Why Does this Keep Happening to Me?!

Karma. Karma as it seems is the answer to everything. In my last life I must have been an elephant, and much to my chagrin I must have stomped around and squished all of the precious little grasses, thus tipping the Karmic scales in the favour of vehicular breakdowns.

It started like this. A long time ago when it was cold and I turned on the Jeep at Bella Vista, the battery light came on and the volt meter dropped to zero. At first I was quite concerned, but after driving for about thirty seconds the gauge returned to normal and I was good to go.

A few weeks later I was faced with the same phenomenon. Then, this began to happen all the time. I first thought that the battery was in trouble, but it is a new battery. Then I thought that it must be the alternator, but again, the batter was fine and continued to charge and hold a charge. Then I thought that a wire must be loose and shorting out. And after that I thought that it was likely that the gauge was broken.

This was compounded by the issue that whenever I plugged in the Jeep it seemed to blow the breaker on the outdoor plug that it was connected to. To me this said that there was some kind of resistance problem, but in all of this the Jeep kept working so everything was fine.

Spring came and things were looking good. I hadn't seen the angry red light and the Jeep was working better than ever.

Last weekend I was heading to Bella Vista for the long weekend, and I made the mistake of saying to the crew upstairs "well at least I don't need to get the electrical problem fixed until next winter!" This tempted Karma, and like a vicious beast it set the gears in motion.

I was packed up, and ready to go, and in no time I was leavin' like a jetplane. I headed south towards Rocky Mountain House and then West towards Nordegg. With the tunes blaring (to drown out my own singing) I raced through the Kootenay Plains and into the Icefields Parkway.

For those of you who have never driven this route, I will explain something about the Icefields Parkway. The Parkway is in a park, meaning that there are no amenities, and through it runs Highway 93, that heads straight south to Radium and then to my destination. The issue is that in a park, and parks are places for nature... just nature.

So when I was deep in the Icefields Parkway and the little red light surreptitious flashed on. Oh oh.

No matter, the light had been on before and it had always goon off soon after... and it would... oh it would. I kept heading down the highway, thinking nothing off the angry red light, when suddenly the tunes cut out and I heard nothing but my own barren voice. My words trailed off and I looked at my radio. All of the lights were off. There were still lights on my control panel, and that red battery light kept on glaring, so I did the only thing I could think of, and that was to keep going.

There is nothing in the park. No mechanics. No service stations. No cell phone coverage. Gah.

So on we went. Things were going fine, and I must have made it another thirty clicks when I finally knew I was in real trouble. The little red light went off. Actually, my entire control panel went dead and I watched in horror as all of my dials rolled back to zero. Battery? Zero. Tachomoter? Zero. Speedometer, Oil, Temperature? Zero. There was one benefit to all of this, my odometer was also blank leading me to believe that these were free kilometres.

Not knowing my speed I just kept on truckin'. I was starting to figure that I would need to stop in Lake Louise to try and find assistance, and that was ok, afterall it wasn't too far off. Also, combustion engines really only need power to start right? Well... sort of. The old combustion engines, but with digitally enhanced fuel injection and whatnot power is a necessity. That meant that as I was merrily rushing down the highway and climbing a steel hill there was a nasty shudder in the Jeep. I tried to give it more gas to keep the engine running and there was a nasty shudder.

It was over. I quickly pulled over to the side of the road and listened carefully to a sputter... sputter... and nothing. The Jeep was dead.

Alright. No big deal. Still light, still warm, and I still have one more use on my CAA card. I cracked out my cell phone and looked at the little display. Zero bars. Gah. Well, I knew I was close to Lake Louise by the distance I had traveled, and I could see the familiar valley that Highway 1 runs through so I knew I could not be far. I got out of the Jeep, walked down the road not ten metres and the bars on my cell phone lit up with signal.

That... is luck.

I called CAA and explained the situation. They said a truck was on its way. I called a few other key people to explain the situation, and I told them that a truck was on its way. I put my phone back in my pocket and paced back and forth while I waited, singing out to the mountains. Two people stopped to see if I needed help. Two in an hour! This sounds ok, but when we were stuck in Nova Scotia we had to hide in the car because just about every single car stopped to see if we needed help.

The driver arrived and loaded the Jeep on his truck. He asked where I wanted to go. I figured that I should head to Lake Louise or Banff, really anywhere with a mechanic. There was the issue that no mechanics would be open this weekend, but whatever, I could get a ride later. He asked where I was trying to go, and I told him Radiumwards. He said that since I had a CAA Plus card I could be towed 160 km. We did some quick math and then we were on our way.

