Hello again everyone. I know I’m a little late on the posts to come but since I was nearing my destination, I decided I’d take a little break and live the rest of my experiences without the blogging for a bit. I’ll be keeping you up to date more regularly within the next few weeks! Thanks again for keeping up with me and the serendipitous happenings along the way, there are MANY more ahead!

January 28th – January 31st, 2010

After leaving Revelstoke I was soon reminded that I was a travelling musician, driving to another unknown town with unknown outcomes. After hanging out with my new friends for the past 11 days I was starting to get used to my surroundings.

I realized I was tired from my time in Revi. I’d spent a week and a half doing 5 shows, a radio interview, and two trips up Mount Mackenzie for shooting. I needed a few days rest and was not in the mood for meetings or music when I drove to Vernon. I didn’t even feel like being in a city and drove up Turtle mountain, stopping at a scenic outlook to make a snack and to spend some time on my own. The city glowing below, I was failing in convincing myself to try and get a show here. I was kindly reminded by my family that a break might be good for the mind and soul.

I reached into my pockets to see how much money I had on me, I found the Boston Pizza gift card that was gifted to me from my cousins, the Gagnons. I remember Denis Jr. saying something along the lines of: “ We thought we’d get you this if you get tired of cooking or in case you want a night out and a good sit down meal” and that ‘s exactly what I needed. I descended into Vernon and punched in the restaurant into my GPS. I sat at the bar and ordered a pint and a heaping plate of nachos, my favourite. I used to make nachos all the time in high school. I had even developed a sensitivity to Volcano sauce because I was eating it so often, despite it’s extreme heat…..I haven’t seen it on the shelf since. Come to think of it, it was Denis Sr. who had given me the suggestion of Volcano sauce when I was around 14. I love it when nacho stories come full circle.

Sitting at the bar, I watched a bit of hockey on tv. After my meal and some lounging around, I went back to the van to do more of exactly that. I read for the better part of the evening before retiring to my home, my rolling residence. I found a place to park and shut my body down for the night.

Morning came late for me on Friday. I knew I should of gotten up earlier but I wanted to sleep in to the point of oversleeping. I made a quick lunch of soup and sandwiches and went about town to find a laundromat. I only had a few garments left and thought I’d do some writing as the load tumbled. I soon realized that Revelstoke had been such a big part of the journey that I’d need two blogs to describe it.

Later that evening I decided I’d go to one of the local bars and try my luck, I felt more rested now and decided it was the right thing to do. I drove up to the establishment and into their parking lot. After 20 minutes of sitting in the van and having an argument with myself over whether or not to go in, I realized that I needed to do something other than music that weekend and opted to go see the much famed Avatar.

I won’t bore you with how much I loved the film as I’m sure many of you have already seen it but I will comment on the storyline as I found myself wishing over and over for life to be that simple again: natural medicine, sense of community, taking only what we need, and sharing what we have with everything. As a species we have become arrogant of our intelligence and ability to manipulate the world around us. Though I understand that change is good and necessary, it still must be balanced out.

Much of the symbolism in the movie referred to our ignorance of the interconnectedness we share with everything. Sure it was an imaginary planet with an imaginary civilization; but, the resources found on this planet and our willingness to exploit them couldn’t be closer to our own wants and wars. What’s the difference between blue men and yellow, red, or black men. Just like bullies who need lunch money, we don’t care about the other side of the argument, we know our weight can push us through the situation, and that’s all that matters even if we were wrong in the first place. And, come to think of it, the civilization portrayed isn’t that imaginary, especially for us in North America if we think back a few hundred years.

After the movie I called it a night again. The next day would involve a good breakfast and a trip to Kelowna.

Driving down the highway, I was mesmerized by the Kalamalka Lake. There were mountains on either side of it with homesteads at the base of them. The sky was blue and the water still, which made for a picture perfect mirror of the already breathtaking landscape. It didn’t take me too long to drive there, only 40 minutes, maybe.

After getting into town I went for dinner and gathered some information as to what there was to take advantage of in Kelowna on a Saturday night. The bartender told me of a few places to visit but I wasn’t really in the mood for a club or live music. I decided on just parking somewhere near downtown and going for a walk. I found a boardwalk along the lake and walked it for quite some time. It was peaceful and the sky was bright with the moon above me. I found my way back to the downtown core a little later. I walked past a few pubs that had live bands which one could hear from the street and, though I did walk in for a drink, I really wasn’t in the mood to listen to covers. I know this might sound bitter but, as a musician, it’s hard to listen to music objectively. I guess I could compare it to watching Judge Judy as a lay person for the entertainment and watching it as lawyer. Somehow it wouldn’t have the same effect after a day’s work.

That’s precisely how I felt, I left the bar and just kept walking around for the rest of the night. A little exercise is always what the doctor orders and I wanted to be in Penticton the next day to visit family and to try and book something for the tour.

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