Hey folks!
I am writing to you now from Hope, and we are 5 days away from our final destination of UBC Farms in Vancouver! I am still in shock that I have made it this far on leg power (and occasional hybrid power) alone, and am so excited to cross that virtual finish line and rejoice in my accomplishments!
The last time I posted, I was heading out of the hottest place in Canada, on my way to Okanagan Lake Provincial Park, just north of Penticton! We made a pit-stop first at a desert centre, where we took a long walk along a boardwalk, looking at all types of desert brush and cacti. We learning a lot about the delicate yet resilient nature of the environment, and how things such as roads and the presence of so many vineyards and orchards have damaged and broken up the living spaces of so many creatures, resulting in a loss of biodiversity in a very rare part of the world. It was interesting, but it also took up over an hour of our riding day, and we had to go almost 100 km! I was pretty distracted through the tour, to say the least, as I watched the time tick away. Note to Otesha: try and schedule learning opportunities when we are NOT expected to ride for 8 hours thereafter!
The ride to the Park was fairly flat, but also quite windy, so the going was a little tougher than it needed to be. By the end of the ride, we had to head through some treacherous construction sites, with rough roads, no shoulder to bike on, and some spots with a sheer drop down towards Okanagan Lake! I was not impressed, and neither was my bike buddy for the day, Katryna. We finally made it to the park just after 8 pm; our longest ride day finally complete! After a good grumbling session, we finally got the chance to relax by the lake, set up our tents, and eat a good meal that the people in the car so graciously made for us all, even though it wasn't their night to cook!
The next day we had a performance at the park, and we were all hoping for a great one since the ride into the park was so dismal. We were all hoping to make that awful ride worth it with a perfect performance! We were in luck; the guests in the park were really interested in what we were doing, and after we broke up into teams to canvass the park for spectators, we ended up with a pretty good turn-out! Lots of folks ended up buying the Otesha book, signing our tour flag (made from an old bedsheet and some markers!) and chatting with us afterwards! But we couldn't stay for too long; we had to head right out after that for Summerland, where we would be staying in a cherry orchard for a couple of days! I was really looking forward to this opportunity, since when in my everyday life would I ever get to stay in a cherry orchard? But of course, we had to bike back through that awful stretch of road to get there, and a lot of us were really frustrated when we arrived (even though it was only 15 km from the park).
The orchard was definitely worth the ride though, and I set up my tent in a nice little row of trees by the road and got comfy. We were doing all our sleeping and eating outside in the orchard, but were given access to washrooms and showers in the barn, so it wasn't as rustic as I originally thought! It was also an orchard that had just been sprayed with pesticides, however, and even though I was thankful for the lack of mosquitoes, it was still a little disappointing to know that pesticides were used there, as the Otesha message is pretty against the use of them!
We had a performance in Penticton the next day, which was just a short ride from the orchard, and then after that we had some time off to check out Penticton, Summerland, and all the beaches in between! I decided to spend my entire day off relaxing at Sun-Oka Beach on Okanagan Lake reading, listening to music, and hanging out with the rest of my team. I also got the chance to call my Mormor and my aunt and uncle! All in all, a good day off!
The next three days were dedicated as full riding days, with a couple of performances in between. We rode from Summerland to Keremeos, then from Keremeos to Princeton, and finally from Princeton to Manning Provincial Park, which was our last big summit of the tour! We biked over 220 km in those three days, and by the time I reached Manning, my knees were killing me. But what an accomplishment! Each day was very different - I biked with Natalie on the first day to Keremeos and that was the fastest I have ever gone - 67 km in 4 hours! The next day was with Caili, and we took it a little easier to get to Princeton. Our group decided to take Old Hedley Road to get there, instead of the highway, which was both a beautiful and frustrating ride! The road was much more hilly than the highway (which I could unfortunately see from the road, taunting me the whole way), but we also saw lots of wildlife and gorgeous scenery that we would have missed on the highway! The ride to Manning Park, which I did with Catherine, was a real test of my mountain-climbing skills. There were some steep grades that we had to overcome, and also some even steeper downhills to navigate without getting run off the road by transport trucks, or thrown flat on our faces by potholes! The last stretch of the ride before the park was nice and flat, however, so we made it there in great time. The best part about this day was definitely the end destination. After staying in creepy halls, like the one in Keremeos, and chilly hockey arenas, like in Princeton, we were going to stay in a Chalet at the resort in Manning Park, with access to hot tubs, a sauna, a salt-water pool, and beds! Yes, that's right, I didn't have to sleep on an air mattress on the floor - I got my very own bed with pillows!
The weather in Manning Park was very different from the 40 degree days in the desert, however, and we quickly learned what rain felt like again! We had two performances scheduled for the day after our arrival in the park, but we had to cancel one of them due to heavy rain and lightning! We used the time to canvass the area though, just to make sure we had a great audience for our evening performance (weather permitting). The skies managed to clear up though, and we gave a pretty fun performance at the outdoor amphitheatre in the park to an audience of families out for the weekend in the park. We reworked our intro and conclusion that afternoon as well, so we were excited to test them out! We normally begin with either a game show (for younger audiences or audiences that are more willing to get involved) or a game of Jenga, where we use the tower of blocks to symbolize our planet, and we ask the audience to shout out things that destabilize our "earth", like pollution, over-fishing, and using plastic water bottles. We usually end the whole show by asking the audience to "rebuild our world" by having them shout out solutions that are more sustainable, like turning off the lights when you aren't using them, riding your bike more instead of driving, and eating locally and organically! For this show, we started off with a song about Otesha to the tune of "My Girl", which really got the crowd clapping and laughing, and then dove right into the Jenga routine and play. All together, this intro worked really well, and now that we only have 10 days left in the tour, I think we have finally nailed our favourite intro!
I was in the car with Rozzy the next day for our drive to Hope, and since we knew that the ride out of Manning Park was a fun, fast, downhill one, we decided to make the most of our car day. We stopped at several little walking trails along the way - one called Rhododendron Flats, where I took so many pictures of the huge rhododendron plants; one that was a protected old growth forest, where I took pictures of Rozzy and I hugging giant cedars (yes, I was tree-hugging); and one called Engineers' Road, which was a historical walk along a path where Canada's first miners trudged to get to work. We then continued on our way to the town to get the grocery shopping done, and managed to get a ton of donations from one of the grocery stores there! We picked up about 20 green peppers, a huge bag of apples, another huge bag of oranges, some corn-on-the-cob, some bananas, and a few other things that I can't remember at the moment. We will be making a thank-you card for those people before we leave here!
We finally met up with the rest of the team and got settled into our new home for the time being - a church built into an old grocery store! It's a little odd (the doors swing open automatically) and kinda creepy, but I think last night was probably one of the most fun nights I have had on this tour - the church has a "free store" there during the week, so we played dress-up with all the old clothes they had stored there for hours and laughed until our sides hurt! It's no Chalet at a resort - I had to sleep on the floor once again - but getting the chance to act like I'm in kindergarten again was definitely fantastic!
Today, we were scheduled to have a performance at the local high school, but thankfully it was cancelled since they were in exams! It would have been a strange and difficult performance to do, since it would have been up to us to gather students to watch our end-of-the-day performance - and no student wants to stick around after writing exams to watch a bunch of environmentalist-hippies talk about sustainability and social justice issues! So instead, we had lunch out at a local diner (I had my first burger and fries in weeks - my stomach is definitely hurting) and in a few short minutes I will be meeting up with my group to do a nice leisurely walk through the forest. The town of Hope is surrounded by gorgeous rainforest mountains and is situated right next to the Fraser River - it is a really picturesque place (I learned that they filmed Rambo here, and I can see why, it kind of looks like we're in a forest in Asia or Africa), especially when the clouds form at the top of each mountain, as if each peak is wearing a fluffy white wig! I'll make sure to take some picutres of this phenomenon!
