Saskatchewan

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Settling In

I’m slowly getting back into my at home routine. Most of my neighbours have been by to welcome me back. It’s nice to know I was thought about in my absence!

We had good weather on Tuesday and most of Wednesday, so I took care of outdoor chores, including most of the laundry, mowing the lawn, and nearly finishing the emptying of the truck. I got my exercise on Wednesday going back and forth to C&C’s every couple of hours to let out the dog and spend time with him and the cats. The dog’s dinner is a bit ‘complicated’, so Caroline had me over Tuesday night to show me how to put it together and I ended up being invited to stay for dinner!

It started to rain on Wednesday night and was cold last night. I set the furnace for 55F (after running it before bed to make sure it was working) and it kicked on around 4:00 this morning. I also ran my mattress pad warmer on low all night, so I was cozy.

Thankfully, we’re climbing out of this as we march into June. If we get a normal summer, this should be it for nasty weather. *all appendages crossed*

I’ve discovered that my roof is leaking worse than ever and have committed to a major assault of it this summer. Both Dicor and Eternabond have utterly failed me, so it’s time to look at household solutions. The big problem is that all the products recommended to me are not available locally, which explains in part why this project is going on so long.

At this point, I really don’t care about structural damage to the overhang (ie. weakened wood and delamination) because I’m not planning on moving Miranda again. Remember that she has an aluminum frame construction, so leaks get contained. I know the walls and roof are weak, but they’re fine for just sitting here. Once I know the roof is thoroughly sealed, I want to do some cosmetic work in the loft again to mask the water damage, but I don’t plan to take anything apart.

Work is picking up and May should end with enough money in the receivables for me to just scrape through June without dipping into savings. This includes a large amount of money outstanding from May that I only managed without in May thanks to everyone’s hospitality (I would have been sleeping in the truck in sub-zero weather otherwise!). It was an unexpected situation since both of those clients have always been reliable. One forgot to drop the cheque in the mail and the other nearly got stiffed by her client and only just managed to make them produce payment. In fact, that payment dropped into my PayPal as I was writing this! Yay!

The big personal project right now is putting together my grocery list for when I go to Moose Jaw next week. One of the unexpected realities of ‘maintaining two homes’ is that I have to start my pantry over each time I move from one to the other. I can’t keep food in Miranda over the winter and don’t want to have to ask C&C to store too much and I can’t store anything in Mexico because of the humid climate.

So I’m finding myself having to start over in both countries with condiments, spices, and other foods that normally don’t get replaced regularly. I brought some food to and from Mexico and it was a huge pain making sure nothing spilled. A lot of what I brought down in the fall got spoiled sitting in a hot truck for days on end. So I don’t plan on bringing much down this fall, unless I end up just doing the trip in a week.

I bought a freezer last summer, so my plan is to go to Moose Jaw and buy as much as I can to fill up the freezer and then do a little topping up in Assiniboia or Willow Bunch each week for fresh produce. Part of the shopping will involve cooking up tons of food over a couple of days so that I really don’t need to think about food for the rest of the summer. I don’t have any lucrative contracts lined up, so it will mean very long hours to make the money I need. Being able to just go to the grainery and pull a meatloaf or whatever out of the freezer at the end of a long day will be a blessing.

I wish I had a bigger budget for this shop (I think I can just squeeze in $400, maybe $500 if the exchange rate remains favourable, which really won’t go far), but if I put it off for July, a month will have passed and it really won’t be worth the effort. I really don’t want to do another substantial shop in Assiniboia either. That $80 really didn’t go far at all and I’m already wishing I could go back to town and buy more food for the weekend!

Another thing I dealt with this week was contacting SaskHealth to let them know I’m back so they can issue me a new health card. An email from them just dropped into my inbox informing me that the chance has been satisfactorily processed. I haven’t found anything on their site that says I can’t ask for an extension every year, so I’m going to try again in the fall. If I succeed, I can leave in October again and go spend some time in Utah before going to Mexico. Otherwise, I’ll have to leave in November and make a run for the borders.

So that’s all the big news out of Haven this week. 🙂 Now, I’m off to work. I did a full day yesterday and it should be full days from here on in… I keep telling myself that every dollar I make is about 12 pesos right now and 12 pesos goes waaaaaaay further than a dollar so I better hang on to my dollars and spend them as pesos! 😀

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Morning at Haven

Ah, there’s nothing like opening the front door in the morning to survey your very own 5,000 square feet of land. The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and it’s going to be a gorgeous day!

