We left our house yesterday,  As we left, I couldn’t help but notice that our house had a certain sparkle – the outcome of hours spent downsizing, cleaning and planning. Our house feels rural, as it is situated on 5 acres of maple trees, but it is only 10 minutes from the closest Starbucks.

But, we have left that chapter behind us – at least for the time being. Soon, our St Francis 50 catamaran will be our new home. And, the ocean will be our new landscape.

August 15th is our target date to sail. In the interim, we have moved to a local campground. We were supposed to have been at the campground a week ago, but we were really busy.

Ottawa is in the middle of some unseasonably cool temperatures. It was raining yesterday. This was unfortunate as no one likes rain on a moving day.

During the day, my husband made multiple trips to our campsite. With our kids glued to the DVD player in our van, my husband put up our tent alone, in a rainy downpour, while I finished packing up our house.

We were finished packing at a respectable 8 o’clock pm. But my husband returned later to install some lights and to do some final cleaning. The rain was a rude intrusion to the pride and excitement we felt after packing up our house.

It rained to the point that, before we went to bed, we had to bail out the water from our tent base using a plastic container. By 9 pm I was scanning the tent for warm clothes with a small flashlight, as my children wailed to go to bed. My eldest child, Betty, was sick with a fever, and folded herself about in her cot, complaining of tummy pain.

To deal with the remaining water, we used towels, and lined the entire tent with a huge, blue, crackling tarp.

We woke up this morning and heard the rain pit-patter on the tent fly.  But we were warm and dry. Betty made two new friends this morning, and by lunchtime the sun was out.

We are probably the only tent for miles with toolboxes and power tools tucked beneath the tent fly extensions.

Life is good, and this going to be a great adventure.