We had a good night in Coombs, celebrating the ending of the trip with a restaurant meal for supper. Pete likes the area we were parked up in; we had spent three nights there in total. The ferry was uneventful, and with us being at the front of the line loading and unloading was a breeze. We weren't in any rush to be anywhere so we stopped at Ikea for an early supper before getting on the freeway to home. We were going to stop for the night around Hope, but a serious accident closed the Trans Canada Highway. Rather wait for the road to reopen we U-turned and spent the night on the Herling Island pullout. With the highway closed there was no road noise but... those trains were a different story.
Come morning we talked routing over breakfast and decided to head up the Fraser Canyon, it has been a while since we had driven that road. Between fog patches and autumn leaves dropping we had a good drive. We stopped at the bakery in Ashcroft, somehow it wasn't as good as we had remembered, but we did set a standard expectation after the bakery in Souris Manitoba! After driving so many kilometers on unexplored roads it was a little strange driving on familiar roads. We stopped at Juniper Beach Park to give Pete a break then into Kamloops for Halloween.
We overnighted at friends, waking up to a rainy day. We headed to our place to unload the van and pickup some things but we really weren't too focused on what we were doing. Probably in denial that reality would be kicking in over the next few days. Nov 1 is when we were "officially" home, having been away for 99 days. Thought about sleeping in the van one more night, but the call of the bedroom where we will be house sitting was too attractive. Pete is a bit confused at the change, he was really happy with the close confines of the van and having his people all in one space.
Sunday before work starts will be a day of errands; Pete needs a bath (rolled in something), we need groceries, the house needs checking, we need things from the garage, the van needs winterizing, and we want to reconnect at church. We have been so thankful to have been able to do the time away, but reality is calling.
For now, we are staying in Barnhartvale house sitting, then to my daughter's for dog and house sitting, then back to Barnhartvale, then back to our house for Christmas. If we learned anything from this trip it has been that the exact location that you call home doesn't have to be your house; it can be the van or anywhere that your special people are.
It’s good to hear you have safely returned to the Kamloops area. I’m looking forward to seeing you three. Can’t believe Amanda won’t be doing Christmas decorations this month. 🤗😜