North America

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Summer Supply Run

I have been long overdue for a supply run because I am finding it increasingly difficult to stock my pantry in Assiniboia. Moreover, I found something on Kijiji that I really wanted, so a trip to Regina ASAP was in order to pick it up. Therefore, I burned the midnight oil all week to get today off.

Lately, I’ve been getting to sleep around midnight and getting up at six. So you can imagine my shock this morning when I woke up and the clock said it was 9:30!!! I was expected in Regina between one and two and wanted to have lunch in Moose Jaw, so I was out of bed as though someone had lit firecrackers under the sheets!

To my dismay, it was pouring rain out and I had stuff to unload from the back of my truck, a chore I had put off all week since I was so busy typing and I’d have the whole of this morning off…

I still managed to get to Assiniboia by 10:15ish and stopped at the bakery for the first time to try their coffee. It turned out to be very expensive dishwater, so I’ll stick to the gas station for coffee emergencies from now on as theirs is tasty.

The drive to Moose Jaw was uneventful until a few klicks from the city where there was construction and we had to detour. This brought me to the wrong end of town to have sushi, but the right end to push on to Regina. I knew that I wasn’t going anywhere near the Regina sushi restaurant, that it’s very expensive, and that there’s no parking, so I decided to stick to my plan and have my sushi lunch in Moose Jaw even if it meant a couple extra crossings of town.

On the way to the restaurant, I stopped in at the Town & Country Mall, where I had my nose pierced in April. I had been told to come back around this date to have the piercing tightened, so I thought I could make an appointment for after lunch or even after Regina. But my piercer was free, so she took me right away. Was I glad to get that done! My nose healed super fast and the loose piercing has been driving me batty!

Lunch at DK Sushi was yummy, as always. The all you can eat is still good value for me, but just barely, as I get less and less each time I go. I added up what I got today and came in at about $20 if I bought à la carte, versus $17 with the all you can eat, plus you get really good chocolate ice cream with that option. 🙂 I asked for a half portion since I wasn’t able to finish a whole one last time (too rich and sweet for my new taste buds).

From lunch, I immediately headed out to Regina since my ETA was now about 1:45. Thankfully, the seller was very conveniently located near the highway and just a few blocks from Cabela’s, which was having a sale I didn’t want to miss.

The items I was picking up were a Japanese-style washer/spin dryer combo and a compact 120V dryer. I’ll do posts about those once I get them out of my truck. I couldn’t talk the seller down from $300 for the set, but I knew that was a crazy good deal, so I paid up. They are the perfect compromise between my current laundry setup (Wonder Wash and a spin dryer that really needs to be returned to its rightful owner) and full size units that would need water hookups and a 220V outlet.

These my appliances (seller photos):

Next stop was Walmart, which was conveniently located next to both a Bulk Barn and Cabela’s. I stocked up on dry goods and then went to the Bulk Barn stock up on nuts. I’m afraid to admit how much I spent on nuts because I went a little well, nuts. 😀

Cabela’s was having a sale on Keen footwear, so I picked up a good pair of sandals with covered toes for the summer (if we ever get one…). I bought a model that is good for light hiking as well as wet activities. It’s been a very, very long time since I shelled out the bucks for high quality sandals and I hope these last me! I also picked up an outback-style hat for the wagon train because I was told that I can’t show up this year without a proper horse wrangler hat and cowboy boots. I’m all set! 🙂 It was raining again by the time I got out of the store, so I wore my new hat, which offered good protection against the rain.

Next on my list was Canadian Tire or Home Depot. Neither was convenient in Regina, so I headed back to Moose Jaw to its Canadian Tire. There, I got a really good deal on an electric lawn mower.

I was going to buy a reel (manual) mower, but this electric mower was much cheaper. I didn’t want a gas mower because I didn’t want to have to deal with maintaining another engine.

To my surprise, a very nice stock clerk took the mower to the till for me, waited for me to pay, pushed it to my truck, and helped me figure out how to load it in when the appliances weren’t leaving much room. I was impressed since it’s normally impossible to get service at Canadian Tire!

