Accommodation

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Waiting for the Locusts

British Columbia’s southwest mainland (where I am) is now under flood warning thanks to all that wonderful rain we’re getting that is melting all that lovely snow. The province hasn’t had it easy the last few years thanks to forest fires and now here we are with flood warnings.

The last few days have brought back lovely memories of my time spent in the Scottish Highlands. Until now, there was the only place I ever saw mist and fog so thick as to completely block out the sky. Oh, I’ve lived in the Gatineau hills and made mention of pea soup fog along my journeys, but this sort of fog is a breed unto itself. The sky seems heavy and 1PM looks like 9PM, it’s so dark out. The Scots call this weather ‘atmosphere’ and that’s entirely appropriate! Like those days back in June of ’98 in a stony croft in Glen Nevis, I just want to wrap myself in a wool plaid by a hot fire! Of course, a bathing suit and hot tub are going to have to substitute. 😀

I’m finding it more difficult to find a comfortable ambient temperature inside Miranda in this sort of weather than I did in dry cold. It’s damp and I’m heating with propane, which pretty much makes the problem worse. I don’t have a 15A outlet on my pedestal here, so running a space heater is out of the question. But this is truly a petty concern; it’s not cold, just chilly, and, again, I have a hot tub to run to when my fingers stop working. Okay, enough with the amenities already! 🙂

I’m definitely settling in here, having found the shortest route to the nearest Walmart. 🙂 Thursday afternoon, I have an interview with an employment agency here in Surrey; this is great news! I spoke with another agency yesterday but doubt that anything will come of that conversation. The lady had a hard time believing that I am allowed to take temporary employment during my sabbatical, much less that I left on good terms and that my supervisor is available for a reference!

Going back to Walmart for a second, the south Surrey Walmart is the hugest Walmart I have ever seen!!! It rivals any American ‘super’ Walmart I have ever seen! It even has a complete grocery section that rivals any grocery store I’ve seen in months (for one thing, it stocks halva!). After the absolutely ridiculous grocery store prices in Oliver and environs, I’m going a tad nuts with my stocking up!

Well, I have a a lasagna to assemble and laps to swim and rain to listen to (love that sound on the roof) and interview clothes to assemble, so off I go. It sure feels nice to not be miserable anymore. 🙂

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What Price for Joy

It’s my third night here and I’ve already got ‘Going to the pool, YAY!!’ down to a science. Sometime between seven and eight, I put on my bathing suit, throw my jammies over it, and schlep over to the pool building with my bag holding toiletries and a towel. This way, I don’t have too much ‘stuff’ (ie. clothes) to deal with at the pool and I can shower right there.

I don’t believe there is anything in the whole of the universe that gives me as much joy as does swimming. Just doing laps doesn’t satisfy me. Soon as I hit the water, I have to play, turning somersaults and spending as much time under water as possible. There is no more glorious feeling than that of being completely submersed. I must have been a fish in a past life. No, make that an otter!

In 2009 I have already swam as many times as I did in 2008 and I plan to make up for 2007 when I didn’t get to swim at all.

So, what price for joy? I’m stretching the budget by staying here, but I have yet to feel that the price I’m paying is too much. 😀

For those who are curious about what this paradise called Pacific Border RV Park looks like, the park website has lots of good photos… just add a generous amount of snow to them. 😉

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Paralysed

In my (albeited limited) world view, Vancouver is the Los Angeles of Canada, the dark, nasty, don’t get off at the wrong exit or risk a violent death, city, the Gotham of Tim Burton or Chris Nolan. I’m not that timid. I’ve survived Chicago’s South Side, New York’s Washington Park at midnight, Ottawa’s Market after dark, riding the Montreal métro with skinheads, playing chicken with Hells Angels in Gatineau, getting lost in downtown Baltimore, even wandering around the bad parts of Calgary (Calgary has bad parts?). Hell, I’ve even survived a trip to Los Angeles… and that’s what’s not helping the Vancouver situation!

Surprised? 😀

Like with Los Angeles, I know there is a lot to see and do in Vancouver, but, like with Los Angeles, getting around is the issue. In LA, I was advised to not walk around, drive unless I knew where I was going, or take public transportation. I think this left taxis? I wound up driving straight to my hotel on Sunset Boulevard and walking between it and the famous Hollywood sites like the Kodak theatre (even though I’d been advised to not even walk those twenty or so blocks). After less than a day there, I was so exhausted from being on my guard all the time that I just left without going beyond Hollywood (nasty place) when I would have enjoyed doing a studio tour or even just visiting the Griffith Observatory. Looking back, I realise that I would have needed a native guide.

