11 - Calgary, AB (Canada, eh?)

View from our rv...on Dave's parent's farm!

A VACATION FROM THE VACATION...
I'm sure many of us have said when we arrive home from a trip that we need a vacation to get over our vacation. I didn't realize that I would also be saying it when we arrived in Calgary. Calgary to us is the place we grew up in and is the place our parents and immediate family still live in. In keeping with our "winging it" approach to travelling, we didn't give much notice of our arrival, (about 2 days). The next thing I realized, a whole week had passed and all I did was visit my parents.  We based our RV on Dave's parent's farm, occupying the same space the horses use, and the occasional cow/calf.  The farm is about 1hr Northwest of Calgary with a great view of the Rocky Mountains.

East pasture/pond area, very green for July! (lots of rain)

Tony the Llama & his herd...

"Captain", one of the 4 horses on the farm



Dave hard at work doing his chores...



Of course manure management isn't high up on the list of chores Avril wants to do!

 82 STEPS

We still lived in the rv but utilized Dave's parent's house for eating, showering, etc. Since we did not have sewer hookup (just power), we tried as much as we could to use their facilities...sometimes those 82 steps to make it to the bathroom were quite a challenge, especially at dusk while dodging cow patties!

After my week of "Avril time", we were ready to catch up with friends we hadn't seen in a couple of years. Catalina enjoyed (well, judging from her behaviour), meeting her Cdn extended family.

I was able to arrange an e-collar training day with a local dog trainer and to our mutual satisfaction in a 4 hr. lesson, much progress had been made. My homework is to continue what was learned and hopefully Catalina will continue to respond in the right direction. Our goal is to have her come immediately when called, regardless of what furry creature(s) are around her or running away from her... Of course our Catalina surprise while at the farm was coming home (to the rv) and finding the screen door shredded. The door is a 2 door system, with the main metal door on the outside and the screen door inside of it. Fortunately handy Dave bought screening material and replaced the panel, making it look like it never happened...until 3 days later when it happened again! Oh no, are we going to have a new issue to deal with??? We decided to not repair the door until we left the farm thinking something outside the rv was triggering the behaviour.

Dave's parents (Kathy & George)

Purdy-licious!

One thing I had realized during our trip was that I had not weighed myself in over 2 months...to some people that isn't a big deal, to others, well it's almost a daily ritual that you do in the morning to reinforce just how good or bad you were the night before... For me, I figure the hiking and new activities we'd be doing would justify the ice cream treats we rewarded ourselves and as long as my clothes didn't get any tighter, what's the big deal?!?!  Now that we're in Calgary, one of my biggest weaknesses also lives here, the chocolate store Purdy's....I think I had enough willpower for about 2 days and then after that, $128 worth of  "good chocolate" was bought. Of course I rationalized that most of it was gifts to friends for taking care of our house, etc.....but come on, do you really think all that chocolate is going to last the 2 month trip back to Texas???  Maybe I better invest in a bathroom scale............

Accent, says who?

It was interesting to hear that there was no consensus on whether Dave or I sounded the same or not. Some thought at least one of us sounded American while others argued we haven't changed a bit. We did get one comment that Dave sounded English (could our 4 yr stay in Oxford still have an effect?)....hmm.... I did notice that I was more aware of people's Canadian accent, whether it be the cashier at the grocery store or visiting friends we hadn't seen in over 5 yrs.

Avril's dad (Hugh), niece (Cari), sister (Shirley), brother-in-law (Trent), mum (Cathy)



Cdn RV'ing

We did find out that there are limited places to go rv'ing in Canada and consequently very little vacancy for last minute campers. Most people apply for sites 3 months in advance so that they can secure their summer vacation spots (especially since the summer season is much shorter in Canada as it is in most parts of the US).

The RV Advantage:

Now that we have been on the road for just over 3 months, I've come to appreciate a few things about living in a 5th wheel:

     1) If you don't like your view or neighbors, you can just move

     2) Cleaning & tidying up is a snap since you're living space isn't that big



     3) Trailer food is pretty much the same as what you like to make at home...I think we're eating healthier since we have less storage space (so less junk food!).

     4) Yes you can get by on 5 t-shirts for a 3-6 month trip...(you just look the same in your pictures that's all!!!)

     5) Murphy Law also applies to your rv, usually something will break or you'll need to purchase a part during a long weekend and nothing is open for at least 3 days...

Next stop?

Now no backseat barking while I'm at the wheel?!?!

 

After 3 weeks of truly enjoying time spent with family & friends, we made the big decision, when do we want to return to Texas? A few neighbors told us to stay away from the summer heat & humidity (and the mosquitoes weren't helping much either). So with this information at hand, we figure that as long as no one minded us extending our trip, we would take our time and see the East coast via Oshkosh, Wisconsin (home of the EAA annual airshow & fly-in). With chocolate safely stowed, we headed East through Saskatchewan then South along a very rough single lane road to the US border (Monchy), where the friendly but thorough Customs officers confiscated 4 lemons & an oregano plant (which we forgot we had) from the trailer. Fortunately their stern $5000 fine for smuggling said citrus & alien plants was said with a smile and one of them had another addition to his vegetable garden that day!



They sure don't make them like they used to....and that also goes for the truck! :)