We finally got our cable connected!

We arrived in beautiful Victoria last Friday afternoon. The trip took us longer than expected because of the weather. On the first day, we were driving in white-out conditions through Utah. We could not see the road. Diane followed a tractor trailer, driving in its wheel marks and I followed on her back end. Behind me were three other vehicles all doing the same. It put us behind our time schedule so we ended up staying in Twin Falls instead of Boise.

By the next afternoon, we were in Washington. Diane called for road conditions of the mountain passes before we headed through Washington instead of going the coast route. All roads were reported clear, so we went for it. When we got half way up the mountain going toward Snoqualmie Pass, Amber alert style signs were lit that said the pass was closed until 5:30pm. It was 3:30 pm. The snow drifts were 5 feet high on the side of the roads and there was nowhere to turn around. Soon we were at a stand still perched on the mountainside. For 3 ½ hours we sat in our vehicles not moving. As darkness began to settle in the snow that was falling down got heavier. Luckily the cars were bumper to bumper so it did not pile up on the road. It seems a 60 car accident had occurred on the summit (see picture). At about 7:45 they managed to turn us around. We headed down the mountain looking for lodging. There was none to be had in the first 2 little towns we came across. Finally 60 miles later, we found a place that would take us and our 5 dogs. If we hadn’t ran into the blizzard the day before we very well could have been one of the 60 cars in the pile up. You have to be thankful for the little things.


The next day we drove down to Portland and then up the coast to Bellingham, Washington. We got into our motel at about 5:30 pm. This was the earliest we had made it to our sleep destination. It felt great. Diane went out and got us dinner. All we had eaten since the trip began was a Big Mac on Tuesday and a McGriddle on Wednesday. We had been on the road about 14 hours a day.

Friday morning we reached the border. Customs was so unbelievably easy. They loved my Excel lists. They did not want to see anything in the trucks. They even asked Diane to go out to the trucks and write down the manufacturer date of each vehicle. They did not care about the dogs, rabies certificates or alcohol. They called Diane my “other half” and “spouse”. They were pleasant, helpful and extremely impressed with how much we had in order as far as paperwork. It seems that they saw the effort that went into it and were completely satisfied. I don't know what it would have been like if we were not so well documented. We meet the moving van tomorrow at Customs downtown; let’s hope it goes as smoothly.

When we pulled into our driveway, our friends had decorated our house with all things Canadian. Flags, steamers, signs, etc. When we opened the garage door this is what greeted us.


Pretty cool welcome.

We have our Social Insurance Numbers, temporary insurance and we will be getting our drivers licenses and vehicle registrations as soon as our green cards come in then mail.

Beautiful British Columbia, it is.




This was taken this morning out our bedroom window. More to follow.