Yellowknife Adventure Day 3

With nothing planned for the day, it started a little slower.  Clouds had rolled in overnight, but there were still some clear patches.  No aurora could be seen through the water vapor overhead.

Once fed and showered - the shower still required a trick to stay hot - we hit the road for a bit of hiking.  Back Bay is an area most accessible in the winter over the frozen lake.  I had found some instructions on how to get there which were a bit old, and there must have been lots of building since then.  But we found a way to the lake and headed around the bend to get to Back Bay.
SO doesn't have much mountain goat, so there was some indelicate slipping.  Luckily this happened without any major trauma.
We walked through the Back Bay Cemetery and on to the Ice Caves.  This must be an area of some kind of flowing water during warm spells since the area is as slick as an ice skating rink with ugly brown ice.  But the remnants of flowing water creates a small ice caves with stalactites of ice.  It would be neater if they weren't broken off.

The hike back was pretty nice with lots of formations from the Canadian Shield.

The Back Bay Cemetery itself is small.  Many graves are not marked or only appear to be marked by a recent, simple wooden cross.  Thankfully, there isn't much evidence of people messing with them.  The scene with birch trees, pines, rocks and snow was serene. 

We wound our way back to the Ice Road Spark and did a little more driving through Yellowknife.  This included Ragged Ass Road - a little bit of kitsch never hurt anyone - especially when it has real history behind it.

After resting a bit back at the houseboat, we walked down to the Snow Castle.  This is a huge (and getting huger) castle that is built every year on the ice.  The goal was to try to get there early, but it was already starting to fill with people.  It was quite neat to see it.  Despite some evidence of wooden substructure, most of it is ice and snow.

Some of the carving is exquisite.

There was a craft show going on as well inside of it.  There were several tables set up by talented artists selling their stuff.
We hadn't been there that long, but as we left it was all ready getting zoorageous.  I can't imagine what the Snow Castle must be like if a couple of big tour buses show up at the same time.

We had walked to the Snow Castle from the houseboat, and the walk back had the wind in our face.  Despite the nice sunshine, it was quite cold with any breeze making it more brutal on the way back.

After a siesta back at the houseboat (is a Southern and Mexican word like that appropriate so close to the Arctic Circle?) we headed out again for a bit of exploring.  First up was to Ice Road.  Why do it again?  Because it is still there.
There was lots more overall movement on the ice.  Skiers, snowmobilers, walkers, bikes, dogs, everything.  I'm guessing that as a weekend day, Saturday sees the usual hoards of tourists and the locals out in force.  But it is a big lake so it never felt even remotely claustrophobic.  It is really interesting how the lake dominates the area in the winter.  Land can be unforgiving and terrain unchanging.  But the Great Slave Lake forms a perfect winter wonderland - easier to get around, faster to get anywhere, lots of room embrace the cold.

The Ice Road was much slicker this time and at one point tourists covered over half of its width.  It still surprised me how deep and numerous the cracks appear in the ice.  Any cracks must form a kind of puzzle, locking everything firmly in place; it is perfectly safe.  But some of the cracks do form ridges showing a kind of tectonic movement of the ice.  As any glacier will tell you, ice is a solid that is still alive.  Staying on the houseboat, some of the ice booms have been disconcertingly loud.

After being Ice Road Sparker again, we headed into town to eat.  Finding a parking spot at the Northwest Brewing Company was a challenge.  There were several almost spots, but nothing that even the Ice Spark could fit into.  It appears that a parking lot is being built across the street, but it currently has "No Parking" signs all over.
So we drove around and as we were thinking of a Plan B, a spot opened up right in front of the Brewing Company.  Once inside, we realized it was Saint Patrick's Day - definitely a drinking day if there wasn't already enough reasons to do that in the frozen North.

Dinner at the Brewing Company was very good before heading back to the houseboat.  Solar conditions were again very favorable for the aurora, but the weather was not.  Clouds decreased and increased through the evening and as it got dark, all looked hopeless.
But!  Through a brief hole in the clouds the eerie glow of the lights peaked through.  This was more of the peep show version of the Northern Lights and it didn't last long.  I'm not sure how I would have felt if this had been my only viewing of the Northern Lights - so close, yet so far.  But the first two days in Yellowknife were spectacular.

