8 things to research before visiting a new country

As our regular readers know, we're only just over a week away from our Korea trip! And a lot of our free time has been spent online, researching many different things regarding travel to a new country. We kind of share the fact finding, in that Ruth is pretty much in charge of playing tour guide, while I figure out the money and logistics. But there are quite a few minor details that we also want to know, and so we've made a list of what we investigate before undertaking travel to a new country.

Who wants to go camping??!

You can come here. The weather is to die for, and we have lots of empty sites. In fact, they're almost all empty!

That's because technically, we're closed. But if anybody showed up unannounced, we wouldn't turn them away...and they'd have the park to themselves. Peace and quiet, and did I mention the perfect weather?

Half a million Won

The Canadian banks are finally making it easier to obtain a little bit of foreign cash before you travel. We're headed for South Korea, and from the research I've done it's not always easy to get some local cash using an ATM in South Korea. You have to look for ATM's that specifically display a logo that says "Global ATM".

And apparently they're not that common outside of Seoul and the tourist areas.

Laptop shopping

So as I was panicking a little yesterday when I didn't know if my laptop was going to be salvageable, I spent some time laptop shopping online. I really didn't want to buy one yet though. It's tough to find a great deal on one in Canada, and especially tough if you don't have a lot of time to look and wait for a great deal.

Thought I needed a new laptop.

Well, I do need a new laptop. But I thought I needed one now!

We're really trying to get another six weeks out of this one so that we don't have to buy a new one until we're in Seattle.

Woke up this morning, turned on the laptop and it....froze!

All dressed up!

And no place to go. Not yet, anyhow. But at least we now have the proper clothing to go somewhere all dressed up! We're going to a wedding in South Korea on October 4th, and we don't normally travel with dressy clothes. Or footwear. So we needed to get some fancy clothing and shoes.

So, it was off to the Salvation Army Thrift Store!

Gorgeous Day at the Park

Wow, the weather has really taken a turn...for the better! Feels like the middle of summer now, and we're the only ones here. I think we should have extended the camping season by a week or two! I actually feel bad that we're not open for people to camp this weekend.

What a change from a week ago when we thought summer was over.  Have a look at the forecast...wow!

It's different this time around...

And I'm not really sure why.

A year ago today we were on our last day at Sturgeon Lake Regional park, and we couldn't wait to get out of there. I remember thinking that our last two weeks there just seemed to drag. The 16th couldn't come soon enough.

This year, we're here until the 30th...but it's not bothering us to be here.

Nice day to get stuff done

And it looks like the next few days are going to be nice. Great change from the blast of cold air we had last week!

I've got a bunch of logs that have been stored beside the woodshed and if I can get them cut and split and put into the woodshed, they'll be dry enough to burn next year. One of the people here lent us a little wood splitter.

Shutting things down

This is the last day for campers here at Cabri Regional Park. We don't have any daily campers here, and the seasonals have to be vacated by tonight, otherwise they pay $25 a night to stay longer. We'll have one or two of them stay, but they won't be a problem.

I've already got one of the five bathrooms shut down and winterized. And the one that needs renovating won't need much in the way of shutting it down because the entire interior will be ripped out anyhow next spring. And then I can do one more on Monday or Tuesday. The other two can wait until we shut the water supply off which won't be until later in the month.

The best and easiest way to clean your stove!

Not an exciting subject line today, but one that has to be done...and Ruth found a great way to do it so she wanted me to tell you about it.

You know those burner pan thingies that go underneath the element on your stove. They're a total pain to clean, and the chrome trim rings are even more difficult. Not any more!

Have a look at our fall travel itinerary!

But before we talk about that, I wanted to thank those who left a note on yesterday's blog post. I enjoyed reading your responses! There sure are lots of interesting stories related to such an intense event in recent history.

Okay. So...San Francisco is confirmed!

Where were you thirteen years ago?

Today is the thirteenth anniversary of the day the World Trade Center was attacked. Hard to believe it's been that long.

Certainly, it's one of those events that you'll never forget where you were when it happened.

We are officially Saskatchewan residents!

Sorry for the delayed report today. We had a lot to do on our weekly trip into town today, and wouldn't you know it...we slept in!

I know, getting up at 7:45 am isn't really sleeping in to a lot of people, but it is to us. Usually, we're up before seven. But I guess the near freezing temperature outside (!!) must have made us just want to stay in bed.

Looking at North Korea

One of the interesting things about planning a visit to South Korea is the fact that it is technically still at war...with North Korea.

Although there was an armistice agreement signed in 1953 in order to provide for a formal ceasefire until a final peaceful settlement, there has never actually been a final peaceful settlement. Part of the armistice agreement called for a four kilometer (2.5 mile) wide buffer zone along the border in order to physically separate the two sides.

We're thinking of a visit to that zone!