Oh, the Places You'll Go!

When last our heroine updated her blog, she was parked at the Canadian Tire in Val D'Or. She has done more than 900km since then... and not all of them have been above ground.

Not much happened on Saturday. I wound up boondocking outside the visitor's centre at the eastern edge of the city where I was told overnighting was 'tolerated', but I'd have to move to pay site or the Walmart for the next night. The only pay site in town was 15$ and that didn't include hookups or, at least, a view, so guess where I spent my second night in Val D'Or? :-)

At any rate, the sole purpose of my visit to Val D'Or was to see the gold mine at a complex they call the Cité de l'or. Other than outdoor sports, there isn't much to see or do in Val D'or. I therefore wouldn't recommend making a detour there just to see the mine, but if you just happen to be going by, then, please, don't miss it and pay the 40 bucks for the full tour!

The outside of the mine complex:



Here is a picture of what a gold vein looks like:



The white is quartz and the black is tourmaline. This is extracted and then processed to get the gold flakes inside. It takes about 5,000 tonnes of ore from this mine to get a single oz of gold.

There was nothing but wilderness around the mine site, so a village had to be built to house all the workers and their families. Imagine a whole neighbourhood of houses just like these:



The old mining village is just adorable and is a historic site, so current owners face strict regulations as to how much they can change the houses.

These houses offered excellent accommodation for the miners with running water, heating, telephones, and electricity. Miners were considered rich. They made about 35$ a week while a living wage was about 5$ per week! This is how they could afford such luxuries and pay the rent of 50$ per year for these houses.

Before my tour of the mine, I walked through the village and was accosted by a withered wraith of a man who used to work at the mine! He spent about twenty minutes sharing his life story. I thought it would be a tale of woe, but not at all. He loved his time at the mine, saying that the work was hard, but that conditions were good and safe, and that unlike coal mining it wasn't that bad for the health as there was no dust. His job was to take core samples that would be analysed to determine which way the mine should be further excavated. When he retired from mining, he used his knowledge to found his own diamond drilling company with more than 150 employees. Meeting him proved to me that there are no accidents in life. I was sure my mine tour was at 1PM, but it was at 1:30. I therefore had time to kill, time enough to make an encounter that completely change how I felt down there, 300ft below the surface....

I really don't like enclosed spaces, so the hour and a bit we were underground was just enough for me. When we got back into the shuttle for the drive back up, I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I can't imagine spending a whole day in such a place, including a lunch break spent in a room like this one:



After the tour, I went to pick up Miranda at the Sears where I'd received permission to park her for the day, then we moved to Walmart. The store was closed, so I just set up for the night and treated myself to dinner since I couldn't get anything working at home. :-)

Sunday, I pushed off ludicrously early (around 7) and felt my mood change as quickly as did the kilometres beneath me.

I passed this very cool sign mid-morning:



The weather was (and is) gross, not motivating me to try to find a boondocking spot on Crown land as I'd thought I might, so I decided to make a push for the Walmart in Kapuskasing:



(I was just amused that I was driving through the wilderness looking for a Walmart).

I passed some very interesting towns, such as Swastika and Moonbeam, where I had to take a picture:



When I got to Kapuskasing (and was done with the whole dumping thing), I went to the Walmart figuring that it would be closed for the evening. Nope, it's open 7 to 8 seven days a week!!! So, I went in to ask for permission to stay overnight. The manager replied "Of course!" in a very friendly manner. I knew I would have a good night there: I had permission to stay and the OPP had a station literally across the street. Can't get any safer than that! I wound up sleeping the sleep of the proverbial dead and woke up this morning at 5:30 feeling very odd because I haven't slept that many hours straight through since I was a teenager!

Today was another big push as there is just about nothing between Kapuskasing and Thunder Bay. I was very glad to find this park. It's nothing special and not a place where you can set up your hibachi or awning, but it's perfectly adequate for a one night stopover. Tomorrow, I'm going no further than the Walmart in Thunder Bay! I have this site until noon and I plan to take advantage of that to get caught up on my housekeeping.

