July - Well before July came in, I left the east coast behind and headed for San Francisco to meet with my soul sister, A. We have been to more concerts together than anyone else I've ever gone with. This time we went to see the Grateful Dead on their 50th anniversary and very last tour. This was their last show in San Francisco. I met up with A. at the airport where she was waiting at my gate and we headed directly to our hotel with a guy who had absolutely no idea where he was going. He was lost and we had to show him how to get there, so he did't get as much as he wanted for the fare. I shorted him by $10 because he was an idiot and lied to us when he said he knew where it was. He didn't argue when I told him that. Bad news is that my luggage did not arrive when I did - wonderful. So off to Target we went for something for me to change into after travelling across the country. We also picked up some beers to bring back to the hotel before the show. My luggage showed up before we left so I was able to change into what I wanted to wear to the concert. And what a concert it was. Imagine 75,000 people at a stadium listening to the Grateful Dead...it was just awesome. The venue was great, the seats were just fine, and we had a blast. Then we spent a couple of days in San Francisco hanging out at the Haight and Golden Gate Park. The weather was awesome and we just loved ouer time there but we were both anxious to get back to Victoria to get on with summer plans. We flew back to Canada on Canada Day and I slept the first night in the Karma van but I hadn't picked up my camping foam for the top yet, so it was awful and hard. I went for the foam the very next day....
Victorian life - So after being ripped off by the stupid insurance company because I had not had insurance in Canada for the past 4 years, and they treated me as a new driver which is absolutely fucking unacceptable when I have 30+ years of driving experience and only ONE accident. I wass super pissed, so will be cancelling with them before too long. I have claims letters from Australia but I was told I had to pay $20 more dollars to have them added to my file and considered for the discount of 40%. Jerks. Hate the bastards - necessary evil. However once Karma was reinsured again, I took her for a few drives to get a bit of essential shopping done so I could set up house in her for the summer and beyond. I'm parked in the driveway out the back of my friend's house, and plugged in. It's under the shade of a tree, however first morning sun is super hot and then it is in the shade. I've settled into the van though and with the 4 inch foam like I had before, it is quite a comfy cosy bed. The photos below are of Karma as she evolves with her new paint job and I settle into life in her. The blue box is one my dad built many years ago and he used to store our slide projector and slides in it however they were lost in the fire as they were in a bookcase and I had left the box behind at my Aunt's house with some other things that were brought up later from Grand Bruit. I got it back this year and gave it a new paint job and now it is being used as my food box as I don't want my food in the cupboards as there seems to be a mouse problem at the house, so I just lock it all in the box. Two of the photos are of the van when it's packed up for travel. Note my dad's wooden and sinew snowshoes...I can't wait to try them out in the mountains if I can find any snow this winter. Karma is also getting a new paint job. She was peeling pretty bad and I felt a little ridiculous with how it looked now, so cleaned her up and got to work. Then I ran out of paint, so have to get her done when I get back to Victoria. I'm keeping it more simple and sleek this time, but will add some more color to the black front, and possibly a few designs on the rear and maybe on the sides -possibly a logo that I design, I'm undecided as of yet.
Karma went on her first camping trip this year to Englishman River Falls which is on the northern part of the island. It was quite beautiful and so nice to camp in the forest again. I missed my Canadian forest...the falls were also quite spectacular as well but the water was COLD! There was about 20 of us so a nice crew to chill with for a long weekend. The weather was just lovely and the bugs were not too bad although there were many wasps. One of my friends was bitten on the thigh and it swelled something fierce. It was good to get Karma on the highway again and I had forgotten (well not really) how much attention it garnered in transit due to my over the top paint job, in particular, her big red lips and heavily made up eyes. I'm not too sad to see that go though. It just looked gaudy at this point. Karma did well on the highway with no issues. She held her own on the Malahat mountain pass which was good. 
So life in Victoria is going well. I have decided after talking to my daughter that I really don't want to live in Edmonton. It's too damn cold! And too much SNOW! So she was perfectly fine with me not moving there and I am just going for a visit instead next month for about a month and then I'll return to Victoria for the rest of the year. I've decided to look for work in Victoria part-time, but not sure what I'll be doing. I know what I WON'T be doing - child protection. Someone stab me in the eye with a fork if I even come close...I am so happy about living in Victoria as I do not like Edmonton, but I do love my girl, so she may come for Christmas as she has never been to Vancouver Island. With me on the west coast and her in Edmonton, we are not far apart at all. A short flight to Vancouver for each of us, or I can pick her up at the Ferry Terminal at Swartz Bay (Sidney) as it is a quick bus or train ride from the Van airport to the Tsawwassen Terminal as it's just a few kms away.
The other big decision I made is to forgoe the bus conversion at this point. I feel too overwhelmed to even consider a conversion and my hands are just not up for the task at all. The carpal tunnel syndrome is pretty bad in both hands, so I have to limit what I use them for as they're pretty important! Spray painting the van was hard enough. So instead I am on the hunt for a Class C RV which I had actually been considering long before I bought Karma. They are big enough for a tiny home, have everything I need, and most of the work is already done. I want to upgrade/renovate to my own tastes, and then I will have my very own portable home. I hope never to pack up my life anytime soon. I am so tired of giving up my nice bedding, housewares, sofa, etc. Just when I get comfortable, I'm packing up again. I haven't quite worked out where I can park my camper as I don't want to stay at an RV park unless they offern great winter rates. I'm going to put an ad on Kijiji to see if anyone will rent me space in their driveway or on their property to park. I won't need to plug in anywhere as I plan to convert it all to solar and everything else will be propane. The older C class RV's are pretty cheap - I should be able to pick one up for about $3-5,000. I'm still working on the funding at this point as I have two pensions I'm trying to withdraw from, one here in Canada and one in Australia. Either or both would be awesome and more than enough to pimp my RV something fierce! Stay tuned for more on that front.
Now I'm visiting my sister in Houston (BC) and we have come to camp for the week. She is the First Aid/Nurse here for the week as she is a paramedic in real life and can bring me as a guest. I can use the facilities, the canoes/kayaks. beach, campfire, etc so it should be awesome. We have our own room in staff quarters and the building is quite nice. We are just a few kms from town so I can go back to town anytime I want, though my sis has to stay as first aid. All three nephews will be here this week too so I'll get to spend more time with them. The oldest is a volunteer staff, the middle is a camper this week, and the youngest is here in our room as a helper when needed. His week as camper was last week. The lake looks gorgeous, so I hope I get to swim this week! I return to Victoria on the 8th, and thankfully it takes just a few hours of flight time. It takes long to drive to and from the airport in Prince George.
So that's the current situation. My PTSD is still active, but I am managing for the most part. I found out very bluntly that I cannot miss even a single day of my anxiety medication as it throws me into a minefield of mood swings and strips all ability to cope with any stress. I'm still dealing with Oz and the work cover claim that my former employer stuffed up. They don't owe me any money as my employer paid me out instead of the insurance company thinking they would simply deal with it after I left but now I am drawn back into the mess and had a conference call last week that was very stressful for me. I just want to forget the whole bloody mess and move on but it doesn't seem likely just yet. Apparently the employer may come after me for the $11,000 if the insurance company doesn't pay up...I say good luck - I have NOTHING...I have about $350 to my name at the moment...
I hope to blog a bit more once I'm settled into an RV and sort out some mobile internet for it. Stay tuned....
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