ON THE ROAD AGAIN

 POST # 642

My most recent journey began yesterday.  As soon as the suitcase was in view, Toby wasn't too happy about it.  I'm sure that he thought that I would be leaving him at home, but once he realised that he was coming along for at least part of the trip, he settled down, and became my travel companion to Kelowna airport.  Even though I wasn't going to be boarding a flight, this is the location that the E-bus stops at to pick up passengers heading to Vancouver.

Once we arrived, Toby was once again in a happy mood, because he saw his owners coming out of the airport.  They had just returned from a trip to Australia, so we had a quick visit, and the three of them headed home after their long journey.  I took up residence at the airport to wait for the E-bus.  I had two reservation forms, one for the trip from the airport to Kelowna, and the other from Kelowna to Vancouver.  I mistakenly looked at the departure time for the second bus trip, which is later than the one from the airport, and if I hadn't checked it a second time, I would have still been at the airport when the bus came and went.  Something in my brain told me to re-check the forms, and I'm glad I did.

The bus ended up being about twenty minutes late.  A little side note.  There was one person getting off the bus, and he had the exact same luggage as me.  What are the odds?  I went over to say hello, and we both had a good laugh about it.  I should have taken a photo.

So we were on our way, first stop being downtown Kelowna, and then across Okanagan Lake to West Kelowna and beyond.

There are plenty of stops between there and our final destination of Vancouver, but it was an uneventful journey, with the exception of one individual on the bus that snored almost the entire way.  Oh, and also the fact that the odour emanating from the onboard toilet was a fragrance that was to say, a very memorable one indeed.

I arrived late last night at Nicole and Dan's place, and I will be leaving this afternoon for Washington.  Ollie has been kind enough to keep me company while I am here.  Nicole and Dan both left earlier to head to work.

I expect to be boarding the Amtrak train later on today.  There was news a while back that they had cancelled their service from Vancouver, but apparently not.  I guess I'll know for sure once I get to the station.  Hopefully all will go well, although when one reads some of the news regarding border crossing from here on out, I do wonder how things will go.  I'll know soon enough.

So I've got a little while longer to hang out with Ollie, and then I'll be on the road again.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer