I'm in Beautiful British Columbia!

Here I am in B.C. with my family. I've been in Kelowna for three days now. Before I preach how wonderful B.C. is, and how much better it is compared to home, let me tell you about my travels first.

It took only 2 hours to drive from Fort Saskatchewan to Blackfalds, in Alberta. I was meeting up with my dad, so we could take his girlfriends car instead of my clunky jeep/truck.

I arrived, and found out that there was a chance of not being able to go to B.C. after all. I was a little choked at the thought, as I've been planing this trip for weeks now. Apparently, mudslides on the highway through the mountains have caused delays for motorists. Maryanne, my dad's girlfriend, called up some people and learned that traffic was currently moving through the pass, but very slowly, and status could change immediately. She booked us a hotel room, just in case, in the area before the pass. The deal was that if we couldn't get through the pass with the mudslide, we'd instead stay at the hotel for a night or two, and see what happens. If things didn't improve, we'd just go home. However, if the pass was open for us, we could call and cancel the held rooms after we passed the mudslide.

After a short pit-stop in Blackfalds, we were on our way. South on highway 2, now called Queen Elizabeth 2, then heading west towards Banff. I sat in the back, with little legroom. I felt it after a few hours of riding, the swelling in my damaged knees build and build, with no room to stretch or relieve the pressure. Yeah, it hurt a little, but I managed.

The mountais slowly grew bigger and bigger and bigger as we neared them. I hadn't been in B.C. since I was 17 in Ventures (scouts for bigger boys) the last time I came. There was a mountain goat/sheep/whatever directly to my side as we passed through a passage where the walls were touching the shoulders of the road. The sheep was only 10-12 feet off the ground, and on my side of the car. I could almost reach out and touch it. Vegetation everywhere but Fort Saskatchewan seems more lush and vibrant. I live in a dead prairie wasteland, and I'm very much in love with trees, so for me to become immersed in forest and vegetation and mountains... Wow. I was loving it, just like every other time I've come to B.C. for a visit.

We passed through Enderby, the city where I was born. It's a lovely town, in the middle of a very large bowl-shaped valley. The highway cut right through the town, and the hospital where I was born was off to the side. It doesn't look like a hospital at all. It instead looks like one of those fancy spas/resorts people go to, and it was rather small. Maryanne and Mike told me it had recently been converted into a health and well being center, and the new hospital was further away in town. I thought it was neat, seeing where I was brought into the world, and knowing it wasn't a dark and cold hospital like I had imagined it to be.

The first day in Kelowna, after we arrived, was rather hectic for me. I went to bed early, worn out after a day full of activity. My aunt Laura owns a four-plex, and we were staying with her. She's the land-lord of the property, which I thought was neat. In addition to being a landlord, she also works in an animal clinic. Downstairs lives two more relatives of mine. Uncle Willie, a large old man who used to work as a train engineer. My Grams, grandma Zorn, lives in the other downstairs suite with her boyfriend/companion. The fourth space belongs to some wierdo that Laura plans on evicting. I don't know who will live there after that space is vacant. I would love to live here, but I'd have to live alone.

My first day involved meeting relatives I hadn't talked to since I was a wee lad. Very awkward, but I survived. I can't remember all that we did on day one, but when I saw Lauras computer in my guest room with internet, and she said feel free to use it as much as ya want, I just grinned.

Day two was a lot more active. I went with my dad and Gramps, grandpa Zorn who does not live with Grams anymore, to tour the town. We went to his yacht club, where we took his single mast 20-some foot boat out onto Lake Okanagan. It was a blast of course, as I love water sports. Flat-landers like me sometimes do appreciate boating now and then you know. After several hours of boating, we called it quits. The wind was too low for sailing, so we were just using the outboard motor instead. The water was like glass, and even though it was really warm outside, the occasional breeze kept us nice and cool.

After sailing, we stopped for a bite to eat at a Subway, where we practically bragged about being tourists to the workers, and then we left to go hiking. We didn't go on a real hiking trail; instead we went to a more family walking trail, which led to a waterfall. I can't
recall the name of it right now, but when I post my pictures we took I'll be able to title it. I was pretty tired after all that hiking, and all the sun, and excitement... So we went back home to aunt Lauras place. But not until after we met up with a few more relatives in Kelowna.

We returned, and discovered a terrible smell in the air. It appears that they might be having a small gas leak somewhere in the fourplex. They got 5 different gas company workers to come out, each with their own gas-sniffing devices. But their machines wouldn't pick up any gas, so they shrugged it off. We decided the funny smells must be the sprays they spray on the trees to control the bug and pest problems.

We had an outdoor family meal on day two for supper. Now, I'm not used to eating around people, let alone outside. This was quite an unusual experience for me. We had a BBQ, with baked beans, salad, followed by icecream and cookies. Yeah, I stuffed myself.

I was bit by Lauras dog today. It's a Karelian Bear Dog. It must either think I'm a dog of it's sex, or I'm a mugger, or I'm a bear in disguise. Our eyes met, and it spazzed. I've been attacked by dogs before, and I'm rather jaded by it. My first thought was of killing it, but since it's family, and I'm not really THAT mean, I instead was going to restrain it. This dog is FAST, much faster than other dogs I've fought. It sure has spirit, I can say that at least. It bit my ankle, so I did a side-sweeping kick and pushed it away. It just missed my leg meat, and merely tore a hole into my jeans, as if it was cheap material. Those teeth are impressive! Laura came out as soon as the dog started spazzing, so I didn't have to use my dog-wrestling technique. We're all puzzled as to why it lunged at me in the first place. These dogs are great with kids, and friendly towards people. Maybe I was walking too quietly, or I just startled her, or eye contact pissed it off. We'll never know. Laura feels awful because of it, but she doesn't realize that I'm not even fazed by it. I have a little deep scratch on my right ankle, no big deal. The dog is more scared of me, so what can I say?

Today is day 3. I woke up maybe an hour or two ago. Having coffee, with flavoured creamers (oh yeah...), and just blogging away. Mike and Maryanne are back. They apparently went out earlier this morning. I have a hard time sleeping usually. But this B.C. air, and a hard mattress bed... Hmmm... I could probably go back to bed right now for a few more hours.

Well, I guess I'll end this part of the blog right now. I'll fill in the glory details of B.C. later, as I'm sure the family wants to go do things. I'll try typing later on, so for now, I gotta go.

Later peeps! O_x