Tales from the Land of Mountains

Written: Monday, August 6th – Banff, AB

Rolled into Banff today, these old stompin’ grounds haven’t changed much since the last time I was here. We decided that we could make some fast cash here since everyone is so short staffed here, so we’ve made a friendly bet to see who can get a job first. Went to the Fairmont today and had a drink in the Rundle Hall it was quite the splurge for us, especially considering we were eating the last of the food (mac & cheese) earlier today.


The Van was running rough when we came into Banff. We were having a hard time getting through the mountain pass. It was a white knuckle drive as we were followed closely by a line of pissed off tourists who felt it necessary to express how upset they were. We were exhausted by the time we stopped at this waterfall for a few pictures and dinner.

Beautiful Mt. Rundle...my favourite

Written: Tuesday, August 7th – Banff, AB

So within 24 hours Geo and I have managed to get 2 job offers – all of which start tomorrow (P.S. I won). So I’m working in a dingy basement, baking. It’s a far cry from With the Grain, but hey I’m not complaining. Geoff has another interview at The Gap before things are for sure. Currently, we are parked in the staff parking lot at the Fairmont, and our friend Christine is letting us use her shower and stuff. We are definitely enjoying the upgrade in facilities. We went for a hike to the top of Tunnel Mountain and we got talking about life, a common topic on hikes such as this. We were talking about how spread thin we felt by all of life’s possibilities. It was one of those 'there is so much to do and I can’t do it all' conversations. Along came a solo hiker...and we got chatting. His name was John. He is a Environmental Science prof. He's been living in Guelph until just recently. Anyways, we got talking and he just gave us all this wisdom and answers to the questions we were just bringing up to ourselves. He talked about how he’s happy where he’s at in his life, and about enjoying where you’re at. I can’t put it in writing but it gave us such a peace to the whole issue. And then off he went, like he was just plopped down there just for that very moment.

My little Bakery Dungeon at Evelyn's

Written: Thursday, August 9th – Banff, AB

Started work at 6am, I wasn’t there for long when Geoff came downstairs and told be that Della was in trouble, the bad kind. We ruled out the possibility of starter failure and that something is jamming the flywheel. This means that there is a major engine problem involving a jammed piston, and it's likely connected in some way to the huge crack in the engine case. The engine needs to be removed and rebuilt. This is a job that required some money – or in our case the rest of out travel fund. Since we were parked in a 2hr parking spot in downtown Banff we aren’t quite sure what the heck we are going to do. We did meet a really nice British man who helped us trouble shoot. He said that he drove a bug with the same engine in India, where it too broke down. He then carried the engine on his back (sans flywheel and heads) for some guy on the top of a mountain who knew how to fix it. While the man couldn’t help us I did feel less sorry for myself. On the other hand it’s freezing here, very unlike India. I can see my breath; neither of us are dressed for this weather. So what next at this point? I don’t have a clue. We just need to trust that God had indeed blessed this trip and has indeed put us here.

Later on…

Can’t help but feel like a failure; like I was a fool to buy this van, to take this trip. I feel embarrassed that I can’t finish what I set out to do. I just want to run away from it all. Banff just feels so claustrophobic. We are just so cold and grumpy. We’ve lost our home, our car, our plans for an adventure, and our money that’s stuck up in this van. It is actually all pretty overwhelming. The freezing rainy weather isn’t helping much either. Do we spend more money to rebuild now? At the state she’s in now we can’t get back the money we put in. Do we work on her ourselves? Where and how? For us that can be months of work, not to mention tools and parts we don’t have.

Written: Friday, August 10th - Banff, AB

This morning our bosses offered us the apartment above their garage IF we will commit to staying until after Labor day. The place is pretty crazy – basically a toilet, shower and a bunch of hotel furniture. We have a T.V. and we get CBC. Oh and a Nintendo – (Cam you’d love it). Right now I’m just happy to have heat and running water.

doing laundry
the living room/bedroom...
the bathroom...
the kitchen...

And of course, the view of Delilah outside waiting for us to bring her back to life.

It’s a 30 minute walk to work. When I leave the house at 5:30am I am reminded of my early mornings at With the Grain (my old bakery). Only now on my morning walks I worry about running into wildlife, not crazy drunks (although I do see those too). It’s surprising how much wildlife comes into the city. Yesterday I ran into a deer eating out of the hotel garden, then a huge buck and a few others. They were right there, literally inches away. I could reach out and touch them but they didn’t even seem to notice.

Written: Tuesday, August 14th – Banff, AB

It’s strange being a resident in a town full of tourists. This is a picture of us enjoying pint at our new favorite restaurant ‘The Bison Bistro’ The patio here is beautiful with a gorgeous view of the mountains. Oh, I suppose that I should tell you that the sun did eventually come back out. There is something about this place that is sort of distracting. So much has happened and this place is so beautiful – yet I haven’t taken any pictures and I haven’t written in days. I find myself walking around and not looking up at the mountains. It's strange to walk past tourists pointing at the skyline and snapping photos while you stare straight ahead trying to maneuver through the crowded sidewalks.



Written: Wednesday, August 15th – Still Banff, AB

It’s our 7 year anniversary today – I still feel like such a kid. It seems strange to say that I’ve been in a relationship for 7 years. I haven’t been flossing my teeth for that long. Actually I never floss. Bad example.

