At Crossroads

Wow. I have to be out of this site by 11AM tomorrow and I have absolutely no idea where I'm going next!!! I really do want to plunk myself down somewhere for a several nights and just breathe before plunging back into working life. I'm a bit distressed that I don't have the stamina I had when I was 19!

My options for getting to Kelowna, which will be my base of operations in October, are:

1) stick to my original plan and get to BC by way of Red Deer, Calgary, Canmore, Banff, Revelstoke, and Salmon Arm;

2) continue on the Yellowhead and get to BC by way of Jasper stopping in Hinton, Blue River, and Kamloops.

I'm going to get flogged for this, but I am trying to avoid staying in national parks. I don't care how pretty they are, 45$ a night for camping is highway robbery!!! Even non-hook up sites are exorbitantly priced.

I'm told Banff is a must see place, but I already have a chip on my shoulder about it. I just resent having to pay a premium for going where everyone else goes. I therefore try to find my own out of the way equivalents. No, I have never been to Niagara Falls, either (well, other than as a foetus).

So, technically, that leaves me with a third option, crossing over from southern Alberta via the Crows Nest Pass. But that's an extra 300km, so not an option I'm seriously considering at this time (although I did once).

Does it really matter which road I choose now? The one I don't take will be the one I'll embark on in the spring when I get back on the road again.

I've been avoiding making this decision since I started off on this whole insane adventure of mine knowing full well that I would eventually end up in Edmonton one night with no idea of what my next move would be. Let's see what sort of wise advice the night brings. I'm such a procrastinator. :-)

And through the night, behind the wheel,
The mileage clicking west,
I'll think upon Mackenzie, David Thompson, and the rest,
Who cracked the mountain ramparts and did show a path for me,
To race the roaring Fraser to the sea.