Dinner on the Road

Ms Katie and I spent most of four weeks 'camping out' in hotels. One was awesome, some great and a couple not-so-great. Our efforts at frugality included taking advantage of the hotel's complimentary breakfast and then our favorite dinner of choice, right out of the cooler - cheese and crackers!

"Ms Katie, may I surprise you with dinner tonight?"

Whatever table was in the room became our dining table; dressed with a clean white towel and usually adorned with a fresh bucket of ice, just unwrapped, clear plastic cups and a bottle of green tea. The two knives, one purple plastic for spreading soft cheese, and the sharp, stainless for cutting cheese were strategically placed within easy reach. Then came the feast - several different cheeses neatly wrapped and stored in an amazing ziplock container with a red lid and another ziplock, this time a bag, filled with crackers for every palate. With the background music of doors slamming and footsteps in the hall, we ate well and enjoyed every bite. Our conversation included laughter and silly stories from the day. Clean up was a breeze!

Our dinners became of source of fun and jokes...
It's my turn to cook tonight!
What can I tempt you with today - cheese, cheese or cheese?
Be careful now, don't let the cracker crumbs stain your shirt!
I worked so hard to tempt you with a fabulous dinner!
It will take hours to clean up this mess!

While Ms Katie and I really do like cheese and crackers it was great to arrive at sister Terri's to enjoy her cuisine. Our first day Terri says at lunch, "Can I get you some cheese and crackers?"

No, she did not know our dinner story.
Much laughter was had by all - along with the cheese and crackers!

Water Everywhere!

Ms Katie and I drove across Alberta, Saskatchewan and into North Dakota to return the US. There was water everywhere!


The fields looked like lakes;
The rivers looked like reservoirs;
The tree tops looked like bushes.

Water crept up to the roof lines;
Water covered the rail road bed;
Water filled the medians and lapped at the edges of the highway;
Water covered the highway and made lesser roads impassable.

On the left was a dry rise just large enough for a barn.
On the right was another rise with standing horses and nowhere for them to go.
In the gas station, two women lamented the loss of their homes, their livelihood and their independence.

Prayers for these women, their families and others who have lost their homes.
Prayers for the loss of jobs, income and security.
Prayers that the needed aid will come quickly and be enough.
Prayers for the people who must decide when to hold and when to release the abundance of water.

Fields, oil wells and farm stories...

Ms Katie was worried she would be bored driving through Alberta after the mountains!

Not so!

Alberta is farm land, beautiful fields, blue skies, warm sun, puffy clowds, rolling hills, oil wells (yes! Oil wells scattered on the hills and in the middle of the fields) and cows! Ms Katie knows her cows! The light colored ones, Guernseys, are the best for milk; the black ones, Black Angus, are best for steak; then there are the Holsteins, the Herefords and the White-faced somethings and the farm stories began...

At age 9 and 10 Ms Katie was responsible for bringing the cows home to milk. Every afternoon someone would help her mount the favorite family horse, Star. She would ride a mile and a half or so, round up the cows, bring them home and help milk. She had to be careful - if she fell off Star, she walked - she couldn't get on by herself.

Opa and brother Ike, broke wild horses. Opa loved horses and would win their hearts with bits of carrots and sugar. Eventually, Ike would mount and get bucked off, mount and get bucked off again and again. Opa had patience and Ike was young enough to not get broken himself.

At 14, brother Jack drove a team of horses home from cutting wood 20 miles north of the farm. The farm itself was on the north edge of the north! It was winter, cold and snowing. Really snowing! The farm dogs found him and led him home.

Sister Anne learned to drive in a model T! She drove it into a water filled ditch. Opa had to team up the horses to pull it out!

Sister Mary, the quiet, shy one was the first to move to the States.

Sister Theresa died at 35. She was much too young.

Brothers Harry and John, the youngest, did what the youngest of a large family on the farm do best - all the leftovers!! The chores no one else wanted to do!

There were stories of picking berries, feeding animals, walking to school and wearing home spun and knitted woolen stockings that itched and itched and itched; two story farm houses with only a wood stove and floor grates to warm the bedrooms, and traipsing out the door, down the path, through the cold and sometimes dark and wondering why it was a two holer when only one person used it at a time!

Wonderful, precious stories of a childhood and family life long past.

Yup!

There is an art to saying Yup!

Start slow and add two y's - yyyup!

Now add a slight rise in pitch and clip the p off short. Yyyup!

Slow and low, rise and cut off quick - yyyup! Yyyup! It may take a little practise.

