DanOCan

Today ended up being a much longer day than expected.  After not going to bed until after midnight last night, we were woken by the sound of a whining dog about 5am this morning.  After ignoring him as long as humanly possible we finally caved and got up.  That meant we were on the road around 7:30am, which is much earlier than we planned on.

Our first stop was Ritzville, Washington.  I’ve always wanted to stop in Ritzville – as you fly past on Interstate 90 it just has the look of your typical small American town, complete with tree-lined streets and whatnot.  We didn’t see much of the town itself because traveling with the fifth-wheel means narrow tree-lined streets are not where you want to be.  Instead we ate at the Perkins right off the highway, which violates one of our unwritten vacation rules – never eat at any place that we have in Canada.  One of the best parts about being State-side is eating at places we don’t have at home.

We didn’t do much Geocaching on our way to Fall City.  We did pick up a couple of finds at the rest stops along I-90, but the service at Perkins was so slow it put us further behind schedule than we expected. 

Another I-90 Rest Stop in Washington

After getting settled at the RV park, I was really happy to see they offered free wireless.  Last night in Post Falls we were able to connect to someone’s open access point, but the signal was weak and thus the speed was less than stellar.  Tonight I’m enjoying full bars of service and much better speeds. 

Our main meal tonight was at XXX Root Beer Drive-In.  This place is a legend around Issaquah, WA and after visiting it last year we knew we had to come back for a second round.  We came out of there just stuffed to the gills from root beer floats, burgers and onion rings.  The sign on the door says “Nothing you can eat here is good for you.” and WOW, it’s true!  We loved it, but I’m sure hoping to get some hiking in this weekend to work it all off now.

XXX Root BeerRoot Beer Float

After XXX we had time to grab two or three more quick drive-up caches before heading to the pre-GeoWoodstock event called “Just Around the Corner from GeoWoodstock” in Carnation, WA.  Along the way we met a couple up from California who are also in town for the Geocaching events this weekend.  Really nice people.

The evening was held in a 100-year old pub called Pete’s Club Grill.  Looked really interesting and the food smelled good but, of course, we were too full from the monster meal we ate earlier to partake in any of the grub.  We only stayed for about an hour before deciding it was time to head back “home” to the trailer for the evening.  We’re hoping to get some more sleep tonight, watch the Netherlands/Brazil FIFA match tomorrow morning and then head out for some hiking and/or shopping.  It’s a fairly open day until the next Geocaching event tomorrow evening.

Been a lot of driving the last couple of days.  We’re here in Falls City, WA for the next five nights, so it will feel good to put down some roots for awhile. 

Wow, what a day it has been!  Even though I don’t feel like we accomplished much, we certainly have been on the run.

We managed to get out of the house at 6am.  The drive down Highway 22 was pretty mundane.  It was only when we got into the Crowsnest Pass that we really started to hit a lot of wind.  The fifth-wheel tracks pretty well so it wasn’t a white-knuckle experience, but it sure made our lives more interesting.  We didn’t take much time in the Pass – just a quick stop at a roadside turnout to let the dog run for a couple of minutes and we were on our way.

Our first longer stop was in Cranbrook, BC.  After filling up with diesel we parked at the Husky and made some sandwiches from the chicken leftovers from last night.  Another dog run and we were back on the road.

Our crossing at Kingsgate was a non-event.  All the Customs agent asked to see was our identification and the dog’s health record.  Few basic questions:  Where you going?  How long you staying?  Any fruit?  Any vegetables?  Is the cat healthy?  Ever had issues getting into the US before?  Nothing serious and nothing out of the ordinary.

With the towing of the trailer and our stops along the way it ended up being an eight hour trip to get to the RV park in Post Falls, ID.  Immediately after dropping the trailer we were off shopping – not for anything “good”, but for basic groceries and supplies.  Wal-mart, Cabelas, and a bite to eat.  We then returned to the trailer where I was pleased to discover we could pick up a faint wireless signal which I am using for connectivity today.  I’ve already burned through 1MB of my 75MB data plan on the iPhone, and that was just to check an to the RV park on Foursquare.