It was beginning to look like I would make it to my final destination afterall.

The driver took me all the way to Invermere which was 156.4 km from where I had been stuck. We dropped the Jeep in front of a mechanic and the driver headed back to Banff. It was late now. What was supposed to be a five hour drive had turned into seven. My sister was offering her husband to pick me up, but they were a forty minute drive away. I had been chatting to a friend of mine on my phone so I messaged her to see if she was still awake.

She was.

She was only fifteen minutes away, and she graciously offered to pick me up and drive me the remaining few kilometres to my destination. When we arrived we visited for a few minutes and then she headed home.

I headed to bed. Gah.

It took a while to sort out a plan, but I did eventually sort it out. The mechanic would not be open until Monday, so the Jeep was kinda stuck (and also across the street). I would leave it in Invermere and head back to Calgary with my sister and her husband. Then I would borrow their spare truck and take it to Drayton. I was going to take my Dad's sweet new truck, but my next trip to Calgary would be with my work truck so then I would have Dad's pimp ride for a few weeks. The old red truck it was.

There seems to be a slight shudder from the front driver's tire, but it is a reliable machine and I took her all the way to Drayton without issue.

I spoke to the mechanic yesterday, and today, and they have the Jeep in the shop. At the very least the alternator is gone, but if we are lucky the battery will still be good.

What a gong show.

I think my bad Karma turned around the moment the Jeep broke down on that last hill before Lake Louise. From then on I have had only good luck. The tow driver could take me all the way to Invermere. My good friend could take me to Bella Vista. I could get back to Calgary, and even borrow a truck to get back to Drayton. Hopefully the Jeep will be fixed in the next few days and in the next few weeks I will trade it with the truck.

It was one hell of a ride, but what an adventure.

Atlas Shrugged

Atlas Shrugged is out and I don't get to see it... yet.

I hope it comes to Canada soon!

Alexander and the Adventure of the Sugar Bush

Don't forget photos can be found in the Albums on the left or here

The Sugar Bush

Chanjoca

April 3rd, 2011

It was a beautiful Edmonton day. There was snow on the ground, snow in the air, and a fog so thick that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. I got up early AF and made the drive from Rocky Rapids to the Edmonton International Airport. I stowed my car in the long term parking lot, and made my way inside.

I was there. Ready. Waiting. I was there... the plane was not.

It so happened that on this beautiful Edmonton day it was rather difficult for planes to land... something about a fog so thick that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face... or something like that. So the plane was late. Correction. Laaaattttttteeeeeeeee. It might not seem like much, but there are times when an hour and a half is an eternity, and when you have a finite connection time and you are infinitely late there is some potential for a problem.

And so it was. Coming into Toronto I found my focus cycling between two things: my watch, and then just closing my eyes to fight off the waves of nausea. My watch was telling me something that didn't look good. It was 4:35 pm... my flight left at 4:30 pm. The nausea... well... that's an unrelated issue of being a land animal trapped in a winged steel banana flying at 400 miles and hour. C'est la vie.

We landed, and as we did the boss flight attendant came on the intercom listing off a bunch of flights... "Could people connecting to flights to so and so, and etcetera, and whatevs please see the Westjet agent at the top of the ramp... ... ... aaaaannnnndddd... could people travelling to Quebec City please go to the Westjed Customer Service Desk up the ramp and over yonder."

At that moment I knew.

This sounds drastic, but I will be honest. As we were coming in, and I was concentrating hard on holding the bile down in my stomach, two thoughts entered my mind. One, that I was afraid that I would miss my flight, and two, that I was hoping to miss my flight. That sounds a little strange, but I have a friend in Toronto that I have been meaning to catch up with for a long time, and this provided my with the time and the means (free hotel and meals) to make that happen.

Somehow everything worked out. The timing was good, the transportation was good, the everything worked perfectly, allowing my friend and I the opportunity to go out for supper.

It was good.

April 4th, 2011

I enjoyed my free hotel and meals, and when the time came I headed back to the airport and boarded the plane. Now it was time to start my Adventure.

The flight was short, and in no time we landed in Quebec City. It only took a few minutes for me to go and get my rental car. I was proud that I negotiated the underage charge off, but I was still making a significant contribution to Enterprise's future success. Keys in hand I was in the car and speeding down the Autoroute towards Lambton.

