Mommy.... It's OVER!!!!
and so my journey has come to a rather unceremonious end.
Sadly I have been rather unable to post in the past weeks, it seems everywhere I went there was no internet, and I just did not have the time to search out an internet cafe.
I'll try to be breif:
I headed from Winnipeg to Gravelbourg, SK, with no idea how to get ahold of my friends there, but had no problem finding them. I spent a few days at their house just 5 houses down from where I lived when I was there on Katimavik 2 years ago, and helped them move in, and hung out, and went to the totally un-exciting bar that I'd been too young to visit during my katima-occupation. apparently I didn't miss much.
I left G'bourg around noon one day, and reached Trail BC at 2am the same night. a good hike.
In Trail I set up my tent beside the road and slept, then hitched to Greenwood, past Grand Forks, to find the friends of my family at whose house I was to meet my mother. Arriving in Greenwood I couldn't remember where I'd put their phone number, so I asked at the post office and the lady there, not having their number, offered to drive me out to their house.
My mother and younger brothers arrived on the 10th, and the next day we all went on a tour of Rock Candy Mines, where we dug for crystals and enjoyed a hike through the woods. It was pretty amazing.
My road trip with my mom consisted of us heading to Vernon to visit a friend of hers, where we did toenails and watched a horse show, then up to Enderby (visiting the waterslides in between and acquiring terrible sunburns) to stay with my cousin and his wife and little daughter. We floated down the river on air mattresses and I reunited with a childhood best friend, then off we went to Green Lake to stay with some cousins I hadn't seen in 8 years at least.
I had a wonderful time with my cousins, dutch accents and laughter and teasing all around. The adults (me too now!) all went out for dinner one night and the poor restaurant, we were so loud, and my mom and I got into a small salt-and-pepper fight.... everyone was laughing and yelling.... and no one was drunk! they were just like that. I love my family.
My mother dropped me off at 108 Mile where she was heading to visit a friend, and I got a ride with a lecherous old man to Quesnel. He told me of all these women he was trying to date (he's 70 and his wife has passed) and then at the end tried to get me to kiss him. He also offered to take me to Bella Coola for a few days if I was up for it.
Nope.
so then I hitched to Barkerville with a refreshingly informative guy, who told me about gold and minerals and forests and said nothing of sleeping with women or emberassing personal problems... it was very nice.
He was only going to Wells, but he took me the extra few km into Barkerville. Very good of him. I'd picked up a free pass to Barkerville down in Greenwood at the Visitor's Info Centre (Thank you God) and I went streight to the theater and told the girl out front that I wanted to see Mr. Fontaine. Her response was "Are you Bekah?"
apparently I'm famous.... all hitching across the country and everything.
I spent 2 wonderful days with Nick and his fellow cast and crew. His mother was visiting as well, my original second mom. We had so much fun, watching shows and attending the Chinese Lantern Festival with fireworks, we saw a moose and went for a drive with Nick's girlfriend to a small lake one evening where we found a fire and a stick with marshmellows and no people! so we put out the fire and Debra (Nick's mom) ate the marshmellows and we tried to catch a frog... good times altogether.
Nick drove his mother and myself into Quesnel on Sunday morning (Debra was flying out) and I hitched to Aldergrove that night. No problems... My first ride was a really nice older guy filled with stories and information, he took me to Lytton where he lived and we talked about life and everything, and he was really great. No creepy. Thank God. Just before Lytton we stopped at a rest stop to see the canyon and river, it was gorgeous, and we ran into a young family there who had questions about the trains and stuff, and Terry (the guy who was driving me) got into a conversation with them and everything, and then we were on our way.
that same family picked me up 15 minutes down the road after Terry had dropped me off, and they were heading to Surrey so they gave me a ride to Aldergrove, where Eleah and Jon and Yank came to get me... reunited.
happy.
Some anecdotes:
I was near Lethbridge, Alberta, when a guy in his mid-40's picked me up. He was very quiet, and just before he dropped me off, he asked if he could ask me a question without scaring or offending me. I said I was neither easily offended nor easily scared, so he could go ahead. He asked if I would consider spending the night with him and assured me he'd have me back here by the next morning, early if I wanted... I told him sorry, my boyfriend wouldn't approve and I'm not exactly into that, but I thanked him for the politeness of his proposition, and for the ride, and that was that. He apalogized and said he was going through a divorce and lonely, and I wished him a good night and left.
The most polite proposition I've recieved, I have to say.
The next person to pick me up was my first and only female trucker. She and her husband were driving identical trucks, she was behind him, and he figured I'd rather ride with a woman, so she was the one who stopped. She was very nice, and a christian, and 24 years old. She'd beend driving for almost 2 years, and riding with her husband for 4. We talked and blared the christian radio and joked with her husband over the CB (she let me use it too) and played with her dog... it was a good few hours. They were heading to the US in Creston, but there was as truck with us as we reached Creston that they knew, so they asked him if he'd like to take on a passenger, he said sure, and we pulled over in a Husky Station and I switched, and kept on till 2am and Trail. a long haul.
OK, I think that's all my fingers can take. More reflections and anecdotes will most likely be added later on, as well as my predictions for my next trip.
