You may have noticed that I took last weekend off and I didn't write a blog. Here's why.
As you may have read in my early blog posts, my family moved from Alberta (AB) to British Columbia (BC) just before COVID-19 caused everything to shut down. The original plan was to visit family in Alberta fairly regularly so my daughter could still get to know her grandparents, but with the lockdowns, travel became out of the question. This year we were determined to make the trip and we planned to visit family for an entire month to make up for the previous year. My Husband and I, our daughter, our cat, and my brother, who volunteered to drive, left on that road trip June 26, 2021.
To say we had quite the journey would be an understatement. We planned to leave early in the morning, but if you know me, I'm not the rushing type. I hate forgetting things, and making lists are never good enough because I forget to put stuff on the list anyway. Needless to say, we didn't leave until well into the morning.
There are only three and a half routes to leave Kelowna, BC to get to Alberta. One route is obviously quicker (on a map, anyway. It also splits into another route that goes up through Rocky Mountain House), one is more of a scenic route that takes a bit longer, the other is in the complete opposite direction (south instead of north) and would take a lot longer than the scenic route - not to mention it is probably the most unsafe of the three. With a baby and a nervous cat in the car, we opted to take the faster route - who wouldn't? It was supposed to take approximately 10 hours.
Almost two hours into our drive, we found out that my daughter gets motion sickness when driving at high speeds. She completely lost her breakfast all over herself and her seat. She was miserable, and frankly, so was I. This was going to be a long ride. Thankfully, I brought her a change of clothes.
I made the mistake of giving her a snack at lunch, shortly after she lost her breakfast. In my defense, I thought maybe that was an isolated incident. It wasn't. She didn't have another clean set of clothes anymore.
Another hour or so goes by (I really wasn't counting), and I notice on Google Maps there is a traffic delay up ahead. It reads, "18+ minutes Delay, updated 3 mins ago." Not a big deal, we will just wait. This was between Donald and Blaeberry along Highway 1.
We were stopped in traffic and a half an hour goes by while the message remains the same. Obviously, it wasn't updated 3 mins ago.
I get suspicious and start thinking maybe we should go investigate. The weather was scorching hot out and with a baby and a cat in the car, I was getting nervous. I was also wondering if our air conditioning would quit from being overworked if we were there for much longer. Eventually the message on Google Maps changed, but it made no sense. "11+ minute delay, updated 2 mins ago." Google Maps had no idea.
We then started checking the BC travel website for updates (thank goodness we had cell service). It mentioned a detour was made available, however, we couldn't help but notice nobody was moving.
An hour and a half went by since we were stopped and my brother, who was driving, decides he will grab a bike from the back of our truck (we brought our bikes as my daughter loves to go on bike rides) and go investigate the situation. He leaves, and about 20 minutes pass before he comes back to deliver the news.
"There was a four fatality collision and vehicle fire just up ahead. There was a detour, and when they started moving some big trucks toward the detour, someone tried to pass them and hit a pole and a power line fell onto the detour."
First of all, I am so sorry to the friends and families who lost four people that day. I made sure they were assisted in crossing over successfully. My sincere condolences.
Secondly, to the person who thought it would be a good idea to pass semi-trucks on a narrow detour that was clearly make-shifted as an emergency detour only, perhaps you should have looked a little more closely at the situation on the road that day.
We were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on a separated and barricaded highway with no place to turn around. Emergency responders said the road would be cleared by 8pm that night and no detour was available. I was watching our gas slowly trickle down, the AC running at max with the intense heat outside, my cat freaking out in the kennel below, and my hungry baby in the car. I was hesitant to give her what little food we had in the car for fear of her throwing it up again. I was getting worried. It was around 2pm at that moment. My brother left with the bike again to inform others of the situation and see if there was a way out of this mess.
Cars around us started disappearing and we were left wondering where they ended up. They were driving along the shoulder, and then suddenly we would see them somehow driving the opposite direction! I flagged one person down, and they said there was a spot up ahead to turn around and get back onto the other side of the highway. I was so relieved! They even suggested a loggers road back in a small town called Donald (blink and you'll miss it) to get past the mess on the highway and continue on.
We were itching to go, but my brother wasn't coming back. I called him several times with no answer. After how this day was going, I was expecting the worst. I eventually got through to him and he said the same thing the driver had. I told him to hurry up because we were ready to go.
