After a week of driving and a week at Shuswap, Chris and I are at our new home! While I still miss the friends and family in Toronto, it is very nice to be among my friends and family in BC. While the grind of looking for employment is already wearing on us (even though we've only been looking for a little over a week), we are hopeful and excited to build
the life of our dreams together! Read on for details on the drive, the week at Shuswap, and our first week living in BC!
The Drive
The drive from Rockwood, Ontario to Scotch Creek, BC took us 6 days. Having driven through 5 provinces, I get to cross of seeing Saskatchewan off my bucket list, and am that much closer to my dream of seeing all the provinces and territories of Canada (the territories and maritimes are all that I have left to see!). I am sure I can make that happen when I do a coast to coast road trip across Canada.
I will be honest, the days kind of bleed together for me. With a cat in the car, we had hotels booked in the cities in which we planned to stay for the night, and were fairly efficient in getting from point A to point B each day. That being said, we definitely made stops at various landmarks and made time to enjoy the scenery. The photos below are some of my favorite moments of the drive. :)
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| Departing Rockwood. |
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| Big Nickel. |
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| Big Loonie. |
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| Mrs. B's pizza in the hotel bed! |
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| A peek at the scenery in Northern Ontario. |
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| Winnie the Pooh! |
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| A spontaneous moment enjoying Lake Superior. |
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| Max the Moose. |
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| The BEST steak I have ever eaten. Roundtable, Winnipeg. |
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| Cyclones from Milky Way in Regina! |
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| A rare moment of Spike loving the traveling life. |
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| Helicopter statue somewhere between Regina and Calgary. |
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| The endless horizon in the prairies. |
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| Our lunch spot in Banff National Park . |
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| Spike's first photo in BC. |
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| Our first photo as a family in BC. |
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| BC scenery. |
The Vacation at Scotch Creek
Six days without having to get into a car! WHOOO!
I can't even begin to describe how wonderful it was to begin my return to living in BC by being on a vacation with my entire family. It was truly amazing to arrive at a beautiful lakeside condo, see my family, put our stuff in our room, and simply relax. And relax, we did! We spent time on my brother-in-law's boat, we swam in the lake, swam in the pool, soaked in the hot tub, lazed in the shade (it was very hot!), and played games. It was a week creating memories! See select highlights below! One highlight I wasn't able to capture is Dawn's surprise arrival!
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| Good morning sunrise! |
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| Boat time! |
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| The big boys on the tube. |
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| Playtime/relaxation time on the mat. |
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| Bocce ball. |
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| Post-dinner activities with an impending storm. |
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| Deer sighting! |
First Week as Residents of BC
In our first week, Chris and I were very productive in acquiring most of the necessary items for comfortable living. This is mostly due to the generosity of my family giving us items they had tucked away in storage. We had to wait a week before getting our mattress, so we spent some nights sleeping over at my parents' place and the rest of our nights sleeping on a pile of blankets on the floor in our apartment. We did this to help Spike get used to the new digs!
The majority of our furniture is from my family. We went to a few garage sales on the weekend and found our coffee table, and a few bookshelves that are functioning as our tv stand! On Saturday, after assembling our dresser, our bed frame, the bookshelves and having our mattress delivered, it really started to feel like home.
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| One of the bookshelves being used at our entrance. |
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| We're going to fix this up to be a coffee table! |
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| We have a bed! |
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| Spike's favourite spot! |
Now, our priority is finding employment! This task is testing us, both as individuals and as a couple. We are both pleasantly surprised that, despite having spent everyday for the past month together, we continue to enjoy being in each other's company! As much as I love spending time with my boyfriend, I am looking forward to getting out of the house and meeting new people.
Until next time,
Tif xo
