T -2

We are rapidly nearing our launch date. We plan on leaving this place down the road from Dogpound sometime late Wednesday morning and traveling down to the border crossing. We will overnight there and cross first thing in the morning. Thursday is when our extra health coverage for the United States kicks in so don’t want to jump the gun, so to speak. We will cross first thing in the morning and then it is off to Texas, well with a few stops along the way. We are planning on circling by Big Timber to see if we can’t lure Mike and Janna out for a visit and then overnighting Thursday night in Billings, Montana at either the Cabela’s or the Wal-Mart. We need to restock our larder and Cabela’s sells the best cinnamon apple jelly and of course Wal-Mart has just about everything else Brenda could need.

Today has been a hubbub of activity here, I jumped in the truck and headed to town for a last visit with my Mom before we return in the spring, and then went and had lunch with Dad and said my goodbyes to him till spring rolls around. After that it was back to Airdrie and the Superstore to pick up a few of those things that you just can’t get once you cross the Medicine Line. Most of our American friends are used to us begging them to bring things north that we can’t get here, but some things, like for instance the flour, just aren’t the same. Brenda also likes to make a lot of soup and she prefers the Superstore brand of stock so we picked up a case of that to bring along also. And then there was the tart shells for those oh so good and very very fattening butter tarts that she likes to feed me.

I also had to run by the Post Office and change my Dad’s mail from the rural route out here to his apartment in Calgary. Then it was back to the farm and pack a few things in the Motorhome before settling down to do the blog and catch up with all our friends goings on. Oh one other thing was letting our cell phone provider here in Canada know that once Friday rolls around we aren’t going to be supporting them for a few months. They used to have a plan whereby you could actually just put your phone on vacation and for a nominal sum they would hold your number and you could pick up where you let off in the spring. Well in there new business plan they have decided that since the phones work in the United States most of us dumb customers would rather just carry our Canadian cells south of the border and not have to change our numbers at all. Not a bad premise, just one little flaw, when you roam into the USA you don’t carry any of your minutes from Canada and they charge you a paltry $1.45/minute for the privilege of keeping the same number year round. Well I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer but I didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday, thank you very much, but I think I will just go with my little $12 Track phone and let those folks who need to call me try to remember that other number all at the huge cost of 8 cents a minute. Sometimes I wonder how the folks who think up these schemes actually remember to breath in and out all by themselves. And they are probably being paid millions to make these wise decisions.

And while I was running around town and doing some shopping Brenda was getting things back on the ranch ready for our departure. Putting away the patio furniture and getting the things shipshape so it will all be in the right spot when we get back in the spring. It actually looks like by the time Wednesday rolls around we will have everything on the list checked off and be ready to ramble on down the highway. 2 sleeps to go and we’re off.