Cocaine Bear

We are at the end of another road trip, probably our last one of the year, and I have gained a few more insights that I thought I could share.  Before I do, I should take a minute to describe what our life was looking like as we were about to embark on the 20 hours to Minnesota – a trek we are very used to taking.

Sometimes when I’m REALLY tired, I look at my lifestyle, like, am I eating well, drinking enough, getting plenty of sleep, how’s the exercise coming along? But never do I take in my actual life and guess what guys – It turns out, our life is straight up bananas!!!  Here is a timeline of our year so far;

Week Before Christmas 2022 – Nick finds the MOTORHOME deal of the year in Medicine Hat; Have you ever bought a Motorhome in the dead of winter? The average temp was -40C that week!!!!  Our new Rig is a 2005 Gulf Stream Endura and Chewy is her name – why you ask?  Who knows;). Maybe because is chews through fuel???? Or maybe she resembles Chewbacca -that’s probably more like it;) Nick manhandled the beast home on icy roads and may have arrived with some frostbite.  Apparently, motorhomes don’t really enjoy the winter – Just like Nick!!!!

Christmas Day 2022 – Santa came, we had a magical Christmas morning and by the early evening, Christmas was back in the box and our bags were packed for our 5 Months in Houston!

Boxing Day – Road Trip Time!!  Kids, get in the car – only 40 hours ‘til we get to our other home.

January 2023 – Kids start school, and we start to settle into our Texas life.

April 2023 – We decide to sell our Edmonton House – Listed and Sold within a few days!!  Thanks Luc!

May 2023 – Kids finish school, and we now must pack up our Condo, like really pack!!  Nick’s business partner and his family are moving down, and they don’t want our 5 months’ worth of junk that we’d collected;)

Mid-June – Head home, pack up the Edmonton house and become homeless…..or are we??  Chewy to the rescue!!  Nick spoiled up with a classy RV park and we got to finally see the motorhome in all her glory;).

Mid July – Versys also needed a new location, so we shopped around, found a spot, packed up the old shop and then unpacked the new shop!!!

Meanwhile, we were keeping our eyes on the real estate market…. living in a motorhome for a month is a great motivator;). We found a place; it has pink carpet and mint green walls but it’s in a lovely location and checks off almost all our boxes!

We move into the basement for a few weeks.  Yes, we are sleeping on air mattresses BUT we have a real shower with real water pressure AND I can leave the water on the entire time I’m in the shower, talk about luxury!!!!

Contractors are lined up to come so we escape to our cabin for a week of holidays!! 

We drive home from the Cabin, only to load the motorhome back up with all the stuff we unpacked in the basement and take off to Minnesota in the SAME day!!

Phew, now you’re all caught up!! 

As we are loading up the motorhome, I realize that I might not be at my best – UNDERSTATEMENT of the Year!!!  At first, I thought an angry grizzly bear might be the closest resemblance of my mood but have Y’all watched Cocaine Bear???  Now I’ve never tried Cocaine, but that Bear is exactly who I was for a few days!!! 

I just couldn’t snap out of it!!  I’m not always rainbows and sunshine, I know, I know…. Impossible, right;) Typically, if I do get into a mood, I can usually bounce out of it quickly so why not this time?

I was feeling super unorganized and unprepared which is a feeling I don’t like – I know who I am, I’ve spent enough time in therapy.  I do like order and feeling like I have a bit of control in my life and when I start to spiral, it’s never good.  Through years of working on myself and also being married to Nick, I have become a lot better at going with the flow and figuring things out as we go along but exhaustion had hit and packing up that trailer made me realize that I am SOOOO done with packing and just want some stability.

Nick legit is 100% totally fine without roots!!  The stability he craves, and needs is with us, his family!    So, as long as we’re together, that’s all he needs.  He’s more like a Golden Retriever than the Cocaine Bear – if he has food, belly rubs and the ability to run – he’s all good!!! 

This is the first time we’ve all driven in Chewy!!  I mean, we lived in her for a month but driving, moving, and finding a rhythm is a totally different story. When we travelled to Australia last year, we fell in love with motorhome life, and we are happy to report that that feeling has followed us to North America!! 

First off, I think Lloyd loves it the most! – he’s our 13-year-old Golden Retriever!  He rides the entire time between Nick and I but I can’t seem to shake the feeling that he thinks I’m in his seat!!  Gunner, our 10-year-old Golden Pyrenees loves sprawling out on our bed which always makes me super jealous!

Bathroom breaks, food breaks and general comfort are at an all-time high in a motorhome compared to our truck and trailer life.  Don’t get me wrong, motor homing is not perfect, we’ve all been caught in our underwear forgetting that the windshield offers little privacy;).   

The Motorhome has a built-in generator which makes leaving the dogs inside remarkably easy!  We also love to stumble into the odd Wal Mart parking lot at late hours and the generator makes it all okay.  Nick was chatting with the kids and asked them if they would take their kids road tripping and Jake said, don’t worry dad….we’ll take them to all the Wal Marts, eek;);)

My daily driver for a lot of years was a pick-up truck and then a Yukon XL so I’m no stranger to bigger vehicles but driving a motor home is intimidating!!  Nick drove all the way to Minnesota, not shocking, I don’t mind being a passenger on these long hauls, but the time came when it was my turn.  Nick had a meeting he had to call into, and it didn’t make sense for us to lose the time on the road, so I jumped in the driver’s seat.  I was shocked at how agile this beast is!!  I’m pretty sure I didn’t relax, even a little, until I hit about 30 miles.  Right out of the gate, I had to navigate a traffic circle!!!  Yes, a freaking traffic circle…ugh!!  I may or may not have gone in a little hot, but I kept it on 4 wheels, and we kept going!!!

As a family, we have spent mega time in Duluth, Minnesota.  It’s a beautiful city and our clients there have become friends.  The alternative to this trip would be for Nick to fly there by himself and be gone from home for a week.  Not a big deal really and I’m sure at the beginning of the trip he was wishing he had, but as always, we look at all possibilities for adventure. 

At the start of this trip, I wanted to be anywhere else, but as the miles tick by and the cocaine bear fog lifts and has all been forgotten, I am grateful. Grateful that I get to hear my kids giggle in the back, grateful that I like my husband more than enough to drive the hours with him and grateful that our life offers such flexibility to allow for all the adventures.

So, I guess my advice would be to take the chance and fight the bear and choose to just be okay in the moment!!  You might just surprise yourself and have a good time, like eventually!