Radical Sabbatical: AYear of Living

Okay, the last time I posted we were leaving Salt Lake City. I am a bad blogger...I will try to be better. So we left Salt Lake and started to head to Dinosaur National Monument. We didn't make it far. We got to Park City,Utah and decided to stay for the night. It was lovely. We dropped D off at a brewery to do some studying and headed to the Farmers Market. OMG! I got pears, apples, tomatoes, peppers, kettle corn, 2 loaves of bread, goat cheese, raspberries, strawberries and cucumber for less than $40. I was in heaven. We then picked up Donovan in the chic part of town. There was a lady wearing a toque. It was +20. We then headed to the Outlet Mall to find some new shoes for Donovan. I managed to get a pair of Montrail hikers and a windbreaker at Columbia for less than $50. Ummm...yeah. I liked it here.

Next day we drove to Vernal,Utah. The home of Dinosaur National Park. We got there too late to get to the park so we camped at a gorgeous spot called Steinaker State Park. Beautiful. There we made glow jars and made gourmet s'mores. We met a lovely couple from England and introduced them to s'mores. Imogene and Johnny were traveling the Western part of the US in a funky painted mini van. I liked them. Donovan liked them even though Johnny cheers for Manchester United. The coyotes were howling like crazy that night. Kinda creepy, but really cool. Next day we went to the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum. It was AWESOME. Aidan and Kiran worked on a Junior Scientist program throughout the museum. There were tons of fossils and models to look at. We loved it and totally recommend it. Seriously. Then we headed to the Quarry at Dinosaur National Park. Squeal! It was ah-maz-ing!!!! Donovan and I were just so excited. The boys were mildly entertained. We decided to camp at the Split Mountain campground in Dinosaur National. It was free, we were sold. It was stunning. It was on Green River and was surrounded by red rocks and incredible rock faces. The stars were amazing. If we had the time, we would've stayed a few more nights but Donovan had to get back to civilization to work on a paper. Boo,Hiss. We drove to Grand Junction, Colorado. On the way, Donovan got pulled over by the State Patrol because he didn't stop for a school bus. Thankfully, he let us off with a warning or else we would've kissed $890 goodbye. Scenery was beautiful as usual.

We stayed at the KOA in Grand Junction for two nights so Donovan and the boys could get caught up with some school work.The weather was hot...+27 for both days. The 2nd day we went downtown to get some gelato and to fix Aidan's bike tire. We witnessed an Occupy Grand Junction. There were about 20 people chanting down Main St. It was a pathetic turn out. Apparently Grand Junction is the 1%. We were debating whether or not to head to Denver or to South Utah. Denver won.

The drive to Denver was interesting. We hit a few mountain passes. It was snowing. The boys were so happy to see snow, D and I were not. It went from +27 to +1. Not impressed. I mean it was lovely and all but pulling a 30' beast behind you through 12,000 ft passes is not really a good time. Donovan and I decided to stay at the KOA on the East side of Denver the night before. I plugged the address into Sam as we got a little closer to Denver. Okay, turn at Idaho Springs. Cute town, far too many churches. Sam lead us through town to Co Rd 279. We obviously didn't realize what Co Rd  means County Road. We drove for quite awhile because Sam kept telling us that the KOA was right around the corner. We drove past lots of old mine shafts. Donovan and I watch far to many horror movies and were trying not to think about what or who would come to meet us if we should get stuck. Finally, Donovan found a place to turn around as it became clear that the KOA was not around the corner. We drove back down the mountainside in 1st gear. Then we took a wrong turn. Bad to worse instantaneously. This road was definitely not made for a 30' RV. A narrow, winding path (a path is what I am going to call it because that is pretty much all it was) overlooking a cliff. A long,long way down.I was on the side that overlooked the massive drop down. Donovan kept his cool. I lost it. Completely. After we escaped death, we decided to try the Denver West KOA instead. It was another hour and half away in Strasberg, Colorado. It was wedged between the highway and a TRAIN TRACK! We stayed one night and then found a place closer to Denver. We moved to Cherry Creek State Park. A little oasis in the middle of the city. It was great. They even had wifi. We went and explored downtown Denver. The boys loved the tall buildings. We went to the 16th Street mall in Denver. The boys loved the free bus that took us up and down the street. We got to the end of the street and walked through a lovely park to the skate park. Lots of sketchy teenagers. We left. Walked back up 16th to an awesome bookstore called the Tattered Page. We spent far too much money on books. We then hunted down the Ikea. It happened to be kids eat free day so we had dinner for the 5 of us for $8. Not bad. It was a good thing that I insisted that we needed some more storage for the boys room. The next day we went on a candy factory tour at a place called Hammonds. They make candy canes and other delectable goodness. We bought far too much candy. The boys loved the tour and so did D and I. I then made Donovan hunt down the Container Store. Oh how I love the Container Store. I left the boys in the truck and went in to get some organizers for the kids school work. And I actually left with exactly what I went for. I know. Donovans' birthday was the following day so we decided to take a trek out to Boulder. Cool university town. Cute little shops,coffee shops,restaurants and gorgeous tree lined streets. Next day:Pueblo.

