Do you remember that Sesame Street song? The one that went like this…

“Oh, who are the people in your neighborhood?
In your neighborhood?
In your neighborhood?
Say, who are the people in your neighborhood?
The people that you meet each day”

(and then the characters sang about the fireman, the policeman, the soccer mom, etc) and the song finishes off

“Well, they’re the people that you meet
When you’re walking down the street
They’re the people that you meet each day”

Well, I met some interesting folks in the past few days who appeared in my “neighbourhoods” of Williams Lake and Quesnel BC over the weekend and today I’d like to feature a few of these “everyday folks” who helped create some very special memories.

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Estelle

I´m not really sure what day this is or how many days I´ve been on the Camino, but I´ll try to get it all in here since I started. It has been amazing in many ways!

Camino Day 1

Ken and I joined together in St. Jean Pied de Port and started out a little later than everyone else. We headed down to the post office to see if we could send stuff ahead as my pack was very heavy. Ken needed to send some post cards. It turned out that it would have been very expensive to send from there, so I carried everything.

After the post office, we headed out of town and started the journey. We walked along a country road and went up and up and up. It was a very steep climb but the view was spectacular! As we climbed, we saw beautiful fields, farms, cows, sheep and as you looked back you could see the towns we were leaving behind. I have to say Thank you to Suzie for the walking sticks! I have thanked you many times the past few days! They are life savers! Anyway, we walked along, all the while picking superb blackberries that grew along the side of the road, until at one point, we came across a small road that went off to the side. It was more of a grassy path, but you could see that maybe trucks took it once in a while. We took that road (followed an older man who took it) and things just got steeper, but it was nice and soft to walk on. We also had to avoid the sheep manure as we walked. At another point, we saw a path going straight up so Ken decided we should take it. It brought us thru brambles and I got my arm scratched up, but it led us to the initial paved road that we had started out on. We figured out later that by taking those 2 short cuts, we saved about an hour to get to the first stopping point.

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As I’ve travelled, I’ve noticed the subtle and sometimes not-so subtle nuances of a place that either lifts my energy and spirit, or it does not. It has become more and more acutely apparent during this trip of the relationship between our selves, our environment and our surroundings. And, of the importance of being in harmony with all of those elements. Thankfully, my heart tells me when I am and when I am not.

I arrived in Penticton 2 nights ago, intending to stay over for 3 nights. By mid-afternoon after my first day there I decided to leave. I just didn’t like the “feel” or vibe of the town, it just didn’t resonate with me. I wasn’t comfortable and found it difficult to work there. I don’t need to know the reason, I just need to accept the wisdom of my heart.

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The divas of daytime tv aboard Miss Daisy

Hi Everyone,
Unfortunately, I can,t post any pics with this blog, but rest assured, I will as soon as I can.
I had a completley amazing time in bordeaux, thanx to my CS host Katia. She met me at the tram station when I got into town which was quite late at night. We brought my pack to her flat which is right in the middle of the old city and near the river, the opera, the shopping and the restaurants. We went for a midnight stroll and saw beautiful bordeaux at night…I was in awe! The next day,after going to the market to get some fresh fruit, we had a nice breakfast (late) and I went exploring on my own. Lots of fun; then KATIA joined me a little later and showed me some of the old churches and historic architecture. They have a couple of bldgs that held the court of Louis the XIV, Le Roi de Soleil.

Next day we spent the day at the ocean playing in the surf and laying on the beach topless! (thanks for the underwear, Karen, I can also use them as bathing bottoms!); Pretty amazing feeling…ha ha ha; I did the first 2 Munay Ki rites for her on the beach. It was pretty special. After we got back, we went out and had a very good dinner and then walked around town again. I got some really good pics and wish I could post them now.

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The past few days have provided some much needed rest as I ponder next steps and a busy itinerary in the coming weeks. I’ve heard from a few readers who were concerned I’d gotten lost in Miss Daisy or perhaps overdosed on salsa. No, no, no worries there.  I am currently in the Okanagan Valley, in Penticton. Like many of you, I needed a long weekend. It also gave me some time to get in touch even a bit more with the message my heart has been trying to send me.

