The End.

So, Zach demolished the camper. It was falling apart, and leaking, and there were bugs, and Kevin offered a room to us inside his house, and that was it. Zach has spent the past couple weeks turning the scamper camper into a fully functioning flat bed trailer, in order to haul our belongings back to Vancouver Island. He does good work.

We have spent the past few days in Kamsack visiting family and friends, getting in one last walk and scenic drive at Madge Lake ( seriously people, enough with the mansions and pavement already! Leave the trees alone!) , and finishing up some packing and trailer building. In less than 12 hours, we will be on the road back west, to our new, although temporary, home in Sooke, BC, which is just outside of Victoria. We have found a nice home to rent while we look for something a little more permanent, and we're both excited to be settled down, and have a kitchen, a bathroom and more than 6 feet of space to move around in.

Living in a 16 foot camper for a year, sure makes you appreciate the little things in life, while at the same time teaches you that material things really aren't all that important when it comes to general happiness. We have had our fair share of arguments due to our close proximity, but overall, I think that we came out closer than ever. We are a better couple, and better friends, and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. We have met interesting people, we have had the opportunity to see parts of Canada we had never seen before. Our journey did not go as originally planned at all. I don't think that anything, other than heading west, went as planned. We didn't go to the States. We didn't visit a lot of people we said we were going to. We stayed in the camper for 4 months longer than we had planned. But that's the way life goes, sometimes the universe just throws you in the opposite direction and you have to learn to just go with it, whether you like it or not, and for the most part, we're happy with where the universe guided us.

We are very excited to get back to Vancouver Island, to see our friends and family, to meet our new cousin, to take the dogs to visit their canine friends at Malahat Mountain Meadows. We are already looking forward to visits from Saskatchewan family and friends this winter, getting back in shape after a long summer of fun, but unhealthy living, and being able to be outside in the winter. Most of all, we are excited to start the next chapter in our lives, and even though it takes us far away from many people that we love, and will miss, we are thinking of ourselves, and know that we will be happy where we are headed.

Thank you for reading this blog over the past year. Sorry we were at times absent with updates, but that's just the way it goes. We hope you enjoyed what we did give you, and we are grateful for all those who supported us in this journey.

Catch you on the flip side.

*Want to know what's going on with the Scamper Campers? Check out their blogs at http://abigailroad.ca and www.zachogilvie.com

Summer Update

In less than a month, we will be leaving Kevin's back yard and heading back to Vancouver Island to put down roots. So much has happened this summer, and it seems like we have been back in Regina forever, even though it hasn't been that long at all. It wasn't the summer I envisioned having here. At first I thought it would be three months of partying and working and catching up with old friends, but then we got pregnant, and I expected a summer of sober activities, and checking out all of the Regina summer fun...and getting to hang out with family and friends. Both scenarios are pretty similar, one just has more booze in it.

And then, we lost the baby, before I even got a chance to blog about it. I just read (and deleted) the post I wrote when we were about 6 weeks along, and wanting to tell the whole world about our big news. It's heartwrenching to say the least to read those joyous words, when these days, it's all I can do not to be a total negative fucking Nelly about all things baby-related. Everything changed, and went back to normal all at once when we miscarried. We have spent our time mostly at home with friends since then, and other than our annual camping trip at Madge Lake (that was very different than previous years), we haven't been up to much. A few nights out here and there, an adventure at Fort San, a much needed weekend away in Gravelbourg. We're working to save money, and go back west, and hoping that things will start to work out for us soon. Please universe, let things start to work out for us soon.

Thank you to everyone who has been there for us this summer, and to those we haven't had a chance to see yet, we're leaving at the end of the month, so give us a ring if you want to get together.

Until then, I'm going to try to keep enjoying this glorious hot and dry weather, before we head back to the rainforest!

Back to Regina

We arrived back in the city that rhymes with fun on Saturday evening. After giving up parking the camper properly, we sat down and had some beers with Kevin and visited before passing out on our faces.