Anyway, I should go, but I look forward to seeing everyone really soon! I'll update again as soon as I can - maybe from Vancouver! 5 days to go!
Take care,
Sarah
Monday, June 15, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Osoyoos: Hot and Sunny!
Hello!
After a week, I am finally back at the blog and writing to you from Osoyoos, BC - a place that claims to be the hottest location in Canada! I believe it too - it is the only natural desert we have in this country, and I can tell that they get some pretty ridiculous heat spells, as it's only the beginning of June and the temperature has already climbed well above the 30 celcius mark!
After our fantastic stay in Nelson, we were all really sad to be leaving, but the ride from Nelson to Castlegar was an easy one, which made the situation a little better! There was one large hill we had to climb at the end, but other than that, we had a great ride on a gradual downhill slope all the way there. I was partnered up with Lucy, and we managed to stop at two roadside waterfalls to cool off along the way! At the second waterfall stop, we became surrounded by millions of litle white fluffs, presumably from a cottonwood tree, and it almost looked like there was snow falling out of a 35 degree, perfectly sunny sky! I tried to capture the phenomenon on camera - hopefully the pics will be able to convey how amazing it looked!
We only stayed one night in Castlegar at a local church/community centre before setting out the next day on a 100 km arduous trek through the Bonanza Pass, with a climb up and over Paulson Summit along the way (in my last blog I said we would be doing Anarchist Summit - I got my days mixed up! We went over that summit a few days later). We spent a good chunk of the day just grinding slowly up a gradual hill - after 5 hours, we made it to the top! We were so excited we all stopped and hugged and snapped some great pictures of us under the summit sign. We couldn't believe we'd biked up a summit more than 5000 ft high! The ride back down the other side was a cinch after that - we got up to speeds of 55 km per hour, and we hit the bottom after about 40 minutes! We had only gotten as far as Christina Lake, however, and still had another 20 km to go before our final destination. We decided a good swim in the lake was in order, and some ice cream too!
Finally we made it to Grand Forks, where we all collapsed in exhaustion for the night at the wildlife centre. We had some deer visit with us while we were there - the wildlife in the area were very comfortable with humans (due to hunting restrictions) so they walked right up to us without a second thought! We only spent one night at the centre before heading out to Mihaela Yeung's organic farm for our Mid-Tour Retreat - 2 days where we were given the opportunity to work on our group dynamics, our play, and to get the chance to take part in a work-share on the farm. I was a little homesick at first, mostly due to the fact that the farm was based on very simple living conditions (obviously something I'm not used to!) but I quickly got comfortable and was able to enjoy my time there learning from Mihaela and my teammates.
After that, it was back to Grand Forks for one more night at the wildlife centre, and a performance at the local high school. This was our chance to test out the changes we made on the play while on our Mid-Tour Retreat. We had developed a great introduction for our play that took the form of a game show that got a few audience members involved! We were nervous about how the game show idea would pan out, but we had a great audience for our first test performance, and it seemed to go off without a hitch!
From Grand Forks it was on to Johnstone Creek Provincial Park, which involved a few hill climbs and a small summit (only about 1000 ft - pfft), but other than that it was a pretty great ride! We didn't have any presentations to do upon our arrival so we just set up camp and got comfy. Rozzy and I were on dinner duty that night, but other than that it was a no-work evening. The next day, Catherine and I were in the car for the ride day where we would finally be heading up and over Anarchist Summit.
We were both pretty sad about not getting the chance to conquer this one on our bikes, so we decided to make the most of it while we were in the car! While the rest of the team was biking gradually up to the steep and winding way down the summit, we were dancing up a storm listening to a great DJ called Girl Talk. I highly recommend people check this guy out - he remixes tons of songs together and it ends up sounding fantastic! We also stopped at a local winery half-way down the summit (which was incredibly steep and full of switchbacks - a really scary drive down, let alone taking it on a bike!). The winery was called Twisted Tree, and after we talked to the girl at the entrance, we were given a great walk through their entire wine list! What a great way to spend the morning (yep - it was only 11:30 when we stopped!) - all the different types were delicious, and it was really interesting to hear how each one was made. Catherine even picked up a bottle of their Chardonnay for her parents. I grabbed their card, but unfortunately they don't sell in Ontario! However, I can write to them to ask if they can send out some bottles, as long as I let them know that I visited the winery and prove that I'm not out to sell their products illegally.
Here in Osoyoos we are staying at the Sonora Community Centre, where we finally got to take showers! Yes, up until this morning, I hadn't showered for a full week. Urgh. Yesterday afternoon and this morning were free time for the group, so I spent a good chunk of time at the beach (trying to even out my ridiculous bicycle shorts tan) and a couple of us grabbed some pizza at a local restaurant this afternoon. So good!
I must go now though - my 60 minute session here at the library is running out! I'll try and update again as soon as I can, and maybe even post a few pics if I get the time!
Take care everyone!
Sarah
After a week, I am finally back at the blog and writing to you from Osoyoos, BC - a place that claims to be the hottest location in Canada! I believe it too - it is the only natural desert we have in this country, and I can tell that they get some pretty ridiculous heat spells, as it's only the beginning of June and the temperature has already climbed well above the 30 celcius mark!
After our fantastic stay in Nelson, we were all really sad to be leaving, but the ride from Nelson to Castlegar was an easy one, which made the situation a little better! There was one large hill we had to climb at the end, but other than that, we had a great ride on a gradual downhill slope all the way there. I was partnered up with Lucy, and we managed to stop at two roadside waterfalls to cool off along the way! At the second waterfall stop, we became surrounded by millions of litle white fluffs, presumably from a cottonwood tree, and it almost looked like there was snow falling out of a 35 degree, perfectly sunny sky! I tried to capture the phenomenon on camera - hopefully the pics will be able to convey how amazing it looked!
We only stayed one night in Castlegar at a local church/community centre before setting out the next day on a 100 km arduous trek through the Bonanza Pass, with a climb up and over Paulson Summit along the way (in my last blog I said we would be doing Anarchist Summit - I got my days mixed up! We went over that summit a few days later). We spent a good chunk of the day just grinding slowly up a gradual hill - after 5 hours, we made it to the top! We were so excited we all stopped and hugged and snapped some great pictures of us under the summit sign. We couldn't believe we'd biked up a summit more than 5000 ft high! The ride back down the other side was a cinch after that - we got up to speeds of 55 km per hour, and we hit the bottom after about 40 minutes! We had only gotten as far as Christina Lake, however, and still had another 20 km to go before our final destination. We decided a good swim in the lake was in order, and some ice cream too!
Finally we made it to Grand Forks, where we all collapsed in exhaustion for the night at the wildlife centre. We had some deer visit with us while we were there - the wildlife in the area were very comfortable with humans (due to hunting restrictions) so they walked right up to us without a second thought! We only spent one night at the centre before heading out to Mihaela Yeung's organic farm for our Mid-Tour Retreat - 2 days where we were given the opportunity to work on our group dynamics, our play, and to get the chance to take part in a work-share on the farm. I was a little homesick at first, mostly due to the fact that the farm was based on very simple living conditions (obviously something I'm not used to!) but I quickly got comfortable and was able to enjoy my time there learning from Mihaela and my teammates.