I did not expect to be able to do my driving in the light, but when I arrived it was light and I drove in that light. Really, this gave me a sense of false hope and by the time I reached Lambton it was pitch black. That became a slight issue as I continued on my way towards Lac Drolet, and then into the countryside. There was some slow driving, some U-turns, some backing up, and then I made it. Actually, this is kind of interesting, I made it about two-thirds of the way into the Sugar Bush when I saw a set of headlights before me. Someone was trying to drive out. This was a large issue. The road was only one car wide, very narrow (with trees on the sides), and if you drove to the side to let the other car pass you would certainly get stuck. So... I kept going, and was lucky to see the other driver backing down the narrow road.

That was some of the most amazing driving that I have ever seen.

When I arrived that night they had just finished. It was probably 8:30 pm. There were lots of people there, but it did not take long for them to clear out and head home.

I was finally there.

It was already late, but Gilles and Francine welcomed me to the Sugar Camp and we sat together and started to catch up. When the filters needed to be checked I went with Gilles and with a small cup tasted maple sap, and maple concentrate. At that moment, I knew this was going to be a great Adventure.

A Sugar Bush Sunset

April 5th, 2011

The Sugar Shack

Ship or Shack?

A Cold Day

The Sugar Camp

Farming crops or farming for sugar is highly dependent on the weather, and when the weather is not cooperating, you have a problem. We had a problem. The sap was flowing, but very slowly. It had continued flowing from the night before. I was listening to it trickling in above me as I rested on a cot in the middle of the Sugar Shack. Some might think that my arrangement was quite rudimentary, but it was the best sleep that I had had in some time.

Frozen Lines

There was not much sap. This also meant that there was not much to do, but this does not mean that we were idle. There is always something to do. In the morning Gilles and I headed out on the Ski-Doo (my first time) to check out the two pumping stations. This sounds kind of boring, you know, just a little sleigh ride down a path through the Maple Bush. What you don't think about is that there are lines passing between the trees to collect the sap. Normally these lines could be above your head, but with the snow being up to your waste you had better be ducking as the Ski-Doo races down the icy trail. On that note, we never got nailed by any of those lines, but I have seen Gilles' toque get pulled from his head, and I have felt the lines give me a rap on the noggin.

Ski-Doo 1

Ski-Doo 2

Later I was introduced to Jean-Rock. Jean-Rock is about the same size as Gilles, making me a giant, and he does not speak a word of English. Speaking about 5 words in French I was not able to speak to Jean-Rock, and he was not able to speak to me. Still, we did manage to communicate and even though we did not speak I think we bonded. Jean-Rock, Gilles, and I changed two seals on the Osmotic Filter that were leaking. This was a medium difficulty task, but one where communication was certainly needed. We didn't have any issues.

It was a good day.

Light Escapes

The Sleeping Trees

Inside the Sugar Shack

April 6th, 2011

No sap.

Temptation

Life in the Branches

Like I said. The weather rules, and when the weather is suck... your day is suck. Actually the day was perfect, but from a production standpoint it was suck. It was about zero Celsius and that was too cold. The trees were frozen.

No sap.

Tracks of Man?

The Sugaring Master

There and Back Again

Again, we were not idle. Gilles and I strapped on the snow shoes and headed out into the bush. We wandered around looking for fallen trees that might have taken out the lines. There were none.

Still frozen. Still no sap. Nothing happening, we headed to Lambton for the night. Don't get me wrong, I love the Sugar Bush but it was nice to have the amenities of home.

April 7th, 2011

Snared Porcupine

On the way back to the Sugar Shack Gilles and I checked the snare that we had set the night before. We had luck. The maple killing porcupine was caught. I took a photo and then he found his way quickly to porcupine heaven.

Back at the Sugar Shack... still frozen.

The Main Pumphouse

No Sap

A Spurt of Sap

At 1:30 pm Jean-Rock started up the pumps and we began to produce sap. Not much, but still sap.

The Sap Tanks Upstairs

Sap

Concentrate

Gilles and I headed out with the snow shoes again to look for porcupines and fallen trees. None and none. With the sap flowing we would be able to see if there were leaks in the lines. Jean-Rock was headed down one line, so Gilles and I headed down another. We went down the main line looking for signs that the vacuum had been broken. When we found leaks, we isolated them, and repaired them.

The Tool

The Clouds Break

Light Returns

The Maple Bush

The Warming Shack

You don't realize how hard it is to walk all day in snow shoes until you do it. Gah. It is hard.

When we got back we took the Ski-Doo to the second pump house where we pumped the sap back to the sugar shack. We winterized the pump and then headed to the first pump house. Same procedure.

Back at the Sugar Shack Francine had supper ready for us. Amazing.