After waiting out the clouds a little more, SO and I decided it was a little futile to stay up.  The weather forecasts called for nearly complete cloud coverage with the potential for it to get even thicker overnight.  Bed time came a little earlier than the previous two nights.

After some crazy dreams woke me up, I looked outside and through a much larger hole in the clouds a bright aurora was clearly visible.  I watched through the window for a few minutes and decided there was no reason not to go outside.  After putting on the winter woolin's and watching a short time outside, I decided to grab the camera as well.  But by the time I got back to a good spot to set up clouds were rolling in again.

If the first viewing of the night was a peep show, this one was the quick tease.  I can only guess that if the aurora was that visible through the brief windows of clouds with some high clouds still obscuring it, had the sky been clear it would have been a dazzling display. 

After that it was sleep time for again, knowing somewhere above those thick clouds the Aurora Borealis was making a show few in Yellowknife could see.  There are hardly enough superlatives to describe what I was thinking after being able to see the aurora on three consecutive nights.

Yellowknife Adventure Day 2 - Fishing and More Northern Lights!

The morning was for ice fishing which I was really looking forward to as I hadn't done it since high school - SO has never ice fished.
After putzing around a bit in the morning, I decided I needed a shower.  Daniel had warned us the previous day that the water pump was misbehaving somewhat.  What I discovered as I was taking a shower was that its behavior had worsened and it had difficulty holding pressure, resulting in the water heater cutting out mid-rinse.  AAAHHHHH...
The water pump's final act of defiance was to begin to smoke, making the houseboat smell like a mix of the morning's breakfast sausage and burning rubber.
I called Daniel and he shortly located a spare pump; the houseboat was back to full functionality quickly; a true example of off-grid living.

Gregg from Bluefish Services arrived and we headed out for some ice fishing.  Unlike when I ice fished in high school, in Yellowknife it is done from the coziness of a SnoBear - quite the mechanical marvel.
It was a short drive to our fishing spot.  We mark the spots for the holes under the SnoBear, pull forward to auger out the ice.  Then back up and fish from the comfort of the SnoBear.  It was awesome.  Creating the holes in the ice allowed me to see that the ice was a very healthy four feet thick!

Ice fishing on the best of days doesn't have the action of warmer water fishing.  And the fishing was slow.  Gregg has a camera that he lowers into the hole to watch what is happening.  This is pretty neat since fish can be very lethargic in the winter.
We saw a few smaller fish before a larger whitefish came up and aggressively ate some of the chum.  We tried to entice him with a smaller fishing bait, but he was well-fed by that point.  It was still neat to see.

While we were unsuccessful at fishing, Gregg was a wealth of information and a hoot to talk to.  SO loved the SnoBear and the experience was time well spent.

After fishing we headed out to Walmart to get some sunglasses - the gorgeous sunlight on the snow was blinding and neither of us had brought a pair.
Then we stopped at Bank of Montreal to get cash to pay Daniel.  My bank was not playing nice and the withdrawal was refused - and my effing card was confiscated by the ATM.  I asked for help but the unhelpful Bank of Montreal said there was no way I would be given my card back and it would be destroyed.
I called my bank which was not very helpful, had it ended there I would have been fine.  But suddenly both SO and I started to get phone calls and text messages from my bank's fraud department.  I was worried I'd be 2000 miles from home and locked away from any form of payment.  Now it was my banks turn to be unhelpful.  Suffice to say that some of those conversations with my bank did not end well.
But I'll deal with this when I am not 200 miles from the Arctic Circle.  I was not going to let it affect this awesome Yellowknife adventure!

We stopped at the Pilots Monument which is a monument to the Bush Pilots of the area.  Their job is not an easy one and it is a demanding profession.  The view from the monument was awesome.

We headed back toward the lake and hit the ice road.  At first it was a little anticlimactic, but it was actually pretty fun.
From the fishing, I new how thick the ice was, but it did have a fair share of cracks.  However the road is actually smoother than many of the asphalt roads in town.

The ice road is about the equivalent of eight lanes wide so stopping a few times was no problem (after hypocritically calling other people who stopped dumb-asses).  Up close, the cracks are even more dramatic.  The ice has a clarity unlike anything I've seen before - the clarity was also seen while lowering the camera into the more pristine ice while fishing.

