The Land of Flat

There couldn't have been a more beautiful day to make this journey.

My hand waived through the air as we traveled up the freeway.  We had finally exited the traffic jams of the city.

Smooth sailing through the valley, the farms zipping in and out of my vision as we traveled. A warm day necessitating the need for the windows to be down. I didn't mind though, I thought it was wonderful to feel the wind fly through my fingers when I put them out the window. It was fresh air that wasn't full of smog.  To see the fields of corn as far as the eye could see, mountains in the distance as we headed toward them, was a real treat. I was going to be up close and personal with those mountains whereas before I could only look at them in the distance. I knew about forests, but this was a whole other ball game. As we left the valley we began to rise. The flat, straight highway began to curve, bend and twist. Soon there was mountains on our left and mountains on our right.  In the rear view, I could see the valley we just left laid out behind us and the thick blanket of gray over top the distant city. I was stunned, I was flabbergasted, I was speechless at the amazing beauty of these shelves of rock being pushed from the ground to reach for the sky. And what was the  impetus for this miracle of nature?

I just sat there with my mouth hanging open as we drove through the beauty of this land. As if that was not enough, soon we beheld a large herd of big horned sheep standing in the middle of the freeway casually walking to and fro. The horns of these animals were massive, curved things as if these mammals had battering rams and required the armor. Then the line changed no longer the rainforest country I was used to. Pine trees cedar everywhere changed to Boreal pine of different species starting line not as packs together as we had previously seen and then that force became patchwork and I could see the copper land between the patches soon the land turn to dust and we were in the hottest part of the province we could have been the only piece of desert land in the country. Created the great Okanagan Valley where all of our fruits are grown to this day. Incredibly hot so hot that even the wide open windows could not cool us with the breeze. But the other thing this land had was a string of large freshwater lakes the perfect place to cool down. A asked C to take the next rest stop and so we did. The lake shimmered before me clear and cool to which I promptly walked in.  I waded out until I could not touch the bottom anymore and swam. I couldn't believe the freshness, the perfect temperature and the clarity of the water I was swimming in. Refreshed our journey continued. Soon the land changed again. We went into the Shuswap country bordered by the Kootenays. The Shuswap is the land of the weeping willow trees great stands of them surrounding a different lakes we passed mixed with conifers made for a stunning mix. The Kootenays are a gorgeous mix of all the landscape types I'd seen already.  But nothing could prepare me for the majesty and mastery of the Rocky mountains pleated with shields of ice and glacial lakes. Even in summer those glaciers endured. Standing in the warmth of the summer sun, right beside a glacier, is the wildest contradiction I had that Journey. Winter and summer existing in the same place. When we finally came through the Rockies we entered the next province into the rolling, forested hills of Kananascus country. The air seemed so much drier than it did on the coast. Much less humidity was noticeable in the air. And then at long last the hills gave way the forest backed off to a land of flat as far as the eye can see fields and fields and fields of yellow grass with cornflower blooms and Indian paintbrush flowers.  Once again on a flat straight highway.

That highway gave way to another city.  A city of another kind, a city spread out far and wide. Streets and avenues running in straight lines. No hills or mountains in the way, no corners to round, no rocks to climb. I've never seen it anything like it in my life the exact opposite of what I've known.

The Journey complete, the change begins.