In the beginning

A little background

When I first retired 10 years ago I planned to travel across Canada, head down the east coast across to the south west and back home.  Life intervened and it wasn't until this spring that I had the opportunity to buy a camper van and test out the dream. I owned a van earlier in my life so adjusting to driving it wasn't a problem.  In fact there are so many memories of the good times I had with my children in that van that as soon as I got behind the wheel it was as if my body remembered and I happily relaxed into it. It is a Chevy Road Trek Ranger and I call it Strider for the ranger who fearlessly led his companions on their adventures.

Test Drives and Reality Checks

Learning how to operate the mechanical, electrical, water,  sewage, and heating systems was not so easy. I had a lot of help from people who wanted a 68 year old novice to succeed.  My cousin David taught me all about what is under the hood and under the chassis and gave me lots of helpful advice.  I am forever grateful to Gary, my friend and travel companion on the maiden trip to Utah and Yellowstone to meet up with our friends Ray & Nancy.  He patiently taught me how everything worked, made it enjoyable and gave me confidence that I could do it on my own.  Just to be sure he later accompanied me in his own RV to Jasper and down the Parkway to test out what I had learned.  Now I feel pretty comfortable getting ready for the big Odyssey.

The Plan

This trip has 3 stages, linked to each other by friendships, family and photography.  I plan to take six weeks to cross the prairies, circle the Great Lakes to Algonquin, onto Ottawa to see what election fever looks like in the Capital then through Quebec to the Saugany at the hight of fall colours.  From Quebec and the Gaspe I'll travel to PEI and onto the Magdeline Islands. The Canadian travels end in St. John New Brunswick just before Thanksgiving.

From there it is a quick run down the coast to Portland Maine, over to the Big Whites and a visit with my son and his family in Chelmsford.  I have a week in Washington then return to the family for Halloween and my son's birthday.  I will leave Strider in Chelmsford until spring when the driving part of the adventure will continue.

The last leg of the trip is to Japan, a country I have always wanted to visit.  Luckily there is a direct flight from Boston and good connections home making both the coming and the going easier.

The Execution

The travelling part seems easy in comparison to the preparation for leaving.  I have pages of To Do's and lists for all stages of the trip.  As I check things off and the count down speeds up I am more and more eager to be on the road.  I didn't want to leave my home unattended and luckily my neigbour's son found two great house sitters.  Lastly I have been learning how to set up this blog and am now ready to upload this my first post.

And so it begins.