Movin' On -"living over Subway"

We were in the middle of Saskatchewan at nightfall. Went through little town after little town.
"What kind of bad planning is this?" we say to each other.
One motel in each little town. Sometimes not even a sandwich available. And worse still - no Internet!!!!!!
"Let's try one more town" he says "if there's nothing, we're in trouble".
The lights from far away are hopeful. "Hey, there's a billboard for a Subway! Maybe this will work".
It does. We slowly drive the little main street. There's a motel! And after just a half block, there it is! A Subway!
The lights are brightly shining. No one in the place, but as we approach, we see 2 young girls through the front window with their jaunty Subway hats. We're happy cats.
Her name is "Molly" and she's just as sweet as you would expect - red hair and all.
She's perfectly okay with our "little of this and little of that" order. "And 2 of those cookies".
As we're paying, he asks her "How's that motel down the street?"
"Okay, I guess. I haven't been there that much. It's not as good as our room upstairs."
"You've got a room upstairs? What do you mean?"
"Just turn to the left outside the door - turn to the right and it's upstairs."
Two queen size beds in a huge room, a big big bathroom with tub and shower - wow, we're sold.
Back downstairs she says "I have to call my boss. He'll give me the rate, and the details."
The rate is great! The credit card goes through and in minutes, we're in this gorgeous "room above 'Subway' in the middle of nowhere Saskatchewan".
And the Internet? Right there! Fast, strong, and connected.
When you're "on the road" you appreciate the small unexpected mercies of travel.

(Jann Arden's first album was called "Living under June". She was in a rented basement owned by a girl name June)

Movin' On - Beer on sale

We usually lunch at a golf course. It's quiet. It's on a golf course. We like the environment.
When the weather is lousy - we look elsewhere.
On "resort road" we find a good pub. In fact one day they were selling everything at half price. All the beer and all the "appies" (appetizers) at half price.
"Oh yes, every Wednesday we sell everything here in the pub at half price".
The other day we can't find a golf course that isn't booked so I say "Hey, it's Wednesday! Let's go for lunch!"
Things are pretty quiet at first. We get a good table, the US Open is on the TV, we order the beer and "appies" - 2 orders of the expensive prawns.
People suddenly start pouring into this little pub! Chairs moving around. People talking tennis. People waving "Hey Bob, over here! we'll find a chair!" Seems every time I look away from my tennis game, another 2 couples are walking in.
The kitchen appears every once in a while with "watch it - it's hot! dishes" but none of them are ours.
It happens again. "Who ordered the chicken wings? Okay sir, here's the first, we've bringing the second order right away".
We're not happy.
"Yes sir - very sorry - what was your order? Mussels? They're on their way".
"No, we ordered the prawns".
"Ah yes, right away, sir".
People are looking for a place to sit, new girls are appearing to wait on the tables, "frantic" is not too strong a word.
The kitchen arrives with our food. Shrimp and mussels. We don't say a word. We are happy. The chicken wings table even cheers when we get our food. And it's good. We love the mussels especially, and we're glad they made a mistake.
"The beer is free" she says, "I'm sorry for the long wait".
The bill was $8 !!!!!

