British Columbia

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A Gentle Repeating of History

Augh. Another day, another day of being employed only part-time. Part-time might pay the bills, but it doesn’t pay for groceries or extras like new glasses because the arm on your pair snapped off! I did yet another round on foot with the resumes today. All but one store (Zellers) accepted one and most said that they are hiring for the holiday season. Hopefully…

It has occurred to me that my situation right now is really not unlike that in Oliver last year, except that my ‘free’ rent comes at a reasonable cost and is not making me miserable! There isn’t really any place for me to go, unless I want to go pay the park rates in the big cities of the Island like Nanaimo or Victoria, so I’m not considering moving. The extra hours come January are going to help, but won’t make up for two months of only part-time employment.

Even if financially things are as they are, I can see my RVing life slowly improving and I imagine that things are only going to get better. It’s just the ‘in the meantime’ that can sometimes be hard to get through. I have to remember that building a new life takes time and patience and that good things come to those who wait.

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Travels Without Miranda, #5: Antiquing in Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a state that gets a bum rap. It is a verdant land of rolling hills and dairy farms. Granted, I detoured around Milwaukee, so I didn’t see the urban Wisconsin, but what I did visit was idyllic.

I was on a road trip circling the Great Lakes and I was a woman on a mission. The previous day I had driven from Toronto to Lake Bluff, Illinois, a distance of more than a 1,000km. I’m not sure exactly why I was in such a rush, but there was no way to stop me. This was my first vacation in years and I was going to see it ALL!

Yeah.

Coming into Wisconsin, I decided that I didn’t want to go through Milwaukee, so I looked for a way around the city and instead decided to get off I-94 for a spell and take a secondary road that would lead me back to I-94 at Madison in a diagonal fashion.

Suddenly, I had no choice but to slow down since the scenic route meant going through towns and going through towns meant slower speed limits and, gasp, stop signs. I passed an antique shop at one point and wished that I could stop. Two blocks away from it, I had a revelation, I could stop if I wanted to! I was on vacation, for pete’s sake and I didn’t have to be in such a rush!

I ended up doing only a couple hundred kilometres that day as I lost myself in the antique shops of southern Wisconsin, scooping up blue willow dishes and brass candleholders. I don’t have any pictures of the two antique malls I stopped at, among smaller shops, but they are Freddy Bears Antique Mall and Heavenly Heaven Antique Mall (located in a restored church) in Waterford. Plan on spending several hours at each!

When I was done, I found the beautiful Devil’s Lake Campground and set my tent up for the night, guaranteeing a leisurely departure the next day. I remember going for a swim in the shallow lake that was still warm that late in September and whooping with joy at rediscovering life in the slow lane.

Devil's Lake, Wisconsin

Devil’s Lake, Wisconsin

It was in Wisconsin that I learned that I want to travel at a slow pace and that it’s when I think that I’m in the biggest hurry that I should slow down and enjoy the moment because there might not be another opportunity to do so. I must have had this lesson in mind during my Chasm respite before one of the worst days of my life.

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Minus Two!

History seems to be repeated itself, with a mild November bringing a chilly December. We are supposed to go as low as minus five over night this weekend! It’s presently minus two at 9:30, which translates to slightly chilly inside with just the electric heaters on. No sense running the furnace when I’ll be leaving in a few minutes and it’ll be going well above zero by noon.

So far so good, weatherwise. Lows of minus five overnight are fine; I’ll just add a couple of extra blankets and maybe set the furnace on low. Miranda holds up well until minus ten, so I don’t anticipate being uncomfortable.

The nice thing about this weather is that it brings clear skies!

I came up with a brilliant (if I do say so myself) use for my dinette cushions. Would you believe me if I told you the seat back cushions are exactly the right dimension to cover the side windows in the loft while the two seat cushions end to end are exactly the right size to cover the front window? Yes! What a find! They are good insulators and make it super dark and cozy upper there. I just need to reupholster them at some point. Otherwise, the ‘finding new window coverings for the loft’ portion of the makeover is done!

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Travels Without Miranda, #3: Flying from Las Vegas, Nevada, to the Grand Canyon, Arizona

My first morning in Las Vegas had me being driven down the Strip to McCarran airport in a stretch limo.

There, I climbed into a tiny helicopter that took me over the Mojave desert, within view of Mead Lake and the Hoover dam, all the way to the Grand Canyon. We landed within it and were given time to explore and enjoy a champagne brunch.

Let’s just say this was a more luxe experience than I normally go for. I was until then a backpacker, a camper, a youth hosteler, not someone who stays at a nice hotel and drinks fancy drinks by a pool lined with palm trees! And I most certainly was a frugal traveler, not one who would do such extravagant things as take a half-day helicopter ride from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon. Nope!

I’m not sure what came over me during my planning of my southwest road trip. I’ll plead mental exhaustion, what with the stress of having lost my dad earlier that year. I needed to be pampered and catered-to, to do things just for fun to reawaken my zest for life. I didn’t know if I’d ever come back to that part of the US and I was so close to the Grand Canyon. The helicopter jaunt sounded like the perfect way to see the Canyon with the time I had available to me. It just about broke my budget, but it is now one of my most cherished memories.

Rather than taking photos during this jaunt, I made full use of the video setting on my camera, so the following images are stills from my movies, explaining the poor quality. Unfortunately, the second half of my Grand Canyon recordings have been lost due to reshuffling between several computers. I have managed to save a picture of me at the bottom of the canyon, proof enough that I was there even if someone did tell me that the image seems to be photoshopped. 😀

a glimpse of the Strip

a glimpse of the Strip

Lake Mead

Lake Mead

Mojave desert

Mojave desert

Colorado River and the Grand Canyon

Colorado River and the Grand Canyon

a non-photoshopped picture of me at the bottom of the Grand Canyon

a non-photoshopped picture of me at the bottom of the Grand Canyon

Sometimes you end up in a place where you get the chance to experience an incredible adventure. Do it and @%@$ the budget. I applied this lesson when I decided to hike the Chilkoot Pass at a time when I financially had no business doing so.