Wandering Wednesday

Wednesday
January 19, 2005
Day Five

Departed Fort Saint John, BC this morning around eight-ish. Not too surprising it was dark, almost with an eerie feel to it. Darkness engulfed each car and only the light from its headlights illuminated the road ahead. Light snow fell on the highway making travel slightly more interesting than the normal. As we passed out of the city we were in desolate country, saw a few trucks flipped over on the side of the road. An awakening to the fact that as docile as things may seem they can change in a heartbeat. Knock on wood we've made it this far sans incident. We drove on. Down the line you could see an amber glow from the tree tops mimicking what appeared to be a forest fire... This time of year? It turned out to be fire at the top of a stack, from some type of refinery; possibly natural gas. Added a certain mystique to the drive, a desolate mystique. As time wore on so did the scenery...

Another big scenery changing day... Definitely climbed up into some mountains with impressive vistas... The only thing was the flipping freezing temperatures encompassing all that was not inside the car, or under a down jacket with monstrous mittens. Passing through the mountains, which mind you had many FEET of snow the trip turned into a danged safari... Felt like I was riding with Jeff Corwin, or those crazy Kratt brothers. It seemed like every time you saw a sign for an animal, it appeared shortly there after. Today was the brought to you by the discovery channel apparently. Got to see some Caribou, Buffalo, and Moose, as I recollect, in that order too. Definitely cool. Such big animals, they’re quite impressive.

We ended our day at the famed, Laird Hot Springs... Some where way up there in BC. Imagine walking for a quarter mile through the cold, and snow... ok well on packed snow. Arriving at a crystal clear spring that smelled of sulfur... Hop in that spring and enjoy the 100+ degree water... Truly a rejuvenating experience. We enjoyed the springs with our friend "Jim" whom happened to be about three sheets to the wind when we met him in the diner. He absolutely loved the hot springs though; it was like heaven for him... Which he mentioned on more than one occasion. We talked of life, his family, us, several times actually... I will spare you the details of our conversation; it was interesting to say the least. Hopping out of the springs was another story, once your hair was wet, it was frozen, making the walk back really sweet. I fought the temptation to break the ice from my frozen hair, instead just let it melt back in the lodge...

That's about as exciting as it got today. Long drive, good long dip in the hot spring. Hope everything is swell in your respective time zone. Do what you can, where you are, with what you have. Total miles traveled today: 391

It’s your world...Capture it.
Vivas