Accommodation

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Delaying Departure

I had thought to leave tomorrow afternoon, Wednesday morning at the latest, but it looks like departure is now going to be sometime Friday. Work has been a little iffy the last several weeks because of holidays and a new contract starting. I got what I wanted for the last week of September, but didn’t get anything for the first few days of October from my main client (I did have piddly assignments from less regular clients). This week, I was offered a tad more than what I asked for.

If I was truly on the cusp of being ready to go tomorrow, I’d go and plan to stop and work over the weekend. Instead, I’m just going to hang out and get the work done before I leave. This way, I won’t lose any of the income to hotel accommodations. This week’s assignment will just about, if not fully, cover my first month’s rent, so it makes sense to keep as much of it in my pocket as I can!

I’ll then be able to take four or five days to get myself to a warmer climate before stopping. All that I’m eating into is my time in the States and none of these delays will affect my time in Mexico, so I really don’t mind. I’ll better be able to enjoy what time I do spend in the States knowing that my slowly diminishing bank account will be replenished generously at the beginning of November! 🙂

I got all the clothes loaded today except for one bag of necessities to get me through the next week. Getting the suitcases out of the RV has really made it seem like I’ve made a huge amount of progress in my packing!

Tomorrow, I am going ahead as planned with delivering things to my neighbours’ for safekeeping, including my RV batteries, and I’ll start the process of winterizing my water system. The RM (rural municipality) has been told that they can shut the water off as of the 10th (Friday), so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to have hot showers until I leave. 🙂

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Settled On a Route

With fall coming so fast this year, I’ve decided that a westerly route through Utah would be my safest bet. There are a lot of things I want to see on my way down in Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota, but I will be coming north quite late next year and better able to take time off to have a proper vacation (I’ve been taking too much time off lately!).

The route through Utah will serve a greater purpose. There isn’t much left on my North American bucket list. Off the top of my head, there’s only L’anse aux meadows, Yellowknife, and Zion National Park. Guess which one is directly en route between Haven and Nogales?

final route This route has me off highways all the way to Nogales and will let me see a good part of western Wyoming, quite a bit of Utah and Arizona. I’d like to drive pretty hard to Springdale and then stop there for a week or so to work and explore Zion State Park.

I’ve routed myself through Billings rather than Great Falls, which is a more direct route, for two reasons. First, I haven’t been to Billings. Second, going through Billings will have me cross at Scobey rather than Opheim. I haven’t had good experiences crossing at Opheim just to get packages, but I had a very good experience at Scobey last time.

Now, I need to sort out accommodations along the way. I really do want to sleep in my truck for the first few days before taking a hotel for four days or so, but I’m struggling with having enough room in the truck to both sleep and carry everything I want to bring. Moreover, the bed setup I’ve been using for camping just isn’t going to work for this trip.

I bought an inexpensive cot at Cabela’s in Regina that I was hoping would work well, but it’s two inches too long for the bed of the truck and a bit of a pain to set up and take down. I’m rather disappointed. I’m going to take it apart again today and see if taking a hack saw to it could help solve the length issue. If so, that’s what I’m going to do and just store stuff on top of it while I’m traveling (it has a weight rating of something like 200lbs, so it can definitely handle a few totes) and store the stuff on top of it in the cab of the truck at night.

Besides working out the bed issue, today’s plan is to get the front room all packed up and clean. Somewhere in all of that, I am going to drive up the hill to better cell reception so I can make a Skype call to Mexico about an apartment that would be perfect if it’s still available. All appendages crossed!

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A Tad Run Down

After a few glorious days that should have rightly belonged to summer, southern Saskatchewan is settling back into more seasonal, and wet, temperatures. I’m starting to dream of a second warm winter by  the ocean…

Unfortunately, the cold I picked up in Quebec is persistent and I haven’t had the energy to do much more than just work. I can’t believe I lived most of my life feeling like this, as though everything I do is akin to swimming through molasses. I’ve just been so healthy the last year and a bit that this slow down right before the start of an adventure is quite a shock!

I am making some progress at getting on the road, though. No, I still haven’t lined up my apartment in Mexico. I’m sure my options have considerably narrowed by now. But my budget is so much better than it was a few months ago that leaving without something secured doesn’t worry me, if it comes to that.

My friend Croft has confirmed the paperwork I’ll need at the Mexican border. I’m going to be wintering near Mazatlan, which is well past the ‘paperwork free zone’, so I will need to get a tourist visa and temporary import certificate for my truck. The list includes originals and copies of my birth certificate, passport, driver’s license, truck registration, and proof of ownership of the truck and that there is no debt outstanding on it (otherwise, I could be asked to provide a letter from a lender giving me permission to take the truck to Mexico). I’ll also be getting Mexican liability insurance through the company Croft has used for years.

