First day on the road!

Well we did it. We finally got to leave Chilliwack and make our way to the eastern part of Canada on our month-long camping trip. We got to Salmon Arm and decided to stop for the night. I was hoping to make it to Revelstoke but oh well.
As I set up the campsite with my soon-to-be-16 year old daughter (meanwhile struggling to keep my three year old son around the campsite where I could see him) I thought "Hey, I did it! I actually got out of my comfort zone and am doing this crazy thing, camp travelling across Canada. Yay me". Ha!
I think the most challenging thing so far has been the fact that the first campsite we stopped at was unfortunately close to the highway and I was awake for most of the night as transport trucks screamed by. The dog is also a challenge because he is SO ANNOYING with his incessant barking. The second challenge was getting all the camping equipment back in my tiny car when we had so carefully packed it for the first day. I actually didnt think we were going to do it but with some stuffing and yelling and gnashing of teeth, we did get the doors closed on the car after cramming it full.

Well...we are well into the second day and hoping to make it near Calgary for tonight. It's already 2pm so Im not sure if that is going to happen or not... We are only in Revelstoke so I think the best we can hope for is inside the Alberta border. WE really want to attend the Stampede even though we missed the parade.
Im in the process of trying to convince the 3 year old to eat instead of laying down in A&W to sleep. Hey, did you know the price of food at these places increases a LOT in small tourist towns in the mountains? I did NOT know that and am slightly annoyed.

Until tomorrow!

Kimmirut, Nunavut

Well, three interviews later and I have been offered (and have accepted) a teaching position in Kimmirut, Nunavut. Kimmirut (formerly Lake Harbour) is in southern Baffin Island. It is an Inuit village of 411 people and is half an hour from Iqualuit by plane. They have the shortest runway in Nunavut and are only serviced by Twin Otter planes. Will be an interesting experience.
One of the things that impressed me about Kimmirut, aside from the fact that they wanted to hire me so obviously have excellent taste in teachers (kidding!) is that the principal reserved a spot for me at the daycare so that I was certain to have childcare when I got there. I thought that was an 'above and beyond' moment and I really appreciated it. It also reminded me that in small places like that, people are nice to each other without any ulterior motives. I missed that, living here in the Lower Mainland of BC, where people would probably walk over you if they saw you dying in the street.
So I am Kimmirut-bound in August! I will finally be a resident of the north again and will, at long last, get to see Nunavut. Before that, of course, I will be having my summer-long camping trip. I was planning on going across all of Canada to Newfoundland but now I will probably only make it as far as Manitoba. My sister has moved up the date to her wedding because my father is so desperately ill and she wants him to be able to attend. At this point, it is doubtful that he will be able to live through the summer and has decided to discontinue chemotherapy treatment because that is making him feel so awful all the time.
I will be blogging about our trip and look forward to the adventures ahead!