resurfacing....

Hello!

Here we are! Alive and well, and on the very beginnings of our journey after a very intense week and a bit!!!!! For a quick recap......

So, we moved out of our house on Nov. 21st. We sorted our stuff between storage locker (5 feet by 7 1/2 feet by 8 feet high - AND we have room to spare in there!), more giveaway and stuff to bring in the Barth. We had so much little stuff to sort through, we ended up just randomly throwing things in boxes and garbage bags, and frantically cleaning the house for the new owners. It didn't help that Jamie and I were as sick as dogs during that time, achey and feverish, coughing and wanting nothing more than to just crawl into bed. Thank goodness for Mom who came to scrub cupboards, move awkward couches and keep us supplied in food and drink!

We were supposed to be out by noon on the Fri, and we were out by 1:00 - not bad! Julia and Nayt, our neighbours, completely stepped up to the plate on this day - the Barth was not back from the repair shop yet, so they opened up their attic space for us to move everything into, then came over with their wagons to help us move all our stuff over for a couple of hours! Saintly, they are!!!!!!

The weekend we spent up at Harrison Hot Spring Resort, fully relaxing and recovering from our cold, soaking in the hot pools, sitting in the steam sauna, getting massages, wrapping in mud and eating way too much food! LUXURIOUS! It was also a great chance to hang out with our friends Steph, Emma and Ollie who have become family to us and were oh so hard to say goodbye to.

Sun night Ryland came down with a fever and it became obvious that now the kids were going to go through the cold. Ugh. So instead of staying with Nayt and Julia and their young baby, we opted to stay in a hotel for a couple of nights - we were able to do a few errands there, and get good nights of sleep, but we also did things like watch Madagascar 2 with the kids! So, relaxing and fun, but hard because we were supposed to be using that time for sorting all our junk in the attic!!!!

THAT monumental task was saved for Wed night and Thur - even though the kids were still sick they were over the worst of it, and we were anxious to get a move on. So, we sorted through most the stuff, stuffed the Barth full to the gills with way too much stuff and booted out to the ferry - everything having taken far more time than anticipated, so us running quite late with all our plans!

We spent the night with our friends Jackie and James in Nanaimo, squeezing in a lovely visit with them before they flew off to Mexico, and then we were on the road! Finally! First, though, a quick stop at Starbucks (one thing we realized with a big rv, it's easiest to park in a mall parking lot, so unfortunately while we're actually traveling, I think we'll be seeing a lot of malls. When we're stopped, however, bikes-r-us!!!!!) As I was walking back from getting our triple americanos, I noticed a very pretty rainbow forming in the puddles underneath Bartha, so of course we have to check it out and it turns out we're spraying stuff all over the place. Ugh. Luckily, there's a garage right there. Luckily it's an easy thing to fix - a corroded line for the engine coolant or something like that. Unluckily, they can't fit us in until 3, and it's noon. Luckily we're at a mall, as I said before, with a movie theatre - so we got to watch "Bolt" which Kea was begging to see! So it was all good, and we did eventually make it to Comox to visit our friends Lorne and Tash, just a couple of days later than originally planned!

It's ironic - Jamie's getting used to driving such a huge toaster, but still isn't 100% comfortable. So before we began the journey, he stated that we would just choose to drive during the daytime so he didn't have to deal with night time driving. But just because of how our days have gone, all he's done is night-time driving, and in the rain nonetheless! The first day, as we were racing to catch at least the 7:00 ferry, he had to drive through downtown during rush hour!!!! And then on the island highway in the pitch black. However, it turned out to be easier than he was anticipating and he now feels much more comfortable driving the Barth in all kinds of scenarios!

So, the updated plan right now is to just hang out with Lorne and Tash for a week. The kids still need to fully recover from the cold, we need to find a place for all the things we had just stuffed into the Barth, we need to do things like attach cupboard doors, figure out how the kitchen will work, hang hooks, etc. And we just want to stare at the walls a bit, listen to music, read novels, enjoy great conversation and just be. It was such a chaotic time to get here, and now that the journey has begun, we're determined to break away from the go go go, we're late, we're late, we're late pace!!!!!! And what a beautiful spot this is - surrounded by trees and mist, free-running chickens and a beach mere minutes away!

So, there you go. We're well, we're getting healthy, and we'll be updating stuff on line much more regularly now that life has destressed a little!!!!!!! xoxo

Last day or so....

So, here we are, down to the last day or so before we have to leave the house. It feels very chaotic, with half-filled boxes here and there, the never-ending stream of little things to make decisions about (I bet we end up with one or two garbage bags full of odds and ends we just don't know what to do with in the storage locker!), crazy kids, sad neighbours and as per usual, far too much on our plates!!!! And so, I react in my usual way, by rereading old letters, waxing nostalgic over old writings found in a lost journal, rediscovering photos I'd forgotten to upload and basically avoiding the monumental task in front of me!!!!

