Stumbling towards the States…

 Pincher Creek is a lovely albeit small town.  Nestled against the Rockies, its neighbor to Waterton Park.  And that is where my story starts. 

Spending time with my friend was wonderful.  We played tourist at Waterton.  What a gorgeous inspiring place to be!  Great folds of rock make up the sheer towering beauty of the surroundings.  Lots of eateries, ice cream shops, gift shops galore.  Interesting to chat with the shop owners who cant find help!  The restaurant we had brunch at was closed the day before because the cook had a kidney stone and there was no one to fill the staff gap.  The ice cream candy store lady was running between two shops, since she had no one to take care of customers except her!  

It made for a long discussion between my buddy and I wondering How did it get to this state?  Was it Covid?  Was it a generational thing?  Most people I know that are of my cohort worked from an early age or got no money for “stuff”.  We also all moved out of our parents homes, striking out on our own into the wide wide world.  Now I truly sound like an old fart. 😂

This morning I headed west again.  First I had to fix the room reservations in Grand Forks, which I made on the wrong day.  That taken care of I hit Timmys, spilled coffee all over my car — whats with the new lids on their take out coffee?  All cleaned up, I was off.

Ok maybe Off is too optimistic, since the #3 highway or the Crowsnest has some construction.  Ok, by “some” I mean west from Pincher Creek to the BC border.  So a speedy trip it was not.  As I headed west, I noted a lot of cars looked dirty.  Like they’d been drifting through a field of summer fallow.  Interesting.  I stopped in the town of Sparwood , and noticed the ridge at the edge of town had 8 fires on it…filling the valley with smoke,  too steep for ground crews or water bombers, the Info Centre staff said it was concerning.   I’d call it scary.  

In Creston I jumped at the chance to try some peaches, which looked to be just picked!  OMG  😳 they were so sweet, juicy, delicious.  wow!  Just what I had imagined them to be.  Seems so many people eat one right there and then, they have a sink and paper towels to wash the inevitable mess off your hands.  And wrists.  And elbows….I told you they were juicy. 😛

As I was marvelling at all this peachy abundance I asked the lady standing next to me about the dirty cars. Most only had cleaned the yellow brownish dust from their windscreens.  Very odd looking.  She cleared up the mystery: a music festival, celebrating electronic music, was being held in nearby Fernie.  And it was apparently huge!  Then she told me to be prepared to get stopped, as the police were checking cars for drunks, drugs, etc and there may be a wait.  And a wait there was.

There were concert goers, along with work trucks, tourists, trailers, people coming and going, logging trucks, semis, chip trucks…a lot of traffic.  A lot of slow or not moving over 6 km per hr traffic.  And it was 33C and windy.  Not a calming scenario.  The line up was incredibly long, as dirty cars were pulled over, and the rest of us slowly went by.  I had rolled down my window and said to the officer “hate hippies” since a 90 minute wait was testing my patience.  His response “so do I, but I like you 😉” Oh my!  Teehee

Finally on to Grand Forks, happily ripping along at a min of 110kpm…happy traffic!  A nice friendly motel, gassed up the car ($174.9 a litre - 40 cents more than Medicine Hat AB) A fantastic steak sandwich later, I am feet up and relaxed. 

Now I have time to think.  I ask myself am I now feeling lonely rather than alone?  This trip has given me reassurance of friendships, but I still feel a gap.  I miss the companionship of my Mac.  A hug.  A smooch.  A shared laugh.  It still is weird to me at times. Like I’m on this long drive, seeing friends and family, but still no one to sit next to or wake up with.  I got used to that over the last 23 yrs. And I miss it.

In the morning I continue my adventure heading south across the border.  Heading west on the North Cascade Highway towards the coast, but first Mexican food in Winthrop Washington. Another spot we loved on previous visits. To me another place where I feel less alone or lonely. 

There is a difference.  Being alone is a physical state of being by yourself.  Being lonely is an emotional state feeling alone or disconnected.  I think thats it.  As a strong independent woman, I need that connection.  🤓 This journey has only strengthened my feeling of connection. 

J RR Tolkien said it well  “How do you move on? You move on when your heart finally understands that there is no turning back.”

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