A Way West

by Peter Westaway

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Hey there sleepy heads, it’s about time you got out of bed.” Issy is looking up from the fire pit to poke fun at Jeff and Monica as they emerge from their tent, stretching and rubbing their eyes.

  Monica comes up to the fire pit where Issy is trying to show Pete the Issy method of starting a camp fire. “Well good morning fellow campers. So Is, do you think Pete here, has a chance of learning how to be of any use at a campsite?” Monica jokingly jostles Pete’s shoulder as she says this.

  Pete straightens up, “Hey there my little Canadian girl, I actually tend to be a very slow learner at most things, but once I start to catch on to something that is of interest to me I learn it real good. I’m starting to get a real rush from this camping stuff, so don’t you worry. By next year when we all camp together I will be the pro at all this, and make you guys all look like amateurs.”

  Monica laughs, “Ya sure, we’ll see about that.”

  Issy stands up, stretching, as the fire starts to spread in the pit, “No Monica, he’s right, Pete is like that. He didn’t know hardly anything about fixing cars and engines before he started working on his Mustang. But he became obsessed about it, and slowly figured it all out real good. He could probably get his mechanic’s license real easy now if he wanted to.”

  Jeff sits down beside Pete on top of the picnic table facing the fire, and jabs Pete’s arm lightly with his elbow, “Except the cars these days are all run with computers, unlike your old classic.”

  Pete jumps off the picnic table in a flash, “Excellent point my wise Canadian friend. In fact, I have decided that my first priority to prepare for our new quest of having an impact on the world, is to learn everything there is to know about computers, and that crazy internet thing. It’s obvious that to reach out to the world I have to become an expert on building websites.”

  Monica leaps into the action, “You can be our web master then, and me and Issy will become experts at social networking, it’s all about Facebook and Twitter these days.”

  Issy puts the first big log on the fire and then looks at Monica, “Hey who knows what will be the next big thing? By the time, we are making some waves around the world we will probably have our very own social networking site. For all we know it might be bigger than all the others. We all have so much to learn if we are serious about having an impact everywhere.”

  Jeff’s brain has been spinning and churning like the others, “And don’t forget about China. We have to figure out a way to reach out to the people in China and North Korea, and all the other countries that have pathetic human rights records. Now that would have a real impact.”

  Issy is the practical one as usual, “Okay this is all real exciting, but how about we now just worry about having a good breakfast and getting our butts back on the road. We have the rest of our lives to figure out all this world changing stuff.”

  He pulls onto the interstate and quickly accelerates to a comfortable 65 miles an hour. Jeff then checks his mirror and is reassured with the now familiar sight of the Mustang keeping pace behind him. Jeff cannot believe how well this whole trip has gone. Sure, they had a little set back with Monica getting that speeding ticket, and he had a little scare yesterday with the gas leak, but overall the trip has gone amazing. He was excited about their future as he pulled out of Ottawa only seven short days ago. Seven days? Is that all it’s been? It is hard to believe that so much has happened to them in such a short time. And now things look like they may get even more exciting for a long time to come. He looks forward at the horizon and loves the thought of what is straight in front of them. The Mountains! They should be entering the Rocky Mountains sometime this afternoon and that thought gives him an extra little shot of adrenaline. He had been fantasizing about the Rockies since he was thirteen and first started getting serious about downhill skiing. And this winter he will be skiing in them for the first time. Now that he is also into mountain biking he can’t wait to buy a bike and do a whole lot of that as well. Of course, best of all, is that he will be doing both with Monica. He is so glad that she is getting more comfortable with this whole adventure. She hasn’t even mentioned her damn cat for several days except of course when they were back at the Juniper campsite. He knows he has Issy to thank mostly for Monica’s good humour.

