Day 15 (Monday)
Up early and out the door, headed for greyhound. This has
started to become a moment of dread for me. Honestly getting onto a greyhound
for travel is quite daunting and, with my back still not feeling recovered from
the initial trip out here, it’s truly not something I am relishing.
However, this was relatively quickly forgotten when I
started seeing the Rocky Mountains looming ahead. They truly are spectacular. Now
Mountains are not new to me. Coming from South Africa, I am familiar with a few
mountain ranges, and I was reminded of 2 in particular while driving through
the Rockies: The Drakensberg and the Swartberg mountains. The Rockies are a
combination of the two ranges, the stony, layered rock of the Swartberg, and
the lush greenery of the Drakensberg, with the addition of thousands and
thousands of trees. It was difficult to take pics from inside the bus, but I
tried a few – so here is a sampling of them. Some were taken on the few rest
stops
The greyhound to Vancouver from Calgary takes about 14
hours. It’s a LONG, tiring trip, and it was great to get back to solid,
unmoving ground again when we finally pulled into Vancouver. Chris picked me up
and we drove to his place in Richmond, which is, interestingly, below sea
level. Chris’ apartment is on the 2nd floor, and is a well laid out
and nicely designed complex – most of which is still being built.
It was truly nice to get into bed and be horizontal after the
bus ride – which, at times was a little hair-raising, the mountain passes are
pretty high in some places.
Day 16 (Tuesday)
Chris got up for work and I got up, but had decided to stay
in for the day. It was quiet and uneventful, I stepped out for a smoke a few
times (its a no-smoking building) and Chris and I had Pizza at Pizza Hut for
dinner – Their BBQ Chicken pizza is really nice!!! I also got the opportunity
to smoke some cherry tobacco out of Chris’ awesome Boswell grizzly, and Chris
snapped a few pics. We watched a movie before heading to bed.
Day 17 (Wednesday)
I woke up and Chris and I headed into Vancouver for the day
- him to work and me to walk around a bit and check things out. The city is bustling
and tall. Apparently, as there is no more free space, they tear down buildings
and replace them with taller and taller ones, as the only space available is
up. There are some very austere looking buildings throughout the city, and I
would have gotten more pictures, but it was raining on and off all morning.
The gay Village in Vancouver was a bit of a disappointment
for me. Tons of coffee shops if you want coffee. Heck – I swear the only thing
people do there is drink coffee. But unlike the village in Toronto, I found
this one lacking in the small independent, interesting shops to browse in. Besides
the fact that they all only open at 10am and I had 2 hours to kill before that
happened.
I hung around, and browsed some of the stores until almost
lunch time which was when Chris was finishing work for the day. We then hopped
in his car and went for lunch before heading to Stanley Park. If you ever make
it to Vancouver – do yourself a favour – take a day or so to explore this park.
We didn’t spend too much time there, but just a slow drive through showed the incredible
beauty of this park. You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Park
We stopped to take a few pictures – “proof” if you will that
I was actually in Vancouver, and here is one of those pictures.
If you travel through the park, you will come across the
bench and shelter, placed there in memory of Aaron Webster, who was killed in
the park in 2001 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Webster),
and a little away from this, off the main paths, you will come across this amazing carving in the trunk of an
ancient tree. It’s not on the path, and isn’t very clearly visible from the
path, so you may have to explore a little.
The final evening in Vancouver was a quiet evening, and
Chris and I watched movies and talked, before heading to bed.
Day 18 (Thursday)
For some unknown reason, I woke up at 2:30 am, and was
completely unable to get back to sleep. Perhaps it was nervousness of
oversleeping and missing the bus back to Calgary, but either way – i was wide
awake, and so got out of bed and caught up on emails etc before Chris got up to
take me to the Greyhound yet again for the long, arduous journey back to
Calgary.
In the 2 short days I had been there, I had completely
forgotten to take any pics of Chris and I, so managed to snap this one outside
the station, and one of Chris’ car, which, despite looking tiny from the
outside was pretty spacious on the inside. Although I will say you REALLY feel
every gust of wind in it!!
It was great to see Chris again and spend time with him. 6
years is a long time, and we had a great time catching up.
The trip back was relatively uneventful, and the mountains
were still awesome, although I didn’t take any pictures of them on the route
back. I did manage to snag the back seats of the bus – which was actually the
best idea I had had on the bus – three seats was just long enough for me to
actually lie down. A little cramped still – but it really managed to help me as
I could at least give my butt a rest and stretch my back. I slept really well
on the last few stretches heading back to Calgary.
After another 14 hours, arriving in Calgary and being
greeted by two excitedly wagging pups was awesome. I had missed them, and that
was even more apparent when I got back.
