The Thoughtful Wanderer

POST # 29EXPECT DELAYS-MUDSLIDE S'ATTENDRE A DES RETARDE-COULEES DE BOUE Ahead of us on the highway, the overhead sign flashed it's warning about the upcoming mudslide. Because we were in a national park, the signage of course was flashing in both French and English. Everyone on-board this Greyhound had been informed about the mudslide and now here we were, on our way to see what was what. It was this mudslide that caused my blog posting to be a day late. If we would have arrived in Calgary at the scheduled time yesterday, June 7th, I would still have had enough hours left in the day to at least get something posted. But by the time we got back to my friends house, it was well past midnight and it had been a very long day, so the blog would have to wait until today. My day began quite early in Vancouver, waking up around 6:30am but I remained in bed while my friends got themselves prepared for their workday. This was an "off" day for the Thoughtful Wanderer, as I was currently in between housesits, and I had no responsibilities for any house or animals for a little while. Eventually I had all my gear packed and I shifted locations to another friends house for dinner and a visit prior to the trip to the bus station, arriving there just before 11:30pm. And it was here that I first learned about the mudslide on highway number 1. I was informed by the attendant on duty that the highway was closed at the current time, however the bus would still depart, and if the road was open, we would be able to make the trip all the way to Calgary. We were meant to depart at 12:30am however we never started until 1:20am, and I wasn't too concerned about that. In fact, I thought it might be a positive, as it would give the highway crews more time to clear the slide. In spite of the late departure, the driver did his best to test out his formula 1 racing technique on the road to Kelowna, with some interesting g forces being experienced on some of the curvy mountain corners and so we would arrive at Kelowna only 5 minutes behind schedule. Our journey took us via Princeton, and the various towns located on that route, and it was a magnificent night, with plenty of moonlight which eventually transitioned into a lovely sunrise. I tried to remember when I would have last been along this road and my guess was probably 1975, or '76, so it all felt brand new to me, and I very much enjoyed the passing scenery. A journey across Saskatchewan might not be as gripping I'm sure. At Kelowna, there would be a change of drivers, and we were informed that there would also be a highway update about the mudslide. At this point we all had the option to stay in Kelowna for 6 hours, and wait for the bus that would go via the southern route through the Crowsnest Pass and on to Calgary from the south. However, that would add many hours to the trip, and my thinking at the time was it was better to take the chance on the original route, because by the time we get there, maybe it would be open. We were assured for a second time that as long as the road was open, we would be ok. On that advice, everyone re-boarded the coach and we were on our way. The area in question was a patch of highway somewhere between Revelstoke and Golden, and as we got closer and closer to Revelstoke, I was trying to gauge what was what by the amount of traffic coming from the other direction. Although it was limited, it appeared that there were at least some vehicles getting through, and I thought that maybe we would be ok. I soon changed my mind a couple of kilometers outside of Revelstoke, when we saw the dozens and dozens of trucks pulled off to the side of the road, obviously not going anywhere. When we arrived at the bus depot, we waited to hear about a road condition update, and we were all very happy to hear that only minutes after our arrival the highway was now open. But what we weren't expecting to hear was that the driver who brought us there was now off duty, so even though we had a bus, we were still stuck in Revelstoke. That was the part that everyone was annoyed about, as no one had told us that the driver was leaving when he arrived at Revelstoke. We ended up being stuck there for just over 5 hours, and even though it would have been more desirable to leave earlier, it did allow us to get to know each other better than if we would have been on the bus, so it wasn't all bad news. Just after 5pm we were finally on our way and for the first time since I have been doing all this bus travel, this coach was as they say in Australia, "chock a block", in other words full to capacity. Thankfully for me I don't need to have as much leg room as I did a few weeks ago, so it wasn't too much of a burden to bear. We passed the remains of the mudslide and even though it was cleaned up, one could see just how much rock and mud had covered the road previously, and as we motored through it, the highway crews continued their work. I hadn't been along this road in years, and I was struck by just how deteriorated the road surface had become. Here again is just another clue of what happens as industrial society continues to break down. Infrastructure begins to break down as well, and my guess is, that there won't be the resources to fix all or even a small portion of it going forward. And this is just one section of one highway in one province in one country. What about all the rest of the highways and bridges etc. in the rest of the industrialized world? The kilometers continued to fly by as we passed through Field, Lake Louise, Banff and continued motoring down the highway to our final destination of Calgary, or Cowtown as it is known by the locals. As the bus drove through the city on the way to the terminal, my mind began to recall so many memories from so many years spent growing up here. I imagine that in future blogs I will dredge up a few select ones and write about them, or maybe I'll just go with the flow of what is happening in the here and now. We'll see. I will be housesitting here for 4 weeks or maybe longer, and it will be a good opportunity to catch up with old friends and some extended family members who still call Calgary their home. It will also be the place where I get to finally begin putting some weight on my right leg, and I am both keen yet anxious about that. So now everyone knows why the blog was late this time. It was out of my control due to a mudslide. But next week I don't anticipate having any excuses to be late, so all the readers can expect my next blog as scheduled on June 14th. Who knows what my brain will come up with then. Until the 14th, Happy Trails, Paul The Thoughtful Wanderer