July Expenses... not bad, for our first full month back in Canada

We're going to be spending (pun intended!) four full months back in Canada, so we're prepared for the living expenses that go along with that. Having said that, July was about what we expected.

We had a budget of $2,700 CAD ($1,980 USD) for the month of July, and we ended up a few hundred dollars over that, but mostly because of renewing our passports, which is something I forgot to include in the original July budget.

Ingleside, Ontario to Fortierville, Quebec

We set off from Bob and Denise's place in Ingleside on Thursday at about 11:30am. Headed east towards Quebec City, although by that point, we weren't sure if we would make it that far, and it really didn't matter either way. 

Our only deadline is that Igor has an appointment with a garage in Nova Scotia on Tuesday morning to do the provincial safety inspection there. Yes, he already has one from Ontario, but the provinces don't talk to each other in that regard. Oh well... this way he will be twice as safe!

Ottawa to Ingleside... day 1

Went over and said goodbye to my mother on Wednesday morning. We'll be back again in mid September, so won't be gone long this time around. 

Then it was back to finish packing up Igor, but we were almost done anyhow. It never did rain like they were forecasting, so that was good.

The day has arrived!

Hard to believe we've been a full month in Ottawa. It was a really busy month for us, so time passed quickly.

We have almost everything moved into Igor. We purposely did as much as possible yesterday, because it was supposed to be raining this morning. But so far it's holding off. 

Igor is legal for the road!

Monday morning, we were out the door at 8:30am headed for the "Service Ontario" location nearest us. This is where the provincial government does any business related to vehicle and driver licenses, among other things. It opens at 9:00am.

I had tried to get an appointment online, but the next available one was the second week of August. 

Moving day, and getting ready to head out!

Friday was moving day at my mom's apartment. She was only moving from the 5th floor down to the 2nd floor, and from a one bedroom apartment to a bed/sitting room apartment without a kitchen, because all her meals will be done for her.

And that meant that a lot of stuff won't fit!

It's pretty standard that when you're dealing with the government, nothing is going to happen efficiently.

My mother has been in this seniors building for about 11 years now, in her own one bedroom apartment. And she is staying in the same building, but moving down to the floor where she no longer has to do any housekeeping or cooking. Everything is done for her.

But, her room is much smaller... more like a standard hotel room, with just a main living area, and a bathroom.

I've decided I'm not playing their stupid game

I bought us some more flight tickets the other day. Not the ones to Calgary that I already told you about... this time I bought flight tickets to Mexico!

Yes, we are flying to Cancun on November 1st. 

"But what about Igor?", you ask.

Another project complete... and two more started!

The paint was dry on the fridge vent that I was replacing, so I was able to finish that job yesterday morning. Actually, not totally finished, because I need two strips of foam that glue to the side brackets that tighten the door up so that it doesn't flap around. The only thing that holds it in place is the little twist knob at the bottom, so the foam gives it some structure at the sides when it's closed.

So I drilled out the rivets and installed the new one. Pretty happy with the result!

We ordered a compost toilet for Igor

After a lot of research, we decided that Igor should have a compost toilet.

Let me tell you a little about what I learned regarding compost toilets for RV's...

Time is passing quickly

Here we are, three weeks into the month. 

We're making good progress on getting Igor ready to go by July 31, but with only ten days left we're going to have to continue working hard. Especially with my mother moving next weekend. Fortunately, she's staying in the same building, just moving apartments... and she doesn't have very much "stuff".

Booked some more flight tickets!

I love booking flight tickets. Even when they're on a substandard airline like Air Canada (Motto: We're not happy until you're not happy!).

So I got a flight deal notification from a site that I subscribe to. Ottawa to Calgary direct, for only $188 CAD ($136 USD) return, tax included. It's about a four hour flight, so that's a great deal at $94 CAD ($68 USD) per person each way, taxes included!

In for a penny, in for a pound!

An old British phrase that has evolved to express someone's intention to complete a project once it has been undertaken, no matter how much time, effort, or money this entails.

And so it seems to be with our new house battery system for Igor. Once I decided to go with lithium batteries, I knew it was going to add up.

Just like Christmas!

We spent a bunch of money over the last two days. We need a lot of things to outfit Igor the way we want to, and we saved our purchases for Amazon Prime Day, hoping that a lot of the stuff we want would come on sale.

And sure enough, it did.

An interesting story...

We've been over at my mother's place pretty much every day. It sure is a pain and very time consuming doing this address change stuff, but we're making progress and can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

She's been going through her filing cabinet, and came across this interesting story...