Monday, March 26, 2012

Dang ... We both have colds !!

The last few days have been totally overwhelming.

We got home on Thursday, cold, tired, and worn out.

Fortunately, our awesome friend that was keeping an eye on our condo and mail, surprised us by cleaning our condo before we got home. 

Many many thanks for that, and no, we are not going to give out her name, because we want her all to ourselves.

We have stacks and stacks of mail, some requiring immediate attention.

I hauled all our clothes and food out of the motorhome, and now the condo is a disaster. 

The motorhome needed to be winterized immediately, because it went to -6C, then off to the storage place for now.

Feeling sick and miserable, I still had to venture out and get a few groceries.

Oh, and did I mention, it snowed here the day after we got home.

Okay, so now everyone is asking, Why the heck did we come home so early ??

Well, the main reason was our son and his family were going to be leaving for a Florida holiday the first part of April, and we were anxious to see them before they left.

We were going to take a week or so to get home, well, at least that was the plan.

What we didn't plan for, was the cold weather after we left Las Vegas, and the lack of open campgrounds.


Remember, this was our very first time heading south for the winter.

Our first night on the road found us at a Love's truck stop in Wells, Nevada. 

It went below freezing that night, and we did not have a great sleep at all.


I walked over to a McDonalds in the morning, and grabbed the largest coffees they had, started up the rig and headed out.

I think it was about 6 or 7 in the morning.  Unheard of for TnT !!

And we just kept driving.  It did not make sense to stop early, and just sit there and freeze in a snowy parking lot, so on we went.

About 11 hours later, we pulled into a Walmart in Great Falls, MT.

By this time, Teresa has a sore throat and is coughing her pretty little head off.  Gulp ... I knew I was doomed to catch it too.

We did manage to sleep a little better that night, probably because we were so totally wiped.

The next morning, I grabbed another couple of hot coffees and we were on the road before it was even light out, with the rig's heater on full blast.


As we approached the border we started getting a little anxious, wondering how our first crossing would unfold.

Teresa can write a book on being organized, so I was not surprised when she pulled out an envelope with receipts for all our purchases we would need to claim for the past 5 1/2 months.

Of course we went over the allowable $750.00 dollars worth of goods each, so we did not know how that was going to work out either.

Our border agent asked about alcohol ( one bottle of wine ) tobacco, (none), and the value of purchased items we were claiming ( $1800.00 ).

We then followed him inside, and were delighted when he said we only owe about $30.00 for our excess spending.  Yeah !!

Once back in Canada, we broke out in the Canadian Anthem, yes honestly, and made a beeline for our favourite store of all.


About three hours later we were pulling up to our condo, with our family waiting there for us !!

Our granddaughter ( two years old ), had changed so much !!

After everyone left, we ran a bath of hot soapy water, to soothe our sore and aching bodies.  Plus, we were unable to shower for the last three days .... phew !!

And that brings us up to date.  I am still dealing with the mail, Teresa is still doing laundry, and we are both still sick.

I am going to do a summary blog in the next couple of days.

We want to record our feelings about being away from family that long, how much money we spent, and what we remember the most of our journey.

But for now, it is back to the couch for some much needed rest.

13 comments:

  1. Hope you both are feeling better soon. Am looking forward to hearing about your perspective on your first year of snowbirding.

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  2. welcome home!..glad you landed safely..now you just need to get healthy again!..take care of each other!

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  3. Take care and get better soon.
    Too bad you had to get home so soon, A few campgrounds along the way would have made the transition easier I think.
    We don't have a house or condo to go to just our coach so another couple weeks is better for us. It will be cold but our coach can handle it.
    Enjoy your time there.

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  4. Well done!! For a first year you were awesome!!!!

    As to the huge amount claimed re customs....if you bought it and wore it or used..no need to declare!!!

    I think the cold is more a result of stress dealing with the last pew days. Hang in and relax!!!

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  5. Had to laugh about your first stop at Timmy's. We took 5 large cans of coffee with us in October and now we know we have to have at least 7 big cans next winter. Can't do without our caffeine fix!

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  6. Great post T! Nice to hear how the last few days went! Yup - just like us - the last few days are just go go go - way to early to enjoy the sights along the way!

    Hope you are feeling better soon and yes I bet the colds come from the change in temps and the long drives!

    Looking forward to hearing about your first birding experience.

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  7. Best photo of the blog was the last one of Tim's... havn't been to one in a lifetime it seems now... Sounds like a yucky ride home in a lot of snow and cold weather... I think I will wait a bit, we plan on crosing the end of April!

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  8. I can go with the first stop being at Tim Horton's. It's usually the first place we head after leaving the airport.
    Once upon a time, when we lived in Puerto Rico and would come in to Buffalo, our driver would be sure and stop in at the first Tim Horton's over the border. Just one of those things. But when we're in Canada for a longer period, we don't even go there on a regular basis, but it seems like we both need an infusion upon first arrival.
    Kinda sucks about having the colds, but it'll run it's course.
    Keep warm!

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  9. Glad you made it home safe, now to wip those colds. Can't wait to read your summary, Jan and I are having a blast in Kerrville area, working our way home slowly should be there by Easter. Hopefully we can get together next winter as I assume you know we are going to be in Phoenix area for a few months. Jan and I are working on putting together a summary of our winter and will e-mail it to you guys when done. See ya down the road.
    Bob and Janet

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  10. MY WORD You both did a world wind exit from the USA. Sorry it ended by you both being sick.
    I'm just wondering why you didn't just meet up with your son in Florida? Is it the lenght of a visitor visa?
    I sure understand the unpacking mess. Get well and looking forward to your future post on feelings.

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  11. Coming home is often a bit of a downer once the excitement is over. jm

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  12. You guys hunker down, get well and enjoy that snow! We still have a little here too.
    Maybe when you head out next year, you will end up coming back a little later so you don't have to drive in the snow and cold!
    I didn't winterize this year, can't wait to see what happens to Tara on that one! yikes.

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  13. Hi, y'all. We just gave you a shout out in our blog, http://mills-travels.blogspot.com. Hope to get to meet you sometime. Ed and Marilyn send their regards.

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