The Gift of Hospitality

Today we travelled from Laclede, Idaho to our friends' cabin for a two night overnight visit.  Heidi and I met through APQS.  She is an excellent tech support person for Quiltpath, the software for APQS longarm machines.  We have spoken lots on the phone as I was getting up to speed with the program and we have become friends and chatted over Messenger long before we showed up in their neck of the woods.

It really was entirely generous of them to offer their RV pad, especially considering that they had to move their trailer to accommodate Harriet.

It was a beautiful drive through Idaho.  I was getting play by play descriptions from Heidi who told us about the golden crops we were seeing.  Canola for miles!  And beautiful rolling hills. 

They met us a few miles away from their property to lead us in.  Heidi and Denny are truly wonderful people who love people and are incredibly hospitable.

Heidi, Liz and Aidan on the porch

View of Max and Harriet from Heidi's quilting loft

Of course I pulled out the travelling quilt for a photo op!

Denny and Tony chatting in the shade

Aidan on Heidi's family antique tractor

We were totally refreshed by our stay with Heidi and Denny.  Thank you friends!  Until we meet again!

Mavis

Through the dry country and over the border

We said goodbye to Peachland and made our way through Penticton, Oliver, Okanagan Falls, Osoyoos and then towards the US Border.  We had a reservation  at Riley Creek Blueberry Farm through Harvest Hosts so it made more sense going from Peachland through to Idaho rather than backtracking through to Washington.

Driving through Oliver.  So many grapes and vineyards!

We assumed that all border crossings are open 24/7 but this is not true.  By the time we were close to our crossing, it was after 4 p.m. and I saw a sign indicating that the border crossing closes at 5:00 p.m.  Would we make it or would we have to pivot and find another overnight stay and try again in the morning?

Would you believe we arrived at the gate at 4:53?  Thankfully it was a quick passing and we were on our way to the blueberry farm.

Hello Idaho!

We joined Harvest Hosts/Boondockers.  Their members are able to camp for free on their various sites across North America.  Some require you to purchase their goods (produce, wine, etc.).  In our case, we chose Riley Creek Blueberry Farm.  We had to dump all of our produce before exiting Canada so we were happy to pick / buy some blueberries from our host, Stan and his wife.  We also bought two blueberry pies to take with us to our next stop to share with our hosts.  More about that in the next post.

Here are some photos I took at the Blueberry Farm.  It was just a short overnight stay (no power or sewer but we had water). It was a wonderful visit.

And of course the travelling quilt photos.

Tomorrow we head to our friends' cabin in Idaho.  We can hardly wait for this!  Heidi is a fellow APQS dealer and we've never met face to face but they invited us to boondock on their property.  They also have a travel trailer and have created an RV paid with a 30 amp service and sewer.  We filled our water tank with enough water to see us through.  We will be staying with them for two nights.

Stay tuned for the further adventures and thanks for following!

Mavis

I can do hard things...

Before we left the Okanagan, Tony suggested that we hike Giant's Head in Summerland.  Being unaware of what it was other than the fact that our friend Val who lives in Summerland hikes it (from the bottom) a few times a week, we decided to drive to the top and do the easy hike.

Spectacular view from the top of Giant's Head

We parked the truck and headed for the trail.

The old folks were trailing behind the young 'uns.

 

The young 'uns at the top!

Mid-way up to the top of the mountain Tony mentioned that he had taken a picture of our son Mike at this exact spot years earlier when they had gone on a camping trip with Bruce.  So the first picture is Mike a few years (decade?) back and the bottom photo is Tony in the same spot.

I'm so glad we did this hike.  It was hard but we've been teaching Aidan that he can do hard things and it turns out that Grandma and Papa can too!

Time for the driver to rest up.  Big travel day coming up soon!

Thanks for following us.

Mavis

Time to Pause and Reflect and Adjust

There's no denying that we've been in major "go" mode for the last almost 5 months. 

After the sale was official...it was GO time! And its been 'GO time' basically ever since....until this past Thursday when we had the option to switch to a new campsite at Peachland RV Resort for another week while we sorted out the last of our paring down & preparation for our RV adventure.  We needed the extra time so we decided to do it.

We don't know what changed in the 40 mins it took us to go from one campsite to another and set up our new camp for the week but we all felt (basically instantly) the shifting from the "go go go" gear...to the "rest & adventure" gear. We have no idea how it happened, but we collectively agreed that we should not be in a rush and we all exhaled and knew that we had made the right decision.