We attended a Geocaching event in Spokane, WA with a number of other people from Calgary who are making their way to Seattle as well for GeoWoodstock 8.  It was a well attended event and we met people from Michigan, New York as well as the local area.  It’s the only caching we have done on the trip so far, other than to sneak away from the truck stop to find a cache in an industrial area with some locals.

Tomorrow we’re off to Fall City, WA which will be our home for the next five nights.  No idea what my connectivity will be like there, but I hope to have some updates along the way.  There’s another Geocaching event tomorrow night but that’s our only real plans for this next day. 

Until then, keep the shiny side up!

“Hey pretty baby, won’t you hold me tight?

I’m loaded up and rolling out of here tonight.

Maybe one day I’ll settle down

and take you back with me to the Guitar Town.”

– Steve Earle, “Guitar Town”

The Beast is dirty but ready to roll.

Preparing for any trip always leaves me with equal parts excited anticipation and worry.  There is the unsettling fear of the unknown, of what lies ahead on the road.  Mechanical problems, missed turns, lost reservations, illness – these all can lay waste to the best made plans. 

Vacations are like microcosms of life.  You can prepare and plan all you want.  You may think you know where you are heading and what you’ll see when you get there, but travel – just like life itself – can throw you a curveball you never expected and leave you in a completely unexpected situation.  Life on the road is about adaptability, just like life at home.  Keep your options open, keep your head up and prepare as best you can knowing some things are just beyond your control.  The best thing you can do is enjoy the ride as best you can, knowing it will be over before you realize it.

Ya gotta live it, you may as well love it.

“We can never know about tomorrow

Still we have to choose which way to go.

You and I are standing at the crossroads

Darling, there is one thing you should know.

You’re a part of me, I’m a part of you.

Wherever we travel,

Whatever we go through.

Whatever time may take away

It cannot change the way we feel today.

So hold me close and say you feel it too.

You’re a part of me, I’m a part of you.”

— Glenn Frey, “Part of Me, Part of You”

We’re in the final stages of packing now.  Everything we don’t expect to need tomorrow morning is loaded in the fifth-wheel or tucked away in the truck.  The plan is to wake up at 5am, have a quick shower, some coffee and perhaps a bite to eat and then get rolling down the highway. 

We’ll be heading down Highway 22, a.k.a. “The Cowboy Trail” until we hit Highway 3 a.k.a “The Crowsnest Highway”.  From there we’ll angle to the west, bound for Cranbrook and our expected first fuel stop.  Then we’ll drop across the border into the panhandle of Idaho and down as far as Post Falls.

Later tomorrow night we’ll meet with a bunch of Calgarians in Spokane, WA for a Geocaching event with some of the locals.  After sharing our tales from the road and having some late night coffee to keep us awake we’ll return to the RV, settle down in our home away from home and prepare for another day on the road.

My internet access will be spotty so updates may not come all that frequently – it depends on how lucky I get with finding Wifi.  I do have my iPhone, but I only have 75MB of data on my temporary roaming plan so I need to ration that out as best I can. 

Take it easy out there and we’ll see you online, everyone!

It was a simple throwaway moment.  I was driving down 14th Street SW and as I stopped for a traffic light I looked off to my right.  There, over by the old steam engine stashed away behind the ugly chain-link fence, was a young lad accompanied by a much older gentleman.  I immediately made some quick assumptions — the young child could be no more than five years old, the man next to him was certainly his grandfather.  A second glance revealed that perhaps it could even be his great-grandfather.

The child stood next to the fence, his hands clenched through the chain-link.  Although his back was to me, I could envision the wide-eyed expression on his face as he revelled in looking at the iron behemoth sitting there just out of reach.  With his body language you could read the excitement he was experiencing in that moment, particularily when his grandfather knelt beside him and started pointing to various parts of the locomotive and explaining how things worked, undoubtedly using simplified child-level terminology.

