Thursday, June 07, 2007

East, West, Home's Best

Well, I've been away. Now I'm back - 3200 kilometres later. Wanna see some sights?

We stopped in Williams Lake for the night and stayed there barely 12 hours, just long enough for Emily to work up the courage to pat Donovan.



When we left Williams Lake, it was finally time to give Holly Hobbie to Charlotte. Here she is a few hours later: "Show me how you feel about your Design My Style dolls!"



The Seven Sisters, as seen through the bug-spattered windshield at 140 kms/hour. But I knew better than to suggest we stop for something as paltry as enjoying the scenery. When Mr HalfSoledBoots is on a road trip, it is the destination that matters - the journey is of supreme insignificance.


The hustle and bustle of downtown New Hazelton.




But though they may not have much, they do have this, which you have to admit is impressive:



Most of the drive is through fairly flat country - quite a few ranches, long loooooong trains, and even some areas of taiga. Mr HSBoots is a man of few words, so I whiled away the hours, as the children watched Tom and Jerry on the two-screen travel DVD player (LIFESAVER), by working on my Sockapalooooza sock. Therefore, the scenery I saw was about 40% this:


and 60% this:


When we set out, I had done the ribbing and one lace repeat. By the time we got to our destination, I just had to knit the toe and graft it.

More on the sock in the next post. In the meanwhile, I conquered a new skill while at my sister's, where they have (gasp!) a trampoline. I love trampolines. And now, after 25 or so years of wishing I could do something better than a seat drop, I can add this to my resume of life:


We finally made our way home night-before-last, and this coastal girl was pretty happy to be back among the familiar.


I think Em agrees with me. After three days of whining and tearfulness, she gave me this look while on our beloved BC Ferry:


So that's your little glimpse of beautiful British Columbia. I hope you liked it. I will leave you with one last image from the Coastal Mountain Range. In the next installment I will introduce my Sockapalooooza socks properly, and maybe bring you up to date on the garden, which flourished in my absence due to a sudden lack of cloud.
_________________________

Thanks for your words on the transplant post. Since the transplant, and even more since your comments on the anniversary post, I am newly aware of the tenuous grasp each of us has on this fleeting life, and of the utter sameness of each life to the others. Our apparent differences are in fact circumstantial - at their core, humans all fear, long for, and treasure the same things.


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pictures, lovely country, and lovely thoughts to go with them. Glad to have you back.

Anonymous said...

A summersault on the trampoline?! Dude, you so totally rock.
I felt the same way upon seeing the island when we came home from our trek last summer. We are coast girls, hey?

Shan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Shan said...

Flip, Kate!! Flip!!!

(My word verification is ctalept...hee hee)

KingJaymz said...

Awww. Gorgeous kid. The mountains are pretty nice too ^_^ Canada is more advance than the US. They have seven whole "Sisters" while the US only has three (central Oregon). One is becoming an active volcano if that counts for anything...

Ah, the beautiful, beautiful coast. Every time go and see it, I feel like I belong there.

And you're one up on be. Butt plant is all I've ever been able to do. Even as a tall, thin and agile teenager, that was all I could do.

Anonymous said...

Shan, the Capable.

Is there anything you cannot do?

Our hero.

(And, I can say I'm related to you. You would blush to know how many times I say, "My sister-in-law can. . ."

Sue H said...

On long journeys, especially to areas not been to before, I love to take in the scenery, and even take photo's. Fortunately, so does the MOTH, so he (or I depending on who's driving) don't mind stopping to take in the view and get some shots.
Those seven sisters are very pretty, what a good looking family.