Peachland RV campground is a beautiful spot and very well run campground just outside of Kelowna and close enough to Summerland that we could arrange a visit with my hubby's best friend.  In fact, they had a couple of visits because we extended our stay. There is the right balance of natural beauty and amenities that made our stay all the more pleasant.

Tony and Bruce toasting with Crabbies Green Ginger Wine (it's their thing)

Bruce and Val with our crew

During our first few nights at Peachland RV I managed to catch this beautiful Okanagan sunset. Bruce is an artist, and this photo reminds me of something he would paint.  Seeing the landscapes of the area made me appreciate his paintings all the more.

Camp cooking:  In the spirit of using what we had on hand, (ie emptying the house of the pantry and freezer contents) we had a few boxes of puff pastry.  Bringing it on board had its challenges but we decided to make pizza with puff pastry and use it up. Edible but not our best culinary work.  The RV oven worked great though.

So many times  we have commented on the natural beauty of the Okanagan.  The different vegetation and landscape were undeniably gorgeous. Coming from the island with its own beauty, we were stunned that these majestic mountains surrounding Kelowna and area and the Okanagan Lake below were so captivating.  It made me see how crowded Vancouver Island is becoming and how we really didn't get off the rock (Vancouver Island) much.  Well, here we are now enjoying it and better late than never right?

During our extra time there, not only were we able to shed more excess stuff (Value Village in Kelowna was the recipient of it), but I squeezed in a visit with a fellow APQS dealer/quilter Cindy, Liz bought Aidan a bike with training wheels and he was able to start riding, Liz got to spend her birthday on a wine tour with a friend, and we were basically just able to take time to exhale, pause and reflect to feel more prepared for the adventure.

Bike riding with Papa

Lakeside visit with my friend Cindy who is a long arm quilter in Kelowna and fellow APQS Dealer.

Beautiful Okanagan Lake.  Liz and Aidan floating.

I brought my finished quilt "Tumalo Trail" on the trip to photograph at different locations on the route.  Pictured here is the quilt in Peachland attached to Harriet and again wrapping Liz and Aidan.  I couldn't leave without taking these photos.  The quilt pattern is by Bonnie Hunter.  I made it king sized and finished it just before we sold our king sized bed for the adventure.  Oh well! It's a keeper.

Lastly, we needed to cut some linen to fulfil bra orders before we left BC.  It was so great to cut outside.  I cut, Liz sews.  That's the way we roll, at least currently.  We are still sorting out our "groove".

And there may have been some hexie cutting too.  I had yardage in a bin and the goal was to condense it for travel, so I spent an afternoon cutting the remainder of hexies for my La Passion quilt.

And with that, we pulled out some maps and started planning our next stop and the route.

Thanks for following our journey.

Until next time,

Mavis

Travel Day #1

It was a very early morning.  Alarms were set for 5:30 and it's much easier to 'rise and shine' when you are travelling than on an ordinary day.  We got packed up ok and on the road a bit later than we had hoped.  We had reservations for the 8 a.m. ferry and the deadline is a half hour before.  We rolled through the ticket gate at exactly 7:30!!  Phew!  I drove Liz's car  as she is storing it with a friend in the Okanagan.  The remainder of the family were in the truck.  I was therefore able to get this footage of Harriet rolling through the ticket booth at the ferry.

Harriet at the Ferry

For our first time taking down camp and getting ready to roll, we did okay....but there was some drama the night before which put us behind a bit LOL.

Around dinnertime I realized that I hadn't seen the pouch with my passport and Tony's in it for a few days.  I  have a fairly photographic memory so I remembered exactly where I saw it...a few days earlier, in a basket of books, but now it was gone.  What changed in the last few days?  More sorting, shedding, finding homes for things in the trailer and a trip to Value Village and to the storage locker. And then the panic set in.  What if it accidentally made it into a donation bag?  A frantic call to Value Village at about 8:30 followed by a trip down there where we were escorted into the back warehouse by a kind and helpful employee. Liz and I spent the next 30 minutes dumpster diving (or so it felt) through a sea of donation bins/bags/carts only to come up empty.  The store was now closing and we didn't want to keep the employee any longer, so we went home, said some prayers in the truck and accepted that the pouch and its contents may be gone. 

