Goodbye Jasper, Bonjour Morin-Heights!

Finally! We're back with a new Someday Summary! It has been quiet here the past few months, and there's a simple reason why: there hasn't been much going on at ETW! At least by our standards... After more than two years, we took a little time out from traveling and settled in the small town of Jasper in the middle of the Rocky Mountains for 3.5 months. We didn't plan to stay that long, but that's how it goes sometimes. We actually only wanted to stay in Jasper for five weeks and then head east, across Canada. Well, to put it like a wise guy from a 90's flick: "life's like a box of chocolates" - and we definitely picked a good one this time. But first things first.

Jasper & the Jasperteers

We already told you in the last Someday Summary how much we love the small-town, situated in the heart of Jasper National Park.

We didn't just get a heartwarming welcome by our hosts, every single soul we got to know here was kind to us. But when our house sit with Wallace and Stewy ended in November, we had to make a decision: Should we stay or should we go now? 🎶

In the end, it was an easy choice. Anna scored a gig as an enhancement worker for the Out of School Care Program at the local Elementary School. And thanks to our new friends in Jasper and some networking, we were able to continue to work as house-sitters. This way, we were able to live in Jasper for 3.5 months without having to spend a single cent on rent, hostels, or hotel rooms (thank goodness, because Jasper's prices for housing are quite steep).

In total, we moved places four times and took care of four dogs and four cats. There were two weeks of free lodging in exchange for painting an apartment, and Toby made a name for himself as the upcoming dog walker in town. He regularly explored the trails in the area with a total of 10 different dogs. In addition to her enhancement position, Anna was also able to work as a substitute with wonderful Christopher (see picture above) for six weeks - one of the best jobs she ever had!

Our Life in Jasper

And just like that, we had something you could call a normal course of life after three years of permanent travel. Getting up in the morning, going to work and spending the evenings comfortably on the couch, or going for a beer with the workmates. At the weekends, we explored the surroundings with the pooches. Despite the extreme cold (which the average Central European would find hard to imagine), we were always outside. Trekking over drafty mountain ridges, snowshoeing on frozen lakes, and cross-country skiing for the very first time. At our last house sit, we were also able to enjoy the luxury of a private whirlpool every evening - right on the mountainside, with a view over the valley and the breathtaking starry skies above. When I write lines like this, I can hardly believe what different lifestyles we have been able to live on this rollercoaster of a journey.

We have also established a new tradition: every Sunday, we skated on one of the numerous frozen lakes nearby. Sometimes with a hot mulled wine, sometimes with a cold beer. Yeah, we know: drinking alcoholic beverages in public is prohibited in Alberta - but that doesn't seem to bother the locals too much on a frozen lake. When in Rome, do as the Romans do! 😉

And so the last few months have passed incredibly quickly. In addition to the novelty of Canadian Winter and the extraordinary surroundings, we mainly lived a normal everyday life. We helped friends move, Anna was really sick for the first time since we started our journey in 2017, our Jeep Rosie had a few dropouts, and working with two autistic children was pretty tough at times. We made friends, got invited to a real Canadian Christmas dinner, saw moose, wapitis, foxes, coyotes, and bighorn sheep in the wild and sometimes even in the front yard - and experienced temperatures of -45 ° Celcius (-49° Fahrenheit) for the first time.

Goodbye & so long!

Jasper has left a lasting impression on us. Not only because of the fantastic location in the heart of a spectacular National Park, but because of the incredible warmth, with which we were welcomed by the locals. A big thanks goes out to all the wonderful people we met in Jasper! We appreciate your kind nature, welcoming us into the community, sharing drinks and laughter, and excepting our help when needed! Where we will end up in a few years we don’t know, but wherever that may be: you'll be always welcome!

Rosie

Our 96 Jeep Grand Cherokee limited named Rosie didn't enjoy Canadian country life at all. Little by little, more problems were added to the list. Due to the extreme cold, she had a hard time idling, more than once the battery was empty after a long drive, and she stalled at stop signs, or sometimes even while driving. There were a lot of issues, but when the ball bearing of the idler pulley cracked without noticing, the serpentine belt melted due to friction and exploded under the hood while driving, we thought: that’s it, decision time: We could take the car to the shop and have it repaired for a fortune, sell it to a handyman, or try to fix it ourselves. It wasn't a tough one, Toby made it his business to fix Rosie himself. He ordered the needed parts and got to work. Sifting through the internet, studying the Jeeps Manual, and earning an honorary doctorate from Youtube University. After about two weeks of work at average temperatures of -25 °C, Rosie looked better than ever! It took time and effort, but we were able to avoid a damn expensive repair at the mechanic! 

