Last Minute Details

It feels a tad surreal that starting at the crack of dawn on Tuesday, Hailey and I will be cruising up Highway 400 toward Sault Ste Marie and on across four provinces to reach Vancouver Island. The past week has been a blur of organizing to close my Orillia house, packing and repacking the ‘Ru, hiking and swimming with the hound to calm both of our respective nerves, saying goodbye to friends, visiting with family over the Canada Day weekend and mentally reviewing the trip preparations.

Endlessly grateful to have this chance to drive across Canada, I am especially lucky to have so many great Provincial and National Parks on my horizon. I have long-ago, very fond memories of camping as a family in the pop-top trailer that my Dad built using Popular Science Magazine blueprints. We camped all over BC, Alberta and the northwestern US; some of my fondest and earliest childhood memories include pristine lakes, mountain trails, bear sightings, campfires with marshmallows and crazy guitar sing-alongs. Often camping with a group of families, there were many ‘aunts and uncles’ to teach throngs of kids to waterski and watch over us at the beach. Talk about plum tuckered out at the end of each day. Tired kid? Great day. 

On this adventure I can rely on my co-pilot to remind me to make frequent pit stops and enjoy each moment as it comes. En route, there will be a selection of podcasts, music, audible books, CBC, NPR and more, the latter courtesy of Sirius FM. Once in camp, this trip will be unplugged – a respite I have craved for some time now. I look forward to birdsong, crackling campfires and the occasional waft of music, laughter and conversation from other campers. I’ll keep you posted on how realistic this idyllic picture turns out to be ;-)

Bring on the swimming and hiking, I say. 

Tired pooch? Day well-lived.