Do you believe in fate? I must admit that I do.
We left Inuvik feeling a bit down. The weather did not help. It was gloomy. Nobody was on the road, except a large transport trailer that passed us in a sea of mud. By the time we got to the crossing of the Mackenzie River, we caught up to him.
We were parked next to other on the ferry, the only two vehicles. He leaned out of his window and started a conversation with us. Seeing that it was going some place, he decided to step down and hang over our window and have a good chat. When he heard our disappointment about not making it to Tuk, he chided me jovially "oh all you ladies just want to put your toes in the Arctic Ocean". I confessed that was true.
Then he said a remarkable thing. He said "nah, you didn't miss anything. Nothing to see up there, nothing worth the trip". Then he proceeded to tell us about himself. He tried retirement but that didn't work, and he went back to trucking. I saw the Inuvik sign on his truck so I innocently asked him if that is where he lived. He looked shocked. "Me? No way" he said. "I live in Fort Smith". My head reeled. "Where is that?" I asked, hopelessly lost. "He explained. "What you people need to see is the Decho" he continued, "That is God's country. Herds of Buffalo, flocks of Whooping Cranes. And trees. Not like here at all". We asked him in a state of total bewilderment exactly where he trucked out of, and he told us Edmonton. Edmonton?? Somehow, we were being educated a lot about the nature of trucking in the western sector of our country. He then explained about the Decho region and how beautiful it was and how we could manage to get there in just 2 days from where we were. Rick admitted that he had considered that route before and the trucker said "just do it".
So we gained more than we had lost as we now had a new destination. A new exploration. We instantly felt better. Next year the Decho.
Thank you Mr Trucker, whoever you are. A guardian travel angel. Maybe we will look you up some day in Fort Smith.
Barbara Rick and Flossie
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