Americans by Birth, Canadians by Choice

Today's the second anniversary of Wayne's and my landing as a permanent residents in Canada. Wayne's a little more worldly than me having lived in New York, New Jersey, Texas and California. I was a Los Angeles County babe, born and raised. But we both were well traveled thanks to our airplane 997.

We discovered Powell River BC in 2000 during a flying camping trip to BC. Actually, that's not the whole truth. We discovered Powell River twenty years earlier as a gas stop on a similar trip. But, first impressions aren't always accurate.

We needed fuel and Powell River seemed a likely spot. It was "obvious" it was an industrial mill town, so we flew off to a remote strip to camp for the night. But in 2000 we took the time to stay, and that's all it took. That one night stretched into the full two weeks we had for our summer vacation. The next December we returned to see if we could handle the winters. The answer was a resounding yes, but we couldn't find a suitable property for part-time visitors.

The next summer we almost didn't return, but something drew us back at the last minute. And that's the real beginning of the story. We decided to rent a tin boat so we could explore Powell Lake. We packed a picnic and headed for Goat Lake. On the way we saw the most amazing sight, float cabins dotting the shore. We were very excited about what we saw. So much so, that we asked the proprietor at the boat rental if there were any for sale. He said yes, but he was sure we wouldn't like it. It was right next to a big rock wall.

Well, if you've followed my blog you know that was the turning point of our lives. Yes, we had to go back to LA for a few years to complete our careers, but every holiday we returned to our float cabin on Powell Lake. We started living our dream. But after we retired (early for both of us), we wanted more. We wanted to live the dream full time, and that required applying for residency. So we chose to become Canadians. It was a huge step, but one we took with great enthusiasm.

Like the lines in Sloan's song "The Rest of My Life:"

One thing I know about
The rest of my life
I know that I’ll be
Living it in Canada

Thank you Powell River and Canada for letting us truly follow our dream. -- Margy