The West Commences: Fellow Travellers

I do not regret the decision to drive across Canada, from Vernon to Wakefield. It seems as if the family back home is making real progress with the basement bathroom and bedroom, starting school and harvesting the fruits of the Okanagan, while I am experiencing the joys of reconnecting in real time with friends and family in the east. It's one thing to keep in touch through phone calls, emails and my blog but it's much better to be with people, talking, eating and doing things. I discovered that recently when Jay, May and the girls came home and now again as I return to the east.

I do like driving. It's a slow but sure way to learn about things as varied as the landscape of Canada and the best fast food latte, McCafé's is better than Tim's. I discovered the latter today. Cathy sent me off with a lovely little Shoefly Boutique bag containing an orange, an apple and 2 of her butter tarts. She also gave me clear instructions for how to drive to Orangeville. Had I followed them, I'd be in a Tim's now but I stopped at Tiviotdale to set the GPS for Barb and Norm's. What a mistake. It went right into its pattern of directing me down shortcut sideroads. I ignored many of them and stuck to Cathy's route, but I weakend too soon and ended up on a ringroad around Orangeville which meant I missed Cathy's Tim's. The road became 4 lanes, there was hardly a house to be seen, and I had to pee in the worst way. Fortunately a PetroCan station appeared on my left. It had a McCafé attached to it, where I am sitting now, much relieved, in the car, in the sun with the windows open, drinking a latte.

When I thanked Cathy this morning for all she had done for me, she said, "Nothing's too much for a fellow traveller". I was sad to be leaving after such a good visit with their family. Neither of us said much more, but as I drove out of town, the word 'sojourner' came to mind and I realized that she's right, whether we go from place to place or not, we are all equally on a relatively brief journey through time. We are 'fellow travellers', and I feel lucky to have this opportunity to share a bit of our trip with friends and family.

The part of Fall that I spent in Walkerton was lovely, warm and sunny, aside from 11/2 days of rain. Cathy, Dana, Alex, Zach and I even spent a day at a beach near Port Elgin. We didn't actually swim but when we walked to a sandbar Alex and Zach got up to their necks. Mark picked me up early one morning to drive with him and Dave to a cider press. They had a truck loaded with bags of apples. The press was impressive. I had a great time. Brian, Cathy and I had good long talks on the deck in their back yard. Cathy and I went for some walks, and her meals were delicious as usual. I stayed long enough to eat all the treats: one of their big chickens, a standing rib, vegetables from the garden, fresh eggs, sausage, green pepper and pineapple skewers as well as 3 different pies. I was worried that I wasn't going to get butter tarts, but I have 2 beside me now. Perfect!