If you read the last blog entry, I slept in a church: Saint Ann’s in Lytton.

I woke up today quite early. The back of the church (where I slept) didn’t look scary now because the daylight seeped into the inside.

As if yesterday wasn’t enough for bad luck, another thing happened to me again today. Lytton’s visitor info center was beside the church, so I decided to go there and check it out; see if I could get some ideas on how to transport my stuff. I opened the church door and didn’t really worry about it because if I was able to open it from the outside last night, then I should be able to get inside again when I come back, right?? WRONG!

I found out that the visitor info center wasn’t open yet, so I just walked back to the church to get my stuff and get going from there. Yeah, well, so much for that. I tried to turn the knob, but it didn't budge at all. I tried again, still no. That’s when I realized that I just locked myself outside...with all of my stuff inside! I tried to go around the church and tried every door, no luck! I started to panic because it was still early and I didn’t see anybody who could help me out. So, I walked around the town and, thankfully, I found a mini-restaurant. I told everyone there about my problem, and because the small town people are really nice, they helped me out. The lady there called two people in the town whom she thought would have a key to the church. Luckily, one of them said that she’ll be right out. So, I walked back to the church and waited for the lady. After 10 minutes or so, she came and I was so grateful. I told her about what happened to me yesterday and I also told her about my problem of transporting my stuff. So, (if you read my daily skating blog for today), that was when I was introduced to Sheila from the postal office who lives in Lillooet. Sheila would take my stuff to Father Bob’s place where I was hoping to end up today.

Many of you probably know that Lytton is Canada’s Hot Spot. I heard that the hottest temperature record in Lytton is well over the 40’s!

I started skating from Lytton to Lillooet quite late actually; at noon. This is, of course, due to my on-going problem of looking for somebody to transport my stuff to the next city. Thankfully, Lytton is your typical small town where the people are very nice. Once everyone there heard about me, they started sharing ideas on how to solve my problem; they started to think who usually goes to Lillooet. We finally found Sheila; she works in the postal office and she actually lives in Lillooet. So, as soon as I got everything ready to go (water and food), I went to the post office and left my heavy backpack with Sheila. She would be off from work at 4:30, then she’d drive to Lillooet with my stuff. She would either pick me up when she’d spot me on the road or drop off my stuff to Father Bob whom I would be meeting today.

I started skating right at 12 o’clock. Boy, was I glad that I covered Lytton at this time of the year because it really is hot in there! Can you imagine if you skate there during the summer time?! I would’ve been fried! Luckily, it was also windy, so it didn’t really get too hot for me. But, you know what, the wind is also not always helpful. The wind can sometimes be too cool, so I’d feel cold. Worst of all, the wind can also be too much that it’s really hard to skate; even when it’s supposed to be downhill, the wind can make it feel like you’re skating uphill.

As your reading this blog, I assume that you’ve also read the “daily skating” blog for today.

After Clint and his friend dropped me off in Cache Creek to catch the bus there to Lytton, I went to a deli there where I had something to eat (thanks to Clint’s friend!). The lady who worked in the deli was very nice and she said that she was from Abbottsford. After having my late lunch, I went to the Greyhound bus depot to get a ticket to Lytton. Then, I went to a Royal Bank there; I told the bank teller that it felt strange to me to see an RBC branch is such a small town. She even told me that that RBC branch there has been there for decades!

I was able to charge my iPhone at the bus depot; my iPhone gets low-bat because I constantly use its GPS as I skate from one city to another. I was glad to get a telephone signal there, too, so I was able to call home and work. When I saw my bus arrive, I thanked the lady who worked at the ticket depot; earlier, she took my stuff in her booth when I went to the bank.

OK, here comes the scary part...Are you ready??

OK, so I came to the bus and I didn’t see the driver. So, I just went on the bus with all of my stuff without telling the driver—first big mistake! I went to sit down at the back of the bus—second big mistake! I was very tired, so I decided to take a nap—third big mistake! So, there I was (such an ignorant city boy) on a Greyhound bus. I thought that I could just sit back, relax, watch the view, and maybe fall asleep because, hey, when the bus gets to Lytton, somebody will just wake me up, right? ‘Cause everyone, like me, is also going to Lytton, right?? ‘Cause this Greyhound bus is only going to Lytton, right???

WRONG...!!!

Yesterday, I told the Mack’s (the family that took me in for the night) about my big problem of having to look for some way to transport my stuff to the cities ahead. From Logan Lake, my next destination is Ashcroft, and by the end of the day, I have to be in Lytton. Thankfully, the Grandpa Lee and Clinton have found a way to help me out. Clinton and his very nice friend were going to Ashcroft today, to get her three horses back to Logan Lake, (by the way, she also works there in Ashcroft). So, the plan would be to leave my stuff with Clint as he does some work, and I would start skating in the morning. As soon as he finishes his work, he and his friend would drive to Ashcroft and picked me up on the way because I have to catch a bus from Ashcroft to Cache Creek, and I have to catch a bus from Cache Creek to Lytton.

So, I started skating from Logan Lake to Ashcroft at 9 o’clock. Right at the start, there was already a big hill for me to climb. There was no cellphone signal in Logan Lake, but when I started heading towards Aschroft, there was one. So, as I was climbing up a big hill, I called my co-workers in Vancouver. I wanted to hear some familiar voices. Of course, my mom phone me before that. That’s my plan: I call my loved ones to get me through the high hills. Even though I’m skating up hills and talking on the phone, for some reason, I don’t get exhausted. It must really strengthen me to hear some familiar voices; next time, I’m gonna call my work and speak to my kids there. Also, I thank everyone for the awesome messages on my cellphone, website, and Facebook. I tell ya: those messages really give me strength.

