Hi, it's me again!

If you're thinking 'boy, it's been a while since she wrote anything' you haven't been paying attention! There's lots of little stories on www.thoonsen.com/canada. But better than that: there are pictures!!! So check out my facebook page or the weblog, both have the same ones. Sorry for taking my time, but we've been busy!

So to summarize what we were up to: we've spent 2 weeks in Vancouver, sightseeing and buying our van. Then we made it over to Vancouver Island where we worked for 6 weeks, checking theisland out is our weekends. After making enough money to last us for a while, we've been on a roadtrip through northern British Columbia, the Yukon and Alaska. Currently we are making our way down to Banff, Alberta, because it's time for our next job. The plan is to work in town and ski the 3 hills in the area in our free time.

However......

Our poor van has been running great for 11.000 km's, but on the way down we got stuck in buttfuck middle of nowhere ('scuze my language, it's just an expression), paying quite a big sum of money, considering our budget, to get it fixed. The mechanic couldn't get new parts so used 2nd hand, did get us back on the road, although charging us for new parts (*grumble*). With sweaty palms we made it to Grande Prairie where a friend lives, hoping the van wouldn't die on us because it surely didn't feel/sound right! There we brought it to another mechanic who changed exactly the same parts for half of the price. So not happy about spending so much money, but glad it ran again, we made an attempt to drive the final leg and find a job. We didn't even make it out of the city...

The van is old and inspite of the new parts it has a few issues. That's the risk you take when buying a used vehicle. It's back at the mechanics now, getting a good tune up, so hopefully we will be on our way by monday afternoon. Yes, I had to swallow hard for a few times and I was only a breath away from getting rid of the thing alltogether, but we still want to do roadtrips and camp in spring and summer, so we decided to spend a few more bucks and take the gamble. Luckily our friend is letting us stay as long as we need, to get things sorted, so that's a huge blessing! Thank you Ivy and George! Hope you liked the 'hutspot'. :)

Other than that, the trip has been really great so far! Sjoerd and I are doing really good travellingtogether. Of course we'll do the occasional bitchin' and moanin', but I think that'sonly normal when you live in a van, are together 24/7, not being able to shower and do laundry as frequent as wanted and living in cold weather conditions. Now and then I think I'm fed up with travelling and would love to go home, but then I think about the great time we've had and all the beauty and adventure we still have ahead of us and realise I shouldn't complain. That other life will wait for me, it's time to make the most of this one now.

So if you don't mind, that's what I'm going to do now! So check out the pics if you like and let me know what you're up to in the mean time!

See you next summer!

xx