On the Road Again 2012 #26

I woke up in Revelstoke fairly early in the morning. Actually I had not slept that well. When I had been dropped off the night before  I had found, I thought, a nice little spot behind the Days Inn, just beside the Public Art Gallery. It was bit too well lit but it felt relatively private and safe. I had noticed a seven to eight foot incline just behind me and had debated a few seconds as to whether or not climb the little hill to see if there was a better spot on the other side. I decided I was far too lazy and/or tired to bother. Perhaps I should have, at the very least, looked.

I set up my bivy sack and covered up my pack. It was a pleasant evening and I was looking forward to a good night's sleep. The ground was a bit hard but by moving my body around I fitted it to the hollows and bumps. I was content with my day. I had travelled a good distance and all felt right with the world. I fell asleep quickly.

I awoke just as the first of at least 4 freight trains rumbled by me on the embankment.  If I had climbed that seven to eight foot high hill I would have realized that on top was the main CP train track between Calgary and Vancouver.  The ground literally shook as the train went by. Not only did the ground vibrate but it sounded as if every bearing on every wheel on every car needed a lube job. It was an exceptionally harsh alarm clock especially as it was only 1:00 in the morning. Three more times that harsh alarm clock went off.  The night was not as restful as I would have hoped.

Things were a bit damp with a heavy dew the next morning.  I got up, backed my gear, brushed my hair, teeth and beard and walked down to the road. I dropped my pack off at the front door or Denny's and went in for what was the best breakfast of my trip - lots of green peppers, mushrooms, onions, potatoes and scrambled potatoes all served in a small cast iron frying pan. The pan was hot but it came with its own small oven mitt. Tasty stuff.

Revelstoke is one of my more favourite towns in the Rockies to visit. In fact Lorraine and I had discussed staying a day at the hostel just to enjoy the view but when I got up it looked like it was going to be a cloudy day.  I decided to keep on moving. Leaving Revelstoke is a bit challenging in that there is a long hill to climb before the shoulder widens out enough for car to pull over. For me it takes a full 30 minutes to walk up the hill. Of course I can' walk 30 minutes uphill without stopping at least twice so it takes me a bit longer to get to the top. There is however, a great spot at the top of the hill. It is great not only because there is a wide spot for cars to park in as I load up their car, but also because in the afternoon it is shady.

After standing there for an hour or two watching the cars and trucks pass me by a large four door pick-up truck stopped and the driver offered me a ride. Once again the driver was a female in her mid 30s. Never in all of my years of hitchhiking, not even on the islands, had I gotten back-to-back drives from women.  It was a nice change.

Valerie owned along with her father and brother, an EMT (they provide ambulance services to the oil companies that are drilling or processing oil) company. While she lived in Kelowna her head office was in Grande Prairie. She was willing to drive me to Calgary where she was going for some meetings before heading north. Again my driver was articulate, bright, hard working and knowledgeable about her business. She just was not terribly interested in mine.

Her business was in some ways a simple one. Oil companies need to have individuals who have para-medic skills on site at their various operations. Valerie's company provided such services. The problem was that as the price in oil dropped below a certain point, companies closed down some of their operations until the price rose again. It struck me that it must be very difficult to run a business when one is entirely dependent upon someone else’s bottom line and secondly that it is hard to argue that the oil companies don't manipulate the prices. Prices for crude get too low - they stop producing until there is a shortage and then the prices go up. Then they start to produce again.

Valerie noted that it was mainly the western international oil companies who did this. The companies owned by the Chinese keep on exploring and producing regardless of the price. They are not producing for the world market - just themselves.

Valerie and I did not have a lot in common. While I could appreciate the complexities of her business and of being a sole support mom, I am not a sales person. And that was what she needed to be. For example Valerie had set up two days of meetings in Calgary to meet prospective customers. As we drove she made a number of phone calls to friends and contacts to get even more names of people she could talk to.  There were a number of times, especially as we got closer to Calgary that she asked (told) me to be quiet as she had some phone calls to make. She was an intensely focused individual who was driven to succeed. I am grateful for the ride and a chance to see another side of life. But I was not envious of the various tasks she had set for herself.

Valerie let me off in downtown Calgary. They were doing some repairs to the sidewalks around the “C” train tracks and I ended up going the wrong way. It is fortunate that there were no trains running…. I could have been trapped with no way out of the track area. Fortunately one of the construction guys opened a gate, asked what I was doing there and let me through to a safer area.