Our Tally

What a summer!  We kept a tally as we went along.  Over 12,000 miles, 43 campsites, 16 US states or Canadian provinces, 21 campfires, 42 roasted marshmallows, 29 steaks, 32 separate playgrounds, 17 ocean beaches, swam in 17 lakes or rivers, 22 boat rides, 23 swimming pools and only 11.5 days of rain in 4.5 months.

We saw some amazing things as we have captured in this blog.  We did not always mention the fantastic animals we had the pleasure of witnessing.  They included a Turtle, Manatee, Sea Turtle, Coral Reef Fish, Barracuda, Alligator, Dolphins, Sharks, Manta Rays, Armadillo, Ducks, Jackrabbits, Rabbits, Prairie Dogs, Roadrunners, Butterflies, Carp, Striped Bass, Bison, Squirrel, Hummingbirds, Condors, Chipmunks, Ospreys, Dancing Birds, Pronghorn Deer, Lizards, Blue Jays, Racoon, Deer, Garter Snake, Sea Lions, Elk, Big Horn Sheep, Wasps (Georgia got her first sting), Sea Otters and Harbour Seals.  I love animals!

Now, it's time to go home...

Goodbye War Eagle

Our next mission was to sell the truck and trailer.

Tim cleaned the trailer inside and out while Karen called every truck and trailer dealership in Washington state. She was quite dejected at their offers.

We put them on Craig’s list and Auto Trader – over pricing the truck and  under pricing the trailer. When we put the trailer on Craig’s list we got a flood of emails and telephone calls. We decided we would take it to an RV park in Everett and show it to everyone who came. The night before and all the way on the ferry we had two buyers who wouldn’t leave us alone. We put it to each of them that they could make a one-time offer and we would take the best. We mentioned we had 20+ buyers in queue behind them.  Luckily our two bidders produced a 37.5% increase on our low-ball pricing.  We met the winner, Troy in  K-mart  parking lot and did the deal. It was sad to see Eagle getting towed away by another truck but we felt we had done a good deal. 

It's hard to see another man touching your girl

We spent the rest of the day driving from one dealership to another to look at the truck. The first offer was very low and each subsequent offer was a little higher. We finally got a binding offer from Blade Chevrolet in Mount Vernon that was acceptable. We went out for a beer and dinner and got a motel room nearby (Georgia stayed with Mimi in Saltspring). With just a few busy days left, we took that offer. They gave us our Georgia license plate and a cheque and it was all done. With a little tear we were back to being normal people.

Goodbye enormous truck. We'll miss you.

Saltspring part 3

After the Olympics Nigel and family headed back to Vancouver to go back to real life and Paul and Elizabeth (Tim’s parents) arrived after a marathon journey from Tanzania. 

Before their arrival, Tim took his Uncle Peter, cousins Alex, Jeremy and Ryan, Georgia and Karen on a little boat ride to Wallace Island, a marine park near Saltspring. 

Cousin Alex

Jetting along

Just before we pulled into the marina, the tank ran dry on the boat. Tim switched it over to the full tank but unfortunately flooded the engine. 

Tim waiting for the flooded engine to clear.

After waiting quite a while and trying to start it a number of times, we decided to start paddling. Uncle Peter paddled from his corner and the rest of us took turns trying to keep up with him. Another boat came out and towed us to the dock. The gang went for a walk while Tim stayed behind and fixed the boat.

The lost cabin at Wallace

Over the next few days Peter and family returned to Vancouver as well as Leanne and her crew leaving just us with the grandparents. 

G and Mimi

The boys retrieving Georgia's ball from the water

We went out for a nice meal and had Todd and Melody over for dinner with their two kids.

We also went to another après-Olympics BBQ over at Maracaibo and enjoyed hanging out with Tim’s old friends. Luckily one of their daughters looked after G for the night and gave T and K a chance to have a socialise with the adults [the younger set].

Hanging out with Dad

Karen with Val and Amy

SSI – Maracaibo Olympics

Tim’s parents house in Saltspring is right next door to a club called Maracaibo and they’ve been going there since Tim was a few weeks old. They have a marina with Lasers (a small sailboat), kayaks and canoes, tennis courts, a volleyball court, miles of trails, tons of space for the kids to play in and explore and most importantly a large, warm lagoon for swimming in. For the past 37 years Maracaibo has held their Olympics; a two-day event with lots of games for young and old and tons of socialising culminating in a huge salmon BBQ for 350+ people.

