Travel diary: day one-- Edmonton to Kamloops.

Star date, july 2nd, 2004

12:25: depart Edmonton with load of my stuff getting dropped off with my Parents in Kamloops.

1:16: call to Kamloops on my cell with the obligatory 'All systems go, on the road' message.

1:20: crack into first of road munchies-- chips, sour patch kids candies, bottle of coke... you know, the really healthy stuff. Sun is shining, music is loud. Mood, good.

2:05: pass by one of those buffalo pastures. Marvel at the wonder of their size, resilience in face of human conquest. Nice work mother nature.

3:05: severe thunder storm. Tarp covering my bed boxspring on the roof of my truck comes loose. Ropes snap. Tarp turns into a parachute. Wind resistance becomes too much to bear. Pull over.

3:10-3:35: re-tying of tarp with remaining rope. Rain and wind continue to pound me. Semi-trucks whizz by, snapping gusts of water against me and my cargo.

3:36: Not very impressed with mother nature or truck drivers.

4:10: pull into Jasper for some gas, and to beg for extra rope. Thanks be to guy at Esso station.

4:20 still a little peeved. Though the splendor of the mountains and all the creatures that roam in it's ranges awe me, I order fries and Buffalo meat burger to go, just out of spite. Stoo, 1. Mother nature, zero.

From here, things go rather smoothly. Granted, the wind and rain persist, and I get stuck behind my fair share of big trucks, but other than that, the CD player keeps me company, and my truck, which previously has failed to make this drive successfully without SOMETHING breaking down, is doing well. But then...

5:45: Look in rearview mirror just in time to see the bedraggled boxspring break free of its bonds and go flying. All slow motion-like, a John Woo movie action sequence or something. don't really know how it happened, tarp still completely tied down.

5:50-6:15: reattach boxspring, this time for good, come Hell or high water. Rain ceases long enough to allow me to do re-tie. Thanks mother nature!

6:45: stop in blue river for gas instead of Valemount on suggestion of mother; it may be cheaper there. Valemount: 84.5 cents/ liter. Blue River: 92.9 cents/liter. D'oh!

7:20: time for a math problem. If stoo is traveling south bound on the #5 hwy. at 112 km/ hr, and a robin leaves its curb-side perch just in time to align itself with the front grill on my truck, how many bones of that bird are broken upon impact? Sorry about that, mother nature...

8:30: after driving through burned out mountains; forests left see-through by the fires that stripped the trees the previous summer, I have conversation with my dash-board bobblehead hula girl about the grandeur yet general fragility of the natural world. Hula girl nods in agreement.

And from there, the rest of the drive is pretty uneventful. The road wound it's way along the Thompson River, the sun finally appeared round about Heffley creek, though by then it was sinking behind the hills anyway. Leaving rainbows in my rearview mirror, I trundled on to the homestead, where mum had a plate of food waiting for me. So here I am in Kamloops for a day or two, and then it's off to vancouver for the week. Talk to you later!