Considering how much I slept on the bus, I was very tired when I got
home and it wasn’t long before I was in bed cuddling Roscoe.
Day 19 (Friday)
Got Roscoe’s lunch made and got him out the door to work. The
day flew by, and when he got home, the three of us piled into the car and
headed out to pick up some bootblacking supplies for Berith as well as some
grocery shopping and then came home and had dinner before heading to the Eagle
for the evening. It was a nice night for us there, and a lot of fun and great
conversation. I truly feel I am making some friends here – some of whom will
probably turn into friends for life.
Day 20 (Saturday)
What a nice start to the weekend. Although tired, I made
waffles for us for breakfast, and afterwards it was puppy time. A little training
for both pups, and a little sex, although Berith is not being allowed to get
off at the moment ;) which I am enjoying – and he is struggling with, humping
about anything in sight.
The best part of the afternoon was puppy baths. First
Berith, who is actually well behaved in the tub, although he gets cold and
shivers easily, he was good and stoic most of the time in the tub, and while
being dried and groomed.
Roscoe is a different story. The pup splashes and shakes and
tries to climb out and bite at the water. And I swear they both would lie on
their backs so i could wash their bellies all day. Im glad I was naked, because
otherwise I would have had soaking wet clothes. I think there was more water on
the floor than in the tub by the time I had finished with Roscoe.
Once we had recovered, we piled into the car and went across
the city to visit some friends of Beriths, Paul and Lee and the pups got into a
little trouble shooting each other with nerf darts before the host and I stepped
in and took away their ammunition.
A drive home and a quick shower for me (to get rid of the
wet dog smell of course) and it wa time to gear up and go to a Bodega and
Bondage event hosted by the 2012 Western Canada Leather Sir/boy (Marc and his
boy Daniel) a few blocks away from Roscoe’s home.
Sometimes, I feel very intimidated walking into a room full
of leathermen. This was very briefly the case when we arrived, but that feeling
quickly dissipated. There were a few familiar faces, the Hosts included, and
quite a few new ones too. I was exceptionally greatful to see someone head to
the tiny balcony for a smoke, and quickly made my way out there.
This was a good move. I secured a spot out on the balcony,
and had an awesome time chatting and conversing with a number of people. One I
have known on Recon for quite some time, and he and I spent the greater part of
the evening on the balcony, chatting and smoking and watching the demonstrations
through the glass doors. I also met Scott, a domineering and imposing figure
who, it turns out, was born in Australia, and he and I immediately hit it off –
and not just because we both have shaved heads and facial hair. He’s a hoot –
and is friendly, and well lets just say that he and I will definitely be in
contact again!
A few other very nice people I got the opportunity to chat
with during the course of the evening, and, it was actually really a wonderful
time. I think the concept of the party was awesome, all finger foods, and wine,
and just a very laid back evening where demos happened as they happened,
without a timeline or schedule to keep.
The pups even got to have a puppy play session with the
other pups there, and Roscoe definitely maintained his Alpha status, albeit by
use of sheer weight. He was sweaty and panting by the end of the evening, but I
could tell he was a very happy pup indeed. All in all, a great evening was had
by all, and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting some amazing new people and look
forward even more to making more friends in the coming weeks.
Day 21 (Sunday)
Sunday Morning I woke up super early, my back was very sore,
and its really starting to bug me now. I got up at 4 am because I simply could
not get comfortable. This gave me the opportunity to clean up the kitchen and
start preparing for brunch with my friend Scott (some of you may recall him
moving out here a few months ago). It was fun to watch his reactions to the
puppies, as they barked and yipped and played during brunch. I don’t know that
he has been exposed to such open puppy play before.
The brunch was excellent, and filling, and ended with
Waffles A’la mode – a definite childhood favourite of mine! Scott had to go to
work, and the pups and I piled into the car again and went to McKenzie Lake –
via a friends house – where I got to blissfully sit in a hottub. It helped ease
a little of the back pain I have been experiencing, although it didn’t go away.
The lake was nice, but the wind was cold, and i was actually quite grateful to get
back in the car and head home.
I have now officially extended my stay, and changed my
return ticket to the 10th of July. This is going to provide me with
more time to look for work here, and, if i find some, plan the move to Alberta!
So hold thumbs guys!!
Roscoe and I spent a quiet evening watching a movie and
sorting laundry before bed.
I truly do feel at home here now. The pups are awesome and
the feeling of family is growing daily. We’re all starting to get more
comfortable together and even though the apartment is small, it doesn’t feel
crowded or awkward – even when the three of us are all cuddled together on the
sofa – it feels like home.
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