Do you remember Flubber?

It feels like our life is like Flubber- from that crazy 90's remake where the green stuff bounces around and the more it bounces the faster it goes and there's no control really....We were in Writing on Stone ready to head across the border- plans to go to Utah and New Mexico and Texas and Arizona for six months- now that we have our feet under us- we can do this.   But Greg checks the radiator fluid and the level is down, it seems to have boiled off and spewed out the cap.  The code reader is reading lots of stuff.   We feel sick.  Two garages in Milk River refuse to even look at it. The Ford dealership there sold Greg a new cap for the radiator.  Wow.    So we come back to Okotoks Ford where our trusty friend Lyn gets it looked at.   The clutch for the fan for the coolant system is gone.  $1300 repair.  Okay.  So apparently a 2004 F250 4x4 diesel truck with only 240,000 km (when we started) is done- over- that's it.  It now has 255,000 km after spending almost $18,000 and it's not trustworthy.  In hind sight (which I hate) we should have bought a new truck before we started.  But we aren't made of money.  So frustrating!  So now are leaving Southern Alberta where it's getting cold and the campgrounds are all closing.  Not going south.  Throwing in the towel and heading to the Kootenay's to look for a cabin or house to rent for the winter.  Try to regroup- make this part of the adventure- make it fun for the kids....damn.

Hopefully the truck will get us moved somewhere....stay tuned to the future adventure of the Flubbers.

Writing-On-Stone

Petroglyph reproduced in iron at the visitor centre.

We love rocks and rock art.   On our way south to the border we decided to visit Writing on Stone Provincial Park for a few days.   It's a very cool place.  Hoodoos, valley, river and rock art.  The Blackfoot people used to visit here and record events or happenings and visit the spirits. 
The kids and I went on a tour of the archeological preserve and were able to see hundreds of rock art figures.  Mostly carved into the rocks prior to 1897.

 Great stories, and landscape and climbing and hiking and....wait for it....truck trouble.

August/September

We spent most of August and September tootling around Southern Alberta.  Visiting friends and taking down a garage and a shed.  Going fishing. 

This pike was yummy.

Jessie caught her first fish.

 

Dropping Leland off for a week of chaos at his buddy's ranch.  Taking Anna's friend fishing.  Seeing family.  Helping friends paint a house.  Taking time to help who needs help. 

Alberta again.

 

The only way we could pry ourselves off of Haida Gwaii is a promise to ourselves to come back someday.  Who knows when, but it is a very special place.  We are headed to Alberta to get the kids together with some friends before their summer vacation is over and regular school starts again.   Everywhere we stop- what about here we ask each other?  Could you live here?  What would we do?  There is some real anxiety over making the wrong decision- until we circle around to there is no wrong decision, if we don't like what we decide, then we'll change it again.  We really don't know what we're doing next, so we're doing what we're doing now- a week at a time-  that's cool.   So if for some reason you really need to know what we're doing next- just make something up- or let us know.

Being.

Camping next to the ocean- living.   Checking out creatures- living.  Running on the beach, fishing, dragging the boat through the tidal mud, swimming. Checking out boats.  Quiet, ocean air.  Saw the Milky Way and bats. 
Just being.

Tree Fort

Next stop on Moresby Island was a fresh water lake- Mosquito Lake.  The kids made a great tree fort, went swimming, made a swing- played and played. 

The quiet and the air is so rejuvenating-  can feel myself healing. 

Moresby Island

 

 

Big white was fixed for a lot of money ($10,000) pretty much our whole contingency fund.  We are still reeling, but have wheels again and headed south across to Moresby Island. 
We drove down some logging roads to a place called Gray Bay.  Beautiful beach, grey sand and the highlight.  Hermit Crabs!

Hours and hours and hours of entertainment. 

And apparently a soul sucking sea anemone.  (Anna's words)

 

 

Pure Happiness