I also picked up weed whacker, but failed at getting a ladder and tree limb lopper, so I’ll get those in Assiniboia next week.

My following stop was M&M Meatshop to stock up on chicken breasts. I wish I had had room in the truck to pick up a small deep freeze since the chicken breasts were on sale. I took a chance on four packages fitting in the freezer, what with everything else I had in there already. Spoiler: I ran out of room and decided to pull out the ground chicken to make chicken burgers tomorrow. 🙂

Then, it was time to get groceries. I was pretty beat when I got to the checkout, but I had bought enough to get 10 cents off a litre, so I decided to get fuel before heading home. To my delight, there’s a ‘we serve’ pump at the Safeway gas bar, so I didn’t have to do it myself and my fuel was ‘just’ $1.19.

BTW, fuel was $1.39 in Regina and $1.29 in Moose Jaw and Assiniboia/Willow Bunch today. I’m always surprised that I’m not paying a ‘rural location surcharge’ for my gas out here!

It was close to seven by the time I headed home and I was getting the hunger shakes, so I decided to stop for a meal instead of just snacking on the way home. There was a Boston Pizza right at my last turn before leaving the city and I love their pulled pork sandwich, so it was an easy decision. I had it with a salad rather than fries and I only ate half the bun, so the meal felt quite reasonable and didn’t put me to sleep on the drive home!

It was still raining when I came in, so I just unloaded the food. I now need to get to bed because I have a big typing weekend ahead of me. I wasn’t supposed to have much work so I could clean the yard, but it’s going to rain both days so I might as well type.

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Promenade Interruptus

I was heading out for an evening stroll before getting cracking on my last file of the day, when I stopped dead in my tracks upon seeing C&C’s flatbed trailer parked in front of my property. That could mean only one thing, an invitation to load it up with the huge amount of branches leftover from Charles cutting down my trees this spring.

I spent, oh, maybe a half hour hauling all the branches to the trailer and filling it. Of course, the biggest and heaviest branches were under the little ones, so I filled the trailer in reverse logical order. I hope nothing falls off, but at least the trailer is just going around the block!

This is perfect timing because I am going to Regina on Friday (hence why I am again burning the midnight oil; I am trying to get ahead in my work queue). I aim to come back with a lawn mower, weed whacker, and tree limb lopper so that I can make an attempt at taming Haven’s badly neglected eastern perimeter.

Charles, wonderful neighbour that he is, mowed my lawn last night with his tractor, but it’s high time for me to be self-sufficient about that! I was going to get a reel (push) mower, but may talk myself into a gas model. It’ll depend on prices, features, and what’s on sale.

The RM emailed today to ask if I still wanted more gravel this year, stemming back from an early winter discussion. I am impressed with their powers of retention and/or note taking system! I was going to get gravel to put under the buildings, but it’s too late for that. I did order a load (25 cubic yards) to go from the front of the RV pad to as close to the sidewalk as possible.

I requested the cheap stuff that’s mostly sand and stone, since the last load has turned out to be much more satisfactory than expected. For one thing, it’s not muddy even in heavy rain!

I don’t know when the load will be delivered, but I do hope my neighbour will be again available to spread it out, otherwise I will have a lot of shoveling to do before my friend L gets here in just a couple of weeks!

Haven is just that these days, a lovely, idyllic place where the soundtrack of my day is the melodious call of the mourning dove.

I love having a reasonably weather tight building in which to store things, meaning my yard looks neat. And I might have lost my winter view of the hills, but I’ve gained the amusing sight of a gopher circus.

Summer is already racing ahead much, much, much too quickly, and I look forward to L’s arrival and my second wagon train vacation, days that will hopefully slow down time just a little.

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Moving Forward

I thought I’d give a status update, an indication of where my head is in terms of Haven and future travel plans in response to some comments I’ve received.

Let’s start with Haven. My goal with this property is to develop it slowly over time so that when Miranda is no longer liveable, I will have a paid for home to move into. So converting the grainery into a liveable house is a long-term plan for me, but there are immediate things that need to be done to ensure that the structure does not deteriorate.

