Sunday morning. I must have just collapsed and passed out last night when i was putting Eir to bed so after a good long sleep with only a few minor rumblings from the babes i felt somewhat refreshed today. Matty and his brother Jason however awoke with somewhat fuzzy heads after a night on the town celebrating a friend's wedding. A lost wallet returned by a kind and honest soul named Corine restored some faith in the human spirit.
After a bite of brunch with Jason and Gran Fran another teary eyed farewell as the journey continues. Somehow it felt a bit more real - and a little more scary this time - no destination in mind, no one meeting us at the other end, who knows where we'd end up, now its just us and infinite possibilites.
The road from Banff winds its way through the most beautiful majestic mountains and icy blue rivers. Following the train tracks a lot of the way we were commenting on how we felt as if we were little figures in a model railway, just waiting for a giant hand to break through the clouds and pick up the car in front or place another matchstick in the bridge we were about to cross. An idea of just how tiny and insignificant you feel when all around are the towering, rugged, snow capped mountains.
We stopped briefly to watch a pair of Elk feed right beside us. They didn't seem totally oblivious to the presence of the 4 or 5 vehicles stopping to gaze and admire but certainly appeared very indifferent to being photographed by so many.
The weather was good to us the whole journey, with only the tops of the highest peaks being engulfed in dark rain clouds.
As Freja and Eir slept longer than we had anticipated, we made the most of the extra few hours of peace and quiet and kept on the road, deciding to aim to overnight in Revelstoke.
Passing through our first time zone we gained an hour so arrived at the campground somewhere around 630pm. We stayed here on our last driving adventure. It was here that I first saw my husband without a beard as he appeared back after a shower sans whiskers a little over 3 years ago. I almost didn't recognise him, all of a sudden he looked about 10 years younger - a little un-nerving it has to be said as he was only 24 at the time.
We thought we might try to sleep in Dora tonight, but its pretty cold and damp so instead we opted to rent a wee heated cabin instead. We were given a free pass to the local swimming pool/aquatic centre (it has water slides) when we checked in so after quickly laying out our sleeping bags to take the chill off them we piled back into Dora and headed for the pool. Turns out its a salt water pool which felt much less harsh on the skin.We splashed around for an hour, Matty climbed the angled climbing wall over the deep end and i sat in the hot tub with the girls. Nice and relaxing after confinement of the long drive.
After a quick trip to the grocery store we got back to the campsite and i cooked our first camping meal on the stove in Dora. Butternut squash stuffed pasta with tomato basil sauce. (not from scratch i hasten to add - it was really just a heat up job) but it felt - and tasted good none the less. Wee Eir was starving bless her and she wolfed it down, but Freja ws too excited about her top bunk bed to eat anything. I don't know how we're going to get the princess down from her loft castle tomorrow...
As i lie on the double bed writing this, Freja and Matty are snoring in the top bunk (his turn to fall asleep putting babes to bed) and Eir is cosied up in her sleeping bag on the bottom bunk.
I've just been for a walk outside and its so quiet here, a world apart from the busy summer season hubub. I think we may possibly be the only folks here. Its so still, no wind just the faint noise of drizzling rain, the occassional rumble of the train going past and then silence. The outdoor pool's been drained and is littered with leaves, but the squealing and laughter of summer's children rings in my ears. The picnic tables have been rested on theire ends against the fence, but i was sure i heard cutlery rattle on the wood. The eerie creak of the washroom door as it echoes, and every rustle in the bushes seems magnified a hundred fold......"who's there?" . The pond is empty except for the stone statues of a peeing Cupid and an owl, but cupid's all peed out. I got the feeling though as i walked past that as soon as my back was turned they were both looking round at me watching me walk back to the cabin, the owl's head swiveling as its huge yellow eyes glint in the faint light, and cupid may well have started peeing again.
Sleep beckons.