We Made It To Saba!

Before we departed for Saba, we spent a couple of weeks in Phoenix relaxing.  I had to tie up some loose ends in Saskatoon as well, make some address changes, etc...  I hired a homewatch service for our Phoenix home, as well as installed new smoke alarms as the old ones had become a huge problem by alarming constantly.  I also hired some very hard-working Latino people to weed the entire yard, $130 for three men to work for five straight hours.  I also drank lots of beers, delicious Rollin' Rock!

We spent a few days packing for our final move.  We shipped three boxes ahead, which still haven't shown up.  We packed six full suitcases, three full backpacks and three smaller bags.  Plus we had Cally's stroller and carseat.  So needless to say, we required some help at the airport.  We expected to only have to pay for one extra checked bag each, like we were told when we booked the tickets, but we found out that was a lie.  The lady at the airline check-in counter was originally going to charge us $460 extra because all Cally was allowed was her diaper bag and stroller/car seat.  I had a bit of an angry moment but composed myself.  She then checked two backpacks for free, calling them infant medical supplies.  So we still had to pay $260 at the counter.

Our Luggage (minus stroller/car seat)

The actual flight to Miami went great.  Cally is an excellent traveller and she's very cute to everyone.  We got a lot of compliments about how good she was.

We also found out that our checked bags had to be picked up in Miami and checked in again the next day.  We were not happy about that at all, because that meant we had to lug all of our things through the airport two more times.  We ended up paying guys to transport them to and from the luggage storage service area, aka: home of the bitchiest woman in Miami.  Sorry that you hate your job, but since you are charging an arm and a leg to store bags, I think that I have the right to choose which ones I'd like to leave with you.  Sorry, also, that I did not already know the exact procedure of tagging and identification that your department has and that you needed to explain it to me.  She did not have any courtesy towards an obviously overwhelmed and tired family.

We spent a nice afternoon and evening in Miami.  Our crappy, small hotel room that barely had enough room to hold the things we did bring, was cool and comfy.  We were able to prop the shower curtain just right so we didn't hear a constant drippy faucet.  That was a big victory.  We did have a short walk around the airport neighbourhood.  We also ate at McDonalds...twice.  It was 99 cents for 6-piece Chicken McNuggets day!  We had to get our last junk food fix before moving to a country that did not have such a place.  The three hour time difference made it okay to go to bed very early.  Cally slept in her stroller the whole night.

So we had to again visit the bitchiest woman first thing before checking in.  She found our bags without saying a word because I paid her first.  We then spent the next 45 minutes at the counter while we went through the same check-in process.  Thanks to the lady from the day before, we did not have to explain about our luggage situation very much.  She had put a lot of information on our profile and we did not have to pay any more money.  We arrived very early for our flight and spent over three hours waiting at the gate.  Cally was happy the whole time and played on the floor.  I also was able to arrange for us to be seated first along with other priority passengers.  I was surprised that it was not their normal policy anyways.  We had three seats for the three of us and we enjoyed a relaxing flight to St Maartin.

I was so glad that we did not have to pick up our bags prior to going through customs!  We again hired a man with a cart to carry all of our things and get us a good cab.  We thought it was going to be a short ride to the docks, but it was a lot longer, and scarier than expected.  The cab driver thought he heard we were going to the St Bart's ferry, not the Saba ferry.  Thankfully they were very close and he did not have to drive us to the other side of the island or something.

Dawn II, Ferry to Saba

Happy Family Pic Before Departing St Maartin

The ferry was smaller than we thought.  The seats were also below the deck.  We were in good spirits, however, because we only had one more leg left on our journey.  We were asked about our baggage allowance again, and then the captain said to forget it.  He could recognize a tired and overwhelmed family.  He even gave us a beer before we left.  BAD IDEA.  I was sick almost immediately, Julia almost made it to Saba before puking.  Cally was totally fine.  We were greeted by friendly Dutch immigration and customs people.  Two women from the Spouses of Saba Students and Faculty met us there and welcomed us to Saba with a gift of a bag of groceries.  Anne and Ashley were very kind indeed!  And Ashley had her ten-month old son, Luca, with her.  Cally liked Luca.  I had to call my landlord, Mr Sorton, a few times to come as well.  He finally came, and it only confirmed my suspicion that he is a constant procrastinator (he has further strengthened this trait this week).  We piled all our things into two cars and after a windy five-minute trip we arrived in The Bottom, at our home for the next twenty months.

Our New Home

The rather large, two bedroom cottage was recently renovated for us, we were told.  I have said before that our first house was my practice house for all my amateur renovations.  This place had been amateurly renovated several times over.  It had uneven tiling and flooring throughout. It also had a weird layout; the bathroom had been added well after the house had been built, the fridge is in the dining room and Cally's room has three doors.  We are very glad to have found it.  It is a three minute walk to the school and grocery store.  Nothing is very far on Saba, but the mountainous roads are hard to climb, and it takes you a lot longer than you think it should.  We are settling in this first week and adjusting to the island climate and pace.  And we have began to drink a lot of Amstel Bright beer along with Heineken, both from Holland.

Saba, Dutch Caribbean

Getting to Phoenix

After finishing packing and getting our house ready for the next owner, Julia, Cally and I stayed at Uncle Bill's.  On March 28th, I picked up my two friends, Adam and Anil, and we left Saskatoon at about 5:40am.  The van was towing the biggest UHaul trailer that was loaded all the way full.  We even had to spend about ten minutes figuring out how to get Adam's golf bag into it before leaving.  The van is only classified as being able to tow 2000 pounds, which was what the trailer weighed empty.  Needless to say, we were very concerned about whether or not the van could tow this thing over any sort of incline and also whether we could control it going down a hill.  We would find out that it had just enough power to make it.

