Two countries and nine states in nine days which was go-go-go until spending a week in Oakhurst, California to enjoy Bass Lake and Yosemite. Another trip gearing me towards service to others whilst fine tuning my mastery, patience and compassion, not to mention unconditional love. One of the highlights on this trip was the classic one-liners that brought so much laughter and playfulness to the adventure that put smiles on our faces in real time right along with when repeating it to others. What I love most about these ventures with Ber is my chance to be the sherpa, the chef, the chauffer and the CNA all bundled up in one.
The best part about my first flight was watching Empire Strikes Back which just happens to be my favorite of the three OG’s. Saw little metaphors for myself with Luke training at the Dagobah system. Haha Jedi’s also one of my religions. I’m not even religious anymore, but you know what I mean. Let’s not forget my testing ground when two days prior to take off insomnia strikes taking me to the airport with very little sleep. 
It struck again the night of which made for a very interesting day in the airports and plenty of opportunities to trust my instincts while exercising patience. Needless to say I was officially loopy by the time I reached New York.
Before we even left for our road trip the first of many one-liners came out of Amber’s mouth. At first it had me at what could I have possibly done. I’ll admit it made my heart sink a bit when she said she didn’t want to come across as a jerk…BUT. She knows I’ve bettered my eating habits and perhaps ice cream isn’t often an item on my menu.
I’m not trying to be a jerk but…will you eat my ice cream?
I laughed so hard and still do when I think about that exact moment. What a relief when I already knew there’s nothing I can do to upset her but asking me to finish her ice cream was like asking me to breathe. Okay I said as I gobbled up her pint of pumpkin. I’ll admit again that I definitely ate more than my fill of ice cream on this trip. Oops, whoops, but no regrets because I love me some ice cream and vacation is pretty much the only time I can justify an over-consumption of this dairy delight.
This was actually our second time seeing the Niagara Falls together, the first being some twenty something years ago. I wish I still had that pic from a bar in Buffalo. I still have the overalls I remember wearing in the picture. Oh the things I remember and those I have yet to. Considering this wasn’t our first Niagara rodeo we opted to not spend too much time here which was cool because we were pretty excited about the whole Canada part, which didn’t last long.
For the record the Canadian side is much better for viewing the falls and was easier to enter than I recalled. We were in line for maybe twenty minutes on the bridge before we were officially in another country rarin’ to see what it had to offer, which wasn’t much as you’ll soon find out. I don’t mean that in a bad way but it didn’t take long for us to be over it wanting to be back in our own country ready to no longer take the amenities for granted.
It was also the first and last time we took our fuel for granted. I couldn’t help but notice the fuel was on empty and why I hadn’t paid much attention to it prior will never be known but make no mistake we needed gas. It was dark by this point so the only thing we had to go on was the signs off the highway which were few and far between. It must’ve been cow country because it was dark and the smell was undeniable. The gas light turned on shortly after noticing the need for gas in the first place and by not using the counter for reference purposes yet we had no idea how much we actually had.
It is not in our cards to run outta gas I told her and we pulled off at the next exit showing services only to find the station closed because it was a small town and well past 9 o’clock. Luckily there was a pizza joint open only to find out we needed to go another seven miles to the next town. Amber looked at me and with so much anxious honesty tells me she doesn’t know if we have enough. It was the longest seven miles of our life considering even if we did run out of gas we certainly couldn’t call anybody because our phones had no service.
It was a butt pucker factor of about nine and a half but we made it to the gas station by the grace of our fumes and had discussed in the last seven minutes that maybe it’s not such a good idea to hang in Canada after all. I went in to get some gum and without evenĀ thinking I handed the guy a twenty, I was still excited I didn’t have to push. When he handed me back my change in Canadian currency I laughed my way back to the van and that was the icing on the cake to know we weren’t staying. Thankfully he let me use a five instead of a twenty but that was all we needed to be like let’s get the bleep outta Canada.
I will give Canada this, and working at the pier is what made me recognize it initially, and this quick trip only solidified it…Canadians are some of the nicest people on the planet. From the border patrol to the pizza guy, to the gas station attendant, and especially the lovely lady walking her dog who gave us hope because she told us we were almost there and we were gonna make it. An hour and a half later we were back on American soil with our tank of gas and cellular service, and we couldn’t have been happier to find our first night stay at a good ole Cracker Barrel in Michigan.
Love and Light