My first night at home was good, but not as spectacular as if I had gone straight from Mexico to here. I’ve had many equally dark and quiet nights since I left Isla a month ago and certainly more comfortable beds! My bed isn’t bad, but I really do need a topper, which I’ve discovered means deeper sheets, so it’s really a more pricey project than I had a realised.

I fell asleep reading on my iPad last night and woke up flat on my back nearly eight hours later with the tablet on my chest. Too funny!

There’s so much to do in the next weeks. I still have mountains of laundry to wash and tons of bags and boxes to unpack. Miranda needs a good dusting and cobweb removal. I have to finishing set up the kitchen and work on my grocery list for Moose Jaw.

Outside, I want to finishing cleaning up the shed floor and then paint the inside (I think I have enough exterior paint left to do that), then set it up like a proper shed so that I can empty out the cabin and start thinking about what I’m going to do to make it a liveable space. In the meantime, I’d settle for a cleaner and more functional laundry space (my washer still works great!) because the cabin is a mess. I can’t get to the freezer or even the lawnmower. Oh, right, lawnmower. I might try to get to the lawn this afternoon. The grass is really tall!

Work is apparently incoming later today or tomorrow so it’ll be time to figure out what sort of routine I want with that. I think I’ll do five intense days a week and two shorter ones. My government contract is done for the year, so I don’t have anything lucrative lined up, just steady stuff with piddly pay. Better than nothing, but I need to dig for something juicier.

My budgetary focus for the summer is the trip down to Mexico in the fall, as well as my first month or two there, rather than the property. I have lots to keep me busy here that won’t require spending a lot of money, so I’m just going to enjoy being in my own space and puttering around. C&C are doing more work on their house, mainly roofing so that will occupy some of my time, too. I’m really not worried about being bored! I intend to savour these quiet contemplative days knowing that I’ll soon enough be back to the hustle and bustle of my Mexican abode. Talk about the best of both worlds. I continue to be in awe of myself for somehow managing to create this unbelievably amazing life!

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Scobey to Haven and Rediscovering Miranda

I’m home!!!!!!!

I barely slept last night in Scobey, which was absolutely not the motel’s fault. I woke up around 4:00, read for a bit, and then dozed till 6:30. The room had a microwave, so I was able to make coffee, my last cup of the Mexican stuff!

I was packed and on the road by about 7:38. It was only 14 miles to the border, so I took it slow, about 40MPH, even though the speed limit was 70MPH (there was no one else on the road and I was still going a legal speed!). I got to the border exactly as it opened.

The customs officer was pleasant in taking my declaration, but based on how much he was writing, I knew I was in for it. Scobey is not a busy crossing, so I was probably going to be the most interesting crosser they’d get today and I paid for it. Like the Americans, they emptied the entire truck. Unlike the Americans, they did the work themselves. And unlike the Americans, they went through everything. I couldn’t see much from my vantage point, but I’d been asked to leave my purse and I saw them rifling through the receipts in my wallet; that’s how in depth their search was.

I was absolutely mellow about all this. I mean, I had made a truthful declaration and had absolutely nothing to hide. I wasn’t too happy to see them rooting around in my dirty laundry, but, hey, imagine how they felt!

Finally, I saw one of the guards pull out a piece of paper and take it to his supervisor. I knew exactly what it was. If that’s all they were worried about, I was in the clear. The guard came to me and said that he found what appeared to be a receipt for a 1TB hard drive shipped to me in South Dakota from California and had I included it in my declaration? I explained that it was a warranty return for a hard drive that crapped out in Mexico, that I had it sent to SD because UPS doesn’t come to Haven, that I have the paper trail on my computer, etc. The guard seemed to find that logical and then asked me why I have so many hard drives. I explained that I live in an RV and have pretty much digitized my life, so I have movies, books, pictures, and business backups on them.

The guard appeared to find all of that reasonable and moments later I was told they were both satisfied and I could go. And then guess what? THEY REPACKED MY TRUCK FOR ME.

I was there just shy of 40 minutes. Since they did all the work, it really wasn’t painful and I’d consider that a non-event of a border crossing. I do wish I had been as well packed by this point as I was when I crossed back into the US because I had a lot of loose items!

Both Google and my GPS refuse to route me from Willow Bunch to Haven via the gravel road, so they both put my travel time as double what it really is, claiming I was two hours from Haven at the border when it was actually just one hour. The paved roads were really bad and made me think I was back in Quebec! It was a real obstacle course! I was glad to hit the last 18KM stretch on perfectly graded gravel.

Before I knew it, I could see the green roof of C&C’s garage and then the blue roof of my shed. The property needs a really good mowing and still has trash that Charles had said he’d get rid of (he’s been busy!), but otherwise it looked good.

