Quebec

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Crunch Time

I’m pretty much in melt down mode now (par for the course for me when I move), but am better than I was four hours ago.

When I picked up Miranda in July, I didn’t have the tow pins, so I couldn’t hitch up the car. The previous owner was going to be out of town for several weeks, so I set all thoughts of the pins aside until he got back. When he did, he questioned if the pins really belonged to me or came with the base plate. By the time I got an answer about that, and learned that no place in town has the pins in stock and they would all take at least two weeks to get some in for me (!!!), the PO was unreachable and… it was 4:30 today. I came up with several contingency plans for getting both Miranda and Pommette back in town by Saturday. None were pretty. Then the phone rang at 4:45 and it was the PO, out of town, but back tomorrow. I can pick up the pins at 5PM. Crisis averted. PHEW.

I woke up at 6:15 this morning in full panic mode and made up several more boxes before leaving for work an hour and a half later. I really don’t have that much left to do, but it’s all spread out and looks worse than it is. I’ve also essentially ‘lost’ an evening. Tomorrow, I’m driving out to North Gower to pick up Miranda, and I’ll drop her off at the mechanic’s where she’ll undergo an oil change on Friday morning.

Friday afternoon, I’ll go pick her up and drive her here to fill her up as much as I have time for. Then I’m going to a sports arena a few blocks from my place that allows overnighting in an RV at no charge!!! How convenient is that?! I was surprised to find not only this option, but also TWO Wal-marts within a ten minute drive. Ssh, don’t tell Gatineau! They’ll shut down that practise if they get wind of it.

So, Friday night I’ll sleep in the moho at the arena with the catkids and be back here bright and early on Saturday morning. I’ll have time to clean the house before my friend shows up to help me with the mattress.

Then, it’s off to the municipal dump to get Miranda weighed, the grocery store for supplies, and, finally, the campground for some well deserved downtime and BEER.

This is my seventh move in ten years. One would think I’d have such an event down to a science by now, but I’m not. Each move has been very different. I’m just so tired of it and hope that I can RV for a few years.

Things are so rushed right now that I have to remind myself that this time next week, I’ll be trying to wind down in preparation for the big departure the next morning. I might not feel ready, but “There is a time for departure even when there’s no certain place to go.” (Tennessee Williams)

Eight sleeps left!

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There is No Love Lost…

Between the city of Gatineau and myself. It’s no secret that I have nothing to recommend about this backward money-grubbing city and that the only way I could have survived another couple of years in this area would have been by returning to Ottawa.

One of the biggest issues I have is the draconian parking enforcement. Here are two examples:

1) One day, I parked my car in front of my house at about ten to five during the week. The way parking is set up at my house is that I have to drive down a narrow laneway and then park in the backyard. To get to the car, I have to go down a flight of stairs. In the front, though, I only have two steps to go down. So, I had parked on the street in order to fill the car for some excursion or another. During the week, I’m only allowed to park one hour in front between the hours of 8 and 6PM, so I needed to be out of the spot by ten to six, then move the car for ten minutes. Well, with seven minutes left on the metre, a parking enforcement officer came by and told me that he was watching me and that if I wasn’t gone in exactly seven minutes, I was going to get a ticket. He could see that I lived there and was loading boxes and that there were a ton of empty spaces on the street. He could have let me have those ten minutes. Instead, he sat there staring at his watch while I shut up the car, drove down my laneway, parked in the back, did a couple more loads up and down the stairs, and then came back to the front once 6 came. He was still there, making sure I didn’t repark until it was 6:01.

2) I’m beginning to fear that I will be rushed on Saturday morning. I need to drive to North Gower, boost the coach, and hook up the car for the first time. A friend is meeting me at 9:30 to move the mattress in and I need to be out of there for noon. So, I thought that I could bring the coach up on Friday. I don’t trust the neighbourhood, so I would sleep in it with my cellphone kept closeby. That would give me all of Friday night to get the coach loaded. I called the city of Gatineau to see if this was okay and made one heck of a mistake: I told the lady where I live. She informed me that I cannot park on my street, no exceptions, not even to load the coach on Saturday. She said that she knows my address and is looking forward to sending someone over on Saturday to ticket me.

I’m fairly sure this is just talk on her part to discourage me, but Saturday night onward I am sleeping in Ottawa and I will never, ever return to this city to live ever again.

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Extreme Makeover: RV Edition, Part One

My mother and I got a ton of work done on the coach this weekend. I’m fortunate that I was able to get down to her place and that she was available. We had the full resources of her workshop at her disposal. As we raced through Home Depot on Saturday morning she said that she felt that she was on one of those tv shows where you have to decorate on time and on budget and I have to agree!

I’ll start off with a bit of info on the drive down Friday. The weather was awful, alternating pouring rain with bright sun, but I had no choice, I needed to arrive that night, so I took off. The drive was really quite easy; I even felt comfortable enough to pass slow pokes. Montreal was harrowing, but Miranda made it through unscathed.

The most exciting part of the drive was stopping off for fuel. I wasn’t sure if Miranda would fit under the overhang.

Please visit the various room pages linked to from the Miranda page for pictures.

Next weekend, I’ll have more pictures of the back room renovations; I’m just waiting for some sewing to be done to be able to show things off properly. 🙂

Kilometres driven this weekend: just shy of 500.

