Destination Circle: Day 9

May 22, 2016

The rain was coming down with no mercy when I woke up and the temperature was in the 40s. It was Sunday, and there was only one table left in the restaurant where I lingered over eggs, bacon and coffee. Wait staff use clever hand-held gadgets for payment at one's table. I've only seen them in Canada although perhaps they are not that new elsewhere....just not in the US where I have travelled. A credit / debit card is inserted and one is prompted through the process. It handles chips, prints a receipt and gives tip options, with ease and efficiency.

As soon as I started driving west, I entered another area with no gas for 100 miles. This has been quite common in Canada which speaks to the lack of commerce and abundance of nature. Eventually the rain stopped and the day cleared to sunshine and blue skies, mountains and deep forests showing many shades of green as various deciduous trees are leaving out. The scent of evergreens fills the air and always smooths the ragged edges of my inner dialogue. The trees are gigantic.

along Canada highway 16 West

Black bear  

Early in the day and just after seeing a sign warning of moose collisions, I saw a moose. How cool is that? chocolate-colored, large and standing in the drizzle on the green grassy verge. And a bit later, I rounded a curve and saw a black bear, probably a cub, in the open at the edge of the forest. It scuttled just into the tree line and then stopped and checked out what I was going to do, which was (of course) try for a photo.

Traffic was light and I got used to the metric system, staying close to the posted speed limits although most other drivers didn't. Not once have I seen provincial police patrolling the roads.

I have been listening to the CBC (Canada's NPR) and am impressed with the content and the way guests are allowed to talk at length without interruption by the hosts. The pace is slower, not so frenetic, more measured, and people are given time to express their views. And, I have heard very little about Trump; no hyperventilating commentators saying one more time how unstable, unsuitable and ill-informed Trump is or expressing feeble outrage over his latest declarations.

I heard a fascinating interview with Jay Parini, a professor at Middlebury Colllege in Vermont who wrote about his long friendship with Gore Vidal, a book titled The Empire of Self.

I arrived in Smithers, BC, late afternoon, checked into a motel, asked for a room change, was granted that and now looked at the mountains to the west. I walked around the area chasing a bird and failed to find it since it was singing in the trees behind a gate to "Private Property."

between McBride and Smithers, BC