Our original plan had been to take it easy and not visit anyone for the first couple days, just so we could have time to unwind and unpack and such. However, during a nice long walk early Sunday morning around downtown, we got the idea to ring my brothers doorbell and yell "Watcha!" and then run away. We decided not to run away when we saw my mom's car parked near his building, and had a nice surprise visit with a good chunk of the Smandych-Ogilvie clan! Thank you Kyleah for the impromptu breakfast and coffee! Visiting with the family, led to visiting with DK and Paige and then we passed out on our faces again.

We've been busy little bees since we got here. I've had a bunch of meetings to attend and errands and chores to take care of and have been slowly putting the inside of the camper back together, while Zach got a job straight away when we got here thanks to Mr. Walker, and has been working 16 hour days. I go back to work tomorrow, doing that group home thing that I do. It is going to be strange being away from each other every day, after 6 months of rarely being apart.

I've been lucky enough to have visits with a bunch of people the past couple days, some on street corners, some here in the sunny backyard of Casa Vidomski, and I spent a lovely sunny afternoon visiting with a few lovely lady friends at our old building. We will be out at O'Hanlon's on Saturday night, as requested by some of you. Everyone is welcome to come out and buy us drinks...I mean visit with us. ;) I may even shake a tail feather or two, if you would like to come and watch.

We are excited to be home, if only for awhile. Huge thanks to Kevin and Paige and the kitties for letting the Ogilvie family crash in the yard, and use things in the house. We will try our best to earn our keep and be the best roomies ever.

Life

Bye Bye

We'll be leaving the campground and heading to the ferry at Sidney in less than an hour. So much to say about this winter, so little time to type, so I am stealing Zach's Facebook status for now:

Goodbye to the frogs that live in the pool. So long to the trees and rocks and the carpets of moss. Catch you later maple leaves as big as my head. Later, you magnificent rocky beaches, big fat robins on the lawn and fresh mountain air. Let's do this again some time.

Packing Up

In five days, we will be leaving our campground that we've called home since November, catching the ferry and heading to the mainland. I think we are both excited to hit the road again, even though our funds are low, and the weather back home is still touch and go. We both like to be on the move, and even though I am not quite mentally prepared to move back to a winter wonderland, we can feel it's time. We are going to be taking our time on the way home. We will be in Vancouver on Monday and Tuesday, so if anyone wants to get together, email us and let us know, and maybe we can plan something, and if all goes to plan, we will be in Armstrong by Wednesday night, and we'll be staying there until I get paid on Friday. We will be doing a short stop in Regina to drop off the camper, if it doesn't fall apart before then, and then we'll be going to Kamsack for a couple days before we both have to get back to work.

It's amazing how fast time flies. The past six months have been all about seeing new things, and meeting new people, and rubbing all our good weather in Saskatchewan's face. The next three months will be all about seeing old friends and family, going back to old jobs, and enjoying the hell out of a Saskatchewan summer.

Leaving is bittersweet, but knowing that we'll be back in the area in a few months makes it easier. So highway drivers, keep your eyes peeled for a patched up little green bean next week, and instead of pointing and laughing, feel free to throw gas money at us. Or do both. Whatever floats your boat.

Wordless Wednesday

Long Night

There is only one highway from Victoria to Nanaimo, and we live on it. Which means that when something happens, such as a tanker truck full of fuel crashing into the side of the mountain and spilling said fuel all over the highway and into the Goldstream River, they have to close the highway completely. As I write this, that portion of the highway still isn't open to traffic, and it's been about 20 hours.

I finished work last night at 8pm, and took my short cut to the highway, excited to get home. Right away I noticed that traffic was backed up, but I didn't see any emergency vehicles or signs so, I just stayed put, and went with the flow. After 20 minutes of slow moving, I got to the last intersection before the Malahat, and saw that it was closed. Police officer informed me of the accident, said it would be at least eight hours before they could let people through. Ugh. I yelled a curse word or two at the steering wheel, and headed back to work to use their phone to call Zach. After not coming up with any ideas on how to get home, I ended up sleeping at work. Thank goodness I work at a group home, anybody else leaving work last night didn't have that option.