A few logs on the stove and another sound sleep.

April 8th, 2011

Finally. The sap ran.

It was a peaceful sleep, but in the morning we got running relatively early. We had some time to check the lines, but it was not long before we had to head down to the pumping station to get things going. One thing about Sugaring is that it is always interesting. In all of their years doing this Gilles and Jean-Rock had never seen what we saw. There was some water in the pump somehow (don't ask me how as we had drained it the night before) and one of the valves was frozen. This meant that when we turned on the pump everything was fine, everything was fine, and then BAM we pressured up blew out a gasket and shot sap out the side of the pump. It was when we took it all apart that we found the ice in the valve. Gilles and Jean-Rock dug out the ice, then we squashed the gasket back in and tried 'er again. Eureka. This time it worked and the sap was on its way to the Sugar Shack.

We headed back out to check the lines. Again we showshoed through the Sugar Bush looking for leaks. We found many, and I even found one myself!

My Leak!

Life in Death

Growth

With the sap still running we headed back to the Sugar Shack, and at about 4:00 pm we started up the evaporator. It too quite a while to get going, but with the fire roaring inside it, it was not long before great clouds of steam began to come from the sap. Now, I was finally making Maple Syrup.

The Evaporator

We don't think about it when we buy Maple Syrup, but making Syrup is a tricky business. The Syrup needs to be at exactly 66% sugar. If there is less sugar then the Syrup will ferment. If there is more, crystals will drop out of the Syrup and collect in its container. People also don't know that the colour of the Syrup depends on the time of the season. In the beginning of the season the Syrup is almost clear, and at the end it is that dark brown that you see in the grocery stores. The Syrup we were making was the colour of gold.

Tools of the Trade

Gilles Making Syrup

The Evaporator

Maple Syrup

The Steaming Shack

Like I said, cooking Syrup is a tricky business, but Gilles and Jean-Rock are experts. We were there for hours. Stacking wood, stoking the fires, testing the Syrup, putting the Syrup in drums, cleaning filters, bottling Syrup, and finally, cleaning up. We were making Syrup until past midnight.

My First Batch!

When we were all done Gilles and I took a leisurely stroll down to the pumphouse. It was dark at first but very soon our eyes had adjusted and we were immersed in yet another perfect moment. Like usual we drained the pump, but we saw a very bad omen. There was ice forming in the lines. We hoped like hell that the ice was not all the way though the line back to the house, but we could only hope.

Ice in the Lines

We took our time walking back to the Sugar Shack and when we arrived we settled onto the two rocking chairs. We had a glass of wine (well, Gilles had the wine) and a few slices of cheese as we unwound.

What an amazing day. At 1:30 am we called 'er a night and headed to bed.

It was another sound sleep, with only one nightmare (which is much less than my norm), and I only went to pee once. Uh... yeah... I don't normally share that information, but this was kind of interesting because as I went out to do my business I interrupted a raccoon eating bird seed on the ground. I did my business, he headed back into the bush, and then I returned to my cot... my cot that felt like the bed of a King...

A Syrup making King.

April 9th, 2011

Indications

It was a late night, and it was followed by an early morning. We might want a little more sleep, but we are bound to the weather... and la nouvelle (the news) our source of the weather... We were ready to have breakfast when Gilles looked out the window. There is one tree with an old school tap and bucket on it where you can see if the sap is running... it was. We headed down to the pumphouse, fearing that the pump would be frozen, but we managed to have a stroke of luck. Everything started perfectly. We headed back to the Sugar House to have the breakfast that we had postponed.

Our breakfast was bacon and eggs with toast toasted on the wood stove. We were enjoying our breakfast when the people began pouring it. Today was Saturday, and while on the weekdays only a few people could come and help, on the weekends people could come in droves. First was Gilles' brother, and then Gilles and Francine's daughter, and her family (with which I am a kind of celebrity due to an incident with their son (who was not present) whom I somehow managed to squirt in the face with a hose when he was looking into it while I had the hose pinched... and then not pinched... ahahaha... but yeah, this was like 15 years ago when they were visiting Calgary). Later Jean-Rock's wife came, a friend of theirs, Francine's sister, and a bunch of people whose names I can't remember or never knew.

With an abundance of manpower we loaded four drums of Syrup onto the trailer, while the woman power set up chairs outside to supervise the manpower. We were slightly over staffed after a while and the women noted that we were like city workers, one person was working and three were supervising. Then they noted that it was like follow the leader as Gilles led the way and we charged after him. When Gilles and I were getting ready to head out to inspect the lines they commented on my "purse." I would have called it a satchel, but I was sure to model it for them nonetheless. I must say, I was lucky that some of this was translated to me in English. The majority of conversation was in French but those who knew English were kind enough to use it.

