Day 1 & 2

Dear Gilles, 

We got on the road at 10am and arrived in Edmonton just before midnight. 

Along the way, we stopped off in McBride because it made the list for its grizzly and cubs statue. 

Big Things Canada

There is no photo in this link. And our photos were as the sun was setting. 

We saw Mount Robson.  The visitor centre was closed for the season. 

We saw the train tracks for the VIA CANADIAN that we took last March Break with Mom. 

We touched the banks (and Luc slipped into the water) of the mini-Fraser River. 

At which point at 7 hours into our journey Luc said "So far this is a really cool adventure." 

We drove around Jasper, not realizing we were in an area for "local traffic only". We saw the holes where houses are no longer. House foundations that were one block away from where we walked with Mom in March 2024. So many trailers set up in temporary neighbourhoods that could be residents (?) or work crews (?) I'm not sure. Jasper is still pretty. You can feel that it will rebuild. 

We found our AirB&B in Edmonton pretty easily. 

Good night. 

Day 2: 

We went to the West Edmonton Mall. 

Patric found a good selection of multi faceted dice. Luc found Magic the Gathering cards. We spent time in the Lego Store and the Collectables store. 

Patric had his first of probably many - poutine - of the trip from New York Fries. Luc had a plain hot dog. 

I think we saw all we needed to see and after three hours we were in visual and auditory overload from the mall. 

We had a fantastic evening with friends from Manitoba days. 

All is well.

1 Day until we leave

Dear Gilles. 

It's real. 

Truck is packed (mostly). Boys are organizing their treasures for the back seat. I'm making this post and shutting down the computer.

Thank you for figuring out how to take the bikes. 

Thank you for finding the tarps, dining shelter and propane bottles. 

Thank you for making sure that Luc and I know how to change a tire and where all the bits and pieces are to do it. 

Thank you for getting the right bicycle tube and teaching Patric how to change it. 

We'll leave tomorrow and keep you posted. 

5 days until we leave

Dear Gilles,

There are a few things that I still need your help with: 

a) Change the truck tires

b) Finish the bike rack for the truck box

c) Teach Patric how to change a bike tire

d) Add a toolbox to the truck

e) Fishing gear - 2 working rods & reels, multitool, Luc's tackle box

Today, I've crossed off my list with: 

a) Banana muffins

b) Pickled eggs

c) Patric is packed; Towels and washclothes are packed; Touques and gloves are packed.

d) Luc finished the wood for the kelly kettle

e) Tested out the tent spike into the driveway - it won't work all the time, but may work some of the time

f) Organized 1# propane bottles

g) Cleaned the bath tub and washroom countertop.

 

10 days until we leave

I need to change the tone and the audience of this blog. I'm not writing or documenting this for you. I'm doing it for me. 

So, I'm changing it to a letter format. During my exploration and purge of all things no longer needed but still stored in the basement - I came across this box of letters from penpals from aged 10 to probably 16/17 years old. Penpals from Ontario via a Toronto Sun postings, Austria, Australia, Finland, Toronto etc. 

I'm reading and burning these letters. They are not interesting. They will never make a novel.

But, I do like writing letters. 

Once we head out on this grand adventure - I will write to Gilles. And it will be natural. I've often written him pages of text via email. And the response when we were 'new' was a paragraph. But, his natural response is a simple "OK" or other such acknowledgement. He is not a writer. And this is OK with me. 

I will write this blog and tell him what his family is up to. And he will minimally respond to me via What'sApp. And that's OK. We'll have video calls. We'll have real discussions - but you don't need to know those details. 

You, the external and mostly anonymous audience will just get to read my thoughts to Gilles. While he stays at home and keeps the homestead 'running'. (And hopefully gets the septic tank pumped out while we're gone.) 

 

 12 days until we leave

Over the years, we've built a routine to be mostly self-sustainable. We do not buy meat from the grocery store (except hot dogs) - we raise pigs, chickens and rabbits and in the fall we harvest deer. We rarely buy vegetables - and as much as my husband can plant in our backyard garden, I freeze or preserve into three freezers. Our groceries loosely consist of dairy products and raw ingredients for baking.

