Pre-pickup Preparations
As I write this, I'm sitting on a Greyhound bus bound for Ottawa. Since I contracted to buy Thelma, much of my energy has been focused on bringing her home.
On Friday afternoon, I was feeling ill and so left work early. I'd checked out of the Airbnb in Chelsea, Quebec I'd been staying in, so I didn't really have anywhere to go. I drove Montana, my current van, out to Nepean and sat under some trees in a parking lot while I waited for the Gravol I'd taken earlier to kick in. After about an hour and a half, I was good to go.
I stopped at the bank and took out $2500, my next payment on Thelma, and dropped it off. I also stopped at Canadian Tire and picked up a Magellan GPS unit on sale, as navigating with my phone and Google Maps had become increasingly inaccurate and frustrating. After picking up Dozer from the pet sitter, I had a couple bites of dinner and decided to head back to Aurora - about a 5-hour drive. It was currently 8:30pm.
I was returning to Aurora for two things - to move the rest of my belongings out of my brother's house, and to sell my current van, a 2006 Pontiac Montana.
Since it was late, I took the highway and headed out. The navigation on the GPS was excellent. It even suggested I take driving breaks every two hours, which is a setting that's adjustable. I'm going to leave it as is for now, but I'll likely adjust it to 3-4 hours later on.
The highway drive was uneventful. I stuck behind truckers most of the way and just took my time. I pulled off to the OnRoute at Mallorytown and had a rest in the picnic area for 45 minutes or so. It was quite nice. The park was technically closed, but there was another car there when I arrived, who left sometime when I was relaxing.
As the night wore on, I stopped twice more to let Dozer out, grab some water and take a few minutes break from driving, as my GPS had suggested. By the time I got to Aurora, it was about 4am and getting cold. I had a crocheted afghan in the car I picked up earlier in the week at Value Village and used that to keep warm. Dozer has his own car bed and blanket, so he was fine. I parked in Walmart for awhile, turning on the heat every 20 minutes or so to keep the temperature bearable, then moved over to Starbucks when they opened at 6 am. I sat outside in the van and pilfered some wifi, then went to my grandparents.
Over the weekend, I did some family stuff, had some back and forth about selling the current van, dropped Dozer off with my Dad, who graciously offered to watch him until I'm settled in Thelma.
One thing I was pleasantly surprised by was my family's attitude to my upcoming van life. I know I've never been quite ordinary, and although I'm definitely a free spirit, my family's opinion still matters a lot to me. So the excitement of my cousin, grandfather, father and others in my family was really good for me. I can't wait to show off Thelma in October at Thanksgiving.
I managed to sell my Montana and get enough to finish the purchase on Thelma much earlier than expected! I'd originally worked out a payment plan with the dealer to have her paid off by the end of September, but with selling my current van, I can pick Thelma up on Tuesday! Barring any issues at her safety appointment, which is Monday. Fingers crossed!
I've also been getting ready to move in, scouting parking locations online, dump stations (though I need to find more options for winter dumping), and working on a plan for winter plumbing. Biggest help so far: YouTube! As I do more, and actually start work on Thelma, I plan on doing some video blogging, as well as updates here. So stay tuned for my YouTube channel launch!
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! And my thoughts go out to those in south-west Florida as Irma barrels down. Stay safe out there, everyone!