Road trip !!!

Oct. 16 & 17, 2013

When I was a little kid, maybe about 10 or 12, my parents bought a 5 acre lot on a cliff top overlooking Eagle Bay on Shuswap Lake.  It was fantastic!  I'll save the stories about what we actually did there... like herding a cow into the gravel pit to see if we could ride it... or using that same gravel pit for target practice with the .22 and dad's hunting rifle... or stripping small trees to use as poles for the creation of the world's best bunk house (now, cleverly disguised as a tool shed by the lucky folks who bought the property years later)... or the adventures to be had, sunbathing on the beach and skinny dipping in the lake, and rowing about in the RV (that'd be 'rowing vessel') Firefly.., fashioned after a Sabot 8' dinghy and painted brilliant red,. that dad built in the basement for us and that Marga (well she's another story) used to float about during basement floods, collecting the laundry... anyway, back to the lake... fishing... and fishing... and fishing.... absolutely certain there were fish in the lake, 'n stuff like that. I'll save those stories for another day.  Today, this story is about the road trip.. the travel between here and there... between the Vancouver I knew as a kid... and the glorious wilderness of Shuswap Lake country in the early 1960's.... very early.

We were three... little girls that is... and we were sisters.  Now there's no doubt that sisters love each other.. and we do... but three little sister girls, well... just sometimes that love became a bit territorial.. kind of like "don't you touch me... and don't you cross my line!" and... "Give me back my crayons!  Use your own!"  Anyone with two sisters knows of what I speak... and, yes, I was in the middle... chronologically and sometimes physically.  Unless you've had the not so thrilling experience of spending time in the back seat of a 1950 something Ford... you won't relate to what I remember... but I can assure you that 'pulling seniority' is not something reserved for adults.. it works for10 year olds as well; especially when your little sister is 8.  Yup, I scored the window seat quite a lot of the time...  And, it's from that throne that I can vividly recall our sojourns driving to the lake.  Up at 3 AM, bundled into the back seat in our pajamas and with our beloved pillows (and sometimes the dog), we slept until Hope....  Usually about 6:30 we'd pull into Hope and head directly for the Cariboo Cafe for breakfast. It was always good and the waitress was usually friendly.  Then, with full tummies, off we'd go... next stop Kamloops.  Hereafter lies the excitement.  In the days we were travelling...  the Fraser canyon was in a state of chaos...  They were building the tunnels... those tired old cement caves we still drive through today.  Well, in the late '50's and early '60's they weren't old and they weren't tired... they weren't even there!  What did exist was a single lane, dirt road... no protected sides... no curbs or guard rails... nope,  it was a clear drop to the river bed (hundreds of feet down) right outside my window (I always sat on the drivers side....).  Yikes!! pretty scary.  As well, it was one-way only... 20 minutes in one direction, then 20 minutes in another.  It took hours to negotiate the terrain and the patience of... well you know... to survive with a carload of kids and sometimes a dog.  I should tell you there were times when friends... like the Griggs, Fentons, Milnes, Plasketts or Elvidges... and the like, would travel with us.  When that happened, we kids got farmed out.. and the dog stayed with mom and dad...  But all the cars traveled the same.. in convoy, with canvas water sacks (for the radiators) hung over the front fenders..and spare tubes for the tires... and, well, everything including the wash tub tied securely to the roof and hanging out the trunk.  I'm tellin' ya; this was an adventure... just getting to the lake.  The best part, besides all that camaraderie singing campfire songs and testing each others boundaries... well, it was lunch in Kamloops at some place on a hill that served foot long hotdogs... no kidding.. one foot long.  They were the best.  And, of course, Salmon Arm where we stopped to shop before heading to the lake.

I guess the point to this story is mostly that we survived that long journey (36 hours the first time... and 18 hours the last) by talking, singing, counting train cars across the canyon, and generally spending time together in whatever way made peace.  It was a great experience and one that just made us stronger as a unit.

Kathy and I travel well together too.  As our date of departure drew nearer, we both found ourselves getting excited about shoving off.  We were sad to leave our friends and family... for sure; but the notion of 'hitting the road' and seeing where it would lead us... well that was just too good to miss... and so, finally, at 0630 hrs. precisely, we slithered backwards down our driveway in an over-loaded truck.. and headed off down the highway. Mexico here we come!.

Even though the roads are smoother and the cars are newer... some of the survival techniques are still in use...  still help us get through an otherwise long, and sometimes dreary, drive. For instance, you probably don't know this, but I (secretly) suspect Kathy and I may be frustrated crooners.. you know.. singers.  It probably stems from those hours singing "You are my sunshine", "Froggie went a courtin'" and "I know an old lady who swallowed a fly".... back in the '60's... or it may be the long, lonely hours at the helm when you start making up words after you've sung all the ones you know... but... we sing.. oh yes we do!  We sing quite a lot....  Stand back Loretta!!  Now, if only we could harmonize... we'll work on that.  And we talk; talk about lots of things...  being a captive audience without distractions helps.. and so we get to mull over and through some of those thorny issues that normal, every-day life, lets you ignore... and we play games.. word games, guessing games.. stuff like that... Oh yeah, and we eat.... oh oh... we eat all the wrong stuff.. but it passes the time :-)

And so my friends, here we are "on the road" and ready to report on our progress....  (hope you didn't mind the side-track).  We left BC on Wednesday the 16th.. aboard the MV Coho.  The trip was good.. and the best part.. well didn't we meet up with Ron and Fran, friends of ours from El Cid Marina in Mazatlan.. right there on the ferry.  Great to see them and they'll, no doubt, beat us to Mexico... but it was fun to catch up and talk about the season to come. We cleared Customs smoothly.. the hardest question?  "So, tell me all about the vegetables and fruit you're bringing into the US."  We passed the test ( the answer was "none") and headed on down the road.

First stop was St. Helens, Oregon where we stopped and visited with Vern - on board his Pearson 385 SV Vision.  He was great and provided us lots of answers to our questions about the Pearson 385s. We then carried on to our hotel (Best Western - Oak Meadows) which was clean and  friendly and just fine.  Their breakfast choices were ok... (the new waffle maker worked very well; the eggs and bacon were.. well.. luke warm) but we had a nice, quiet sleep and were glad we'd stopped there.

Thursday, the 17th, 0800 hrs. found us visiting with Bill on board his Pearson 385 SV Halcyon.. just down the road.  Again he was very helpful and answered more questions for us.  But.. by  0900 we were on the road and hustling south.  It was a beautiful drive once the fog lifted.  We drove through miles of 'cowboy country' and by 5ish we were in Mount Shasta, at the base of the famous mountain, and happily ensconced in the Cold Water Inn.  It's wonderfully clean and we're glad we're here... about to head out for dinner.

Tomorrow we continue our trek south... stopping somewhere...  and the day after that, we expect to arrive in Irvine, CA.  So, for now dear friends, we are well... and hope you are too... talk to you in a couple days.. CJ