I can't believe it's over.
Sadly I have been rather unable to post in the past weeks, it seems everywhere I went there was no internet, and I just did not have the time to search out an internet cafe.
I'll try to be breif:
I headed from Winnipeg to Gravelbourg, SK, with no idea how to get ahold of my friends there, but had no problem finding them. I spent a few days at their house just 5 houses down from where I lived when I was there on Katimavik 2 years ago, and helped them move in, and hung out, and went to the totally un-exciting bar that I'd been too young to visit during my katima-occupation. apparently I didn't miss much.
I left G'bourg around noon one day, and reached Trail BC at 2am the same night. a good hike.
In Trail I set up my tent beside the road and slept, then hitched to Greenwood, past Grand Forks, to find the friends of my family at whose house I was to meet my mother. Arriving in Greenwood I couldn't remember where I'd put their phone number, so I asked at the post office and the lady there, not having their number, offered to drive me out to their house.
My mother and younger brothers arrived on the 10th, and the next day we all went on a tour of Rock Candy Mines, where we dug for crystals and enjoyed a hike through the woods. It was pretty amazing.
My road trip with my mom consisted of us heading to Vernon to visit a friend of hers, where we did toenails and watched a horse show, then up to Enderby (visiting the waterslides in between and acquiring terrible sunburns) to stay with my cousin and his wife and little daughter. We floated down the river on air mattresses and I reunited with a childhood best friend, then off we went to Green Lake to stay with some cousins I hadn't seen in 8 years at least.
I had a wonderful time with my cousins, dutch accents and laughter and teasing all around. The adults (me too now!) all went out for dinner one night and the poor restaurant, we were so loud, and my mom and I got into a small salt-and-pepper fight.... everyone was laughing and yelling.... and no one was drunk! they were just like that. I love my family.
My mother dropped me off at 108 Mile where she was heading to visit a friend, and I got a ride with a lecherous old man to Quesnel. He told me of all these women he was trying to date (he's 70 and his wife has passed) and then at the end tried to get me to kiss him. He also offered to take me to Bella Coola for a few days if I was up for it.
Nope.
so then I hitched to Barkerville with a refreshingly informative guy, who told me about gold and minerals and forests and said nothing of sleeping with women or emberassing personal problems... it was very nice.
He was only going to Wells, but he took me the extra few km into Barkerville. Very good of him. I'd picked up a free pass to Barkerville down in Greenwood at the Visitor's Info Centre (Thank you God) and I went streight to the theater and told the girl out front that I wanted to see Mr. Fontaine. Her response was "Are you Bekah?"
apparently I'm famous.... all hitching across the country and everything.
I spent 2 wonderful days with Nick and his fellow cast and crew. His mother was visiting as well, my original second mom. We had so much fun, watching shows and attending the Chinese Lantern Festival with fireworks, we saw a moose and went for a drive with Nick's girlfriend to a small lake one evening where we found a fire and a stick with marshmellows and no people! so we put out the fire and Debra (Nick's mom) ate the marshmellows and we tried to catch a frog... good times altogether.
Nick drove his mother and myself into Quesnel on Sunday morning (Debra was flying out) and I hitched to Aldergrove that night. No problems... My first ride was a really nice older guy filled with stories and information, he took me to Lytton where he lived and we talked about life and everything, and he was really great. No creepy. Thank God. Just before Lytton we stopped at a rest stop to see the canyon and river, it was gorgeous, and we ran into a young family there who had questions about the trains and stuff, and Terry (the guy who was driving me) got into a conversation with them and everything, and then we were on our way.
that same family picked me up 15 minutes down the road after Terry had dropped me off, and they were heading to Surrey so they gave me a ride to Aldergrove, where Eleah and Jon and Yank came to get me... reunited.
happy.
Some anecdotes:
I was near Lethbridge, Alberta, when a guy in his mid-40's picked me up. He was very quiet, and just before he dropped me off, he asked if he could ask me a question without scaring or offending me. I said I was neither easily offended nor easily scared, so he could go ahead. He asked if I would consider spending the night with him and assured me he'd have me back here by the next morning, early if I wanted... I told him sorry, my boyfriend wouldn't approve and I'm not exactly into that, but I thanked him for the politeness of his proposition, and for the ride, and that was that. He apalogized and said he was going through a divorce and lonely, and I wished him a good night and left.
The most polite proposition I've recieved, I have to say.
The next person to pick me up was my first and only female trucker. She and her husband were driving identical trucks, she was behind him, and he figured I'd rather ride with a woman, so she was the one who stopped. She was very nice, and a christian, and 24 years old. She'd beend driving for almost 2 years, and riding with her husband for 4. We talked and blared the christian radio and joked with her husband over the CB (she let me use it too) and played with her dog... it was a good few hours. They were heading to the US in Creston, but there was as truck with us as we reached Creston that they knew, so they asked him if he'd like to take on a passenger, he said sure, and we pulled over in a Husky Station and I switched, and kept on till 2am and Trail. a long haul.
OK, I think that's all my fingers can take. More reflections and anecdotes will most likely be added later on, as well as my predictions for my next trip.
I can't believe it's over.