After that, it was back to Grand Forks for one more night at the wildlife centre, and a performance at the local high school. This was our chance to test out the changes we made on the play while on our Mid-Tour Retreat. We had developed a great introduction for our play that took the form of a game show that got a few audience members involved! We were nervous about how the game show idea would pan out, but we had a great audience for our first test performance, and it seemed to go off without a hitch!
From Grand Forks it was on to Johnstone Creek Provincial Park, which involved a few hill climbs and a small summit (only about 1000 ft - pfft), but other than that it was a pretty great ride! We didn't have any presentations to do upon our arrival so we just set up camp and got comfy. Rozzy and I were on dinner duty that night, but other than that it was a no-work evening. The next day, Catherine and I were in the car for the ride day where we would finally be heading up and over Anarchist Summit.
We were both pretty sad about not getting the chance to conquer this one on our bikes, so we decided to make the most of it while we were in the car! While the rest of the team was biking gradually up to the steep and winding way down the summit, we were dancing up a storm listening to a great DJ called Girl Talk. I highly recommend people check this guy out - he remixes tons of songs together and it ends up sounding fantastic! We also stopped at a local winery half-way down the summit (which was incredibly steep and full of switchbacks - a really scary drive down, let alone taking it on a bike!). The winery was called Twisted Tree, and after we talked to the girl at the entrance, we were given a great walk through their entire wine list! What a great way to spend the morning (yep - it was only 11:30 when we stopped!) - all the different types were delicious, and it was really interesting to hear how each one was made. Catherine even picked up a bottle of their Chardonnay for her parents. I grabbed their card, but unfortunately they don't sell in Ontario! However, I can write to them to ask if they can send out some bottles, as long as I let them know that I visited the winery and prove that I'm not out to sell their products illegally.
Here in Osoyoos we are staying at the Sonora Community Centre, where we finally got to take showers! Yes, up until this morning, I hadn't showered for a full week. Urgh. Yesterday afternoon and this morning were free time for the group, so I spent a good chunk of time at the beach (trying to even out my ridiculous bicycle shorts tan) and a couple of us grabbed some pizza at a local restaurant this afternoon. So good!
I must go now though - my 60 minute session here at the library is running out! I'll try and update again as soon as I can, and maybe even post a few pics if I get the time!
Take care everyone!
Sarah
Friday, May 29, 2009
Creston, Crawford Bay, and Nelson!
Hello again!
After just a few short days, I have traveled quite a distance and am now sitting in the Katimavik house in Nelson, BC! The last time I posted, I was about to leave Yahk on my way to Creston. I was in the car that day with Seth, so we had it really easy! The drive took roughly 30 minutes, and it was a really gorgeous, sunny and unbelievably warm day. We arrived in Creston and headed straight for the United Church, where we would be both performing and sleeping. We met some really nice people, like Rose and Lawrence, who made it their mission to never let us go hungry, never lift a finger in the kitchen, and generally treated us so well I was sure we would all be spoiled by the end of it.
After Seth and I did some grocery shopping and tried our hardest to find local stores and markets that had any donations for us, a group of us settled down at a local pub to relax and have some drinks. We picked a really great spot that had blossoming fruit trees growing up through the floor of the patio! It also gave us a great view of the main strip, where we got to watch a few straggling Oteshites ride into town - we gave them a warm welcome as they rode by!
Overall, Creston was a fantastic place to spend a couple of days. We were so well cared for at the United Church that it was probably one of the hardest places to say goodbye to! The town and church were extremely welcoming to us, and our performance at their Sunday morning pancake breakfast went over really well - they are pretty active in environmental issues there, and so we had a lot of great feedback. Several families who attended the church offered us their showers, and Rose and Lawrence promised to stay on top of our journey via the Notes from the Road on the Otesha website. They also gave us all big hugs as we set out at the end of our stay! While we were there we also got the chance to spend an afternoon sitting amongst the blossoms at a local fruit orchard - they had apples, cherries, rhubarb, and asparagus growing in the lush fields surrounding Creston, and everywhere you went there were trees in bloom and the scent of flowers! That evening a couple of us also got the chance to see a movie at the local theatre; they had Star Trek showing that week, and we really enjoyed it! Maybe it was the lack of pop culture, or the fact that we had not sat in front of a screen for 4 weeks, but I would definitely see that movie again!
The next morning it was another long ride to Crawford Bay, but it was also another warm sunny day, and the ride was beautiful! We were traveling along the shore of Kootenay Lake, so we were never without really great scenery. The road was quite winding and hilly though, so by the end of the day I was feeling pretty tired. We arrived in Crawford Bay that evening and were put up for the night in one of the most ecologically advanced and efficient schools I have ever seen! The school was built under strict certifications and regulations, and even has a mandate to follow that includes always purchasing recycled paper as long as it is in operation. It was a real inspiration for us! We performed the next morning for a small crowd of high school students, who received us fairly well. Right after the performance, however, we had to head straight back out on the road to continue on to Nelson!
The ride to Nelson was another hilly and winding one, but this was also the ride day that inlcuded a couple of ferry rides across Kootenay Lake, so we were all looking forward to that! A nice treat that broke up the day was our chance to visit with a forestry cooperative in the town of Procter, BC, which was the reason we had to take that second ferry. We were given a great lesson on the kinds of environmentally friendly logging that takes place in this part of BC, and it was a real eye-opener to see how cooperatives regarding the environment work in order to balance the local issues (such as creek water contamination and wildfires) while also taking into account the delicate balance that the forest requires in order to regrow and replenish effectively.
Following this stopover we headed out to finish our trip to Nelson. I was feeling pretty beat up by this point - my bike chain was skipping on a couple of my gears, and I just could not seem to fix it. Needless to say, I was going much slower than the rest of the group, and I was kicking myself pretty hard for it. It was such a relief to finally see Nelson come into view! I had to walk my bike up the last few hills (to my own dissatisfaction), but I made it! I vowed that night to take my bike into a shop the first chance I could get (which I did the very next day - all should be well for the time being!).
We had 4 performances while we were in Nelson; 3 for schools and one for the Katimavik group that so graciously allowed us to stay in their house! All of the performances went really well; we tried out a new technique with some of the smaller school groups, where we asked them to get into groups and brainstorm their own short skits regarding environmental issues that they felt passionate about. It seemed to go off without a hitch, so we will be continuing to try that one for a few more performances at least! The performance for the Katimavik group was fun too; in a lot of ways they feel like a younger version of ourselves, in that they are a close-knit group that is working towards common goals, sharing living spaces, cooking together, and generally interacting with one another on a constant basis. It was great to show them a little bit more about what we are all about!
Today was our day off, and we were all so excited that we got to have it in Nelson. Nelson is an extremely earthy, organic city, with so many markets, co-ops, and local coffee shops to choose from! If you are ever in the area, I highly advise checking out Oso Negro; they are a small organic and local coffee company. They sell their coffee in a lot of health food stores and organic markets around BC and Alberta - you might be able to find their coffee in Ontario too! On this day off, some of us hiked up Elephant Mountain, then met up for lunch at a small Mexican restaurant called El Taco. The burritos were so good they rivalled Chipotles! (Yes, Jessica and Kareem, I said it!) After that, I went off on my own to find the beach and do a little reading, listening to my iPod, and generally relaxing with my own thoughts. It was, again, super sunny and warm, so it was the perfect day to just lie on a towel and do nothing! But of course, since this is Nelson, my beach experience would not have been complete without a few groups of people hanging around smoking weed. Only here would you find blatant pot smoking in the middle of the afternoon in a public beach area!