Movin' On - scrambled eggs

I was reading over some old mail. Came across a letter I sent to a friend. "We're looking at real estate in Sydney because we've decided we want to live here".
So much for "decisions".
It's Sunday afternoon in Parksville. Just finished a delicious late breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast.
He made the scrambled eggs. I've noticed that he's also started making the coffee. His coffee needed a lot of work, but he's been persistent and now his coffee tastes good.
His scrambled eggs were momentous, though! I'm thinking seriously of encouraging his kitchen exploits. I think he's got a cooking gene that's just starting to kick in.
Anyway - as I said - we're in Parksville. We're staying in a rented townhouse - very comfortable. It's on a little street with young green trees growing just as high as the 4 streetlights. Maybe 14 units here. Quite small.
It's so close to the downtown of Parksville that it could be considered "down town". 10 minute walk to the ocean beach. 4 minutes to the local pub - and the hair salon - and the little dress shop - and our bank.
Our realtor lives 2 doors down. He's renting while selling the units here (also going through some sort of personal adjustment), working his other properties, and running a business in Alberta with a partner. We were able to get this rental because of him. He put us in touch with the owner in Edmonton.
A month ago we drove by here on a Saturday afternoon and noticed the "Show Suite" sign. We got the tour, liked what we saw even back then - and he's been helping us ever since.
The interesting thing about this place is that there is an empty one just like it next door!
Although this would be the most unlikely choice - we're thinking about it.
The other day a friend said something that resonated. "So what if you make a mistake? Sell the place and move on! This is not the end of the world".

Movin' On - back to the search

Whew! A busy week on the road. Great to see family and friends, and the old hometown.
But it takes energy and dedication.
It's seems easy to chat and laugh and enjoy the glass of wine. But it comes with a cost. We move more slowly than we used to and we have to push ourselves on to the next destination.
Lots of fun showing off the new car. To go from driving a beat-up over-sized SUV to this small, sleek black-on-black beauty is a big rush. Lots of sun so the top is down and we drive like this for hours and hours. Satellite radio too, so there's lots of music and talk. Amazingly it's easy to hear all this stuff no matter the traffic noise. A guy in a truck stops in the lane beside us in a downtown B.C. town "Hey, great wheels! This model is so new it's the first time I've seen it. Thinking of getting one. How do you like it?" GPS still hasn't been used in the proper way. Haven't had time to study it, but the mapping itself is fun to use, we spend a lot of discussion on it - even take out the book!!!!!
We take different and longer routes - see huge and stunning rivers and lakes we've never seen before. This is a country of great beauty and wonder. How often do we appreciate this land of ours? How often do we appreciate our freedom - the miracle of living here?
We have to get back to the business of finding a new home here. But we need to play too, so we find a golf course that is happy to see us. The walking and walking and walking feels wonderful.
On the way home, another son calls to say they're coming to see our new digs and check out the new car!
"We'll have a barbeque!"

Movin' On - summer party

What could be finer than a family party on a warm evening in the summertime! The excited teenager celebrating a birthday and a graduation surrounded by all her friends. Proud Mom and Dad with a speech and a presentation. Tears and laughter in measured amounts, hugs with cameras flashing, even the dog can't stop wagging his tail. The teenage boys play on the front yard letting off steam. The wee baby waddles about trying to pick up the bubbles gushing out of the wands in the back yard. Late in the evening, the music gets louder and the moms and dads move outside again to sit by the bonfire.
Doesn't get much better than this.

Movin' On - "fractional ownership"

