On the Road Again 2013 #2

As soon as I opened up the pickup's door, the first words my driver spoke were "I hope you don't mind dogs". I like dogs but there have been times when sharing the front seat with a large dog or even a couple of dogs has been a bit uncomfortable. But not this time. Michael was travelling with three miniature dogs and they were very well behaved. No barking, no fuss and for the most part they were well content to lay on their bed between the two of us.  There was a long haired Chihuahua, a tiny dachshund and a larger (although one must recognize that "larger" is a relative term)long haired dachshund. The latter was quite affectionate and was content to lay on my lap.

Michael was from the Drumheller part of Alberta and was on his way to Port Alberni. Because of the flooding in the southern part of the province he had chosen to go up to Edmonton and then south again through Jasper. He was originally from Canmore and seemed to know what was happening with the flooding. My friend from last year had told me that Banff was a ghost town. Michael confirmed that story and said that there was no traffic getting through on the Trans Canada. Which was why he had taken this long circuitous road to the west coast. The only other alternative had been for him to go through Crow's Nest Pass which would be very slow with all of the trucks taking that route.

We had been talking for about 30 minutes when I got around to asking where he was actually aiming for for today. I was delighted when he said "Horseshoe Bay". From train station to ferry terminal in one ride is pretty good travelling.

Michael and I talked for almost the entire time we were in the car. He was now, and had been for a number of years a professional, certified dog groomer and dog trainer. He also owned a kennel where folks drop off their pets when they were away. So we started our conversation talking about pets and owners , dog food and life in small towns. We then moved on to why people build on flood plains, why municipalities let people build on flood plains, who should pay for their losses, cell phone use, global warming, people who think oil is limitless, all of the jobs that he had had and a thousand other topics. I am not sure if it was really a conversation in the sense that there was a full exchange of views.There were times when that happened but  much of the time he told his story or made his point and I agreed. I think we were perhaps ten years apart but generally we were either exceptionally flexible in our opinions or we had very similar values. It was an interesting ride and one, that considering how far we travelled together(800km) a very quick ride.

We stopped once in Merrick for gas and for the dogs to get out and stretch their leg. A number of times Michael's wife called just to chat - she was in Port Alberni and was anxious to see him. It was not until I got out of the truck that I realized that in spite of the fact that he had spoken to her four or five times, not once did he mention that he had picked up a hitchhiker.

The traffic was not too bad and there was no time that we had to slow down because of it. At one point it had felt as if Michael might stop in one of the little towns before Vancouver. That would have been just fine for to me.  I had slept the last two nights on the train and was ready for a full nights sleep on a motel bed. A shower would have been dandy as well. However Michael didn't seem at all tired and we got to Horseshoe Bay by 11:0 or 12:00. Michael drove me to the park around the ferry terminal and then went to park his car so that he could be first in line to get on the ferry the next morning.

While I had been to the terminal a number of times, I really was not too sure where to sleep.I picked a likely looking spot and tried to set up my bevy sack.It had been a year since I had used it. I really should have practiced once beore setting it up in the dark. There was however enough light from the docks and the ferry to figure out what I was doing. There were a lot of strange noises or at least noises that I did not recognize. It was windy which caused various bits of rigging in the sailboats to flap around. At one poin during the middle of the night I heard something that sounded like a shopping cart full of wine bottles being pushed along a bumpy sidewalk. After listening for a few minute I realized that it was just some bits of metal clanging against some metal masts.

As I was setting up my shelter I kept on hearing a man shouting. I could not understand what he was saying but he sounded very firm. I was almost afraid that he was yelling at me. Somewhere around 2:00 in the morning I heard "this is the captain speaking  - abandon ship". I then understood that I had been listening to drills conducted on the ferry that was berthed there for the night.