It is winding down here now, and I think I might head off to go pack up my panniers tonight so that I can get a relaxed start tomorrow for our ride into Castlegar. I have heard rumours that tomorrow will be another hot, humid day (32 degrees celcius!), but it might also be pretty windy. Wind is my least favourite thing to deal with on a biking day, so it will be nice to get an early start tomorrow! I will let you all know how the next few ride days go - after Castlegar I have a pretty gruelling ride into Grand Forks; climbing up some big hills and then riding down through the Anarchist Summit! (by the way, here is the link to the BC highway cams for the summit - try and see if you can see me riding down on Saturday! http://images.drivebc.ca/bchighwaycam/pub/html/www/64.html) Hopefully my gears and brakes are in peak working order!
Love you and miss you all; be safe and I will see you all soon!
Take care,
Sarah
After just a few short days, I have traveled quite a distance and am now sitting in the Katimavik house in Nelson, BC! The last time I posted, I was about to leave Yahk on my way to Creston. I was in the car that day with Seth, so we had it really easy! The drive took roughly 30 minutes, and it was a really gorgeous, sunny and unbelievably warm day. We arrived in Creston and headed straight for the United Church, where we would be both performing and sleeping. We met some really nice people, like Rose and Lawrence, who made it their mission to never let us go hungry, never lift a finger in the kitchen, and generally treated us so well I was sure we would all be spoiled by the end of it.
After Seth and I did some grocery shopping and tried our hardest to find local stores and markets that had any donations for us, a group of us settled down at a local pub to relax and have some drinks. We picked a really great spot that had blossoming fruit trees growing up through the floor of the patio! It also gave us a great view of the main strip, where we got to watch a few straggling Oteshites ride into town - we gave them a warm welcome as they rode by!
Overall, Creston was a fantastic place to spend a couple of days. We were so well cared for at the United Church that it was probably one of the hardest places to say goodbye to! The town and church were extremely welcoming to us, and our performance at their Sunday morning pancake breakfast went over really well - they are pretty active in environmental issues there, and so we had a lot of great feedback. Several families who attended the church offered us their showers, and Rose and Lawrence promised to stay on top of our journey via the Notes from the Road on the Otesha website. They also gave us all big hugs as we set out at the end of our stay! While we were there we also got the chance to spend an afternoon sitting amongst the blossoms at a local fruit orchard - they had apples, cherries, rhubarb, and asparagus growing in the lush fields surrounding Creston, and everywhere you went there were trees in bloom and the scent of flowers! That evening a couple of us also got the chance to see a movie at the local theatre; they had Star Trek showing that week, and we really enjoyed it! Maybe it was the lack of pop culture, or the fact that we had not sat in front of a screen for 4 weeks, but I would definitely see that movie again!
The next morning it was another long ride to Crawford Bay, but it was also another warm sunny day, and the ride was beautiful! We were traveling along the shore of Kootenay Lake, so we were never without really great scenery. The road was quite winding and hilly though, so by the end of the day I was feeling pretty tired. We arrived in Crawford Bay that evening and were put up for the night in one of the most ecologically advanced and efficient schools I have ever seen! The school was built under strict certifications and regulations, and even has a mandate to follow that includes always purchasing recycled paper as long as it is in operation. It was a real inspiration for us! We performed the next morning for a small crowd of high school students, who received us fairly well. Right after the performance, however, we had to head straight back out on the road to continue on to Nelson!
The ride to Nelson was another hilly and winding one, but this was also the ride day that inlcuded a couple of ferry rides across Kootenay Lake, so we were all looking forward to that! A nice treat that broke up the day was our chance to visit with a forestry cooperative in the town of Procter, BC, which was the reason we had to take that second ferry. We were given a great lesson on the kinds of environmentally friendly logging that takes place in this part of BC, and it was a real eye-opener to see how cooperatives regarding the environment work in order to balance the local issues (such as creek water contamination and wildfires) while also taking into account the delicate balance that the forest requires in order to regrow and replenish effectively.
Following this stopover we headed out to finish our trip to Nelson. I was feeling pretty beat up by this point - my bike chain was skipping on a couple of my gears, and I just could not seem to fix it. Needless to say, I was going much slower than the rest of the group, and I was kicking myself pretty hard for it. It was such a relief to finally see Nelson come into view! I had to walk my bike up the last few hills (to my own dissatisfaction), but I made it! I vowed that night to take my bike into a shop the first chance I could get (which I did the very next day - all should be well for the time being!).
We had 4 performances while we were in Nelson; 3 for schools and one for the Katimavik group that so graciously allowed us to stay in their house! All of the performances went really well; we tried out a new technique with some of the smaller school groups, where we asked them to get into groups and brainstorm their own short skits regarding environmental issues that they felt passionate about. It seemed to go off without a hitch, so we will be continuing to try that one for a few more performances at least! The performance for the Katimavik group was fun too; in a lot of ways they feel like a younger version of ourselves, in that they are a close-knit group that is working towards common goals, sharing living spaces, cooking together, and generally interacting with one another on a constant basis. It was great to show them a little bit more about what we are all about!
Today was our day off, and we were all so excited that we got to have it in Nelson. Nelson is an extremely earthy, organic city, with so many markets, co-ops, and local coffee shops to choose from! If you are ever in the area, I highly advise checking out Oso Negro; they are a small organic and local coffee company. They sell their coffee in a lot of health food stores and organic markets around BC and Alberta - you might be able to find their coffee in Ontario too! On this day off, some of us hiked up Elephant Mountain, then met up for lunch at a small Mexican restaurant called El Taco. The burritos were so good they rivalled Chipotles! (Yes, Jessica and Kareem, I said it!) After that, I went off on my own to find the beach and do a little reading, listening to my iPod, and generally relaxing with my own thoughts. It was, again, super sunny and warm, so it was the perfect day to just lie on a towel and do nothing! But of course, since this is Nelson, my beach experience would not have been complete without a few groups of people hanging around smoking weed. Only here would you find blatant pot smoking in the middle of the afternoon in a public beach area!
It is winding down here now, and I think I might head off to go pack up my panniers tonight so that I can get a relaxed start tomorrow for our ride into Castlegar. I have heard rumours that tomorrow will be another hot, humid day (32 degrees celcius!), but it might also be pretty windy. Wind is my least favourite thing to deal with on a biking day, so it will be nice to get an early start tomorrow! I will let you all know how the next few ride days go - after Castlegar I have a pretty gruelling ride into Grand Forks; climbing up some big hills and then riding down through the Anarchist Summit! (by the way, here is the link to the BC highway cams for the summit - try and see if you can see me riding down on Saturday! http://images.drivebc.ca/bchighwaycam/pub/html/www/64.html) Hopefully my gears and brakes are in peak working order!
Love you and miss you all; be safe and I will see you all soon!
Take care,
Sarah
Friday, May 22, 2009
Yahk, BC - Population: 350
Hey again!
I'm sitting in the elementary school of Yahk, the smallest town we've been to yet! The school has about 14 kids, and they have allowed us to stay overnight and make use of their free internet access! This afternoon a couple of my teammates conducted a workshop here called "Cradle to Grave", and it follows the process that a banana goes through from being seeded and grown to ending up in your house! It's a pretty profound workshop, and according to the team who conducted it, it went over quite well!
Since I last wrote, I have biked over 170 km! I biked a fairly difficult ride from Fernie to Cranbrook a couple of days ago, and biked about 70 km today to arrive here in Yahk.
The trip from Fernie to Cranbrook started out quite nicely; the wind was somewhat in our favour and the route was pretty flat. By the last 10 km, however, we had to bike up a steep grade for what seemed like hours! I thought my knees were going to pop off by the end of it. Needless to say, we were all exhausted that evening.
