How did we get started on this list? In 2013, we sold our house in Vancouver and spent the rest of the summer in Powell River before heading to France. Our rental was a bit short of equipment so we took to thrift shopping to meet our requirements without paying too much. Even if one wanted to buy new items in Powell River, retail options are very limited. The MCC and health care auxiliaries, conveniently located virtually adjacent to each other, are popular local institutions as a result. I found my first Watkins pie plate here and came to a realisation that people do evidently discard nice, quality items.
At the time, we were using (and still use) a mapping programme published by Microsoft called Streets 'n Trips which I use to plot locations only at first and then adding addresses, opening times, websites and phone number informations when I started this blog. Not only does this give you a zoomable map of the whole continent (Canada and U.S. anyway) but by hooking up a GPS receiver, it lets you know exactly where you are. Unlike a phone GPS, you can explore what else is around and plot routes of your own rather than being blindly directed as to which direction to go as dictated by the navigation app of your choice. A 17" screen is also vastly-preferable to a 5" one. I can export the locations into a GPX file (an industry standard) which can be imported by GPS units (but not by, as far as I am aware, smart phones).
Unfortunately Microsoft - unaware (or perhaps not) that Bing, its appointed heir for smart phones, is a poor replacement - chose to discontinue Streets 'n Trips and Autoroute, its European counterpart, a couple of years ago. One may be able to find these as downloads.
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