The Trans-Canadian Highway [1] would be my path leading me back to Michigan through the shores of British Columbia, the mountains of Alberta, and the plains of Saskatachewan, featuring such colourful cities as Moose Jaw, Salmon Arm, and Medicine Hat ... Man, I love Canada.
This leg of the trip had minimal stops and instead I as able to take in the natural beauty while listening through the last of my CDs and spending a lot of time in thought. Per usual, any lengthy interaction with other people was usually peculiar. A mountain hostel was run by a gentleman named Tony "with a cold", as he identified himself.
" ... Withacold? ... is that Danish?"
Tony was a delightful and charismatic woodsman who took time out of booking to usher me outside when the sun started setting. A few minutes of beautiful silence and we were back to chatting - at a speed that even I, as a Midwesterner, had a hard time keeping up with.
The only other night that wasn't sleeping in my car or camping was at a hotel where I had arrived past closing hours, but took an educated guess that the bar across the street might be my figurative and literal key to getting a room that night. I was correct. After paying for a round of Spotted Cow with Joe, the off-duty manager, I was all set. Well, except that the room he gave me had the pesky problem of having people already in it. Joe straightened that out... and decided that was probably the time to stop drinking for the night.
This entire trip, there and back again, was simply magical. I remember lengthy sections of driving [particularly through the Rockies on highway 191] where my mouth was agape. I knew that end of the trip would bring a return from the magic to the mundane. That was the problem, before I took this trip the last day I took off was in the fall of 2016, and by my last day leaving I was in dire need.
I don't ever want it to become that, where I feel that the vacation is a necessity rather than a luxury. I knew I needed to find was to find the magical in the mundane parts of my life, which I knew I could do if I tried. And that's what I plan to do, continue to find the magical in the mundane, AND continue to find new sources of this magic by God's generous provision.
One things is for sure, travel will still be part of that, as I truly feel a sense of wonder when on the road. My father once told me that I should pay attention to when you smile the most ... and I gotta say, my cheeks are pretty sore as I write this.
To the Magic, and the Mundane.
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P.S. Most of the pictures for this were taken at various mountains and lakes along the Canadian highway, but before I headed north, I had to explore at least ONE abandoned place on this trip...
The Vance Creek Bridge [Old Railway]
[okay, I've done stupid explores before... this one was my most careless. Please don't do as I do]
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