The ride from Fernie to Cranbrook had it's fair share of interesting moments though! I was biking with Rozzy, and we stopped in the little town of Elko (if you can even call it a town) to make a pit stop, and ended up in a very odd conversation with a couple of old locals! I was even scolded by one of them for saying "kilometers" incorrectly: apparently, in his day, it was pronounced "kilo-meters" with the emphasis on separating the word into its two root words. I just told him I grew up in Ontario and that smoothed everything out! Rozzy and I also saw wild daisies along the side of the highway on our journey, and when we stopped to pick some, Rozzy found the jaw bone of a small creature, probably a coyote!
We spent a very short amount of time in Cranbrook, staying at a middle school in their weight room (yep, a weight room - it didn't smell as bad as I thought it would!) but we did 3 performances while we were there. All of the performances were to large crowds of over 350, so we were all a little nervous, and still exhausted from our 100 km ride the day before! The performances went over well with each group, however, and we managed to get some great feedback from each of them. One of the schools even went off to their classes to brainstorm some sustainability ideas for their school that they hope to implement in the next school year! Go Otesha!
Today we rode from Cranbrook to Yahk, and it was the most perfect day to ride! The sun was shining, there was barely a cloud in the sky, the wind was calm (for once) and it was warm! We biked along in our shorts and t-shirts, and even stopped for a long lunch by a river that was full and fast with the spring run-off from the mountains. I was biking with Lynn today, and we managed to find a couple of gorgeous waterfalls along the highway, and stopped to take some pictures! Although, where we stopped was really dangerous - these waterfalls just happened to be right beside the very busy highway we were biking along, and every so often a semi or two would rush past us at top speed. We quickly got out of there!
The ride to Yahk was mostly downhill too, so we made it here in about 4 hours. That's not including the time change either - speaking of which, I am now in Pacific Time! So, to you Ontarians, I am 3 hours behind you!
Lynn and I headed straight for the local ice cream shop when we arrived. It claims to have "authentic wilderness ice cream", which is really just regular ice cream with names like "Beaver Butt", "Bear Breath", and so on. It was also located right next to a goat soap shop, and the shop makes its own soap from goats that they let graze on their roof! It was a really odd and kind of hilarious thing to see - I took pictures!
We all met up after that and decided to run through our play for a little much-needed practice; we hadn't practiced the play for a long time, and after the 3 performances in Cranbrook, we felt that some of the scenes and transitions needed a little tightening. Hopefully now that we've run through it as a group and debriefed it, we'll be able to put on a great show tomorrow! We are performing at a pancake breakfast hosted by the local church, so I'm definitely looking forward to this one :)
Well, that is all for now! Tomorrow after the performance we will be heading to Creston; this time I'll be in the car with Seth. It will be our job to get food donations and greet our host when we get there! After that, it's another 100 km ride to Crawford Bay (hopefully my knees won't be screaming at me by this point). Then, it's a short ferry ride and bike to Nelson! We're all really excited to get to this place - I have a feeling it's the hippie capital of BC (hehehe). So, hopefully I'll be able to update again soon and let you know how the next couple of days go! I can't believe how fast this trip is going - not long now before we arrive at our mid-tour retreat, and then only a few more weeks until Van-city! I'll write more about our retreat as soon as I learn more about it.
Take care everyone! Miss you!!
Sarah
I'm sitting in the elementary school of Yahk, the smallest town we've been to yet! The school has about 14 kids, and they have allowed us to stay overnight and make use of their free internet access! This afternoon a couple of my teammates conducted a workshop here called "Cradle to Grave", and it follows the process that a banana goes through from being seeded and grown to ending up in your house! It's a pretty profound workshop, and according to the team who conducted it, it went over quite well!
Since I last wrote, I have biked over 170 km! I biked a fairly difficult ride from Fernie to Cranbrook a couple of days ago, and biked about 70 km today to arrive here in Yahk.
The trip from Fernie to Cranbrook started out quite nicely; the wind was somewhat in our favour and the route was pretty flat. By the last 10 km, however, we had to bike up a steep grade for what seemed like hours! I thought my knees were going to pop off by the end of it. Needless to say, we were all exhausted that evening.
The ride from Fernie to Cranbrook had it's fair share of interesting moments though! I was biking with Rozzy, and we stopped in the little town of Elko (if you can even call it a town) to make a pit stop, and ended up in a very odd conversation with a couple of old locals! I was even scolded by one of them for saying "kilometers" incorrectly: apparently, in his day, it was pronounced "kilo-meters" with the emphasis on separating the word into its two root words. I just told him I grew up in Ontario and that smoothed everything out! Rozzy and I also saw wild daisies along the side of the highway on our journey, and when we stopped to pick some, Rozzy found the jaw bone of a small creature, probably a coyote!
We spent a very short amount of time in Cranbrook, staying at a middle school in their weight room (yep, a weight room - it didn't smell as bad as I thought it would!) but we did 3 performances while we were there. All of the performances were to large crowds of over 350, so we were all a little nervous, and still exhausted from our 100 km ride the day before! The performances went over well with each group, however, and we managed to get some great feedback from each of them. One of the schools even went off to their classes to brainstorm some sustainability ideas for their school that they hope to implement in the next school year! Go Otesha!
Today we rode from Cranbrook to Yahk, and it was the most perfect day to ride! The sun was shining, there was barely a cloud in the sky, the wind was calm (for once) and it was warm! We biked along in our shorts and t-shirts, and even stopped for a long lunch by a river that was full and fast with the spring run-off from the mountains. I was biking with Lynn today, and we managed to find a couple of gorgeous waterfalls along the highway, and stopped to take some pictures! Although, where we stopped was really dangerous - these waterfalls just happened to be right beside the very busy highway we were biking along, and every so often a semi or two would rush past us at top speed. We quickly got out of there!
The ride to Yahk was mostly downhill too, so we made it here in about 4 hours. That's not including the time change either - speaking of which, I am now in Pacific Time! So, to you Ontarians, I am 3 hours behind you!
Lynn and I headed straight for the local ice cream shop when we arrived. It claims to have "authentic wilderness ice cream", which is really just regular ice cream with names like "Beaver Butt", "Bear Breath", and so on. It was also located right next to a goat soap shop, and the shop makes its own soap from goats that they let graze on their roof! It was a really odd and kind of hilarious thing to see - I took pictures!
We all met up after that and decided to run through our play for a little much-needed practice; we hadn't practiced the play for a long time, and after the 3 performances in Cranbrook, we felt that some of the scenes and transitions needed a little tightening. Hopefully now that we've run through it as a group and debriefed it, we'll be able to put on a great show tomorrow! We are performing at a pancake breakfast hosted by the local church, so I'm definitely looking forward to this one :)
Well, that is all for now! Tomorrow after the performance we will be heading to Creston; this time I'll be in the car with Seth. It will be our job to get food donations and greet our host when we get there! After that, it's another 100 km ride to Crawford Bay (hopefully my knees won't be screaming at me by this point). Then, it's a short ferry ride and bike to Nelson! We're all really excited to get to this place - I have a feeling it's the hippie capital of BC (hehehe). So, hopefully I'll be able to update again soon and let you know how the next couple of days go! I can't believe how fast this trip is going - not long now before we arrive at our mid-tour retreat, and then only a few more weeks until Van-city! I'll write more about our retreat as soon as I learn more about it.
Take care everyone! Miss you!!
Sarah
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Hello from Fernie, BC!
Hi everyone!
I apologize for my lack of blogging - it's been hard to get on the internet this past week as we have been so busy with biking, educational touring, performing, and working together to keep our mobile community happy and healthy!
