With just five days before we were due to leave Mesquite, we received a call from our dear friend and neighbour Liane. Donna and I had planned that the last two nights before leaving we would spend it at the house enjoying what for us would be a last few precious moments in the home we have come to enjoy and cherish so much.
I heard Donna talking to Liane who evidently wanted eight of us to have one last night out together before we left. I really did not want to go through the gut wrenching goodbyes again, so when Donna handed the phone to me knowing I was not really a fan of this proposal she shrugged her shoulders and had both hands upturned and open quietly mimicking the fact that she did not know what to say. I knew the pressure was on then.
Liane asked very nicely if we would please go out with them for one last supper together. How could we turn her down? Not wanting to rain on anyone's parade I agreed reluctantly to go along after all, it was nice of Liane to ask. So it was settled. One last fling.
The day arrived quickly. Our next door neighbours Dave and Barb. had invited us over for a cocktail before we were to meet up with the other four at the restaurant. Barbara and Dave had arranged to drive us down to meet the other four who would wait for us outside the restaurant.
We had a pleasant cocktail (or two) then jumped into Dave's vehicle and headed out to the Eureka Hotel and Casino to meet up with the other four. We arrived five minutes (fashionably) late and the four of them met us as planned.
We went into the restaurant and the Maitre-de asked if we had reservations? Liane replied yes, a table for eight under her name. She glanced down at the book and nodded. "yes I have you in the other room".
We walked towards a very large room I had not noticed when we were in there last time. Not thinking anything of it but as soon as we entered the room we saw all our friends seated at long tables..... "Surprise!" they all shouted.....We were floored. We had no idea this was going to happen. We were overcome so much so that both of us were reduced to tears. What a wonderful gesture and send-off this was.
This had been a carefully planned and very secretive event. We had no inkling we were being set up. This is why we love these people - true American hospitality at its best. What a lovely thought by so many good friends. It's a day we will remember for the rest of our lives.
We were treated to a wonderful meal and along with that came many hugs and well wishes from everyone. We had balloons and cards, back slaps and more tears. It was a moving evening for us.
During the evening, we were presented with a very special gift - a moving picture frame that when plugged into the power and connected to wi-fi our friends who know the email address of the picture frame, can email pictures into the frame so that each day if they wanted, the pictures on the frame change as they scroll through. What a great way for them to help stay in touch.
The next morning Jack and I collected the cargo trailer and we began to load it up. Within minutes eight or ten people showed up to help me pack the trailer.
I eventually won the bet between Donna and myself. Everything fit inside and we would have to leave nothing behind. This had been an ongoing debate between Donna and I over the previous weeks and as the line of boxes grew, I was beginning to waiver in my confidence of a hands down win. She thought that our belongings would not all fit. I thought they would.
It was one of my rare "I told you so" moments as I pulled up the ramp doors and locked it firmly shut. The following morning we would strip the bed grab all the loose stuff and be on our way.
We left at exactly 7:30 am pulling out of our village of Water Barrel ever so quietly un-noticed. Hasta la próxima mis amigos (until we meet again) I thought as the village disappeared in the rear view side-mirrors of the truck. Finally, we were on our way. We both had a sick feeling in our stomach. We will miss these wonderful friends but, we will return someday.
The drive north to Idaho Falls was fine. As we climbed through the canyon towards St George Utah, there was snow on the ground but the truck was pulling well.
We said hardly anything to each other for the first two hundred miles. Content to just gaze out into the landscape as the truck and trailer ate up the miles as we drove northwards.
We had another twelve hundred miles to go, so there was no rush to talk to each other. Better to sit back and reflect upon the last six marvellous years spent with all our American friends. With the radio turned off, the silence was almost deafening.
We pulled into Idaho Falls, ID. as it was getting dark. We were both tired emotionally and physically. It had been a very full last few days.
One more short days drive (five and a half hours) the next day would find us in Great Falls, Montana were we would hold up for the night then on the third day we would push for the Canadian border and finally onwards to Calgary and home.
February 27th, 2015 - Canada Customs.
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| Truck and Trailer All Hooked Up |
Just before we pulled away, the Border Agent asked if we had sold our home because of the fall in the Canadian Dollar. We told him we had sold our home in May the year before so it was not a factor as the dollar then was still up near par around that time. But in all honesty, this was a big bonus to us as the Canadian dollar had fallen against the US dollar making us a sizable gain on the amount we would get in Canadian funds when we did the exchange from US funds to Canadian.