If there is one thing I will remember the most about my first days on the road it is that the world is not nearly as hostile a place as some people would try to make me believe. There has been at least one person per day who helped me in a way that might have seemed small to them, but which made me feel like I am not alone on this vast and open road.

Tomorrow is Thunder Bay. Wednesday will be my last night on the Shield. Thursday I'll hit the Prairies. And then I'll slow down properly as I'll be hitting new things.

There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by. Good lives, I'm discovering, have no shortage of bad days, but they are measured by the sum of the whole.

I'm impossibly happy, in good spirits, comfortable in my rig, grateful that my cats have taken to this life as well as their mom, and have discovered that it's easy to be a morning person if your day is going to be filled with adventure.

Electricity Learning Curve

I'm about 100km east of Thunder Bay and treating myself to a night on full hookups with access to wi-fi and a laundromat. Ah, civilization.

I've been boondocking since I left Ottawa on Thursday morning and, let me tell you, that has been full of brutal lessons that left me feeling quite disheartened on Saturday evening, but which were learned well enough to allow for a 180 degree mood shift by the following evening.

The most important of these lessons is: MIRANDA'S BATTERY SENSORS CAN'T BE TRUSTED. The sensors claimed right up to Saturday evening (and beyond) that the battery was operating at full operating capacity. When I finally realised that this wasn't the case, the battery had reached such a low level that I couldn't even get the generator going. Saturday evening, I had no lights worth mentioning, no hot water, no refrigerator, nothing. It was very cold and damp in the rig and I was miserable. I went to bed really early, got on the road even earlier the next day, go the battery topped up with the driving, and spent the evening boondocking with the generator running, giving me lights, hot water, a refrigerator, HEAT, and the ability to watch a movie. Lesson learned. If you're not driving that day, run the generator at least an hour.

The second lesson in electricity is that my inverter is my best friend (even though I called it horrible names on Saturday, poor thing!). It lets me know when battery power is too low to run it. If that's the case, the generator gets run ASAP.

The third lesson in electricity is that I really hate running the generator. It's very noisy. But it's not a gas guzzler and it means I get all the comforts of home. I'll get used to it.

Saturday night, as I laid there in my bunk, snug and warm thanks to flannel PJs and a feather duvet, I listened to a song on my iPod which really put things into perspective for me. It's called 'Painting Pictures of Egypt' and this is the bit that stuck out:

The place I was wasn't perfect, but I had found a way to live
And it wasn't milk or honey, but then neither is this.

Yeah, I'd rather be in a well-insulated bus with a million solar panels and a satellite dish for getting online, but, at least, I'm not working 8 to 4 at a desk and going home to the ghetto. This isn't a vacation or a dream. It's reality. And reality isn't perfect. But it sure can be great.

The next post will show that I still had my sense of humour come Sunday!

Just a Wave

I can't do justice to the last few days in the few minutes I have left online, so I won't try at this time. Pictures and stories will follow! Some of the highlights of the past few days:

-going 300ft underground into a gold mine;
-experiencing my first nights (note the plural) at Walmart;
-discovering just how bad are Miranda's sensors;
-dealing with the POs idiocy when it comes to RV plumbing;
-and a full recount of just how I inadvertently perfectly recreated a certain scene in the Robin Williams movie 'RV'.

For those wanting to follow me on a map, I left Val D'Or yesterday morning and overnighted in Kapuskasing, Ontario. I am presently in Long Lac and heading for Nipigon, several hours away hence why I can't take greater advantage of this great connection! Northern Ontario, for those who don't know it, is 90 billion kilometres long, so I have at least another two days left in this land of black spruce, granite cliffs, and clear lakes. I just wish the weather was better so I could enjoy it more.

All is well... and I still have my sense of humour.

