The fact of the
matter was that I did not have a clue where I was. I, for some reason, thought
that I had somehow managed to missed the chaos of downtown, that there was a
previous unknown by-pass of Kelowna that had magically got me to the other end
of the city. I was wrong and for the next hour or two I walked along narrow
shoulders, across RV showroom's parking lots and other assorted places not made
for human feet. It was raining and I was getting splashed by cars and trucks.
At the bottom of each little hill, the water pooled into small lakes. It was
not a lot of fun. There was a lot of traffic but in many places there was nowhere
for them to stop and in other places there was just too much traffic going too
fast for drivers to be able to slow down and check me over.
Fortunately I got two short rides and one longer ride that got me through
this mess. The first two rides were mercy rides. Just a short hop to get me a
little further down the road - both times almost as soon as I got into the
vehicle it poured just a little bit harder, and just before I got out, the rain
stopped or at least eased. Someone was certainly looking out for me. The final
ride of the threesome that took me through Kelowna was a longer one. my driver went
out of his way to get me on the right highway heading towards Hope. It was a
very generous gesture that took him out of his way and made my life so much
easier. Along the way we had to stop at Wal-Mart as he had to buy a garden gnome.
My driver did not look like someone who
would buy such an item. He was in his mid thirties and from our conversation
lived a lifestyle verging on the alternative type. The gnome was a bit of a
joke that he was giving to a friend. We had an interesting conversation about
working in the oil fields (his wife was a welder and had worked up there) and
the hypocritical nature of those who, as they drive their cars and use plastic
materials throughout their daily lives, criticize those who work in the oil
fields.
He let me out a great spot and within 10-15 minutes a car
stopped and picked me up. My driver was going to Merritt. He had had been
involved in a bank robbery and hostage taking incident a few years previous and
understandably had been severely traumatized by the experience. As a
consequence, he had been forced to make some life changes. He had just started
his own business of making dry stone garden walls. It sounded like an
interesting and rewarding job - hard on the back but something that would, I
think take great skill.
My next driver was an airline pilot. He was a dad so we
spent our time our time talking about being dad. He was also approaching
retirement and I, having done it twice was more than glad to talk about that
topic too. He was divorced. His girl friend lived (I think ) in Hong Kong. He
certainly had lots of choices as to what he would do and where he would live
when he was no longer working.
My driver was going on to Richmond. I was tempted to go all
the way with him but I was tired. I had not slept in a bed for a few night, the
last time I slept had been in the train 48 hours earlier. I had only had a
small bowl of soup, a muffin and some granola bars in the past 36 hours. I was
still damp from the rain storms and I was physically tired. I did not want to
get to downtown Vancouver late in the evening and get stuck there. So I opted
to get out at Hope.
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