The fact that we are here for a while has really sunk in. This has come with the realization that I’m not ready to be working again (I know, who is?!) and definitely not in a bakery. I really do love to bake but it’s so hard on my body. I’m usually ok to get through the day but I’m exhausted afterwards. I have been having trouble walking home because my legs and feet are so tired and sore. It almost feels like I am bruising the bottoms of my feet, sometimes I’m hobbling home stopping at every bench to take a break…I don’t know what the heck is happening to me but I don’t like it.



Written: Sunday, August 19th – Banff-a-roo, AB

ENGINE REMOVAL!

After reading tons of message board postings, a few calls to our mechanic for pep talks, pouring through our “How to keep your Volkswagen Alive” manual by Muir (bless his heart) and a good look at our bank account we’ve decided that we need to tackle the engine. It’s cold and grey today and we are wearing all the clothing that we own to stay warm. Geoff pulls off all of the electrical wires and I make labels for all the wires in hopes that we will be able to put them all back together again. There are mosquitoes everywhere and I am grumpy as can be – had a bad morning. I’m feeling better now that we are doing something to get the heck out of here. Winter seems so threatening, and it’s only august. This town is becoming isolating and the job…well you get the idea – I won’t go on about it.

These are a series of pictures of us taking out the engine over the course of a few weeks. We worked a lot in the beginning and could only work on the van a few hours here and there.







We couldn't forget to include cookie (our boss' dog), she was such a sweet heart. She came to visit and play often. Usually at the times we needed cheering up.

Written: Tuesday, August 22nd – Banfy, AB

I’m at Evelyn’s having a soy latte. I can’t help but feel guilty for not writing more, also for not updating the blog since forever. There never seems to be enough time in the day, or inspiration rather. I just find myself watching the time pass by. I get ideas of things to do, letters to write, projects to do (like wash those dirty stairs at the bakery) thoughts of updating the blog, plans to call home, but it’s better left until tomorrow.

Now that we’ve been into the engine it’s better because we have some sort of a hobby – something to look forward to and a reason to get moving and the get out of here. There are things we are starting to enjoy here in Banff, A new work friend Anne-Marie (a beautiful lady from Holland working in Banff to get her citizenship), having a home, the Great Canadian Food Show on CBC, good days at work and free coffee. But even with all that there is the urge to keep moving and put some miles between us and Banff.


With Anne-Marie on her Birthday, at the Elk of course.

Written: Sunday, September 30th – Banff, AB of course

“We are shaped by our experiences. Our perceptions of joy, fear, pain and beauty are sharpened or dulled by the way we rub against time. My senses have become dull and this trip is an effort to sharpen them” –Don Miller, Through Painted Deserts


Written: Saturday, October 6th – Banff, AB

Made a yummy pork dinner with roasted apples and potatoes, greens with cilantro and lemon blueberries. We are watching an awesome game – Toronto VS. Montreal. Life is good today in our little garage of a home.

Written: Friday, October 12th – Banff, AB

I am a little embarrassed to admit this but lately all I seem to have on my mind is babies. Yes I know, it’s crazy, and no I’m not pregnant or planning to be anytime soon. There are just babies everywhere it seems…I can’t get away. It’s like when you get a new haircut, or new shoes, then you walk around all day noticing everyone else’s hair and shoes. Anyways, the important point here is that we need to get back into this van. We need to get back into the van just like a fish needs to stay in a small tank – growth control you know?



Written: Sunday, October 14th – Banff, AB

“It’s interesting how you sometimes have to leave home before you can ask difficult questions, how the questions never come up in the room you grew up in, the town in which you were born. It’s funny how you can’t ask difficult questions in a familiar place, how you have to stand back a few feet and set things in a new way before you realize nothing that is happening to you is normal” Don Miller, Through Painted Deserts


Written: Friday, October 26th – Getting out of Banff, AB on route to Cranbrook, BC

We are back on the road again! We left Banff this morning, all packed up with our newly installed engine. Geoff and Pete put it in. It took less than an hour to plop it in and only a few days to get it running smooth. Now we are much more confident to be able to make it through whatever lies ahead. We understand the engine so much more now. Pulling out the engine and installing the new one was a three month crash-course in air-cooled mechanics.


Geoff and the pretty engine. It was delivered on a palate from the Bug Shop in Vancouver.
Geoff and Pete. Pete came from Calgary to help us out with getting the engine in.
Delilah on her maiden voyage to Calgary. She loves the new engine.

Written: Sunday, February 3rd 2008 – Emeryville, ON

After systematically pulling out the engine Geoff and I found that we had dropped a valve in our third piston, breaking the piston and cracking the crankcase in the process. We pulled the engine out piece by piece sticking it into little baggies and labeling it. We carried it all up stairs where it lived with us on our living room floor for two months. Geoff meanwhile poured over the Muir manual, message boards, the Samba.ca. We had the help of a new friend (Pete in Calgary who helped us over the phone and even came out to help for a day) and The Bug Shop in Vancouver who shipped us a new 1.8L long block. We were finally back in action. Replacing the engine was an amazing experience that tested our strength, patience, not to our mention marriage. We spent many many hours bent over that engine covered in grease with bloody knuckles - through cold and snowy mountain days and in the end we did it.

Leaving Banff was actually harder than we thought, in the end we made some great friends while we were there and wish them all the best. We drove our 'new' van to Langley, BC where she patiently awaits our return. We flew home to Ontario to be with family for a while (thanks mom for letting us move back home) We leave tomorrow to drive west again in our car, with plans to jump back in the van and head south along the coast and see where that leads us. Thanks so much to our faithful readers, so sorry we left you hanging for so long. We hope to write about our new adventures in Part II of Adventures with Delilah..stay tuned. stay classy.


Toques off to catch a little sun and call home