As for the property itself, I want it to be very, very low maintenance. I intend to be away from Haven during the winter months from now on and eventually take even longer trips that could see me away for years and do not want my neighbours to be stuck with the sight of a neglected property, nor responsible for doing my maintenance (it’s not like I can hire a landscaping company out here!)

So I am researching xeriscaping and beginning to collect hardscaping materials so that I can start pulling weeds and sod and replace them with plants that won’t grow out of control and/or inorganic materials.

I’m therefore spending a lot of money, time, and effort on Haven this summer because I am going away soon, and for a long while, and I don’t want to be overwhelmed when I get back.

Going away?

I had a thought for last winter that was too late to pull together after Neelix died unexpectedly. That thought was to drive to Mexico in my truck and rent an apartment for the winter.

I’ve come to realise that the only big bucket list item right now that is overwhelming anything else is the wish to live in another country for a while, one where the main language is something other than English or French, and with a different culture. Mexico is within reach right now and would definitely satisfy that itch.

RVing to Mexico is just too daunting a prospect, what with two vehicles and two borders. Plus, staying in RV parks wouldn’t really be living in another country, but rather living with a group of like-minded ex-pats. Renting an apartment in Mexico in a Mexican community is much more what I have in mind.

A few weeks ago, a blog reader sent me some information on apartment rentals in an area she goes to every winter, as well as leads on what would be the perfect apartment for me. I’m not quite ready to contact the owner of the place yet and make arrangements to rent (the size of the apartment being so small that there’s little fear of it disappearing), but I’ve started my research and am committed to leaving for Mexico in October!!!

So the cat’s out of the bag and you can all breathe easy now that you know that my nomadic tendencies are alive and well. 😉

There is a lot to think about, especially banking and internet matters.

I know that Scotia Bank exists in Mexico, so I will go to a branch in Moose Jaw and Regina to see about opening up a secondary account with them so that I don’t have all my money in one bank and so I can get help locally if needed.

Internet is going to be extra important now that I have my new amazing client that requires tons and tons and tons and tons of bandwidth a month. So I have to make sure that I can get in Mexico the 40 to 60GB of bandwidth a month I will need, reliably and without going bankrupt. And, please, no suggesting that I find a place with a WiFi hotspot I can tap into as I am not a thief. 😉

I am so excited about the winter ahead, even if the thought of leaving Miranda behind for eight months is more than a little daunting! But she has taken me where I needed to go and it’s time to continue my traveling adventures with Moya. I am so looking forward to an easy drive straight south through Wyoming and Colorado without worrying about taking a huge rig through all those mountain passes.

Eight months? Thereabouts. I’d like to tag a month in the States on both sides of the trip. There’s no problem taking my truck out of the province that long and a letter to SK Health will ensure continuity of my health coverage. I’ll have been in Haven eighteen months when I leave in October. I don’t think an eight month absence will be excessive, but rather a much needed mental health break. 🙂

So all that to say, I’m pretty sure my travels with Miranda are over. I want to continue blogging, but I don’t know yet if it will still be on this blog or if I’m going to start a new one. I’m not in a rush to make that decision since I am still living in an RV and will continue to write about RV life.

Right now, I’m about five years ahead of where I thought I would be today, but in an even better place than expected. Having a property I own outright never factored into the new life plan I put together in 2008. How secure this place makes me feel is incalculable. It makes me comfortable taking risks, making big plans, and continuing to live as I am determined to. This place is true financial security.

That my RV travels lasted five years instead of ten does not feel like a failure to me, but more like a triumph and a reminder that when I set goals, I move forward doggedly, obstacles be damned. And I’m most definitely in the market for a little travel trailer. Probably not this year, but likely the next. Maybe it’ll be the Miranda II. With me, who knows? 🙂

There’s lots of good stuff coming down the pipeline. So just remember that every post that has me expending energy into my property is a reminder that I am thinking of pulling out, not that I am getting rooted. Much as I love this place, and I do, it is a port of call, not a final destination.