I had done a lot of research about what the roads were going to be like in Saskatchewan, Montana and Wyoming.  It looked like most of the roads going south were unadvisable for travel, and several roads were closed in Montana, after the border.  The first leg of the trip was okay, some slippery sections but we made it to Rosetown in just over an hour.  As soon as we turned south to Swift Current, we had second thoughts.  I drove about 60-70 km/hour to Swift and it was very scary.  Anil and Adam were regretting their decision already.  Most of the highway was a sheet of ice.  It took over 2 1/2 hours to finish that leg, and it was mentally draining.

We filled up at Swift Current, and were going to eat but did not find a place along the Trans-Canada, so we said we'd wait.  My friend PJ helped us along the way by providing us up to date highway conditions for our next leg to the border.  He said that there did not look like there was any favourable conditions in Saskatchewan or Montana and to try to go south from Medicine Hat.  We took his advice and went south through Cypress Hills.  The roads were great for Adam on the Trans-Canada and we were hopeful as we turned south.  The conditions turned incredibly bad.  There were huge snow drifts, some reaching over ten feet along the highway.  They highway turned to mostly packed snow and one lane mostly for the next two hours.  Adam's hands cramped from gripping the wheel so tight, and his face became bright red from the stress.  He also did not have sunglasses and was squinting the entire time.  Anil wanted to turn around.  Then we reached the US border finally.

They talked like they were going to make us drive back.  Very unfriendly border patrol.  I admit, it looks fishy when a van with three men towing a large trailer into the US.  How could I get them to believe that one of us was not planning on moving there illegally?  I produced all the paperwork that they required.  They were not at all concerned with Anil or Adam.  They were grilling me: about my program, why I did not get into a program in Canada, why didn't I apply to the US, where is my wife and child, when are they coming down, what is stopping them from living illegally in the US, what is my plans with the van, etc...  They even went so far to insinuate that the person in the backseat, Anil, was really my wife.  WHAT?  They were crazy.  They didn't make us open the trailer, which we were just hoping they wouldn't search it and make us pack it up again.  After about half an hour of explaining and getting a lot of sarcasm and flack from the border they let us through, and boy we were hungry!


View Larger Map

The roads were never again an issue after the border.  We made it to Havre, MT and ate Subway.  Our spirits were high and we completed the next 11 hours without a hitch.  We made it to Pocatello, ID at just after midnight after a very long, eighteen hour drive.

The next day was long, but much less stressful.  Adam drove the first five hours past busy Salt Lake City.  Anil drove the very mountainous, 6 hour leg just before we hit Arizona.  And I drove the last five hours through the descent past the Grand Canyon and up again through Flagstaff and finally into Phoenix.  On one pass, when Anil was driving, the van barely made it up the hill and I don't know what we would have done had it not make it.  When it was my turn to drive it was late afternoon and Anil decided to buy some beer to celebrate that his turn was over.  Adam and Anil guzzled three beers each in about fifteen minutes, all the while telling me how good it tasted.  Jerks.  And I was nice to them by stopping at the side of the road near Tuba City, so they could relieve themselves.  They deserved beer for what they had done for me.

We got to Phoenix at about 10pm.  The original idea of unloading the trailer was quickly put to rest after we came inside and enjoyed some more cold beverages.  We needed a long sleep.

Our Journey

I can never repay Adam and Anil for helping me along this journey, I can only thank them and I hope that they know they can come down to our home in Arizona anytime they wish, free of charge.

Packing Up Our Lives

Julia and I decided to sell most of our possessions before our move.  We posted things on Kijiji.com and were happy to find that lots of people buy a variety of used goods off there.  We sold things so easily that we decided to post our house on there.  We sold it within a week.  Hilarious.

So, while Cally was growing older everyday, we worked hard at selling our stuff and packing up the rest.  I stole about 30 boxes from work, was that wrong?  Procrastination ran rampant.  But as the day I was leaving approached, we still had lots to do.  Our accommodations in Saba was still up in the air.  I needed to get the van tuned up and a trailer hitch installed.  The usual moving stuff, you know?

Cally was busy organizing our move

We also needed to give up Michael and Dumb, our cats.  We had originally thought that we could bring them to Saba with us, but that didn't work out.  I've had both of them since they were kittens.  Michael is nearly 13 and Dumb is nearly 9.  Our friend Jay bailed us out, and we thank him greatly for it.  We had taken care of his cat Rand for several years while he was in Toronto, so I guess he felt he owed us.  We both had several tearful goodbyes for the cats.  I think I was more sad giving them up than saying goodbye to anyone else.  You can keep in touch with people through email, telephone, Facebook, etc..., but not pets.  I miss them already.

We are really going to miss them

After getting some motivation from some close friends, we finished packing/getting rid of the rest of our things.  Thanks Terri, Brennan and Jay!  We needed that kick in the ass.  The next step was renting a UHaul trailer.  After looking at the amount of stuff we still had, I came to the decision that the trailer I booked wouldn't be big enough.  I called the UHaul place to see if I should just rent a truck and haul the van behind.  It would mean a lot more money needed to be spent, especially on gas.  But the UHaul guy told me that our van should be able to tow the trailer that holds double the original volume.  It also weighed twice as much, more than what the van's limit was.  But since I'm cheap, I decided to risk it.

Stay tuned for the story of our trip down to Phoenix.