So I am now an Ice Road Trucker - and this is my Ice Road Truck Spark.

And on the subject of cars - the Northwest Territories license plates shaped like polar bears is the coolest!

Back on real land, we saw a bit of Old Town and headed to Bullocks for a combo lunch/dinner.  The place is crazy small so we were lucky to get a table.  Since I saw a whitefish while fishing, that is what I had, panfried.  It was really good as was SO's cod.  The portions were huge.  I was impressed with the staff's ability to handle all the tourists - especially as a lot of them had a low grasp of English (yet better than my Japanese or Mandarin).

Back at the houseboat we rested so we would have an easier time of the night if the Northern Lights show up again.  Except a couple of Japanese tourists climbed onto the houseboat deck to peak inside.  It was weird.  I totally photobombed their picture through the window though.  It is best to just go with the flow on these things.

After resting a while we watched evening turn to night with anticipation.  Conditions were good for the aurora, but these things are never assured.  We were crazy lucky to have had such a good showing the previous night - anything now would be a bonus.

And it did not disappoint.  As it got dark we saw the beginning traces of the Northern Lights.  We suited up in warmer clothes.  With a better lay of the land lake, we headed farther out to the east away from the houseboats and farther from the light pollution.  The walk was fun, but there was really deep snow in a few places resulting in some cold drops.  Luckily the camera was spared any issues.
The lights this evening were more ethereal.  More pillowy.  Not less intense, just more spread out.  This made getting pictures a little more challenging, but the show was just as amazing to watch in person.

There was a band at the Snow Castle - I can't say the noise added much to the lights, but the aurora did make a nice display again over Yellowknife.

The lights continued to twist and turn for a while.

Their display continued to evolve.  With temperatures in the single digits, we eventually got cold and had to head in to warm up.

Warming up inside, we could still look out the windows and see the lights.  But looking at them through the window is definitely not the same as experiencing them outdoors; the cold; the breeze, the Northern World...
After warming up a bit, we decided to go out again, and we were very glad we did.  Several more intense lights showed up and a display that lasted around 15 minutes had more movement and undulations than we had seen yet.

Clouds were drifting into the area and it was getting cold again.  We trekked back to the houseboat to call it a night.  It was still difficult to go to sleep and at one point I saw another brief but spectacular display through the houseboat window.
I've read many accounts of people who spend considerable time at a destination to see the Aurora Borealis and are unable to due to weather or poor solar conditions.  Being able to see it twice it two days was very fortunate.  It was also amazing to see how much different the two nights were - and how similar they were at the same time.

Yellowknife Adventure Day 1 - Travel Day (And Northern Lights!!!)

The chronic worrier that I am, I moved from obsessing about clear skies and favorable solar conditions for seeing the northern lights, to worrying about getting to Yellowknife.  While perusing the Canadian weather the previous day, I noticed an alert for Calgary.  It only took a few more minutes of searching to see that a winter storm, albeit minor, was going to hit a very narrow area in Alberta, including Calgary.
However, of the places that should have experience handling winter weather, Canada and Calgary were high on the list.

Oddly, I was not able to do online checkin through WestJet - who I had booked tickets with, but was able to do it through Delta, as the first connecting flight was partnered to that airline.  Whatever works...

I was up around my normal time for work and getting ready.  Final closing up of stuff was done before heading to the airport around 4:00 AM.  Roads with little traffic got us to the airport easily.
With limited room in my luggage, I had to wear my winter-type boots.  These proved problematic going through security once at the airport.  It took a few trys to make it through the metal detector, but there was lots of time to make the flight.

Soon enough we were boarding a small Canadair Jet for the short hop to Toronto.  The small plane was cramped, but it was a short flight.
Once in the air, the sunrise was really pretty.  Not motorcycle sunrise out west awesome, but still pretty.

I couldn't get the automated customs system to work for me once in Toronto, so I had to take my ticket of failure to the desk for help.
The customs agent was surprisingly friendly - many I've had in the past lacked anything close to a sense of humor.  It may just be a tactic to look for information, but being nice is almost always free - on both sides.
"So, where are you going today?
"Yellowknife."
"What?  Most people get away from Yellowknife for a vacation, what are you doing there?"
"Hopefully seeing the Northern Lights."
"OK, neat, where are you staying?"
"On a houseboat."
Pause, "Are you serious???"
"Yes, this time of year it is locked in ice though."
"I've never heard of that.  That is the craziest thing I've heard in a long time."
It probably wasn't, but the interaction was far better than the glares I've gotten a few times.

