On the Road Again (finally) # 9

As soon as Adonis drove away, I looked at where I had been dropped of. Or more specifically I started to look around for a place to sleep - something I always do when it gets later on in the afternoon. I realized that I was in a semi arid part of the world - pretty near a desert in fact with not a blade of grass to rest my weary head upon. Actually - I wasn't that tired - I certainly had not worked hard this day, and it was still early. Perhaps my luck would hold. My goal was to get to a small town where I could eat something and get a shower. I could have aimed higher.


There were not a lot of cars on the entrance ramp, but that meant that each car or truck had lots of time to see me and to make a decision to stop without endangering themselves or others. I was not there anymore than 30-40 minutes when a vehicle did stop. Buddy - yes that was his name on his driver's licence (or at least so he said) was a clean cut, athletic man in his mid 20s driving a late 1990s Toyota 4X4. While it theoretically had some evolutionary connection to my previous ride, the vehicle was quite different. For a start it was clean and looked well maintained. Secondly and most importantly I heard no stories of wheels falling off nor did the car sway violently. It was a nice change. The back of the car and the back seat were consumed by large outside public performance type speakers. Buddy was off to a field party! A friend had forgotten the speakers so he was in a mad rush to get them to the party on time.


He was an interesting young man in part because he was an rather unique combination of of being a free spirit and having a great work ethic. He had some sort of electronics training and had work on cruise ships for a few year as part of the maintenance crew. It sounded like an interesting life in part because he was required at times to work very hard at fixing things he wasn't trained to fix and therefore having to rely on his ability to read the manuals and his natural intelligence.He now worked for a local contractor/property owner in Kelona. He clearly worked hard and from the number of calls on his cell phone, was a well liked individual.


We had talked for about 15-20 minutes about stuff when I finally got around to asking him where he was going. I frequently don't bother to ask this question as it is somewhat irrelevant - as long as they are staying on the main road, I will go as far as they are going. Heck sometimes I even get off the main road if it looks like an interesting ride. His answer to my question as to where he was going was " to the Island". Now this was great news as it meant that I had a ride to the coast and very likely a ride to the ferry terminal. I asked where exactly he was going and he replied "Just north of Duncan". I have had some great rides in the past 10 or so years - met some interesting folks, seem parts of Canada that normally most travellers don't get to see and generally have been well taken care of by people along the way. But never have I had a ride that took me within a few miles of my end destination. I was pretty excited to say the least.


Buddy's plan was to get to Horseshoe Bay for the 7:00 P.M. ferry to Nanaimo and then drive south to the party. It sounded like a great plan to me. I am sure that Vancouver is a great place, but quite frankly I have never found it so. Getting though Vancouver both going west and east seems to take me far too long. It has a great bus system and their elevated train system (Skytrain) is really quite wonderful BUT the system is not designed to travel from one end of the city to another quickly. Getting through Vancouver both coming and going is one of my least favourite parts of my trip.


Buddy had done a lot of hitchhiking in BC and had some suggestions about how to avoid Vancouver. On the way back, I will try them out.


Buddy had some music playing on his radio/mp3 player. He apologized for not being able to turn on the radio. He had just bought the truck and while he had installed a new radio - the antenna was broken. His choice of music would not have been my first choice. It was some sort of techno/electronic music.(for what it is worth- I am not too sure if the words techno/electronic and music should ever be used in the same sentence.) However as we drove along and Buddy talked about his music and why he liked it, I developed a greater appreciation for it, at least as music to dance to. Our discussion of music carried on throughout our trip,  not all of the time, but every once in a while I would pass comment on a piece that was interesting, or he would talk about a particular section that was, in his mind good.


There was a lot of traffic on the road along with some construction so it was slow going as we got close to the ferry terminal. As a consequence we missed the 7:00 ferry and had to wait for the 9:00. I am not sure why we were not allowed on the 7:00 ferry - it didn't leave until 7:30. We had a beer and a burger and hung around the little town of Horseshoe Bay, a town that I suspect only exists because of the marina and the terminal. I don't often get the chance to eat a real meal and relax with my drivers. It was nice to be able to do so.


Buddy slept in the car on the ferry ride, I tried to sleep in one of the lounges. The chairs were not made for slouching and so I could not get to sleep. I did however watch a soccer game along with 10-12 other passengers.


By the time that we arrived in Nanaimo it was getting late. Buddy's directions were a bit sketchy but he thought he knew where he was going. At Chermanus he pulled over and said that this was his road. We quickly shook hands and I piled out. It was a dark and lonely corner. Normally in other years I  would have looked for a corner in the deserted parking lot to curl up into and waited out the night. While I was only 30 minutes from Devin's house - it was near midnight and getting a ride was not an option. However this year I had a secret weapon. A cell phone!!! A device that I have avoided owning for years - I have never seen the need for one. But this one time, and hopefully this one time only, it was useful to have. I called my son, they came and got me. By 12:30 I was in their house. 


It was my fastest trip across Canada ever. I had gotten good rides with nice folks, I hadn't been stuck anywhere for too long a time and I had eaten semi-regularly along the way. A good trip. Except it had felt as if I am not acclimatized to the west, that the trip had happened so fast, that I had not made my gradual adjustment to time zones and attitudes. Still no complaints at all - it was great to be on the west coast.


p.s. Buddy came back 10 minutes later and realized that he had made the wrong turnoff. He had needed to go another 10 minutes south. He asked if I wanted a ride - told him no - my ride was on his way. Buddy could not have gotten to his field party until after 12:00. What a long drive to got to a party!