Prayer cycle

Thursday, August 16, 2007

McCLEESE LAKE, B.C. — This lakeside resort is between Quesnel and Williams Lake, and, until a short while ago there were children frolicking on the beach and splashing in the water. Any minute now, the skies are going to open with a dump of rain that, from the look of some fields we passed today, will be heartily welcomed. There are steel-grey clouds rolling over, the wind is whipping up the trees, and thunder is rumbling overhead.
In our cozy trailer, we can enjoy the power of nature in comfort, dryness and warmth.
Making good distance is the main agenda now as we head south toward the Lower Mainland. Nevertheless, we try to stick to an average of 300 miles per day. No point in exhausting ourselves and putting our travels at risk.
We followed the Yellowhead Highway into Prince George, passing rolling plains with lots of farms and ranches, as well as forested areas. We could see evidence of the mountain pine beetle, which is a major problem in BC these days. The bugs are killing thousands of trees, which gradually turn a rust colour as they succumb. Some entire hillsides are covered with the afflicted trees. We read in the paper that they are considering making use of the otherwise wasted lumber to produce ethanol fuel.
Before reaching Prince George, was passed through Vanderhoof, which claims to be the geographical centre of British Columbia. It’s named after Chicago publisher Herbert Vanderhoof, who established the town in 1914 when he was associated with the Grand Trunk Development Co. The town provides service to the mining, logging and agricultural activities in the area.
Prince George is a bustling town, big enough for a Walmart, Canadian Tire, Home Depot and Costco. I was here in the late 1990s, but didn’t see anything familiar as we drove through. And, I was so intent on locating the turnoff from the Yellowhead to Highway 97 that I missed seeing Mr. P.G., a tall wooden figure with a round head and a big smile, representing the logging industry’s role in the community.
Not long after turning south on Highway 97, we saw another orange triangle sign saying "prepare to stop" but this one also had a sign saying "accident scene". As we drove past, we saw in the ditch a great big tractor trailer lying flat on its side. The driver must have pulled onto the shoulder only to discover it couldn’t hold the rig’s weight, and the whole thing tipped sideways. There was no sign of an ambulance, so hopefully the guy got away with just some explaining to do.
We are finally experiencing some summer temperatures; the thermometer on the truck today climbed to 29 degrees! I’ll have to get used to not putting on long sleeves and long pants by default! It was beautifully sunny as well.
By mid-afternoon, we were ready to get out and stretch our legs, so we pulled off at a rest stop. At the entrance we saw a team of cyclists in bright yellow and red jerseys, setting off down the highway. There were others in the rest area who hadn’t yet left, having just had a refreshment stop apparently. A couple of ladies in the support vehicle told us the cyclists are with the Canadian Bible Society, and are raising money by cycling to pay for 200,000 Bibles that will be distributed to soldiers in Afghanistan. The project was initiated at the request of army chaplains, who said there was a great need for them. The Canadian Armed Forces gave the society permission to duplicate the desert and green camouflage design on the Bible covers. I mentioned to them the article we had seen in a recent paper of a soldier in Afghanistan whose life had been saved when a bullet was stopped the Bible he was carrying in his breast pocket — but I don’t think they were thinking of the Good Book in terms of body armour!
After we left the rest site, we counted 30 cyclists along the highway — and the slowest pair were riding a tandem bicycle. That must have been fun on some of the steep inclines we came to later on.
The ravages of the highways are making their mark on our nice red truck. We have developed a vibration that’s indicating we need a wheel alignment, so we’ve called ahead to Chilliwack and made an appointment to have that done. I’m sure that is a legacy of the Cassiar Highway. Val discovered the other scar this afternoon when we stopped to fuel up: we have a crack in the windshield! Plus two nicks where stones have hit it. The crack is near the top edge and doesn’t impede our vision, but it will also need to be repaired when we get home. Forget the T-shirts bragging that we’ve braved this and that highway. Now we have true battle scars as proof.