After a short layover, we were on the plane to Calgary.  The taxiing seemed to take a long time and we wound up back at the gate - the captain announced a mechanical problem which had people, including the captain, scurrying all over my side of the plane.  I couldn't see what he was doing, but I suspect he was pulling out a giant dipstick to check the oil since he said the issue had something to do with an oil warning light...

We were airborne about an hour late, headed to wintry Calgary.
I was reading One for the Road by Tony Horwitz.  Mr. Horwitz is an extremely talented writer and I loved the book.  Reading a travel book is probably more appropriate than something like William Faulkner's As I lay dying.
The flight to Calgary felt painfully long - and just painful.  The unsettled weather ahead made it even worse.  The descent back to terra firma felt like it took a long time, or the clouds were extremely thick.  Probably both.

I was surprised how much snow there was on the runway.  I don't recall seeing that much snow on a runway ever before when flying in the winter.
Off the plane, we wound around the airport to the Yellowknife gate.  However, there was little in the way of food at the "newer" part of the airport, so we retreated back to a Tim Hortons for some overpriced, if reasonably good sandwiches.

The "newer" part of the airport had these wierd electric busses to get around.  The were frighteningly similar to the buses in the spaceport in the move Total Recall, except the drivers were humans instead of creepy anthropomorphized automatons.

Around 50% of the Calgary flights were cancelled or delayed - but ours wasn't, giving hope all would be well.
The boarding area was a mix of many destinations and very international in people.  I also started seeing more people in heavy boots and thick coats - Yellowknife takes a different kind of preparation.  Things were a little slow with the weather.  There was considerable snow, but it was probably minor by Calgary standards.
After boarding the plane they hosed us down with yellow deicing liquid - it made the plane outside my window look like a big dog and peed all over it.  Whatever the liquid is it must be very shear thinning since it stuck like crazy to the plane until around the take-off air speed.

The flight to Yellowknife passed quickly enough.  A headache faded in and out as a result of the somewhat uncomfortable day.  As we approached Yellowknife the sun sank low, making a pretty sunset.

And approaching the runway, little was seen except for trees.  This feels truly remote.

Once on the ground we exited the plane through an outdoor ramp into the Northwest Territories cold.  The airport was tiny and absolutely filled with people - a shockingly large percentage of them Asian.  From the time I had to look around I suspect that most people head to Yellowknife on organized tours; this was reinforced by seeing many buses on our way away from the airport.

We made our way to the rental car counter and were given a bright yellow Chevrolet Spark - perhaps not my first choice for car or color, but it will work.  We stopped at a grocery  store to buy some snacks, food and to call Daniel - the owner of our houseboat.  He confirmed how to get there.

It was a short drive to the Ice Road, then to the houseboat.  In the dark, at first I thought it was a shack, but it was very quaint and comfortable.  Daniel met us outside and gave us a tour.  It was warm and cozy and completely off grid.  Even the electric comes from a mix of solar and a backup generator at one of the other houseboats.  The only really unusual thing was the off-grid potty; that will definitely take some getting used to.

We had bought a frozen pizza assuming there would be at least a toaster oven.  But with nothing even remotely like that, we had to resort to cutting our pizza in quarters and making pizza grilled cheese sandwiches, which was barely successful.
As we were cooking, I looked outside and saw what I thought at first was a contrail from an airplane.  Watching it, it began to dance and swirl.  I realized what I was seeing was my first sighting of the Northern Lights!  Aurora Borealis!

As it got darker, the lights grew in intensity.  They danced across the horizon from the west, overhead and to the south.  It was an amazing end to a day and an amazing beginning to the adventure.

It wasn't a fleeting view either, the ethereal lights grew and shrank and moved across the sky for several hours.  It was cold, but we bundled up and spent considerable time outside watching them.

Our grilled cheese pizza got cold - no matter, it wasn't that good anyway.

Eventually we had to call it a night, which was very hard to do with the Northern Lights continuing to dance.  I'll admit that I got up a few more times and even got dressed again to go outside a couple more times.