More will come from further down the road! :-)

On the Road

For a change of pace (*g*) more photos, less bla bla bla.



We left this site at the Ottawa Municipal campground mid-morning on Thursday September 4th. Right on 'schedule.' I gassed up (oh, the cost of freedom these days) and without much fanfare made my way through most of the places I've called home for eight of these past ten years. Highway 105 north was the hardest as the string of familiar hamlets passed behind me, to be seen again, perhaps, in a very distant future: Alcove, Farrelton, Kazabazua, Low, Blue Sea, Gracefield... Maniwaki was a non-event, but the town has changed since I was there last, perhaps four years ago.

The drive was difficult because of construction, but the weather made up for that.

Finally, we reached the first major milestone of this first leg of my journey:



Loosely translated, turning right meant civilization and turning left meant heading into a northern frontier of mining towns, granite cliffs, and forests of black spruce.

I turned left.

When I reached the southern access point of Verendrye Park I was glad to almost be done driving for the day. It was getting close to mid-afternoon and my 250km done that morning had worn me down. So, I selected to stay at Lac Roland, 40km from the entrance and right on the 117. Cost for the night was the same as when I tent, 15$ and change, since I didn't want hookups.

Then came the taking of a calculated risk that will have a lot of people saying "YOU IDIOT!", but I repeat that it was calculated, and it paid off big time.

I drove all the way to the end of Lac Roland campground, right to a dead end, with no way out except backing up about a half kilometre. Or doing what I did. I unhooked the toad, and moved it onto a site, then I manoeuvred Miranda into that site, too. That took some precise driving, but I'm actually more comfortable operating her in reverse than I am the toad. The square shape makes it very easy to know exactly where I am and what I'm doing.



Why did I do such a seemingly foolish thing?

The view outside my study, of course:



If I had played it 'safe' I would have taken the first pull through I found where all the RVers gathered last night and partied hard, instead of being quietly ensconced in a private site with a great view.

And I wouldn't have had the chance to gain so much confidence about my Miranda driving abilities. Driving out of there was actually tougher than backing in!

Next order of business was dinner. Mmm, charred bird!



(It was very tasty!)

This wonderful device was very useful for doing a preliminary cleanup on the greasy BBQ tools:



I then set up the computer and settled in to watch a couple of eps of a favourite show since it was way too early to sleep, but I was too tired to do anything useful.



Went to bed ridiculously early last night, so was up ludicrously early this morning. It was pouring rain and damp inside, so I decided not to hang around. Next stop: L'Abitibi.



Which is where I am now, parked outside the Canadian Tire in Val D'Or making full use of a free wi-fi signal I'm picking up. I have errands to run and am debating whether to leave the coach here and set off in toad, or to go off coach and all. There are so many RVs here that I suspect I'll be able to get away with spending the night here. I hope so. The other place I have lined up is 25$ per night and that doesn't include hookups!

Trials and Tribulations

I don't have any pictures to share at this time because my desktop computer isn't set up and hooking up the camera to the laptop is too fussy for the short time frame I have. So, enjoy all the bla bla bla and come back later for pics. :-)

Oh, I've written soooo much about the last almost week, but I need to save some material for a book! :-)

Here are some highlights from the past six days.


Friday August 29, 2008

-I successfully backed up into a busy street at rush hour as I couldn't very well sleep at my mechanic's. No one was injured during this impressive feat of driving. Thank you to David for stopping traffic!

-After spending several hours loading STUFF into the coach, I took off for a sports arena a few blocks from the house to spend my first night as an urban boondocker. The cats took to the RV immediately and slept good nights. Mom was too exhausted to fuss and had a good night, too. The arena wound up being quiet and dark. I didn't suffer for lack of 120V current and I really, really, really enjoyed being able to take a hot shower!


Saturday August 30, 2008

-Up at six, worked non stop, got the house emptied and the RV stuffed by noon, right on schedule.

