It’s a miracle! I have on my 3rd of 9 days off, and am currently aboard a ferry heading to the BC Mainland on the beginning leg of a road trip to the interior of the Province. Summerland, specifically, a tiny town a couple of hours south of the bustling Conservative hotbed metropolis of Kelowna. I am going with a friend, to stay with another friend that used to live near us, but doesn’t anymore because reasons, and it’ll be the first time we’ve been there… although they’ve been back here plenty of times. (To be fair, they own a house here, we don’t own one there.)
To say I’m excited would be an understatement. I don’t show it much openly, but this is my first significant trip away from home in 3 summers… and it’s way, way, way overdue. The weather as we leave here today is overcast, but warm and muggy. It rained overnight, which is good for the world, but bad for me, and I’m hoping that the interior is a little more ‘summer’ like. There’s a clothing optional beach in a nearby city, among other things to do, and I just want to get away from it all and forget everything about what ails me currently… if only for a little while.
I used to live in the Okanagan, back in the 90s, when the area was super progressive. Gay rights were just beginning to blossom, and I remember Kelowna especially as being extremely accepting of that burgeoning wonderfulness. It’s where I was able and allowed to explore my own sexuality, to varying degrees of success, and if it hadn’t been that way, perhaps I’d have never been allowed to come to terms with who I actually am… so I do have a lot of great memories from that time and for a long time held the Okanagan as a special place in my heart.
However, over the last couple of decades the area has fallen into a serious conservative decline. Kelowna became a retirement community, and that brought in old white people that had no patience for queers, and all the building they were doing brought in all the construction bros, who had even less, and now it’s just Mini-Trumpland, ready for Canada to bring its own super terrible leader in to lead us all down a road of destruction. So I’m less inclined to see it as a place of special importance to me these days… but returning there still always gives me a little boost… It’s still not ALL bad.
I also just love road trips in and of themselves. Just the change of routine. The newness. The adventure. You just never know how it’s going to go or what is going to happen… and that is something I’ve always enjoyed. So here’s to the open road… and the open water, as our boat is finally on its way and who knows how long my internet is going to last… I’ll post more during the next 4 days I’m sure.
Until then, keep naked.