I’d left them my house key, so I entered through the cab. The first thing that hit me was just how fresh Miranda smelled. It was really surprising! I came in and found no dust worth mentioning, no evidence that mice feasted on the poison I left out, no signs of mould or water infiltration, and only an inordinate number of dead bees.

Satisfied with Miranda’s condition, I went out and removed the tarp that covered her all winter, then opened all the windows and roof hatches. I should point out here that it’s hot and sunny in southern Saskatchewan!

Next, I went to check out the water hydrant and was happy that it had been turned on for me as promised. I was going to start on laundry when I realised that I’d left my grainery key with C&C and that they weren’t home.

So I decided to start on the next most pressing issue, Miranda having settled over the winter and no longer being level. Her starting battery was dead and I didn’t feel like waiting for it to charge, so I just gave her a boost from Moya and her engine cranked right over! Good old V-10, doesn’t even care about the stale fuel! Getting level was a bit of sport, but the whole thing amused me. How many people leave their home for the better part of a year and the first thing they have to do is start its engine and move it around?!

Once I was level, I hooked up to power. My batteries are still in C&C’s garage, but I really don’t need them now that I have shore power, so moving those heavy suckers will be a task for another day (as will emptying C&C’s basement of the stuff I stored there!). With the power on, I was able to start the fridge.

By the time all this was done, I saw Caroline’s school bus was parked in front of the house, so I went over just in time for coffee break! We caught up on each other’s news and I went through my mail. There was nothing major except for a very overdue bill for gravel that I forgot would be incoming since I had sent payment for its shipment. I hope they will be understanding. Needless to say, I will send a cheque promptly, a letter of explanation and apology, and an offer to send me an invoice for interest!

Caroline and Charles are super busy retirees and I had tons of stuff to do myself, so I didn’t stay long. As it turns out, our May long weekend doesn’t coincide with that of the US, so today wasn’t a holiday Monday after all. So I decided that I might as well go to town and pick up propane and groceries.

Before I did that, I got my water hoses hooked up to the hydrant and by the time I was nearly done, two more neighbours came by to welcome me back and catch up on the winter’s happening. What a lovely community I have!

The road to Assiniboia was also terrible and very good for practicing my reflexes! Propane was crazy expensive, $38 for 29 pounds!!!! Groceries were also terrible. I spent $80 and came out with almost nothing. As an example of the culture shock I felt, a watermelon that is 0.65CAD in Mexico and 1.20CAD in the US is 3.99CAD here. I was pleased to see that the grocery store is being expanded, that the produce that was there was better than anything I’d ever seen there (but they were out of onions!), and that they are starting to carry more international foods (like haloumi, halva, and thin pita; be still my beating heart!). I still don’t want to shop there again this summer for anything substantial and look forward to a Moose Jaw trip, if only for meat. Oh, and the non-alcoholic beer I discovered last summer was almost half off today and, I’m happy to report, is still as good as the real stuff!

The fridge and freezer were surprisingly cold when I got in. I put away the food and got started on laundry. I have almost zero water pressure, so I didn’t waste any time, filling the motorhome holding tank in between loads. I have tons of laundry to do because I discovered in Keystone that I picked up a mouse along the way and a lot of my bedding is mousy. Yuck!

When the RV was full of water, it was time to test my water system. And this is where I got bad news. I was able, after a lot of work, to get my water heater to fire, but I discovered have a bad leak in my hot water system. I can see it, but I can’t get to it to work on it. I knew this was going to happen at some point, having recognized since day one that I’d be screwed the day that I had to work on the water heater since the only way to do so is to literally cut a hole in the exterior wall to pull it out.

My only hope at this point is self-sealing silicone tape, so I’ll pick up a roll next time I’m in town and see if I can seal the leak with that. What’s leaking is a shut off valve, but there is literally no room to work to cut it out so that I can replace it with a new one. I’ll have to think about whether I know anyone with a smaller frame and much smaller hands who knows plumbing. My friend Croft has had similar issues. It sucks to have the technical competency to do something, but to not have the room to work!

So I have a tank full of hot water, but no shower tonight. I’m glad that’s the worst of it!

Somewhere in all of this, I got my booster and antenna set up so I could have internet. The signal I’m getting is worse than last summer, so I really do need to make a better antenna installation a priority. My office is partially set up now and I plan to be back at work Thursday.

I’m waiting for the last load of laundry for today to be done, then I’m calling it a day and will start to work on supper. I wonder how my bed is going to feel!