Same thing with Vancouver, it seems, and especially Surrey! Surrey gets a very bad rap; you wouldn’t believe the number of people who told me not to go to Surrey and to especially not be out in Surrey after dark! Last night, I did go out, taking two main streets to go to Walmart and back. Tonight, I’d like to go to a movie, but I have no idea which theatre is in an okay part of town. I’ll need to speak with the very friendly camphost here and ask her what her recommendations are.

Also like in Los Angeles, traffic is absolutely terrible here, maybe even worse than Toronto, but, of course, not nearly as bad as Montreal (because no place in the US or Canada has traffic worse than Montreal).

So, I’m here and really excited and happy to be here but shocked to discover that here is just as scary as I expected it to be!

At least, the RV park is a lovely, non-threatening, bubble. 😀

My first order of the day for tomorrow, then, is to have a chat with the camphost, descarify myself, and come up with one activity for each of  Saturday and Sunday that will get me comfortable with this city!

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Quiet, Blessed Quiet

I can’t believe how noisy the other park was! I didn’t even notice at the time, but after the night I just had (and the morning I’m having), I sure can see the difference! Being right on the US border here, literally butted against Customs, I would have expected this place to be noisy and bustling, but not at all. It was lovely to wake up under my own steam and hear absolutely nothing but the cats’ meows and a couple of birds. I’ve got a gorgeous view out the back. This isn’t the best shot, so I’ll take one later today, but I needed to record for posterity that I got up before sunrise voluntarily!

viewfromstudypb

This view out the back is, in all honesty, creeping me out since it looks like the view outside the study I had at the house I owned!

So far, there is no one on my left and the owners of the unit on the right are not on site. Not having neighbours AND a great view out the back is yet another wonderful reprieve.

What I am going to miss is being walking distance to all the services, although I was told that there is a lot I can walk to, so we’ll see if it’s to anything practical.

Depending on whether I pick White Rock or Surrey, it’s either PLUS one or two right now and the rainy forecast has been changed to sun!

Check back later today for pictures of the Pacific Ocean!

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I Love This Life!!!

Greetings from the Fraser Valley!

Majel (the GPS) told me that a 9AM departure would get me here at 2. I laughed and figured 6 if I was lucky. Fate took that difference and split it; I arrived at 4.

I was up around 8 this morning since I didn’t have that much left to do and I didn’t want to wake up everyone since what I did have left to do was noisy. The RV battery wasn’t charged enough to crank the engine, so I had to take the trickle charger out, but it got the battery going in the time it took me to bring my trash to the dumpster. Hooking up the toad was surprisingly easy. I mean, really, really easy! Everything I’d worried about didn’t happen, so I had an uneventful ride out… once a helpful neighbour managed to pry my levelers off the very frozen pavement. 🙂

Google maps has a wonderful feature that lets you see topography. Using that, I was able to figure out that from Oliver almost all the way to Hope would be uphill into increasingly poor weather, but that the rest would be downhill into rain. Sure enough, that’s what happened. Part of the drive to Hope was of the white-knuckled, hands clenched around the steering wheel, variety, but only because  a lack of guard rails next to sheer cliffs made staying on the road the foremost thought on my mind. As I’d expected, the roads were fairly devoid of other drivers, which reduced the stress considerably.

I had thought to stop in Hope for a leg stretch before continuing on the final third of the journey, but finding spots to stop wasn’t easy and I wound up getting all the way to Chilliwack before I could stop and rest for a half hour!

No sooner had I entered Surrey than I had my closest call ever with Miranda. There was a semi driver ahead of me whom I think was either half asleep or inebriated. He kept on switching lanes with very little notice. I tried to stay as far behind him as I could, but he still managed to cut me off. Thankfully, Miranda’s brakes are really, really, really good and while I laid down a patch of rubber, I didn’t hit him. The only thing that budged in the coach was my spice rack, which spilled most of my cumin down the sink. 🙁 I try to find the humour in such situations. 🙂

The park is literally on the border with the US and had I followed the GPS directions, I would have found myself in line for customs! Thankfully, I noticed little signs indicating the detour to the park and followed them to avoid the long lineup that preceded my turnoff point just before the ‘all vehicles beyond this point must report to US customs’ sign.

Settling in was a non-event although the handyman insisted on guiding me in. I appreciated his help, of course, but told him that I have a hard time translating flailing arms with what direction to turn the steering wheel. Backing up is one of those things I can do only if I don’t think about it. So, getting in wasn’t as smooth as it sometimes is, but it wasn’t embarrassing. I just hooked up the propane and electricity since my water hose is now just 10′ long and I need a much longer one to get to their tap. This is something I’d expected, so it’s not a big deal. I have plenty of water in the holding tank and the temps being above freezing, the pump is working just fine!

The cats were great on this trip, Neelix staying close by me, Tabitha sticking to her favourite spot on the bed.

Foremost on my mind right now are dinner and a loooong swim. Pool’s open till 10!

The last three months feel far behind me already.