|
Off To See Canada By Rod Keays Fresh out of high school Larry and I could not wait to leave town. We had planned the trip across Canada for about three days and figured that was good enough. I forget how much money Larry had, but I had only ninety dollars. "What the heck", I said. "I'll get a job picking fruit in the Okanogan". Our first ride took us all the way to Hope BC, the start of the Hope-Princeton Highway, which was the only route east other than the Trans-Canada Highway that followed the Fraser River north to Prince George. From earlier trips around Vancouver we had learned the Hitchhiker's Rule #1. When approaching a good spot to hitch a ride you had to find room enough for the car to pull off the road so that it would not be a hazard to other motorists and so you could get a good look at the driver and passengers. If they looked like they were boozers or rednecks and if you valued your life you could decline by making up some excuse such as "Oh sorry, I changed my mind" and get out. Usually the spray of gravel left the intended message that you were a "You know what". But it might have saved our lives a couple of times so I did not mind. Rule # 2 was to make sure there was nobody else hitching in the same spot. On the outskirts of Hope their were at least 10 groups of hitcher's and we had to get in line and wait for them all to get rides before we could stick out our thumbs. We learned fast as everyone up the line shouted at us if we "dared stick out a pinky" before them. Eventually we got a ride in about four hours. We wanted to go to the Okanagan to swim and meet girls. Girls were the very best way to get rides. I remember the first time I hitched with a girl, she told me to hide in the trees by the side of the road and lifted up her skirt showing some leg. Boy, did the cars stop fast! Talk about friendly! Well we finally got to Vernon and the swimming was great but the girls were never alone so we hiked off to find a job picking fruit. It was a rite of passage for kids in the west to do this at least once. We worked solid for three days sleeping in small pickers' cabins right in the orchards. Larry and I had our own cabin and a separate bunk each. On the final day we cashed out, making far less than we thought partly because Larry ate most of what he picked and yaked and yaked away the days falling off the pickers ladder a couple of times before he gave up and climbed the damn tree. He refused to pick the apple with the stem on it so the owner was always mad at him. I was glad to leave and move on. On the outskirts of Vernon we choose what appeared to be a good hitchhiking spot by the side of the road. I walked over to the road sign to take off my backpack and nearly stepped on a rattlesnake warming in the sun. It warned me to back off. Lucky for me I stopped in time and backed away slowly without turning around. My heart was pounding but I was thrilled by the encounter with a wild animal. Shortly after that a kind family stopped and gave us two huge ice cream cones and drove off without waiting to be thanked. Amazing people you meet on the road I thought. Out on the wide open grasslands of Alberta was a fabulous vista, grain everywhere for miles and miles (pre-kilometer days) We got into Edmonton, then a rather working class place with mean faced men on the streets and finding the hostel was next to impossible. We were tired and dirty from the trip through the Rockies and needed to cleanup and eat something. Eventually a bus driver helped us to the hostel and everything started to seem better. It started reasonably enough that someone who had occupied the bunk before me had permanently borrowed someone's hash, the victim was justifiably angry but why was he yelling at me, and where did all those people come from. Apparently the victim had never seen the thief but knew which bunk he slept in and that was mine. So I was the thief!!!? Well, before I knew it a dagger was drawn and thrown….. Right between my legs and into the floor with a Twongggg sound so loud I swear I could feel it. I wasn't hurt, but so long Edmonton! We must have headed for Calgary because nobody ever picked up hitchhikers in Calgary. I'm telling you the truth! We eventually had to take a bus just to get out of town. Nobody would stop for us. Just outside of town we had been let off at the junction of the Trans-Canada and a farm road. We found a good spot in the shade and stuck out our thumbs. Half an hour later a pickup truck crossed over the side of the road and drove over our backpacks and just kept going! Didn't they see us? Man, what's the matter with them? An hour latter another pickup truck drove into a house just off the road where we were sitting. Ten minutes latter they drove out of their driveway and threw a couple of bags of garbage at us! Brother! I knew I needed a shower but that was getting really personal. Finally we got a ride to Medicine Hat a quiet little town with clean streets and a calm attitude, people seemed happy here and we sure needed a rest. We stayed at the Hostel for as long as they would let us, after all our nerves were pretty shaken up by the knife incident and we were getting tired of the long waits for rides so a rest was important. Eventually they kicked us out and we left late in the morning heading east on the Trans-Canada. It was a bright, hot and sunny day. Well we walked and walked and walked, drank all our water ate all of our food and started to worry that we might have to spend the night by the side of the road. We were almost right- it was nearly midnight after having walked since 8am that morning, we were a long way out of town. There were few cars, no trucks and so few lights I felt we were alone on the earth. Then on the horizon I saw a new light, it was moving, thinking it was a car coming out a driveway I felt hope for the first time that day. It kept coming but it seemed to go out and then come back on again- really weird. Then it split into two lights that kept getting bigger and bigger all the while going off and on, everything was fine until the sound…Like a baby screaming. I realized this was no car but some kind of wild animal! It was coming our way! Larry and I realized we were going to have a confrontation with whatever this was and started to think of ways to defend ourselves. We both had flashlights, I had a Swiss army knife and Larry had tent poles. We were going to fight to the death. Our stomachs were literally in our mouths when the bobcat stopped in the ditch on the other side of the road snarling and spitting at us to run. But we held our ground and shouted at it making striking motions with our weapons and it stayed there long enough (about two minutes) for us to run out into the middle of the highway and force a transport truck to stop and get us the hell out a there. Wouldn't ya know it, he didn't even believe us! In fact he almost booted us out of the truck a few miles down the road. Something in him kept going and we got a ride into Regina. He stayed silent all the way in. Three years later by chance I lived in Regina and met a wildlife specialist who told me the bobcat was probably rabid and we were very fortunate that we were not attacked by it. He said it was extremely unlikely for a cat to behave in that manner unless it was sick or starving. I counted my lucky stars. After all this excitement life on the road settled down to boring hitchhiking and black flies. I tell you one night in a tent at Lake of the Woods campground convinced me to stay out of Ontario in the summer. I had leaned an arm against the tent wall and the darned insects had left huge welts on my elbow. Right through the canvas! "Yikes!" I thought, imagine what I'd look like without the tent. The next day a pig semi-trailer pulled over. The driver got out of the truck with a big smile on his face and asked where we were going, "Toronto", I said and he said, "Get in!" He opened those big doors at the back of the trailer and I thought "In here?" but when the doors opened there were about thirty other people in there shouting to us to pass up our gear-girls even. So guess I the trucker was having some fun on his way back to his farm since no pigs were on board, but one of the girls was riding with him. The whole trailer was partitioned off into sections measuring about six feet by about four and on the floor about six inches of fresh straw! Maybe I can finally get some sleep I thought, but it was not to be, all night long everyone else was playing guitars and singing, beer came out, some cigarettes and the other cigarettes came out too. In the morning we were all bleary eyed, sore and hungry then the driver stopped and told us it was the end of the line. Toronto at last! You know he still had that same smile on his face from the other day. Boy, I must be tired, noticing this as we sauntered off to the nearest cafe for a big cup of coffee and breakfast. What a weird trip! The journey home was a breeze since we took the train all the way back to Vancouver. That was enough hitchhiking for me! |
|
 |
|
| Book Media Magazine Stories Stock Photography Speaking Charities Contact |
|