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Keystone, SD, to Scobey, MT

The Black Hills region really is a tricky one to visit. It’s just not a safe bet in the shoulder season. I’m lucky that I got a good day for Mount Rushmore and will only return to the area if I can afford time off in the dead of summer. I do not regret my detour in the least though since it meant meeting Vicki, getting work done, and, of course, seeing Mount Rushmore. Oh, and eating amazing free food, too! 🙂

It was raining so hard in Keystone today that the bridge between the main road and the camping area was closed for fear that it would get under water! A local guy showed me an alternate way out, a little rough, but doable in the truck. I was worried that that would wash out, too, so once I knew about the bridge closure, I was in departure mode!

I’d emptied a lot of the truck so I could transport passengers, so I had the fun task of refilling it in pouring rain today. Let’s just say I didn’t care to make it neat and tidy! I was done by about 10:30 and it was time to go since the rain wasn’t letting up and I was taking the flooding warnings seriously. It was almost 20 fake degrees warmer in northern Montana/southern SK and clear skied so, really, there really was no point in hanging around.

I headed to Rapid City and did a pointless Walmart stop since they didn’t have what I wanted. I then continued on to Spearfish, where I decided to get lunch. I haven’t been to Applebee’s at all on this trip, so I stopped there, but there was a huge lineup. I instead went to a Perkins across the interstate and had a pot of coffee and a burger. The server told me I had to order dessert and was very insistent about it, so I decided to try their chocolate pie. The bill came with the slice and as it turned out, they had a coffee and pie special that meant that my meal was about 30 cents LESS expensive with my buying the pie than if I hadn’t! Too funny. I didn’t feel guilty for leaving most of it behind as it was way too sweet, but the couple of mouthfuls I had were a treat.

Then, I drove in incessant pouring rain. So much water… But I could see a clearing to the north and I finally got patches of blue sky and white clouds as I approached Miles City, Montana. The weather remained fairly clear until just shy of Glendive where the sky let loose again. The rain was falling so hard I knew it couldn’t possibly last, and it didn’t. The rest of the drive was in increasingly clear and warm weather. It was about 70 fake degrees when I pulled in Scobey, versus about 50 in Keystone!

Coming into Scobey, gas was foremost on my mind. With tomorrow being a holiday Monday, I knew I had about a 0% chance of being able to get gas in Coronach and about a -100% chance of being able to do so in Willow Bunch. I didn’t think I had quite enough to be able to get to Assiniboia on Tuesday, so, really, I had to find fuel tonight. Moreover, I much preferred to fill up on cheap US gas! But this was late on a Sunday night in a small town, so I had a feeling the gas station would be closed. It technically wasn’t… but it’s pay at the pump place and it’s difficult to pay at the pump with a Canadian card at most stations. I swiped my Visa and was relieved that it was approved immediately! That done, it was time to find a bed for the night.

There are two places to stay in Scobey. The first wanted $86 for a room. PASS. The next wanted $58, more than I wanted to pay, but not enough to make me want to find a place to sleep with the truck and reorganize everything to clear the bed. The ‘room’ is hilarious. It’s actually a two-bedroom suite! You walk into the main room and there is a bed, dresser, etc. Then there is another bedroom with a fridge and microwave. The hallway has a big closet, then there is a bathroom! The suite even has a proper desk and computer chair!!!

By the time I lugged in my valuables, I realised that my noontime burger was very far away and I was actually feeling a little faint. I asked the motel lady about the odds of there being a place open for dinner and she said the restaurant nearly right next door was open till 10:00! I went and spent my last $20 in cash on a beer, steak, and baked potato. Yes, it was a big restaurant day, but it’s back to reasonableness tomorrow, what with Canadian food prices and all. 🙂

Time for bed. I want to be on the road by 7:30 tomorrow so I can be at the border for its 8:00 o’clock opening. I only have 60 miles to go to home and Google claims that will take two hours. Unless the border crossing is disastrous, Google is being ridiculous!

 

 

 

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Truth or Consequences to Albuquerque (with a Fort Craig side trip)

I got a late start from T or C on Tuesday. Checkout was noon and I was right on the nose when I left. I had a bit of work to do in the morning and it took longer than expected, plus I had to deal with a few issues related to the change of webhost. I was really surprised that I got out as late as I did and was glad that I only had a couple of hours to drive to get to Albuquerque (ABQ) and wasn’t expected till 5:00ish, so I could do a side trip.

My first stop even before I left town was Walmart because was in dire need of tee-shirts, another planned expense. I got to Isla with a four or five ugly tee-shirts that looked even worse after six months because of all the sun fading and I just threw them out. The only thing I had to wear with skirts, jeans, or capris were long-sleeved light-weight tops. Walmart has a couple of brands that are decent quality and very reasonably priced. I came out with five tee-shirts in beautiful colours for about 30CAD, so that will do me for the summer.

