Another perfect day for driving!
While the scenery was less spectacular than yesterday, there were a lot of "wildlife sightings" today!
I left the Northern Rockies Lodge at Muncho Lake around 10:00AM. Ten miles out or so, I saw a deer (see photo...there's a deer in there, I promise). Another twenty miles or so on, I ran into a road construction crew...chatting with one of the guys, he told me that they were "tearing up the road a little", and it could be a bit of a wait. I mentioned the fact that I hadn't seen much wildlife yet, and he said that there were buffalo ahead. After a 45 minute delay, I was on my way again...and a few miles later, I hit my first "buffalo crossing" (see photos).
Later, as I approached the town of Coal River, I had my first "bear sighting" (more photos). I probably saw at least ten more bears along the way...stopping to get a few more photos.
At about 1:30PM, I crossed from British Columbia into the Yukon (photo) and, an hour later, I made it to Watson Lake (photo). I am staying at the Belvedere Motor Hotel...nice.
Tomorrow, I've got to be "up an at 'em" early. I'll be heading from Watson Lake to Whitehorse...about a six to seven hour trip that promises to reveal more wildlife.
"The Light"!
Wow...I haven't mentioned "the light" yet! I first noticed in Fort Nelson, how light it is at night. I got up and went outside my hotel room around 11:00PM and it was...well...light outside. Not daylight, mind you, more like dusk...and I could still see sunlight in the west. Now...it's "light" even later...midnight or so. It's only going to get better as I get closer...and into...Alaska.
Daily Wound Report
Still healing up nicely. The "triple antibiotic" cream is doing it's job, and the Amoxicillin has apparently done it's job as well.
Friday's Music
I started out with "Come Softly...the Best of the Fleetwoods" because a little "doo wop" seemed appropriate. I also loaded the "Best of ABBA" (OK, everyone has their dirty secrets), and then...I listened to Howard Hansen's Fourth Symphony ("The Romantic"). That got me thinking about the time that I actually met Howard Hansen. My parents were away in Florida, so I spent the 1974 Christmas Holidays with my good friend, Ron Buttarazzi, in Rochester, New York. We were doing a lot of "partying" back then, and I remember that on the second day of my visit, Ron's mom put a sign on their liquor cabinet that said "THE BAR IS CLOSED!!!"...Ha!...as if a mere sign could thwart man's most primitive and fundamental drive for intoxication!
Anyway, about day four, I mentioned to my friend Ron that one of my favorite composers, Howard Hansen, lived in Rochester. Emboldened by some particularly powerful "weed", we got out a phone book, and there it was...a listing for "Howard Hansen". We wasted no time driving to the address given and, soon, we were ringing the doorbell. This nice older lady (his wife) answered the door and asked how she could help us. We told her that we were big fans of Howard Hansen, the composer, and that we wanted to meet him. In a hushed voice, she said, "oh, he's upstairs composing, I'll get him". "Howard", she shouted, "there's some young people down here that want to talk to you". And a minute or two later, there he was. At that time, he was already in his 80's, and we were able to talk about all the famous composers that he had met in his lifetime...many of the "giants" of 20th Century music...Bartok, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, you name them. He was kind enough to autograph an "LP" of his Romantic Symphony", which I still have...somewhere.
He explained that he was busy composing a "tone poem" on commission from the Albuquerque, New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. I've always wanted to hear that work...just to see if somewhere, there's this little passage with a "solo" for doorbell.
More later...
1 comment:
Sounds like you are having a great time! Hey I love ABBA too so I won't hold it against you. Pictures are awesome! Stay safe, heal up completely and have some fun.
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