A Neighbourly Visit

It was a party, we were even visited by a neighbour who rode a chariot into the Sugar Camp being drawn by his two horses trained for harvesting lumber. There were hordes of people, and all of them were having a great time. We had some PFK (KFC) for lunch and then Gilles and I headed down to the second pumphouse to start the pump and check the lines. We were heading off for a few hours so Gilles asked if I wanted some water. There was no water around, but I said I did. He took a cup from a shelf and dipped it into a tank of sap. He drank. When the cup was dry he filled it again and passed it to me. What does sap taste like?

The experience of a lifetime.

The Sugaring Apprentice

In the Bush

We spent that afternoon repairing lines. We got a call on the radio at one point saying that they were making Maple Toffee in the snow back at the house and that I should come. We were in the middle of nowhere and I was there to work so I stayed with Gilles. We were joined by Gilles' friend Guy and his dog cashew and the group of us trudged on though the wet and soft snow. At this point it seemed evident that I weighted the most as I sank in quite a bit further than the other two men... and I had the largest snow shoes!!! I guess it is diet time for me.

Weapon of Mass Destruction

Oops...

It was a quick Ski-Doo trip and we were home. Gilles had me drive, and since it was all wet and mushy the Ski-Doo was rather difficult to control... so... I maybe... sort of maybe... sort of maybe definitely drove the Ski-Doo into a young Maple tree. It seemed worse at the time, but when I took a photo later there was only a little cut...

Ebbing Clouds

The Colour of White

Lightline

What the Ground Sees

Back at the house Gilles' daughter made crepes which we ate with fresh Maple Syrup. It was incredible.

Everyone cleared out relatively early, and when the temperature dropped Gilles and I took another stroll to the pumphouse. This time our way was lit by the moon. We drained the pump, headed back, cleaned the osmotic filter, Francine washed out the sap tank, and it was time for another well deserved rest.

Thank goodness.

April 10th, 2011

It was a perfect last day.

It was a pretty usual start, except the valve connecting the sap tank to the pump was frozen (not a good sign). Gilles and I headed towards the second pumphouse and left the Ski-Doo on the path. Gilled turned the Ski-Doo around but it slipped off the main path and took a major turn sideways before we got it back on the path. With the snow shoes we fixed a few more lines, added a saddle to a main line, and re-tapped a tree. I have now seen the entire process of making Maple Syrup.

Gilles and I headed home (and on the way he hit the same maple with the Ski-Doo that I did!). I could get used to the Sugaring life. Working hard. Drinking sap. And as usual, what you don't finish at supper you finish at breakfast... or lunch as the case was that day. Like the day before the people started pouring in. I began to pack, carefully shifting weight to my carry-on and estimating how many bottles of Syrup I could carry in my suitcase while still being within the weight restrictions (I chose 10 bottles, and was dead on).

I had missed the sugar party the day before, and I thought that was it, but as I was packing Francine was cooking Maple Syrup. She took a plug in burner outside and put a massive pot of Syrup on top. There were kids there, and families, and siblings, and lots of people. They began to make their way to the pot of Syrup. As the Syrup was cooking we took wooden sticks and stuck them in the hot sugar. Letting it cool we licked it off and then stuck our sticks in for more. When the Syrup was thick enough Francine poured some of the Syrup onto some clean snow that they had collected and we made Maple Toffee. We took our sticks and scooped up the icy treat.

Chaud Sirop

The Inner Child

Toffee

The Sugar Party

Sugaring is part of Quebec's culture, and with all of the people gathering there to be together (and to enjoy copious amounts of sucar) you can see why. There is also rumour that people often drink beer at these events and that Maple Syrup and beer create a powerful... cleanse. This is one occasion where I am glad that I don't drink.

In all of this I was hoping to say good-bye to Jean-Rock, but he wasn't supposed to be coming. It was right when I was getting ready to leave that he did come. I got a photo, and said my good-byes. Sure, we didn't speak a word of the same language, but we understood each other, and there was some kind of bond there. I won't forget it.

Jean-Rock

I thanked Gilles and Francine for their hospitality, and with my suitcase full of Syrup, I was on my way.

Gilles and Francine

This was an incredible experience, and this is something that I am infinitely grateful for, and something that I will never forget.

What an Adventure...

The Adventure Continues...