In nearly 21 years, we’ve never been apart this long, nearly 21 days! Never mind breakdowns, uncaring dealerships or even the two days of near-freezing rain high in the Rocky Mountains that I had to drive through to get here. In a matter of hours, the love of my life will soon be here.
Which is why I’m up at the ungodly hour of 6 a.m. (well, ungodly for me anymore), writing this and doing laundry, getting all the chores out of the way.
The bike is completely unpacked. I’m sorting out what I no longer need or never needed in the first place. I’m keeping all the cool weather gear. If I don’t need it now that I’m just about through the Rockies, I’m sure I will when I get to the Maritimes and Newfoundland in late August. But I have some souvenirs and some B.C. and Alberta guide books I won’t be needing in the foreseeable future.
I’d also like to ship this head cold to somewhere, anywhere, other than here. Achhoo!
Coming over the Coquihalla Summit at 2C in a driving rain, no pun intended, was not my best idea. But three unexpected down days waiting for repairs in Vancouver necessitated some hard charging, weather be damned, if I wanted to see Mindy before September. And I did!
I almost blew off my planned overnight stay in Kelowna. But I really wanted to catch up with some former colleagues, especially Gary Nylander, a talented photographer now working for the Kelowna Courier these past 30 years since we last worked together as youngsters, really, in Brampton. Gary has photographic proof that we were young and foolish in those days. Over breakfast at IHOP, we shared some old war stories, talked about our
houses, our newspaper jobs, folks we know or knew, the usual. But mostly we talked about Gary’s stunning large format black-and-white photographs, which are miles away from the mundane subject matter of day-to-day photo-journalism.
Not to say that that isn’t artistic in its own right. Gary has taken several photos chosen as Canadian Press picture-of-the-month winners and won CP’s News Photo of the Year award in 2003 for his work covering the devastating Okanagan forest fires that year.
I especially like Gary’s shots of old machine shops, driftwood, wooden railway trestles and boatyards. He took some really nice shots at the Cowichan boatyard, where Mindy's Uncle Syd and Aunt Elaine had a cafe many years ago.
His work has been the subject of gallery exhibitions from Victoria to Boston, including the Fogg Museum of Art at Harvard University! Not too shabby for a kid from Langford! Please look up Gary’s work at his website, http://www.garynylander.com/
As we bid goodbye, the rain lifted briefly and I took that as my cue to blow town. I wasn’t able to meet up with my friend Portia, a former colleague now a painter and writer in Kelowna. Oh well, next time!
I got out as far as Clearwater on BC Hwy. 97, which runs along the shore of Lake Okanagan. You can still see the bald patches where the burned trees have yet to grow back a decade or more later.
Some stunning views out over the lake caught my eye and I stopped to take a few pix, bearing in mind I’ve never been a great photo-snapper. (Which perhaps explains why I did't get a shot of Gary and had ro appropriate his Facebook pic!)
Gary was just one of several shooters who covered up my liabilities in that regard over nearly 25 years as a reporter. Thanks, folks; you know who you are! One thing I did notice at one scenic lookout near Vernon, B.C., was that there was a better shot behind me and it‘s worth taking a 360-degree look at the landscape!! Don’t just accept that the “best” view is in front of you. A lot of this trip is about looking back! Deep, eh?
The rain began lashing down again outside Enderby. Or is that Enderby Outside? And by the time I made Sicamous, I had a full body shiver going that even the new Scott suit and my heated seat couldn’t conquer.
The travel trailers, boats and rented RVs are just beginning to clog the mountain roads and byways. I think I’m lucky to be headed out of the Rockies and into the long, straight stretches of the Canadian Prairies before the trickle becomes a mad rush, slowing progress to a crawl. That won’t likely happen until I hit Ontario a couple of weeks from now.
From Sicamous, I hauled tail through intermittent showers into Revelstoke, a town I’d first heard of on a live recording by Canadian folksinger Murray McLauchlan, who worked in a lumber camp nearby, peeling bark off logs with a high-pressure water hose! I’m sure it has other charms, but that’s what it means to me.
The lodge at Three Valley Gap appears to float on the water of Three Valley Lake. Not for the first time on this ride, I made a U-turn to back and take a photo. One of my better ones, eh, Gary? Could have used a longer lens, perhaps.
I decided to keep moving on the twisting, winding highway as it followed the Kicking Horse River into Golden. Mindy and I went river-rafting here on our honeymoon in 1996. Exhilarating, but the water's only 3C in high summer!!
In Golden, I met Rod and Christy who were returning to Fairbanks, Alaska from their winter home in New Mexico. Rod showed me a nifty tire repair system he carries with him after his Harley Road King developed a flat outside Whitehorse at the start of a Canadian three-day long weekend. He was forced to limp on nearly 1,000 kilometers, stopping every 120 clicks or so to pump air into his front tire!!
It was either that or spend three days waiting for the tire shop to open. I guess you have to be resilient to live up there. Nice folks.
Got a few friends here who live and work year-round in this idyllic setting. Some came out after hiugh school in Cobourg and never went back. Looking around, it's not hard to wonder why.
Must ask them if it ever gets boring, being constantly surrounded by such natural beauty of the forests and awe-inspiring mountains. But that will have to wait. Mindy’s due shortly and I have to go move wash into the dryer!
Hey, one more thing. Please consider a donation to the Ride for Sight. It’s easy, just go here and follow the bouncing ball.
I found your blog here Eoin, looks great! and thanks for the mention about my work. It was great meeting with you after all of these years, you have not changed a bit!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gary. It was a real pleasure. Hopefully it won't be as long between visits.
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