Bittersweet Return
Trip Start
Apr 10, 2005
1
25
Trip End
Dec 20, 2005
Stoney Creek,
Ontario,
Canada
Monday, October 17, 2005
Our first stop was to visit Grand Prairie, Alberta where Karin's Oma and Opa first settled when they immigrated to Canada from Holland in 1953. We were surprised to find out a welcome wagon had been called, namely Karin's Great Grand Aunt Tante Veronica, who at age 93 was at the centre hub of information about the Groen & Hoff Clan. We were swept away by the generosity of all, especially cousin Ted & wife Ruth, where we stayed for a few days, and cousin Gary who showed us around town. We were treated to tea with Tante Veronica who was so friendly and teased us for not staying in Grand Prairie for three weeks, as there were many, many, MANY relatives yet to visit
01 Grand Prairie
. Before we left, Tante Veronica was on the main hub setting up a place for us to stay in Lloyminster en route to visit Karin's Grand Uncle Roy in Unity, Manitoba. Hooray Tante Veroni!A mandatory stopover in West Edmonton Mall was on the agenda, and according to front page news all over the Alberta papers, Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie were spotted walking through just the day before. Other than a cowboy hat Traicee bought, we pretty much zipped through the mall amongst crowds of teenagers, feeling a little old, and a little too steeped in campfire smoke. Hey, at least we found some clothes without burn holes in them :)
Our next stop was in Lloyminster AB/SK, a border town between the two provinces where Tante Veronica had made arrangements to meet with cousin Rena. We had the most delicious persian meal cooked by husband Hamid and spent the evening chatting away with Rena about so many things, family, travel, animals...it felt as if we had known her for years. We stayed at the family's hotel and we were so thankful not to have to sleep in the car and to have a hot shower and a flushing toilet whenever we wanted!
We made our way to Unity, Manitoba where Karin's family on her mom's side homesteaded in 1903 and where her Grand Uncle Roy still ran the family farm 100 years later
02 Dutch Family
! It's fasicinating to be standing where one's ancestors pioneered, and for Karin, walking in the house where your Grandmother was born and raised, and where her mom played as a child during the summers, was especially sentinmental. We couldn't resist taking home a handful of barley from the familiy farm fields to remember it by. Uncle Roy took us to the heritage museum where we explored the pioneering farm equipment, tools and buildings. We were amazed how people got on so well in the early 1900s without all our modern conveniences. We certainly had a greater respect for the struggles of early rural pioneers. Karin's family heirlooms were now also being housed and shown including a hand-crafted chair her Great Grandfather had made. We stayed with Karin's great uncle Roy and his new wife Barbara - more wonderful family hospitality.After leaving Unity, we were on our way to east of Winnipeg to visit another eco-village where we had arranged to volunteer for a couple of days. The residents were fairly young (if I may say so), about our age, and so was their farm (about 5 years). There were 3 guys and a girl, so we helped balance that out. They had built several structures over the past five years, including bridges over the creek, 4 or 5 cabins and residences, a communal kitchen, underground root cellar for food storage, as well as aquiring a few other buildings and an old school bus
03 Dutch Family 2
. They had a solar oven which they used to cook in the summer, a windtower that ran all year round, several PV panels to run their lights and laptops and a number of woodstoves for heat and winter cooking. With no running water, we were not surprised that the residents had either dredlocks or very short hair. Their source of water was a 2 foot wide creek that ran through the property. They had outhouses for their business.By this point in our travels we were plenty used to roughing it, so it's a little hard to say what put us off about the place. Our immediate discomfort concerned the lack-of-shower situation. When we arrived we were already a few days sans-shower, and when inquiries were made about bathing, we were told that there is a wood heated bath tub they use (how often is not certain), and each one uses it in succession without changing the water. There were six of us all together -- can't imagine the bath water is very appealing by the time the last person gets in.
Aside from the bathing problem, perhaps we started to over-anticipate the return home. Perhaps Ontario has a pull to it that we were previously unaware of? Or perhaps we started to get so anxious about the prospect of rebuilding our own lives that it became too unappealing to be volunteering to sort out the lives of others
04 Dutch Family 3
. Whatever it was, we determined we both weren't ready to stay as long as originally planned.We contemplated sneaking out in the middle of the night but decided to be up front and tell them in person. Traicee had to break the news (humph) while Karin hastily loaded up the car.
We drove into Kenora, ONTARIO!! by evening and located a campground. Since no one was at the front desk, I asked a couple walking by if the campground had showers, and perhaps judging by our homeless appearance (or stench), they quickly told us the key pad code to the shower house. Great, we snuck in, had a lukewarm shower and decided to locate a discreet place for sleeping in the car rather than incur the pricey campground fees. So we found a nice secluded spot by the pier where we could watch the night stars with the car doors open.
The rest of the drive home was beautiful. We had been half-expecting Ontario to be dreary compared to many of our previous routes, but we were delighted to find north of Superior between Thunder Bay and Sault St. Marie absolutely stunning. We spent a couple of days on Manatoulin Island hiking and enjoying the warm weather, and doing a little prospecting for property as well
05 Hamming it up at West Edmonton Mall
. We took the ferry across Lake Huron to Tobermory and made our way home. We've been home for over a week now. Adjusting to staying put from day to day will take some getting used to, but it is nice to be with family and friends again, and by golly, a bed, toilet and shower are nice amenities too!
Though we are at the end of this chapter of travelling, we know we are just at the beginning of a long journey that may one day bring us back to the open spaces of this country, where we may just try our hand at homesteading. Alas, that is another conversation, hopefully we will be able to see you all in person and talk the night away. Sure is great to be home, we have missed you all so dearly!
Traicee, Karin & Sam