The last time I wrote, I was in Okotoks, Alberta. I've come so far since then!
We spent one evening after Okotoks in Nanton; a tiny little town on the way south towards the highway that would take us on to BC. We camped out in the backyard of a couple named Darren and Ali; Darren is a freelance writer for the Toronto Star, and his wife Ali is also a writer who is currently working on some poetry. They showed us around their very cool house, and talked to us about their travels and how they met - which was on a reality tv show! The town of Nanton was fun for the time we spent there - there was a huge candy shop that was such a treat after a long biking day!
The following day we continued on to Fort Macleod, and the ride there was probably one of the best! The wind was at our backs, and despite the fact that we were going 84 km, we seemed to fly there and managed to do the ride in half the time we anticipated! We stayed in a United Church while there, and gave a performance to a local high school. That was also our last stop with Quinn, our honourary tour member and Otesha staffer, who helped us get on track for the first week of our travels. Thanks Quinn; we miss you!!
Following Fort Macleod was Pincher Creek, Alberta. The ride out there, while significantly shorter than our ride to Fort Macleod, was infinitely more difficult! We were riding directly into headwinds coming west out of the mountains, and since we had performed that day, we didn't leave until the afternoon. The ride was very beautiful - we watched the mountains rise up towards us as we pushed west - but we didn't get there until close to dinner time and we were all frustrated, tired, and cold. The great thing was that the drivers of the Otesha car were there to meet us with food prepared, and we were lucky enough to spend our nights at a man named John's house. He basically opened his home to us, with full use of the showers and kitchen! Pincher Creek also offered us free swimming passes, so we were able to relax in the community pool. While we were in the town we gave a performance and also were offered the opportunity to visit a cattle ranch and a wind farm. The cattle ranch was an interesting learning experience, and allowed us to really think about some of the environmental issues that come out of this farming practice and how we can accurately and sensitively address these issues in our play. Sidenote - while we were in Pincher Creek we were requested not to perform the "cattle scene" of our play so as not to offend the predominantly cattle farming community, so the opportunity to learn more about their farming practices allowed us to alter that scene to be more accurate and less offensive. The wind farm was also a really cool experience - we got to go inside a giant wind turbine, and Catherine (one of my tour mates) got to turn it on! I took some really cool pictures of that place, so as soon as I can I will try to upload some photos!
I was the driver of the Otesha support vehicle for our next leg of the ride - from Pincher Creek to Crowsnest Pass! This was one of our scarier rides, as it was heading directly into the headwinds and gradually uphill. Needless to say, I was happy to be in the car! Rozzy was my car buddy, and we made a point to pick up some fair-trade chocolate to give to the riders as we passed them, and we also left happy chalk messages on the side of the road for them to see! That riding day was also Caili's 23rd birthday, so we had some fun writing birthday messages on the road. Rozzy and I got to Blairmore, the town we were staying in while in the Pass, and met up with Jenice who was our host for the days we spent there. We stayed at the local Elk's Hall, and performed that night in the town of Coleman at the Blackbird Cafe. That performance was by far one of my favourites! Lynn and Lucy sang and played the guitar as part of our intro, and we had a great audience of young and old that really participated in our play and presentation. And on top of that, I got to buy a latte at the end of it! That evening we went out to the local bars for some drinks in Caili's honour - I think we scared away a bunch of locals with all our loud talking. I guess some towns aren't used to a rovng band of crazy cyclists!
The next day we had a presentation at the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre, and what a cool place that was. The town of Frank was partially buried in a rock slide off of Turtle Mountain during the early 1900's, and the area is completely covered by huge boulders! If you have some time, I highly recommend looking up the "Frank Slide"; it is really a crazy sight to see. We performed to a wandering crowd that day, which wasn't ideal but was still enjoyable, and then got some time in the afternoon all to ourselves. I spent some extra time at the interpretive centre learning more about the slide, and then I attempted to go for a very challenging hike up Turtle Mountain with some of my team! After about 10 minutes of hiking up the outer ridge of the mountain, I had to turn back - my fear of heights got the better of me. But, a couple of my tour mates made it all the way to the top! They have some pretty fantastic pictures of that experience too. It took them all afternoon and into the evening!
We headed out the next day from Blairmore, excited to be crossing the Alberta/BC boundary! That ride was also pretty fantastic - it was the first ride we ever spent in just our shorts and t-shirts, and it was also mostly downhill! Mountain streams followed us all along our travel route, and we stopped for lunch in a park alongside the road with a fantastic view of the mountains. We made it to Fernie in great time, and were able to spend the afternoon lounging in the sun at a local organic cafe and alongside the river. That night a few of us hit up the local pub and mingled a little with the Fernie crowd - my impression of this place so far is: cool, laid-back, sporty, and fun! It seems like a great place to visit if you like mountain sports of any kind: snowboarding, skiing, biking, hiking, whatever! They really cater to the mountains here.
That brings me to today! We performed twice already today; once in the morning to a great audience at the Fernie Academy, and to a not-so-great lunch crowd at the local high school. I don't really know who's idea it was to set up a performance during a high school lunch hour, but whoever it was should have seriously reconsidered! It was definitely my least-favourite performance of the entire trip; no one was listening to us, and we weren't getting much from them in return. Hopefully this can be a learning experience for Otesha - don't book performances where no one will pay attention! I'm planning on spending the rest of my time in Fernie doing a little essentials shopping (need toothpaste!) and just relaxing before we head out tomorrow on our longest ride yet - 100 km to Cranbrook!
I'll do my best to update this blog more often - I hate falling behind, I don't want to forget anything! I hope all is well with everyone at home, I miss you all very much. Wish me luck for tomorrow - I hear the going isn't too tough, but anything could happen!
Take care, and be safe!
Sarah
I apologize for my lack of blogging - it's been hard to get on the internet this past week as we have been so busy with biking, educational touring, performing, and working together to keep our mobile community happy and healthy!
The last time I wrote, I was in Okotoks, Alberta. I've come so far since then!
We spent one evening after Okotoks in Nanton; a tiny little town on the way south towards the highway that would take us on to BC. We camped out in the backyard of a couple named Darren and Ali; Darren is a freelance writer for the Toronto Star, and his wife Ali is also a writer who is currently working on some poetry. They showed us around their very cool house, and talked to us about their travels and how they met - which was on a reality tv show! The town of Nanton was fun for the time we spent there - there was a huge candy shop that was such a treat after a long biking day!
The following day we continued on to Fort Macleod, and the ride there was probably one of the best! The wind was at our backs, and despite the fact that we were going 84 km, we seemed to fly there and managed to do the ride in half the time we anticipated! We stayed in a United Church while there, and gave a performance to a local high school. That was also our last stop with Quinn, our honourary tour member and Otesha staffer, who helped us get on track for the first week of our travels. Thanks Quinn; we miss you!!
Following Fort Macleod was Pincher Creek, Alberta. The ride out there, while significantly shorter than our ride to Fort Macleod, was infinitely more difficult! We were riding directly into headwinds coming west out of the mountains, and since we had performed that day, we didn't leave until the afternoon. The ride was very beautiful - we watched the mountains rise up towards us as we pushed west - but we didn't get there until close to dinner time and we were all frustrated, tired, and cold. The great thing was that the drivers of the Otesha car were there to meet us with food prepared, and we were lucky enough to spend our nights at a man named John's house. He basically opened his home to us, with full use of the showers and kitchen! Pincher Creek also offered us free swimming passes, so we were able to relax in the community pool. While we were in the town we gave a performance and also were offered the opportunity to visit a cattle ranch and a wind farm. The cattle ranch was an interesting learning experience, and allowed us to really think about some of the environmental issues that come out of this farming practice and how we can accurately and sensitively address these issues in our play. Sidenote - while we were in Pincher Creek we were requested not to perform the "cattle scene" of our play so as not to offend the predominantly cattle farming community, so the opportunity to learn more about their farming practices allowed us to alter that scene to be more accurate and less offensive. The wind farm was also a really cool experience - we got to go inside a giant wind turbine, and Catherine (one of my tour mates) got to turn it on! I took some really cool pictures of that place, so as soon as I can I will try to upload some photos!
