Chapter One
The freedom of the road - no one telling you what to do, no commitments, planning your own adventure, seeing places you've never been - sounds exciting? It did to me!
At the time I made the decision to buy Ethel I was living in a tiny Yukon town west of Whitehorse. It was winter. The days were getting longer but darkness still came early and if I was lucky I could get out for a ski after school.
The Yukon educational system allows most rural community schools two weeks off at March Break. The reasoning is that it takes a day of travelling to get to Whitehorse from most communities and then another day to catch a plane to wherever you may be going. That leaves only 2 or 3 days at the destination before turning around and coming back home. Thus, the 2 weeks off at March Break.
I was excited since I've never had 2 weeks off at March Break and I knew that I never would again. I accepted a one year contract to teach in the Yukon and was on an unpaid leave from the board I worked at in Ontario. I planned to spend this March Break travelling to either Vancouver, Edmonton or Calgary. It all depended on where I found a van to go see.
Most evenings I scoured the internet ads reading postings for vans and emailing their owners.
I found Ethel on a site like Craigslist. From her picture she looked to be in good condition - no rust and she was an attractive blue with a white cab on top. Extra storage space is always good, plus a friend of mine from Ontario was supposed to be joining me this summer for part of the trip. That extra storage space may be able to be turned into a sleeping spot.
It looked promising. I emailed the owner. Her father replied that yes I could come and see it. They lived in North Vancouver. This how my travel plans for that March Break began to form.
