A Soundtrack for Moving to the Coast: Day One

In many ways it seems like we've been moving to the coast since June 19, the day our house sold, but today, we actually started to move ourselves and our stuff down Highway 1.  With our young kids and my short attention span for driving, we decided to break up the trip from Strathmore to Vancouver into two days.  I only had to drive the kids from Banff, while Phil took the UHaul from our hometown for the past 6 years.

The kids and I got onto the highway by 8:15 a.m. this morning and the first thing we all wanted was a little music.  "Hey kids, this is what I used to have to listen to," I said excitedly as the radio picked up Neil Diamond's classic Song Sung Blue.  "Should we turn it off?" my daughter asked.  Hehe.  "It's just one song," I replied.  "We don't have to listen to a whole CD." As I tried to sing along, I realized the words actually were, Song sung blue, weeping like a willow and not Song sung blue, weepy woppy willow.

Shortly afterward, the radio turned to fuzz as we went further into the mountains.  I had tried, unsuccessfully, the day before to find some children's books on CD at the Chapters and Coles stores in Calgary.  So, we dug out the old CD case and I let the kids be the DJ's.

My son made the first selection based on the "Cool running guy" on the CD.  It turned out to be a recording done by several of the youth while my husband was a youth pastor in Saskatoon.  It made me smile to hear their sweet voices and awesome piano and guitar riffs.  Next, he selected a blue and white CD with a cloud and and mountain on it.  I wasn't familiar with the album, and couldn't check until we had stopped driving later to find out it was Matthew Good.  It was kind of fun listening to a mystery album.

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My driving highlight was stopping at the Information Centre in Golden B.C.  We had just passed through Kicking Horse and I was craving a coffee with the same name.  Bless their hearts, the Information provided Kicking Horse coffee with real cream for only $2.  Their plentiful bathrooms were pristine as well.

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But the best part of all was being done driving and checking into The Best Western in Kamloops, taking the kids for a well-deserved swim and then discovering The Noble Pig Brewhouse and Restaurant - a local restaurant dedicated to fresh foods and craft beer.  The lamb burger with roasted apple and brie was divine!

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Tomorrow night I get to sleep in my own house for the first time in over two months.  Can't wait!