Summer plans, part 1: The Prep

There once was a pandemic. Well, a bunch probably. But this is the first I one I get to experience. And the pandemic caused all sorts of shutdowns and lifestyle changes. We've been fortunate to remain unaffected (economics-wise and health-wise) but, like many, we've been getting antsy to travel. In anticipation of heading down to Virginia in the fall (and because why not?), we already got two COVID vaccine shots; later we learned that the ol' US of A doesn't recognize the combination of shots we received, so we're not sure yet if we'll be able to cross the border as planned.

But this post is about more local borders... the provincial ones. My family planned a family reunion in the summer for my parents' 50th anniversary. This meant planning to make our way to Smithers, BC in August. One could fly; we didn't last year, because the thought of flights, with masks, with a two-year-old... just not something to get excited about. So this year we figured we should make our way west. But, given the random closures of things and provincial border restrictions, there was still a lot up in the air (no, not necessarily a flight reference).

At any rate, after some soul-searching and midlife-reaching, I decided (already last year) that I'm done with tent camping. I'm not young anymore, you know. So the search began for a camper of some sort. We entered a fairly hectic RV market and managed to snag a little hybrid trailer that would suit us well. I went to southern Ontario at Easter and had it towed to somewhere else in southern Ontario while I, uh, waited to acquire a tow vehicle.

Our old but new-to-us trailer

Yeah I know, cart before the horse, right? So I went searching for the right horse and found one in Edmonton of all places. Pretty handy since I happen to have a brother there.

The culprit Kijiji ad

Richard was all too kind and patient, buying my little Chevy Suburban and storing it amid the goats, couches and wrecks in his rural yard. (Kidding... sort of.)

Then I waited. And waited. Kind of hoping the pandemic craziness would die down a little. Unfortunately it only got worse. So, amid much confusion of lockdowns initiating and lifting, my dad and I booked $100 flights to Edmonton for early June and hoped for the best.

By the time our flight day arrived, it would still be illegal for us to be in the car together entering Ontario on our drive home, but other than that, we were go good to go.

Masks on a plane... pretty annoying

We made our way to Richard's place outside of Edmonton and spent a few days there. I had a repair or two done to the Suburban and managed to get a temporary permit (good for 7 days) to drive it home. My first fuel-up was with super duper premium gas at $1.50. That was expensive (or so I thought).

While we were in Edmonton, we helped out a family packing up their house to move. Things got interesting when an emergency alert went out about a couple of crazies with guns in the very near vicinity. I guess the cops found them before they found us. Typical Alberta weekday?

Dad and I left for home on a Tuesday. Provincial rules varied greatly, but we were thrilled to be able to sit in a restaurant in Saskatchewan like in the olden days... a nice change!

Restauranting. For reals.

We stayed in some seedy motels and ate from drive-thrus or not at all... decidedly unhealthy. Dad discovered the McMuffin and fell in love.

After burning through Manitoba (thinking we couldn't stop there), we started the Ontario half of the trip with an uneventful border crossing into the province. There was a checkpoint there, but the special constable (i.e., not a cop) didn't ask the right questions and let us through without a problem.

In the tiny town of Upsala (insignificant but for the big Tesla charging station), Dad made contact with an old friend who lived there whom he hadn't seen in years. We met at said station for a bit before carrying on.

The only car trouble we had on the road was an oxygen sensor error that sowed up for no apparent reason; I haven't seen it since, so who knows what that was about. (I have spare sensors on my shelf now, just in case.)

There were a fair number of construction delays on the highway, but we were in no particular rush... for the most part. On the third and final day of driving, the closer we got to home, the more we wanted to just get there (home being Dad's place in Niagara). So having started in Thunder Bay that morning, we ended up deciding not to stop over another night.

Near Parry Sound was the first and only time we got pulled over. Suspicious SUV, no plates... the cops couldn't help themselves. It took but a few minutes to be cleared, and we were off again.

Never a welcome sight.

It was around Burlington on the 403, close to midnight, that we suddenly hit traffic. A dead standstill, seemingly due to construction-related lane reductions. We were delayed a full hour, which is frustrating when you think you're less than an hour from the end of your trip. At any rate, we made it back after midnight.

On Friday, I hooked up the travel trailer I had stored at the farm and headed for home. Ran out of gas within 400km, after which I figured I shouldn't have tried to go 110 the whole way.

After getting the trailer home, repairs and upgrades were made, and we got finally enjoy our new camping experience over the July long weekend. Goodbye giant tent from 2010!

Loving our super spacious trailer

More parts to come...