Summer's End

I'm not sure where the summer went but we are nearly at the end of August. The kids go back to school in a week or so, depending on where they live. I don't have any little ones in school, of course, but it has always felt a little sad when the school supplies are out in stores - summer's nearly over. 

I've relocated down the street, which has turned out to be a much better driveway to camp in for the most part. It is certainly easier to park in. I'm parked in the small lot by my friend's tiny apartment building (4 units). They have two kitties to cuddle and a television :-). There is also no daycare...lol. I can stay as long as I like and I enjoy hanging out with my friends as I've known them both for years. 

Karma was repainted and redesigned and I think she looks great! 

Karmma took us camping this past weekend. We went up island to the west coast and camped at Kennnedy Lake, the largest lake on Vancouver Island I'm told. Tofino and Uclulet are close by so we checked out Tofino the day we left. Due to campground policy that campers must provide a credit card    and refuse to take cash as payment for camping, I told them I'll just take my business elsewhere. Stupid policy. Since when did it become to expensive and exclusionary to camp in Canada? What has happened to our country? Greed. So to hell with them, we went to "Redneck Beach" instead which is at the end of a logging road that took us to Kennedy Lake. The free beach is hard pack sand so people can drive and camp down on the beach next to the lake as you can see above. While the facilities were pretty much nil as it is an unofficial campground, it was clean and plenty of nice camping sites with firepits. There were some folks that were clearly living on the beach in their camper/tent/truck/car. .We met one old gent who was collecting recyclable deposit items and tidied up the garbage. He can't remember how long he has been living there...Nice enough fellow.. We also met a young couple down the beach who were swimming in the lake with their pet duck. Yess, pet duck. They were a young hippy couple. They stood on a large rock in the lake, her with a parasol and swimsuit, and him stark naked with it all hanging out, throwing his duck into the water to teach him how to fly...there were also many surfers there as well who likely camp all summer while they surf the beaches from Tofino to Uclulet. 

We did have a few challenges on the return trip back home on Sunday. When we were leaving the Tofino area to climb the mountain pass, fully loaded with four people and all our gear. We had been following a car and an RV, with the RV taking it real slow, and refusing to pull out as is the law when you have 5 or more vehicles slowed down behind you. I should have known better and just pulled off myself so I didn't end up behind him on the mountain. There were 7 of us behind him. The first bit of steep incline, he dropped his speed to 10kms an hour and crept up. Of course, I'm driving a manual transmission and there was no way I could climb up the hill with our load at 10kms an hour. So of course I lost power and momentum and then Karma stalled in the confusion. Karma has been shitting herself this summer, each time I stall out or turn the van off and try to start her back up again right away. She needs at least 10-15 minutes to rest for some reason. We have a theory - when I turn her off, the gasoline is still vapor and needs to transform back into liquid before I can start that chemical reaction again as she starts without fail once she is ready. The battery is fine, no probs there. So there I was, stalled on the mountain pass right at the worst windy bendy steep part and no shoulder AT ALL! I knew when I was able to start her again, I would not be able to even begin to climb up from that angle with all four of us in the van, nor would she do it empty I don't think, so we decided to back her down to a tiny portion of the highway that had a bit of a shoulder so I could turn around and drive down the mountain again and take another run at her. It was scary as hell as my friends were trying to warn traffic of the stall out before slamming into us around the corner. Most were very sympathetic and offered to help but all I needed at that moment was time for Karma to start again and then the skill/calm to back her downhill on a crooked road...not my strength at all! However, with teamwork and time, we successfully backed Karma down the hill, loaded everyone in and made another run at the mountain without issue. THANK GAWD. The challenges were not over though as we also stalled on the Malahat mountain pass in heavy traffic, but we were on a level, just needed to wait a 15 min for her to start again and then we were off, crawling through forever. All in all it was a fabulous weekend, great weather, bneautiful scenery.

The latest on what is next - well I am still in limbo of sorts, waiting for word on my pension withdrawal. They keep coming back for more paperwork again and again, delaying the decision. I'm hoping that is a good thing, but the waiting is killing me. I can't really plan for much until I know if they will release the funds or not. My intention is to buy an RV out of the money and live in it full-time, work part time if I can, and set up some kind of home based businesses. My PTSD is still quite bothersome so I am just not sure when or if I can work anytime soon. I have anxiety pretty near every day, and panic attacks nearly every day, nightmares that awaken me as I yelp or scream, and the thought of starting at a new office/agency terrifies me like never before. In the meantime, I have been living on the good graces of friends and family, and trying to ensure I always have enough food to eat. For some reason I am driven to spend what little I have on food and stockpile, so that is what I have done. I am hoping for a decision this week or next and if it is good news and they release my pension funds (LIRA) I will be buying and RV, moving in, setting up house and then heading to Alberta to see my daughter and catch up with friends and family in the Edmonton area while also setting up my home based businesses. I'm considering becoming a travel agent, as well as selling my wares (sewing, knitting, photos, art, etc). I plan to head back to Victoria at the end of September and settle in for the fall and winter in Victoria. I'm looking for work in Victoria and have applied for a couple of positions that interested me. If the news is bad - I will continue to live in Karma, which is fine, and find work asap. Of course, I am hoping I will get good news. Think Positive! 

The last bit of news is that I may be interviewed about living in my van by BBC for a documentary series. I responded to a post that was looking for people who lived in their vans as a tiny home. They are meant to call me this week for the interview. So that's cool. #vanlife.

I'm off to visit a friend for a bit and this afternoon I'm going crab fishing...apparently people can buy a personal fishing license to catch crab? I don't eat it but I want to go anyway. Sounds like fun!