The next step will be to visit my local SaskTel dealer to have my cell phone unlocked for a fee of $50. This will allow me to get a US SIM card and then one in Mexico. I will also be allowed to suspend service for the first three months I will be away. It would have been nice to be able to suspend it for the full eight months, but three is better than none! I’m going to keep the Bell (Mifi) account active since it’s just $10.50 per month and the contract will be done when I get back next May. And then I can throw the last Mifi off a tall cliff!

Other things that need to be done before I leave, once I have a better idea of my departure date:

– secure health insurance for my time in the States (I do that through my bank when it’s just for a short period of time);

– advise SK health that I’ll be away for more than six months;

– inform my bank of my travel plans so they don’t put a hold, or worse, cancel my cards!

– call SaskPower to inform them that I’m shutting down power at Haven for the winter (by turning off the main breaker and locking the box) and asking them for the procedure to send the last metre reading;

I’ve already advised SGI (SK DMV) that my truck is leaving the province for an extended period of time and the RM (rural municipality) knows not to bill me for water and garbage pickup as of October 1st. It won’t be a problem if I’m here a week to ten days longer, but water is going to be shut off October 15thish (I’m on a public hydrant), so that’s really the latest I am going to want to leave!

My clients are also aware that October is going to be a trying month for availability. I’m going to focus on my law enforcement contract and will probably not do anything else. The plan at this point is still to travel Mondays and Tuesdays (my slowest days) and find a m/hotel or some other suitable location to get work done the other days. There’s really no reason I can’t travel and earn a full-time income in October if I put my mind to it. I’m just going to miss my office very much!

I’m now narrowing down my packing list. My truck really isn’t that big, especially since I am rather counting on being able to sleep in it quite a bit on the way down (weather permitting) and the bed is going to take up lots of room. This is probably not a bad thing! I know that I really won’t need that much and that there are stores in Mexico if I forget anything. 🙂

I’ve got quite a bit of typing to do in the next few days, ending September off with a bang, income-wise, and then I’m going to focus on closing up Miranda and Haven. I’ve decided that departure will be a day or two after I get my cheque for the September law enforcement work, so probably October 10th(ish). I have the funds to leave before, of course, but if I get asked to produce bank statements at either (or both!) borders, the balances will be better! 🙂

Yes, I’m terrified about the changes coming up in the next weeks. Gloriously, thrillingly terrified. I haven’t said it recently, but it’s still true: I love my life!!!

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A Pleasant Stay

I didn’t sleep very well last night, but that was only because I haven’t had to sleep next to busyish city street in ages. The room was super dark and the bed was comfy. I would stay here again without hesitation, but ask for a room on the other side of the house.

Breakfast this morning was good! Most importantly, the coffee was just like I make it, nice and strong without being bitter. I had a few cups while reading the paper. I think the main breakfast course was eggs and bacon. I had fresh fruit salad, granola, and vanilla Greek yoghurt. It was a much sweeter meal than I normally have, but still better than pastries! I used to eat this all the time, so it was really a nice treat this morning! I also had a slice of buttered toast.

I already have my boarding pass, so I just have to figure out parking at the airport and then get through security. Oh, and find something edible for lunch to take on the plane, which will likely be a Timmie’s sandwich. I have three hours to do that and the airport is five minutes away, so I’m a bit in slow motion. I’ve already settled up and can leave at my leisure.

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Siam Restaurant, Regina

The Dragon’s Nest B&B is located in downtown Regina, so a stone’s throw from just about any cuisine you could want, including tons of sushi. But I’ve been told that DK in Moose Jaw is better than anything Regina has to offer (and less expensive). So I decided to go for something different tonight and within walking distance rather than go to the Applebee’s. I found some well reviewed Thai and Vietnamese restaurants and decided to try out a Thai one, Siam. I took it as a good sign that there were Thai people lined up outside, waiting for the restaurant to open at 5:30!

I won’t pretend to know anything about Thai food since I just about always get Pad Thai. It’s cheap, yummy, and it’s fun to see the variations. Siam’s Pad Thai was really good! It came with a heap of perfectly grilled shrimp (which usually costs a premium, but not at Siam) and chewy bits of tofu. I found the sauce a little sweet, but that could just be my new nearly sugarfree taste buds talking. There was lots of fresh lime to squeeze over top to cut the sweetness. I declined the chili since I don’t much care for spicy things.

Service was not great, unfortunately. I was seated quickly, was not asked if I wanted anything other than water to drink (helping me avoid the temptation of a cold beer!), had my order taken promptly, and was then ignored. The bill finally came and it took a while for me to realise that I was expected to go to the till to settle up.