“It’s easy enough to be happy,
When life flows along like a song,
But the girl worthwhile,
Is the one who can smile,
When everything goes dead wrong!!!!
That was what my grade 5 teacher, Mrs Oglavie, wrote on the back of my class picture at the end of the year. Somehow I still remember it.
I did smile today, albeit through clenched teeth.
It was a beautiful morning. The rain, forecasted for the night before, had passed us by and the tent was dry; quick and easy to pack up. We had pitched our tent beside a grocery store, steps away from Tim Hortons. The night before we had eaten some canned food we’d purchased in the grocery store at a sit-down area within the store. Then we’d gone into Tim’s and ordered our usual; mint tea for Charlie and coffee for me. We’d nursed them for a while, catching up on emails and blogs, me sulking a bit. One by one people drifted in, everyone very social, laughing and joking, talking about their families, their jobs…. A community. People just need other people in their /our lives. It turns out that this group of people gather here, at Tim’s every night after supper and have, for years.
When it started to get dark Charlie and I mounted our bikes and rode the 200 metres to where we planned to spend the night. We have it down to a science and an art now; the tent was up in minutes, the thermarests inflated, the sleeping bags spread out. One of the men who we had met at Tim’s came around the corner, wished us luck for the rest of our trip and handed Charlie $10 because he “wanted to buy us tomorrow’s coffee.” How nice! Under the circumstances it would have been awkward to refuse, so Charlie just accepted it with thanks. We slipped into the grocery store, one at a time to wash and clean our teeth. Another wash….. better than nothing but I desperately wanted a shower and clean clothes. Nothing could be done about it so…….I had to get over it and get some sleep.
Most of the time things are better in the morning.
We discussed our route options for the day. We could take the TransCanada highway from Hartland all the way to Frederickton. Or, we could continue to follow the Scenic River Valley Trail, highway 105. The TransCanada was longer and there would be more traffic. The Scenic River Valley Trail looked to follow the river. Traffic would be lighter and it would be more scenic, right? Let’s go that way!
Wrong decision. It started out well enough but just when we were far enough to be truly committed , the pavement started to buckle and heave. We have no idea how scenic it was; every bit of our attention was focused on that few metres ahead of our front wheels. Hill after hill we climbed, seemingly without end, contending in addition, with blazing sun and blasting heat. 
New Brunswick is stingey with their road signs. They are very few and far between and when they do appear, there are no kilometres noted to the destinations . Charlie and I only want to do about 100km per day now. Anything longer than that is just too much with this poor pavement and the heat, so we try to plan our days to fit that goal. We were being hosted that evening by Trish, a “Warmshowers” member and we had offered to make her a meal when we got there, by our estimate, around 5:30. We thought we’d even have time to go for a coffee before going to her place. So, after we had done 70km we were utterly dismayed to see a sign indicating that Frederickton was another 65 km of bucking bronco back roads. I wanted to just throw myself in a heap and cry but we kept going and going. Eventually we came to another sign. At this point I had walked up a few hills pushing my bike. I had lost all my drive, all my determination. This new sign said Frederickton was 29km away. I told Charlie that we needed to call Trish, apologize and cancel for tonight. It was past 5:30 by now and we still had quite far to go under these conditions . We continued a bit further. There was an ice cream parlour on the edge of a little town. Charlie went to ask questions. The two people we spoke with said that the road into Frederickton from this point on was pretty flat. I sighed and told Charlie that I needed to have some ice cream first and then I would give it a try.
We got in around 8pm.
Trish Mooney is a vivacious, free-spirited young woman nearing her 50’s who looks at least a decade younger. She lives alone save for her gorgeous golden cat, Sawyer. I wish I’d taken a picture of him because he’s exceptionally handsome and apparently an admirable mouse hunter. Trish works for the department of health full time but has a wide variety of other interests. She’s crafty, artsy, and economical, a do-it-yourselfer, a gardener, an experimenter. If we lived close by, we’d be friends. Her house is quirky but colourful and comfortable. A one time she dropped a heavy object into her bathroom sink, shattering it, and she then tiled and grouted it using two kinds of grout by mistake. The result is far more interesting than the intention would have been. She offered us some pickled fiddlehead ferns that she’d put by herself. The salad was all from her garden. She turned her garage into an art/crafts studio. No need for parking space. Trish has never learned to drive. This garage/studio is where her “Warmshowers” guests are invited to stay. It’s perfect. Clean and airy, there are pads on the floor in an exercise area and that’s where we unfurled our sleeping bags. 
We melted in showers, washing away days of sweat, sunscreen and road dirt and threw our clothing into the washing machine. Oh delight! To be clean again and to have clean clothes! Charlie and I combined our talents and whipped up spaghetti and meat sauce. Amazing how much better we both felt after showering, eating a meal and rehydrating with water and beer, all the while talking and enjoying getting to know Trish. The day ended well, but it truly was one of my most difficult ones on this trip.
Retiring to our art studio/garage/bedroom, Charlie and I were asleep in minutes.
Thank you Trish, for welcoming us in to your home. We appreciate all you did for us!
Wendingourway:Across Canada by Bike 2017 
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