I had this huge idea that I would blog about my tour every day.
My first two days on the road were 8 hour driving days, and I got tired. So I didn't write anything... now my tour is over and I have decided to recount my travels in a "Coles Notes" version of the whole thing (well maybe except for the first day as I had already posted about my trip to Jasper. So let's start at day two, shall we?).
Okay! Heeeeeeeerrrre we go:
Day 2: 8 hour drive, the scariest drive of my life, and Kaslo.
Waking up is not easy for me on a good day. Let alone when I have gone to bed at 1:30 in the AM... Alas, I had to be on the road at 6am to be able to get to Kaslo, British Columbia by 4pm. So, by God, I am going to be on the road then.
I woke up at 6:45am.
As fast as I could, I throw my life into my rental car and off I go. Watching the sun come up in the mountains was possibly one of the most amazing moments in my grown life. It was unbelievable. I was viewing the very images photographers chase after...I even took some photos from the car (the "professional" photographer I am...) I would share them with you, but I have no idea how to do that in this blog, so just close your beautiful eyes and imagine how beautiful those images are. Don't worry, I'll wait.
...
Nice, right???
I kept driving, and driving, and driving. Through some beautiful scenery too. But as much as I wanted to, I couldn't stop. I had to keep trekking along. After a lovely ferry ride, I was officially in the Kootenays. Now this is where it gets hilarious. I listened to Google Maps (which is kind of the go-to in route planning for my touring) and took the less-used road to drive the rest of the 89 kilometres to Kaslo. It was a one lane, gravel logging road that had a 800 foot drop into a massive lake.
Yeeeeeeeeeeeehaw.
I drove at a steady 40 km/hour with my entire body using every muscle in my body to keep the car in check. At one point I recalled a Stephen King short story I read where a gal is trying to find the best shortcut from town to town and ends up going through this strange wormhole and returns 50 years later-without aging at all. I was certain that was going to happen to me.
(I should also note that I was listening to Louise Hay's "101 Empowering Thoughts" on repeat as I was too scared to move my hand from the wheel to change the CD. Things such as "Live every day as if it were your last" and "Remember to tell your loved ones you love them; you never know when will be the last time to see them" really stick with me because I REALLY THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DRIVE INTO THE LAKE.
But, I survived.
I finally rolled into Kaslo at about 4:45, and after feeling like I was the latest person in the world, I quickly realized that in the Kootenays, time doesn't matter.
I found the house of the gentleman that was to be interviewing me for Kootenay Co-op Radio, and after apologizing for being late, he seemed almost angry for me apologizing. We drank some sun tea and talked about Alberta outside on his porch while his dogs ran around. Such a nice relaxing time after the crazy afternoon of "death drive: 2013". The interview went swimmingly, and after we took a walking tour of the town where he asked if I wanted to record one of my songs in what he said was "probably the smallest music store in Canada - no - North America." How could I say no? It was the tiniest music store I had been to, so I can only assume it has to be one of the smallest in the world. We recorded a song from my album, and after a short chat I was on my way to the Bluebelle Bistro, where I would be playing that evening.
The Bluebelle Bistro is a wonderful place with amazing food, and lovely staff. It was a balmy 31 degrees there that day, and most people were on the lake. I played my night's worth of music to a handful of lovely listeners, and after that I was on my way. Only thing was, I didn't have a place to sleep.
What does a musician do when they have no place to sleep and are too cheap to pay for a room?
CAR SLUMBER PARTY!
Thank goodness for the luxury vehicle because I had a wonderful sleep. I felt like a lazy camper.
After a day like that, one would hope that the next day I would only have to travel a few hours, right?
Tomorrow: NINE HOUR DRIVE TO VANCOUVER
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