A Much Needed Get-Away

I know we all have those times when we just need to get away. We need to not be in our homes, our communities, our churches, or our jobs. And we need to go somewhere different - not necessarily far away or exotic, but just somewhere different.

Oh boy did I need to get away a few weeks ago! So bad. Being in Kamloops and in my home and job was actually painful.

So I left my plans till the last minute, packed my car up with my snowboard gear, some clothes, my ipod, camera, and wallet and headed for the Rockies.

The plan was to meet my dear, good, friend Lillian in Banff for a weekend of snowboarding, relaxing, eating out, visiting, laughing, talking, and encouraging eachother in our friendship and faith. I left on Thursday night, planning on meeting Lillian sometime on Friday. As my travels progressed, Lillians plans changed about 18 times (not unusual). I stopped in Golden for the night, slept in, read my book and continued on my journey.

The roads were glorious, dry, and traffic free. On Thursday night I noticed I was low on gas and decided to fill up in the morning before I left Golden.

Yeah... I forgot to do that.

I drove for about 45 minutes before I remembered that I didn't have very much gas. Shoot. My options were to turn around, drive 45 minutes back to Golden, or hold out another 30 minutes and hope there was gas in this tiny little village I knew I would pass through. I had a 50/50 chance of having enough gas to make it to Banff. Luckily, the little town had one pump. And I got gas.

Then plans changed, and now I was to meet Lillian in Calgary. No biggie, it was only and hour past Banff. I continued on my drive. I had gas, I had some good tunes on, I was rolling.

But my windshield wipers didn't work.

Not a major problem, since the roads were dry, but I realized that if the roads became wet, I would have a little situation on my hand. The wiper blades would swipe, but there was no washer fluid coming out.

I stopped in Banff, thinking maybe the fluid was low. I stopped at a gas station, topped it up, and then walked around town, drank some Chai, read more of my book, visited my very first Lulu Lemon, and played tourist for a few hours. Unfortunately, as I tested the wipers while I was leaving, they still did not work. I found a garage and asked for help. They were gracious enough to let me know that the soonest they could fit me in was next week. Not acceptable. They were nice enough to take a look and speculated that my washer fluid was frozen. All I needed to do was park my car in my heated garage and let the fluid thaw. I don't usually bring a heated garage with me on vacation - and I suppose if we are being honest, I should say that even if I wanted to, I don't own one.

I drove a little further to Canmore and hoped against hope that they would be able to help me. Luckily the Canadian Tire had a heated garage, so I parked m car and chilled out in Canadian Tire for two hours. FYI, as a woman, I found it very difficult to kill two hours in a Canadian Tire.

Two hours later, car fixed, back on the road. First stop in Calgary: Swiss Chalet. I love BC, but it's lackage of Swiss Chalet gives it a -3000 points in my books.

Oh delicious festive special, I love you so much.

Plans change again, Lillian still hasn't left Edmonton. She doesn't expect to arrive in Calgary till close to 10. I decide to shop and kill time with a movie.

Movie over. Plans change again. The roads are terrible. It has taken them 1.5 hours to do a normal 15 minute drive. Is it safe or even worth coming? I tell her to let our hosts know that I'm coming over without her. I totally invite myself over and in and the Snowboarders for Christ Crew were totally welcoming and friendly and super gracious and nice. We chilled for a while. Lillian crawled into the room at 2am.

9am found us at Lake Louise ready to go. A quick prayer on the hill for safety and ministry and we were off. The first ones to make tracks on the upper part of the mountain - not just for the day, but for the season! Amazing.  A great day, bluebird skies, friendly people, quiet hill, fresh powder, warm sunshine on our backs. I was exhausted by the time we got home, but it was worth it.

Sunday was me and Lillian time. Church, lunch, and a visit to Heritage Park - the Calgary equivalent of Barkerville.

Driving home on Sunday/Monday was good too. Just me and my i-pod, my thoughts, and my prayers. A little solo retreat for the last few hours.

I came home feeling relaxed, refreshed, and ready to face another week of life.

I need to get away more often.