SOOOOOOOOOOOO, tonight, before I shut down the desktop computer for good before putting it in storage, I thought I would upload a few favourite photos from a trip to Seattle many months ago. The girls found this great fortune teller on the pier, and were MESMERIZED by her. Amazingly enough, she told Kea that her lucky colour is blue, and Tiegan that hers was red, which happen to be their very favourite colours! From that moment on, they wondered in awe at how she was so wise and how she could possibly know their futures. So sweet!

Goodbye party

travelling prayer flags
Originally uploaded by the five mckays

So we had a big good-bye party on Sat afternoon/evening - a chance to share a last meal with many good friends, grab suggestions of places to go, do a fun raffle for Barth attire and collect messages from everyone for the road. A friend sewed us some cloth prayer flags for the Barth, and took a bunch of photos of the event, so I've uploaded a bunch of them on flickr - so fun to have memories of the party, we definitely feel very loved!!!!

Now, back to packing, purging and a little procrastinating!!!!!

what is this white stuff?!!!!!
Originally uploaded by the five mckays

So we moved from that beautiful fall wonderland into snowy Princeton - a little shock to our systems! But kind of fun to play in for a couple of days, knowing full well that as soon as we're able we're heading south to some serious SUN!!!!!

We were also in Princeton on time to celebrate Grandma's 82nd birthday, which meant lots of cake eating! Yum! There's a few more photos on the flickr account......and now I'm back to the never-ending purging and packing. Today someone came by to pick up our beds, couch, dresser and tables, and although it's great as it feels like progress is being made, it also makes it all so much more real as the house seems so empty. Bittersweet, these days are. The bed was the first major purchase Jamie and I ever made together, about 9 years ago, and now it's gone - crazy that I'm feeling sentimental about an uncomfortable, worn out old mattress, but there you go!!!!!!!

First night of camping in the Barth

First night of camping in the Barth
Originally uploaded by the five mckays

So, I've posted a bunch of photos from our trip to Twisp/Winthrop WA - there's a lot of them, so I'll save the photos from Princeton until I have time again! This area was so beautiful, I can't believe it has taken us so long to get there - I would HIGHLY recommend anyone with a week or two to do the entire circuit, along the Cascade Hwy and then up through Osoyoos to Princeton and over the Hope-Princeton Hwy. Some of the most incredible scenery, and many neat areas to stop and explore. Winthrop was a treasure-trove of history, and I can see that it would be a lot of fun in the summer (ie, when things are open!) Even closed, it thoroughly captivated the kids imagination, and they just had a lot of fun peering in windows and running along the boardwalks!

Halloween was a lot of fun too, the residents of Burger St. in Twisp went all out in decorating their houses, there were bonfires and costumes adults sitting out enjoying the show, everyone greeted us as we passed along on the street, and we definitely felt a part of this home town. Kea was still sad to be missing her neighbourhood, and the haunted house put on by our neighbours, but she agreed that a good feed on all her treats helped cheer her up! Ryland ate a couple of suckers, and I've never seen him so wired before - it was crazy trying to get him to bed! I'm glad this only happens once a year!

So, check out the rest of the photos on Flickr, and I'll try to post the Princeton photos soon! Now back to packing......

An interesting post from a friend of ours who claims that our dream in large inspired their life changes - and now I sit here in the midst of the chaos of trying to make our dream happen and hold on to the image of being at where they're at VERY SOON!!!!

Today was meant to be full of packing, purging and organizing and instead I spent most of the time frustratingly dealing with really cranky, needy children, mopping up mounds of bubbles from the dishwasher as I distractedly poured the wrong soap in, and half-finished projects that got undone by the time I got back to them, thanks to many little 'helpers'!!!! I think it's time to make dinner, drink a glass of wine, put the kids to bed, and be more productive this evening!!!!!!!! We have 12 days left, and about a month's worth of projects to finish up!!!!!!

Home sweet home! We made it, through sun, through snow, and now through torrential rain storms........I think it's time to pack up this house and head south! But first, I'm going to stretch out in my super large, comfy bed and try to savour these last couple of weeks we have in our family home for the past 7 years......
(photos to come as soon as I download them from the camera!)

A quick post to let everyone know that we made it safely to Twisp, WA and are thoroughly enjoying our stay here! The Barth was amazing on the Cascade Highway, the campspot is along a river and FULL of fall colours, and I'm completely immersed in my course. Unfortunately we don't have regular email access here, but we'll have photos and stories on our return! xoxoxo