And then, I hit the road. It was very windy going and my gas mileage was the pits. I should have made it to at least ABQ on what I had in the tank, even with my planned detour, but I had to make the decision early on that I would have to refuel in Socorro, halfway to ABQ.

It rained off and on as I drove.

The scenery reminded me a lot of southern Alberta.

The scenery reminded me a lot of southern Alberta.

My planned stop for the day was Fort Craig, an important frontier fort that saw Civil War action. It’s quite a drive to get there, about 25 miles/40KM or so from the Interstate round trip, but it was worth it for me to go. I had done my research and knew not to expect much, so I was very impressed by what was there.

Quite a drive to get out here, but it was worth it!

Quite a drive to get out here, but it was worth it!

There are camphosts on site. I wish we had camphosting like this in Canada. I’d likely still be full-timing if we did. The hosts get all hookups plus a stipend in exchange for working five days a week.

Wish we had sweet gigs like this in Canada.

Wish we had sweet gigs like this in Canada.

The visitors’ centre is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but there was a lot of information available in the parking lot, including a brochure, and the trail was open. So it was not a wasted stop.

HUGE parking lot, with flat topped mountain.

HUGE parking lot, with flat topped mountain.

Seriously, that mountain looks like it got a military haircut!

Seriously, that mountain looks like it got a military haircut!

The site is basically a bunch of earthworks with some stonework. There is a very, very long trail with informational placards. It was a very nice walk.

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At one point very early in my walk, I ran into a lady who is a New Mexico history buff. She talked my ear off for about a half hour telling me all about the history of Fort Craig, the environs, and giving me information on places I need to visit! Wow! What a great encounter! Her husband is from Glasgow, MT, and knows exactly where Assiniboia is. Small world! Just running into her made the trip worthwhile. I won’t be able to hit a lot of what she mentioned on this trip, but it will fit in well into the fall plans, depending on how late I leave.

After she went on her way, I still had tons of Fort Craig to visit, but only about a half hour left if I wanted to make it to ABQ for 5:00ish! So it was a bit of a quick tour, reading only the placards that really interested me.

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The lady spoke at length about how the Buffalo soldiers, African-Americans, were posted to Fort Craig. The Natives called them that because their hair is similar to buffalo fur.

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Fort Craig is a worthwhile and interesting detour for folks going between T or C and ABQ. I learned a lot about the Mexican-American War, settlement in this part of the US, and New Mexico’s role in the US Civil War. Its location today feels just as isolated as it must have felt in the late 1800s!

It was then time to get miles under me. I stopped in Socorro for fuel, just under $2.60 a gallon, the most expensive I’ve seen yet on this trip, but nothing to get excited about.

It rained hard on and off as I came into ABQ.

The mountains were gorgeous coming into ABQ.

The mountains were gorgeous coming into ABQ.

My hosts, blog reader Kelly and her husband Kevin, live just off the Interstate, so their house was easy to get to, even with the traffic coming into ABQ. There was a lot of it, but it was so much more ‘civilized’ than what I got used to in Mexico! People actually signal and let you into their lane! 🙂

I was warmly greeted and invited to throw on a load of laundry (very much appreciated!). We had a beer, caught up, and debated what to do for dinner. The original plan was to grill on the BBQ, but the weather was looking iffy for that. The decision was made for me that I was getting taken out for sushi instead! Wow! Kelly is a new blog reader, but already knows the way to my heart! 😀

We went to a place called Shogun in the Nob Hill neighbourhood. Dinner was awesome. Kevin and I shared between us a crunchy roll (shrimp tempura with avocado), crab and octopus nigiri, an eel roll, and a huge order of sashimi (raw fish without rice). Everything was so fresh and tasty! Thank you so much! 🙂

We took the long way back to the car.

Nob Hill is my kind of neighbourhood; very walkable with lots of shops and restaurants.

Nob Hill is my kind of neighbourhood; very walkable with lots of shops and restaurants.

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Check out the old sign from when this mall was the only thing in the area for miles around!

Check out the old sign from when this mall was the only thing in the area for miles around!

So pretty!

So pretty!

I want! :D

I want! 😀

We got home and settled in for the evening. I folded by laundry, was shown how to use the coffeemaker, and was left to my own devices until the morning, rather like being home. I’m posting in bed the next morning while having my coffee. Kelly is going to take me around ABQ this morning before I head for Santa Fe. It’s been a wonderful stay. Thanks!