I got up bright and early, around 6am, bought a coffee and hit the highway again. This time, there wasn't a back up of traffic, so I figured since it had been about 10 hours, it would be open. But no, at the last bend before the Malahat, I realized it was closed again. FOR GODS SAKES HIGHWAY PEOPLE, PUT UP A DAMN SIGN OR SOMETHING NEXT TIME....is what I was thinking. I asked a flag person what was going on, they said at least another 6 hours before they could let anyone through....argh.

I turned around and headed to the Shell station down the road, and soon learned that many people had to actually spend the night at the gas station, at least I had a couch to sleep on. I bought a phone card, after learning that our home phone doesn't accept collect calls, and got a hold of Zach to let him know I was following some other people and giving Finlayson Arm Road a shot. It was either that, or drive to Port Renfrew, and do the Pacific Marine tour again.

Luckily, they were letting people through on the twisty turny back road a few at a time, and I was there early enough that traffic wasn't backed up there. It was a beautiful drive, under different circumstances, I would have enjoyed it so much more. Maybe even stop to take a few pictures of the sunlight bouncing on the ocean. I was home by 9am, only 13 hours after my first attempt.

There are still people stranded up here, and down there. The Legion opened its doors and let people stay, the pubs and hotels and gas stations in that area were jammed last night. Some people stayed in their vehicles on the highway all night.

It blows my mind that a city like Victoria only has one major route out. Yes, there are other roads, going other places, and if you have a map and some knowledge of the area, you can get places eventually. This is just one of the many many times this highway has been closed. This was just one drunk semi driver, and look at the mess this has caused. If there was an earthquake, and people needed to evacuate, most would never get out. Which is something that people who live in the city, and don't leave it, don't think about when they reject ideas to build another route out. They don't want traffic going past their house, they don't want to pay for the work....but they sure as hell will want that road when a disaster happens, no doubt about it.

But, I'm exhausted, so no time to rant about shitty highways, and shitty people. I just hope that the road is opened tomorrow so I can get to work, and I hope that the clean up crew is getting somewhere, because a fuel spill at Goldstream? That's not easy to fix.

Nap time.

Wordless Wednesday - Skunk Cabbage Edition

That Damn Show

When Zach and I first got settled here on the island, we quickly realized we weren't going to have the money to be going into the city, and going out every night. Gas is expensive yo, and so is booze. We didn't have a TV yet, but luckily we had a bunch of TV series on the computer to watch when we were bored. Neither of us had watched "House" when it started, but we did start watching it last winter from the beginning, and then promptly got busy with other things. Luckily, we still had seasons one through six on the hard drive, and thus began a nightly ritual of cuddling up on the bed with the dogs and watching hours of House before bed.

It didn't take us long to be hooked. Both of us looked forward to House time every night, and we became very invested in the lives of these fictional characters. Seriously, I still feel bad for hating Amber so much. I totally wished they would just kill her off already...and then they did. Yowza.

Other than a couple episodes from this current season, we ended our nightly House ritual when we ran out at the end of Season 6, and we're waiting until we can sit and watch all of Season 7 in order.

I hadn't thought much about our obsession with House until this evening. I was sitting here in bed playing stupid Facebook games, while Zach was working on the other computer, and listening to Radiohead. All of a sudden I felt this huge pang in my chest, and my eyes started to tear, and I felt so freaking sad, in every single cell of my body. I took a minute to compose myself, as I had no idea what was wrong, and then it hit me. It was the song. The song that was used at the beginning of the epic two hour premiere episode of House Season 6.

Apparently I still have some open wounds when it comes to Dr. House and his mental problems, that I may need counselling for.

Yum Yum

I have tried out a few new recipes in the past few months, and have had to be a bit creative, what with not having an oven and all. Some things have turned out great, and some things not even Zach will eat...but it's been fun figuring things out, nonetheless.

My absolute favorite recipe I came up with this winter is super easy and yummy, and with summer coming I thought I'd share it here. If you try it, let me know how it turns out and what you think!

