Home is Where we Hook-up

Ok, all you RVers here’s a great piece of advice for ya – give your plants away to people who will enjoy them before you cross any borders. Ok? Getting into Canada they don’t much care what you bring in with you, oh, except for potatoes, they are VERY concerned about whether or not you have potatoes. We were asked if we had potatoes, the answer was “no”, the border guy leaned closer, looked at me and said “No potatoes?”, still the answer is no and though I felt like he thought I was lying about the spuds, he let us pass into his country.

Getting back to the U.S. was a different sort of event all together. For one thing, we crossed at the Peach Arch, and as we approached the border we were advised by signs that the lane we were in had a 12′ clearance, and over sized vehicles should use the Nexxus lane. Nexxus users have a special pass they flash and just cruise right through, and even though the signs told us to use that lane, the border inspectors don’t take it too kindly when a vehicle comes through the Nexxus without the appropriate expedited paperwork. Pull it over, get out, take the dog, go inside and explain yourself, oh great!

The young lady at the counter was friendly and understanding when we told her how we came to be in the Nexxus lane. But, what was done was done, they were going to search through our stuff – best to declare things now.

I honestly never meant to be deceitful, I really heard “Do you have any plant seeds or cut flowers”, what she really said was “plants, seeds or cut flowers”. Needless to say, when I said “no” Keith got a bit uncomfortable. Next we were talking about the dog food, can’t bring dog food in from Canada – well, we bought it in the U.S. – Ok, it has to be in it’s original packaging, she asks me to tell her where the dog food is, so she can inspect it. I say to her,

“It’s in a plastic tub on a chair in the dining area, underneath the philodendron”.

Her face goes sideways, eyes squint just a tad.

“So you DO have plants??????”

From here it just goes downhill. I say yes, I have plants, I thought she asked me if I had plant seeds…I mean really, sometimes being blonde can be such a hassle, ha ha ha. She makes sure I understand I am going to loose my plant. My Philly – oh, the heartbreak, really. I bought this little guy when we first bought the trailer, and have lovingly cared for it for a year now.

Here it is, brand new one year ago

And here it is again, last month

This picture was taken as part of my “mobile office” portfolio I had created, my hands are gesturing to the computer, not to the little violet – which by the way ALSO ended up in the trash at the U.S. Border. When the inspector returned from our RV, she was carrying a plastic tub (my plastic tub) with Philly in it, and of course, I knew what else was in there. One of the guys in the room hollered out “Salad!” but she didn’t crack a smile – she approached counter, set the tub on top looked into my eyes and said,

“Of course, you didn’t tell me about the OTHER plants you had in there!”

Ashamed, I hung my head and said,

“I know, but you were already out the door when it dawned on me, and by that time I already knew that you would get them.”

Really, I just didn’t have it in me to yell after her “Oh, there’s a violet, two rosemary’s and a lily……” I wasn’t hiding them, they were all in the same area of the trailer. She returned to her friendly self, assured I really wasn’t pulling anything, just to stupid to know better. She offered my pots back to me, and even allowed me to pull all the rosemary from the stems of the plants,

“As long as it can’t grow” she said. I just told her to take good care of the philodendron, and that’s when she told me that all my plants were going to the trash. All of which, really is just true form bureaucracy B.S. – the entire system is worthless for effectively preventing the spread of what ever it is they are concerned with. I will forgo the rant of how ridiculous it is.

The trailer is now in storage in Tumwater, WA for the next 4 or 5 months – so we’ll see what I do plant wise down the road. For now, I am kicking it at my mom’s for a couple of weeks and she has a nice yard with lots of great plants to look after, it’s all good.

For the last little while Keith has been talking about living on a boat. (My Uncle wrote and said he thought Keith was “smarter than that” – ha ha) I am not 100% sure how I feel about the idea. I do love living in the RV, and we have looked at some boats that rival our current living space – and it’s an interesting concept.

After coming here to the Ark Resort, maybe we have a new living arrangement to consider – the Floating House.

Now, doesn’t that just seem like the best of both worlds?

Saturday morning, 5:30 a.m. buzzed from our sleep by the alarm, our chores for the next hour were simple – pack the trailer and leave our paradise the Living Forest. Keith readies the outside, I do the inside, and between the two of us, we are ready to hit the road in a little over an hour. I think my mom got a kick out of watching me bring the dining room in, then the kitchen, the bedroom next and last but not least, the “office”. Our goal was to be on the road by 7 a.m., and at 6:54 a.m. we entered onto Hwy 19 heading for Port Alberni.

