HOMEWARD BOUND FOR SURE

Well, it’s TIME.  I have been on the road for over seven weeks, over thirteen thousand kilometres, and the planned stops for the next few days all just went out the window.  I am about a week early on this portion of the journey, and my planned victims just aren’t ready to be victimized just yet.  So I am bypassing a bunch of the folks I had hoped to see on the eastbound leg of the trip.

When I wrote my last update, I was at a Walmart parking lot in Winterpeg.  I went from there to the home of my buddy Ken, who was a recruit with me back in 1973 at the Royal Roads School for Boys in Colwood, BC, and his wife Barb, whom I know from somewhere in that same time frame.  They got married in 1976 and are still enjoying marital bliss, how about that!!!!  Ten years more than a life sentence!

We enjoyed a marvellous meal, and were joined before dinner by another buddy from the same recruit flight (The Lasalle Animals), name of Piet TenB.  Piet is a pilot, drove a CF-18 for many years, and is still flying.  As we loafed around during and after a spectacular feast (oink oink), we reminisced about the good old days when we were young, fit, hirsute, virile and basically invincible.  And where the hell did the time go anyway?????  We were playing my buddy Ray’s CD (did I mention that he is a musician?), and the title track is all about growing too soon old and too late smart.  I think.

Piet’s wife Anne has just recently been diagnosed with a lymphoma, and is about to undergo some chemotherapy, so I would ask those of you who are religiously inclined to say a prayer for her complete recovery.

Ken and Barb:

The three amigos:

Ken:

Piet:

I stayed in Ken and Barb’s driveway overnight, and after the morning Winnipeg traffic rush I headed the rig east on the Trans-Canada.  The rain is STILL following me, and I only made it as far as Dryden when I was seeing double and stopped for the night at an RV centre just west of town.  Nice spot, and I enjoyed the opportunity to play with a big whitetail doe’s head just as it was getting dark.  I was bleating like a fawn, and she was definitely interested.  But when she flanked me and was out of view, I decided that I would rather be in my DRY, WARM camper than outside in the rain facing a seriously pissed-off doe, so I went back into the camper.

It rained HARD all night, and there was about an inch of standing water everywhere when I got up Thursday morning.  But by all accounts the rain was sorely needed, and apparently the good people of Dryden are erecting a craven image of me in heartfelt appreciation for bringing the rain to them.  I left before the crowds of rapturous people could interrupt my eastward voyage.  The IGA in Dryden has Wonder Bread at only $2.99 per loaf, so much better than Fraser Lake, so I re-provisioned with (brown of course) Wonder Bread, salami, mozzarella cheese and Diet Ginger Ale.  Ready for three meals a day for the rest of the trip, probably!

Last night I made Thunder Bay and stayed once again with my buddy Bob and his Ukrainian wife Nellia.  They met over the Internet.  Neither of them speaks all that much of the other’s language, but they seem to get on OK.  I had been hosted by them when I was westbound, so I took them out to a local steak-house, which has EXCEPTIONAL food.  If you are in or near Thunder Bay, you MUST check out Prospector’s Restaurant.  Our waitress had advised us that we really should sample the fresh, home-made buns, which were delicious.  And when I told her, in a very loud voice, “YOU HAVE NICE BUNS” she turned as red as a beet.  The prime rib is pretty fabulous too!

It was raining yesterday, it rained pretty much all night (heavy at times), and it was still raining this morning, BUT!!!!!!!  We were planning to go for a hunt, so we did.  We spent a very wet, windy, miserable day looking for moose and deer, but to my not so great surprise, saw nothing.  We got back to Thunder Bay, I checked my e-mails and found out that all of this week’s planned possibilities had gone out the window, and so I decided to head for home.

So I made it as far as Nipigon with the wind trying to put me into the ditch, and I am holed up for the night at an RV campground near the highway.  They have Internet (YAYYYYYYY!!!!), electricity to run the heater, and I am given to believe that they also have showers, so I may check that out tomorrow morning.

As it stands now, I could be home in three days, ie two weeks earlier than planned.  I might have to get creative about why it is taking me so long to get there!

Doug