We’ve said goodbye to Vandalf!

After nearly two years with Vandalf, we said goodbye to our trusty camper van and handed the keys to our daughter Rachel, who has adopted our faithful travel companion.

I must admit, I was a little choked up – and I don’t usually care that much about vehicles. Vandalf has been our cozy little home on wheels that has allowed us to travel Covid-safely between Ontario and British Columbia since 2020.

In return, we adopted Rachel’s car – Heidi the Hyundai – for our journey back to Ottawa.

The trade has suited all our plans. Rachel is off to Utah for a whitewater instructor training course and, if all goes well, to work there this summer. She’ll have Vandalf for when she’s in base camp, as well as to explore the area on her days off. For us, we’re planning to resume our international travels this summer; it’s a bit hard to stuff Vandalf into our backpacks for a plane ride.

We made the switch in Canmore, Alberta. But before that, we said goodbye to the many fun, interesting friends we’ve made in Osoyoos – mostly fellow snowbirds from the western provinces who all love travelling like we do. We’ve learned a lot from them through sharing stories, laughter, swimming and music.

We also bid “Adeus, até à próxima” to our Portuguese teacher, Tina, who faithfully tutored us throughout the winter in her native tongue. She immigrated to Osoyoos in the 1950s with her family, as did thousands of other Portuguese who ended up working in orchards and vineyards.

Then, we drove to Kelowna for a last visit with our son Tom and his fiancé, Tasha. We made Sandhill Wines our last B.C. wine-tasting event…for now.

Then we pointed Vandalf towards Canmore through the Rocky Mountains, stopping in the town of Radium Hot Springs at the hot springs within Kootenay National Park. We had driven by many times in the past two years, but finally the pools were open.

Indigenous people no doubt knew about the naturally warm water bubbling from the earth, but the first recorded visit by a European was Sir George Simpson, governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, who sat himself down in 1841 in a gravel pool big enough just for him. The pool we lounged in would have held hundreds of people, but it was just as warm as for Sir George.

I had wanted to camp one last time in Vandalf before making the trade with Rachel, but time ran out. Although Osoyoos was warm, Kelowna and Canmore temperatures were too close to zero Celsius for a comfortable sleep when Vandalf doesn’t have a heater.

Once in Canmore, we gave Rachel lessons on how to work all Vandalf’s systems: the solar shower, the solar panel, the Jackery battery, the fridge, the toilet, the kitchen setup, and the fans. And we passed along Vandalf’s various quirks: one of the two keys needs to be jiggled to work in the ignition, and the back left door sticks so you have to lean on it while opening it. Sigh…I’ll miss his idiosyncrasies.

Of course, what’s a trip to Canmore without Rachel’s Boot Camp for Retired Parents?! In the past, we’ve climbed Ha Ling Peak, cycled, hiked, snowshoed, and cross-country skied. She hadn’t planned to run her boot camp this time, but her friends were going to the climbing gym and Rachel invited me to come.

Now, rock climbing and ice climbing make my hands sweat and my heart pound just at the mere thought, and especially since Rachel has taken up this sport. Her strategy was to get me involved so I could see how safe it is and not worry so much about her.

I have to say that her strategy worked. I had fun and saw how the challenge could become addictive. The toughest, scariest part is trusting the rope to catch you, and then letting go at the top so the belayer (the person holding the rope at the bottom) can guide you down. It took me four tries, but I finally climbed to the very top (on the easy wall for kids, but don’t tell anyone).

Then it was back to sorting, cleaning, packing and transferring our stuff from Vandalf to Heidi. We determined which van equipment, dishes and bedding Rachel wanted versus what we needed to transfer to Heidi for the trip to Ottawa. At the same time, Rachel and her roommate were preparing to move out of their apartment and Rachel was moving her equipment into Vandalf… We had many piles of stuff to keep straight.

We’ve loved travelling in Vandalf. He’s the right size, allowing us to camp just about anywhere, especially in out-of-the-way boondocking spots. It’s easy to stop anywhere for picnics or to make a hot meal. We were self-contained, which made it safer for travel during Covid. Vandalf has good storage space that made it easy to get at the stuff we needed. The bike rack made carrying our bikes easy. And Vandalf is easy to spot in a parking lot, with that tell-tale solar shower tube on top!  

But we’re happy Vandalf is going to someone who’ll appreciate him.

Fortunately, everything fit nicely into Heidi, with the trunk and back seat filled. We prepared for a different type of travel – staying in hotels, rather than camping for free at boondocking sites. We decided to travel through the United States, since gas is much cheaper and we’ve never driven across the northern states (or even the southern states, for that matter).

Don’t tell Vandalf, but Heidi is also fun to drive, better in high winds, and has heated seats, cruise control and a CD player.

Off to new adventures!