2019 On The Road Again #5

I can't remember how many times I have gotten up early and been on the road well before 6:30 or 7:00. I get an early start under the general theory of "the early bird gets the worm". However, the truth of the matter is that I very seldom get a ride early in the morning. I get just enough early morning rides to almost prove my theory of worm catching but at the end of the day I am not too sure when I start makes a huge difference in terms of when I arrive.

My first ride of the trip was after I had stood on the side of the road for three hours. I didn't really mind. It was a nice day and I have always enjoyed that almost Zen-like feeling of standing there, doing nothing. The car was driven by a middle age woman with her mother as the passenger. There was lots of room for me in the back seat. According to my driver, she always picked up hitchhikers. I think her mother was less excited by the prospect. They were off to Portage where the mom was going to visit a friend and then my driver was going to Brandon to drop something off at her stepmother's house. As a couple, they were chatty and very pleasant. It was good to see mother and daughter together.

After we dropped the mother at her friend's I moved to the front seat. We had some things in common - our mothers drove us crazy, we both had written a book (hers was about the hitchhikers she had picked up) and we had children. Once again, I was amazed at how easily my driver discussed her personal concerns over her mother, the difficulties of raising children after the "jerk of a husband" (her words, not mine- actually hers were much stronger) left them and how to survive the feelings of abandonment as her children got on with their lives. My driver was a bright, energetic woman who had invested a lot of herself into raising her four boys. She was having a hard time not seeing some of their decisions as a personal attack against her. I suspect that she did not have a lot of friends who could help her see things from a slightly different perspective. I am sorry that we got stuck on this topic. She had made some interesting road trips with her kids and I would have loved to spend more time hearing about them and about her trip to Hawaii to visit one of her sons. I wish that we had had time to talk about the process of writing etc. While I am glad that she felt comfortable talking to me, I wondered if she told all of her hitchhikers how she felt.

For the first time in any of my trips, I made a point of asking to be driven to the west end of Brandon. For some reason, my right heel was very sore and it was uncomfortable to walk on. For the rest of my trip, I made it a point to ask to get driven that extra kilometre or so to the end of town.

2019 On The Road Again #4

In the past 17 or so years, I can count on one hand the number of other hitchhikers that I have met. The fact that there are so few hitchhikers on the road has been the topic of a number of conversations between my drivers and me. On most years, I don't even see anyone else on the road. This year was different.

When I got to the Flying J, I bought a tea and sat down at the round, cement picnic table just outside of the entrance. I had my pack leaning against the seat with my sign for Calgary clearly displayed. I was not that optimistic that I would get a ride that easily from a trucker walking by, but it never hurt to show the sign. Within minutes of me sitting down, an older, shorter gentleman approached me and asked where I was going to spend the night. He too was hitchhiker and he was about to set up his tent somewhere behind the trucks. I told him that I had not thought that far ahead. We chatted a bit about destinations and drives - all of the usual things that hitchhikers talk about, in part to establish our credibility as legitimate hitchhikers. He was heading up to Edmonton. Like so many other people I have met while travelling, he had had a fairly tough life, his body was deteriorating and he was chronically short of money. He smoked and spent part of his time looking for other people's butts. My new friend told me that there was another hitchhiker around and shortly after a young guy joined the conversation. He said he had a pack (although I never saw it) and that he also had a longboard (skateboard) that he used to travel along the highway.

He was a bit overly enthusiastic about his experiences. While I do not think he had taken any drugs, he certainly struck me as being a bit hyperactive. In fact, he was tiring. The older hitchhiker left to find a spot to put up his tent, and I went for a walk to get away from the younger one. When I returned in a few minutes later, he said he was off to look for a ride. I suggested that he not bang on any trucker's doors. He said that he would only talk to those who were up.

Shortly afterwards I found a spot under a small tree, unrolled my sleeping bag and quickly was asleep. It is never quiet at a truck stop as some of the trucks run all night long. It is never dark either as there are always bright lights on - but somehow it is a good place to sleep. I woke up around 4:00 to a light sprinkling of rain. I could have/ should have put up my bivy sack - I would have got another hour or two of sleep. But then I would have had to get up and get organized in the rain and then carried a wet bivy sack all day. I brushed my teeth and my hair in the bathroom, got another cup of tea and waited for the rain to stop. I watched the sun rise in the east and shortly after full daybreak headed out to the highway. There was no sign of my older travelling companion. The younger one who was still haunting the entrance way told me that he had met a trucker who was heading west and who had promised him a ride. He offered to find one for me too.