The Northern Lights flitted across Orion The Hunter at one point, which was quite a site to see.

I'll sleep sometime.  It wasn't that easy to sleep anyway.  While the houseboat is locked in around three feet of ice, there was quite the chorus of unusual noises.
Even in the morning remnants of the Northern Lights danced across the brightening sky.

The evening reminded me of a quote by Annie Dillard:  I cannot cause the light.  The most I can do is try to put myself in the path of its beam.
Safe to say that we hit the lottery by being able to see such an amazing show of the Northern Lights so early in the adventure.

Yellowknife Adventure Day -5

I've ruminated on whether this should be called Yellowknife, NWT, Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights Adventure.  We wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for the hope that seeing the Northern Lights is on the mental bucket list.  But seeing them isn't promised.  And regardless of whether the stars align (or at least one nearby star aligns) to allow them to be seen, it will be a Yellowknife Adventure.

Planning for this started long ago.  Since a motorcycle was out for this, I didn't want to go someplace that it would be feasible to drive to.  I've already been to Fairbanks and Whitehorse.  Churchill in Manitoba was the original destination, but jeepers did it bring a unique set of issues.  The organized events there were shockingly expensive.  And the self-organized option was difficult to non-existent, while the non-organized was terrifyingly sketchy.  This belief was backed up by one of my Canadian friends who had recently been to that city.  He had some unique opinions ... yet had made it work for himself and his family in a way that I wasn't willing to.
But Yellowknife had good information, plenty of places to stay - including some unique options.  So many months ago Google flights showed us options on how to get there.  The largest airports with direct flights are Calgary and Edmonton and even getting to those cities is a bit of work, meaning a 2-stop trip is the only option.

There are three more work days to survive, and with management saying one thing while doing another, I'm ready to tell everyone to go screw themselves for a few days.

T-5 days, the intermediate aurora forecast looks fortuitous.  There is a minor solar storm predicted which, if it holds together, brings the possibility of good conditions for the Northern Lights.  And the weather forecast suggests at least a reasonable likelihood of a few night-time cloud breaks.
I'll take it; the sun is on the downward trajectory of activity in its 11-year cycle.  So if it doesn't happen this time, it will probably be a few years until another attempt would be made to see the aurora.

Unlike two years ago where spring at home was traded for the wildly varying weather in Hawaii, this year the trade for spring will be back to winter.  So be it.  Let the Yellowknife Adventure begin.

Mom's House Day 3

As it got dark the previous evening, I tried unsuccessfully to get the TV to work.  Most likely Mom had cancelled the satellite service already.  Surprisingly, there was absolutely nothing in the house to read (very rare for Mom).
With nothing else to do, I went to bed embarrassingly early.  As I was getting ready to sleep, I noticed the blanket I had chosen was one Mom was still making and it had pins in it.  No wonder I had issues sleeping the previous night!

With everything going on I fell asleep relatively quickly, consequently getting up really early.
I had a list of final stuff to clean and take care of - appropriately enough written on a napkin.  Getting everything done allowed me a chance to do a few final walkthroughs.  I found a few more things to take care of, but overall the place looked quite good.  All this took a little bit of time, still allowing me to leave at around 3:30 AM.

The first part of the trip was all two-lane roads.  I probably would have enjoyed this, but it was very dark and there were some extremely foggy places making it even worse.  But I had the overtravelled Florida roads to myself.  My GPS was set to avoid tolls, and that probably added a few minutes; a negligible amount but worth it when I'm biologically preprogrammed to avoid tolls.

I had a few children's books (don't judge) to listen to on a USB stick - thankfully getting that to work on the Hyundai audio system was really easy.  Actually, the audio system on that SUV was really well thought out.  The Librivox reader for The Velveteen Rabbit had a sing-songy voice which didn't help staying alert so early in the morning.

Once on the interstate, I motored along pensively.  I listened to Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels for the rest of the trip.  My attention to it waned through the day - Part 1 is the only part I enjoyed.  Part 4 was tedious - yahoo.

I didn't know how far I was going to get, and with a few stressful days without enough sleep behind me, I did get a bit tired a few times.  Whenever fatigue set in I stopped for a rest - getting gas or something to eat.  At one stop I got a craving for Starburst candy.  I really don't even like Starbursts!  But at least they were "favorite reds."

