Travels With Miranda

Jody and I went to a small RV show this evening. Neither one of us was impressed by the offerings. We’ve concluded that we need to get into the RV design business!

Here are some shots of things that caught my eye:

The week has been bitter cold, with day-time temperatures dipping into the mid negative 20s, with the windchill nearing -40. I don’t even want to get into the nighttime temperatures! I went for a quick walk on Monday afternoon, but heeded the frostbite warning the last two days and limited my outdoor time to running around between my buildings. I’ve also had a huge transcription project the last three days that ate up the rest of my days. So I haven’t had much of a change of scenery for four days. Today, it’s a balmy-feeling -18, so I’ve decided to walk the two blocks to Montana’s for dinner!

In the RV, having to do several days of hard work with no real opportunity to go outside hasn’t made me feel claustrophobic. I get to prepare and have my meals in another room and at the end of the day, I can retire to the front room to decompress before moving to the loft. In The Apartment, I have to stare at the same four walls all day. It’s slowly becoming an insufferable situation. While I am thrilled to be in a warm place this week, I am very glad I only have about eight weeks left to go before I can move back home. This winter has proven to me that it is the number of rooms in my home, not the square footage, that determines how happily I can live there. If I had to stay on in Lethbridge in The Apartment for any longer, I would be quite content to remain there, but I would get furniture that would allow me to separate my spaces. Not that I need to think about that!

One of the things that I will doubly appreciate when I return to Miranda is the fridge. Do you housebound folks have any idea how LOUD a compression fridge is?!

In other news, a tenant must have noticed that I was working late this aftenoon and brought me a cup of tea and a slice of banana cream pie. There are perks to working here. 🙂

It’s amazing how, in three years of living in an RV, I have never felt claustrophobic. Miranda’s layout with its many rooms and areas makes her feel very spacious. This apartment, with one giant room for living, feels much smaller. It is unpleasant to have to sleep in the same room as the computer, cook with a toilet almost right by the stove, and stare at the front door while working on the computer.

While I am enjoying my three-flight commute to work, I am less enjoying the gauntlet I have to go through to get outside to my car. To be fair, my neighbours just say hello, but there are times I’d just like to be able to go for a walk without having to talk to anyone.

Complaining aside, there are advantages to being here, such as the aforementioned commute, having so many things to walk to, and not having to deal with holding tanks!

To mitigate the claustrophobia somewhat, I am taking half of Friday off so that I can drive to Cranbrook to visit with Ken and Donna this weekend! It’ll be nice to get out of town and drive that familiar route on my own for the first time.

I am really enjoying the October weather in southern Alberta. It is crisp, cool, and very sunny. The weather forecast for the next week indicates more of the same so I have plenty of time to finish off Miranda’s winterizing preparations, although all the crucial stuff has been done. I just wanted to give her a really good scrubbing and vacuum now that the cats aren’t in there so I can have a nice fresh home to return to in the spring.