One of my primary roles in this house is to make sure that all the food in the freezers and pantry gets rotated and consumed. There's always a meal for at least the next few days thought out - to ensure that meat is thawed. 

I will miss our home grown food.

Food that I know where it originated and how it's been treated. 

Egg sandwiches are a staple breakfast. Home made english muffins, eggs, and whatever leftover meat we had the night before. 

Also in preparation for this trip, I've been making large batch meals for my husband. He's not coming with us but instead working and keeping the homestead running the way it should. But, in the freezer, he has chilli, rabbit casserole, sweet and sour pork, fried rice and a variety of soups in 500 ml mason jars. 

He can cook, and make meals for himself, but this way, when he's in a pinch, he has quick, single servings of already made foods. In the pantry is a year's worth of spaghetti sauce, salsa, pickles and jams. Our neighbour has already mentioned that she will make sure he has enough muffins and sweets to compliment his meals. 

13 days until we leave

 

I have the privilege to be employed by an organization that offers sabbatical years. After an initial tenure of two years, you can sign up for a variety of work/not work combinations that will allow you and the organization time to plan for time off with a secure job to come back to. 

I chose to work for three years, putting 33% of my salary in a reserve fund and take a full year off. 

My first thought was that I would road school my children, who would be in grade 8 and grade 6. But this thought was abandoned as the date got closer and they got older and I realized that I don't want to homeschool or un-school as an added responsibility.  

This blog is being created as a memento to me and my children - since I've been told you can't erase what goes on the internet. It's not a locked or secure viewing site, but I think, unless you really try to go searching for me, it's not popping up on top of any search engines. 

I've been asked by a few people who are aware of our plans - how we will be documenting our travels. Because - WOW - I'm planning a trip of a lifetime. There are going to be British Columbia license plates driving around the Atlantic provinces of Canada. So I've settled on this free blogging platform format. 

Planning thoughts and integration of our trip: 

I've planned this year out in many different ways. And after discussions with my husband have morphed and adjusted the itinerary. In fact even my most current spreadsheet of places, times and budget is out of date.  
The first, most extreme trip plan was to AirBnB and spend a month in each province. Really embrace the culture. But, Canada is expensive. And, I like winters in my own house. 

My second plan was to upgrade our personal truck and find a camper to take acrros the country. Truck camper, tent trailer or hard walled mini-RV. However, since I was planning on travelling as the solo adult, and am not naturally mechanically inclined - I was advised to abandon this thought process. Too many wheels (literally) that could go wrong. 

Last year, we travelled from Vancouver to Toronto by VIA Rail train. We had a cabin (recommended) and beds and it took 5 days. It was beautiful. Relaxing. Food was absolutely amazing. Bucket list item for everyone. But we missed a lot of scenery travelling at night. During that train trip, we met another family - similar to us - mom and two children travelling by train. However when they got off in Toronto they were continuing on to Halifax to meet up with family. 

So my third plan for this adventure was to fly to Toronto, take the train to Halifaxx to complete the rail route and rent a truck-camper combo to tour the Atlantic provinces in a hard-topped house on wheels, on our own time. 

My husband and I make great life partners. I keep track of all the household administration, inside chores, food planning and child activities and come up with crazy plans for fun.  He works hard on outside house chores, works extra overtime at a regular job and likes to save money. So, budgeting for the trip for flying, rail, truck-camper rental was not a price tag that he saw value in. The next suggested comment from him was "why rent a truck and camper for $10,000 - when we can put that money towards owning a newer truck, that we are going to have to get anyway." So I agreed. 

We have our truck. We installed running boards to get in and out of it.

We bought a SmartCap canopy. Truck "bling" and a splurge purchase over the standard fibreglass toppers. 

15 days until we leave

 

Hi. 

I am not a travel writer. 

I do not consider myself a writer at all. 

I have started countless journals that last for a week and get abandoned until I get another new and shiny blank page book. DayOne Journal app so far has been working for me as a digital journal. Mostly because I can speech-to-text and add photos with the location. 

This is NOT a travel blog. 

I have never blogged before. But, if my mother can do it then I probably can too.  https://truebluecanadian.blogspot.com/

This is a personal challenge to document an epic journey across Canada with my children in a way that can hopefully be converted into a self published photo journal. 

This is my test page.