We arrive at our first AirBnB

As we continued our trek across Canada; each day was more revealing than the last. The small rises across the prairies give you a view for miles and miles and you begin to feel small in comparison to the landscape. I can only imagine the emotions of the first settlers as they crossed this vast land.

A days’ drive seems to have got us nowhere and it  is easy to get discouraged by the endless nature of it all, but I guess that, too, is all part of the journey. I prefer to drive without a radio or distraction and often lose myself in my thoughts as I gaze out the window at the breathtaking scenery. I found my thoughts drifting to the past, present and future and they all seemed to coalesce in the now.

Time became fluid as one memory flowed into the next. I lost track of days and miles and just came home to myself. This was a tiny indication of what the journey ahead would have in store for both of us and little did we realize the profound changes that were ahead. Finally, after about three days of prairie, we got our first glimpse of the mountains off in the distance.

At first, this seemed like a fresh breath of air, but, as the hours passed and we seemed to get no closer, we started to get a bit discouraged. We were eager to once again experience the raw beauty of the mountains and they almost seemed to be mocking us in the distance.

Finally, after what seemed like days but was probably only a few hours, we skirted around the Calgary bypass, and took a deep breath as we headed into the foothills. The gradual climb into the mountains is something that we really enjoy; the shifting terrain gives two squirrels like us so many things to focus on. It took much longer than it should have since we stopped quite a few times to take photos and just bask in the scenery.

Travel has been made infinitely more enjoyable by the invention of smart phones and digital cameras. Anyone who has traveled with film and cameras from the pre-digital period will recall the good and bad pictures they took, and how well they turned out is another matter entirely. Our smart phones recorded the journey amazingly well.

Even though this was a one-way trip, we didn’t take any of the stops lightly because each province has its own unique stories and history. We often stopped to read plagues and silently thank the pioneers who made the journey through the passes possible. A change of scenery in the mountains is welcome, but after the flat expanse of the prairies, I knew that I must keep my eyes firmly fixed on the road as it snaked through the available landscape.

We were tired from the days travel and certainly didn’t want to become a statistic. We spent that first night in BC in the village of Canmore, AB. Although it was early May, the mountains were still covered in snow and the air was crisp and cold. We couldn’t resist a walk through the town, which was deserted due to the covid restrictions.

I’m sure it is a lively place at other times, but that night, we almost felt as if we had the place to ourselves. We awoke refreshed the next morning and began the final leg of our journey westward.

Our destination for the first two months of our new life was a small mountain town called Nakusp, on lovely Arrow Lakes in the Kootenay region of BC. We travelled by the “Welcome to British Columbia” sign and took it a personal greeting to our new home…although, oddly, we have no pictures of that milestone. Then came Revelstoke, our favourite place in the mountains, where we stopped to have lunch before the ferry ride across to our new home.

If you are new to BC, the ferry in the mountains is an unexpected treat. Bridges aren’t always practical and, in a few spots, the ferry is the only way to reach a remote region. This remoteness adds to the mystery of the area, and time slows down as you glide across a still mountain lake. While the covid restrictions made us spend the trip in our vehicle, we still experienced the magic of the crossing.