Continued from previous post : Journey to the Top Part I

Regina walk – I had my formative years in the Queen City so we spent some time here to reminisce. I took my family to my elementary school and my first home in Canada. It was a basement apartment my dad rented for us. I have warm memories of that home, sometimes too warm. The building heating pipes ran through our bedrooms. I played a lot in the hallways to people’s storage rooms. If you were short enough you can peek into our windows. We didn’t have curtains to block out the precious little sunlight. Ahhh the good old days. We also met my cousin by Wascana Lake and had some nice virtual hugs in the park.

Lethbridge Finger – I am absolutely sure there are a lot of nice people in Alberta (Stephen Harper notwithstanding) but this turns out to be the only province we’ve experienced road rage on our trip. A young man wearing a baseball cap driving a pickup truck was pissed off at our 80 kph speed and flipped the bird at us after stalling us for a bit. We wished him well and hoped he never have to tow a heavy trailer, or drive a farm vehicle, or transporting a carsick child, or move a big TV, or anything that requires him to drive slow. For him life seems to be a race. For us life is a journey.

Last 100 Kms – We got super giddy crossing the border. We are in our new home province finally! I chatted up everyone I met like old neighbours. They invited me to Facebook groups and gave me tips on motorcycle riding. Near Cranbrook we got a phone call from our lawyer. “You are $17.50 short of paying for the new house.” WHAT THE…? Thanks to etransfer we didn’t have to find a room at YMCA Nelson. When GPS told us there was only 100 kms to home we became extremely happily excited. If this was the hwy 401 we would be home in under an hour. The thing is, this ain’t the 401. A long winding road on the East Shore took us one and a half hours. A steep ramp down to the dock almost evaporated my brakes. The BC Ferry took us across Kootenay Lake and I was told the gas station closed for the day. With my low gas warning lights on I was on the look out for the next pit stop. And my fingers, yes you guessed it, tightly gripping the steering wheel again. (is there a theme here?)

Mountainview road to the top – When we approached our new home it was nearing nightfall. The last time we were here was with our real estate agent and I wasn’t driving. T had to yell at me so I didn’t miss the turns, three times! The mountain road was WAAAAY more steep than I remembered, especially for a SUV towing a loaded 6X12 trailer. When we finally got to the driveway we double parked it somewhere flat-ish, put the parking brake on and walked up to the new house. 

And that my friends is how my wife, my daughter and I made it to the top. We had tons of help from family, friends as well as complete strangers. We took in so much beauty, love and wisdom from this amazing country. We dreamed big and took life by the horns. We will continue to broadcast love, joy and happiness to the world from the summit.

This is brother Zen reporting from a mountain top in BC, Canada. The morning sun on the deck is burning my butt. Over and out!

Ps, you didn’t think I was going to end this without telling you about the food along the way did you?

Fish and Chips, the place is called Butterfly Grill in Blind River Ontario. Owned and operated by a nice couple by the side of Transcanada highway. Their lime green food truck attracted our attention. Their fish was fresh and juicy, chips were just cut but it was their gravy that left us in awe. Family secret recipe, divine! We really wanted to lick the plastic containers clean.

Chicken sandwich. After our car got fixed we were hungry for a burger. Viking burger in Wawa Ontario sounded promising but it takes 20 mins because of a thick paddy. So we opted for the chicken burger sandwich. Juicy, fresh, sweet and secret family batter recipe (is there another theme here?)

Winnipeg Cake – Every cake on the huge sized menu was heavenly. The most difficult thing is to choose just two slices to eat. T really wanted a slice to go until I reminded her we don’t have a fridge. The cakes are so illegally delicious patrons are having orgasms left, right and centre. The portions are humongous no wonder Marie Antoinette thought cakes could solve world hunger. 

Chinese Food – Dryden Ontario. Like any wet dog, we appreciate a Dry-den once in a while. (puns were ruthless on this trip). When we pulled into this small town we almost missed the restaurant because of a tiny sign that said “Hongkong House” and an even smaller sign that said OPEN. We had been on the road for a few days and in desperate need for some veggie options. The place was cute and the food was fresh, hot and not too salty. We devoured our Egg Fuyong and Chopsuey while Mabel slurped up the egg drop soup and fried LoMein. Definitely a worthy find in the middle of wilderness in Northern Ontario.

Over and Out, for real!

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Published by ZEN WANG

Nuclear Project Engineer turned Filmmaker. View all posts by ZEN WANG