Uncle Jack is a man of few words but you know it is all good when he says, "Yyyup!"

Jack is Ms Katie's older brother.

"Jack, would like to play cribbage?"

"Yyyup!" He beat us twice! Jack has played many hands of cribbage during his 86 years.

"Jack, would you like us to make lunch?"

"Yyyup!" Meatballs, mashed potatoes and Ms Katie's special cream gravy and life is good.

"Jack, are you making coffee for us in the morning?"

"Yyyup! I make it strong!" And it was strong!

Jack drove a truck, a dark green Peterbuilt cabover. For years he and the truck covered miles and miles, crossing both Canada and the United States numerous times. As he told stories of different places, crazy loads, driving partners and close calls, his eyes lit up and the corners of his mouth lifted in a not too common smile.

As we got ready to get back on the road, Ms Katie hugged Jack, her brother; hard of hearing, with eyesight dimming, slight of stature, feeling every bone and with whispered I love yous they said goodby.

This is My Father's World

For days the hymn, This is My Father's World, has been playing in my head. It is so fitting!

This is my Father's world,

and to my listening ears,

all nature sings...

Thank you, Father, for the world you have created. Thank you for this gift; the earth, your Son, your love and life. Amen

Happy Father's Day!

Ice and cold toes!

This is one of the glaciers that are part of the Columbia Ice Fields. It is mammoth and yet much smaller than in years past. As we drove in to the base of the glacier there were markers that showed where the end of the glacier was in a specific year. The earliest marker I saw was 1850. From there it was at least a mile drive to the glacier viewing area and another mile walk to get on the ice.

The terrain where the glacier had been was starkly different than the terrain Ms Katie and I had just driven through. There were no shades of green, there was no vegitation; just barren rock and mounds of stones and dirt. There were random cuts in the earth, made either from receeding ice or flowing water. It reminded me of a strip mine - how powerful water can be, in any of it's forms. It was odd to drive around a bend, turn left onto a dirt road and look like you were in a different world.

Wouldn't ya know, the only other person wandering around on the ice fields in flip flops was from Tempe!!

Lake Louise!

This is it! Lake Louise - an image you see on lots of things - calendars, postcards, Canada tourism publicity and now soon to be my screensaver. No picture does it justice. The day was cloudy, the trees dark, dark green, the lake still, the water almost black and the reflection magnificent.

As we were sitting by the lake, Ms Katie commented that the first time she visited the lake was 63 years ago on her and Al's honeymoon. Ms Katie and Al took the train from Winnipeg to Vancouver and one of the stops was Lake Louise.

A couple years later Ms Katie, Al and Terri made the trip driving a small car - a Morris Minor; slowing climbing up the hills and racing back down! Al liked going down too! More years later we drove as a family in a motor home, stopping in campgrounds nestled in the trees with bubbling brooks lulling us to sleep. And even more years later I made the trip with my own family.

As we laughed and enjoyed the memories that go along with those past trips, we acknowledge this is Ms Katie's last visit to the lake.

It is beautiful.
Sitting, looking at the lake, whether in pictures or in person, will never get old!

Rockie Mountain High

Have I told you how much I love the mountains? Driving in the mountains??

Ms Katie and I have two days of working our way up and down, around and through the Canadian Rockies. We/I have been waiting, waiting for these two days. We were laughing and remarking about what we were seeing and soon Ms Katie, with pen in hand, began taking notes!

You know you are in the Canadian Rockies when...
(DAY 1)
9:18 - you round the bend and see a huge peak covered with snow! Awesome!
9:23 - your ears start to pop
9:34 - high mountain road sign - expect sudden weather changes!
9:38 - first 'chain up' sign
9:39 - avalanche area
9:43 - passing uphill; pedal faster Ms Katie, pedal faster
9:45 - drive through the first snow shed; they are fun!
9:49 - elevation 4081 feet; climbed quick
11:53 - 8% downhill grade sign; going down quick - WHEE!
11:57 - runaway truck ramp
12:36 - Big Horn Sheep crossing sign
1:47 - road closed gates; thank goodness they were open
1:48 - Moose crossing sign
3:47 - Mountian Goat crossing sign

(DAY 2)
8:05 - blasting zone; road construction
9:04 - Bear crossing sign
12:34 - rain and sleet; YES!
12:54 - stopped for a small herd of Big Horn Sheep to cross the road
1:13 - rock slide debri on the road; big pieces!
1:26 - stopped for Moutain Goat to finish eating the treat in the middle of the road
2:16 - stopped for bear to amble across the road
2:36 - another bear
3:09 - cow crossing sign

And there's so much MORE...

