Are we ready??

March 7

We are supposed to be hitting the road in 48 hours and there is still much to do. I have been having all sorts of issues getting my pension going because my divorce lawyer from way back didn't deal with our pensions properly back then. So now I'm off to another lawyer to try to get it all sorted out. More money, time and stress but I think I'm getting closer. We are also putting our house up for sale so everything must be spotless before we leave. Unfortunately we haven't been able to find a good option for our 19 pound garage/outdoor cat Smoky so he will be staying home. Rachelle will be checking on him every couple days. I know he is very independent and will be fine but I still tear up when I think of leaving him for 5 weeks.

By the time we got home from town the temperature had gone from -22C all the way up to a balmy -7C so we bundled up and continued loading the trailer. Way too cold open slides and really organize anything.

We were supposed to have an appointment with our financial adviser in Edmonton for early Friday morning. We were feeling too much time pressure so we cancelled meaning we now could wait until Friday to leave which gives us enough time to finish and then relax for the evening. We got everything (we think) loaded up and hooked up by 4:30ish and now we can relax and leave at our leisure in the morning. Phew!

Hooked up and ready to go!

March 9

Slept great! We both hit the showers, had coffee and breakfast and then set about all the last minute details. I had a long, tearful good-bye with Smoky and we hit the road. It was a cold but beautiful sunny day and the trip to Edmonton was uneventful.

Margaret in her happy place

Dave in his happy place

All was going great until we arrived at my sisters place. Lorin lives on a corner lot with tons of room to park along the side of her house. Unfortunately it had snowed heavily a few days prior and the the roads had not been plowed. If we tried to park there we would definitely be stuck. Where to park 57 feet of vehicle??? Luckily Lorin's neighbour, Vic, was outside snow blowing and shovelling his driveway. He graciously offered to let us park the trailer there overnight. It did mean we had to unhook the truck but beggars can't be choosers and we were very grateful to accept his offer.

Lorin was still at work so we headed over to our friends, Howard and Chris's for a coffee and visit. We got back to Lorin's in time to order in some supper. After dinner Ryan and Ashtyn, Sam and Richard, and my brother Dan and his wife Celia arrived for a small party. We had a number of beverages and a great time. As everyone was leaving I realized I had not taken any pictures so my daughter, Sam took a couple.

Lorin, Sam and me

Lorin and I decided to have a glass of water and chat for "10 minutes" before heading to bed. Well...3 hours and a bottle(?) of wine later we finally went to bed. Good thing we only have a 3 hour drive tomorrow and Dave is driving ;)