We are almost ready.

We have, in fact, been planning for months.  After failing to rent an RV (we tried everywhere from Vancouver to Las Vegas but it seems you need to do this a year in advance to procure anything, as most of middle America seems to rent RV’s in the summer), we investigated the second hand sales market, which to our surprise is very buoyant on the internet.  Our intention is to sell it at the end of the summer, but who knows, maybe we’ll like this lark so much we will keep it another season and come back for more.  Or maybe we’ll just sell.

So the other night, Mr C returned from his little sojourn out to Comox to retrieve the vehicle that be bought on-line from Hong Kong.  Through a friend of a friend of a friend he met up with a man on Vancouver Island who, for some reason, was interested in our little story and agreed to see the vehicle before we wired over the funds making sure that a) it existed and b) was in relatively good condition.  He also met Mr C at the airport, escorted him to the site, helped him kit it out and assisted in sorting the insurance papers.  He even bought Mr C a coffee and gave us maps and books for our journey.  I have never met the man and already I am indebted to his kindness.

Weary from completing his mission, Mr C arrived to great wails of excitement from the under-15’s in our midst eager to check out their new digs and I quietly thanked whoever was responsible that it did not disappoint (apart from no satellite dish with direct access to continuous wireless).  It is altogether immense both in size and stature.  I worry about my ability to drive the thing and drive it I must… I only hope I don’t forget what side of the road I am driving on.  Mr C had stopped at the great Canadian shopping institution that is Canadian Tire – it sells anything from kitchenware to fishing tackle and anything in between – and did a more than acceptable job at kitting out the kitchen and more.  He even bought a tablecloth for picnics and for some reason I cannot fathom, I am amazed and it almost brings me to tears… I fear the anticipation of our departure might be getting to me.  Or maybe it’s the wine.

We have one more night with friends in West Vancouver recovering from Hong Kong jet lag and buying supplies, then we set off.  The family is feeling the deadline looming. Today I rushed to purchase the final items for the RV and food, while Mr C and our kind hosts entertained the youths at the go cart track.  It all ended in a futile couple of hours trying to download and update the Garmin GPS device which in turn culminated in wine-fueled rants against technology in general.  The kids, meanwhile, were madly trying to download every episode of Game of Thrones before the impending wifi moratorium.

I have discovered two things.  Firstly, after two days of frolicking around in the West Coast sunshine (and rain) it is very hard to make the move to leave.  The kids are virtually attached at the hip to their Canadian BFFs and every day ask how many more hours they have together.  But leave we must – we need to make tracks.  Secondly, I have found that everyone has an opinion on best routes to take.  Really, I have spoken to 10 different people and have 10 different routes mapped out for each one.  Last night when the crew came back from their Wednesday evening sailing race, there was much collective debate on our travels. There are now so many scrawls on our map that I can’t actually see the route.

But we are going to move out… perhaps not at the break of dawn… but sometime before 10.  Perhaps 11.  After a coffee or two.  There is a great quote that we have stuck up on our fridge in the kitchen in Hong Kong from Albert Einstein who I suppose knew a bit about something.  It is in French (?) but roughly translated “Life is like riding a bicycle, you need to keep moving or else you will fall.”

I might add that you actually have to start…