Family Tree and Treasures

This journey, while full of fun and sights, is about family. In every family tree there is the main trunk, then the support branches and then tons of little branches growing in every direction and size; each with it own distinct characteristics!

Ms Katie's first desire was to 'touch' the main branches; her sister and brothers. In doing that we have been able to reaquaint with many of those little branches - the cousins! And the second generation of cousins and a few of the third generation of cousins as well! I have come away with a whole list of new email addresses, facebook friends and many memories to treasure.

Treasures...

...hiking among the waterfalls.

...laughing and teasing around the table.

...my rural cousin trying to educate this city cousin!

...visiting a second generation cousin's art studio.

...helping the third generation wash his mommies art tables!

...eating pizza at a park right up against the ocean.

...did I mention laughing?

...enjoying fresh caught prawns from the cold, north ocean!

...listening to stories of fishing and hunting.

...being jealous of life on an island.

...trying to cram a lifetime into an afternoon.

...drinking coffee.

...sharing breakfast.

...listening to dreams for the future.

...offering respect to family who have passed away.

...keeping up with four or five conversations going at once!

...laughing - loud and boisterous!

...eating together!

...hearing train stories from a second generation cousin who drives them!!

...eating the best BBQ chicken I have had in a long time!

...cuddling on the couch with a third generation.

...laughing some more!

...eating some more!

I like this tree!

Two Galleries

Ms Katie and I had the opportunity to visit two art galleries.

The first gallery made an impression in two ways. The indoor exhibit was all high school art! A local artist spent months working with students in three neighboring high schools to develop pieces to show. There were several pieces using repurposed items found in the garage and scrap yards, there was art created with toilet paper rolls, there was clay, pencil drawings and oil paintings that put the messages and hearts of the teens themselves on display. Some had very explicit warnings concerning poverty and injustice. The messages were filled with concern for the world. Some were just fun! All the pieces revealed depth and insight from a generation that many of us don't always acknowledge.

The other impression was the outdoor gallery. With Ms Katie settled in the courtyard with a fountain splashing, cool breeze and more art, I took off into the woods. Trails criss-crossing back and forth covered almost 50 acres. At every bend and corner there was art! Clay clothes that led you around a corner, ceramic hands in the ground that led to the next trail, giant butterflies up in the trees, fallen logs carved with intricate designs, a labyrinth designed with stones and clover and colored mirrors reflecting reds, blues and yellows onto the green foliage. After a time of looking at the human created art, the God created art started to jump out at me too! The sun and the shadows playing on the leaves, the glistening spider web and the live dragon flies resting on the sculpted dragon fly.

The second is the gallery/studio of a wonderful young woman devoted to using her talent to encourage art in children. The gallery/studio is located in a mall with easy access for children and families. The walls are covered with art from kids as young as three and four. There were clay masks, dragons, butterflies, oil and water color paintings. Child sized tables and chairs covered the floor and the counters were loaded with all kinds of art supplies. Walking through the door you sense the fun and energy of young artists experimenting with great new tools.

Thank you to the people who focus on children and students!

more gardens...

There are multiple gardens within the garden; there is a Japanese Garden, a Sunken Garden, a Bog Garden, an Italian Garden and a Rose Garden. Ms Katie, her wheels and I visited them all! Up hills and down hills, across bridges and rough stones, through trees, around corners and under trellises and always there was another bloom we wished we could take home.

There was not one 'do not touch' sign! Some felt like velvet, some paper, some silky, some sticky, some waxy and some coarse and rough.

My only sigh were the roses - it is too early for them to be in bloom. There are hundreds of bushes, planted in a circular pattern, buds on every one and all labeled with very enticing names; white moonlight, peachmist, lavendar ladies and fuschia slippers. Sigh - I love roses!

I wonder what the Garden of Eden was like.

The Gardens

Ms Katie and I visited The Butchart Gardens. Oh my...

These few pictures will not do justice to the gardens beauty. I will admit to going a little crazy with the camera but there was SO much!

100 years ago this land was a worked-out limestone quarry which had supplied Robert Pim Butchart's nearby cement plant. Jennie Butchard had an idea to beautify the old quarry. While Jennie's project started small it isn't small now!! The gardens cover over 55 acres and there are close to a million visitors every year!

