BEAUTIFUL BRITISH COLUMBIA - Day 5 of AlCan Road Trip

I wake up early. This is a beautiful spot to wake up early in. I appreciated not having the temptation to jump on social media or send out a few tweets. I'm enjoying some aspects of being "disconnected." 

While Stacia and I checked the Alaska Graffiti, the guys completed their check lists. 

Unique technique, Alex

I can't get over the beauty of British Columbia. Lakes, ponds, mountains, forests, meadows.....

We stopped at Walmart in William's Lake to buy a Canadian pre-paid phone and to answer a couple of emails. Yes, it's nice to be disconnected - BUT - challenging in the middle of making an offer on a home. 😵

Note how Nimo insures none of "those" drivers park in front of Uchi

 Alex has my camera and my perch in Uchi. I found it fun to note he is drawn to barns, like his mom. Not bad through the windshield....I think we need to find an online photo class for he and I to take.

We stopped at Northland RV Park outside of Prince George. We were told we didn't have much bandwidth, but we're getting things done.  We went into town and found a drive in  - it IS Sunday night after all.

I am  about to call it a night. Consecutive driving days wear me out. The others are playing a round or two of Farkle.

CROSSED THE BORDER - Day 4 of our AlCan Road Trip

Today is an exciting day! We are REALLY moving to ALASKA!😁 We got up early and crossed the border at Sumas/Abottsford crossing. It's open 24 hours a day, and we'd heard it took less time here than other crossings. 

Crossing the border!!!!!😂🙌💓😁

We got to the border as the guards were changing shifts. Michael pulled up and they asked for Yuuki's rabies certificate, their passports, and an inventory. They queried him about guns and ammo (which we'd shipped to Alaska).  Then they decided, rather than searching (Thank you JESUS - we'd heard nasty stories about RV searches), they'd have me verify Michael's info. I, of course, did not know this. 

I pulled forward as he went through. They asked if I was traveling with the previous vehicle. No sense denying this as we have matching Alaska graffiti. I confirmed I was. They asked me a lot of questions about HIM....barely looked at OUR passports and didn't ask for our inventory list. 

"Does he have any alcohol, ammo, drugs or tobacco in the trailer or RV?" 

"No. We're not a fun group at all."

She didn't crack a smile.  😔

"How long will he be in the country?" 

"We aren't sure - no more than 10 days is a safe bet." 

Still no smile. I was working hard for this smile. 😐

"Does he have a gun in the trailer or RV?" 

The words began to slip out of my mouth, when I realized some folks don't take sarcasm well....and I stopped myself JUST IN TIME from saying, "No, but I have 20 bazookas in the Jeep." 😀😏😁

The lines were growing as we drove across the border....and the line coming into America was quite long. It was a Saturday morning. 

Rearview Mirror 

Well, yes, I DID make a video - though I was informed I am not supposed to do such. My reasoning is  they would have signs posted if they didn't want me to video. 

I tossed the phone as it was my turn to answer questions.

We went through some beautiful country today! 

I turned the wheel over to Nolan - 3 hours is about as long as I can look at the back of Uchi before my eyes start shutting. I was settling in for a snooze, when I realized...if the airbag goes off I'm going to have my legs wrapped around my head.....Nimo is NOT an air ride as Uchi is....I miss the soft couches and legroom....but the scenery and discussions with Nolan make up for any discomfort. I will note,  when Uchi glides over a bump in the road, we take air! 😨

Nolan is a great traveling partner!

 BEAUTIFUL, GORGEOUS British Columbia

Yuuki approves of me driving in Nimo. She gets to ride on the dash! 

 My man delivered! We pulled into a campground on the shores of Kokanee Bay at Kokanee Bay Motel and Campground. 

We saw two eagles flying over the bay....one with a fish in it's talons. 

We drove up to the Hungry Bear Diner (we are getting per diem after all).  I did a load of laundry.  There was no internet to be had ANYWHERE in town. We've decided to stop at a Walmart tomorrow (surely we'll find one), and buy a Canadian pre-paid cell phone which will allow calls to and from America and a new set of walkie talkies.  Izaak gave us some, but we're having trouble hearing each other clearly with them. We've changed batteries several times. As we have no cell phones - we NEED a way to be in contact....flashing lights isn't working well.😉😏😕

Our Alaskan House Hunt - Part 3

We shared last night we had terminated our agreement to buy "the motel." It is a huge, lovely home....The seller was unable to do repairs which we needed done.  This would force us to use money we'd put aside to fix driveways, buy wood stoves and build a garage on these repairs. There was no way forward, if we couldn't attempt to  "meet in the middle" on the repair list. We had felt increasingly uneasy about committing to this home, so the fact they countered our request for repairs gave us a final opportunity to discern if we were simply having cold feet or if we should look elsewhere for a home.

