Day 26- Additional

Day 26- Additional

We spent about two hours in Dawson Creek, writing postcards, converting currency, buying stamps, getting a haircut and getting online to post blogs and photos on face book. After a lunch break with a view of the visitor’s center, art gallery and a Northern Alberta railways car, we hit the road once more. Just outside of town, we saw our first moose. It was a cow without a calf. I thought this was a good sign but we didn’t see another one all day. I’d planned on doing laundry here but Carl had heard people talking about more rain for this evening and how high the Peace River was. He wanted to get across this major river before there was an issue. Turns out, there wasn’t a problem. We traveled approximately 135 miles from Dawson Creek to almost Pink Mountain through some of the most boring countryside I can imagine. It was straight as an arrow through short but dense scraggly fir trees. This must be a truly hostile place during the winter. None of the trees are more than 30 feet high and no where do we see any branches longer than three feet. As we find a nice gravel turn out for the evening, it begins to rain again. Steak on the grill becomes steak on the griddle and since we’re in water conservation mode, I don’t have to do dishes tonight. It’s an early night for me. After listening to the Home Run Derby on my XM radio, I read about a dozen pages of Moby Dick on my kindle and then it’s lights out, in a manner of speaking. It’s 10:00 PM and not even close to being dark.

A Soldier's View

These are Carl's thoughts about our recent visit to The Wall.

Strange how things affect a person. My wife and I spent 3 days visiting Washington DC. We spent some time at Arlington National Cemetery, The Jefferson Memorial, The FRD Memorial, The Lincoln Memorial, The WWII Memorial, and The Korean War Memorial. Maybe because I served in Viet Nam that I had trouble speaking when we approached the Viet Nam War Memorial. For some reason, for me this simple Wall with so many names on it gave each person a place of honor in history. All I could think about was how thankful I was to be standing next to my wife, and how grateful I was that she was not standing there with our grandchildren, pointing to my NAME. I can only imagine the grief that must overcome those who stand and look at the name of a loved one.~Carl Hill~

In Memoriam

There have been pages upon pages of words written in tribute to our soldiers, both fallen and veteran, so I'm not going to even try to compete with these great testimonials. What I will do is to tell you what an unbelievably moving experience our trip to The Wall was. The Wall I'm referring to is the Viet Nam Memorial . When you approach, there is this hushed reverence that overtakes everyone. Some stand back, in awe, trying to absorb the magnitude of the highly polished gray marble. It can't be done. Others stroll by each panel, glancing to their left or right, as they read a few of the more than 58,000 names engraved there. 58,000 names, each of them representing a life lost to further the cause of Freedom. Each of them died doing what they knew to be right. Each of them left loved ones behind. My husband and I walked quietly, pausing before many of the panels, glad in our hearts that none of our friends' names are there. It doesn't matter. We remember them all.

The Fickle Finger

I'm posting this from a hotel room in MA. Our travel plans have been postponed for this weekend. The threat of a massive ice storm, airport delays, turbulence, then more bad weather, no cherry blooms left, drenching rains, a nor'easter and more airport delays and turbulence just was too much for us to chance. In our younger days, we would have thrown caution to the wind. In our younger days, we wouldn't have listened to that little voice inside. We are older and, it is hoped, wiser so we have rescheduled the trip for Memorial Day in hopes the weather will be kinder. It will be a different trip, a different experience at the Vietnam Memorial and it will provide for a totally different type of photo opportunity. Those elusive cherry blossoms will have to wait for another year. There has been one positive for this expedition. I'm posting this from the road due to technology called a wireless network interface. In other words, I'm able to use some one's Internet provider ( the hotel where we're staying ) without being plugged into their mainframe. I purchased a network interface card (NIC), plugged in and logged on. I don't know why I haven't done this on other trips because now, I can check and send e-mails, make blog entries and even upload "hot off the presses" photos, when I can actually take them, that is.

Forty Years Of Waiting

Next week, we are traveling to Washington,DC and I'm really thrilled. I've been to this city which is rich with history, culture and politics three times. During each of my visits, I was able to experience much of what makes this city so unique. When I was 13, our church group stayed in the basement of a host church, visited our state senator, sat in on a session of congress, absorbed the ceremonial and somber attitude of Arlington National Cemetery and marveled at the marble likenesses of Lincoln and Jefferson. At 16, my experience was centered around the many buildings of the Smithsonian and visiting friends in a nearby suburb. My best memory of that vacation had to be the landing on the moon. All of Washington paled after Armstrong and Aldrin gave that most memorable of performances from a quarter million miles away. And as a young mother of 20, we stayed at Quantico Marine Base where a high school friend and her husband were stationed, while visiting a frigid Washington Monument. This time it was a different experience at the Cemetery. That one brilliant flickering flame at the Kennedy graves has been burned into my mind ever since. Still, there is an air of excitement for this trip. This time, it's the cherry blossoms that will have my attention. These flowering trees were a gift from a Japanese city in 1912. We responded with flowering dogwoods in a splendid show of hospitality and to promote the idea of one world. This time, my husband and I will stand with others in hushed reverence at The Wall to commit to memory some of the 58,000 names that we'll find there. It will be a good trip.