Don't Stop Believin'

Frank and I were off early in the morning to make the ferry to Victoria that was leaving at 9am. We wanted to be about one hour early. The ferry may have been 70-80 percent full...but tomorrow's ferry will be packed as it is the last day of the long holiday. Once we arrived, we met with our uncle Roger and his son, our cousin, Derek. This was to be the last ride of the trip for the 42canoe that was on a volunteer's vehicle! So this was it, we threw it onto the Dodge Journey. Get our title for the blog now?

We then drove over to “Mile 0” of the TransCanada highway for a few photo ops. Next it was down to Fisherman's Wharf for the canoe's 2nd dip in the water for the entire trip, this time in the waters of the Pacific Ocean!!! Frank and I set the canoe in the water, with our mom, Natacha (Frank's wife), our uncle Roger, our aunt Sandy, Derek and his wife Laura and their kids Devin and Paige watching our launch and taking some final pictures.

Tomorrow would have been dad's 68th birthday. We will be getting together with family and toasting the man that inspired the 'Cross Canada with a Canoe fundraiser.

It's been a great trip and we've met some utterly amazing people along the way. We hope to stay in touch with more than a few of them.

Thanks to everyone that gave us a lift, took us home to dinner, or took the time to hear about ALS and make a donation. We hope you enjoyed our company and that you are all safe and sound.

Warm Regards,
Frank and Jeff

Our fly is down

This morning we woke with the sun coming over the mountains and warming up the tent. We packed everything up and went into town to meet Libby; we had to get her to sign the canoe. We met her just as she was heading out for a few hour bike ride. After she signed the canoe we said our goodbyes and then went over to see Jake, Karen and Bryson at he outrigger compound. We were meeting George there and they spotted by to say farewell.

George was out with the crew on the water. They started at 8 and brought the boat off at about 1030. We had our canoe on his truck quickly and were on the road by 1100, after saying our final farewells to the Devlins.

The drive from Kamloops was gorgeous. We made good time and both Jeff and I got to spend some time with George. He's a fantastic guy and he didn't mind taking us to the campground, even though it was out of his way. He was heading to Vancouver to see his wife.

We will be seeing our cousin Marylin this evening. Should get on the road soon since I'm updating this blog at a Starbucks.

Woke up sometime in the evening to a pitter-patter of rain. Just before turning in, we thought about putting the fly on, but said “Let's live dangerously”, even though the forecast was calling for some drizzle overnight. But how accurate can the Weather Network be? Well, we discovered at oh, maybe 2 am that yep, they were right! I volunteered to go outside, dig the fly out of the car in my jammies, and get it set up while the drizzle is actually turning into a full rain. Did alright for working in near darkness.

Hawaii 5-0

Friday July 29

Sleeping next to a busy railway line is not the best for getting a good night's sleep, as Frank discovered. I slept fine however...

Before leaving we had a phone interview with Catherine from the Kamloops Daily News. Thanks for your time and interview Catherine!

Our ride for the day, bringing us from Revelstoke to Kamloops, was Jake Devlin. He actually lives in Kamloops and drove to Revelstoke to pick us up, then drove back to Kamloops to drop us off at the campground. I found the scenery amazing. It was neat to see the change in vegetation as we neared Kamploops, which is in a drier part of B.C. Sagebrush and smaller plants were more common and trees were thinner.

Once we arrived, Murray, a photographer from the Kamloops Daily News met us for a few photos to accompany the interview we did earlier in the day. Thanks Murray!

At 5pm, we gave Jake and his outrigger crew a hand to load a boat, although they had plenty of hands for the job. Jake then took us on a tour of the city and showed us some of the sights and historical buildings, as well as some of the new facilities for the upcoming 2011 Western Canada Summer Games. Very beautiful city!

Jake then had Frank and I over for a BBQ at his home. We met his stepson Bryce and his wife Karen, and George, an outrigger teammate of Jake's, also came over for a visit. It was an amazing meal and Frank and I would like to extend our thanks to Jake, Karen and Bryce once again for all of their hospitality and to George who offered us a ride to our next campground.

Later in the evening we had the pleasure to meet Libby, the wife of Brain who recently passed away from ALS. All the best to you and your family, Libby, and thanks for all that you did for Frank and I during our short stay in Kamploops!

