Well we had an exciting week internets, we installed our super duper spanking new Nature’s head composting toilet!

Now you may be going hmmmm how exactly is that exciting? Well in airstream dreaming land, it’s a spectacular movement forward (excuse the pun) in liberating ourselves from the almighty sewer attachment.  (not to be confused with the almighty $$ attachment!).

The lovely country setting we are currently living in, has all the necessities but that. Frankly most places that we’d want to set up camp in for awhile don’t have sewer hookup.

So now we are independent, and thus free to poop away without worrying what we’re going to do with it all.

I’m pleased to say that it all seems to be working well, easy to use, was easy to install. (well apart from the fact i have not idea how to hook up the ventilation… so open window the vent for now!).  My only complaint is it seems to be made for the regular sized people of the world, and us shorties are kind of “perched” up on this throne, with our little legs dangling in the air… well no matter, it’s a thing of beauty, and marvel.

The bonus of our new system, is it’s actually quite portable, and we had a brainstorm on the way down here, that we can bring it up with us to Gibsons for use in the boat! As the boat actually has some of the constraints poop wise as  an RV. In that all that waste matter needs to go somewhere, and well somewhere seems to be into the ocean…. not really something i personally  want to be responsible for.

I can just envision us now, crossing the border to Canada with our toilet in the back seat. Uh yes officer we actually do travel with out toilet… i swear there’s a good explanation Sir!

I wanted to send a big shout out to fellow full timing rv/composting toilet guru’s Good Luck Duck and On the Green Road… for without their helpful and thoughtful input we might still be composting toilet-less.

Well we’re back in santa cruz land, settling in quite nicely. It’s so great to be back in the airstream coocoon, love it so. She survived the winter in style, no mice poops to greet us on our return.

It seems that no matter how often we move around, we are creatures of habit, so the routines of living here totally kicking in. Hanging out with deb’s family on the weekends, going from beach to beach, our sunday ritual of coffee/scone at the farmers market, then off to restore our spirits at innerlight, then more beach… doesn’t ever get stale!

The land where we stay is looking lovely and green, all the trees i faithfully sprinkle with our grey water have taken off. Our composting toilet is suppose to arrive today, oh joy! I can’t tell you how weirdly excited i am to be off the poop grid (well so to speak). We’ll see if the reality is as good as reports. I’m sure you are all dying to know.

My big news this week is that i took the boaters certificate course, and passed. I’m now officially qualified to drive said wooden boat. Qualified, but able.. Not so much. It’s going to be an interesting journey that one!

When we were taking our fatal ride with the owner, we sat in awe as he came into harbor backed in between two docks, filled with boats, and parallel parked Doveskie like a pro. Not sure how long it’s going to take to aquire that skill, but it’s a crutial one in actually taking the boat out of the harbor so a must learn…. figure if i learned how to drive the airstream/back up /maneuver… i can learn this n’est pas?

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Well my internets, it’s been an interesting couple of days as we prepared to leave Gibsons and head down to our airstream coocoon.

As mentioned in the previous post we had a close encounter with a little wooden boat on friday.  After we saw it, i was convinced we had to buy it, had deb convinced, and well we were flying high.

But sleeping on it seemed to dampen the enthusiasm. All the reasons why we shouldn’t go there it seemed to take precedent to all the reasons why. Saturday we putted about with a visiting friend visiting from Santa Cruz, ran errands, showed her the sights… pie in the sky boat dream put to rest.

So, with the “no purchase wooden boat” conviction in place, i woke up on my birthday morning to some lovely wishes from deb deb and our visiting friend. I opened my computer to check my facebook bday wishes, only to discover the computer hadn’t been turned off the night before… and mysteriously there staring me in the face was a picture of her, the wooden vessel… was it a sign? Should we reconsider? NO NO i say to myself.

Well then my mother calls, and for some reason, though determined not to buy said wooden motor yacht… i start to describe her in detail. My mother doesn’t say much… mother’s never have to… but i got off the phone totally knowing what her vote would be… YES she say… NO I SAY

As it was to be one of the last days in gibsons, deb and i decided to take a short kayak ride as the day as calm. Our friend headed off for a walk in one direction, we off in our kayaks in another.

As we were kayaking i was fighting the urge to take one last look at said boat that we weren’t going to buy… and as we were heading left to the beckoning landscape of Keats Island … somehow we turned right and headed straight for the boat.

I wasn’t worried… I knew from our previous conversation the fellow who owned her, that he wasn’t supposed to be onboard this day… he had weekend plans. So we approached with full confidence that any further convincing wasn’t going to happen…. HA, not to be… he was surprisingly aboard, and hailed us maties over.

We had left him on the Friday with the impression we were totally interested… and rightly so. I was JUST about to open my mouth to say that very statement, and wish him well in the sail of said wooden vessel… when he said that since his day was cancelled, he’d be able to take us out for a cruise to check her out…. Hmmmm I say, what could it hurt?