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Glasgow to Montreal

6:51 AM

What a morning! I’ve been tossing and turning since a little past 5! At 6, I said enough! and I got up, showered, packed, etc. Although I’m not hungry, I figure it would be smart to get a bowl of cereal in me. Then, I’ll have to zoom downtown. So far, it looks like I might make the airport for 8:30. I could be there for 8, but I think it would be silly throwing away a free breakfast. Besides, I’m in no real rush, I don’t have to check in until 9. It feels weird to think that ‘tonight’, I’ll be sleeping in my own bed! I’ve put tonight in quote marks because it’ll be tonight in Canada, but very early morning here! The jet lag coming wasn’t too bad, but I hear that going west is worse. It’s like living the same day twice. Anyhoo, tomorrow should be interesting! When I get ‘home’ I want to soak, and wear something I haven’t worn in a month (I had the same three tee-shirts, one sweater, and one everyday pair of pants !).

9:01

I’m all checked in and ready to board at 10:15! It’s incredible: the subway arrived at the same time I did, then I got to the bus stance just as they were getting ready to go. Check in was a breeze, but it would appear that I have to get my luggage in Toronto to clear customs and then get it back on the plane. I’ll figure it out when I get there ! I bought (my uncle) a full litre of ‘Highland Park’ (no smaller size). I figure I might as well get him one I like rather than pick and choose at random. Edradour was more expensive (and not as good!) Turns out ‘Wallace’ is a liqueur made from single malt whiskey. Thanks for nothing, lady!

I just set my watch back to hometime. It’s 4AM there!!! I’ll be in Toronto at 13:15 EST. That’s 9 hours from now ! I have to catch my connecting flight at 15:00. It’s going to be tight!

12:08 EST (from now on, EST)

Despite some minor turbulence, the flight has been smooth. We’re flying over Quebec now. The in-flight movie was ‘Titanic’! Can you believe that the return flight is a whole two hours longer?! Due to winds we’re going to be delayed. Oh well, just so long as I’m on the plane for Montreal at 3!

I am amazed by the quality of the vegetarian (actually vegan) meals offered. Lunch was TOFU served with peppers and rice with bread and fruit salad and crackers for dessert. Our snack (well mine!) was a whole wheat bun with lettuce, tomato, and cucumber with orange juice and a tangerine on the side. Of course, I’ve had tea.

 

It was cool flying over the north(ish) Atlantic while the boat (‘Titanic’) sank (yes, I am morbid!). I can’t believe that movie still makes me cry. The worst/best part is at the end where the photographs are revealed and one sees that Rose has fulfilled all her dreams. Now, my dream has come true. This time around, I shed tears of understanding of the miracle incurred by the realisation of dreams, while the previous two times I wept out of petty jealously. Oh, I am no longer the same person anymore! I’m not even the least bit worried about clearing customs, etc. and making my 3:00 flight! Whatever happens, will happen. I can’t advert my fate. It’s fate, a fate I created that has brought me here. Jack Dawson’s right: ‘Make it count’, live each day. I realise now that each new dawn is full of opportunity and each new day full of adventure. Life can’t be perfect, but this is close!

4:20 pm

I made it!!! We arrived over a half hour late in Toronto, but I had no trouble clearing customs. My handbag had to be opened and rifled through, though, since the x-ray machine picked up something ‘weird’. (I had all my ‘hardware’ in there: clothes pins, miniature grappling hooks, and a pocket knife, among other things. The ‘searcher’ started laughing, she couldn’t believe how prepared I was for any situation!)

Leaving Toronto took forever. We taxied for over 15 minutes, then we had to queue (very Brit. word!) to take off. Now, we’ve landed, but our gate is currently occupied by another aircraft so we’ll have about 8 minutes to wait. (L. Pearson airport, Toronto, was undergoing major renovation, so planes were delayed leaving. The plane at our gate in Montreal was one such plane that had been delayed like ours.) This is the worse thing that’s happened to me since I left a month ago. Poor me!

Right now, it’s supposed to be 9:23 Glasgow time, but I feel on Montreal time. I’ll get back to you in a few hours! The snack this flight was ice cream on a stick. It was funny looking at the business travellers in ties and suits dealing with it!

It’s good, but weird, to be ‘home’. What is the definition of home ? I guess it’s where you understand what makes people tick (in both good and bad sense). It’s where the rhythm of life is so engrained in you as to be unnoticeable to you. It’s where you can ‘go with the flow’ and not have to think about it. I dinna ken, really. But when you’re home, you feel it. And this is home. Not Montreal as such, but Canada, in general. I understand Canadians. I can guess what motivates Scots, but only guess. I don’t know what motivates Canadians, but I do know how they think. I really am a Canadian above all else. These people, a veritable crazy quilt of cultures, are my people. I’m starting to get a sense of identity that I couldn’t see until I left the country and saw other cultures.

That’s it! I went to Scotland in search of myself, and succeeded. I am astounded by that last entry. I had to leave Canada in order to understand what makes me Canadian. I learned valuable lessons on this journey, lessons that will stick with me for ever, and through all my travels.

I know the journal is not always eloquent, but it was jotted down on trains, planes, and buses, while standing in line, or eating dinner. Sometimes, I’d just lean against the corner of a building or plop down on a bench somewhere. It was written during stolen moments of time. I cannot imagine travelling without it.

Thank you for sharing the most incredible adventure of my life with me.