We had seen this home while we were house-hunting in Alaska. We liked it, but some of the rooms were a bit small for us - the master bedroom, dining room and living room. It has the kind of  construction our friend, Steve, told us to look for. He's a contractor.  It was the first home we looked at, but our heart was still set on one of the 9 acre homes that early in the search.  This was the most expensive of our last three choices.....but when we  evaluated considering the improvements, repairs and such we'd need to do on each home - it came in cheaper. We don't have to paint, put in carpet, build a garage, install a tub, buy a new stove top, grate and gravel a steep driveway, buy appliances, and on and on. They are leaving appliances, washer/dryer, AND a wood stove which we will install.

Who knew?

This home is 5 br/ 2.5 bath. It's 3500 SF - which makes it twice the size we originally began looking for and about 1/2 the size of the first house for which we submitted an offer. It sits on 2.28 acres of flat, usable land. Some treed - some cleared.  It's near a recreation area....and was quiet and peaceful when we visited.

Lazy Mountain from the Dining room

Via MLS

I love these cupboards, it's BETH'S FRIDGE - which I wanted badly - AND it has a GAS stove. There's a nook through the kitchen - we're still discussing how to best use it. I'd love it for a quiet time spot....The floors are Brazilian cherry hardwood.  It's smaller - but cozy, and we can see ourselves living in the top floor and renting out the bottom floor in the future. It was built in  2009; the other was built in 1982. That means the septic, floors, roof are all 27 years newer.  

S Vickers Photography

The living room is long and narrow....but full of windows! There are two rooms and 1.5 baths upstairs.

S. Vickers Photography

It has a walk in basement. The laundry, 2nd kitchen, 1 bathroom and 3 large bedrooms are down here. I can see an island/bar to the right of the doorway to separate the kitchen from the entertainment/family room...and provide a spot to serve from, as well as put puzzles together.....Soda Shoppe stools with red vinyl seat covers. 😊  

S. Vickers Photography

This home really has all the things we were looking for: 5 rooms, possibility for a Air B/B, no covenants, allows horses/chickens, out of town, "close" to town, game room, spot for archery range, garage, wood stove....and there are HEATED FLOORS in this basement!

The current owners have already moved to their new home. If the inspection, repairs and appraisal go quickly, we may be in this one before the Gherkins arrive from Oregon.

If God opens the door for property, we'll be able to easily sell or rent this home. The other had limited market appeal due to it's size.

We are working on details and somewhere along the road we'll get the formal offer to sign and submit it.

#WYFF - Day 3 of Alcan Road Trip

 Michael made a run to find an auto part bright and early. Then we checked things one more time before taking off this morning.

I was getting SERIOUSLY freaked out by the amount of play in the bike carrier. I could see myself passing a semi and dropping a bike or two, and causing a multi-car pile-up. Michael bought a couple of bungee cords and took some of the play out of the thing. Yesterday, I could hit a bump and watch the wheels in the left mirror disappear.... 🚲🚚💥

Much better today. The spare tires are in the Jeep - with the crystal on top. 😅

 I drove the first four hours.....I asked Michael how long it took us to get through Seattle and he replied, "Too stinkin long!" That's about right.  I know we planned for a 3 hour driving day and resting at the border - it took us 6 hours. 😏 I'm sincerely hoping it's the traffic and not the speed of RV travel. ::snort:: I was SHOCKED to see 30 mph HWY speeds in AMERICA and we were going much slower than that for quite a bit of time.

Nolan drove the last two hours. I took a couple of windshield shots - the view is certainly different from Nimo's windshield. ::snort::  I find driving mile and mile with "North to Alaska" in front of me to be mesmerizing.....and I may need to break up the scenery so I don't nod off. 👀

We ended the perfect driving day by cracking the driver's front "nose" of the RV in the tight quarters at Lynden KOA. Then I was putting the slide out and shoes got caught in the slide and pulled a "beam" away.....which I popped back on and can fix with brown shoe polish. A much cheaper fix than the RV will be. 😓

We are settled into a KOA. We've heard "stories" about RVs crossing the border and are getting all our papers in order, resting up and starting out bright and early tomorrow.

We may lose connectivity until we get into the Anchorage area.  We don't have name brand phone plans with international plans. We'll use wifi when available at campgrounds to update.

Visiting Dear Friends - Day 2 of AlCan Road Trip

0430 and Michael was waiting at the airport to pick up Nolan and Alex. They arrived 30 minutes (or so) late. They all opted to sleep when they got back to the trailer. A lazy start is good for us. 

We arrived at the new farm of some college friends, Kevin and Chris. Todd is a bonus friend who helps them. We have enjoyed catching up, telling new stories, seeing what God has done in their lives since we caught up with them nearly 2 years ago and sharing yummy food. Stacia has always dreamed of farming and this was a blast for her! 🐓🐖🐄

Stacia and Chris with their pig

 It was a ginormous blessing to walk around their farm and hear the story of how God chose to give them this place.🙌 Especially on the day our agreement to purchase a home in Alaska terminated.  This is a lovely 215 acre (or thereabouts) farm in SW Washington. They paid about what we will be paying for a home.