We go out for our little tour, fall in love, and well next thing i know we’re shaking our new bud’s hand and saying “it’s a deal”.

There are a few things to take care of… deposit is in, two months till we close…  and, well learning how to operate and navigate said boat … but it looks like the airstreamdreaming adventures of kim and deb deb are about to get a little more interesting. The plan de jour is that we spend summers on Dovekie in Gibsons, and winters in Santa Cruz.

Apart from the initial small investment (she is after all 60 years old!) we’ll be paying super cheap rent in Gibsons, then same super cheap living in airstream land… my kind of life… minimalist cheap lifestyle in STYLE!!!!

It might be total folly, it might be a whim, but hell it’s going to make for pretty interesting blogging material… n’est pas?

Well, winding down the days till we head back to Santa Cruz, and back to living in the airstream.

I am looking forward to seeing my honey again, and feeling the wrap of her cocoon like embrace…. It’ll be the thing that gets me past my morning of leaving gibsons behind one more time. Not sure if you can tell my internets, but i LOVE it here!

And Because life isn’t always straightforward, as we were having a last fling lunch at the oyster bar, we spied a for sale sign on a boat…. which seemed like a sign from heaven (well to me anyway). There’s been something brewing in my little brain of late… the elements are a boat, gibsons… a winter boatstream dream if you would.

So imagine my delight in seeing a boat for sale, in exactly the marina i’d want to live in, and a boat that actually has live aboard status. My wheels are turning. Not sure where they will stop turning, probably erring on the side of reason and not buying a 1952 wooden boat with no shower, no ability to survey her, no actual ability to captian said boat… but hey a girl can dream n’est pas?

A couple of days ago (it’s taken till now to be able to move my arms enough to type) we went on what WAS to be an hour’s kayak paddle….

A few elements changed that intention…. It was the most stunning day weather wise, water was flat calm, our time here is almost done… so as we rounded the tip of keat’s island… we just kept going!

You remember keats island internets?

That mysterious and beckoning island across the way who calls out to me every day to come play… well she was mighty shouting and we finally listened. Of course we were woefully prepared, as we were only suppose to be going for a quick spin… but hey, who needs water or nourishment when venturing out on a 15km kayak tour?

keats island has streams don’cha know?

Well it was the most stunning and lovely first 3 hours. Sun shining on our happy little faces. As soon as we made the decision to keep on going we saw a pod of dolphins off in the distance, and a happy little sea otter leaping around on the rocks, a seal following…. what better signs of approval than that!

After about 3 hours we were patting ourselves on the back for having taken the time to do the route… a little breeze started to come up. Ah, no problem i think, breeze smeeze.

Then the little breeze turned to a stiff breeze, then quickly to a strong wind combined with white capped waves. Gulp i thought!

We still had to cross over the open area between the island and home, the part that’s the toughest to do with wind. I took a quick break hanging onto a dock, got my self in order, and set to it.

I fortunately had my handy dandy new kayak (did i tell you we bought two spanking old and used kayaks off craig’s list the week before??).. handy dandy cause it’s a heavy and long bugger, and it bit through those waves in style. The only problem was that heavy and longer part meant it kicked my aging butt trying to paddle that extra weight.

Not sure deb deb fared any better.  She had the lighter kayak, but in it’s lightness it almost stands still with the wind pushing at her.

It was certainly the longest hour of my life… i could barely drag myself up the stairs to my awaiting lounge chair…. and as soon as i plunked myself down on it, i gazed across the sound and saw that the wind had died down a bit. I swear it was the price to pay for playing hookey!

I had the most amazing opportunity/experience last weekend. I lucked into a native drum making workshop on the coast, and what a beautiful drum ended up coming out of it.

You know me and my need to blabber on about all things of life, and i’d really love to blog about the experience, but somehow i hesitate.

The actually process and intent of making one of these drums is very spiritual so i’m some feeling like putting it down in words would take away from that intent.

So, i’ll leave you with some pictures i took of my new spirit drum, and let you feel her beauty and life.

Over the past while, i’ve become a little obsessed with the notion of tiny houses. I’ve got a few inspirational blogs in my reader i peruse, i read and dream. The tiny house dream certainly includes the airstream…but with a twist me thinks.

Some initial ideas are, said airstream on a floating dock, in some amazing ocean setting, said airstream perched on a bluff overlooking ocean and mountains… a set up with the ability to sustainably live, have community around…. well you know utopia… the list goes on! That’s what dreams are for don’cha know?

In the meantime, we had an amazing opportunity to help our random library bestest friend find her own new tiny home to live in.

A couple of months ago, she got notice that the little cabin in the woods she was renting, was no longer going to be home for her. So she went to work finding a new little cabin in the woods to call home.

There were some constraints, had to be affordable,  had to be a stand alone building, ideally isolated (read: not in suburbia), woodsy, small (well that seemed to go hand in hand with affordable!). Our random library girlfriend was pretty open in her version of what this could look like, so i for one felt sure “we’d” manage to find something fast….. uh  NOT so much.

