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Column: Let's take a vacation

An opinion piece on the challenges of planning for a vacation and the joys of being home.
Sun Kissed Lake
Lake Diefenbaker

My husband and I had been planning a vacation for a while. We had talked about it for several weeks and it was decided that we would take some time to relax and enjoy some sightseeing.

It is not an easy task for us to take time off, as we have a daughter that struggles with separation anxiety, but it is something that we agreed would be good for her to experience being away from us, even if it was not long.

We talked about our plans at great length with her to prepare her and help her understand everything would be okay. I am not sure if it was her that I was reassuring or if it was me.

Plans were in motion. Krystle would stay with a good friend of the family. Our horses are at her house, so this would make it better for Krystle.

Our three dogs would also need a place. One little dog would go with Krystle, as this is her dog. One is our pup who went to the kennel. This would be good for her to socialize with other dogs as she is timid. The third doggie would come with us, as she is my little dog and it would be best for her and me.

I had to make sure my interviews were scheduled around this vacation as I did not want to miss a paper.

Hubby did the same for his work, as we both love our jobs and did not want to leave anyone hanging.

Our cats would receive a couple of litter boxes, and two large bowls of food and water, so we were set to go.

I am not sure how other people handle going on a vacation, but this was very stressful for me.

My tomatoes were ready and needed to be canned, and I had a counter full of zucchini. This all needed to be done before we left, and it was the day before departure.

We were leaving on a Tuesday morning, so the kennel pup left Monday afternoon. This was more difficult than when I left my kids at the sitter when they were little.

Finally, it was the Tuesday morning and I had still not packed a thing. What would I need and how much? Really, how do people do this? I was a basket case.

We enjoy road trips as there are so many things in this province that are beautiful and interesting to see, and we had not seen a lot of them.

In the truck we brought Krystle to her friends, whose place was on the way. I put on a brave face, saying she was going to do great and that our friend would keep her busy, which she did.

Heading north we went through the Qu’Appelle Valley and hills, continuing until we came to Big Quill Lake. From there we went west.

It was our plan to see Lake Diefenbaker but had no idea road construction was lengthy.

Taking an extra two hours to get to our first destination, we finally arrived at the lake. This dam is huge and long, a truly amazing site to see, if you have not seen it.

The road construction was rough and at times we were not sure which side of the road to travel on, as there were no signs or flag people. The dust was incredible.

We went to the second dam, and by this time we needed to find a room for the night. This in itself was a task, as many of these small towns did not have a motel that was open.

We did settle in for the night and at this time, I was ready to go home and lucky for me, so was hubby.

The following morning, we headed home, picked up our daughter and our dog, and settled in the comfort of our home.

We were gone for one day and night, but it felt like a week.

All we need is a backyard fire, good food and good friends to relax and enjoy life.




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