What we Saw next...

So after we left Kimberley, we were a little sad. Although the 'Bago busted a gut driving into Kimberley, it did mean that we got to spend a week there. In that time we got to meet loads of lovely people - and then, when The Noahbago was All Fixed Up, off we went again.

See, we sort of had a date. We had to get to a place called Sicamous by a certain date because Dad had arranged a Special Thing. I didn't know it then, but that Special Thing meant I would be able to play Farm Dog, Farm Dog. And that has been So Much of Fun.

But, before that happened we had to get there. So uuuuup steep Rocky Mountain roads we went and doooown steep Rocky Mountain roads we went. Some of them had those Avalanche Warning signs on them that made Mom and Dad have a discussion about the Futility of such a sign. But even though there was some teeny tiny vestiges of snow in the highest of high nooks and crannies of the mountains, there was not enough snow for an avalanche and so we drove those roads not at all concerned about maybe having to build igloos or sending me out to find a Saint Bernard. Which is what Mom had suggested during one of the Futile Avalanche Signs talks.

Funny thing about driving in the Rockies is how much it reminds us all of where Mom and Dad and me, Moyo were living in South Africa, only on a much smaller scale. At home we have the Drakensberg Mountain range and we have miles and miles and miles of pine trees. Also rivers. But the mountains and firs and rivers we saw in the Rockies were So Very Much Bigger, Deeper and Just More of Everything!

We stopped and spent the night in a Most Peculiar Teeny Tiny Town called Salmo. It had almost nothing to it, but there was a Very Interesting Shop that Mom really loved which was full of hand made clothes and signs and there was lady all full of tattoos doing some ink on another lady at the back of the shop. Salmo also had a Library. And Mom said Any town, no matter how odd, that has a library in it, cannot be all bad, Moyo.

Leaving Salmo the next day and driving to our next adventure took us near the American border and in the town of Midway we spent some time going through an old and haunted hotel. It was all creepy and very small and we could see an American flag flying on the hill in front of the hotel. After Midway came Rocky Creek and then Grand Forks. And then suddenly there was a HUGE STEEP UP road that we had to drive on and so we went sloooowly. Mom said I can just about see the grass growing. And Look! There's a tree budding.

So Dad said Fat chance! It's not remotely possible. Trees only bud in the spring and this is Almost Winter. Mom said I KNOW THAT, you pianobrain. I was Waxing Poetic. And then Dad said But that's not even logical and he launched into a scientific discourse on the buds and leaves and shite that had Mom rolling her eyes So Hard that she almost choked on them. Mom said Stop already with all that stuff about Science and the Universe and Sap in Trees. You need to Suspend your Disbelief, you know.

Whereupon Dad expounded upon his theories botanical, arboreal and the passing of the seasons and Mom tried yawning and even some snoring.

Eventually Mom said I might have to start with a Hissyfit, you! All. I. Said. Was. That. We.Are.Going.So.Slowly.We.Can.Just.About.See.The.Buds.Sprouting. NEXT YEAR'S BUDS EVEN. and Dad? He launched into the logistics of the weather and the seasons and the mating patterns of the sodding Bumblebloodybee, practically.

So Mom muttered to me, Moyo I swear, just how am I to remain remotely sane all cooped up in this confined space with a Philistine? You know, Moyo, the man will not listen to a word I say unless I use subsoddingliminal language... if I go So, you see, Dad Boobs I would like to Beer tell you about the Blowing Up an Anvil way I see time BUTTOCKS travel....

After that little contretemps Mom decided she was Not Going To Talk to Dad for At Least 6 Days. So what did Dad do? He lost his common sense and showed he WAS listening to Mom after all and he said Promise?

Which made Mom say that Dad would Be Sorry if she didn't talk because then she would be forced to SING instead. And we ALL know how Dad turns the Radio up whenever Mom sings and then she sings LOUDER and HIGHER and EVERYONE'S EARS HURT!

So because he is a Smart Man, Dad agreed to allow Mom to Define her Own Understanding of the Speed of The Noahbago, just as long as she did not try to tell him About The Mechanics of Parking it. Nor of Getting It Around Corners.

With that all settled, we made it up that steep hill at the Speed of Next Year's Spring Budding and then we saw it...The Very Start of The Okanagan Lake. Riiiiiight at the Very Bottom of a Switchyback and steeeeeeeep down road. And it was Breathtaking and Incredible...

And next I will tell you All About The Okanagan Valley and I will make Mom hurry up with telling it because talking about The Okanagan valley means that we are about Only a few Days of Road tripping from me being able to play Farm Dog, Farm Dog. And that's the Part I have been Trying to get Mom to Hurry Up and tell you.

This is a slideshow of the places we saw and where we stopped...