The Agent told us that literally thousands of Canadians were leaving the US on a daily basis because of the exchange rate, rigs, trailers and every conceivable thing they owned all in tow.
For those that just rented down in the US, it was getting expensive but for those like us who owned property if they were liquidating their assets now, it was to take advantage of the exchange rate. I was mildly surprised to hear about the exodus from the US but it happens regularly when you have fluctuations in currencies like this. We bid the Agent a polite goodbye, wished him all the best and drove away not having to pay one cent in taxes...... Great!
Our last Seven Days in Calgary
We dropped off our trailer then headed to Costco to re-stock with food for the next few days when we would make the final drive up and over The Great Divide in The Canadian Rockies and down into British Columbia to take up residence on Vancouver Island.
We thought that although we were retired, Donna would need a vehicle of her own once we reached the Island so she could come and go without being tied to my time line or me to hers. It made sense to buy in Alberta to try to avoid the BC Provincial Sales Tax.
To say the treatment we got at Kramer Mazda in Calgary's south west was amazing would be an understatement. We arrived and test drove three vehicles and were given the royal treatment by the sales manager and the owners Asheet and Vinay Ruparell. The family had been clients of ours for over 26 years so we were happy to be giving them the business.
Everyone we spoke to or dealt with at the dealership was polite and professional. Needless to say it is easy to see why Kramer gets voted the Consumers Choice for customer service in Calgary year after year. We left delighted with our purchase - a BMW 328i with Xdrive. Donna had always wanted a BMW. This was going to be her day.
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| YES, I finally got the vehicle I have been dreaming about courtesy of the exchange rate on the dollar __________________ |
Mar 9th - Preparing For Our Next Adventure.
Time certainly flies. No sooner had we dropped off the trailer, it was time to hook it back up again. With almost everything now in the trailer, we headed back to Calgary ready for the journey across BC the next day.
The first leg of the journey would take us by Lake Louise, out of Alberta and down into Field, Golden and Revelstoke. We had reserved a room in the interior at Kamloops BC. Some friends of ours had recently relocated there. We had a wonderful meal at their home then left early to get some shut-eye so as to ready ourselves for the push to the ferry in the morning.
As soon as light broke the next morning, we headed out west over the Coquihalla Highway towards Vancouver and the Pacific Coast. Driving two vehicles, me with the truck and trailer, Donna in her newly acquired Beemer which she said drove beautifully, smoothly and quietly, just what you would expect of a German engineered vehicle.
We arrived at the BC Ferries Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal at 10:10 am which was surprisingly quick, maybe because most of the highway roads in BC have increased the maximum speed to 120 kms per hour. I am sure Alberta will follow suit one day. Few people observe the speed limit in Alberta anyway because it is set at far to slow.
The ferry was loaded and we pulled away right on time at 12:30pm. The journey across The Strait of Georgia took an hour and a half. Heavy fog prevented us from enjoying time on the deck but we had completed this journey many times before so it wasn't an issue. We had a good breakfast on board and just relaxed for the hour and a half trip across the water.
Our chosen motel was the Buccaneer Inn about a three minute drive from the ferry terminal where we disembarked. No sooner had we left the terminal in Nanaimo, we were in our suite - home for the next five days.
During that time we viewed houses with our Realtor® Scott but nothing came close to us saying "we want it". We were aware going in that when one begins to look at what's on the market, we would be seeing the properties others have not wanted, so once we had cleared them out of the way we hoped that the selection would improve.
Also, we had agreed not to only look in Nanaimo, but also to view Comox and Courtenay, an hour and a half north of Nanaimo. This meant that even if we had found something in Nanaimo, we owed it to ourselves to check out what was available in those other two areas of Comox and Courtenay.
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That's It! This is the One - But Oh No! Why Us?
We had planned to spend two days looking around in Comox/Courtenay then we would have to make a decision - which area we preferred. Only then could we begin to look for furnished accommodation where we could bide our time until we had secured a home for ourselves.
We met with the Courtenay Realtor® and began looking. Right off the bat we walked into the first house which was just listed a few days before and which we had seen on line. It looked really promising so I wanted to see it right away.
The house was situated on a very wide, quiet street in an area called Crown Isle in Courtenay - a golf community and resort location. There are Million Dollar homes all around. The street scape was excellent. I was optimistic.
