Spirituality means to me living the ordinary life extraordinarily well.
As the old church father said, "The glory of God is a human being fully alive."
William Sloane Coffin
My heightened emotional state continued today as I biked from Kamloops to Merritt on the old Merrit Highway - Hwy 5A. After a final long slow incline of a couple of miles, I was rewarded with a two lane curvy road, basically flat or mild rolling hills, alongside golden brown grasslands bordered by distant mountains. Colorful wildflowers stood out even more against the golden brown backdrop.
As the ride proceeded, I all of a sudden found myself "back in the mountains." At about the 8-9 mile mark, the road suddenly took a sharp downward descent for 2-3 miles with those majestic mountains so close I felt I could almost touch them. Although I would have liked to take a picture, what I wanted more was to just take it all in and enjoy the moment. Once again, I felt overcome with emotion - the overwhelming and constant beauty I have biked through these past 10 days have felt somewhat like a bombardment upon my mind and senses, almost too much to take at times. A love gift. Can there be such a thing as too much beauty? Too much awe and gratitude? I was once again reduced to tears as I soared downhill, mindful that this was one of those special moments I will carry with me forever. And, in the future, I suspect that there will be times when I will close my eyes and be sustained by the memory of this special moment.
After the long descent, I rode for many miles alongside various scenic lakes. The road at this point was curvy flat, again with occasional slightly rolling hills. It was quite warm and I was beginning to feel the heat.
After the lake segment, I began a phase of grasslands and marshes. I stopped for lunch at a marshland designated for birds in the area, and watched for a while. A gentleman on a brand new BMW motorcycle stopped by and I commented on his pretty bike. He beamed that I had admired the motorcycle, and proudly told me that he was on his "maiden voyage," from his home in Victoria to some friends' cabin up the road at Stump Lake (one of the lakes I had ridden by). After admonishing me to use plenty of sun screen, he left to continue his ride.
I continued on to Quilchena, where I took a break to have a Magnum ice cream bar in honor of my sister. Also got some cold water for the remaining 15 miles to Merritt. I had tried to book a room at the historic Quilchena Hotel for tonight at Pam's suggestion, but it had been reserved for a family wedding. I believe that the family must have been arriving just when I got there. A young man came over and asked all the usual questions re the bike ride, etc.
The remaining 15 miles to Merritt were pretty easy going, except that it was getting hotter and hotter. I gratefully checked in to the Copper Valley Motel - the very friendly owner smiled and told me it was a good thing I had made a reservation earlier since they had no vacancies. There is a big music festival in Merritt this weekend, and I had a hard time finding a room.
I settled in, then walked to the little town for dinner. Since I wasn't that hungry, I opted for a Subway veggie delete. Listened to a little of the live music outside, then returned to the room for the evening. I could feel a wave of contented tiredness now that I have a few days rest coming. Pam is picking me up in the morning.
I am going to take a few days off from blogging, and just rest and relax as I prepare for the journey to Seattle and home. By my calculation, I have ridden approximately 1632 miles since starting the ride, which includes the 530 miles in the last ten days. Attached is a map with the British Columbia loop just completed.
