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Published: September 19th 2009
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First of all, I'd like to thank those of you who have left comments on this blog or sent me emails. Your comments have provided a great personal connection for me and the feeling that my experience is being shared and enjoyed by others. I've averaged 25-30 "views" per day of my blog, so I'm delighted to be able to share this with all of you!
There are features on this TravelBlog web site that I haven't even discovered yet, but I did just learn where to go to see all of the comments that have been posted. If you "cut-and-paste" the following address into your browser, you should be able to see all of the comments for my blog:
http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/soytnly/Comments/page-1.html
The comments make more sense if they're read from bottom-to-top.
As I was driving today, it occurred to me that it was exactly 45 years ago today that I enlisted in the Air Force. I think most veterans remember the exact date that they enlisted, but I especially remember mine (September 18th) because that is the same date that the Air Force became an independent branch of the military in 1947 (transitioned from the Army Air
Corps). On the day I enlisted, we were told that it was a special day because the Air Force was celebrating its 17th anniversary. And now another 45 years have gone by! (Holy crap! Where has the time gone?).
As my trip winds down, I'm more focused on just getting home and less on "adventures", so today's blog won't be very interesting. Most of the day I was retracing a road that I traveled on the way "up", but when I reached Prince George, BC I headed south on some "new" road and it will continue to be new road for the next couple of days.
Today's weather was mostly cloudy with intermittent rain showers, but I still kept the top down on the Miata all day (as long as I'm moving, the rain doesn't get into the car). As I keep heading south, the temperature is getting warmer and it reached 72 degrees (F) today.
Yesterday morning I was deep in the wilderness in the Cassiar Mountain range; this afternoon I'm in Quesnel, BC, a rather large town. It's been quite a transition!
You know that you're getting back into civilization when:
- you
see an oncoming vehicle every 10 seconds instead of every half hour.
- you see lots of high-voltage power lines alongside the highway.
- you come to a town that actually has a traffic light and more than one gas station.
- you stop at a rest area that has flush toilets and hot water.
- you see your first McDonalds in three weeks and have to stop for a burger.
- you no longer worry about where the next gas station is.
- you get less concerned about wild animals jumping in front of you on the road.
- you get stuck in a traffic jam as you approach your motel for the night.
- your motel has four floors.
- there's a WalMart next to your motel.
I've been "winging it" on my return trip with no specific itinerary, but I'm getting close enough to home and I had time this evening to research where I want to go for my last few days and I came up with a plan. Tomorrow night (Saturday) I'll be staying in a Bed and Breakfast in Hope, BC. On Sunday I'll cross back into the U.S. (at the same border
crossing near Osoyoos, BC that I used going up) and will head down to Ellensburg, WA and spend the night at an "inn" that is run like a B&B. On Monday it's homeward bound with one little side trip so that I can complete my trip with "something new" every day.
It feels good to finally have fewer than 1000 miles to go before I'm home!
Jack
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Gene
non-member comment
Thanks
Thanks for including us in your travelblog! It has been interesting and entertaining. Thanks to you, now I HAVE to retire and do something fun. We did manage to entertain Sereda for a few hours by taking her to dinner. At least I hope she was entertained. Take care and see you soon. Gene