Jul 18 - Wawa, ON - Naturally Superior Adventures' Rock Island Lodge

the room here smells like my grandparents', back in time in nova scotia - their house on shaw island. i am immersed in nostalgia, eager to get there, to go back, see it. my love is on shores. this place reminds me of the fact. the water is easing me. i climb the jagged banks of these shores - bushwakking, trail-blazing, loving it. i swim though i want it to be ocean, want salt in my hair, in my nose, on my skin. the smells - i am so attached to them. today i caught a grass snake and loved that reptilian smell on my hand - memories of catching frogs as a kid. after i held it for thirty seconds it was so calm....

people here are kind but private, independant, or on special vacations. anyway they mostly keep to themselves. a couple from Sudbury have provided some good conversation, though, and David, the owner, has a voracious wit reminding me of my uncle David.

tomorrow is my last day here, though i am not sad to leave it. sitting mostly idle with few distractions stirs up my wandering spirit, and i feel it is time to move on again. tomorrow is go to sault, and new challenges....

....and now one of the wicked storms of Superior approaches. it is difficult to sleep. my mind is on Derek and Kristin up ahead - are they safe? they have each other - i can ease a little knowing that. but the thunder, even off in the distance, is lound and ferocious. the lions are awake in the sky tonight. this wind is violent, whipping the tarps above my head. i love the lights, though i worry about everyone on this beach tonight - needlessly, no doubt. if trouble truly hits, what can i do to help them? weather renders us helpless. we'd all huddle into one of the buildings, i suspect.

June 3 - Victor Lake, BC - camped by the side of the highway

After a sweaty, hot night of restless tossing and turning in Sicamous, it took me a while to get going this morning. Derek left early at 9AM to try to make it to Glacier National Park (130kms or so) before nightfall so that he can go hiking tomorrow. I decided to take four days instead of three to get to Golden, making each day shorter, and didn't set off until noon. Besides another wipe-out providing more skin wounds, and a nice long chat with a Kiwi cyclist around 3PM, my day was pretty uneventful. I told myself I'd stop around 7PM, and did, after having covered 64km.

Some things I became aware of today:
1. How much more comfortable I am when Derek and I are cycling together. It has its checks and balances, and the break from each other is probably good for our sanity's sake, but overall it feels smarter and safer to ride together.
2. How sad I get when leaving good people and places behind. I had way too good a time in Vernon, and way too good a show in Sicamous, and now I am paying for it emotionally. I've been this way all my life.

I am now camping alone at the side of the Trans-Canada highway, preparing for another trip up a mountain, hoping it will go smoothly because I am melancholic right now. The hardest part of being a wanderer is having to leave behind you what you would love to stay with. My plan, after several years now of touring music and moving around, is to take a respite from it, save some money to make a new album, and spend time writing songs. Victoria has been growing in my mind as a place I might like to do this. It is a beautiful place, by the ocean, with a thriving little art community, and many people I like very much. It seems teeming with possibilities for me....