I’ve been retired exactly seven months and I still can’t quite believe it. I started working for employers other than Wally Smith, at the age of 14 and worked until the age of 67.

The thing that most astounds me is that I don’t have to plan to be back at work anymore. That requirement always hung around me like a spoiler, interfering with my enjoyment of the moment.

Nelly and I planned a trip to the B.C. coast. On July 16 we began our drive to our first stop, the quiet little town of Sicamous. We booked the motel online expecting a relaxing time and a good sleep.

To our surprise, the town was crowded with motorcycles, they were everywhere. To get to our motel we had to go round about because of road construction and one of the streets was blocked off for street vendors who were selling motorcycle paraphernalia.

We were told that this weekend was the ” Stomp ” celebration in Sicamous. It was for motorcycle enthusiasts. The celebrants in our motel partied until 3 am the night before and our reserved room was right in the centre of it all.

Needless to say, we cancelled our reservation, but it was done with difficulty. We travel without cell phones, ipods and the like. To cancel the reservation, we had to call the online booking service, booking.com. We used the motel phone but couldn’t get through to speak to someone. I convinced the clerk to go online and she cancelled the reservation.

With that done we headed for Vernon, a short, wonderfully green drive. I was amazed at how tall the cornfields were. Water and sun, a great combination, that is the Okanagan for you!

We didn’t know Vernon very well so we only drove on the main drags. The accommodations we inquired at were all booked up. One clerk said she had called 10 other places and none had vacancies.

Our next choice was Kamloops. We went up highway 97. That is a very nice drive. The sun was setting, casting a pinky hue over a small lake. We stopped in Falkland for gas and I struck up a conversation with a local fellow. He was a retired city fireman from Ontario who moved west so he could be close to his children and grand children, and had settled in Westwold, the next community west of Falkland.

We arrived in Kamloops after 10 pm, worn out from 13 hours of travel. We took one of the first motels we saw. It was a cheap one but we were too tired to look further, and it turned out to be comfortable enough.

The next day we resumed our journey with our destination being Squamish. Highway 99 is a trip! At Lillooet, just west of the town, the rough condition of the road surface made us wonder if we were on the right road.
The road surface improved and we enjoyed the curvy nature of the highway. Our next surprise was at Pemberton. We fell into the busy Pemberton Rock Festival. The traffic crept along past rickshaws loaded with baggage and people, cyclists, and pedestrians. School buses were the transport from the campsites to the stage and back.

We later heard that there were 45,000 campers lodged in various farmers fields in the area. There were over 30 groups playing on stage. The total concert attendance was 150,000 people.

About half an hour south of Pemberton, the traffic on the four lane highway ground to a halt. We were delayed an hour and a half due to a car crash. The two ambulances returning to Pemberton from the crash scene hadn’t sirens or flashing lights leaving us to wonder if the victims were deceased or uninjured.

We stopped in Whistler for several hours. There was a mountain bike event going on. The participants loaded their bicycles onto the chair lift and then took the next chair up to join their bikes at the top. Then they  rode to the end of the course which was near where they got on the chair lift. We watched the goings on for a time.

Whistler is a place I’d like to spend more time exploring. The day was drawing to a close so we drove onto Squamish and settled into our hotel room. B.C. has craft beer on tap in many places, you just have to ask for it. Our hotel was no exception. They served a delicious craft beer and an equally delicious supper!

All along the way, with each different surprise, I seemed to enjoy everything more than before when I earned a living. The rush to get on with the program had disappeared. I took it as it came and enjoyed the moment.

The rest of the trip will be next week.

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