Taking turns getting lost in the Rockies

I just returned from a vacation in Canada. I went with a group of people, but as a single so I didn't have to share a room with anyone.

//

I never believed in "organized activities" with those I had never met before, but this trip has changed my mind. The group consisted of approximately 40 people, some from Columbia County, others from West Virginia, even California and New York. What a blast. As our tour director said, "We had all definitely bonded by the end of 10 days."

It began at Augusta Regional Airport with everybody standing around introducing themselves and, by the time our departure was announced, some of us were already considering each other friends. We flew to Atlanta and were shuttled along by the local tour director. When finally we arrived at our gate, the person in charge felt we were missing a couple. He frantically looked everywhere for them with no luck. Arriving at the gate again, he was told his seat was given away and he had to take a later flight.

Not mentioning any names, but his face is very well known in our area as one of the weathermen on a local station. Of course, we never let him forget that he left elderly people on a plane, heading for what we thought would be the "frozen tundra" of Washington state.

That's a laugh. Everywhere we went was as warm or warmer than Georgia. Then it was my turn to get lost. Well, yes, I figured that would happen to me several times and, believe me, it did. We had a short wait in the Seattle airport for another plane to arrive from New York. I announced that I was going to be brave and find the nearest restroom. The travelers didn't know me well enough to not let me go alone.

I found the ladies room just fine; however, I took the wrong turn coming out and must have walked several miles before realizing what I had done. When finally returning to the group, I was greeted with, "There she is! Now we don't have to send out a search party!"

That's when the fun and games really began. From that moment on, I was not allowed to go anywhere on my own. There was a friend I made who was also traveling alone and, one afternoon, we decided to discover Vancouver all by ourselves. It was great until discovering we had no idea where our hotel room was and wandered around for about two hours before finally getting directions that were correct. Once again, it's a hard thing to live down, especially when the directions came from someone in our own group.

Victoria was one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. Banff was gorgeous as was all the stops in between. There was no shortage of laughter, especially from Carl in Burke County. John from Evans was our designated professional photographer. Kevin from West Virginia was yet another comedian. Every time I ran into him, he'd ask me if I needed directions. I met a woman, Frances, who was very close to my mother. I met Maureen, the mother of one of the young ladies Tommy went to school with and who had always been a favorite of mine. Also, I made a new friend, Paula.

I want to thank everybody on the "Railroading Through the Rockies" group for making this especially enjoyable for me. It was great and I hope to see everyone involved very soon.

(Pat Fickle is a Martinez resident.)