I left him and his promised trucker and headed out to the highway.

2019 On The Road Again #3

I wondered as I sat looking out the window and listening to my music if one of the reasons why there was so little interaction between the passengers was that there was nothing to complain about. The train was sort of on time. In fact, there were times when I think we were a bit early. There we all were, not exactly squished together, but certainly, closer than strangers would like to be with no natural stimulation or excuse to talk. As well in the earlier years, economy passengers were allowed to go to the dining car and have breakfast. This meant that we were able to meet people and have a civilized meal, sitting down. Now, economy passengers are restricted to a takeout window that serves meals in cardboard boxes, the contents of which are eaten in one's seat. As there are only two cooks, the waiting line (in a very narrow corridor) to order is long and then it is an equally long wait for one's name to be called. On the plus side - there is a bit more of a choice for those of us who do not eat meat. It is not all that conducive to mixing or mingling.

This year cell phone connectivity was significantly better than in other years. There were numerous points along the trip where I was able to text my daughter in Sudbury and tell her what was happening or where I thought we were. Quite often she was able to text me and through the magic of the internet and VIA Rail's web site, tell me exactly where I was. One has to wonder if this connectivity to the outside world limits the sense of isolation within the train, reducing the need to reach out to the neighbour across the aisle.

Because the two conductors/attendants were younger than normal and were really busy - they did not engage with the passengers as much as have other conductors in the past. Certainly, the announcements were poorly read and a couple of times they stopped in mid-sentence. I could have asked them why the trip this year was faster than last year, but I do not think they would have been able to tell me. While it is purely subjective -it did feel as if the train was going faster than in other years. Or at least the train seemed to be swaying more than normal. As well, while we certainly pulled over onto sidings to let a freight train pass, it felt as if we did not wait as often for the train to get past us. There were at least two occasions where the freight train pulled over into the siding and we went past them on the main line. That was a nice change!

At some point in the early afternoon, some of the younger kids got together and watched movies on the young girl's DVD player. I think there may have been 3-4 10-year-olds and a couple of younger kids. I heard the dad suggest that they should watch some other movie rather than a movie made for girls. Later he was loudly teasing his daughter that she had a new boyfriend. She kept on asking him to stop it but he said it numerous times and even called and told her mother. He was really trying to be a good dad, and clearly wanted to be her friend, but he needed a lot more practice.

Because the eight young people got off a few hours east of Winnipeg, I got the change to sit in a group of four seats and stretch out my legs. It would have been quite nice, except by that time I was starting to get anxious to get to Winnipeg and to get on the road. Unfortunately, almost within sight of Winnipeg, we stopped and were informed that we would be there for 30-40 minutes as there were two freight trains that needed to be moved. The dad (with his 10-year-old daughter) got very frustrated - I think he really needed his nicotine fix - and started to complain loudly to anyone within hearing. Some of his comments were bordering on threats. I do not think I was the only one uncomfortable.

Finally were in Winnipeg and I left the train and then the station as fast as I could. I had to wait 30 minutes for the St. Charles bus - the only one that gets me to the west end of Winnipeg. By the time that I got to a good spot to hitchhike - it was almost dark - so I headed for the Flying J truck stop to spend the night.

2019 On The Road Again #2

The list of actors on the train could have been taken from a poor version of an Agatha Christie type novel. There was a rather noisy dad with his 10-year-old daughter It was quite clear that he was not the primary parent of the little girl. He had that semi patronizing tone of voice where the words sound as if he was caring, considerate and inclusive, but the subtext was - " I really do not know what to do with you but you had better listen to me". At some point, early on in the trip, he was talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone. He was trying to convince her that she and he should move into together. If I had been her I would have run as fast as I could in the other direction. One of his comments was that if they lived together, they would not fight as much! He also promised to pay his share of the rent but his name should not be on the lease. Father and daughter were on the train until Winnipeg.

