could go first. Meanwhile I had already moved a contractors truck and trailer away as they had been parked in front of our site.
This was our new set up with the concrete block and post & chain barrier to stop the plows from piling the snow and crud up on our driveway. It is did work except that now we had to stop and move it all before we could park the RV. Too heavy for me to do on my own. So eventually we got them moved and we got the RV parked. The RV has to be parked precisely as there needs to be enough room for a firetruck to pass us on the road. We are allowed to be here for three nights and for a maximum of ten nights annually.
The home two over from us has sold since we left last September. They are doing some excavating , taking a hedge out, etc. These are folks who we have yet to meet had their contractor parked in front of our site. They very kindly moved as we asked but we also were stymied by the street sweeper.
Then the “things” began to happen. I was simply opening a blind but I neglected to move back my ‘keep the blind close to the window device’. This is often a bottle of wine or a vase or a thick book. My theory is that the closer the blind is to the window the less heat loss we will have over the winter. Anyway, the device in this case was a vase full of marbles which tipped and sent the marbles flying all over the place. Not a biggie. But what was a problem, is that we had no telephone service 🙄 I won’t go into detail but it took over an hour to speak to a human and they kept saying it was our fault, etc. Someone will come out on Wednesday 8-10 am to check out the line. However if it is our phone and not their line, then we will have to pay. Plus it turns out that I have not been getting an invoice since we left, but the account has been paid. I still have to sort that one out. Money is being billed to our credit card monthly but I have no idea how much, etc.
I had just finished dealing with the phone problem when our plumber arrived. Last year we had a problem with connecting our water softener and Colin decided that it was time to hire someone to help once we we arrive. This is the link to what happened last April. So we had made arrangements for the same fellow who blows our lines out in the fall to come hook us up. So our not so cheap plumber arrives and we discover that the park had not turned on our water 😮 I had sent them an email dated March 25th that we were arrving April 1st and needed our water turned on. Long long long long story but bottomline, now the park will not turn on our water until tomorrow morning. No matter what I said nor who I called, no way Jose!!!! So we pay the plumber for an hours worth of work and off he went. So here we are with no water to start my 13 loads of laundry, have a shower, nor even use the toilet. We can’t use the RV ( not allowed even if we could ) as we had dumped the tanks earlier in the day. I have even had to change my meal plan for tonight as I need water to wash my lettuce. However as it turns out, I did not have any extra of my special salad dressing here in the house. Sigh 🙁
So we are learning to adapt bit by bit such as using a bucket of water to flush. Fortunately Colin had filled our two 5 gallon water jugs and we still have 1.5 left, well one left now. They promised to come about 8:30AM in the morning to get our water turn on. The main reason they did not do it today is they now have a new policy where they do not turn on water after 2:30PM in case the pipe breaks. Somehow no one got my email and no work order was issued. Hopefully the morning will give us water with no water line breaks.
Another street sweeper came past later in the afternoon. There is so much mud on the road that it is not doing any good.
So we unpacked until we were done for the day. As in no more, no mas, done, done, done. So here I am posting @ 9:45PM while Colin is napping until I figure out a dinner that will work with no water.
Certainly not the way we expected today to go.
Gosh, just realized that I never even thought to check the sunset. Pretty sad for me 🙁
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Glad that you got home safely. Kick back and put your feet up for a day or two. Then go to work getting organized and planning for your next RV Adventure.
Vey glad you got home safely.
Semper Fi
Thank you Patrick. Stay tuned for the next adventure.
Well, that is quite the homecoming! Glad you made it safely and things will get back to normal soon!
Thank you for checking in. I am hoping to be back to normal by Sunday.
Welcome back to Canada, soon you will get things taken care of and be ready to head on out again.
I figure it might take the full six weeks we have here to get ready to leave again. We are still running a business and have both company and personal taxes to deal with. And I still have three more cities to research. I think I need to buy trains tickets for early June.
ALWAYS GOOD TO GET HOME SAFELY AFTER SUCH A LONG TRIP. MAYBE UTILITY COMPANIES ARE CHANGING THEIR POLICIES. ALWAYS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CALL IN ADVANCE FOR TURN ON THE MORNING OF RETURN, BUT NOW THEY WON’T DO IT UNTIL WE ARE PHYSICALLY ON THE PREMISES, THEN HAVE TO CALL THEM. THEY ARE USUALLY HERE IN AN HOUR BUT IT’S KIND OF A PAIN. KNOW YOU WILL BE BUSY, BUSY, BUSY.
It is not a utility company that does our water turn off and on but the staff here at our RV park. As to the telephone that is something totally unrelated to our being away.
Welcome home. You made it safely that is all that counts. The rest will get taken care of hopefully in time. I bet you got creative to handle everything. Soon you’ll be packing again!
You are spot on, getting home safely and intact is the most important. The rest are just nuisances but there seemed to be so many of them yesterday. I really wanted a bath last night.
Safely back to your home on the lake. What an adventure you had for the last 186 days – happy to hear you are safely home.
As much as we love the Isla, we also love our home and our view and the tranquility of the lake.
I’m just an 85 yr old lady from Oregon that has followed you each day and
absolutely loved your travels. Glad you have gotten home safely.
How sweet of you to make this comment. I love knowing that you enjoyed our last six months. Hopefully you will have fun with us as we travel Europe.
Interesting border experience. Have never had them ask about any food coming in to Canada.
It’s always such a relief driving into our driveway, but the amount of work unloading etc. can be daunting. I don’t know why we always think it has to be done so quickly.
We have always been asked about food both leaving Canada but the Americans and by the Canadians when we return. Perhaps it is a BC thing. I have noted on your blog and on Geroge’s that you Ontarian’s get away with much more than we do. If we had a driveway like yourself I think we would take the unloading easier.
The weather, lake, and roads look beautiful at home! How nice to be home, how sad to have all those hassles 🙁 I sure hope everything works out tomorrow … and you don’t slip on any missed marbles.
Colin knows me well enough to have made certain that there were no stray marbles or I would likely have found one. We are doing well today.