Revelstuck

I'm going to jump right back into the blog, starting from where I am.  Revelstoke, BC, the new scene.

How did I get here?

 I was driving through town after a whirlwind summer, heading to some place near the Alberta/Saskatchewan border where I was going to attend a Vipasana meditation course. I was looking forward to some quiet time after a rather intense August.  Crazy summer...upon finishing tree-planting in late July, I went to Vancouver for a few days and then partied hard for 3 weekends in a row.  Electric Love, Shambhala, and High Society.  Then I took a week off to visit some hot springs and go camping and whatnot.  I stayed in a hotel for a night where I was cruising around on Kijiji and I found an ad for this cute little camper and it was not so far away.  I went to have a look and fell for it.  I told the I would take it, but I had to find a way to tow it, thinking it might bit more than my parents' Grand Marquis would be happy to drag along.  A few days later I bought a Chevy Blazer to pull it along, joined a forum for fiberglass camper enthusiasts and I was ready to go pick up my trailer in Kaslo.

This is my new rig. 

Driving back towards Revelstoke, I was very glad to have my friend Keith in the passenger seat.  Keith had a lot of experience with towing a trailer.  When we boarded on to the ferry to cross Arrow Lake, a big tour bus pulled up and parked next to me.  One of the parking guides came over and told me that my trailer was blocking the door for this bus, so could I please back up a few feet.  It takes some practice to back up a trailer, and if Keith hadn't been there to walk me through the procedure I probably would have jackknifed and somehow sunk the boat hahahaha.


We made it to Revelstoke no trouble, stopping only for some ice caps at Timmies, and drove on through, heading east.  Keith was en route to a wedding, and I was on the way to inner peace.  It was a hot day, something like 35 degrees.  The A/C was blasting.  We were driving up a long hill when it happened.  First I noticed a funny burning smell, and shortly thereafter, smoke billowing out from under the hood.  There was a hole in the radiator!  So...back to Revelstoke.  The tow truck took me and my camper to a campground near town, then dropped my car off at Stay Cool Mechanics. (I am happy to do business with them just for their name.)

So there I was, down by the river, in a camper with no way to move it.  So I just chilled around.  Went for walks and whatnot. Visited the visitors center and researched what to do in Revy online.  It only took three days for me to fall in love with the place.  I decided to stay for the winter...maybe more.

Smokey Bear campground is where I'm staying atm.  It's open all winter....

So I started applying to restaurants, and landed a job in 3 days.  I started work at Mountain Meals a week later.  I like working there, it's a business based on good values with a friendly bunch of co-workers.  I figure I can take any job so long as the company is right. In the kitchen there's a little note hanging above the blender that says : "Every dollar you spend is a vote for the kind of world you want."  There's a recycling and a compost.  I suppose that feeding people is a great way to make a living because it's providing a service that everybody truly needs.  There is no dispute that a good restaurant creates wealth.  Unfortunately, my 3 day work week is somewhat scarce, and it's proving difficult to find an affordable place to live.

Is this one edible?  You can eat any mushroom once!

However, I do love all my free time, I'm learning so much. Every I wake up thinking "I wonder what will happen today". Every day there is something new. At work, I am getting practice making espresso coffee. Eventually I aspire to draw hearts (and maybe even dicks) in the latte foam. Last weekend I took a mushroom foraging workshop at the Sicamous Fungi Festival, and learned how to identify a few wild mushrooms. That day I took home a bunch of chantrelles and made a Cream of chantrelle soup. It was delicious . Today, I hiked up to the summit of Eagle Pass, and along the road up, I pulled over and walked through the woods for 5 minutes and came out with a bunch of lobster mushrooms. I think I will make them into tacos tomorrow. A couple of times now I got up on stage for the open mic at The Last Drop and sang songs in front of a live audience. I'm improving my ability to improvise and jam with a group. There are 4 yoga studios in town, and I have been taking classes regularly.  I'm pushing my boundaries, moving outside my comfort zone, jumping in with both feet.  There are many more skills on the way things I might never have expected:

"You know, like nunchuck skills, bo hunting skills, computer hacking skills. Girls only like guys who have great skills." - Napoleon Dynamite  (He's my hero, just like Mom and Dad hahahaha)

Anyways....I have traveled around the world enough to see that every place is beautiful in it's own way.  Still, BC in general has a very special place in my heart.  I think I could spend my whole life exploring this province, and never get bored.  It's full of wonder.  Revelstoke in particular feels like home to me.  It's got a nice vibe.  It's a tight community; not too big, not too small.  There's lots to do because the people make it happen.  The location is central and the scenery is absolutely awesome.  It sure rains a lot, but it doesn't get too cold, and eventually all that precipitation will be falling as snow and I will be laughing as I ride my snowboard down 1800 vertical meters of fresh pow!

It's something revolutionary for me to say "I'm staying here".At first the idea scared me;  I thought, "Oh no! I'm getting old. I'm slowing down".   But after careful consideration I have concluded that this is not the case.  I'm staying here, but I'm running in place!

The view from the mountain across the road from my campsite.

The trees by Eva lake on Mt. Revelstoke look just like the visual representation of sound in Virtual DJ.