On the Road Again 2017 #10

It was just after 9:00 when Francois and I got to Calgary. I was frustrated at getting to the city so late. If we had not stopped to eat, we could have gotten there an hour or two earlier and maybe, just maybe I could have gotten to Canmore in time for a hostel bed or room at the municipal campground. Arriving at 9:00 PM, on a Sunday in Calgary left me with very few options. I did not know what I was going to do. Francoise debated with himself whether or not he would drop the trailer and then sleep in his rented room for the first and last time that month or if he would just sleep in his truck. I perhaps somewhat selfishly suggested that he might has well sleep in a real bed - as it would be his last chance. He had promised me that if he did drop his trailer then he would drive me to the Flying J truck stop where I could get a meal and hang out for the night. He wasn't offering me a spot in his truck for the night. Sleeping outside a warehouse was not my idea of a good plan - I needed him to sleep in his own bed that night.

He eventually decided to drop his trailer where it could be unloaded the next morning and then go to his room. Neither he or I had a clue as to where to go but with the magic of GPS he found the warehouse easily. It was somewhere close to the airport but if he had let me out there I would have been totally lost. The thought that I could catch a plane to Nanaimo certainly crossed my mind, but it didn't stay there very long. It would have been an easy but I suspect rather expensive solution to my problem of needing a place to sleep. After dropping the trailer Francoise asked me for directions to the Flying J. I did not have a clue. I was surprised that a trucker did not know of it - it is, I think, the biggest truck stop in southern Alberta. GPS again came to our rescue. Of course it was in French so I could not always follow the instructions - but then I didn't have to - I was not driving. Perhaps I should have listened more closely. We were directed to a Flying J - but it was the wrong one. We ended up at a small, un-serviced set of fuel pumps. There was no one around and I was totally lost.

I asked if he could drop me off at a Tim Horton's or somewhere like that. After a few more twists and turns I saw a Husky sign and directed him there. As we drove up the street I saw a bus stop so I knew that the next morning I had a way out of town.

I profusely thanked Francoise. While it had be a long and somewhat verbally tiring journey - he had gone out of his way to get me to a reasonably safe spot to spend the night. Driving through Calgary at night, looking for a place for a relative stranger would have been a lot to ask of anyone. For a trucker who had just spent 13 hours driving, and who, while he had dropped the trailer, was still driving a big truck - it was well beyond what I could have expected. Once again I was in awe of the generosity of strangers.

 It had been a good trip and there I was, a bit late, a bit tired but in Calgary. Once again I had made it across the Canadian Prairies in one day. All in all it felt pretty good.