When we were planning this trip, I had a vision in my mind
of how it would look. I pictured quiet mornings with my coffee. I could do some
yoga in these beautiful outdoor spaces and Greg could read in the hammock while
the kids played serenely around us. We would then head out to explore whatever
part of Canada we were visiting. On driving days, I'd sit at the back table and
teach the kids. They would diligently plug away at their work while we learnt
about the countryside we were driving through.
The reality was more like this...
The mornings usually started with Parker making his way out
of his bed and into ours. As we
went further East, the kids slept later and later. It was great!
There was about 2 days of yoga.
The bugs were so bad in Ontario that it just isn't serene getting eaten
alive. Sitting in the hammock
typically looked like this:
Early on I gave up on the driving and teaching. Sitting backwards made me feel
nauseated and entertaining the kids was making me crazy. They hated doing "school" and
honestly, I did too. On the
occasional quiet road we'd let them go in the back and play. This was usually their favourite time
and worked great until Parker would wander up to the front and insist on
sitting with me. We generally had
the most success when Greg and I got up at 6 am and did most of the driving while
the children were still sleeping.
Those early mornings were when we usually spotted wildlife ( a lynx, 3
bears and a moose, numerous deer ).
In 35 days in a RV our kids did not see a single animal (except cows) and Winnipeg zoo animals.
The day trips exploring parts of Canada really were amazing. We got to see and
experience some of the best of our country.
Sharing under 200 square feet with your family for 5 weeks
and a few days is not really that different than regular life. We still get
irritated with the kids over the same things, they still get frustrated with us
over the same things. The biggest
change was that nobody had any real outside pressures. There is so much more
patience, humour and general good will when the answer to the question, "Do you have somewhere you need to
be?" is always "No".
We really have become a team on this trip and I'll miss that when we get
home and real life takes over. I'm so grateful that we had this opportunity and
I'll treasure these times forever.
We really appreciate all our friends and family following along and sending the encouraging comments. We really missed you guys!!! It is very lonely pulling into a campsite night after night and hearing all the groups around us having such a blast. We can't wait to sit around the campfire with all of you and catch up on the last 5 weeks.
And now for a little humour to keep the readers happy:
Top 10 Things We Learned Travelling Across Canada for 6
Weeks in an RV With our 3 Children
10. Ontario is bigger than it has any right to be. It should have been 2 provinces with a
really cool province between Eastern Ontario and Manitoba. They could've called it Watersland - obviously because there is so much water there.
9. Size really doesn't matter....when it comes to black
flies. The littlest ones are the
most vicious.
8 .Before you drive away from your campsite, always have a
checklist of items that need to be completed. We can't stress this enough.
7. Not all campgrounds are created equal. We're talking to
you Brandon, MB.
6. Winds are a lot more complicated when driving a motorhome
than when pulling a tent trailer.
Also, tornado like winds when you are camped in Quebec, can and will, actually move your slides in and shift you off your levels.
5. If we've squeezed our RV into a really tiny space at the
Tim Horton's and I ask you to move your car so we can get out, send your
friggin text later Sir. I've got three kids losing their minds in my RV.
4. All RV's should come with 2 sets of keys. I think you all know why.
3. If you must go to two places between here and Quebec,
pick Rushing River Provincial Park and Moose Jaw. Seriously cool places that you'd never think to visit. Also Winnipeg, but it falls at number
3.
2. The dead sea of Canada tastes really bad and hurts your
eyes but we'd recommend checking it out. Apparently it has healing properties.
1. We will probably never do this again, but if we
could...we just might.
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| "Come on guys, let's go back..." |