NOTE: i changed she to we, as this became a “we” activity. I mean after all, “we” are the main recipients of visits to this new place, so of course it became a WE thing!

For me the fun part was visiting a plethora of places that were so creative in their approach. Since it’s the sunshine coast, and since the sunshine coast is full of weird and wonderful people, this was no surprise. One of my favorites, was a converted (hmmmm well maybe more soon to be converted) boat. I mean seriously internets, with a little elbow grease, wouldn’t you imagine this to be the PERFECT fit?

Well as tempting as the moldy err ship on land was, and as lovely as some of the possible cabins in the woods were, none were exactly IT. We were getting a little discouraged, starting to rumble over plan b, c or even d, when we got a call from our random girl. She had not seen the place yet, but she had a feeling by the description, she was EXCITED. Could we come right now and go look?

Could we? We jumped in the truck and raced down the road to pick her up. It was just down the road from her old place, an area she was hoping to stay in. We drove down a lovely tree lined driveway on a very quiet road off the grid… check

We parked, and prospective landlord was up on his ladder pruning an apple tree (which was one of many fruit trees in a small orchard) …. check. Prospective landlord was a gem of a man, you could tell right away…. check!

And there it was… just a little way down the hill from the main house, the most amazing little cottage ever… CHECK!

We walked in and it was everything we all had imagined and more. The cutest little cabin in the woods that any and all random library girls could love. The grin on all of our faces was huge. We went from corner to corner, up to the sleeping loft, all the while exclaiming with many an OHHH or AHHH. No room for poker faces and harsh negotiations…. WE’LL take it we chimed! (not sure lovely land lord knew quite what he was in for!)

Well, it’s not a few weeks later, and our random library girl is settling into her new digs…..and well i for one am loving it!

One of the perks of living a more nomadic existence, is some how your world is being continually expanded with amazing and lovely people.  I think that people that are traveling, or who have traveled are more in tune to seizing opportunities when they come.

This week we spent a couple of days with two amazing women we met over the summer. They initially contacted us because they were planning a year off traveling, and wanted to pick our brains. We instantly loved them, they were so fabulous. We managed to spend some time with them over the summer, and were so thrilled when they decided they had to come up to gibsons to visit.

Even more honored, that we were amongst the first places they headed on the beginning of a new adventure for them… a year long travel year, which promises to be very interesting! One of the things they are wanting to do is interview women who are doing extraordinary things with their lives, you’ll want to follow along too.

Well whirlwind grenada trip behind me… made it back safe and sound to my Gibsons and home sweet home. I do love it here, doncha know?

Few random items from the trip:

• I’ve decided the window seat is not the prime spot. 90% of the time i was seated beside really sleepy people… who… well slept the WHOLE way. Trapping me into said window spot for hours on end. Making me wonder, doesn’t anyone need to pee anymore?
• I’ve also decided Miami airport is the absolute worst airport for internet connectivity. Not only do you have to pay for the service, it doesn’t work well, and there are simply no plugs in the airport. I’ve been traveling for awhile now with an extension/many plugs cord and it was a life saver.
• Speaking of many plug extension cord… was an interesting experiment in human politeness. Some asked very nicely if they could plug into it and were so appreciative and grateful at the yes. And then there were some who simply plugged in and plunked down. At one point i had to leave, so apologetically told people said cord was no longer available… one of the plunkers actually glared at me? WTF??
• Continuing on the extension cord theme… i met the nicest, and i mean nicest woman who plugged into said cord. We proceeded to have one of those amazing conversations amongst strangers that re-affirms my love of people. She told me all about her trip to Ecuador, showed me pictures, some artwork she bought… was a gem of a connection that brightened up my 8 hour internet challenged layover.
• and oh yea…. NOTE TO SELF: Do not, and i repeat DO NOT think that an important meeting could or even should be held during that 8 hour layover in internet challenged, noisy, plug challenged Miami airport… it’ll never work!
• And finally…. i love my gibsons, coming home to her is very, very special… amen

wow, saturday here, the week’s flown by! it’s been a great week, good times with family, some great swim’s in the sea.

We’ve been coming here all our lives… and we somehow get into this beat of the old familiar. A couple of years ago my eldest son came here with a bunch of his friends while my mother was back in montreal.

By all accounts it was a trip filled with different adventures… heck they didn’t even do ONE of the old familiar!

So as we were talking and planning amongst ourselves, one of our collective yen’s was break out of the familiar, and have an unknown adventure in a place we’ve never been.

Somehow the week’s gone by and we haven’t managed to do that… the old familiar beckons like a shining light!

lunch and a swim at La Sagesse Nature Center, hanging out at grand anse beach, drinking ting, shopping in St. Georges, drinking bently’s and fruit smoothies, eating papaya with lime, calla loo soup… the list is not that long, but the rituals around these is old and ingrained i guess!

I’m heading off early monday morning, today’s a sailing and snorkeling day… so maybe there’s still time for one new and un-explored adventure?