Sure would like the drink that goes with that ice cube...

Our night at the campground was restful, which was a good thing as we had an early start at the CityTV Calgary building for an interview.  Got up at 5:30 and were on the air at 7:15.  They did an amazing job.  Once the interview was done we loaded up the canoe on their Ford Escape and Rob and Mike took us to Canmore!  

While airing our story, Kathy in Canmore heard that we needed a ride and called Frank's number, so we got a ride the rest of the way from Canmore to Revelstoke (which was our destination for the day).  Thanks go out to all at CityTV but especially Sandra.  And thanks again to Kathy from Canmore for helping us out.  The canoe was spoiled on the Lexus...:)

Great views along the highway; Frank and I have not been on this road before.  Now camped out in Revel stoke for the night, sitting by the fire and catching up on a few to-do things.

Pinball Wizard

We met the Tempo Twosome at 7:30am and transferred the canoe onto their Jeep Cherokee for the trip from Edmonton to Calgary. Jeff rode in their vehicle on the way down.

We arrived in time for the barbeque ALS Calgary had scheduled for us. The Tempo Twosome didn't stay for lunch saying they had to return for a baseball game, but we know they really wanted to visit the big box stores in the Calgary area;) CityTV had a reported there shortly after we arrived, so Jeff took some time to talk to him while I started in on a freshly grilled hamburger. Had a great visit with a lot of the Calgary staff as well as a gentleman who just lost his father to ALS in December. After we had lunch, we got another media visit from a Global TV reporter, so we took the time to talk to him. Both reporters were great guys. Thanks for helping us spread the word about ALS.

Going to have an early morning since we are visiting the CityTV studio tomorrow morning for a spot on the Morning Show. That should be a lot of fun since they want us to portage the canoe into their studio. We'll let you know how it goes.

The thicker sleeping bag is already in the tent.

Cornflower Cooking

Oops, fell behind a bit.

We met our pre-arranged ride to Edmonton at 9 am Tuesday morning. Colleen Christie, who lives in Lloydminster, was more than willing to help us get to Edmonton. Rovic, her care-giver, was with us as well. Colleen was diagnosed with ALS and has been living with it for 18 years. Colleen impressed us so much with her humour, drive, strength, and generosity. Not only did she give us a ride but she also gave us a cook book she had published with some friends. She was an inspiration to Frank and I as we are entering our last week of our trip. Colleen, thank you so much for your help!

Our drive to Edmonton was, let's say, just a tad on the wet side. Rain fell down in sheets and we had to go a little slower due to the conditions. We wanted to get to the campground by 1pm as we had CTV in Edmonton meeting us for a chat about our trip and ALS. Great interview; thanks CTV!

We next had a ALS dinner at Ricky's Grill in Edmonton South Common complex. Ricky's was very kind in hosting our group. The owner is a supporter of the Walk for ALS in Edmonton. Thanks for the support and the venue Steven.

Many friends joined us at the dinner, as well as some of the staff from the ALS Edmonton office. Thank you to everyone who made it out to say hello and also thanks for all the donations...we received over 500 dollars Tuesday night for ALS Alberta as well as a gift bag from the Edmonton Office! That's awesome!!!

We waited as long as possible to set up the tent, since it had rained for most of the day. We finally started setting it up at about 9:15pm and, although it got a bit chill during the night, the rain held off and we woke shivering, but dry. Tonight – a thicker sleeping bag.

Sweet Music

Before leaving the Saskatoon area, we stopped by and had John Attwater sign our canoe. Thanks to the Attwaters once again for their wonderful hospitality!
Westwards we drove, crossing the North Saskatchewan River not too far west of Saskatoon and then again at the Battlefords. Stopped there for some breakfast too.
Arrived in Lloydminster at about 1pm and met up with a reporter, Catherine from the Lloydminster Source newspaper. Thanks for doing a story on us Catherine! That story will likely be published in their Thursday paper as it is printed twice a week - Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Checked out the town and sights of Lloydminster in the afternoon, then had a bite for supper before heading back to the campground to get caught up on some emails and Facebook stuff.

Just met another camper here, Clarence St. Germaine, the father of the recording artist Yvonne St. Germaine, who sings Gospel music and tours all over North America. Neat! And what a great voice she has.

Off to Edmonton tomorrow!