-Was screwed over by Vidéotron one last time.

-Arrived at the campground absolutely drained and overwhelmed.

-Circled my loop, planned my entry into the site, came back, pulled straight into an empty site, and unhooked my toad, which is where:

Rae learns a very important lesson about towing

Watch where your feet are. The tow bars are heavy and purple toes are NOT a fashion statement.

Toes weren't broken, so I ignored the throbbing pain down there and moved the toad out of the way. Moved the coach back, forward, and back again, getting it into the campsite in one shot. Eyewitness testimony states that I seemed to have been doing it my entire life. Which is where:

Rae discovers that backing up perfectly (in one try) into a campsite is actually not the most important consideration at that time

As it turned out, I had circled my loop and reentered another one. I was in the wrong site. But, in my defense, both sites had neighbours with a blue tent AND both sites were of the same shape as I'd been told to look for!

A very nice park official checked to see if the site would be available for the five nights I was staying. It was. I could stay.

The coach was stuffed to the gills, I was overwhelmed, and just about burst into tears when I saw how much work I had ahead of me. So, I said *expletive deleted* that and went out for a nice dinner during which I formulated a plan of attack.

I slept the sleep of the dead. Never mind that the mattress is really too thick and that I can barely roll over. I was on my own mattress with my feather duvet and pillows. The cats were by my side. I could hear crickets outside. The wind was whispering a lullaby. I was home.


Sunday August 31, 2008

I slept so late I was disoriented upon waking up. I mean, the day is half gone by the time 9:30 arrives!

I hadn't been able to plug in my coach on Saturday since the prongs on my cord didn't match the holes in the electrical post. So, I just dragged the coffee maker and toaster out onto the picnic table.

A few hours later, as order begins to emerge from the chaos that was the basement:

Rae finds something that no longer makes it necessary for her to run an extension cord from her electrical post to the coffee maker set on a picnic table.

She believes it's a 'cheater adapter.' Possibly. Whatever it is called, it's an adapter. She now has 15AMP service!

One of the most useful things I did on Sunday was label a tote TOWING and put in it all the odd bits that I use for towing.

I took the afternoon off to get organizational stuff at Wal-mart's, then I head off to a friend's for a Labour Day BBQ. Her mom gave me a hibachi she had lying around in the shed and I am now able to char my own barbecue sauced bird!


Monday September 1, 2008

I was spending the day with a friend so I woke up early and attacked the basement. I got it so well sorted and organized that it is no longer stuffed to the gills!

At some point during this day:

Rae has a real light bulb moment involving a too highly chlorinated fresh water holding tank

"Gee the water is caustic. I can't wait to empty the tank and put in fresh water. Waitaminute. The tank is only a third full. Maybe I can use the new hose I bought yesterday at Wal-mart at a major discount and top up the tank with fresh, unchlorinated, water and dilute what's left?"


Tuesday September 2, 2008

WORK! I finalised all my files and opened cases and packed since I knew Wednesday would be a wash.

A separate entry will follow about the evening.

Which brings us to today, Wednesday September 3, 2008

I did some real work, spent some time on line, shed copious tears, received and gave a ton of hugs, and left the way I've always dreamt of leaving a place, with a tug of regret.

Electrical Upgrades and Sundries

I brought Miranda tonight to the house of the wonderful gentleman who, with his wonderful son, will install my backup camera and do what needs to be done to make my solar panel and inverter usable. The solar panel is able to charge two house batteries, so Mr. Wonderful (or Mr. Wonderful Jr.) is going to go pick up a second battery for me! I'm therefore covered for 12 volt power, as long as the sun is shining. I'll still need to run the generator for the 120V power I need to run the microwave, coffeemaker (yes, I need to get a French press), printer, and AC. The way I look at it, a generator needs to be exercised anyway, so I shouldn't fret about using it for these items (except for the coffeemaker, I know, I know!).

I am so STOKED about all this!!!!!!!! Overwhelmed as I've been feeling, I was going to put off having anyone look at the solar panel and inverter until I got to British Columbia. Now, I can boondock my way across the country without worrying about my 12V power. Thinking about it, yes, but worrying no.

Except for my excessive hot water use in the shower (which I won't be able to do in an RV anyway), I'm very good about reducing my power consumption. I mean, I'm currently sitting in a dark house; nothing's on except my computer. So, perhaps the adjustment to RV life won't be that tough, reduction of power consumption-wise.

Finally, I learned that my fridge is not only insanely huge, it's a three-way model. That is, it can run on 120V shore power, 12V, or propane. In plain English, that means it can run on power provided by a campground, the coach batteries, or... propane. I've been advised to pick the 'auto' option and the fridge will figure out on its own the best method to run itself.

One thing remains a mystery, however: we can't find the electrical panel. *cue in twilight zone music*

While we were going over the coach, Mr. Wonderful Jr. made me climb up onto the roof. Eeep. But now that I've been up there, I'm fine. I just didn't know what the ladder was like at the top and now I do. I didn't even dirty my cream pants clambering up and down. :-)

Mr. Wonderful Jr. also MADE ME BACK UP INTO MR. WONDERFUL'S DRIVEWAY. I repeat. HE MADE ME BACK UP INTO THE DRIVEWAY. With his patient guidance, I got Miranda in smoothly! He also informed me that he'd kept an eye on me as he led me back to his father's house and that I was very good at keeping my coach centred in her lane. I definitely need to do some parking lot practising, but my confidence level rose quite a bit tonight.

It's Not What You Know...

It's who you know.

One thing that didn't get done this past weekend is the backup camera installation.

I told a friend that tonight and she told me she was going to make a phone call on my behalf.

Next thing I know, I've lined up someone to install not only my backup camera, but also a whole house inverter and a solar panel, and this at an hourly rate that would be absurdly reasonable for an amateur but is a real gift from a retiree who made his living doing this.

I now have a week to do my energy audit thingy to determine exactly how much of an inverter I need, do some research on my solar panel to see if it'll suit my needs or if I need another one, find both items... and fork out another boatload (erm, RVload) of money.

Please excuse me while I run around the house screaming 'YIPPEE!!!' at the top of my lungs.

More Officialisms

I'm houseless (but not homeless) as of 1 September. My landlords were happy to accommodate my request to break my lease a month early (yaaaaaaay).

Then, I'll be jobless as of 4 September. My supervisor signed the first batch of papers today.

I now have just about all of September to get out west. The beauty of having your home with you and boondocking most of the way (ie. not paying for a campsite) is that it doesn't cost any more to take four weeks to cross the country than to take one week. You'd have had to eat during those four weeks anyway and you would have done the same amount of mileage in one week or four. I just need to learn to slow down and not put in insane driving days, something I suspect will come naturally to me when the time comes.

Excited, so very excited.

Research, Research, and More Research

Now that I've pretty much settled all the questions pertaining to the actual RVing buying process--inspection, finances, registration, taxes, and insurance, I'm delving into these fascinating topics:

-Roadside assistance;

-Memberships (to RVing groups for various discounts);

-Internet and cell phone (a nightmare in Canada, a country that is at least a decade behind the times in this area);

-Electrical upgrades (ie. Solar Panels and inverters 101, so I don't have to rely on hookups);

-Backup cameras;

-GPS systems.

And that's on top of trying to understand the gist of how RV systems work, looking into boondocking/dry camping sites on my proposed route across the country, searching for employers to whom I could send a resumé and covering letter asking for short term work, and a host of other things I'm sure I'll remember soon as I'm drifting off to sleep tonight.

All I can say is THANK GOODNESS I DON'T WATCH TV. For one thing, it gives me more time to surf. But, most importantly, it's one less thing to research. :-D