No sooner had we entered through the front door of the first house, we both knew this was the home we were going to buy. Donna and I both walked through quietly taking in all the features and benefits of this gorgeous home. It was just perfect for us. Even better, it had a Casita out front (for those who are not familiar with Spanish, a Casita is a smaller version of a Casa (home in Spanish) usually detached from the main home and usually self contained).
The Realtor® was standing around while we both went our different ways. I headed to the man cave (Garage) hoping it would squeeze in my truck... WOW, almost 24 ft long and lots of room for both vehicles.
The back yard was gorgeous, completely private with lots of sun and festooned with shrubs, rhododendrons and other plants all in flower. The lawns were perfect. Everything checked out and we loved it. Donna shot a glance at me and we both knew this was the one.
Not wanting to be rushed, we continued on, looking at other homes but it was oh so painful........ Non of them suited us and eventually at the end of the viewings we told the Realtor® to make an appointment to go back to the first house for a second look as it was likely we were going to write an offer. We were both in agreement. We had warned the Realtor® up front that we were both Brokers and would not take more than ten minutes in any home. Still, we think she was shocked how quickly we made a decision.
She called the listing Realtor® to set up the appointment. We knew it had been shown a second time to another couple and sure as eggs are eggs, the Realtor® on the other end told us there was an offer being written by the other party who had seen the house for a second time that day.
We told our Realtor® to inform the other Agent that we were also writing an offer and to inform the seller. We were not about to lose this house so we wrote over list price. It would be a cash offer, no conditions and we would give the lady her preferred possession date. We waited in our hotel room until around 8pm, then the Realtor called. We got the house.......
To say we were "over the moon" would be an understatement. Move-in day could not come quick enough but Jun 2 is a long way off, so we will have to rent furnished accommodation for a couple of months. That's life I suppose.
Our New Home
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| The front view of our new home. |
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| Our Back Yard. |
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| Another Shot of our Back Yard. |
Epilogue
We have been out shopping for furniture and have fallen right in with Island life. It's a slower pace here and that's just fine.
During the winter there's the rain to contend with, in fact, quite a few days of the wet stuff and overcast skies too. but it beats the cold and having to shovel snow so we are very happy with our lot.
We will not have as many of the big blue open skies we have been so used to in Alberta but in spring and summer we will. The remainder of the year by all accounts will be sunny and very green.
The cherry and apple blossoms are all out. The daffodils are up and flowers adorn most yards already and it is only mid march. People are mowing lawns, golfers are playing all year around and there are many wonderful shops and restaurants to visit. We are happy.
We have hunted out the Salmon fishing possibilities and checked out the sports shops for Crab and shrimp or prawn traps and rods and reels for later on and I have been studying for my boating license. I write the exam in a few weeks time once I have found my study book. The exam is open book but you only get three tries and if you fail, you have to re-take the course so that's not an option.
I have decided that I am going to follow one of my passions, that of photography. I am going to do six courses (actually sponsored by Red Deer College in Alberta but taken out here) in Digital photography. It includes three mandatory courses, two on the attributes of and how to get the best from a digital Camera and the other one is about using photoshop.
I also have three electives which I have chosen - Advanced DSLR Features, Landscape & Travel Photography and Real Estate Photography, so later on sometime, you might see some of my pictures show up for sale in large format. We will have to wait and see. I am also hoping to learn about how to produce virtual tours for Realtors®.
I will also be focusing on some of the wonderful parts of nature and scenery on the Island, the ocean and places like the Grand Canyon, Arches National Park and Monument Valley in the US to name but a few and of course maybe even Australia and New Zealand if that comes around. Landscape photography really appeals to me.
Donna has not made up her mind yet but she is developing ideas about what she wants to do. We will have to wait and see. New challenges in the pipeline? Of course. We cannot just sit and look at walls for the rest of our lives. We have to remember, we only live once.
....... And the adventure continues.
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In remembrance of my very good friend Mr. Eddie Humphreys. A man I spent many years with in the Army, going through Airborne Forces Training at P Company together and with whom I joined the Army Physical Training Corps together. Remembering the many years and many many miles we walked together in the Mountains of Scotland, Wales, Norway and the Canadian Rockies. Ed recently passed away in Neath, Wales after a debilitating illness called Lewey Body Disease. He passed at the young age of 66. Rest in Peace my friend. You may be gone but you will never be forgotten.
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