Road Trip Across Canada

Sunday, February 6^th, 2010

This update finds Peter and I on the road just heading out of Thunder Bay district driving the Trans Canada above Lake Superior in Ontario. We still have another 9 hours to go until we reach Rachel & Taylor's place. We left Regina at 10:30pm Saturday night and have been driving straight since. It is 3:17pm now on Sunday and I have only driven one hour, Peter has done the rest. He amazes me.. he is a machine! I would drive more 1 hour segments if he would let me but he says as long as his head is not nodding off he doesn't want to stop to switch. He also just likes driving and being in charge. Lol. I am discovering more and more how we are both very strong personalities and how differently we often think from each other. Still, there is a grace we have for each other and we are learning one day at a time how to compromise and bend for the other person.

I am in awe of how we have not grown tired of each other even after so many days straight of spending every hour together. Although Peter and I both have our little quarks I am finding I like him all the more in spite and often because of these little things about him. He makes me laugh so much and his tired side is not unlike my tired side. Very silly at times!

In Edmonton we dropped by the West Edmonton Mall (which I had never been to), walked one block of the mall, then went on the fastest roller coaster. It was a great adrenaline rush. Then we grabbed some desert and headed to Patricia and Troy's for dinner, a visit, and some sleep.

Peter says something about me he is not used to is how helpful I am. I am not one of those women who likes to sit around and let the man do everything for me. I won't always just sit in the truck while he fills up. I like to get out, stretch my legs, and wash the windows with the squeegee. He says don't do it, there's no point because he has windshield washer fluid and we will wash the whole truck when the trip is over. He says “Get in the truck woman!” and he says I am trying too hard. He assumes that I am trying to impress him. I know I don't need to do anything to impress him. If I was driving with any friend or family member, I would do the same thing regardless. Over time he will realize this is simply the way I am. I like to be involved and I won't be shoved to the sidelines. He likes to feel like a man and do all the dirty work and heavy lifting but I won't be babied so there is a little bit of tension sometimes as he wants to do everything for me and I refuse to become this lazy female who doesn't do anything for herself.

This morning we saw a beautiful bushy red fox sitting on the highway. It moved just in time for us not to hit it but then rather than running up either embankment, it just kept running up the bare pavement. I imagine it is a lot easier on the feet than trying to trek through the icy deep snow. It reminded me of the fox from the Fox and The Hound movie I watched as a child. Peter got his first speeding ticket for going 111 in a 90 zone. We had come from a couple provinces where the speed limit was 110 and in Peter's area of Ontario it is 100. But he had seen the posted speed limit and admitted to the cop that he got “a bit rammy” and the man just nodded with an “I'm not impressed” look on his face. The cop was in a ghost car and was polite but strict; no mercy. Oh well, considering the distance Peter went driving across Canada to get me, and back to Ontario, I suppose one ticket is not so bad.

Peter says he did not find good, he found the best. Today in Thunder Bay walking from the truck to Safeway for some fruit, Peter just randomly swept me off my feet and carried me through the parking lot. He likes doing that and is not shy about showing that I am his girl and he is crazy about me. It feels good to have someone like you in that way and even more so when they are not the least bit ashamed or embarrassed to show that in public. He goes to get his black coffee at Starbucks and asks if I want anything. I ask for a small green tea latte and he gets me the largest. Not only is he constantly verbally affirming me but also in the little things he does I can tell he means what he says. His actions are consistent with his words and I hope he finds the same with me. We always want to be walking in honour and respect towards one another. When we vocalize a boundary we can trust that the other will respect it so there is this incredible safety we have each other. There is such a realness to our relationship in that we can just say anything and completely be ourselves, knowing that there is an unspoken acceptance we share for one another. I've never had a relationship like this before. Especially with a man. Of course I have never been in a dating relationship before (if that is what you call it, lol) so this is all brand new territory for me. It is such a new and exciting time in life to see God awakening things that were dormant for so many years. Also to be learning things about myself that I could never fully learn or have uncovered while single. Already in our relationship Peter has seen many sides of me that only come out with people I completely trust. He has seen me without any makeup on and after hours upon hours of riding in the truck with my hair a complete mess. He still calls me beautiful and even says I have this glow about my face when I have no makeup on. Funny thing. For my sister Karoline's baptism in Vancouver, he trimmed his beard and shaved his neck and under his chin. He wouldn't clean up for me but he did for my sisters! He knows I like him no matter how much or little facial hair he has.

Amazing thing. I have always loved classical music but Peter never listens to it. He has actually found some that he likes since I introduced him to this Escala CD of four women who play four different string instruments along with an orchestra behind them... all original music of course. He llikes how epic the music is (and it really is)... he says it really makes it feel like we are on this “epic” adventure of a lifetime.. .what with him driving 44 hours across the country for a girl and bringing her back to his hometown. We put the CD in after leaving Regina and we've played it at least 6 or 7 times since then. If he loves Escala as much as I do, perhaps he does have potential to develop a taste for good music after all. I am the artistic and musical one and he is very much the opposite so it is fun seeing our opposite personalities rubbing off on each other in different ways. He helps me to simplify things and I point out the interesting details and beauty in things he would have otherwise overlooked. We are finding a balance.

It is sort of a weird thought to know I will not be back in Prince George for many many months. I have no idea as to when I will go back for a visit. Although I moved around so much growing up and got used to quickly adjusting and starting over in new places, it will still probably hit me in waves of “Oh, I'm not going back” as a few weeks pass by at a time in Ontario. This whole process of packing up my things and my life has actually felt normal and not even remotely surreal or sudden. I suppose since I have been ready to leave PG for the past year and God was already preparing my heart, emotions, mind..etc... to say goodbye and move on to the next season of life, it only seemed like the normal and natural thing to do to pack up and move east for Peter. I've never really known what my life holds 6 months down the road. Ever since I graduated from highschool, and then STC, I have lived my life a few months at a time. God seems to be in the habit of taking me on sudden sharp turns on this life road I travel yet they never seem too sudden to me because He has always done a certain degree of preparation in me before each change. He never asks more of me than He gives me the strength to handle. Indeed I love adventure and actually find it easier to trust Him than trying to figure things out by myself.

Ok... I think I shall stop before I get car sick and enjoy the incredible scenery around us. The sky is blue and we have left the clouds behind to enjoy the full sun reflecting on the snow covered rock around us. We are currently driving through the Canadian shield and all the places where they blasted through the rock to build the highway are especially beautiful. Oh the texture!!