December 17, 2000

That time of year again when folks recount the things they've done, things they've seen, and meaningful experiences they've made. So this too is our year in review. It's been a busy year: we bought a secondvehicle, went south for the first time as a family, got a new job, also went west in the summer, and finally did some fall camping in Algonquin.

Exactly one year ago we spotted a sharp looking Westfalia sitting all by itself, for sale. Ok, it was eight years old, but original paint without a mark, and only 72,000km. The owner was not well so it did not seem that it was being sold as a result of some trouble with the van. Most of all, we could actually afford his asking price, unlike the previous several we had looked at. In the end he was happy that his van had received a new home, and we the unexpected beneficiaries.

With a sharp looking, nearly new vehicle you might imagine that we were just itching to take it south over the Christmas holidays last year. With my unused vacation and a couple of bonus days from my boss, we headed for the deep south of Texas. We left early one morning, 10AM, and we didn't stop until we were south of Dallas on Christmas eve. We ended up at Padre Island much of that week, with a trip along the Rio Grande to Big Bend National Park just in time for Y2K celebrations for the second week. Well, the New Year celebrations were a bust. We ended up going to sleep around 10:30 and awoke briefly at midnight to a few isolated hollers, and an occasional car horn. That was it.

We zipped through the hill country of Texas, where Gina attracted the attentions of the State Highway Patrol. Indeed the speed limit was a generous 70 miles per hour, yet she found a little umph in that 2.5L 5cyl motor that few others have found. She got pulled over doing about 135km/hr. The officer suggested that it was over the limit. Charmed by her genuine Ontario accent, she was let off with a warning, but not before the incident had left a profound impression on the kids, for whom it was shear adrenalin.

The trip back was through Louisianna, Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio. We came back in a snow storm having enjoyed two weeks of daily highs in the 20's Celcius.

One good trip deserves another, only before summer rolled around, I was enticed away from MKS where I had been working as a Professional Services Consultant for a little over three years. This on the heels of another prof serv consultant who made the trek a couple months earlier, to Sybase. At Sybase, I am working as an application developer, working on software that runs on tiny devices such as Palm Pilots and cell phones providing access to larger systems such as SAP R/3. I made that transition in May after they assured me that my summer vacation plans were not in jeopardy.

As summer was rapidly approaching, we received shipment of 150 NIV Bibles from the local Carpenter Shop. How was it possible that the Bible which I read, which had been instrumental in my conversion, came from a church which had no Bibles in the pews? I had been writing some software in my evenings and weekends earnings which went to settle the account with the Shop. My brother and I distributed the Bibles just in the nick of time.

So at the end of June we made our way in the Westfalia around the north shore of Lake Superior, along the Trans-Canada Highway, through Drumheller (can't avoid the dinasour museum), to Banff National Park. By the time we camped at Protection Mountain we were occupying the second site to be utilized that season. And wouldn't you know it, there was a bear warning in effect. On the fourth and final morning I had an encounter during my pre-breakfast stroll -- meandering like an oversized dog along the railway tracks at the bottom of the Bow River valley -- a brown one.

We made our way to Victoria gradually stopping overnight along the Fraser Valley. It was here that the kids decided to play the disappearing act at 10PM. In spite of the somewhat anxious efforts of the parents, it wasn't until about 11 that they finally turned themselves in. A wee bit late for my taste, a mind that I shared with them. Playing hide and seek with unwitting parents, in the dark, right next to a fast flowing river was not my idea of fun.

In Victoria we met up with Andrew & Joanne and their entourage. Andrew and I go back to our days at the UofWaterloo. We spent a couple of nights together with a day in and about the City before heading towards Pacific Rim. For sure you will not get a camp site without a reservation, we were told. The thought incensed me -- the thought that what is nominally a National Park would be so biased in favour of the locals.

Spontanaity is half the enjoyment when it comes to camping. When I am in the office my life is structured around schedules and time pressures and reservations -- not when I am on holidays. When we got to the campground at Pacific Rim, the staff were quite reasonable, recognizing the weaknesses of their policies would would presume, they did in the end book us in twice on single night passes. Long enough for us to visit the rain forest with its 800 year old trees, and for the kids to have a dip in the Pacific.

On the return to mainland, we stayed in the Burnaby RV Park -- essentially, a well-run parking lot, with tiny strips of grass and a cedar hedge between parking spots. For this we had the privilege of paying the equivalent of a small town hotel fee for the night. Well, the kids really liked the pool, and it was time for a shower. No the Westfalias do not come with a built-in shower.

Sunday morning found us at nearby Willingdon Church. This quite reminded us of the Peoples Church where we used to go in Toronto. After visiting the Harrises in the afternoon, we headed for the Cascades for the night. The return trip was along minor highways through the northern states. It was interesting, until we got to Wisconsin -- it was there that we began to understand that our part of Ontario don't have no mosquitos.

Pulling into one of the county run campgrounds, not only were the facilities heavily used, but rarely cleaned, the place added a new meaning to the word infestation. It was humid and warm and standing still for more than 20seconds then swatting b oth legs, resulted in a squish count of ten to twenty with some certainty. Of course, the drawback of travelling with three kids in a camper designed for only two kids, is that things get a little tight right around bed time. Dad pulled the short straw and got to experience the infestation while mom and the kids prepared for the night.

The entire going west experience was three weeks plus a day. Well worth the drive as they say, however, if you do it this way take at least four weeks as a rule of thumb. As for BC, it was a nice place to visit, but I really enjoyed the prairies and regret somewhat that we didn't spend more time there. Best of all, I liked Ontario, thank you.

Gina and I toured the Ontario Wine Route on our anniversary weekend, early September. We made it as far as Long Point, via Niagara. We had an almost relaxing time, but for the trailer park we stayed at in the area of Crystal Beach. The trailer park crowd do not really have that much in common with the frequenters of Provincial Parks. The following night we stayed at LP PP, which was quite thoroughly in our element.

Thanksgiving was spent up at our favourite haunt, Algonquin Park. Lake of Two Rivers was still open, so we spent the night there. My morning stroll was accompanied by flakes of white stuff falling from the sky, so I had the feeling that this was going to be our last camping experience for the season.

Gina was surprised one afternoon after having run some errands, when she came home to a broken back door, and a rather big mess in the bedroom. The bandits had made off with our complete collection of Leica cameras, the Mac laptop, any sort of jewelry Gina had and some cash. Ironically, the grinches missed the money which we had set aside for Christmas presents, which was lying on the floor in the envelope next to the upturned drawers. A few other items that were untouched causes us to think that something might have interrupted their burglary.

A week ago, the Waterloo Regional Police stopped in with a box filled with my cameras, Metz flash unit and the laptop whichI am using to type this letter. Apparently, the thieves had pawned the whole shbang for $269 within hours of the break-in. If you know anything about the cameras you can appreciate that was a real steal, pardon the pun. Add to that the fact that the laptop was in our possession just four weeks, you can appreciate the irony of this.

Last Saturday, I installed the back door which my father had repaired using hardwood this time, and an additional deadbolt. Of course, together with the alarm system that we decided we needed, after the fact, this all spells that I have been really busy, and on things that have perhaps less appeal in terms of enjoyment. That things should settle down back into a more familiar routine in the new year, has been our hope.