This morning, we took-off from Kamloops at a bright and early 8:00 in order to hit the mountains at full-speed and tackle this tremendous 380+ mile drive through some of the roughest terrain I can imagine exists on this planet. As the bus door closed, the previous night’s host families sung “For he’s a jolly-good fellow” for the boys as they rolled away from the church. It was very cool for the boys to see such appreciative hosts.
The first 2 hours or so were relatively calm, with looping drives around glacial lakes and streams coming down from the small (6,000 ft.) mountain peaks. Having plenty of cushion time, we took an extended bathroom break at a rest stop marking the last spike placed in the TransCanadian Railroad. It was a very nice (silver medal winning) rest stop, complete with a train caboose the boys were able to climb on and take pictures with. There was also a section of railroad the boys could take their picture with, complete with a sledge hammer to pretend pounding stakes with. And like any good tourist location, it had a great gift store for the boys to help the local economy with. After about $300 and a bag full of memories later, we ventured back to the bus to continue our trek.
From here on, it was amazing. Words cannot express how magnificent the peaks and cliffs around our drive. To make things even better, our bus drive Rodney did an incredible job of navigating the slopes to ensure the safety of all the passengers. He’s really a gem and I am so thankful we have had outstanding drivers like him (and Ralph Donais last year) to shuttle these boys around the continent. Rodney is always the first one at the bus in the morning and the last one to lock it up and the end of the day to make sure everything is safe and sound before getting some rest himself. He really does a great job of looking after the safety of these boys on tour. I hope you each get a chance to thank him for taking three weeks out of his schedule to help your sons when we get home.The spot we had for lunch was about as good as it gets, with mountains everywhere as far as you could see. I tried to take some awesome pictures, but they just weren’t able to capture the true awesomeness of the Canadian Rockies.
After lunch, I just couldn’t put the boys to sleep through this amazing countryside, so I asked Aaron if it was okay if we just did IPods and books so the boys could quietly look out the window, while still getting some rest. We didn’t have a concert this night, so rest wasn’t as critical as it is other days. Aaron wouldn’t let them, so I told him I would give him 3 “funniest staff member points” of mine, and he gladly accepted. The rest of the drive was incredible. I hope your son’s pictures turned-out better than mine.
With it being an especially long drive, we watched a couple of movies. One was the “Dudley Dooright” full-length motion picture. We had already exhausted all the episodes we had on DVD, so the movie was the next logical choice. (The boys just love those things. I was able to find some Rocky and Bullwinkle episodes as well, which are going over well also.) With still about 2.5 hours to go on our trek, we threw the new Yogi Bear movie in to bring us as far as Banff. With all the mountains we had seen through the day, it was kinda funny to see how desensitized the boys had gotten once we reached Banff, a place known around the world for its mountain peaks. Just past Banff, as if someone flipped a switch, our scenery went from humongous mountains to rolling prairies. And thus our voyage through the mountains was complete. After 380 miles and nearly 12 hours of mountains, road construction and bathroom breaks, we reached Calgary. Our hosts were ready for us, with juice and crackers for the boys that were hungry before dinner. Then, after one of Aaron’s comedy-laced safety briefs, the boys were whisked-away to their host homes with the Calgary Boys Choir. If Rodney is still around in the morning, we will continue our tour tomorrow! J
P.J.
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