Boy, have I got a lot of fun things to share to ya, today! :D As you probably already know, Father Domingo gave me a place to stay, yesterday, in his rectory that is just beside the Sacred Heart church. Just before the church service ended today, he invited me up on the podium to speak to the congregation. Man, I was so nervous! There were a lot of people! Even though I planned to spread the word on child care everywhere, I never expected myself to actually speak to a group of religious people. Fortunately, as soon as I started speaking, the right words just came to me. I emphasized to the people that child care is not just a secular issue; it’s an issue for everyone, no matter if you’re an atheist, Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, etc. We all have to support child care.

After the church service, Father and I left for Logan Lake, where he also celebrated Mass. He invited me again to speak to the church-goers in Logan Lake. This time, I was no longer as nervous as I was in the church in Merritt. At both churches, I was able to make the people laugh a bit and they generously applauded when I finished talking. It was very interesting in Logan Lake though because there was a VIP who belongs to that church. She used to be the mayor of Logan Lake, and now she is running for MLA. We chatted for a bit. Her husband was nice enough to offer me a place to stay for tonight. But, because he and his wife won’t be around tonight, he introduced me to another family who would love to take me in their home. That was the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my journey, so far! :D

Since the first time that I thought of inline skating to raise awareness for child care, I knew that I would like to take Sundays off. That’s a good time for me to give my body a rest. Needless to say, I didn’t skate anywhere today. So, there shouldn’t be too much on this blog...

But, there is something that I would like to tell you. On the day before I left for Princeton to start my journey, I didn’t really know what to pack! Most of all, I didn’t care if I’d be packing heavily or lightly because for some very silly reason, I was so confident that somebody (I don’t know who, maybe I was thinking that it would be the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny!) would be able to transport my stuff ahead of time to the cities ahead in my schedule. Boy, am I EVER WRONG!

So, when I got to Princeton, after I was interviewed by Matt’s and Shelby’s mom, the first thing that I did was go to the postal office. I asked the helpful lady there for some ideas/suggestions on how I would be able to transport my stuff ahead of time on a daily basis. We would find out that, through postal delivery or Greyhound bus, it would be hard and risky because it would take, at least, two days for my stuff to get where I would be. At this time, my stuff weighs over 10 kilograms...and you know what, I skated with this thing from Princeton to Merritt!

When I got to Merritt, my body was already so sore and hurt that I decided that I just could not skate anymore, on that same day, to Logan Lake. That’s why I stayed in Father Domingo’s residence at Sacred Heart parish in Merritt. Luckily, I knew that he also celebrates Mass up in Logan Lake on Sundays, which was my next destination. So, today, he gave me a ride to Logan Lake.

Ninety kilometres is the distance between Princeton to Merritt. If you’re driving, you’ll probably cover 90 km in also about ninety minutes. But, hey...what about if you’re inline skating for 90 km? What if the road is hilly? What if the road is so bad that it can trip over even a car? What if it’s early in the morning? What if it snows all of a sudden? What if the wind gust is going against you and blowing as hard as it can? What if you’re the only one who’s travelling that road? What if you’re carrying a backpack that weighs well over 10 kilograms...? What if you’re cold? What if you get lost? What if you have to keep skating for 8 to 9 hours, non-stop? What if there was not enough shoulder on the road???

I could probably just keep asking questions because the answers to those are pretty much my blog for today! Yup, those things happened to me today...on my birthday! Well, thank you, Mother Nature, for that really wonderful gift! You probably were saying to yourself, “Bret’s inline skating around British Columbia and across Canada? Here’s a perfect gift for him: a shot in the arm! A vaccine that will give him an overdose of the physical reality of what it’s really like to inline skate around BC and Canada (*chuckles evilly).

Man, what can I say—IT WAS DANG HARSH! I’m surprised that I’m still here, (writing this blog), alive and kicking! I betcha’ though that I’m gonna be aching every square-inch of my body tomorrow. So, I’m gonna sleep like a log tonight, but wake up tomorrow, feeling like I’ve been hit with a log!

I’ve never been to the prairies before, but the way from Princeton to Merritt have got to be like the prairies because, dude, it just kept going and going and going. I could’ve sung that song that goes, “I’m on the highway to (you know where!).” I did sing to Bryan Adams’ song that goes, “Life is an open road.”

I wanted to wake up early today (at 5), so I could arrive early in Merritt. But, I woke up at 6 o’clock and I left at past 7. I was able to sort out my backpack though. I had a bad feeling about it because I knew that it was really HEAVY! Nevertheless, I skated with it from Princeton to Merritt. Yesterday, I did go to Princeton’s postal office to ask if I could ship my stuff, so I wouldn’t have to skate with it, but it takes a long time to get my stuff in the cities ahead. I also tried to ask Greyhound, but there was no luck.

Anyway, I was taken to Princeton, yesterday, by my mom, aunt, and family friend. It was a good, scenic 3 hour drive. We talked about all sorts of things. When we got to Princeton, I checked in to Ponderosa Motel. We got there at 3, and a Princeton reporter was gonna interview me at 3:30. My company left with a heavy heart, especially my mom who was almost inconsolable. She gave me and birthday card with a little bit of money. I felt sorry for my mom, because even though I know that I would be ok, I’m sure it’s a lot harder for a parent to believe that—especially if your son is going to inline skate around a mountainous province with no escort vehicle! Poor mom...

*This may be my first topic in this blog. Please check back soon for the content.