It's in the "Resort" part of town. Very big and grand. Somehow we'd missed it. And we're desperate.
Nowhere to stay and the town has "no vacancy" signs everywhere.
Wow! The lobby is enormous - in a steel and concrete sort of way - a huge covered patio out the back. Other folks are in the same muddle and there is a crowd around the desk.
The rooms are also big and grand. High ceilings, deep colors, fireplace, suede sofa with fancy matching throw. I notice the designer label - from Calgary, even the address! I love this throw and keep picking it up and putting it down.
He loves the huge granite counter with one of those huge rectangular sinks. Fancy range with ceramic top, lots of white square dishes and fully equipped kitchen drawers with doo-dads of every use imaginable. On the private patio outside, the barbeque is all ready to go. Open a tall cupboard and a beautiful set of those small Maytag washers and dryers which we happen to need right away. The bathroom? Thick glass shower, big, with all kinds of spray attachments for a guy who loves toys like this. For her, a luxury bathtub with fancy spray attachments, too, and lots of counter space around one of those new bowl sinks. Well!
"I wonder if we could buy this room" he says.
Next day we find out that we can. "Fractional Ownership". We follow the signs to their "show suite" and salesman Cheryl tells us that she herself has "fractional ownership" of the very room we are staying in.
"I can't afford a lot, but I have 1/8 ownership of that room. I can use it for 1/8 of a year. But for me, that's not the main thing. For me, it's the "trade" factor. I can go to other big hotels (next week, I'm going to Las Vegas) and get my room for free. So my boyfriend and I will use the room occasionally, or let friends use it as a gift, perhaps.
The show suite, by the way, is also gorgeous (if you like the big, bold, "in your face" presentation).
"Most of this resort has "fractional ownership" possibilities. And there is also 4 large suites that are for outright sale. They're over there in the centre, right close to where the pool is going to be. I believe one of them will be empty tomorrow and I could show it to you".
It's great. We like it. It's completely furnished - part of the price. And the price is very reasonable, and there's no GST. Owned by one of the "developers" here, he's moving to Belize to work on another Resort development there.
We stay here more than once. It's high season and they're doing lots of business. We chat with Cheryl here and there. She gives me a hair stylist referral, puts us in touch with the "strata" president so we can ask him some questions about the suite she has shown us.
As all this is happening, we ponder this place. There's a suspicious air of inactivity here. Not any "building" happening. We go downstairs every morning to the fancy "coffee" room where guests can drink coffee, read the paper and watch the news - a sort of "get out of from under" alternative - very clever. (and free Vancouver Sun/Globe & Mail every day) Here we see one of those under-glass three dimensional plans for the resort. Whew! They've got a ways to go if they intend to do all these grand things.
We ask questions of realtors, and find out that this place has already failed once, that the Resort people picked it up for a good price and that for whatever reason the place just didn't seem to "meld" with the community. Mind you, this would be from the realtor's standpoint, and they could be considered "the competition" perhaps.
At any rate, it's another example of the innovative ways that people are finding to spend their vacation dollars.
We're still watching this place. If only they'd get rid of that huge yellow "show suite" balloon - so tacky.

Movin' On - Car Pickup

"Sir, I have some good news for you. Your car has arrived from Japan, and is ready to meet you."
Part of the "Movin' On" format - a black on black convertible! Two old people who have driven one of the larger SUV's for several years - this is going to be one of the bigger adjustments to be made. "Have we shot ourselves in the foot?"
It also requires a trip back to Alberta for a short spell. A break from house hunting, except for another inspection tomorrow morning.
"We're getting closer" he said at breakfast. "We just have to check out that other unit - could be what we're looking for".
"Do you think our real estate agent figures we find something wrong with everything? Seems to me that we're telling him to get the papers ready one minute, and the next we're backing out. He'll be glad to have a break from us."
So here's the deal. This car can barely manage 2 sets of golf clubs, we're told, and I think the luggage has to go in the back seat. We are going to have to re-adjust our way of travel by giant steps. "Travel light" sounds easy.
We re-assessed this morning. Left our home on June 26th so it's been about 2 months. I think our brains have just assumed that we're on a longish holiday, and that everything will be back to normal soon. We never talk about the farm. We never talk about the future except in very general terms. We get up every morning, and take the day as it presents itself.
"You don't have a home?!" people say. "That must feel very strange. What a brave thing to do!"
Mmmmmmm. If I had known it was a "brave thing to do", I probably wouldn't have had the courage to do it.
In any case, realtors tell us it's much easier to shop for a house when you're finished with the last one.
"We show them lots of stuff, and then find out that they have to go back and sell their house first. The way you're doing it makes a lot more sense."
At any rate, after trying to adjust to new computers - we're now going to have to adjust to another vehicle - a much much smaller vehicle at that. It should make for interesting conversations to say the least.
"You're taking that in the car? Where on earth are you going to put it?"
"Look, we can pack 2 outfits, that's it, so let's get with the program and stop whining".
Ah, togetherness -