Disclaimer: We do not recommend that everyone tweaks their vehicle themselves. We have gained a lot of experience with used cars throughout the world, and if you know your way around, you can actually do a lot yourself on an old car if you have the right tools. But if you are not 100% sure what you are doing, you are risking your life the next time you drive - and not only yours but also your passengers' and other road users' life.

4000 Kilometers Across Canada

From the Rocky Mountains to Quebec in One Week

Yes, we learned to love Jasper, but after more than three months in one place, we got the travel bug again. Since our friends Luisa and Ruben just moved to Ottawa for work, it was clear to us from the start that we wanted to spend a large part of our time in Eastern Canada. But not only to see our friends: Toby's parents will come for a visit for the first time after 2.5 years, and we will explore the eastern provinces and the Maritimes with them in spring. So we packed our backpacks again and continued our long journey east. In summer, we would have taken our time camping and enjoying the numerous lakes on the way. But it's February, and Canadian winter can be unpredictable at times, so we tried to get through the flatlands of Saskatchewan and Manitoba as fast as we could. We gave us a week because our next house-sit in Morin-Heights, Quebec was waiting - almost 4000 km down the road. No time to waste! On February 3, we said goodbye to Jasper with a heavy heart and set off. The sun was glittering in the cloudless deep-blue sky, and the ranges of the Rocky Mountains looked more beautiful than ever. After about a hundred kilometers, everything suddenly became flat. And so it continued for the next three days - nothing but white plains. 

We will tell you all about our crossing of the second-largest country on earth in a separate article!

You’ll find out soon what happened on our road trip through Canada, and if Rosie was able to fight through the snowstorm that hit in a cold night somewhere in Ontario - here on EatThisWorld.

Our Route and stop overs:

1. Jasper - Drumheller

2. Drumheller - Regina

3. Regina - Winnipeg

4. Winnipeg - Thunder Bay

5. Thunder Bay - Sault Ste. Marie

6. Sault Ste. Marie -Ottawa

7. Ottawa - Morin-Heights

where are we now:

Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada

Bonjour Morin-Heights!

After eight days of driving, we've finally arrived in the french part of the Great White North. Well, almost. Because Morin-Heights is a very special place here in Quebec. Don Steward, the father of our host Dylan, describes the peculiarity of this small region in his book “The history of Morin-Heights”:

Anglo pionerrs came from Argentteuil in the south. French settlers arrived from the east. They met in what is now Morin-Heights. The ingredients were right for a clash of language, religion and culture. Instead of confronting each other, these new neighbours battled the forests and rocky farmland, and carved out the foundation for a vibrant, harmonious community.

We get along very well with speaking English because the small town is still honoring its bilingual origin. Many families only speak English at home and the children go to a French school, sometimes it's the other way around. It seems harmonious but apparently, province laws sometimes complicate the situation. If we manage to read more of Don's book, we'll be happy to pass on some more interesting facts about this little gem of a winter sports region in the next Someday Summary.

What we enjoy most though, is having a dog around again! Dalmatian Zara is living in a dreamy country house in the middle of the forest on a two-hectare property and we're the lucky ones who can join her for the next 4 weeks. We've been here for a good week now and feel very comfortable. The house is beautifully situated, comfortably furnished and we really like the open living concept on the lower floor. We've already been invited to our host's lovely parents to get to know friends and family and are motivated to make good progress on the website in the next couple of weeks. Maybe you have already discovered a few design changes here and there. ;)

Well, that was it, folks. Our Someday Summary in February 2020. It feels good to have time to write again and to reflect on the past weeks and months. As mentioned above, there will be a separate article about the full road trip because this would clearly go beyond the scope of the Someday Summary. What would you like to read about the journey? And do you think we got Rosie through the trip in one piece? We are excited to hear from you!

Have a grand day,