We drove to Pueblo the next day. We drove through Colorado Springs. We had lunch at IHOP and then drove on through. We should have spent the night. We landed in Pueblo. We decided to stay at the Walmart to save a few bucks. A Barnes and Noble was nearby so Donovan could get some work done. While he was working, the boys and I went into Walmart to get some milk and water. Walmart is just a great place to people watch. We then went back to the Terry and got ready for bed. I did not sleep. At all. Well maybe for about an hour at about 6am. We now know not to park near the main road into a 24 hour Walmart or to park across the street from a movie theatre on a Friday night. Another lesson learned.

Today we drove to Alamosa so we could go and see the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Staying at the KOA...the water smells like rotten eggs but there is no train. At least not yet. The sand dunes were amazing. Donovan said it reminded him of Kuwait. The boys loved it because it was like a giant sand box. I loved the way the light and shadows created such depth and beauty to these sandy hills.  OMG...Donovan just came in from outside and there is a train!  That is it...no more KOAs for us!!! Tomorrow we are headed for Durango. Then off to Mesa Verde,Canyons of the Ancients and then to South Utah. I'll write while we are in Moab. 


If you want to check out some pics from the trip....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52945342@N02/sets/

Everything is all good!

Picked up D from school on Saturday September 18. It was soo very nice to see him and to know that I wouldn't have to go this alone anymore. We went straight over to the guys place that sold us the "Terry". Unpacked the mountain of stuff crammed into the back of the truck into the 5th Wheel and started learning how to use this beast. Things were going along quite smoothly until we went to take the front jacks off to drive away. Things quickly came to a grinding halt, literally. The jacks just stopped moving. Okay. Crap. Call the mobile RV mechanic. Can't come check it out until Monday. Double Crap. We were going to spend the next couple of days in a nearby RV parks to get acquainted with Terry. What are we going to do now?  Gen, Jim and Finn to the rescue again. We spent the next couple of nights invading their space again! We invade spaces quite well.  We had a lovely few days with some of my most favouritest people in the world.

Monday arrives. Terry is fixed and ready to go. Off we go! We decide to just get on the ferry and go to the mainland and camp for a few days. Donovan has never driven a rig this big. Time to learn. He did really great. It was a little stressful but he managed to get it on the ferry. The ferry ride was very uneventful. Now to drive the beast to Fort Langley to camp. Okay, a little more challenging. Merging is interesting. Nobody wants to let 48 feet of slow moving metal in front of them. We managed to navigate our way through hideous amounts of traffic and weird streets that change names without notice to finally get to Fort Camping in Fort Langley. Gorgeous spot. Now to remember how to set the Terry up. It was actually easier than I thought it would be. Just a few little hiccups. Like how to get the hot water running and the furnace working. Then how to fit all our stuff into 250sq ft. I am so glad that I have insane packing skills. A few little tweaks and presto, a manageable living space.
After another burp. Waiting for the boys school stuff to arrive took longer than expected but this allowed us to get a few more things done. We bought a Spot (a personal GPS tracking device that can send help if we get in a sticky situation) and a GPS (we call her Sam) to help us navigate the streets of big cities so we don't kill each other. Both have worked out like a dream.
Friday, September 30 is the day, we venture into the United States. I make sure that we have all the documents that we need. Hit the truck crossing. The crossing guard had no idea where or what the Yukon was. Seriously, don't you have to take a geography class to get this job?! I think he was embarrassed so we went through without any drama.
First we stayed in Preston, Washington which is just outside of Renton. Quiet spot. Perhaps to quiet for the Dias family to fit into. Got some laundry done, went to Krispy Kreme for some yummy donuts and bought a new hose. So exciting. Next day, we set out for Spokane. Donovan is now very comfortable with driving the Terry. He is a fast learner, no?!  We drove through several little towns including one that has the Petrified Wood Forest in Washington. Sounded cool so we decided to stop. Made our donation of the recommended $5 and were then told that we would have to buy a State Park Day Pass. Really? You want another $10 just to look at some old trees? It didn't happen. Took some pictures of some outside of the entry and left. We stopped at the rock shop down the street to check out some pieces of petrified wood and other rocks. Felt a little better about missing an educational opportunity. Got back in the truck and drove to the KOA in Spokane (after driving first to a state park through narrow and windy roads only to find out that we needed another STATE PARK DAY PASS!). The KOA would have to do. After having watched Aidan whip around on his bike in the last few campgrounds that we stayed at and watching Kiran chase after him, we decided to take a family trip to Walmart to buy the rest of us bikes. I picked out a sweet red and white Schwinn, Donovan picked out the cheapest black Schwinn he could find, Kiran picked out a red and black rocket bike and Asher had his heart set on a Spiderman bike (he got the more affordable bike which he happens to love just as much. I love it when they are so easy). By the time we got back to the campsite it was pitch black. The next day we went into downtown Spokane for lunch. Donovan and the boys had some school work to do after lunch so Asher and I went to play at Mobius for awhile. Mobius is a very small scale Science World. Asher loved it! When the boys were finished we went and explored Riverside Park. A very cool park that was once an expo site. The boys loved the giant wagon slide and the carousel. Then we went on a mission to find a Target. Oh how I love Target!
The next day we started our journey to Montana. We went through the northern part of Idaho. Stopped in a little town called Wallace. Very strange. Full of cool antiques and beautiful buildings and also had a UFO. Made it into Montana with ease. Stopped at a small town called Alberton because a sign on the highway promised a used bookstore with over 100,000 books. It was a place from the Twilight Zone or some horror movie. The book store was cluttered and the books were ancient. Not at all what we had envisioned. I was hoping for a Russell Books (Victoria). On our very fast exit out of Alberton, the boys noticed that there was an "A" on the mountainside and were instantly intrigued. We then noticed that all the towns in Montana had their initial somewhere on a close by mountainside. On to Missoula. We decided that we were going to try sleeping in a Walmart parking lot for a night. Sam (our GPS) found us a Walmart. The spaces were way too small and I kind of felt weird camping at Walmart. Next idea was to camp at a National Forest campground because the KOA can be a bit on the steep side,price wise. It took a long time to find Chief Looking Glass campground in Lolo (just south of Missoula). It was deserted and the campsite had a lovely creek through it. SOLD. We had a picnic on the rocks in the creek and had some fun throwing rocks. Then we heard gunshots. Hunting season in Montana. Oh joy! I pretended that this didn't freak me out and after we finished our dinner we went for a family bike ride. When we returned to Terry, we got into our pj's and watched a family movie all cuddled up in D and I's bed. After the boys went to bed, I stayed up for awhile listening to the sound of rain. The next day we drove down to Hamilton,Montana because Donovan needed the internet to study and needed to be able to stay in one place for a few days to work on an assignment. We stayed at the Anglers Roost. It was quiet and close to the river. We watched fly fisherman catch some fish and basically holed up in Terry because it was rainy and cold. When Donovan finished his assignment we moved on to Arco, Idaho. The drive to Arco was absolutely gorgeous. Beautiful snow covered mountains, farmland, meandering rivers. Breathtaking. Arco was a hole in the wall but it was close to Craters of the Moon National Monument which was our sole purpose for going to Southern Idaho. Arco was the first place where atomic power was used to light up a light bulb. Yep, that is there claim to fame. Craters of the Moon was fabulous! The boys (including D) and I loved it. It really was like being on the Moon. I even went into a cave. Ya I know. Ranger Margaret, who took us on the cave tour was a bit of an odd duck but nonetheless the boys loved listening to her canned speeches. While there, the boys earned there very first Junior Ranger badges. They were very proud of themselves. Donovan had two very large final assignments due the next day so we decided to drive a very short distance to Lava Hot Springs. We only got sidetracked once when we saw the sign for the Idaho Potato Museum. I know. We HAD to go. We navigated our way through Blackfoot, Idaho in search of the Potato Museum. We found it! It had a large baked potato sculpture outside. Love. But unfortunately, it was CLOSED! Boo! Lava Hot Springs was lovely. Very cute town set in the mountains that were ablaze in fall colours. Donovan found a nice quiet spot to work and the boys and I walked around downtown. We found an ice cream place and a playground. We collected leaves for a fall art project and moseyed back to the campground to do some art work. In the morning, after D had finished his assignments we went for a lovely soak in the mineral hot springs (non-sulfur based so I could go). It was very relaxing. I wanted to take a nap after we went but we got into the truck and started driving to Salt Lake City, Utah. As we approached the Idaho/Utah border we saw a giant UFO cloud in the sky. A sign. I dunno. We kept going until we reached Antelope Island, just north of Salt Lake City. Very cool state park that has bison roaming around on it and is an island in Great Salt Lake. We stopped to check it out. I'm sure that it would have much more of a site if we weren't so used to roaming bison. It was stunning though. The water was vile. Tons of brine shrimp (otherwise known as Sea Monkeys) and other weird floating bugs. Nothing else can live in it due to its salt content. It was getting dark and a storm was rolling in so we settled on driving to the "award winning" KOA (someone told us that) in Salt Lake City. I think that it could be located in possibly the worst area of Salt Lake. The ghetto of Salt Lake. But whatever, we have Ned. We parked the RV and went on the hunt for some food. Real food, not fast food. Downtown Salt Lake City is gorgeous at night. The temple was lit up like a christmas tree and the state building glowed in the dreary weather. We found an Olive Garden. Not exactly what I had in mind but it was late and we were hungry. A thanksgiving meal for us that didn't have turkey. sigh. That brings us to today. We went to Discovery Gateway. A place for the kids to explore. It was a flipping mad house. There was a school there and chaos reigned supreme. After the insanity, we walked around Gateway mall. Huge place, lots of stores including an Anthropologie. I heart it there. Drove around Salt Lake for awhile to check out the city in the daylight. I think that this place is really quite awesome. Cute little neighbourhoods with cute little houses. Beautiful tree lined streets. I think I like it here. Leaving tomorrow. Don't know where yet but will write soon.