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Ridiculously Happy About Having a Clothesline

I’ve missed having an easy way to dry clothes these last many years on the road. Dryers ruin clothes and, if at a laundromat, are very expensive. Hanging clothes about the rig makes my home feel like a sauna and also for tight quarters. Having the chance to string out a clothesline or put out a drying rack outside has always been a luxury.

Last year, my first at Haven, I ran a line between a post and Miranda, to get a few dozen feet of line, but it wasn’t enough and it was saggy. This summer, a proper clothes line was a priority project. As it turns out, a proper clothesline doesn’t have to be a permanent one. I have no intention of living with my current setup for the rest of my life, but for now, it is going to do very nicely!!!

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What I did was simply install eye hooks along the sides of each grainery and then I pulled 200′ of clothesline through the eye hooks and across to the next building, back and forth, until I ran out of line. I tied the ends off with inexpensive clothesline fasteners. Total cost: $5 for the line (purchased at the thrift store last year), $2 for the fasteners (of which I have several left), $5 for the eye hooks, for a total of $12.

Laura is convinced that the weight of the clothes will pull out the eye hooks, but so far so good with a heavy load that had lots of jeans. I doubt I’ll ever use all the lines at once except to spread heavy blankets across them, so I’m optimistic that this set up will last me until I’m ready to reclad the buildings. That that point, I’ll do the digging, cement, and post thing.

Tomorrow, I am hoping to pick up a table that will allow me to set up a laundry station outside. What a luxury that will be! I washed this load at my neighbour’s since I was getting backed up and didn’t feel like spending my evenings kneeling in the shower.

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Cleaning the Larger Grainery

One of the many projects on my list for the weekend was cleaning out the larger grainery so that I can use it for storage. It was a good weekend for doing it as the weather was clement and C&C were out of town so I could borrow tools without inconveniencing them.

I did not bother doing the smaller grainery that will be a shed because it’s much too open. I won’t touch it until Charles has time to help me block the existing entrance, put in a new door, and we get a roof on it. The larger grainery has some access points, but is reasonably weather tight.

Before I started cleaning, I had to be able to walk around the grainery safely, which was hard to do as there were lots of wires holding heavy pieces of metal hanging from the walls and ceiling (which is where I confess that I have a nice bruise on my forehead from walking into one…). The wires were to keep the walls straight and true against the pressure of all the grain being stored.

Charles had thought to offer me bolt cutters, so I was able to deal with wires, a job that wasn’t too difficult on the ground where I had leverage, but was a little more perilous up a ladder. His bolt cutters are sharp!

Once the grainery was safe, the fun began.

Cleaning was tedious and had many steps. The first was dousing the entire structure in a bleach solution. This is because there was mouse poop everywhere and mouse poop carries the deadly hantavirus. I was advised by Charles, our local pest control officer, to wear a mask and gloves and to get rid of as much of the poop while it was wet as possible, seeing as the virus gets released into the when the waste is disturbed. The wetness holds it down.

Once the bleach was applied, using a handheld sprayer (picture below), I swept as much as I could and then I used my shop vac. I kicked myself at every stage for having forgotten to borrow C&C’s much larger one, but my one-gallon model was good for doing the top of the walls since I could lift it.

During this stage, I found two dead mice and at least two live ones. Needless to say, I didn’t hesitate to put down mouse poison as it would be stupid to do all this work only to have mice move back in!

Next step was pressure washing, twice. Both times, I wound up with more huge piles of mouse poop on the floor, blasted from every nook and cranny! I knew that I was never going to get the place 100% clean, so after the second pressure washing, I did another pass with bleach on the ceiling, rafters, and walls.

Then, I shop vacced the floor, gave it a final pressure wash, and let it dry. Once dry, I swept and shop vacced again, then did a final pass with the bleach.

That done, I moved in some pallets on which to rest stuff, moved all the crap out of my yard into the building, draped a tarp over what I didn’t want to get wet as there was rain in the forecast for Saturday night, and added a lock to the door for show.

Whew!

When I went in the grainery this morning, it was nice and dry despite the overnight rain, and while I can’t say it smelled nice, it was definitely fresher in there!