merely talk

We were late leaving.

It was my fault. I had to work on Friday morning, and for the first time ever I was late leaving the kids house. Then we had pack a bit more, then load up the car, and then get gas. So instead of leaving by noon, we didn't really get going until quarter to one.

I took the first leg of the trip and got us to Hope. We were confused about which route to take. MapQuest directions took us very far north on the #5, and then to the #97, and then to I think the #33, and so on. It was complicated. But on the map we had it looked like the #3 would get us there quicker. And there would be less changing of highways. Neither of us was sure what to do so in Hope we got directions.

When I came out of the less clean than I wanted bathroom at the Husky truckstop Amy was talking to a man with no teeth. The toothless man said we should take the #3. It would take the same amount of time, but the #3 was prettier. Then he told us to go the speed limit and be very, very careful. There would be lots of twists and turns and we should just take it slow. I thought it was nice how concerned he was about our safety.

Actually concern for our safety was quite the theme for the weekend. At the festival one of our neighbors gave us major props for being two girls traveling alone. He thought it was a rare thing. And I guess it is, just because you usually are safer if your traveling with a male.

Anyway.

Amy took over driving at Hope, and after one wrong turn we were on our way. We drove through Manning Park, and then through lots of small towns. I decided I loved the name Osoyoos, and my affection only grew when we discovered a Baskin Robbins at the truck stop there. My car doesn't have AC, and driving with the windows down is noisy. So both of us were sweltering, and Ice Cream = Awesome.

Greenwood was also pretty cool. All it's buildings look like their out of some Wild West movie, or like they belong in Heritage Park in Calgary. One of the dress shops had a manaquin dressed in a turn of the century dress, and the town even had a Saloon. It was really cool. Unfortunately we didn't have time to stop either way so I only got a brief look at this town. One day I want to go back and spend more time in all the small towns and tourist traps.

We got stuck in construction just outside of Grand Forks. Only one lane of traffic was open for about 20km. They had this pilot car leading people back and forth. I christened it The Pied Piper, cause he was leading us away. It's not the easiest association, and I'm sure there are probably better allusions one could make, but by this time we had been driving for something like 9 hours, and it was hot, even though the sun had set, and my brain just doesn't work well in those conditions. And for some reason the Pied Piper was the funniest thing in the world. So yeah.

We got lost once again in Castlegar. We stopped at a Chevron and the lady at the counter took one look at me and said, "Going to Salmo?". Maybe it was my hair, or my age, or the fact that I was clutching a well used map. Or maybe it was just the fact that I was not the first person to come stumbling into the gas station totally lost. Anyway she told me we were about 15 minutes away and to just get back on the highway. The 15 minutes thing was a lie, but the highway thing wasn't, so I still think she's awesome and I thank her.

The thought of us being close rejuvenated us and we got going. As we were driving down the pitch black highway, all by our lonesomes, Amy started talking about horror movies.

Amy: You know if I was going to make a horror movie, do you know where I would set it?

Tessa: I don't like where this is going. I think we should save this conversation until we're in the sunshine. Is there someone in our backseat? (Nervously looks in backseat)

Amy: That would be an awesome thing to have in a horror movie.

I spent the next several minutes trying to stop the creeping in my spine. I'm pretty vulnerable to the power of suggestion. The gorgeous sky helped. I'm a city girl so I'm not used to seeing so many stars in the sky. It was absolutely breathtaking.

We eventually got to Salmo, took a few wrong turns, went through a police checkpoint, and missed the turn into the festival. We went back in and turned down the bumpy, dusty road. There was a cute blond boy at the entrance, who pointed down the road and said that the festival was about 5km away. He also told us that it was very bumpy and to take it slow. So we started driving. It was pitch black and long. We were both giddy with exhaustion and excitement and soon decided that this was actually a huge scam, and instead of the twisty, turny, rocky road leading to Shambahla, it in fact was the road to death. This idea seemed even more true when a car going the opposite way was being driven by Jesus. Sketchy Jesus, but Jesus all the same. And than another one came and driven by Mohammed. Who was less sketchy then Jesus. But still freaked us out. The broken down farm equipment and the lack of other people really helped too.

It felt like we were driving down the road to death for hours, but I think it was only 20 minutes or so. And finally we saw the lights and the gate and we knew we had arrived.


That's all for now. I'll write more later. I'm starving and want breakfast.