I watched the two of them, seperated by multiple generations but joined together by their mutual fascination with the steam engine.  You could feel the pride and the enjoyment seeping from the old man’s pores as he and the young lad walked around checking things out from all sorts of angles.

Immediately my mind began to formulate a story for these two.  Three of them came from a small town somewhere in Alberta to visit Heritage Park for the day — the grandfather, a mother and the child.  The child had spotted the steam engine as they pulled into the parking lot and had screamed in excitement about wanting to see it up close.  With vague promises of “We’ll look at it later.” his mother shuttled the family up to the gate where they dutifully paid their admissions, no doubt complaining about the price under her breath.

After spending the day checking out the sights and sounds of a bygone era the three of them had worked their way back to the parking lot.  The mother was undoubtedly dragging by this point, tired and worn from keeping the young and the young-at-heart men in her life under control.  She is dreading the four-hour drive back home, especially knowing she was about to hit the evening rushhour, a situation she is ill prepared for. 

As they were loading everything into the van they young fellow spotted the train again and immediately wanted to rush across the lot to see it.  The mother, sighing with frustration, just wants to get going but her father insists “A promise is a promise.”  He and the young lad made their way over to the train, the grandfather explaining how when he was young these steam engines were a common sight, roaring across the prairies like giant mechanical dragons — breathing fire as they went.  While Mom is sitting on the driver’s seat of the van fuming, her door open and her legs dangling just above the asphalt, Grandpa is taking his time, enjoying the role of being the one in charge of spoiling the young ‘ens.

It was at that moment, with the two of them there sharing a life experience, that I happened to drive down the road.  My own frustration at hitting “yet another red light” melting away as I watch them enjoy each other’s company.

My mind races from their backstory to their future.  The young lad has now grown older, and he is visiting the park with his own children.  His wife is waiting impatiently while they check out the steam engine.  He is explaining to the kids how, when he was their age, his grandfather had showed him this same locomotive when they came to the park many years ago.  The oldest child is barely able to remember their great-grandfather, to the ones who are even younger he is nothing but the stuff of legends.  The father explains things, often parroting the exact words that were spoken to him all those years ago when he was young and some random guy happened to be sitting at a nearby stop light.

What is it I witnessed?  Was it a nothing moment that will be forgotten over the years?  Maybe.  Or, as I like to believe, I was allowed to witness a brief moment in time that will echo across the generations well into the future.

Today was a study in contrasts, of beginnings and endings.

On one hand, our rec. floor hockey team ended our season on a winning note, with a 10-4 win.  We had a tremendous season, only losing one game all year — unfortunately that game was last weekend’s first-round playoff game, which meant today all we were playing for was third place.  I’m please to report I was able to contribute my second goal of the season so at least I ended on a good note too.

As for beginnings, it was the first CFL game at McMahon Stadium this afternoon.  It was a pre-season contest against Saskatchewan, which the Stamps one easily 41-17.  It was a perfect afternoon for football — warm, tons of sunshine and a pretty good size crowd for what was essentially a nothing game. 

I’ve always loved how the CFL season mirrors the summer — you start in June with just a faint hint of hope as to what is to come.  You watch it grow through the warm months of the year, taking advantage of the sun; dealing with the rain.  Then, as the summer fades to memory the season winds down.  The days turn cooler, and instead of sitting in the stands in shorts throwing on another layer of sunblock you are sitting in the stands throwing on another layer of clothes trying to keep warm.

Then, around the time when the first snow flies it ends.  Sometimes the results are what you expected, sometimes not — just like the summer itself.  While we’d all love to experience the Norman Rockwell summers we remember from our youth, the fact is that for many of us we spend our summers sitting in the office, not playing a game of pick-up baseball.  We sit in air conditioned cars commuting into the city, not riding our bikes out into the countryside.

Whatever your goals or plans are for this summer — make the time count for it will be gone before you know it.  Cheers!