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bald eagle through a windshield in the rain


today's moose number one and two


moose number three


rainbow over Hope, BC


power poles


bridge into civilization


day 24 Grindrod, Okanagan to Vancouver, British Columbia 325 miles
june 24

i was all confused about the time zone again today.
the shifts refuse to happen at geographical boundaries which would make things easier for strangers. like if Pacific Time kicked in when we crossed into British Columbia but,
no, that's not how the cartographers, politicians and masters of time organized things so
i stumble along doing the best i can.

i think we were in post-Rocky Mountain depression for a few hours again today, especially slogging through Kelowna which is probably a fine town but constipated by construction and strip malls and frankly unappealing, at least to the casual observer.

everyone is crazy about the Okanagan River valley which was okay but our real thrill came during a very rainy spell on a completely nondescript road known to locals as "the Connector" - 97C from Kelowna to Meritt. the land on both sides must be owned by lumber companies because there is NOTHING, no development of any kind for all those miles. in the dreariness of the rain, Andrew shouts out:
BALD EAGLE! which, of course, i miss because i'm driving.
the exits are few and far between but we turn off at the next one and head back east so i can maybe see the eagle.

moments later, i shout:
DEER! very proud of myself as i am just learning to spot wildlife - like kindergarten level compared to Andrew who has a PhD.
thirty seconds later Andrew shouts:
MOOSE! jesus.

we get back to an exit and head west and THE BALD EAGLE IS STILL THERE. enormous individual. healthy as a horse. proud. and flies off about a minute later.
we retrace the same mile of highway, get off at the same exit and head east AGAIN.
on the other side of road -
TWO MOOSE RUNNING ACROSS A FIELD. beautiful. mythic. oddly heart-rending.
then we drive a bit more and sure enough Andrew's ORIGINAL MOOSE is still there in the little patch of woods. beautiful. mystical.
this stretch of road is dubbed THE THREE MOOSE MILE.

the rest of the day, i was in a moose fog.
we stopped in the town of HOPE in the Fraser River Valley to honor my darling departed friend Hope Frazier and there we found a perfect RAINBOW.

pulled into Vancouver at 7:30 pm and were received ceremoniously by Georgina and Dawn (more Flin Flon connections) who were just moving into a brand new place. they shared their take-out chinese food before finding us a bed at house nearby.
we are warm, dry and exhausted. again.