Buying a Truck

September 29th - October 18th

What a busy few weeks!!  The search for a truck for us to buy continued since I last mentioned it, and in fact it started to somewhat consume our time.  As the sale of the vehicle we were currently using approached, it became more and more important that we find a truck to purchase, but many times it seemed that there were very few reasonably priced trucks in good condition for sale, and what few there were, got bought up too quickly for us to pursue.  Now that we are living in a house for the winter it is quite important that we have a truck so that we can go and gather firewood.  As Kiki was our “truck” last year, now we need a real truck for this year.  

We were lucky that my parents in Victoria were willing to help us with looking for a vehicle, as it was quite a challenging task to do from Ocean Falls.  There was one truck that looked good, the ad was posted at 10pm on a Friday night, my mom called about it on Saturday morning since we were working, and there were already three people lined up to see it.  It sold before noon.  My parents went and looked at several trucks for us and they gave them a very meticulous inspection, but none were the right one; most were over priced for their condition and mileage.  

Throughout our work shift from September 29th - October 6th Jason would check for new ads in the morning, then we would go to work and when we got home he would look again.  If there were any promising ones we would e-mail or phone about them, and then pursue further from there.  We finally decided to contact the owner of a truck that had been listed for a couple of months in the Comox Valley.   Jason had been looking at the ad for a while, but since it was up in Comox, it was too far to ask my parents to go and have a look at it.  After speaking with the owner several times about the truck, we decided to get more serious.  We purchased a Carfax report of the vehicle’s history, and then asked the owner if he would be willing to take the truck to an independent mechanic for us, for a mechanical inspection for.  Understanding our situation the owner happily agreed.  A very thorough mechanical inspection got done, we reviewed the report, we talked to the owner a few more times, and then we made an agreement pending a test drive.  At that point things came together quickly, and on Sunday evening (October 4th) it was decided that I would fly out on the crew-change plane on Tuesday (October 6th), the last day of our shift.  Since, due to the ferry schedules, I would be unable to get back home until after the start of our next shift, Jason could not come with me.  We could not both be away from work. 

Tuesday came quickly, and I got on the Goose style floatplane and flew out with my two co-workers.   The floatplane ride was awesome.  

I got to sit up in front with the pilot and my side window was a bubble window.  

I was able to stick my head out into the bubble and look straight down.  Just outside of Cousins Inlet I saw three whales; it was pretty cool to see them from the air.  The whole flight was spectacular as I got to trace our journey of the past year.   I could point out every point of land and remember memories from our times last year; each anchorage, each fishing spot, each whale sighting, each adventure.  It was awesome.  

The Goose style of floatplanes were designed by Mr. Gurmman in the early 1930s when he was approached by a group of New York business men who wanted a luxury and versatile aircraft.  In May of 1937 the first flight was done in a Gurmman Goose aircraft and since then they have been widely used by search and rescue, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal Air Force, the United States Navy, and for passenger transport.  In total 345 Gooses were built, and it is estimated today that only fifty or less remain in operation. 

We landed in Port Hardy, and I rode with my co-workers down to Campbell River.  My parents met me there, and we concluded the purchase of the truck and drove down to Victoria.  My driver’s licence had expired on my birthday, and although I had called ICBC, they had refused to issue an extension over the phone.  Once my trip to Victoria was confirmed we tried to get me a licence-renewal appointment in Courtney, but they were already booking into November.  Luckily my mom was able to book me an appointment for Thursday morning (October 8th) in Victoria, but it meant that I could not drive the truck down to Victoria on the Tuesday.  My dad drove and I rode with him, while my mom followed behind in the car.  We got home to my parents’ place in Victoria after midnight on the Tuesday night.    The next nine days were very busy.  I took the truck in to a mechanic to get some work done on it that we knew was needed from the inspection, renewed my licence, and went up to visit my grandfather in Okanagan Falls.  

Praying Mantis in Okanagan Falls

 

While visiting with my grandfather I managed to find an ad for a Tonneau cover that would fit our truck.  It was the only ad for one that would work for our vehicle, and it was in Langley, which would be easy for us to drive through on the way back to Victoria, and it was still available.  The owner was willing to hold it for us, so after a lovely visit with my grandfather, my mom and I drove back down to Victoria on Sunday (October 11th), and I purchased the Tonneau cover on the way.  It was in perfect shape!  What good timing, and what a find.  

The rest of my time in Victoria was spent preparing to come back to Ocean Falls.  Shopping, shopping, shopping.  I had a very long list of things that Jason and I wanted, and also a list of items that friends of ours had requested as well.  My mom and I drove around picking up miscellaneous items from different places, and then did a few large shops at Costco and Walmart.  It was a productive, money-spending time.  Among many other heavy items, I purchased three 10kg bags of flour.  10kg of flour is 20lbs, so I got 60lbs of flour, which if we had gotten that shipped up on the barge in our regular grocery order it would have cost $30 just to ship the flour.   It is amazing how much the cost of shipping heavy items adds up.  

On Thursday morning (October 15th) the truck was ready for me to pick up, and since I now had my licence, it was the first time that I got to drive the truck.  It drove great!  

Luckily we had nice weather on that Thursday, and my dad and I installed our Tonneau cover.  I then proceeded to bring everything out onto the lawn to sort, pack, and organize.  

There was a lot of stuff, and our truck was full.  

On Friday I drove up to Port Hardy where I spent the night visiting with a friend, and on Saturday my parents drove up to Port Hardy from Victoria as well.  I met them at the Port Hardy airport and after transferring a bin of frozen items, as well as a bin of fresh produce into the truck, they parked their car, and we drove to the ferry terminal.   

We had not thought to reserve on the ferry, and when my mom called the terminal a couple of days before to ask a question about timing, she was told that the ferry was sold out and that there was a waitlist.  We became ninth on the waitlist, and worried that we might not get on.  Our fingers were crossed.  When we arrived at the ferry terminal 3.5 hours in advance, we were given tickets.  Yay!!  The ferry did not end up loading until two hours after its scheduled departure time, and since it was a single-ended ferry everyone had to back on board.  Once we were on, we were surprised to see how much room there still was on the vehicle deck.  There was no need for us to have been worried, and it seemed weird that we were told that it was sold out, but either way, we were just happy to be on. 

We left Port Hardy at 8pm on Saturday night, and we arrived into Ocean Falls on Sunday morning (October 18th) at just after 07:30.  We had been up for a couple of hours between 01:00-03:00 to drive off of the ferry in Bella Bella, and waited for the Northern Adventure to leave (which was continuing on to Prince Rupert) and for the Northern Sea Wolf (which would take us to Ocean Falls) to arrive, and then we drove onto that ferry.  Needless to say the three of us were tired when we arrived home in Ocean Falls, but we also had a truck load of stuff that needed unpacking and putting away, including the bin full of frozen food.  It took us about four hours to unload the truck, unpack each box, and get everything organized and put away.  My mom did a great job of organizing one of the small downstairs rooms into a perfect pantry for us, and all of our cupboards and closets are now full.  

Jason, of course, had left for work before my parents and I got home, so it was not until after 18:00 that Jason and I got to see each other, and Jason got to see our new truck.   

Ocean Falls' dam with the lowest amount of water that we have seen yet.

The dam with the highest amount of water that we have seen yet, and this was just ten days after the one shown above.