I'm not sure we've ever considered buying this much land, but this is more like the dream. The home we buy now is to be temporary, while we wait to see if God will give us the property to do what we dream.  We're o.k. with looking for another home. We found ourselves uneasy with the resell value of the "motel," and the repairs and improvements were going to max our budget, in ways we foresaw drastically changing our lifestyle. It was the cheapest option at the time, but the investment had already mounted to tens of thousands beyond the purchase price. We were prepared to move forward, but their silly choice to refuse repairs allowed us the opportunity to re-think the purchase, with a price list for repairs in hand. 😂 If God wants to give us "the dream," He isn't dependent on our finances and budget, He may well surprise us. He certainly surprised Kevin and Chris. We will take the steps we CAN take and see what He works out. Buying a home that will be hard to resell and will max our budget, doesn't seem to be a right step towards "the dream."

Michael and Kevin

Ellie surveys a portion of her domain

It was fun having Nolan as a passenger in Nimo today. He told me about the hike, his thoughts on Alaska, and we discussed our change in house plans.

We arrived early afternoon at Kevin and Chris'. Nolan drove me to the nearest Walmart Super Center - they are EVERYWHERE, aren't they? We bought provisions for the next leg of our trip.

We had our first two mishaps on the trip - and we've not even crossed the border. I turned my laptop off and was waiting for it to close before putting it away. I got side-tracked and went on to other packing up jobs. You know where this is going! It appears my laptop took a HARD fall. The corner of it is crushed. I'm not sure the card reader will work....and trim is loose.....super glue and duct tape are in the near future for this baby.

Michael noted the brake controller in Uchi isn't working. This is rather important. We just happen to have a spare brake controller along with us. 😀 We'll stop at good ole walmart and buy a harness to finish installing it in the morning.

Onward!

We're Off! - Day 1 of AlCan Road Trip

Michael loaded, tweaked things, tightened things and hitched things. Stacia and I decorated the trailer and Nimo.  We were told Uchi was off limit to our pens. 

I asked him not to add ropes over Stacia's artwork - but sometimes, I'm told - practicality takes precedence.😉😜😉 ::SNORT::

We took a few minutes to help Dad with a project...and he helped us as well. He double-checked hitches and such and told me he thinks the trailer is too heavy for me to pull with Nimo.

And then....came the moment to say goodbye to Mom and Dad. It's been easier to do that lately, as we lived in an RV, had no strings to tie us down, and could drive in often. Things are changing, but we know God has all in His competent hands. Mom has completely finished her cancer treatments! She gained an amazing amount of strength in the last week. It's a good time for us to join our kids in Alaska.

Stacia, Me, Michael, Mom, Dad

 As we drove out of town, I couldn't help thinking of all that had happened since we drove into town  mid-November.  We knew we had to stay for Michael's therapy. We have new tools for fighting Parkinson's and referrals to clinics in Alaska. But there was so much more to our stay than Michael's care. Mom was diagnosed with cancer, went through surgery and recovery; Mom G passed away and we had a memorial service and a graveside in Denver; Gideon arrived 5 weeks early; we were able to be on hand when life began to transition for BreZaak; and be on hand to celebrate CoRielle's great news of Baby S on the way; we enjoyed spending time with all our  family....the timing was God...and we trust in His continued timing and leading.

This is NOT the most exciting view from my windshield, but there you have it. 

A funny thing happened on the way to our home for the night. The GPS began saying we were 3 minutes away from our stop. We were significantly early. And then it said we were arriving at "Joe's Hamburgers."  Seems it interpreted Stacia's "Go to Portland Fairview RV Resort," as "Joes Coffee, Portland." 😲 We put in the RV park's name and had another 51 miles to go - in heavy traffic. Ugh....seeing that North to Alaska kept my spirits up.😀 Later on my GPS (Gabby Abby) told us to exit at Powell's - but Michael's (Samantha) didn't give him the same message. We ended up pulling in at the same time.

My navigator

 We were able to get a pull-through spot, leave the trailer hitched and park Nimo beside the whole thing. I hope we find such easy accommodations on the rest of the the trip. We're pretty much winging it - things have been so busy we've not made reservations.  Our handiwork in decorating the trailer is making us the stars of rest areas, restaurants and RV parks.

Michael informed me in the last few days that this is our last MILITARY MOVE. They are giving us mileage from Yuba City to Anchorage; we only are expected to drive 300 miles a day, AND WE GET PER DIEM for 9 or 10 days.  Our lodging is going to be minimal compared to per diem (expecting hotel rooms). With that in mind there was no need to cook when we unloaded....

We went in search of a restaurant I found on the Happy Cow Ap. It was to have vegan options. We took a wrong turn and went to a family owned diner instead. I had a great salad and everyone else was happy as well.  Michael crashed - which was bound to happen after the way we've been pushing. Stacia and I watched Anne with an E, there are only 9 episodes on Netflix.

Tomorrow, we pick the boys up at 0430 from their Epic Alaskan Hike, and head up to WA, through Canada, and on to Alaska.