A Retirement Bonus

When I decided to retire, one of the big motivating factors was that I wanted to get my life back. Working sixty plus hours a week left little time for creative pursuits and other other interests. As an administrator, I spent 11-12 hours a day sitting in meetings or hunched over a computer, and did not have enough time for regular exercise, healthy meals, and enough sleep. I especially missed having time to spend with family and friends, a problem that was exacerbated by living far away from the people that we loved.

Since stepping down from my administrator position a year ago, and officially retiring in June, I have loved being able to travel to BC to visit friends and family. Now that we have moved, we are closer to many family members and friends and will have the time to travel to visit those who are not as close by.

Just a week and a half after moving into our new house, we set off on a camper trip to central and northern BC. We attended the beautiful wedding of the daughter of our dear friends. I have known the bride since she was a newborn baby, and fortunately had the forethought to bring kleenexes with me to the ceremony!

The Happy Couple

Rob Shares a Moment With the Father of the Bride

Travel to the wedding was not without incident. This summer, BC has been ravaged by wildfires. When we left Vancouver Island, it was shrouded in smoke from fires in the interior of the province. Many communities had been evacuated as the fires encroached on their borders. The highway that normally we would have taken was closed because of wildfire danger. So we took a much longer route, and everywhere that we travelled, the air was full of thick smoke obscuring the sky and the landscape.

The worst of the smoke occurred in Prince George on the night of August 12th. We were at an event and even with all the doors and windows of the building closed, we could smell the choking smoke. When we came out of the building at midnight, apocalyptic ash was raining down from the sky like snow, and all of the vehicles in the parking lot were covered with a layer of black grit. Under the streetlights, the sky was a brown fog, swirling with falling ash. We later found out the the measures of particulate in the air had been off the chart, sixty times the recommended daily average.

On this trip, we visited with our other set of grandchildren. In fact, we were grandparents in charge for a week as their daycare was closed for a summer break. We had fun with the kids, and also with our daughter and son in law, who had just moved into a beautiful new home. We also had a birthday celebration with another son who came for a visit for a few days.

Granddaughter Going for a Walk

Backyard Soccer

Grandson has a Nap

Playground Fun

One of the highlights was taking the kids for a ride on the miniature train, which was followed, of course, by ice cream. Bubblegum was the flavour of choice.

A Train Ride With the Grandchildren

Enjoying some Ice Cream

Some Ice Cream Went into the Mouth

We have gone farther down the highway now, and are still travelling. I hope to do another blog post soon about the second half of the trip.

I feel fortunate to now have the time to travel and spend time with friends and family. Having time to spend with people I care about is my retirement bonus.

Moving to a New House

We have made the big move!

Sunday, July 23 was our last day to pack before the movers arrived. We had left the kitchen until last, along with the bed and bedding. That weekend, Canada had a record heat wave. of course, it had to be the day that I packed up the kitchen! I packed the kitchen in 35 degree Celsius heat (95 Fahrenheit) with the sun beating in. Our house, which does not have air conditioning, was usually reasonably cool because of a long overhanging roof. But not on that day.

On Monday morning, the packers from the moving company arrived. They spent the day packing all the fragile items: dishes, art, and electronics. Meanwhile, we finished packing the last of the bedroom and outdoor items, and packed the camper for our trip west.

On Tuesday, the truck and driver arrived at 8:30 a.m. Four men loaded the truck all day, and they were finally finished at 8 p.m. at night. After they weighed the truck, we found that we had 16,000 pounds of stuff! By late in the afternoon, the house was empty enough that we were able to start cleaning. I began wiping down kitchen cabinets, while Rob vacuumed the basement. After the movers left, we went out for dinner, then slept in our camper in the driveway.

The next day, we cleaned and scrubbed all day, and left the house shining. We finally set out on our journey west at 6 p.m. in the evening. We drove for a couple of hours, then camped near the BC-Alberta border. Another day of driving brought us into south central BC. Rob was driving the truck and had the dog with him, and I was driving the car, and had the cat with me. Because it was so warm, we couldn't stop for more than a few minutes during the daytime, as the vehicles became too hot for the pets as soon as the air conditioning stopped. We timed our lunch breaks to occur in high mountain passes where the air was cooler.

We expected the third day of driving to be a short one. But we had not taken into account the the Friday bumper-to-bumper traffic that choked all the highways in the Vancouver area. It took hours to crawl through the lower mainland, and we finally reached the Horseshoe Bay ferry at 6:00 p.m. At the ferry, we were directed into separate lanes, as the truck is considered an oversized vehicle. Rob had a one-sailing wait, and I had a two-sailing wait. I finally arrived at my destination, our new home, Friday at midnight.

We had a two-day break before the movers arrived on Monday to unload. It gave us time to deal with things like banking, see the kids and grandkids, and buy more hoses for watering the parched garden.

On Sunday, before the movers arrived, I washed the floors throughout the house.

Freshly Washed Living Room Floor

Moving Boxes in Our New House

On Monday morning, the moving truck arrived. They had a hard time backing from the street uphill into our driveway. The driver drove over some of the landscaping rocks, and scattered them down the hill.

Four men unloaded for the whole day. They needed to come back again a couple of days later to finish putting the furniture together.

We now have set up the most critical living areas, but still have many boxes to unpack. The first weekend, I took time out to go to the Parksville Sand Carving competition.

With My Daughter

Grandsons Enjoying the Playground

We are so excited to to have finally made the move! We love our new house, and are thrilled to be closer to some of our friends and family.

And now, after only twelve days in our new house, we have left the house in the care of of my son, and have headed off on another adventure in the truck and camper!