Prepping For Our Annual Cross-Country Trip
We will be making the trek from Whati to Ontario in the near future. This is a trip we have done many times in many different ways.
We have:
1) Flown from Whati > Yellowknife > Edmonton/Calgary > Toronto
2) Driven from Whati > Yellowknife & then flown from Yellowknife > Edmonton/Calgary > Toronto
3) And we have driven from Whati > Parry Sound.
Over the past 9 years we have gone to Ontario each summer and for the first few years we went back at Christmas, there have also been some weddings, birthdays, and funerals in there that we travelled for. For a few years we travelled with the kids in our van and stopped in hotels each night. We would book it across the country and not stop for sight seeing. I would prep as much food as I could for the first few days and our kids were amazing in the car. Oddly, I think it helped that they weren’t used to the car - we rarely drive them in Whati, we walk everywhere - all they knew were long car rides, so they didn’t protest it too much. Oh I forgot, we have also always brought our two large dogs with us.
It helped a lot that Josh and I work well together and focus on approaching things as a team. We each had our own roles and responsibilities and we respected them. It meant we knew we were working together and not against each other.
Last year, we made a major upgrade and bought a Skoolie - a school bus renovated into an RV.
It is quite the sight, but it does the job and I actually love it. We drive a little slower in it, but we don’t have to stay in a hotel every night and the kids have more stability. Currently, Josh is the only one who can drive the bus, affectionately called the Wild Goose by the previous owners, but he is determined to teach me this summer.
Prepping for our trip takes a lot of planning. I not only have to think of what we need in the bus for the trip, but I need to figure out what we need at our house in Whati for when we return. Yellowknife does not have a lot of stores, and shipping to Whati for certain things is expensive, so we stock up for the following year on our drive back to Whati while in Edmonton. This means I need to take inventory of our pantry to see what I need from Costco and I keep a running list on my phone of things I want to purchase ‘in the city’ for the house in Whati. This can range from gifts I know I can’t get shipped, kids items I can’t get shipped, IKEA products, and heavy products that are expensive to ship to Whati. I have also learned recently that I need to have our kitchen inventory dialed in and an inventory of the kids clothes/gear, because otherwise I will second guess what I have in Whati and possibly buy too much or miss out on a good sale because I think I already have it in Whati (I cannot trust my memory in the heat of the moment in a store). I also try to prepare as many meals as I can for the first few days to simplify things on the road.
Josh takes care of the bus and makes sure it is running smoothly for us and everything inside is working well. There are solar panels to be cared for, a propane tank, the engine, car seats, fridge, stove top, water tank, the list goes on and I am sure I am not aware of half the things he does for us along the drive to take care of us and the bus.
This year our trip is later than we usually go and we are excited to experience the drive with the fall foliage. Our kids get to experience the outdoors every day, but they do not get to visit museums, aquariums, libraries, and other attractions very often, so that will be our focus on the drive home. But also, about half way across the country we get pretty antsy to get to family so we move a little quicker and make less stops.
The kids are very excited to see their grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins - and so are we.
Rebecca