We also remembered a basket that went to storage so Liz and I went out there to check.  Nothing.  Once my hysteria subsided (remember we are leaving town the next morning early) we returned back to camp and went through Liz's room because we had not checked in there.  We have been trying to sort and clear the clutter and in so doing, the basket I remember that had the pouch in it was moved to her room.  Crisis averted as I hear Liz say..."hey mom?...as she approaches our bedroom where I am once again looking in every little spot where it could be...and the little brown pouch is handed over to me. We both gave each other a glance , then burst into laughter followed by a hug...crisis averted!  Would it even be a true roadtrip without the 'almost lost your passport the night before' drama??

Pouch, safe and sound!  So grateful!

Our driver woke up first so she could have a shower and wake up for the journey.  Next was Grandma and Papa and Aidan (who was woken up with as many kisses from Mom as it would take.)  When we got to the ferry Liz double checked the tire pressure and while it was fine she was feeling that there was more weight on the tires than should be so we decided to pull into a weigh scale in Delta for piece of mind before we embarked up the Coquihala highway through the mountains.  I guess all that studying for her ICBC road test paid off because it turned out we were over in weight by about 80 kilos.  We then remembered that we had a full fresh water tank so we dumped it in the parking lot at the weight scale station as suggested by the safety officer. He was very helpful and it gave us a lot of comfort for the trip knowing that we were now under the maximum loaded weight.

From there we set off. 

I was able to have some quiet time by myself which turned out to be a blessing as the landscape and vegetation brought back many childhood memories of travelling with my family as my dad inspected the highways (he was a Paving Operations Superintendent with the Department of Highways).  So while I missed travelling with 'my pack' it was a blessing in its own rite.  There was some great coffee at a rest stop which kept me alert.  That was a challenge as not much sleep was enjoyed the night before.

I managed to take this dashcam video of the 'dry country'.  

Harriet video

Beautiful!  I see where our friend Bruce Crawford (artist in Summerland) gets the inspiration for his paintings.

We arrived at our next campsite a about 5 p.m.  It is so much different than Oceanside but that is to be expected.  We are high in the mountains, not at sea level, and the vegetation is entirely different. 

We all had a great sleep.  It's very quiet and barely any wind.  Aidan is always the first one awake so it was an early morning and we enjoyed coffee outside.  We did a short walk about to see if there was a playground, or any amenities (laundry).  Sadly no playground or laundry that we could see, but lots of boulders and river rocks (nature's playground).  No problem...it's level and quiet and the neighbours are great.  We even had some help getting backed in last night.

Morning walkabout

Happy camper

Vista while I was waiting for our dinner last night

Today is a low key day.  We are expecting friends for a visit and will enjoy some time with them.  Oh...and we were greeted by thunder and rain this morning but it's expected to pass by tonight.

FYI I'm purposely leaving our exact location vague until we have moved on.  We want to keep our little safe. Thanks for understanding. 

Mavis

Hitting the Road!

Today is our last day in Victoria (Saanichton).  I've got a load of laundry in and we are making sure all loose items are battened down for transport.  Liz is tracing patterns from paper to fabric pattern sheets to condense volume.  A few last trips to storage and the dump and we are ready to roll out of here. We will be on the 8 a.m. ferry in the morning and heading for the Okanagan.

The last two weeks in Harriet at the local campground were needed.  We still had so much to get rid of.  When they ask you at the landfill "what's your name again"? it's a sign that you have become a regular.  We will be glad to leave those days behind.  We are much lighter now and rest is coming!

As we've reflected on the last four months of  'downsizing' we've come to understand that it's both a blessing and a trial to deal with 50 years of accumulated possessions.  The blessing is ... and please hear me if you are a senior with lots of stuff ... doing it now while you are alive is a selfless act for your children who will otherwise have to deal with your 'stuff' when you are gone.

The garage...50 years of projects, tools and trinkets

The trial is saying goodbye to the things that you have identified with and it's difficult!  They have formed the backdrop of your life but there are new experiences to be had and you have to let go of the past to embrace the future, right?  Or store them and deal with them later or leave them for someone else to deal with after you are gone.  Not a great option and storage costs money!   I've never seen myself as a minimalist, nor has Tony, nor has Liz, but here we are going for it!  So many people have shared their testimonies of living with less and all have said it's amazing.

Back to packing up! 

Mavis