Roadschooling and traveling with 3 people in a VW Westfalia across Canada is challenging enough, so we knew there would be days when we just took it easy. Our beloved Juju Jr. is also having some issues so we needed to figure out what was going on with our van.

Morning

We spent the night at the local Walmart in Brooks and set off for Medicine Hat. It was shortly after we got going that we heard some noises from Juju Jr. that made me pull over to check if something was loose. We heard some rattling from the engine bay and it got a bit louder.

We still don’t know what the real issue is, but Juju Jr. had run very low on oil and might need some additional work. We’ll find out tomorrow when we take him in to a local shop here in Medicine Hat.

All throughout, Ethan just rolled with everything that happened and kept being his usual happy self.

Eventually, we made it to the Medicine Hat library and stayed there until closing. Ethan spent most of the time working on the computer and watching how to videos on YouTube. We didn’t ask him to do any reading today; instead, we wanted him to also have a “day off” from the homeschooling.

Afternoon

Over lunch, Ethan taught me how to play Sudoku, as I never tried it before. He was a very good teacher and I found the game quite fun.

The library closed at 5:30 and that worked out perfectly, as we all got some rest and I got some work done. While I worked, Ethan and Dong Eun took a walk along the South Saskatchewan River and the Korean War Memorial.

Finally, it was time to see the giant Saamis Teepee and visit Canadian Tire for some motor oil.

The teepee was pretty amazing, especially the stories of the Aboriginal people painted on the inside. Since permanently relocating back to Canada, I’ve had a much greater respect and admiration for our Aboriginal neighbours and I hope Ethan will, too.

After the teepee, we headed to Canadian Tire to buy motor oil for Juju Jr. While at Canadian Tire, we wanted to buy an Alberta window sticker to put on the van, but they were sold out. Ethan had the bright idea of making his own sticker and made a happy face emoji for the back window.

Evening

We made our way to the local Walmart to spend the night. Walmart has fast become our favourite place to free camp in the Westfalia because they’re open late, have tons of cheap food (and even reasonably priced organics), free wifi that even works in the parking lot, and they let travellers use their parking lots to boondock.

During dinner, Ethan showed us how you can balance a canned drink on an angle. We had never seen something like that before so we were quite impressed.

After dinner, Ethan wanted to download Babbel on the iPhone to try learning French. I’ve mentioned that we’d love it if Ethan learned another language so we were happy to let him try it. He learned about Babbel from the Brains On Science Podcast.

We then hung out and got ready for bed. Tomorrow, we’ll head to the mechanic and get Juju Jr. looked at and fixed up. Can’t let anything stop our roadschooling trip across Canada, can we?

Costs

• Motor oil x 4: $57.08
• Groceries: $9.92
• Total: $67.00

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