We had a month or so this winter when money was really tight, and we were eating the kinds of foods that we ate when we were in our early twenties. We were eating a lot of Kraft dinner, ravioli, spaghetti with nothing on it...you get the picture. We happened to have a ton of canned tuna on hand, which was nice for casseroles and sandwiches, but that gets old fast. I was craving a burger one day, knowing that I couldn't have one, and asked the internet for tuna alternatives. I found a bunch of different recipes for tuna burgers and patties, but I didn't like everything about them...so I did some mixing and matching, and voila! A burger not made of beef that even a hungry boy like Zach loves. He actually gets excited when he sees me making them now, and that makes a wife feel all warm and fuzzy, I tells ya.

One Day These Will Be Known as Great Grandma Anna's Tuna Burgers

( I'm still working on that title there)

What you need:

2-3 cans of flaked tuna, drained

1/4 cup of quick oats

one egg

one tbsp. beef OXO powder

1/3 cup of finely chopped onion

one tsp. dried dill

2 shakes of black pepper

Only if you got 'em extra ingredients: blue cheese, crushed garlic

Throw all these ingredients into a bowl, and mix well. Shape into burger patties, and refridgerate for at least 2 hours, so they hold their shape. Depending on how large you make your burgers, this recipe should get you 4-8 patties.

Once chilled, lightly grease a frying pan/grill with your favorite grease ( margerine, oil, what have you), and heat. Once pan is heated, throw on the patties. Flip once bottom is starting to brown, cook until lightly browned and crispy on both sides. If BBQ'ing, make sure to grease the burger a tad so they don't stick to the grill. These are a bit more fragile that beef burgers, as they don't have all that fat to keep them together.

Serve as you would a regular burger, with all the fixings, or on it's own. I like put mine as a topping on a big salad, or just on rice if we don't have buns.

Enjoy!

Question

Is it weird that after 6 months of living in this trailer, all that I can think about it how awesome it will be to camp in a tent?

Thoughts, please.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Road Trip

"Fuck it! Get out of bed, and let's go anyways!"

We had planned the day before to finally do the drive from Victoria to Port Renfrew, Lake Cowichan, Duncan and back home to Malahat. We were going to get up early, and have a nice relaxing day trip. Of course, when the alarm went off that morning, we woke to the sound of hard rain echoing off the camper roof, groaned, and went back to sleep. Eventually Zach got up, and I lay awake in bed, trying to decide if I should just stay there until the next day, or get up and try and be productive.

As the first line up there alludes, we got the fuck up and went anyways. After a little thought, we agreed that if we were in Saskatchewan, we would never let cold weather get in the way of a day of fun, so rain pissing down on us shouldn't hold us back either. Zach had also checked the forecast for the west side of the island, and it looked clearer there than it did closer to Victoria.

We had first learned of this drive from Uncle Bruce, on his first visit to our campground. We read a bit about it afterwards, and Zach mapped out the directions, and we planned to do it before we left the island. (To see the route and learn more about what I'm talking about, check out http://www.travelbritishcolumbia.com/tours/Pacific_Marine_Circle_Tour.aspx )

We went for a couple long walks along the way, first stopping at Juan de Fuca Provincial Park, and then at Botany Bay ( near Botanical Beach). We drove through Jordan River and Port Renfrew and checked out the sights, but didn't get a chance to do anything there, as the phone lines were down all last week, and most businesses were closed because of that. We liked the atmosphere on that part of the island. Quiet and laid back and simple.

After our excursion to Botany Bay, we started heading to Lake Cowichan. Thank goodness for our truck, because old Mabel the Ford Focus wouldn't have been happy on that trip. For the most part the roads are paved, but it is a relatively unused road, and from what we could tell, was mostly used by logging trucks, and probably campers and hikers in the summertime. Although we drove past a few homes, and a lot of clear cut areas, there were very few signs of life....and a lot more snow than we have seen this whole winter.