I was the driver of the Otesha support vehicle for our next leg of the ride - from Pincher Creek to Crowsnest Pass! This was one of our scarier rides, as it was heading directly into the headwinds and gradually uphill. Needless to say, I was happy to be in the car! Rozzy was my car buddy, and we made a point to pick up some fair-trade chocolate to give to the riders as we passed them, and we also left happy chalk messages on the side of the road for them to see! That riding day was also Caili's 23rd birthday, so we had some fun writing birthday messages on the road. Rozzy and I got to Blairmore, the town we were staying in while in the Pass, and met up with Jenice who was our host for the days we spent there. We stayed at the local Elk's Hall, and performed that night in the town of Coleman at the Blackbird Cafe. That performance was by far one of my favourites! Lynn and Lucy sang and played the guitar as part of our intro, and we had a great audience of young and old that really participated in our play and presentation. And on top of that, I got to buy a latte at the end of it! That evening we went out to the local bars for some drinks in Caili's honour - I think we scared away a bunch of locals with all our loud talking. I guess some towns aren't used to a rovng band of crazy cyclists!
The next day we had a presentation at the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre, and what a cool place that was. The town of Frank was partially buried in a rock slide off of Turtle Mountain during the early 1900's, and the area is completely covered by huge boulders! If you have some time, I highly recommend looking up the "Frank Slide"; it is really a crazy sight to see. We performed to a wandering crowd that day, which wasn't ideal but was still enjoyable, and then got some time in the afternoon all to ourselves. I spent some extra time at the interpretive centre learning more about the slide, and then I attempted to go for a very challenging hike up Turtle Mountain with some of my team! After about 10 minutes of hiking up the outer ridge of the mountain, I had to turn back - my fear of heights got the better of me. But, a couple of my tour mates made it all the way to the top! They have some pretty fantastic pictures of that experience too. It took them all afternoon and into the evening!
We headed out the next day from Blairmore, excited to be crossing the Alberta/BC boundary! That ride was also pretty fantastic - it was the first ride we ever spent in just our shorts and t-shirts, and it was also mostly downhill! Mountain streams followed us all along our travel route, and we stopped for lunch in a park alongside the road with a fantastic view of the mountains. We made it to Fernie in great time, and were able to spend the afternoon lounging in the sun at a local organic cafe and alongside the river. That night a few of us hit up the local pub and mingled a little with the Fernie crowd - my impression of this place so far is: cool, laid-back, sporty, and fun! It seems like a great place to visit if you like mountain sports of any kind: snowboarding, skiing, biking, hiking, whatever! They really cater to the mountains here.
That brings me to today! We performed twice already today; once in the morning to a great audience at the Fernie Academy, and to a not-so-great lunch crowd at the local high school. I don't really know who's idea it was to set up a performance during a high school lunch hour, but whoever it was should have seriously reconsidered! It was definitely my least-favourite performance of the entire trip; no one was listening to us, and we weren't getting much from them in return. Hopefully this can be a learning experience for Otesha - don't book performances where no one will pay attention! I'm planning on spending the rest of my time in Fernie doing a little essentials shopping (need toothpaste!) and just relaxing before we head out tomorrow on our longest ride yet - 100 km to Cranbrook!
I'll do my best to update this blog more often - I hate falling behind, I don't want to forget anything! I hope all is well with everyone at home, I miss you all very much. Wish me luck for tomorrow - I hear the going isn't too tough, but anything could happen!
Take care, and be safe!
Sarah
Monday, May 11, 2009
Current Location: Okotoks, Alberta!
Hello again from Okotoks!
I hope all is well with everyone "back East" as they say out here, and that you all had fantastic Mother's Days!
So, to get you all up to speed; we hit the road from Kamp Kiwanis on Friday, and took the Trans-Canada Highway into Calgary. What a great ride that was! Much better than my first - probably because it was mostly downhill al the way into Calgary, and partly because the wind was at our backs, but also just because I think it's cool that I got to bike on the Trans-Canada Highway! How many people can say that?
In Calgary we visited the Good Life, a local bike co-op founded by former Otesha tour members! The mall it was located in was a really cool, earthy kind of place as well, and while we were on our break I managed to stop in at the Good Earth (a really awesome coffee shop out here) and pick up a fabulous fair-trade chocoloate brownie!
After the stop, we headed out again, this time bound for Okotoks. Just as we were leaving (I was biking with Lucy and Seth), it began to rain very hard. It was driving down on us for the most part of our trip out of Calgary, and started to let up as we hit the highway headed south. Just as we neared Okotoks, the skies cleared and the sun came out! There were still isolated storms all around us and out to the West (it looked really cool to be surrounded by dark storms, blue skies, and mountains!) but we managed to miss them all when we pulled up to the Okotoks United Church.
Upon our arrival, Doug, the minister, and an active church member named Elizabeth had concocted this fantastic feast for us, with two kinds of soup, tuna sandwiches (for the non-vegans!) and dessert! Doug had also set up our whole team with billets, and so myself and my teammates Kayla and Katryna got to stay with Elizabeth. The rest of KMT stayed with other members of the Okotoks United Church. Elizabeth has been the most hospitable and caring host to us; she allowed our whole team the use of her basement kitchen, and has even left her garage and back door open to allow for us to come and go as we need!
The reason we were staying with members of the Okotoks United Church is because the 2008 KMT team had stayed and performed with them the year before, and they loved Otesha so much they invited us back for another performance this year. As a special treat, they even set us up with a tour of the Okotoks Recycling Depot and a tour of a partially off-the-grid home just on the outskirts of town. Both were really interesting and informative trips - especially the house! Even though it wasn't totally self-sustainable, it was really cool to see all that the couple had done - including using old tires as roof shingles! And on top of that, it was gorgeous and luxurious - now that's the kind of sustainable home I can be comfortable in!
That afternoon we were given the opportunity to hang out with the youth group of the United Church, who were in the middle of World Vision's 30-hour famine. We talked with them about their passions, and gave them some information on why were were there supporting our causes, and crossed our fingers that they would come to our performance the next day! Oh, and for Jess and Akili; they were playing Rock Band when we arrived, and for once I was one of the "skilled" people playing! I taught some of my teammates how to play the drums and guitar :)On Saturday night we were given access to the school gym (where their church service is being held as their church is renovated) to practice for our first-ever official performance outside of training week. During that practice we all realized that after 2 days of time off from the play, we were pretty rusty and needed to work on our lines and transitions. We came back to Elizabeth's basement kitchen that night and worked on the play until almost midnight!
On Sunday morning we were ready to go. We performed during the church service to a fantastic audience, who laughed along with our silliness and were so supportive of our cause! We had so many great comments and tons of positive feedback afterward that people even asked for our autographs. I couldn't believe the impact we had made! I truly enjoyed hearing about the community members' ways that they were working to help their community and the environment, and I felt truly inspired by the active nature of the United Church congregation. I think some great things are going to come out of Okotoks, Alberta!