The day started out in the upper 60's.  As I traveled north, the temperatures slowly dropped.  Somewhere north of Atlanta, it started raining and this continued for most of the rest of the trip.  The amount of rain varied from a light mist to very heavy rain.  I may have pushed it a bit on the speed in a few of the rainy sections, but damnit people - keep right except to pass!  Morons...

I must say that the Hyundai Tucson was really growing on me.  I've always been a little prejudiced against Korean cars - having seen what they were in the 90's.  But the Tucson was comfortable, quick enough, had good capacity with tolerable fuel economy and all the parts worked together well.  I'm not going to rush out and buy one, but the Tucson has made me come around on Korea.

On one of my rest stops I was trying to decide if I was going to stop soon, or just go all the way home.  I got a hamburger and cup of coffee.  Then I proceeded to spill my burger all over myself and my coffee lid was loose.  I want to be home.  Shortly after this stop, the rain started to turn to snow and I started to see some cars with lots of snow on them.  I was still wearing shorts from my start in Florida, and this was not too pleasant.
I thought about going straight home so that I didn't have to deal with the rental car, etc. but the thought of having to go back to the airport the following day was too heinous.

I parked outside of the rental car gate and shuttled over to long term parking.  I got my truck out of hock and drove back to the Hyundai.  It took a few minutes to transfer everything into my truck - that Tucson holds more than I thought it did.
Returning the rental car and walking back to my truck, I was on the final leg home for one of the longer drives I've done in a long time.

Back at home, I left most stuff in the truck to be dealt with later.
The past few days were crazy hectic, but I was glad to be able to do this (and even more glad it was done). 
I thought more about all the stuff I have at home that I really never touch.  I thought about stuff that has been in a box since I moved over seven years previous.  I should really do some purging of my own, of my own life.
I'm glad that companies like 1-800-got-junk exist, but the fact that they do and they are a large nationwide franchise says something distressing.  The fact that I had to call them is something distasteful.
So I'll end with that banal platitude again:  More stuff tends to clutter life, not improve it.  And I'll say it again and again until it become a mantra:  More stuff tents to clutter life, not improve it.

Mom's House Day 2

What a difference a day makes.

If the previous day was about being overwhelmed, then chalk one up for insomnia.  I woke up crazy early and knew I wasn't going to get back to sleep.  So I got up made coffee and took a shower.

Mom has books - lots and lots of books.  A neighbor had gotten me some boxes which I used to box up all the books.  I tried to pull out all the bookmarks and throw away the books that absolutely no one would want - note that when a large percentage of pages are bookmarked, it defeats the purpose of the bookmark.
My back was already hurting from the previous day, so lugging around books was painful.

I loaded up the SUV, and headed out to donate at the Thrift store.  As I got to the exit to the community, I noticed the gates were closed:  If I left, I wouldn't be able to get back in.
I turned around and headed back to Mom's.
I wasn't going to lose time - I'm most productive in the morning.  So I proceeded to sort and pack and move and sort.  I will admit that as the morning wore on, my ratio of garbage to donate went up considerably.

As it started to get light, I walked down to the gates.  A man was there in a truck looking at a leaking manhole cover - that can never be good.  By the smell, I suspect it wasn't fresh water.
I asked him about a code for the gate and he gave me his.  I guess I don't look too threatening, "If anything happens, I've never seen you."
By the time I left, the gates were opened.

At this point, I had nearly everything sorted.  I did a few more runs to the thrift store.  I almost feel bad about how much I donated.  It was a small place and I hope I didn't overwhelm them.  I do feel confident that there was enough good stuff there that even if they can't use everything, there will be plenty to be able to sell.

Back at Mom's, I packed all the trash in the utility room and in a few boxes in the driveway.  I rescheduled my 1-800-got-junk appointment and continued cleaning.  There was a light at the end of the tunnel.

I got a hold of the realtor and her come by.  She noticed a few Christmas things left (she really didn't like Christmas stuff out), but said it looked good.  Once I'm done and gone I'll give her a call to take pictures for the actual sale.

Reaching a point where there wasn't much to do, I waited for the junk guys.  They called and said they would be late but would still be by before the end of the day.  I took a peek at my phone and found a bar within walking distance.
I wasn't feeling real hot - lack of sleep and overwork and all...  A bar burger and fries were REALLY good.  I enjoyed the walk as well; it was a chance to clear my head.  It did feel really weird being the only person in the bar though.
There was much consternation over my bill however.  They only charged me for the soda, and put the rest on as gratuity.  Whatever ... they were nice to me and the food was good.