When we got to Lake Cowichan, we decided to get out and have a walk around. We bought some coffee's and wandered down the main drag, and down to the lake and museum. Cowichan was quiet and quaint, and reminded me of the kind of town that has its population double in size as soon as summer arrives. I also got the distinct impression that the young locals were well aware of how much cooler they were than any outsiders....reminded me of how I acted growing up at Madge Lake.

Once we hit the Trans Canada again, after getting to Duncan, we knew our little adventure was over. Driving on the main highway just doesn't give you the same carefree feeling as a back road. We had one last stop in Mill Bay, where we took the dogs for one last walk down to the now-defunct marina, and ordered our favorite Mill Bay pizza to take home.

Thank you, Zach, for getting me the fuck out of bed, and for reminding me not to let weather get me down. I can't think of anything better than spending a day driving around with you and the dogs, and I can't wait to see where we go next.

Wordless Wednesday - Botany Beach

6 Tips on How to be a Frugal Scamper Camper

Our combined expenses each month, totals approximately $1550.00. That includes bills, SGI, campground rent and loan payments. That is before food, entertainment, fuel, dog treats, etc. I make about $800 a month at my part time job, so Zach is expected to bring home the rest at this point, and he does. All of my Etsy earnings are going in to savings because at this point, our goal is to save, save, save...and everyone knows that can be difficult on basically one income. It's not always easy, so we have had to change a lot about the way we live. However, we make it work, and I am proud of us for finding ways to save, be frugal, and still have fun.

Here are some of the things we have been doing to try and keep our expenses down on the road.

1. We make our coffee at home. I am a coffee addict, and even though I have always made coffee at home, I don't even know how many hundreds of dollars I spent in the past year buying coffee at gas stations, Tim Horton's, etc. We have cut back immensely on this one expense by using our re-usable cups, and taking coffee with us. We have also found that most places will give you a discount if you bring your own mug.

2. Whenever possible we get gas at Superstore or one of it's affiliates. Not only is it usually a couple cents cheaper than other places, but you get Super Bucks with every fuel purchase. When you drive a big truck like we do, those Super Bucks add up to free groceries fast. They definitely have come in handy this winter when we were between paychecks, but needed coffee, bread, margarine, etc.

It's no secret that a truck like ours is a gas guzzler. We live right between Victoria and Mill Bay, so nothing is that far away. However, we have learned to only make necessary trips, and try to combine errands as often as possible. If I have to work, that will be a day when we get our errands done, for instance. We like to save our gas for things like visiting family and friends and going on adventures.

We also like to use our Canadian Tire card to purchase big things when we can, because we get Canadian Tire money back, which comes in handy!

3. Not only have we quit smoking, but we do not go to bars or restaurants. I can actually count on one hand the amount of times we have gone out to eat or drink in the past four months. However, the times we have gone out have felt super special and fun because we don't do it all the time. We have also only ever bought alcohol to drink at home twice.

4. Learning to be smart grocery shoppers has helped immensely in saving money. Not only do we do common sense things like stay away from brand names, use coupons and only buy what we need, we compare prices between stores, and hold off on purchases if we know we can get something cheaper somewhere else.

Most stores in Victoria do not have plastic bags available to use, and if they do, you are paying for them. Instead of buying the reusable grocery bags, I have made my own, using some of Zach's old T-shirts.

We try our best to plan our meals in advance and get to the stores early ( meat from the day before is usually very cheap in the mornings!). When purchasing meat, I want it to get us through at least 2 meals. ( making broth for soup from a chicken, for example.) All potatoes, onions and dry goods are bought in bulk.

5. We reuse everything that we can. All plastic containers are kept to use for storage ( food and otherwise.) Any and all plastic bags are reused in some way. So many things come wrapped in a plastic bag ( bread, rice, pre-packaged meat is usually bagged again at checkout, all bulk bins and produce sections have plastic bags to use, etc.) All small bags are kept and used to pick up dog poo on walks. All larger bags are used for garbage bags. Paper and cardboard packaging is also kept, because we need it to start campfires. We have also started saving our egg cartons, so I can return them to be reused when we buy farm eggs.

