Saturday, October 30, 2010

Blues, Booze and BBQ at New West

Oh, yeah!!! It's a beautiful day to be out on the road. I've been up since before dark. Packed out my gear, drove into town, breakfast at Hungry Jack's in Enderby. I'm not sure how many hours it is going to take to get out to the coast from where I am, so I'm giving myself (I hope) plenty of time. There are quite a few routes I could take out of Enderby— I've asked around, and everybody seems to have a different idea. In the end I decide to go the way I know: south to Kelowna, and then head over the mountains on the big, divided road. There was a storm on it last week, but the day looks good so far. What I really want to do is drive the secondary, gravel road across the ranchland. But not today, I can't be late. The RCMP are stopping people today, so I watch my speed and sip my coffee.



The good weather doesn't last. You can see it waiting for you as you drive, a frowning sky. West of Kelowna the mountains do their thing, and remind me that winter will soon spread. It's another white knuckle drive over the high elevations. And then...


Driving with my new specs— safer for all of us, and the better to enjoy the rest of this mountain drive.


I roll into New Westminster with time to spare, and it doesn't take me more than a few minutes to find Laurie and Isabel's home. House concert here tonight, and Laurie has had the smokers and BBQ going for days getting the food ready— well the meat anyway. I'm suddenly starving, and I can smell pork from the driveway!


I'm from the east, so I'm not used to seeing hydraneas like this one! Did I spell that correctly? Anyway— big old plant with big, thick, woody stems and an enormous output of flowers. I planted some of these at my place. Maybe someday they'll look like this!

Laurie meets me out front and helps me get my gear in. We are both much happier than we look here! I get set up and then go down the street to gas up the Lincoln and visit the local car wash. The big white beast looks better when cleaned. In New West I buy the most expensive gasoline in Canada. Well, based on the expense logs coast to coast, this is it. I tell the guy collecting the money, and he doesn't seem to think anything of it. "I thought you might want to brag to your friends," I tell him. He blinks. That's the trouble— people don't care enough. He doesn't know if the prices are fair or unfair. He's just lucky to have this crappy job, and nothing surprises him. The gas pumps could be on fire, and he'd probably just blink. And in a way, the gas pumps ARE on fire. I didn't need Jeff Rubin to tell me that. Someday cars like this Lincoln will be remembered like ghosts on these highways.

Back at the house the place is filling up with people, I think there's about 50, and the food is being served. It's amazing! But before too long it's my turn to bring the Blues to this Town. We all grab our drinks and settle in. What a great night! I'm having a ball. It's a great crowd! Before I know it we are drawing for the Tour jacket. Jim wins!!! Hey, bro, cool threads!




It's been a great evening. My best days on the road are days like this where I come away with a pile of new friends and feel so welcomed. Thanks so much everyone. I hope we meet up again soon.

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