Between There and Here

It was a weird feeling driving away from our old house for the last time. The new owners were walking up the road hand in hand to the house and we were off up island towing a trailer load of last minute things, some house plants and the dog.  There was many feelings swirling about but the overwhelming one was that of a chapter in our lives was closing and a new one starting. 

We didn't get too far north, reached the little town of Chemainus and dropped Calli off at her usual kennel for a play session and overnight stay. 

Then not too far away, we stayed here for the night  Best Western Chemainus.   The idea was to stay reasonably local and then we could tie up loose ends in the area and at the old house.   I guess I had mentioned bringing our dog Calli along for our stay and the hotel had this little guest package ready for her. It was quite sweet!   Notice the dog bed has a nice goose eye twill. 

We had stayed here while we were house hunting back in 2007 and it somehow seemed appropriate to finish things in the Cowichan Valley here as well.

We had a nice drive up island of two- three hours to our new community of Campbell River.  It was getting late in the day but we drive round to the new house and had a walk around of the empty home, trying to envision where we'd place furniture the next day.    We went and had dinner at a restaurant in town and drove a bit north out of town to Painters Lodge.  Its a resort famous for its fishing charters and outfitter guides to the more wild northern part of Vancouver Island. It has been welcoming guests since 1929.  It also has a water taxi boat over to  Quadra Island and its sister business April Point Resort and Spa.    After all the stress of moving, the spa part sounded  really nice right about then!

It was after dark when we arrived and we snapped this cell phone picture of the main lodge, fireplace must be blazing inside and you could hear the sound of live music coming from the  great room.  We checked in and went to our cabin by the water.  We were all so tired!  Calli put herself to bed right away and we thought that was a good idea too. The next day was to start early and would be a long one!

So just at first light, I saw Calli checking out the view. Seems we were at the waters edge and had a  good view of the docks and boats.  You could see people making their way down to the dock to take a boat out on a fishing charter.  I checked their guide book in the room and read that this was a good time to catch Chum salmon.    Bruce took Calli for a walk and snapped this picture. Sorry its a bit dark but it was 6:30- 7 am !    We also found out that both resorts, Painter's Lodge and April Point, are up for sale.  No telling what direction they would be going once they are sold.  I can say that we stayed here but truthfully, we didn't see very much! 

We got some breakfast in town and headed over to the new house, just in time to see two familiar five ton trucks roll into the driveway and our very long day began.

***

Changing the subject entirely .... today, October 25th, is our 31st wedding anniversary.  Not too shabby for second time arounders huh?  No cards, no flowers this year.... but we may go out for supper tonight.  We gave each other a new house !

1985

1987

1995

1997

1998 or 1999

2013

A Small Token of Appreciation

This is Karen, our realtor who helped us find a new home. She was amazing!  When we were all caught up in the emotions of the whole affair, she kept a calm steady hand on things. 

When we got flustered by things, she patiently waited for us to regroup and get back in the game. 

Negotiations?   She knew how to navigate through those!    Early mornings and late nights, through many house viewings with us, in several communities.  More than a few miles. 

 We wanted to thank her for what she did so well,  so I gave her what I do well... a silk and tencel scarf and she loved it! I think it really suits her colouring.

So, a few pictures of our new home to-be. Bear in mind these furnishings belong to the present owner!  Ours are not so grand as these.  These pictures were  on the MLS listing:

This room above will be my weaving studio

Our goals were to eliminate as many stairs as possible and this is a rancher, so no stairs at all now. To reduce square footage and we did. We now have no guest room and we are trading bedrooms so I can have a weaving space. It looks larger because of the vaulted ceilings.  Lastly, to reduce the property size and we went from 2.12 acres to 1/3 of an acre and easy maintenance.   So the third house we made an offer on, was the charm!