Sunday afternoon was reserved as personal time, so I gave my family and Kareem a call and then went for a walk with Elizabeth in search of the first crocuses of spring. We ended up seeing two deer and multiple crocuses on our walk! Spending time with Elizabeth was great - she is a well-traveled and passionate woman, who works hard at preserving her community and the environment. I truly believe that we have a lot to learn from her example! In the evening, Kayla, Katryna and I spent some time looking through Elizabeth's travel pictures to Cuba and Gabon (in Africa) and we learned that she once had a Cuban band stay in her basement while they were on tour in Alberta!
I've really enjoyed my time in Okotoks and I'm really going to miss this vibrant, active and sustainable town. Tomorrow we hit the road again; cycling 54 km to Nanton, Alberta! We are only staying over one night there, as the next morning we will be getting up and biking 84 km to Fort MacLeod. Lots of biking in the next few days - I hope my legs can handle it! Not far now until we travel through the Crow's Nest Pass, and on to BC!
That's all for now - I really should be getting to bed since I've got the craziest cycling schedule ahead of me. Take care, stay safe, and I'll talk to you all again soon!
Cheers,
Sarah
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Training Week!
Hello from Bragg Creek, Alberta!
I'm currently sitting in a real estate... store? shop? establishment? typing away while my fellow Oteshites do the same! The people here have been very hospitable - I think we've taken over the place.
So, training week is almost over! We are currently on our "day off" - 24 hours from today at noon to tomorrow at noon - so I biked out to this town, just down the road from our training camp, and I'm getting my fill here on the internet and will be picking up a few necessities, like warm socks and sunglasses!
We have spent the majority of our week out at Kamp Kiwanis, where we have been learning how to facilitate groups, how to conduct workshops, and how to work together as a team. My team, called the Kootenay Mountain Tour, or KMT for short, already feels like a family to me: we all get along really well even though we are all so different! Everyone has a lot of love to give and is really supportive, so I'm more excited than ever to spend two months with them on the road.
Since I've been out here I have taken on a completely vegan diet - it's been interesting for my digestive system (to say the least) but for the most part it hasn't been much different from what I normally eat! Just a lot more tofu, grains, lentils and beans, and whole foods. Oh, and a ton of bananas! The chef for the week went to a number of grocery stores and markets looking for food donations, and a grocery store must have donated crates and crates of slightly bruised bananas for us - it's amazing how much food you can get just by asking a store what they are planning to throw away! Seriously; if you're looking for ways to feed a large group of people cheaply, just try this tactic, it's amazing.
We have spent a few nights sleeping in cabins and a few out in our tents, to test our gear. I've discovered that my sleeping bag is wonderfully warm, but my feet still manage to get cold. I'm planning on picking up a pair of woolly socks while I'm here in Bragg Creek. My tent is great too - so easy to set up and take down, and really roomy! Two people would easily be comfortable in it. Funny anecdote: there are currently 4 Hubba Hubba tents out here at the moment: two on my tour and two on the other! Looks like MEC made a lot of money off of us!
I'm really looking forward to hitting the road on Friday, but first we have our first real performance on Thursday evening out at Kamp Kiwanis. I'm nervous about it, but it's amazing how quickly my team has learned the play and our parts! I think it's going to be really good already, and it's only the beginning.
I'm concerned about some of the bigger rides (I'm currently not anywhere close to the fastest rider on the team) but I think with the support of my teammates and if I really stick to it, I'll get my speed up! I also think I may have overestimated the number of toiletries I needed, which is just adding to the excess weight. Some people have camp soap and a toothbrush, and that's it! I gotta learn to be more of a minimalist. :)
Oh, and an interesting fact for my family: there is a Danish girl heading out on the Prairie Sky Tour! Her name is Mille, and she flew here from a town just south of Copenhagen. It's been really cool talking to her about the places I've seen and sharing some words in Danish!
Alright, that is all for now! There are other people waiting to get on the internet and I don't want to keep them waiting. I'd just like to say hello to my family, my friends (thanks again for the hilarious card - I've read it so many times!), and to my old team at YCI - if you're reading this, I hope the hunt for the new Admin Assistant was successful! Miss you all!
Much love,
Sarah
Oh, and PS - I didn't pack my camera cord, so I currently don't have a way to post the pictures that I've taken! (Mountains!!!) I'll try and figure out a way to get them uploaded as soon as possible, so you can see what I'm seeing as I hit the road on my crazy adventure. Take care!
I'm currently sitting in a real estate... store? shop? establishment? typing away while my fellow Oteshites do the same! The people here have been very hospitable - I think we've taken over the place.
So, training week is almost over! We are currently on our "day off" - 24 hours from today at noon to tomorrow at noon - so I biked out to this town, just down the road from our training camp, and I'm getting my fill here on the internet and will be picking up a few necessities, like warm socks and sunglasses!
We have spent the majority of our week out at Kamp Kiwanis, where we have been learning how to facilitate groups, how to conduct workshops, and how to work together as a team. My team, called the Kootenay Mountain Tour, or KMT for short, already feels like a family to me: we all get along really well even though we are all so different! Everyone has a lot of love to give and is really supportive, so I'm more excited than ever to spend two months with them on the road.
Since I've been out here I have taken on a completely vegan diet - it's been interesting for my digestive system (to say the least) but for the most part it hasn't been much different from what I normally eat! Just a lot more tofu, grains, lentils and beans, and whole foods. Oh, and a ton of bananas! The chef for the week went to a number of grocery stores and markets looking for food donations, and a grocery store must have donated crates and crates of slightly bruised bananas for us - it's amazing how much food you can get just by asking a store what they are planning to throw away! Seriously; if you're looking for ways to feed a large group of people cheaply, just try this tactic, it's amazing.
We have spent a few nights sleeping in cabins and a few out in our tents, to test our gear. I've discovered that my sleeping bag is wonderfully warm, but my feet still manage to get cold. I'm planning on picking up a pair of woolly socks while I'm here in Bragg Creek. My tent is great too - so easy to set up and take down, and really roomy! Two people would easily be comfortable in it. Funny anecdote: there are currently 4 Hubba Hubba tents out here at the moment: two on my tour and two on the other! Looks like MEC made a lot of money off of us!
I'm really looking forward to hitting the road on Friday, but first we have our first real performance on Thursday evening out at Kamp Kiwanis. I'm nervous about it, but it's amazing how quickly my team has learned the play and our parts! I think it's going to be really good already, and it's only the beginning.
I'm concerned about some of the bigger rides (I'm currently not anywhere close to the fastest rider on the team) but I think with the support of my teammates and if I really stick to it, I'll get my speed up! I also think I may have overestimated the number of toiletries I needed, which is just adding to the excess weight. Some people have camp soap and a toothbrush, and that's it! I gotta learn to be more of a minimalist. :)
Oh, and an interesting fact for my family: there is a Danish girl heading out on the Prairie Sky Tour! Her name is Mille, and she flew here from a town just south of Copenhagen. It's been really cool talking to her about the places I've seen and sharing some words in Danish!
Alright, that is all for now! There are other people waiting to get on the internet and I don't want to keep them waiting. I'd just like to say hello to my family, my friends (thanks again for the hilarious card - I've read it so many times!), and to my old team at YCI - if you're reading this, I hope the hunt for the new Admin Assistant was successful! Miss you all!
Much love,
Sarah
Oh, and PS - I didn't pack my camera cord, so I currently don't have a way to post the pictures that I've taken! (Mountains!!!) I'll try and figure out a way to get them uploaded as soon as possible, so you can see what I'm seeing as I hit the road on my crazy adventure. Take care!
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