Salmon Arm

We made it to Salmon Arm. After a tiring week of packing, visiting, cleaning, staying up late and getting up early, we hit the road: Peter and I in the car with our cat Spooky, Kerry (Pete's dad) and Uncle Blair in the moving truck, and Uncle Scott in his truck with his own trailer. It was quite the caravan... plus you can imagine three brothers who haven't spent time together like that in a long time. Lots of jokes, especially ones about Kerry being short...

We didn't see any Prairie Pirates. But we did chase a wonderful Saskatchewan sunset to the Alberta border. Good closure.

We stopped in some little restaurant just across the Alberta border. There were pictures of Kalan Porter on the wall, one was signed. We were pretty close to Medicine Hat. It's Kalan country. Supper was good.

I drove from there to Calgary, singing along to Tegan and Sara: So Jealous and Death Cab for Cutie: Plans. Pete was sleeping. It was a sweet time.

Then we switch drivers again and Pete points out all these places that he used to go when he lived in Calgary. I slept right from outside of Calgary to Dead Man's flats. All the gas station bathrooms were pretty good on this trip. You know, that's something you always have to worry about.

Then we enter the mountains, and I tell you, it was pretty easy to stay awake driving through those late at night when it's snowy and a little icy. The towering Rockies were dark and looming, but it was nice that we couldn't see how deep the canyons were. I was trying to decide what was better: seeing the mountains in the day or not seeing the canyons at night.

Lots of semis. Lots of curves. We shut off the stereo and I started to sing Oh Canada. I couldn't remember one of the lines. Then I wanted to try God Save the Queen, but I only knew one line, God save the Queen.

This started us into singing old hymns and some acapella songs, but by that time of day our brains weren't working exactly right and I would think of a song I knew that I liked and wanted to sing but couldn't remember any words or the title. So I sang some kids songs that I learned in school this year.

But then even that was driving us crazy, can you imagine, and finally finally we made it to Golden and we stopped at yet another Tim Horton's. I had an english toffee with 1/4 coffee in it. Yum. We went back to the car and Spooky decided she'd had enough and made a run for it, running under our car and headed to go under the car next to us. But I'm quick, I tell you and I saved the day and the cat by grabbing her and returning her to the car.

She did amazingly well on this trip. Neither Pete, nor myself, were looking forward to a 20+ hour trip with a cat. But she hardly meowed and was very content sleeping for most of the time. She's a great cat.

We were on the homestretch. One last Tim's stop in Revelstoke and then I was making quick, unexpected loud noises to keep Peter awake and alert. We finally rolled into Salmon Arm at 6:30 AM (SK time). We had left Regina at 2PM.

We didn't sleep long that night either, and Saturday was spent in the pj's, no shower, no comb in the hair, nothing. Who cares at that point? I'm tired and I don't want to do anything.

I went to bed early last night, and Spooky has enjoyed being still and sleeping as well. We've had some good chats with Grandma and Grandpa Roberts and the uncles.

Today after lunch, Peter and I met Craig and Leah Reid in Armstrong (home of Armstrong cheese!). We met at the Village of Cheese or something like that and had some sweet chai teas and a refreshing visit with our dear friends. They just moved to Vernon, BC a few weeks ago and were pretty happy to see some familiar faces.

After the cheese place closed down we went for a little cruise in the car and then parked and talked for quite some time. It was so great. Right now I am so thankful for friends whom we have deep spiritual connections with.

We drove back to Salmon Arm listening to Shawn McDonald really loud. It's a great cd to listen to after a time like that. You should try it out sometime.

Our "little" moving trip has been on pause for the past couple of days but it resumes tomorrow, when we leave Salmon Arm at 6AM. Special thanks to all of those who helped us move... and thanks in advance to those helping us move in!