Canadian Vacation

I always like flying back into Vancouver after a long time away because the sky seems so blue and average people seem so relaxed and friendly. This time back, I had a small shock. When I got in a taxi at the airport, it was tiny. In the past, Vancouver taxis were big American cars with lots of room (requiring lots of gas). This time, I was in a Toyota Camry. It was comfortable and had all the room I needed, but it felt really strange. I guess gas prices have forced that change.

I wandered around in Vancouver for a couple of days before leaving for Alberta. I ate at my favorite vegetarian restaurant (The Naam) and spent hours browsing my favorite hippyish bookstore (Banyan Books) – boy, I love that store. It smells of incense and musty books. Most of the customers wear baggy cotton clothes; the men have beards and long hair, and the women look very Earth Mother-ish. I like to think that I belong, but I always feel a little too uptight and straight. Fortunately, no one seems to judge me. I walked along False Creek and watched people sailing and kayaking. The summer temperatures were a searing 25C with very little humidity.

(July 23-26) Vancouver has a lot of the kinds of problems that plague big cities all over the world – drunks and knifings at the fireworks festival – drugs and gangs; however, in general, Vancouver is a cool cosmopolitan city with a wonderful mix of ethnic backgrounds. It’s also remarkably tolerant. You can see mixed-race couples everywhere, and no one even notices. I like it.

(July 26-August 2) The 1,000 km drive (12 hours nonstop) from Vancouver to Pincher Creek has always been very special for me. Part of it is that my parents and most of my family live in that area, so I get a treat at the end of the journey. I often make that drive on my own, so it’s usually a time for reflection. Whenever people ask me what my favorite place is (not counting Bali), I have to say that it’s Hwy 3 and the southern part of British Columbia. Leaving Vancouver and driving through the dairy farming area of the Fraser River delta is nice, but, when I get to Hope, I ALWAYS relax and take a deep breath. Hope marks the western foot of the Coast Mountains and, as such, the moisture laden clouds coming in off the Pacific Ocean dump most of their rain here. The evergreen forest is lush and deep green. If you’re lucky, you can see bald eagles roosting in the trees or fishing in the river. Then there’s the drive along boulder strewn streams, up to the peak, and down the other side of the mountain and, for hours, past numerous ranches and farms with grazing cattle and horses. Most of the radio stations along Hwy 3 play country music and it entirely appropriate. After leaving the dense green forest of the Coast Mountains and dropping down into the interior of B.C., there are semi-desert hills sparsely covered with Ponderosa and Lodgepole pine, dry grass, and sage brush all stretching for hours.

Usually I stop about halfway through my trip. This year, I stopped at Princeton and then continued on the next day. The halfway mark is usually an appropriate time to stop as the sun is setting and there are often a lot of deer on the road. This year, I saw only two deer – one in a field and one prancing across the road a hundred meters ahead of me (a lovely young buck with 4-point antlers still in velvet). In the past, there have been so many deer and elk at the side of the road that I have had to stop for fear of hitting one. I think that Canadians are incredibly lucky to live in a country where wildlife roams fairly freely over great expanses of country.

The next morning, I was up and eating at a truck-stop highway diner. Everyone was relaxed and friendly. The meal was simple and filling. I carried on suitably fortified.

From Cranbrook on, the highway rose up through the Rocky Mountains. The sky is incredibly blue and it really feels like the top of the world.

My parents live in Pincher Creek, Alberta – a town of about 4,000 people (and one traffic light on the highway, but not on the main street). It’s in the foothills on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountain. To the west are the mountains and to the east there’s flat prairie that seems to go on forever.

Small-town Canada was a bit of a culture shock. I was constantly embarrassed when I was out walking on the main street. If I even looked like I was thinking about crossing the road, cars immediately stopped to let me cross. I couldn’t believe it. Even if there was only one car on the road and no one else in sight, the drivers stopped and waited patiently. I always hurried across the road so as not to keep them waiting for too long, but I’m sure they thought that was strange. Strangers waved as they drove by. Everything was slow and relaxing. I had a really pleasant week visiting my parents and various brothers, my sister, and numerous nephews and nieces.

Just south of Pincher Creek is Waterton Park – a beautiful national park with a small town on a rather windy lake. Every year that I have visited the park, I have seen numerous deer sleeping or grazing in people’s yards. A little to the north of the park there is a large buffalo paddock with a dozen bison. They are beautiful – powerful and somewhat dangerous looking. When I look at them and think of what it must have been like when huge herds with thousands of bison roamed the prairies, I’m saddened at the loss and disgusted with the destructive behaviour of humans.

Around Pincher Creek, I also saw mountain gophers, hawks, eagles, and a bluebird.

(August 2-today) After a week in Pincher Creek, I drove back to British Columbia and am visiting my older brother who lives in Kamloops. We get along well, and I’ve really enjoyed spending time with him, his wife, and their friends. Kamloops has about 100,000 people so it is a little more lively than Pincher Creek, but not as happening as Vancouver. I spent quite a few years growing up in Kamloops (Gr.7-12) before I moved on my own to Vancouver, so I also have a few friends still living here.

My brother has a dog, and we’ve been up for a hike at a small lake, and I saw a family of loons, some ducks, and a couple of squirrels. I would like to title this video "Simple Pleasures".

I’m not a cowboy although some of my high school classmates were cowboys. I’ve had cowboy boots, and I like country music. I spent many years hiking, camping, hunting, and fishing in the mountains and lakes around Kamloops. I have to say that I’ve felt really comfortable since I came back. I don’t ride horses, but I love to watch them. I like the smell of fresh cut hay. I love the outdoors.

This morning, I drove out of Kamloops into the hills and saw grouse and Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep (all females and some young ones). I also had to stop once to let several free-range cattle get off the road.

I loved this sign. It’s a warning not to shoot the children, but it’s so polite – “Please refrain from hunting.”

As usual when I’m on vacation in Canada, I wonder why I live in Seoul. That is something I will have to ponder this next school year. After my February vacation in Thailand, I never really got into being back in Seoul. I’m sure that there’s a reason for that. I’m sure it would sound a lot like the whining and complaining that far too many ex-pats in Korea do, so I won’t go there. It might be time to take the advice I would give to friends.