The drive to our next destination was not a long one, just over an hour and was fairly uneventful. My favorite moment was spotting the cutest little black bear creeping out of the woods towards the road. Probably a young bear, only 2 or 3 years old with a shiny and full coat, Keith tooted the horn and sent him back from where he came. This makes my second black bear sighting in my life – (the first was a Momma bear and her two cubs we spotted in a ravine somewhere outside of Boise on our way flying back from Houston) I only slightly hope I see more while we are here.

We arrived at the Ark Resort (an RV Park, Fish Camp, Marina and Floating B&B all in one) a little after 8 a.m. By 9:30 a.m. Keith had the outside of the trailer hooked up, I had the slides pushed out and we were set back up for living, only this time our view overlooks Great Central Lake, a 28 mile lake with a picturesque marina and the most charming floating houses along the edge. On the opposite side of the lake are the Della Falls, the “Highest Falls in North America”. I will look into the claim, but it doesn’t much matter; I’m entranced with the sounds of gushing water and can’t get enough of the scenery. Even though the move was not such a major one, we were all 3 very tired from the day. I lay my weary head down around 9 pm, it was still light out and though all I wanted to do was sleep, I found it strangely difficult to close my eyes – silly really, but I kept wanting just one last peek. It really is lovely here 🙂

Today’s post is by Special Guest writer Pat Williams (or as we call her…Mom).

Keith and Paula picked me up at the Victoria Airport on Thursday, in the rain. Relaxed all day on Friday, watching the rain. Saturday’s plan was to explore the World Famous Butchart Gardens, hoping not to do so in the rain. Luck was on our side, the weather cooperated fully with sunshine, and mild temperatures. We oooohhhh’d and awwwww’d throughout the entire garden, in pure amazement at what nature (with the help of man’s hands) can produce in near perfection.

For lunch we experienced Hi Tea. The picture is only the tip of the iceberg, the tea room with windows looking out on the private garden and glass ceiling providing perfect lighting for all the orchids. We enjoyed the sandwiches and pastries to the last crumb. Missing was the Victorian dress code. It was so relaxing.

**I have replied in the comments about the menu for this High Tea – what a wonderful day

Keith and I are both somewhat amateur birders. The smaller the bird gets, the harder it is for me to identify, and around here there are hundreds of the smaller breeds. I holler out every name I can think of, and Keith will reply “I think that’s just a chickadee”. On the day we arrived, we walked to the beach (mostly by accident, we were just exploring the park) The sun was shining, in opposition to what the weather reports said, and the birds were out celebrating. Even the big guys, the one’s I can easily identify from miles away, the Bald Eagles. We counted 5 within minutes, a few were immature being taught to hunt.

That night we fell asleep to the “who-who-hoohoohoo,wh-wh-wHo-whooooo” and in the morning I asked “did you hear the owl?” We both laughed in agreement that while it was neat to hear at first, it would have been better if he’d have shut up at some point during the night. Everynight we fall asleep to the sounds of the park owl.

Last night we were sitting outside after an evening exploration of some of the nearby trails. A dog barked in the distance and Keith asked “what kinda dog is that? Sounds like it has the hiccups.” We listened for a few more barks, and then – though it was early, we heard “who-who-hoohoohoo, wh-wh-wHo-whoooo” I said I thought he was far away, Keith disagreed, so we set off in search of our friend the owl. We didn’t get far, as Keith was seriously distracted by this barking dog. The next thing I knew, he was backtracking and then, strangely enough, he began to look high up into the trees, muttering “what IS that???” I looked off into the distance at some of the other trailers, searching for a dog to point out to him, and clear up the whole mystery. But, the barking stopped. A Raven descended from the Pine Tree, gliding down the lane way, circling to another Pine opposite where we stood, and “BarK”, it barked. It BARKED! My mouth hung agape, I just couldn’t believe it. Surely the raven knew we were listening and watching, and he didn’t care for the attention, so off he flew.

The owl on the other hand, was not yet aware that we were after a sighting, and he kept up the inevitably locating “whooing” until we pinpointed his position. What a nice looking bird he is! I tried to be casual, you know like shuffling my feet, hands behind my back, a little whistle going on, proving my intentions were “Nothing???” But, I couldn’t pull it off, he scrunched his head down as he looked me square in the eye – pushed off the branch and glided over our heads, through the forest and off to the other side of the park.