After more waiting and cleaning and waiting and cleaning, the 1-800-got-junk guys showed up.  They quoted me a little more than I thought, but I wasn't going to argue it (at all).

I emptied nearly everything out of the fridge and dumped that as well.  Some of it had gone all science experiment since my mom had left in a hurry to get treatment back at home.

In a very short amount of time, it was all gone.  I did some final clean-up before calling it a day.  I may try to leave tomorrow as I can't justify staying longer.  I'm tired, sore, and this has been stressful.  Very stressful.
I will say this exercise has made me think about our - mostly my - relationship to my stuff.  I've fantasized many times about selling everything and traveling on the cheap for the next 30 years.  I'm not sure I'll ever do that, but see immense value in getting rid of stuff, of junk.  The connection to things that really don't bring much happiness is complicated.  Less is more.
More stuff tends to clutter life, not improve on it.  I know this sounds like a banal platitude, but as David Foster Wallace said, "Sometimes banal platitudes can have life or death consequences."

I've done what I can for Mom's place and I know it looks better.  Whether it looks good enough to sell will come through over the next weeks and months.

Mom had a non-alcoholic cider bottle in the fridge.  I'm not sure what it was for, but it seemed appropriate enough to use as a mini, if a bit sad, celebration.

Mom's House Day 1

I debated whether this was actually an adventure.  Compared to jumping on a motorcycle and riding across the country or going wild boar hunting, it is pretty tame.  But I do both of those things without really thinking and without much planning, while this trip has a little bit of angst associated with it.  So I guess in some ways, this is more of an adventure.
No.  It isn't.

There was always a chance I'd sleep in without an alarm set, but it was unlikely.  I was out of bed around the normal time for work.  Drinking coffee, I flipped to Escape TV and got very interested in a documentary about a serial killer.  Had I known it was going to be two hours I probably wouldn't have watched it.
I was out the door around 6:00 and on my way to the airport.  Passing a security shepherd on my way to the screening area, I breezed through.  "Everything stays in your bags and keep your shoes on, folks."
"Really??" the woman in front of me said.
"When you see the dogs, you know it is a good day," the security lady smiled back.

Feeling a little bit like a third world country, a bird landed next to me while I was waiting for the flight.  Where do these things live?  "But I'm an indoor bird!"

Mom had some health issues shortly before Christmas when she was at her Florida place.  Back home and in treatment, she asked me to help sell it.  No idea what I'm getting myself into, but a few vacation days and an airplane flight later, I'm in Florida.

The flight went without incident.  I noticed that there was no row 13 on the plane - presumably because it would be unlucky.  I was sitting in row 14 which is really row 13, and without a talisman.  Take-off was a bit late, but the plane was on the ground close to scheduled landing time.

I hustled down to the rental car area.  Being an Emerald member has its perks, I asked if I could get an SUV for the same price and got a brand spankin' new Hyundai Tuscon.  The new car smell in it wasn't too pleasant though.
Getting through Florida traffic was tolerable.  I kept thinking it had to lighten up at some point, but it never did.  I know there are outback parts of Florida, but my guess is one needs to get pretty far away from Disney to find them.

I was at my Mom's before 2:00.  I was also extremely overwhelmed before 2:00.  My Mom's place was very cluttered.  For all the admonishments I got for keeping a messy room...
So, I started sorting and cleaning.  One pile for donation.  One for garbage.  And a staging area in the center of the house for everything else.  My plan is to do the living room last.
It quickly became obvious that the garbage pile was going to overwhelm anyone's ability to take care of it.  I've always thought the placed like 1-800-got-junk are a symptom of over-consumption and the fact that these businesses exist is a little sad.  But I called and scheduled with them as late as I could.  Hopefully I can keep all the garbage in the utility room.  Hopefully.

It was a bit awkward going through my Mom's stuff.  I'm sure I threw out some treasures, but I've got minimal time to do this.  Donate what looks usable and in good shape, the rest ... 1-800-got-junk.

By the time it got dark, I was tired and sore.  This is not an adventure.