Before I left Ottawa, I met with a fellow RVer who spends the winters in California with her husband.  We joked together as I told her of my plans to travel out west and she said, “Heather, when you get to Vancouver, just turn left and head to California!”

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One of the many fruit stands in the Okanagan

…and I’m only in Paris!

A street in the neighbourhood

It’s day 3 in Paris already and getting ready to hit the road again. So far it has been great. I landed here at 7am on Sept: 4, grabbed my bp, got on an airport bus, got off at the Opèra, got on the Metro to la Gare de l’Est, Quickly got on a hop on-hop off city tour bus and went to see all the sites in the city. Of course I forgot my camera in my bp which I had stored at the Gare.

I didn’t get off the bus much except to pee, grab a sandwhich and go up the Eiffel tower. The day was raining on and off and of course when I got on the lift to go up the tower, it started to downpour really hard so i only went up to the 3rd floor…which was high enough for me; After that, i pretty much just rode around on the bus napping when I could until it was time to meet my couch surfing hosts Marlene and Tilk. This is where I discovered the coloured tp. Hers is pink!

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The other night I was chatting online with a friend who made a comment about how “lucky” I am to be able to be experiencing this trip, travelling across this great country of ours.

I don’t really believe in “luck” nor do I believe that I am any more or less lucky than anyone else. I am grateful for what I have and accept what life brings my way. I believe we create our lives and our experiences in a number of ways. And, of course, I believe in listening to and following my heart.

Her comment got me thinking about the concept of luck however, and our perceptions of luck, when it greets us in our own lives or in the lives of others. It got me thinking enough that it lead me to write the following on my Facebook page last night.

“Luck, whether ‘good’ or ‘bad’, has nothing to do with it. We are where we are because of the choices we’ve made, thoughts we’ve carried with us, risks we’ve taken or not taken and actions we’ve put into motion. That’s the hard truth of life – we’re the only ones that we can hold accountable for where we are and how we respond when life offers us the ‘good’ or the ‘bad’”.

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Ted carefully preparing Miss Daisy for her tow

Being on the road or bike by myself, day after day, affords me a lot of time to think about things. Where should I head to next? When will I finish that damn jar of salsa? I wonder what ever happened to Larry the Cow?

Some days, such as today, I ponder larger issues, like The One True Love.

About a week ago I was chatting on the phone to my friend Pat, who mentioned to me that she’d told a friend of hers about my trip. And, apparently, he couldn’t believe (actually I think his words were “that it was impossible”) that a woman would spend the summer travelling by herself without some sort of companion travelling with her. And that got me to thinking, “who says we can’t travel alone at times in life?” Where does that belief come from? Who says that we need a companion? Perhaps, in fact, we need to travel alone in order to find our One True Love.

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My Radar Jammin' Guardian Angel

I’ve spent the past few days in Jasper which has been spectacular. Surrounded by the serenity of beautiful mountain scenery, it is definitely a place to rejuvenate and inspire the soul. In addition to the beauty of the Athabasca Glacier which is nearby, you’re also close to Mt. Robson which I visited yesterday for some more sightseeing and cycling.

It’s also a place that is filled with much wildlife. Signs everywhere warn you to pay attention as you drive as you’ll often see elk, deer, sheep or something else at the side of, or on, the road, as I did this morning during my bike ride just outside of Jasper. I saw two coyotes, one very large buck (all of which moved too quickly for me and my camera) and these sheep which took over the road. Obviously, you don’t want your  vehicle to come in contact with any wildlife but it’s the not the wildlife that concerns me at this point, it’s the Australians.

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I have not done many of the traditional touristy things in the 6 weeks I’ve been on the road. I tend to prefer doing things on my own, with either Miss Daisy or my bicycle, or walking around to see the local sights. I think I just find it a bit more “organic” in a way, meandering around and just seeing what comes up, letting life flow naturally. After 40ish years of listening to what I “should or shouldn’t” do I kind of like experiencing life and the locales on my own terms these days.

There was one experience that I couldn’t pass up however. I wasn’t originally going to head to Jasper and pass the Columbia Icefield but along the way I changed my mind and started researching the area. I decided that I had to go there – actually, no, I “felt” that I needed to go there – and  booked a Snobus excursion on the Athabasca Glacier on line.

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Icefields Parkway