THE JOURNEY THAT ALMOST DIDN'T HAPPEN

POST # 279

 MADONNA'S BAR AND GRILL in REPUBLIC WASHINGTON

I'll get to Madonna's bar and grill in a moment, but that is jumping ahead in today's story.  Let's start from the beginning.

Wandering is what I do best, and as I have come to realize at this stage in my life, a wanderer is who I am, not just what I do.  With that in mind, and with my continued view that what we now all take for granted, (this continued way of life) is about to take some rather sharp turns for the worse in the not too distant future, what better time than now to go on a road trip?  At least that was my plan a week ago.  To that end, I rented a car for a week, with three goals in mind.  Visit with my friend Mary, do a camping trip in Washington, and round it out with a  return visit to Grand Forks BC.  I wanted to re-visit  and climb my leg breaking hill for the third time, and have a visit with the people I house sat for in 2012, in addition to meeting their new dog, "Bella" who now has the job of filling the boots (paws) of "Sadie" who died earlier this year.  Well that was my plan, and I did pull it off, but it didn't look like it was going to happen at the beginning of the journey.

I picked up the car and headed to the border.  I've crossed into the US so many times over the past six years, that I have my "story" ready to go when I talk to the US customs agent.  I didn't anticipate a problem, but this guy was like a pit bull chomping down on its prey, and he just didn't want to let go.  Suffice to say, that after many long minutes, and multiple questions, he reluctantly let me in to the country. One of the questions asked in the last two crossings is, "are you planning to move to the USA?"  I answer with a simple "no" but what I would like to say is, "this is the last place that I would chose to move to", but of course if I said that, it would probably cause me even more grief.  He looked angry, and was quite aggressive.  This seems to be the norm nowadays, and it's the second time in as many crossings that the transition from Canada to the USA has been shall we say, less than pleasant.  I imagine it will only get worse as time goes on, and after the latest incident, I wonder if I'll be able to go in again?  I'll find out soon enough, as I expect to be crossing over tomorrow.  It should be an experience.  Perhaps he was just envious of the fact that I am free to roam around, and he's stuck there, breathing in exhaust fumes for eight long hours every day while he asks the same questions over and over again?  Who knows? Who cares?

After a brief visit with Mary, I headed to Baker Lake and spent another evening camping with Hambone and his little dog, Sancho Panza.  Another video was produced, which is linked below.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAO2OwmFnJA

The next day I continued heading East into the smoke filled state.

 ALL SMOKE AND NO CLOUDS- UGGGHH!!!

Eventually and thankfully, the smoke dispersed, and I continued my journey, passing through some interesting little towns along the way.  One of these was the town of Twisp, and I am surely not the first person to make fun of the name as can be seen in the video below.

 After Twisp, I arrived in the town of Republic which is where Madonna's Bar and Grill is located.  My mom would have been happy to know that there was a bar with her namesake.  Well not quite.  I went in to let the waitress know that this was my mother's name, and asked her how the bar got its name?  She told me that the original owner was named Donna, but everyone just called her "Ma" so she put the two together and called her establishment Madonna's.  

Somewhere along the way I came across this scene, which might help to explain the predicament we now find ourselves in on the planet.  Forests burning down due to abrupt climate change?  No problem, just build a bigger house right in the middle of it.  What could possibly go wrong?  And how about that view?

 I spent the night car camping just outside of the town of Kettle Falls, and crossed back into Canada near Christina Lake, BC.  For the first and only time in my life, I was the sole person crossing in either direction, which was kind of strange.  Compared to the US border guard from earlier in the week, the Canuck spent all of about 30 seconds with me, and I was on my way, arriving later in the day in Grand Forks.  I had a pleasant visit with Bev, Brian, and their daughter, Elly, and accomplished my mission of climbing that damn hill just one more time.  My new companion, "Bella" was more than happy to join me in my quest.

THE START OF THE JOURNEY

AT THE TOP OF THE HILL

I had a quick visit with the neighbours, the dear folks that saved me after I had fallen down the hill back in 2012, and then before leaving Grand Forks, I met another loveable bonehead in town, so I had to take a photo.  This mutt is 17yo but I can't remember her name.

OLD DOGS ARE THE BEST

Almost done.  One more night car camping, and then I continued on my journey, which took me through an unexpected snow shower.

Finally, a trip in Canada wouldn't be complete without a beaver, and this is one of the nicest looking and certainly the biggest beaver, I have ever seen.

NICE BEAVER EH?

And so ends the journey that almost didn't happen.  Soon I'll be on the road again, or at least that is my plan.  Whether or not the US border guards have a different plan, I'll find out in due course.

living a life of simple acceptance,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer