We got up at 5:30, when we heard the announcement that our ferry was pulling ashore. We got ourselves together and ventured down to the car deck when they said it was open. Pulled the car out of the ferry, off the M/V Matanuska and towards the border patrol. Entering Canada, again. Luckily for us, we were one of the first people off the ferry so we didn’t have to wait in line to go through customs. Unluckily for us, we had a powertripping woman who unfortunately spotted an apple in our console, apparently contraband, and made us pull over so our car could be searched and each of us questioned individually. * I knew we were going to have trouble with this chick as soom as I saw her. Yeah all because of an apple. I wanted to ask if I could back up and eat it before I crossed the border but I reason to suspect she may have gotten a stick lodged in her gluteous maximus. Thelma and Louise strike again. Once my border officer questioned me, I went and sat inside, still cold and tired, while the officers dealt with Lindsay. I emerged from the office when it appeared they were through questioning her, saw that they had located our secret stash of mace, and heard the officier interrogate Lindsay as to whether she had any naroctoics in her possession.*These two male officers ganged up on me and the one said “your looking at a thousand dollars right here, did you know we could seize your car?” Of course not cranky pants if I knew that I woulda ditched the pepper spray. Then he asked me what would I do if I had 2 kilos of cocaine hidden in my car. He also asked me if I was smoking pot. Do I look like a pot head man? I just got off a 26 hour ferry ride of which two nights were spent sleeping on the floor I don’t need your bullshit this morning. Then they both asked me if there was anything else in the vehicle that might look bad, I paused to think and they jumped on me “if there is just tell us now”. I told them I had a razor knife(no problem there apparently that’s not dangerous in anyway…common sense people anything could be dangerous in the wrong persons hands do I really look like a person who has ill will or a violent bone in my body, but I held my tongue on that thought. I also said I have prescription drugs, and when he asked if I had any narcotics I really wanted to say “no but I have anti-psychotics, but again held my tongue. They took me inside and let me off with a warning..THANK GOD. All starting with an apple from wal-mart that probably came off the same truck their pink lady apples came off of. Authority makes me nervous and I get stupid and they think I’m a deviant. No I just a big baby and your scaring me but not enough that my sarcasm and smart ass nature doesn’t chime in inside my head too bad calm in interrogation doesn’t take over. I much preferred the sammies border patrol man!* Then they both asked us if we had any handguns. I looked at him with a look of, like I would know how to operate a flipping handgun. I’m from Illinois, I’m going to be an accountant, until about a week and a half ago, I have no tarnishments on my records, now I have a federal violation for allowing my passenger to hang out the sunroof window. Apparently the officer also asked Lindsay if she was high or had kilos of cocaine in the car. No officer, the bloodshot eyes would indicative of the fact that we slept on the floor of a ferry and it was currently 6:30 in the morning and you are questioning us because you found an apple. Lindsay and one of the officers went into the office while the other asked me about the mace and how I didn’t know about it. My response…there’s a lot of stuff in the car. I added that we were just passing through and meant no harm. Okay, call me Thelma. Lying to a border patrol officer. So I knew about the mace, but I wasn’t about to get another ticket from the Canadians. * I lied too but one of the can was expired in like 2000 and I never even touched the other one. I think I just took it out of the packaging about 4 months ago and mom gave it to me 2 years ago. We would have been better off ditching the mace and bear spray and registering the shotgun for protection geeze. We are two girls going across country from Wisconsin land of cheese we aren’t trafficking humans, we aren’t on the lamb, we didn’t, rob a bank, we didn’t kill anyone. I just wanted a delicious apple for breakfast. I’m getting Brittany in all kinds of trouble and I’m not even a trouble maker, but I guess I’m just following suit of the bucholz clan. Trouble makers.*Part of me thinks the whole country is just bitter after the Canucks defeat last week. Americans are superior, even in the Canadians pride and joy: hockey. Lindsay emerged with a slap on the wrist, supposedly they were giving us a big break, and that they could have impounded her vehicle. Yeah, stranded in Prince Rupert, British Columbia…that would have been the perfect halfway point for our adventure.
Lindsay drove on, while I tried to sleep. We wanted to be well rested, since we had ambitious to get to Vancouver this evening and as close to America as possible. The scenery was beautiful…they weren’t being pompous when their license plates declared it “Beautiful British Columbia”. The sun was shining, and the clouds were hanging low against the mountains, rivers, waterfalls, and lakes. *It was only beautiful for a limited amount of time, I’ve had enough of BC. That however could be because aunt bunny was right I look like trouble I guess or a “gang member” in her words wearing my pink pinewood farms t-shirt. I thought I was sweet and innocent looking, perfect angel, but apparently not. But on the up side I saw a coyote and some cool birds of prey and peed in a patch of rose bushes…not awesome but I really had to go!*
Days like this where all we do is drive, give us both lots of time to think, wanted or not. We’ve pretty much run out of topics to discuss with one another. That’s what happens when you know someone so well, the ability to discuss new things decreases as the ability to sit in silence and be perfectly content increases. Today’s highlights were the world’s largest fly fishing pole and a stop at 7-11 to get some chocolate to ease the blues.The uploading of pictures yesterday had reminded me of everything we’ve seen and done…its been an amazing two weeks of adventure. And I am very excited for our second half…the west coast and some visits with our cousins that span the coast. But I was beginning to miss home. They say home is where the heart is. Today was a reminder of that. I was reminded of the movie/book “Into the Wild”, which was a biography of a man who had gone into the wild (pretty indicative of the title) near Mt. McKinley in Alaska. He had sought the refuge of the wild, away from society and all of its problems. In the end, he realized that whatever happiness he found away from society didn’t matter with a lasting epiphany “Happiness only real when shared”. I had read the book in high school… but I had watched the movie when I was in Ireland last spring. Ironically, a few days earlier we had been in Florence, Italy exploring and we had found the same sentiment written on a wall of a gazebo ontop of this hill that overlooked Florence. The man in the book, a true story, ended up dying from eating poisonous berries shortly after his epiphany. One can’t say if he would’ve left the wilderness soon after, to rejoin society, and share his life with others. The worst kind of irony that we’ll never know… the kind of ironic that Alanis Morrissette sings about…like a thousands spoons when all you need is a knife.
I didn’t need to venture into the wilderness to learn that life is about the people you surround yourself with. Knew that. One of the things I’ve based my life upon is the people I surround myself. A friend once told me that the key to a good life is surrounding yourself with good people. And to that, I have a surplus of. Blessed in many regards. A solid support system, some of whom who read this blog, interested in some of the crazy adventures that Lindsay and I get ourselves into. Loved enough to listen to our sometimes ramblings.
Today marks the birthday of one of those amazing people I was blessed with. A dear aunt. I have about the best aunts in the world. My godmother, who’s given me the best sister and accomplice. My angel aunt, who gave me a basis of unconditional love and gave me another brother and now roommate who keeps me sane by fixing my car and dealing with things I hate doing, like getting my oil changed. And my mom’s aunt, my dear Auntie Jane, who celebrates her birthday today surrounded by people who love her and those who love her and can’t surround her, like me, exploring the unknown. I am reminded of her today, as it is her birthday, and in 22 years, she’s never forgotten my birthday. I consider her more of a grandma than a great aunt, although great she is. And she is one of the people who has inspired me in my life… to do the things that I do, to work hard, to explore the unknown, and most of all, to be considerate, to be loving, to be there for your family, and to be strong.
The road gives you a lot of time to think. A lot of timing to analyze. To consider what matters and what doesn’t. That’s part of the reason we went on this road trip. To get a little lost and maybe find a little direction. The All American Road Trip. That’s what people do. Jack Kerouac did it. Britney Spears did it. Explorers did it, along time ago, on the Oregon Trail and like Lewis and Clark. I’m sure they didn’t deal with power tripping park rangers or worry about when their next shower would come. But they did explore the wide open, the road and the radio, look to the stars, stand next to the mountains, and feel small and insignificant in this vast world. And maybe they found their answers, but I’m guessing that they didn’t. Like us, they learned there are no answers. That your quality of life is determined by the way you choose to live it and nothing else. It is derived from the person you inspired to be and from what sources you derive that inspiration. For me, it is from the people I surround myself with, it is the beauty and grace and compassion that I learned from my aunts, the strength I found from my mom and my dear Aunt Jane, the ability to talk to strangers like my chatty aunty Kathy, and a knowledge of the importance of kindness that I’ve learned from all those who’ve I been blessed to encounter. There are no great answers, just the foundations of love, and hope, and kindness. Those are the strong foundations to climb on, like the deep rooted trees that kept me from falling off the mountain while hiking around Mendenhall Glaicer.
Would I trade my month adventure for a month sitting at home and staring at the people I love, probably not. Glaciers and mountains and bears and the ocean are still pretty cool. But their majesty fades while the love remains, like the midnight sun in the Alaskan skies.
A little more deep and philosophical than you probably imagined, when I began bitching about the border patrol. Maybe Garth Brooks said it best, when he sang This is old highway is getting longer, seems like there’s no end in sight….I’m much too young to feel this damn old. The soul of an 80 year old veteran, telling you not to blink, that lives moves to fast, and that there are things that matter and things that don’t. Then again, maybe I just sound like a country song.
Sending all my love to those at home, and a very happy birthday to the best great aunt in the world. And after all my travels, I can say that with certainty.
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