So, we are finally back home settled somewhat into life in
Vancouver after our 3 months away. And after many days of traveling, a week
spent with family in Kelowna, another 5 days back in Vancouver with the worst
flu I can remember, and about 20 hours of unpacking and re-organizing, I
finally have a chance to sit down and recall some of the fond memories we endured over the last 2.5 weeks.
Thursday April 19th we loaded up the car and said good-bye
to our 270 square foot cottage in Oceanside and hello to the 50 square foot
station wagon where we would be spending the next 3 days. From Oceanside to
Ukiah (the town where Doug and Stephanie live) is about 11 hours so our plan was
to go for about 7 or 8 hours, spend the night somewhere, and then have a short
drive to Ukiah on Friday. The weather was hot—30 degrees outside and about 35
degrees in the car. No air conditioning meant the windows were open and that
meant no talking, just yelling occasionally if something really needed to be
said. Freddie didn’t get it at first but after a little while she figured it
out. As we got closer to the 8 hour mark we decided to stop in Los Banos at
about 6pm. We checked into our hotel and headed for the closest Mexican style
restaurant for some margaritas—our reward for baking all day on the Freeway.
Freddie’s reward was her favorite, a burger and fries.
We went back to the hotel at 7:30 and after a long swim in
the pool we got into our room at about 9. Realizing that the air conditioner
wasn’t working I suggested to Steve that we (he) complain. Steve thought we
should forget about it. After being in the hot car all day he didn’t feel like
talking to anyone. I, on the other hand, thought we at least deserved to be
comfortable for our sleeping hours, so I convinced him to go get someone. The
manager came to the room, banged around on the air conditioner a bit, shrugged
his shoulders and said “you can change rooms if you want”. Steve wasn’t
interested, but since the other room was right next door I convinced him it
would be a good idea. It took 15 minutes or so and we were glad to be in a
cooler room but I don’t like to let sleeping dogs lie. I thought cool wasn’t
good enough; we needed to compensated for our loss—you know, that 15 minutes it
took to change rooms. So I stopped the manager and after a brief explanation of
our expectations and what seemed like an eternal stare down, he begrudgingly
agreed to give us 10% off. We saved a bit I guess. I got to pick on someone,
Steve got to feel his effort was worth something, and we all got a cool night’s
sleep.
Friday morning we awoke to even warmer temperatures. Leaving
Los Banos at about 10am got us to Ukiah at 3pm and we went to a park for an
hour so we could all cool off. Freddie played for a bit and then we stopped for
the night at Doug and Stephanie’s. When we got to their house the thermometer
outside their window read 34 degrees. It was the perfect temperature for
hanging out on their patio and eating some BBQ. Stephanie didn’t have to work that night so we got to see
both of them and we had a great time telling stories about our trip and hearing
about what they had been up to over the last 2 and a half months since we saw
them last. I went to bed a little earlier since Steve and I had been tossing
around the idea of a straight trip from Ukiah to Kelowna the next day.
Steve, sad to leave California.
Saturday morning Freddie waited for us in the car while we
loaded up our things and kept saying, “let’s go, let’s go!” We waved goodbye to
Doug and Stephanie and headed out of Ukaih at 10am ready for our very long 21hr
drive to Kelowna.
Northern California is very beautiful country. We were
taking mental snap shots as we drove through trying to imbed the last visual
memories of this incredible trip. Vancouver is a beautiful place too, but it’s
definitely lacking in the sunny days department.
Mount Shasta
We drove past a Vietnam War Memorial Garden and pulled in to
take some pictures.
At 7pm, a few hours out of California, we stopped in Bend
Oregon for some really bad dinner (we had planned to have a good dinner but
that didn’t work out). We made one last shopping stop for some tax-free liquor
and a few snacks for the road. It had been another hot day in the car but by 9pm
we rolled up the windows and Freddie watched a some tv on the phone while Steve
and I enjoyed the relative quietness of the car and thought about the hours of
driving ahead. If all went according to plan we would be in Kelowna at 7am
Freddie eventually fell asleep and Steve decided to keep
driving while I tried to sleep without any luck. At 12:30am we traded seats and
he tried to sleep while I drove until 2:30am. This is when I realized I had
forgotten to notice the gas gauge (classic), and we were running very low on
fuel with no gas stations in sight. We pulled over to try and figure out where
we were and how far it was to the nearest gas station. 10 miles and we would be
in a town, but would they have an open gas station at 3:00am? We drove the 10
miles and made it into the closed gas station on fumes. We thought we might just
sleep in the car and wait until they opened. But then Steve thought we should
at least check if the pumps were running. Most of you who have traveled to the
States have experienced that you can’t pay at the pump without a zip code,
somehow this gas station was different and had no zip code requirement, so we
filled up and just kept driving. Steve took over since he was all jazzed up
from the whole almost running out of gas
thing, and I finally slept. At about 4am I woke up again and we both tried
to keep each other awake as we headed closer to Canadian soil. We got to the
border at about 5am and since there was no line at the crossing, and he hadn’t
really slept in 20 hours, Steve didn’t notice the stop light at the crossing
gate. He stopped, just not right at the light where he was supposed to. This
caused a bit of a commotion. There were no guards in the booth but when we
pulled through two of them came running, hands on their guns yelling at Steve
to pull the car back. Anyway, they calmed down when they realized we weren’t
trying to do anything. I’m not really sure what we would have been trying to
do, but it makes for a funny picture: Sleep deprived driver rolls through
Osoyoos border crossing going 3kms/hr, border guards chase on foot in hot
pursuit, guns firing—“Stop” they yell, “You can’t go in there!! You have to
throw those perishables in the trash! The trash!!” They say trash because they’re so close to the boarder of course, and Americans don't know what you're talking about when you say "garbage". Anyway, we made it through with no bullet holes. I drove
from that point and Steve slept, waking with the occasional jerk to see if I
was still awake. Driving through the night is not safest way to travel that is
true, but it sure is a lot quieter when you have a child in the car who, when
awake, only wants to listen her audio book, “Horton Hears a Who”, over and over
and over.
Freddie being very sweet.
Sunday morning 6:45am we arrived at my parents house, felt
slightly bad for waking them up, talked about how tired we were until they
offered to watch Freddie while we slept, and woke up a few hours later to have
breakfast with them.
Kelowna was great and very busy, as it always is. There were
a couple of birthday parties—one at each set of Grandparents’. We visited with
friends and caught up on everything. Freddie got to go to a farm and pick up
some chicks with Grandpa. She named them Henny and Penny. Freddie’s time was
spent either holding chicks or playing with cousins. We all appreciated the
time being social again.
Monday night I spent all the hours I should have been
sleeping awake in the w/c with the most horrible stomach flu. Tuesday morning I
lay on the couch as limp and pale as a dying E.T. while Steve packed up the car
for the final time. We drove to Vancouver, the shortest drive of our whole trip
so far.
The house was fine, and the sub-letters took good care of everything.
The 5 days of flu finally ended. Freddie hasn’t wanted to leave the house yet;
I think she’s afraid we might take her away again. Besides there’s so many toys
and so much space, why would she want to leave?! Steve is thrilled to be back
in the studio. I’m glad to be back in my own space with all the conveniences
and none of the surprises. But, even with all the comforts that home brings I
think the travel bug has bitten us all and I wouldn’t be surprised if a trip
like this happens again. Not right away though, we’re not that crazy. For now
we are happy to be back in the warm arms of our friends and family and the not
so warm arms of Vancouver.
The End