6. Everyone knows that Zach has an affinity for websites that sell used products, and that I have a thing for places like Old Navy and Walmart that always have awesome sales. We are trying to curb these impulse shopping habits, and also use them to our advantage. If we need something, we check online used sites first, before just heading to a box store to get it. When I do buy clothes or craft supplies, I am waiting for deals, and really am only buying things that I need. I signed up for the Old Navy newsletter, so I don't have to drive in to the city "just to see what they have."

Other things we have been doing is using only rechargeable batteries, buying dog food and treats in bulk, going to barber shops instead of salons, fixing and refurbishing things if possible before throwing them out and we are always looking for free activities to do around the island and beyond.

What do you do to save money? Do you have any tips of your own?

Wordless Wednesday - Sooke Potholes

Wordless Wednesday

A Short Tour of Site #28, Malahat Mountain Meadows, British Columbia

This is our new campsite. We like it because we actually feel like we are living in the forest, unlike our other site that didn't have any trees, and was next to somebody's backyard. It's pretty and comfortable, and I can't wait to have people over for campfires...we have had a couple already, but it would be nice to share the fun.

This is the rear of our camper, which is a good place to put things. :) Take note of the dog food, wiener sticks, ladder, wood, and we always have an extra jug of drinking water full, just in case.

The outdoor dining area. Take a look at the ivy Melanie gave us for our wedding! It's doing better outside the camper than it did inside.

We have been living without a television since we sold our 52" flat screen last June, and we were slowly dwindling down our cable long before that. When we wanted to watch a television show, we were just watching it online. When we got the Rocket Hub, we had to kibosh online television watching, due to the amount of bandwidth it used, and sometimes, the internet connection just wasn't fast enough to watch something anyways. Needless to say, we got on just fine without a TV. However, having this little guy that Uncle Bruce dropped off for us has been nice. I get to watch Law & Order every day at 4pm, and it has given us something else to do on those rainy days and nights when you can't be outside and you've read and watched all the internet already.

When the topic of buying a hot plate to use as a stove came up, I visualized a rusty old 70's green and/or yellow piece of crap. But leave it to Zach, he found the sexiest hot plate in town. I love it, and it works well as our stove. Added bonus - no burners to clean! Woot!

The small bar fridge we had been using since we moved in to the camper died on us last month. We ended up having to go only a few days without a fridge though, because Zach found a good deal at Costco, and got us a brand spankin' new one. I guess it's still technically only a bar fridge, but to me, it's huge. We can fit a whole jug of milk in there, and we don't have to buy miniature condiments anymore.

Every evening, we come up with a list of things that need to be done the next day. We don't always get everything done, but we try our best. :) It not only helps to keep us organized, and to know what chores or errands need to be done, but it helps me remember what day of the week it is. When you spend most of your time in the forest, it is really easy to forget what day it is. Especially since the majority of the people we interact with out here don't seem to care what day it is either. It's great if you ask me.

That's it for our tour for today. Hope you enjoyed it. If there is anything else you would like to see, don't hesitate to ask!

How to do Dishes the Scamper Camper Way

Even though my wonderful husband is busy hooking up the water in the kitchen sink as I write this, which will give us running water for drinking, ( good-bye Nimbus jug) and rinsing things, and a receptacle to dispose of water, this here wife will still need hot water to do dishes. I have gotten so used to doing dishes without warm running water, that it doesn't even bother me. It is just a part of my day, like it was back when I did have a proper kitchen.

Due to limited counter space, and only having enough dishes as we need, we need to keep on top of this household chore. Dishes are usually washed twice a day, unless we have a day when we aren't eating as much, or can reuse an already soiled plate, pot or cup.

Unlike the original pioneer women, I get to do my chores in sweatpants instead the traditional pioneer dress.

We have been hauling our water in a large water jug. I figured out soon after we got here that the best place to get hot water is in the shower, so the shower is where we fill our jug. We are now camped closer to the public washrooms, so it's just a quick walk down to get the water, it isn't like we are hauling it uphill both ways or anything.

See? It's not so bad. I do wish I would remember to buy a pot scrubber though.

