When we have a timeline for a large trip such as we did for this, long leisurely days of rest just doesn’t happen. Today, we got to rest more than we had in a really long time. We had no plans and no “need to do’s”, so we enjoyed each other’s company and helped out Alexander’s Granddad with a few tasks he needed help with.
White Rock sits very, very close to the Canada-United States border. So close that while you are in half the town you can actually look across the water and see the United States. Alexander’s Granddad told us the story like this... if you look at a map you will see a black line separating Canada from the United States. This black line is actually Avenue 0 and happens to rest on the Canadian side of the border. It runs along the border letting you see both Canada and the US. We drove to Avenue 0. It was strange to be in Canada and to see, just a few feet away, Americans living their lives. There was no great wall, or trench, or minefield between the two countries... just some survey pegs and a little stretch of grass. There may have been no physical barrier, but if you cross that invisible one it is not long before some well-built gentlemen with big guns and bad attitudes approach you for a few “simple” questions... (We didn’t test it out, but we can only imagine….)
For the rest of the day we just hung out. Alexander’s granddad was heading out to a concert with his step-daughter, so we headed out to a restaurant to meet up with a friend of mine who was now going to school in Vancouver. It was nice to see you Brett!!!
After supper we took a short walk down White Rock’s well lit pier. It was dark now, but the town had beautiful lights carving their way up the hill. It was an incredible sight and not one that we will forget anytime soon.
Saying goodbye to seeing my friend and to White Rock and to the realization that our Cross-Canada Road Trip was actually complete was sad. We got in the Jeep after supper and left White Rock. We were headed for Kamloops.
There was rain leaving White Rock and then Vancouver but once we reached the Coquihalla Highway it was clear. I think that some people find the Coquihalla boring, but the way down I thought it was beautiful and incredible to see the highway twisting through the mountains. This time it was beautiful to see the lights. There were headlights and taillights stretched through the distance making the highway look like a stretched out snake of fire. Because you can see so far, this snake stretched far into the distance, slithering over a long horizon.
When we arrived at mom’s house, only having drove a little too far past her driveway, we settled in, had a cup of tea, caught up quickly, set up our sleeping bags, then fell asleep.
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