We left the Yukon six weeks ago. It has been a crazy six weeks. We drove like mad people to Prince George, Summit Lake to be exact , to spend some time with Papa Yvon and Gramma Trudy. Summit Lake is where I spent my childhood summers. It is still my favourite place on earth. I think that the boys like it too. They get to fish with Papa, go for long meandering walks with Gramma, play with sticks in the bonfire and explore the forest. Everything that I loved to do as a child and even now. The visit wasn`t long enough.

Next stop Coquitlam. A lovely suburb of Vancouver where D and I met and where are families still are. We crammed into D`s parents condo for 2 weeks. D spent the first few days with us and then we drove him to the ferry terminal and drove back to Coquitlam. I don`t drive in the city. I hate driving in the city. I especially hate driving over bridges in the city. And the boys bawled from the moment D left the van to the moment I finally stopped at a Burger King to get them a milkshake so they would stop crying.  Thankfully, my sis in law was with me to talk me off the ledge.

The boys and I spent the next week and a half trying not to kill each other. We went to lots of parks.

Off to Victoria to visit D at school. Quick little visit but so worth it. I love Victoria. One reason in particular is that a couple of my favourite peeps live in Vic West. They so kindly let us crash their pad for a few days. They took us to feed the seals at Fisherman's Wharf. So very cool. Never done it. Could do it everyday. We took a double decker bus to the Bug Zoo. The boys loved it. Then we walked back to G and J`s house. G said it would take 20 minutes. It took over an hour. I still love her. My feet do not. G and I then left the boys with J and went to get art supplies and have some girl time. Love = art supplies,liquor store,huge used book store and time with G. I needed that time with G and J. I felt like myself again.

I met up with my mom in Victoria and we drove up to Parksville with the boys. We stayed in a lovely condo at Ocean Trails for 5 lovely days. We went to Rathtrevor Beach at low tide and scoured the sand for sand dollars,shells,rocks,anything that looked interesting. We took the boys to Coombs to see the `Goats on the Roof`. Kai fell in love with Indiana Jones hat. Pretty Grandma bought it for him for his birthday. He is one happy little dude. Then we took a drive to Cathedral Grove. The boys ooohed and aaahhhed at the trees. Trees in the Yukon are such sad little trees. Can`t wait to show them the Redwoods in Northern California.