I've never been a beach person - nor much of a water person for that matter - there are only lakes and rivers in the land-locked Prairies scoured out of the ground by the glacial action of the last ice age and the meltwaters of the Rocky Mountains .
But, I think I could be... Place name links like Carolina Beach, NC go to Wikipedia. Place name links like Carolina Beach use the local tourism or government website.
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| 2012.09.15 |
But First, a Little Homework... |
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Still looking for reasons why I can't do this.
First up, a review of limitations on staying out of the province or in the US. There are two competing limits: 1. half-year plus one day residency in Alberta to maintain Alberta healthcare coverage, and 2. six months per calendar year maximum US stay. Lots of time to avoid some winter.
Next, my passport expires within 6 months, so I need to renew it.
The Grey Cup | |
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Standing in the local post office filling out the renewal form, there's quite a lot of commotion but I don't pay attention as I want to fill out the forms while my new photos are being prepared so I can go to the passport office and get my renewal going. Quite a lot of commotion actually, and there's a fellow taking people's email addresses to send them pictures. Of themselves with the Grey Cup ! The Cup is on tour across Canada for the CFL's 100th anniversary and it happens to be in the post office just when I'm there. I get my picture taken with it, but their website doesn't work so I can get it. You'll have to be satisfied with the pic I took. |
Now that's in process, transportation is the next issue. Wilmington and Carolina Beach are sparsely-populated for their area, so a vehicle will be essential. While airfare is pretty cheap, car rental isn't, so since I have the time I figure I'll drive. It's 48 hours of driving according to Google. I like driving and can cover a lot of ground in a day and can see some more America along the way.
With the right wheels. My old Honda Civic isn't those wheels. While I'm sure it could be serviceable it's getting a bit in a few areas and it died inexplicably on me a week after I got back from Bristol so it's really more suitable to my stay-at-home life here. It's also missing two elements I want: a sunroof or convertible top, and cruise control. So I'm car shopping in a serious way for the first time in a long long while, searching dealer websites, Googling specs and reliability experiences. I have two options: augment the Civic with a convertible, or replace it with a car with a sunroof. Options, options, options. Interesting to research for a while, but I really want to make a good decision soon.
Traveller's insurance is essential: Canadian healthcare may not do much for me in the US, so I need to get some other coverage. |
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| 2012.09.27 |
Money Well-Spent |
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Augmenting the Civic with a travel car will be cheaper than replacing it with something I'd want as a replacement. On the flipside it'll be cheaper - no warranty, unknown history and a host of things that could go wrong. I did A LOT of reading about new and used cars, hatchbacks or convertibles only but that's still a large market. For a used travel car I wanted a "creampuff" - an undervalued yet well-kept car that had been ignored by the marketplace for reasons not related to its condition and serviceability.
Tidy Wheels |
Beachy already | |
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Got one: 1997 Volkswagen Cabrio in Highline trim. 2nd lady owner, winter-stored, 163k km (100k mi), largely-unused new clutch, brakes, exhaust and paint. Stereo has a USB connection. It was the nice lady's dream car since she saw Stephanie Zimbalist drive one on Remington Steele as a teen, but a new baby made it not sensible to keep it parked mostly so it had to go, reluctantly.
Trunk will be tight for golf clubs, and cruise control module needs fixing. Unknown last timing belt replacement. It's being checked out by VW and Audi specialists Westside Automotive and fitted for the road. | |
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The Idea Strikes Me... |
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Preparations While-U-Wait |
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