Since we haven't been able to use our sink to actually hold water, the sink has been where we put the clean dishes to dry once washed, and we wash the dishes in a large Rubbermaid container. I have been dumping the dirty dishwater in the bush behind our campsites, but after tonight, I can quit polluting the campground with our dirty water, and dump it down the sink, where it will find it's way to the sewer. This makes me happy inside. I don't like being a litterbug.

Apparently when I am happy inside, I look like a psychopath outside.

So that is how we wash our dishes. Not that different than anybody else...well unless you have a dishwasher.

Wordless Wednesday - Malahat Lookout

Question Period

A few weeks ago I put out a call on Facebook and Twitter asking people what they wanted me to write about on this here blog of ours. I had pretty much hit a writers block...even when you're living in a caravan in the forest, life is life, and it isn't always exciting. Sometimes it's just about going to work, watching TV, and worrying about how you are going to pay your bills. These are a good chunk of the questions that I got asked after my call out, and I'm going to answer them as best I can. If you're question isn't here, it is because it is going to get a blog post all to itself...so thanks for helping to cure my writers block. If you have any questions that aren't here, just leave them in the comments, and I'll make Zach answer them. :)

Where do you do your laundry?

We lucked out, and the campground we are parked at has laundry facilities. They are clean, and work well, and the laundromat is a good place to hang out if you want to hear gossip about other residents of the park or the the staff.

On our way out here we did our laundry at Zach's grandparents place in Armstrong...and if they don't mind, we probably will on the way back too. ;) Or maybe we'll hit up one of my relatives.

Do you ever get sick of each other?

Of course!! Up until I started working ( which is only 2-3 days a week) we were together for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 2 months in a 16' one room camper. If we didn't get on each others nerves once in awhile, we would be freaks. I think we're doing rather well though. Some couples would be headed for divorce by now, and we're still loving and laughing.

How are you making money?

Zach is doing his computertron stuff just like he did in Regina. I am working part-time at a private group home in Langford. I occasionally make some money from my Etsy store. We are not above looking for paying gigs on Used Victoria, selling our stuff if we can, and picking bottles. You do what you gotta do.

Why are you not travelling more?

All of the above work doesn't pay enough at the moment. We're both working again though, and we're catching up on things, so with any luck we'll be able to put some cash away, and have some disposable income soon. In the next month or so we'll hopefully be able to get around to seeing the north part of the island. Zach also bought a book of all the roadways on the island, and we want to do some touring around on back roads in the truck to see what we can find. We were hoping we'd be down in the States by now, but we like it here, and if we have the money, we'll try get there on the way back to Saskatchewan.

Are you coming back to Saskatchewan?

Yes. The timeline isn't set in stone, but we will be back in Regina in May or June, until August sometime. We'll be sure to keep everyone posted as plans develop.

How do you cook? What do you eat if you don't have a freezer?

Even though we have a propane stove and oven, we do not have any propane. That hasn't slowed us though. For the first few weeks, we made everything in the slow cooker or on the charcoal grill, and now we have a kick ass modern hot plate too. We've also got a fire pit in our site, if we really needed to cook on it. I don't even feel that the propane is necessary at this point.

Not having a way to freeze food is a bit of a pain. I am sure our diet would be a bit more exciting if we could. We always have canned and dried goods on hand, and if we are going to eat meat, we have to buy it and eat it that day. It just takes planning. Nothing goes to waste around here.

What do you miss the most about Regina?

I think we both miss our friends and family. It's taken some getting used to, not being able to just call up someone and hang out. We're a bit out of the loop too, so anyone who feels like letting us in on what's new is quite welcome to call! You should all just move here. The weather is better. :)

What do you like most about the campground you are staying at?

It's affordable. The trees. The people we've met. The other dogs. The trails. The stream that runs through it, that sounds like a group of people talking all at once. The creepy train tracks. It is close enough to Victoria that everything is close by, but we get to be in nature. I just love it here.

Wordless Wednesday - Winter Destruction and Fun

Wordless Wednesday - Salt Spring Island