From Whitehorse to Oslo

"Daddy is NOT a ratbag," one of the Mountain Kidlets piped up in retort to my apparent defamation of their Mountain Dad. I swear I don't harangue him all the time but it seems quite common of late. Though more than a week has passed since we left our home, most of our belongings, many of our loved ones and our dear home Whitehorse, still not enough time has passed for Shea and I to shake our tiff's. We continue to disagree on many of each other's actions and behaviour of the last few days in Whitehorse. 

It was crazy times, my friends. Tensions ran high as we packed and attempted to tie up loose ends that seemed to multiply as tempers frayed. Shea was sanding a door and fitting it to our downstairs storage room, mere hours before we flew out. Friends and family dropped by so we were rarely alone as the race to leave hit a frenzied pace and boxes would be whisked away from me before I'd even had a chance to label them. I packed our bags, then Shea unpacked them and did it better. I unloaded our pantry into boxes for a friend to get rid of the excess food, Mountain Dad brought much of it back into the house so he could bring it travelling. The hot water system broke and we had to shower at the neighbours before jumping in our car to make the plane. I left all the cash that Shea had withdrawn for traveling in a basket in the house. Shea had no socks. 

We're still processing the process of leaving. And quietly thanking our good fortune, that our family and friends rallied around us to help us pack the house and who continue to tie up all the loose ends that we left behind. 

But we did catch the plane and though Adelaide sobbed all the way through security until the plane took off and we could start the TV for her, we did try to shift into holiday mode. It's funny though, that there is a difference between holiday-mode and traveling-mode. Mountain Dad and I have been reflecting on that as we mosey our way north through Norway. We're heading to a Workaway Farm-stay where we, or rather Mountain Dad, will volunteer for two weeks in exchange for free accommodation for the rest of us. And it's been beautiful and educational and fills us with wonder, but it's certainly not relaxing. We've swapped the stress of leaving with the stress of trying to calculate exchange rates and foreign transport. I think once we're settled in our Workaway we'll have time to take a breath. Until then, here we are exploring Norway thus far...

Home schooling while 'wild' camping

Playing with 'Charlsea' while wild camping

Roros

                                          Trondheim