Late Thursday afternoon, Neil picked me up in his Big Red Truck and off we went on another road trip - this time to Prince George.
First we had to go pick up a container full of goodies for the Great Canadian Superstore,which was at a warehouse in South Surrey. Geez, there's a lot of Surrey I haven't biked yet, and poor old Breehy is sitting in my junk room with a flat tire - seems the 'self-healing' tire didn't know it wasn't supposed to heal. Walmart crap.
When we pull into the warehouse complex, I saw a row of containers, all lined up like piglets at their mommy's belly, getting their tummies filled up.
While on the other side of the lot, trucks waited patiently for a go time.
And we were off - Neil blasted his Traditional Trio (Road Hammers songs) over the speakers and we were heading into the sunset. Well, not literally - we actually were east-bound (and down) but the sky was pinking all around us as we rolled towards Chilliwack.
Chilliwack may be a wonderful town, with wonderful things - I saw a sculpture like a tree with big red flowers on it, so I'll have to try and find it again sometime for a photo shoot - and Chilliwack may be famous for its singing sons and its corn, but after two rides through I will remember it for something else - the smell of the fertilizer that permeates the air from one end to the next.
Our first stop was to gas up at the Husky Truck Stop, where they sell the best yogurt parfaits in the world. However, to my utter disappointment, they were all out. During the whole trip, at all the Huskys we stopped at, there were no yogurts. There was lots of jello - but who wanted jello when one's heart was set on yogurt parfaits? Not me.
The truck stop had a line of semis - most of them would be cradling sleeping truckers in their semi-beds. When your 14 hours is up, you get a bed-time, whether you want it or not. From my little experience, by then you really want it!
The only way to make your big boy look little is to see him in a Big Truck.
This was mostly a night time trip, and we arrived in Prince George just before 3 am. (This picture was actually taken when we were leaving, it's pretty dark in Prince George at 3 am. But the stars are humongous.)
Since we couldn't get the return load until 1:30 the next afternoon, we had a good half-night's sleep. When you don't go to bed until almost 5 o'clock in the morning, 11:30 is not sleeping in. We had breakfast at the Husky restaurant, and to tell the truth the food was forgettable, the Hash Browns looked and tasted just like cut up boiled potatoes.
Neil did have a great story about something that happened to him while he was filling his tank (and I was emptying mine) but he won't let me blog about it. Because it's His Story. If you want to hear it you'll have to call him - personally I think he's a little mean about it. If I had known I was going to forget the name of the Ice Road Trucker he met, and he wouldn't tell me again, I would have written it down.
However, we did get some nice daytime driving - Neil pointed out a few birds flying from the side of the road - he sees them quite often on his trips. I think they were probably northern jays - striking shades of blues with white, and larger than the Stellar Jays we feed peanuts to. (Internet picture follows)
Some pics on the way - still snow closer to PG, although a bit more south has none. The white expanses look like ponds or lakes, but they are just fields. There is a lot of farm/ranch country here.
After my last trip (to Calgary) and the fiasco with the fizzy water, I came up with a foolproof way to open my pop - if it decided to spout and foam its way out of the bottle, the bag would keep it off my jeans. I am so smrt. However, this was very well behaved and I didn't spill a drop.
And no, it's not a beer bottle. It's grapefruit pop.
You don't expect to see a yellow submarine on the side of the Cariboo Highway. Looks like it's for sale if anyone's interested - the sub, not the highway.
Quesnel is definitely a town I would like to explore - there are a few towns in this part of the province on my Pail List now,such as Clinton, 100 Mile House and Cache Creek.
Logging is a huge industry in the north (Neil always brings a load of pulp back to Richmond.)
Heading south past Quesnel ...
There is an interesting story of how Lac La Hache got its name - curious minds wanted to know and are willing to share.
Coming into Williams Lake.
How apt is that? A cowboy and a bull - and A&W in the background. It's almost a pictorial life story, don't you think?
And before the light ended, we saw deer. Seeing deer was easier than taking pictures of deer.
Neil, however, stopped the Big Red Truck and took some shots.
Another town we passed through was Spences Bridge - nothing spectacular - except for a motel there called BAITS MOTEL. Now, I don't care how they spell it - there is nothing on this earth that would persuade me to sleep there, or even worse, shower there.
More deer - this was the deeriest trip ever
And here are the pretty night lights of Cache Creek - it was time to put my camera to bed, and concentrate on staying awake - although that was more important for Neil than me, I suppose.
Got home about 2 in the morning, and was telling Howard about the trip - until he told me to be quiet and go to sleep. So I`m still trying to honour his request - reminds me of a long -ago post from Tamars Day Off - The Sounds of Silence, or How Long Is A Shut Up Supposed To Last?
