I think it really all started back when Dan & I only had 2 children, Deborah & Ben, and were in the position to finally get out of apartment living and buy our own home. We had gone on walks through the Fort Victoria RV Park that was near my parent's place, and had often oohed and ahhhd at the beautiful motorhomes that were there. We talked about how we "hadn't done things right" by buying into the common mentality that you move out from home into an apartment, then save up for many years until you buy a house, only to be bogged down with a mortgage for the rest of your life.
The very idea of being tied down to one location seemed the anti-thesis of who we were - we loved to travel & meet new people! How was it that we missed this better ideal - to live full time in a home that you can take with you just about anywhere you wanted to go? So we started looking seriously at the different models that were available, scouting out ads in the classifieds and making numerous trips to RV dealerships. We were very close to settling on a Prowler 5th wheel with 2 sets of bunks in the back and a queen bed in the front, when I found out I was pregnant again.
That got all our close friends & family "concerned" because I had a history of problematic pregnancies and guilt placed on us that it was going to be too difficult to raise our children in an environment like that. And so we were talked into getting something more "stable", such as a mobile home (a poor name for a wood & plaster box that doesn't go anywhere!) Rachel was born a couple of months after we settled in to our home in Sooke. We had only owned that house for a year when Dan was bit by the traveling bug again and had us move to California.
I was really quite upset about this upcoming move for the first few months. This wasn't just going for a local mystery tour or a vacation to head back home again from. It was more like leaving my heart behind - my family and friends and everything I knew was going to be so far away from me - and for all I knew, it might end up as our permanent residence. Needless to say, I was pretty grumpy and miserable - oh yeah, and pregnant with child #4 too!
Dan had to make sure everything was in place for us to have health insurance cover the cost of having a baby in the US (the delivery would have cost us $30,000 if we didn't have coverage - and that's without complications!). His work visa was in order and our apartment was supposedly ready for us, so we left in December for sunny St. Helena.
It wasn't a good start when we showed up with all our family at the apartment with all our goods in the moving van, only to be told that the tenants that were supposed to be gone were still there and that they didn't have anything for us (despite the fact that they already took our first month's rent & damage deposit).Thankfully, some quick thinking on my part to write down the phone number of tenant's rights association suddenly inspired the landlady to accommodate us with a different suite.
All of us soon grew to love our St. Helena home, including me. But what's not to love? Warm weather in winter, beautiful coastal views, lots of fun activities for the kids, and on and on. Who knew that the fresh oranges we bought in Canada tasted so different from ones plucked straight from the tree? Bliss! My parents gave a surprise visit in January, and my Mom came again in April after Joel's birth. We had another terrific visit with them in fall and saw the San Francisco Zoo together. It felt as though we may have found paradise on earth.
It was too bad that the wonder of it all was not to last, as we hit tragedy after living there for just over a year. Dan had renewed his work visa with a different company, the owner of which often payed Dan with bad checks. Having a financial crises start due to our rent & bill payments bouncing was bad enough - then we got the news that my Mom's lung cancer was now untreatable - that I needed to get there as soon as possible to say good-bye. Unfortunately, I didn't make it in time - she passed away while we were halfway on our drive there.
Even though I determined to just go on living my life (kind of have to when children need to be looked after), I definitely felt the impact of losing my Mom. I would even say that I went into a depression, though I think I hid it pretty well. Easy to do when the bad employer situation meant we had to start looking at moving back to Canada & all the stresses that entailed. That and by the time we found a place in Saskatchewan to call home, I was expecting baby #5 in a couple of months.
The move went well, I was happy to be back in Canada, even though I was still far from family and friends and everything went well with Zach's birth (though I got very sick just a few weeks before, probably from all the pent up stress from the previous year). We settled in fairly well, but after a couple of years of -40ºC, the whole family began itching for a change in scenery.
The financial difficulties that we had accumulated in our last few months in California had compounded here in SK, simply because all the kinds of work Dan knows how to do are not in demand in this area. Seemed like a great time to open up a bike shop - lol! :) I think we were very scared of this decision at first (ok, I was terrified, but then, I'm the worry-wart around here), but it turned out to be the best thing Dan could have done. It was like igniting that fire to be adventurous once again.
The first year of business was over, we hadn't ended in bankruptcy, and our sixth child Nathan had been added to the family. We started talking about how it would be so nice to get away for the winter (did I mention that I really hate -40 weather?) Perhaps if we could scrape together just enough money we could get an RV and go back down to California for 4 months and not be cooped up with everybody in the miserable cold. It was a lovely, lovely dream!
We carefully weighed out the costs of living in our house with all the bills associated with it and life in an RV - oddly, they are pretty close to the same. So when the question came up of "Do we stay here & freeze, & not see Grandma Dianne (who's health has not been great), or do we go see as many family & friends as we can & enjoy a warm winter?" it was no contest! Soon we were searching furiously on the internet - Craigslist, Kijiji, Ebay & RV sales sites.
One thing we decided early on was that we didn't want all of our money to be thrown away on poor gas mileage. The Class C style caught our attention - I liked it for safety reasons, Dan favoured it for fuel economy. After a bit more research, Dan felt that a Toyota chassis would fit the bill, as they typically get 16-24 mpg. But they are hard to come by in good condition, if at all, in Canada. Our other alternative was to find a motorhome that ran on propane. These motorhomes are easier to find, though gas stations that sell propane are hard to find.
This past week we narrowed our choices down to just a handful to look at; after phoning the owners, it was narrowed down to just two: a 21" Toyota Oddyssey and a 21" Ford Vanguard. Both had pros and cons to them, but Dan felt that both were also asking more than they were really worth. As he was humming and hawing between the two, I found another RV available - and it was right here in Saskatchewan!
I phoned the number right away and had a good feeling about it when I talked to one of the owners on the phone. She told me so much detail, that you could tell that it was a cherished home, not just some junk they were trying to get rid of. Their only reason for selling it, I was told, was that they had the opportunity to buy their dream RV - one with a queen bed in the back. Otherwise, if that opportunity had not come along, they would be using it for many years to come.
Dan made an appointment to go see it yesterday and was blown away by just how great the condition of it was. So we are now the proud owners of a propane powered 23' Ford Scamper! :) :) :)
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