Since walking the gardens would be way too much for Ms Katie, we rented an amazing chair on wheels and rolled along the paths. It felt like we were walking in and through an oil painting! There was every color in the rainbow and more! There more shapes that any human could ever draw, more textures than you could ever imagine and the designs were breathtaking. The scents floating on the breezes were soft and gentle. You could hear sounds of water rippling and splashing all through the gardens. It was cool under the trees and warm in the sun. Some places were so spectacular that even the voices were hushed.

And for you who are nit-picks about your yards, you know who you are, there was not one blade of grass out of place, NO weeds, no brown spots and not one 'past it's prime' blossom. Amazing!

We have entered...

a strange and wonderful land of kilometers, meters and liters! For some of us, the language is only mostly English!

Highway speed limits are 110kp/h! In town is 40 or 50kp/h. What's a kp/h? Oh,yeah, kilometers! Take a look at your speedometer - there is a second little line of numbers - whew - kp/h! That extra set of numbers are coming in handy, I don't have to convert. Speeding tickets are very expensive here and I have been paying attention.

Oh, good, there is the exit I want - 1000m! Ok, so it is coming up sometime soon.

And gas - $1.31 per liter. You do the math!!

The temperature sign said 23 degrees; celsius that is!

At least right, left, north and south are the same; even though I can't tell which is which! :-)

I love the highway signs! Blue rectangles with large white letters - M for museum, G for gallery, T for tourist attraction and A for artisan. It is hard to miss all our favorites.

And city names for which spelling and pronouncing is an art! Nitinat, Qualicum, Nanaimo, Cowichan and Quinsam to name a few. There will be a test in a couple weeks.

Deer and elk are prolific. Yes, there have been more! One ambling across the road, in the middle of town! And another standing on the shoulder watching cars go by and moving her head, almost like she is looking both ways before she crosses. I will admit to a twinge of paranoia every time I see them.

The Ferry

It was pretty amazing to watch a 5 ton ferry approach the pier, turn on a dime and dock the rear doors in the exact place!!

And...

...watching a semi-truck be the first vehicle to drive off the boat!

...seeing a raccoon amble between the waiting cars!

...hearing the clink, clunk, and feeling the bump of the steel dock while driving on to park in the 'basement' of the ferry!

...feeling the roll and pitch of the waves and trying to remember if I put the brake on!

...standing on the top deck, feeling the wind off the water!

...turning a 360 degree circle and seeing mountains on all sides - snow-capped mountains!!

Lunch!

Lunch at Tillamook Cheese Factory! Caramel Butter Pecan and Caramel Toffee Almond ice cream. Ms Katie has a sweet tooth; she shared it with me! Yummm!

Playing tourist together has been a lot of fun!

There was this bead shop dropped on the side of the road. A lonely little shop, door open, begging for visitors. We obliged. What a fantastic store! I couldn't help it. There was some very nice sunstone, mined in eastern Oregon, that had to go home with me.

And the pottery gallery! Yup, there was red! It was mixed with lava stone to make a very unique piece. Ms Katie found a favorite too! A beautiful leaf glazed with watercolor shades of blue and green. Both are in a box on the way home to AZ.

Then there was this little one lane trail, tree limbs locked together over head and wildflowers growing on each side, that wound its way to a glass blowing studio. Yup, more red. Deep, dark, go on forever red, embellished with glass mixed with sterling silver; now all wrapped up tight in the trunk!

And the quilt museum! This is an art gallery of quilting - beautiful colors, textures and techniques. And the room filled with looms and very friendly people willing to talk about weaving. More art, more colors, and more texture. Ms Katie has the need to 'touch'. She shared that with me, too, and we got to touch it all!

Sunset - there are no words!

Car vs Deer...

...the deer won!

All is OK! We are fine and Laura and Randy at the garage are bending over backwards to get the car repaired and us on our way.

Should I be dramatic about this? Driving north on Hwy 101, a beautiful narrow winding road, sometimes along the ocean front and other times in the forest. There is an uphill curve at mile marker 95. Around the curve is a wonderful view of tall grasses, green trees and deep ditches on both sides of the road. There are no shoulders - only guardrails - and a DEER standing, walking, leaping (who knows!) on the two solid yellow lines! Screech, thud, bump and splat!

Actually, the deer jumped into the side of the car. Ms Katie saw it first and says it came out of the grass. Most likely right, we watched it limp back across the road and there in the grass was a fawn, still wearing spots.

Ms Katie was a good spot climbing in and out of the tow truck!

And oh darn, I just had to watch another sunset!