The loggers road was a dead end. We didn't even make it all the way because we noticed a lot of vehicles coming back from that direction. So in case you don't know the conditions of a loggers road, it is basically a very unkept dirt road barely wide enough for a truck, let alone two vehicles passing. We managed to turn around and tried to warn others to not even bother. Who knows if they tried or not.
The nearest city to backtrack to was about an hour and a half back. My daughter was miserable and hungry, I was miserable and hungry, and at this point I was ready to pee my pants. At least my daughter is still in diapers.
We ended up having dinner in the same city we had lunch in. We were weighing our options on either waiting for the road to clear, or going up through Jasper (the other route). Unfortunately, the collision closed the highway before the split that goes up through Rocky Mountain House, so that route wasn't an option.
The BC travel website removed the road closure advisory while we were having dinner, so they must have cleared it up early. Based on that, we figured it was better to just continue the original route.
We finished eating, and tried to give my daughter a bit of time to walk around and digest some of her food before we headed out again. It was still so hot out, and the playground we stopped at was too hot to touch any of the equipment. We couldn't spend too much time outside as there wasn't a lot of shade. We didn't have anywhere else to go, so we just hoped for the best and went on our way.
My daughter lost her dinner around the same area of the highway we were stopped for several hours. Unfortunately the highway was narrow and people were moving too fast for us to just pull over. I cleaned her up best I could using everything I had available and we kept going. I declared to never do this again.
I so desperately wanted to just go back home. It was already a long day, and we were only halfway to our destination, despite being on the road all day. We drove well into the night, finally reaching Calgary after dark. We got lost in the construction detours (Seriously, Calgary, you need better signage!), and when we finally made it out, it felt like it took us forever to get to Red Deer.
It was midnight, and the only open gas stations in Red Deer were on the other side of the highway. Red Deer was also completely surrounded by construction and when we were able to finally gas up, we realized we couldn't get back on the highway in the direction we needed to go. Yet another detour to a secondary highway in order to get back on the main highway.
I was just done. My daughter had been sleeping on and off and was finally getting to the point
where I could move my hand (she was hugging my hand for comfort for the last 5 or so hours) so I grabbed a pillow and stuffed my face into it. I managed to doze off here and there, and next thing I knew we were in Edmonton. Finally.
It was 2:30 in the morning, everyone was exhausted, my parents stayed up to help us unload the truck, and I took my daughter to bed. That was the worst 19 hour road trip of my life.
The entire day, after everything that happened, I wondered if any of that was a sign to turn around and go home, or if despite obstacles and how painful the trip was, we persevered and eventually made it safe and sound. Perhaps if it was a message, it will be revealed later.
The following week was a catastrophe for BC. The hottest heat wave I've ever seen lasted about a week. Over 200 fires ignited, and a very large wildfire completely wiped out the town of Lytton, only 2.5 hours away from Kelowna. Most residents were evacuated, but some were not so lucky.
Other parts of the country revealed news of more mass graves of children in residential schools. It has been a heavy week for many people and many are retaliating by knocking over statues of the
Queen and burning down churches on First Nation's land. I implore those who are playing with fire to find another means to safely express your anger. Fire consumes and does not discriminate. It can get out of control very quickly. If you don't believe me, look at how many fires are burning out of control in BC.
Originally, I wanted to write about a spiritual topic this week, but I felt the desire to write about why I had to postpone my blog last week. Sometimes shit happens! Maybe there was a message to everything that happened last week, maybe there wasn't.
I think the real message to gain from this whole ordeal is if we are experiencing times of struggle, remember "this too, shall pass." It doesn't last forever, though our perception of time makes it seem like it does. Try to stay in the moment, and things will work out one way or another.
Please stay safe, everyone.
About Cathy Rose: Cathy is a spiritual blogger who shares her personal experiences, knowledge and training to help others navigate, understand and heal throughout their own spiritual journey.
You can contact Cathy by email at cathyrosehealing@gmail.com or visit her Facebook page www.facebook.com/cathyrosehealing or her website www.cathyrosehealing.wixsite.com/home
Book today for a personalized healing session to support you in your journey!
Sign up for weekly blog updates! Click "subscribe" at the top of the page.
Further Reading:
Road Collision News Story: https://www.revelstokereview.com/news/vehicle-fire-closes-hwy-1-both-ways-between-revelstoke-and-golden/
Photo credits:
pxfuel.com
wikimapia.org
globalnews.ca
cbc.ca
www2.gov.bc.ca
edmontoncommercial.com
Google Maps
Cathy Whittingstall