The Beckmanns have been represented for the majority of these years and this year was no exception. It starts off on Saturday morning with the fishing derby. Picture 50 kids in lifejackets and their parents and guardians on a dock swinging rods and sharp little hooks everywhere, Dads cutting up bait and little people squealing with delight as they fill their respective buckets with tiny perch and shiners! Georgia and Tim won the award this year for littlest fish. It was about 2cm long. Very exciting.

Littlest fish

The next event was the running races and Georgia competed with great enthusiasm in the three-and-unders.

Warming up with Jeremy and Nick

Run Georgia!

After lunch they have the parade. It always includes a float and fancy dress for all the kids and some of the adults. Georgia and Olivia wore sailor outfits.

Passing the olympic torch

This year's float

After the parade and opening ceremony they have lots of activities for the little ones and Georgia and Karen got involved in all the games and crafts on offer including face painting.

Tim and nephew Jeremy competed in the pickle ball tournament and lost in the first round to Tim’s nephews Nick and Kyle. I guess he must have let them win.

That evening we had some friends around for drinks and more socialising.

The next day the Beckmanns and Armstrongs competed in a number of other events and Tim’s uncle Peter arrived with his wife Hilary and his two sons Ryan(12) and Alex(27). We all went over to the core(where the swimming pool is) and joined 350 other people for a wonderful evening BBQ and entertainment. 

The BBQ

This year we were celebrating the retirement of our Maracaibo managers Charles and Sally and as a special treat they had hired Nearly Neil, an awesome Neil Diamond tribute act. 

Everybody, young and old loved it and danced the night away. 

Tim and Gary

Tim and Leanne

A perfect ending to a perfect Olympics. A special thanks to Olivia who danced with Georgia for hours.

with Nearly Neil

Saltspring Island Part One

We finally arrived in Salt Spring Island where Tim’s parents have a house on the water. We parked up the trailer and were greeted by Alex Beckmann, Tim’s sister in law and her boys Nick and Kyle. The boys were excited to see Georgia again and played with her for hours. 

Nick and Georgia goofing around

Endless swinging with Kyle

Nigel showed up the next day and he and Tim took their first of many trips to the cold beer and wine store (there seemed to be something wrong with the beer fridge- even though we filled it daily, beers seemed to be leaking out constantly). Nigel, Tim and the boys went straight out waterskiing. Nigel and Tim skied and the boys did some tubing.

Nigel and Alex had a special dinner planned with some friends from Seattle and so we ended up babysitting the four leftover kids.

The next day Tim took the float plane back to Vancouver for a couple of hours to do a voice over. 

Float plane in Vancouver

That afternoon Leanne arrived with her two girls. When Georgia saw Sarah across the field she ran to her waving and screaming. Every time Georgia sees people she loves now, she screams with joy. It makes the recipient feel pretty special. Olivia and Sarah are very good with Georgia. They looked after her and danced all the time. They even managed to tame her wild locks.

Sarah, G and Olivia

Going to the dock with Olivia

For the next week our three families found our routine of walking with the dogs to the point in the morning, trips to Ganges for ice cream, going for boat rides, swimming at the pond every afternoon, eating everything in sight and drinking way too much. 

Walking the dog with Uncle Nigel and Kyle

We took turns cooking each night and played and looked after each other’s children. We had a special celebration for Leanne one night as it was her birthday and everyone loved the cake that Olivia had made with a little help from the other cousins.

Hanging out on the deck

The whole crew chowing down

Hot tub

Catching crabs

This being our final destination(almost) we began the process of unpacking 4 months of travelling into the house and cleaning and detailing War Eagle in preparation for sale. 

Final destination

At the same time we began potty training Georgia with mixed success. Karen wasn’t feeling well over these few days and spent a lot of time in bed. Everybody took turns reading to G who was on her little potty for ages. Alex spent the most time at it as well as Sarah and Olivia. 

Sarah reading endlessly

After spending sometimes half an hour with her with no success, she would then proceed to get off the potty, pull up her little girl knickers, go to a quiet place and relieve herself in her pants. Very frustrating. Olivia made Georgia a potty chart. 

Alex went to town and bought tons of stickers for G to put on the chart and every day it improved a little bit. When G was successful, a little tune played on her potty and the whole house, (there was 12 of us at this point) would cheer and clap. It’s always good to have a fan club.

Nick and Georgia

Olivia and Georgia in the meadow