There were eight adolescents who were dressed in reasonable nice/non-camping clothes who were being supervised by two older young men. They were generally well behaved and respectful to others in the car. They did not, however, interact with anyone else. The counsellors seemed to have a large container with food and I don't remember any of the young people drinking anything other than water. I think they were off to some sort of adventurer camp where, perhaps as junior counsellors, they were going to teach some water sports etc. They got off at some town a few hours east of Winnipeg.

There was a middle age mom with a 10-year-old boy who seemed well behaved. A couple of times this mom spoke to the above dad and was rather sweet to the young girl. She seemed to be quite well organized and from what I could see, never had a disagreement with her son. They too got off in Winnipeg.

There were as well a number of middle age or older couples who we very quiet and other than the usual trips to the bathroom or the take out place - seemed to spend their time dozing or in a few cases playing games on their cell phones. There were two women in front of me who had met on the train. One was perhaps in her mid-20s and the other was quite a bit older. They chatted a bit about television, cable etc but certainly they neither talked loud enough for me to hear whole conversations nor did they talk that often.

There were three young women travelling together who seemed to be very excited about getting to Winnipeg in time for the fireworks. I think one of them was local and the other two were visiting for the weekend. Of all of the people in the car, they were the most animated.

There was also a woman travelling with her two children and her husband. I noticed her because she cut in front of everyone in the food line up and willfully ignored mine and other person's suggestion that we were lining up for a reason and that she needed to wait her turn. It may have been that her English language skills were poor but I believe that in most part of the world people lining up means the same thing. Even when she did join the line at the end, she kept on going up to the front to ask a question of the cook.

All in all, it was a boring trip - the scenery was, as always, amazing. Everything was green and lush looking. The creeks and rivers were full to the brim, the lakes glistened in the sunlight and even the little towns we went through looked almost inviting.

2019 On The Road Again #1

So many times I have typed the words.." sitting in a railroad station, got a ticket for my destination.......". While in the past the train was generally scheduled to leave before 5:00 AM, VIA Rail this year changed the schedule and the train left Sudbury Junction just before 5:00 PM. And this year the train, for the first time in years was early! Almost 20 minutes early. It was a gorgeous day and so my daughter and I waited outside until the train came. So while the above words ran through my head...this time, there was no waiting or sitting in a railroad station.

I was less excited about this trip than almost any other. I am not too sure why but the fact that the train would not get into Winnipeg until after 8:00 or 9:00 may have had something to do with it. Almost any way I thought about it....I didn't think I would be on the road until Tuesday morning.

Just a few minutes down the track from Sudbury junction we pulled into the small town of Capreol where we waited for 30-40 minutes to get back into the schedule, to allow for shift changes, to refuel and to allow the smokers the first chance to smoke since Toronto. Pity - while I would not want anyone to miss the train because it was early, I could not help but think that at some point that we would lose time, and that just once it would be so nice to be on time when we got into Winnipeg.

The train was very crowded. I had a seatmate for a few minutes but he decided to get off in Capreol. He did not appear to speak a lot of English and it was not clear why he was getting off at this small town. He initially had gotten off at Sudbury Junction but then apparently realized that there was nothing there and got back on again. I am not too sure if he would have found that much more to do in Capreol. I was just happy to not have a seatmate for a while. I like being able to spread myself out and at night it is so much better having a seat to myself. It was, however, only a matter of time before I did get someone sitting beside me He was a relatively large man and at some point, during the night he was consuming more than his share of the space. In fact, at one point his head was resting on my shoulder. It was a bit uncomfortable but I still managed to get in a solid 4-5 hours of sleep. Fortunately, most of the time, my seatmate was not there. I assume that he was in the dome car. Perhaps he was as uncomfortable as I was.

I think every seat in the car was occupied. The two young conductors/attendants occasionally had to shift people about so that couples could sit together. I was not sure why the car felt more crowded than normal. Perhaps because it was summer it meant that there are lots of people travelling - there were certainly a fair number of young adults in the car, but I also wondered that as expensive as the train is, for some it is the only option now that Greyhound buses are no longer running.

It was a very quiet train. There did not seem to be a lot of chatter between passengers. I didn't think that I would be having any extended conversations on this trip.