Home at last!

Monday, May 2, 2011

OTTAWA, ON – I’m sitting in my own easy chair at home, for the first time since February. We’re home! The forsythia has bloomed out front and the hyacinths are up, and the cardinals were singing their hearts out in the back yard. There was a lovely azalea plant and a bottle of bubbly from Mum waiting to welcome us home, and we were greeted by two neighbours with waves and ‘welcome home’s. It’s great to be here!

We left North Bay this morning just after 7 am, heading down the Trans-Canada Highway in a gentle drizzle of rain. Although it delayed us somewhat, we were glad to see some road work under way as we drove along, because there was a lot that needed fixing. We hit quite a few rough spots that made our dishes jump in the trailer and tossed our shoes onto the floor from the storage tower by the door. The last of one set of glasses flew out of one of the cupboards and smashed into pieces. We are convinced now that elegant plastic glasses will be required for our new RV when the time comes!

It was lovely to see more lakes and pine trees as we covered the familiar territory between the north and Ottawa. There were still clumps of snow in some areas, the last vestiges of the winter we left behind. As we got closer to Ottawa, I suggested Val put in his order for the rain to stop when we were getting the trailer settled in its temporary resting place at Long Island Camp. He has an uncanny way of staying dry on rainy days when he has to be outside!

Sure enough, we got to the camp with the objective of emptying our holding tanks and parking the trailer, and the few sprinkles of rain dried up for all those steps! It almost never fails.

We grabbed a few essential items that we wanted to take out right away, such as the contents of the fridge, and headed home. It was great to turn the corner and see our lovely house again! Our priority was to go and vote in the federal election, which we got home just in time to accomplish!

In all, we covered more than 16,000 kilometers, some getting from state to state and some driving around locally wherever we were. We traveled by truck, train, helicopter, jeep and bus at various points. We got as far south as Nogales on the Mexican border and as high as 11,158 feet elevation in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. We experienced ice and snow as well as heat in the 90s. We saw amazing natural wonders and significant man-made structures. We met wonderful people who smiled and chatted, offered advice, helped us out and taught us new things. We saw stellar performances. We admired works of art and beautiful native crafts. We saw inspiring sunrises over Monument Valley and flaming sunsets in Sedona. We were blown by fierce winds and caressed by warm sunlight. Our memories of this trip will be with us for years to come, and already we are looking forward to the ones to come in future trips.

We hope you have enjoyed our travelogue over the past nine weeks. My evenings will be different without a half-hour writing session and photo upload each time! You can use the “comments” feature on this blog to let us know what you think (and thanks to those who have done so!). And so, until the next time, happy trails to you!