  They really fluked out meeting those two. He glances at the Mustang again in his mirror and smiles to himself. Yep damn lucky! And now this whole idea about this charity, what a thrill that would be. To finally have someone to help him and Monica make a real difference in the world is real nice. It’s appropriate he thinks, that at The Little Big Horn, the only point of historical interest they have stopped at, the four of them started to discuss the details of something that just might cause the four of them to go down in history. He can’t forget that little talk the girls were having about them all having children. Now that sure would be sweet! He and Monica are still way too young to start a family though. He knows Monica wants to finish university first. But maybe he should start thinking about saving up and buying her an engagement ring. Yep! Life was good, and it sure looked like it was only going to get better.

  Behind him she was having mixed feelings. Monica is not so sure what to think. She was having more fun than she expected, that’s for sure. It was a real blessing to have found Issy. Hopefully Jeff won’t be too upset if she asks to ride with Issy and Pete in the car after they stop for lunch. She doesn’t want to start hating Jeff’s motorcycle but she really had no idea it would be so boring and uncomfortable being on the back of it for such long stretches. She sure is starting to really miss Juniper. She just knows that Juniper is probably getting depressed not getting the attention and affection that she was used to. Sure her mom is feeding her but she needs some of her loving. This trip has been incredible she has to admit, but maybe Christine and her mom are right.

  There is still time to register for classes this fall, the university already accepted her so she’s sure there are some classes that are open that she could sign up for. And now Tony is even going back to school. Her parents both have their Bachelor’s degree so she sure as hell doesn’t want to end up being the worst educated in the family. This charity idea does sound exciting. She really does want to make some kind of difference. But how much can she trust this Pete? His is a druggie after all; he sure can’t be trusted to guide her future. And besides, she could still contribute to the charity from Ottawa. They will be relying on the internet to spread their message, and having someone back east and in Canada’s capital city would be of some value. And she works so well with Christine, and she just knows Christine will want to be involved with such a cool big project. If it becomes a reality of course. Issy is super cool but it’s not as if they are going to be living in the same city. If only she knew what to do. She’ll try to not think about it too much till they get to B.C..

  Hopefully things will be clearer to her when she sees what life is like living out there. If only she could convince Jeff to go back to Ottawa with her at the end of the summer. He is a great guy and has been super sweet to her the whole trip. Especially when she screwed up big time and got caught speeding. She is probably going to want a family with Jeff someday but she is way too young to be worrying about that yet. If only she had Juniper with her now. She could always count on snuggling with her cat to calm her down and help her make the right decisions.

  Pete ejects the Lady Gaga CD again. Thank God that’s over! She’s a real smart girl, how can she stand that stuff? Oh well, to each his own, as he likes to say. Now for some real music, he inserts the Stones classic, Sympathy For The Devil. He turns it up a notch. Now that’s music! He’s starting to think that he’s almost looking forward to finishing off his bag of weed. It’s time to clear his head and get down to business. No more Mister Nice Guy. This Project3000 is going to take over his life. He knew he was meant for something special, and it looks like he may have finally found it. The whole big crazy world was going to hell in a hand b
asket. Everyone seems to be going off in different directions. Jeff is right, if things don’t change in a hurry mankind is doomed. It’s not global warming or climate change that will do us in. We can adjust to that, it will change things and for sure many different animals will become extinct because of it, despite sweet little Monica’s efforts. But the human race would not perish, even if we had another Ice Age.

  No. Its over-population and our grotesque over-consumption that will do us in. Hell global warming might even help ultimately as it will trim down the population for sure, especially in some kind of Ice Age. There is so much bullshit being fed to us. So discovering the truth about things is going to be an important part of the plan. Discovering the truth about scientific stuff like global warming, and even more important, the truth about political stuff will give him purpose. Take that bullshit of George W. Bush with his claim that he went into Iraq because of our “imminent danger from weapons of mass destruction.” Ya right Georgie! It had nothing to with shit like your buddy Dick Cheney and Haliburton making tons of money. Yep greed, and over population are ten times more dangerous to us than any little change in the climate, and you combine the two in China alone and you have a disaster waiting to happen. You can’t blame the average person in China or Africa for wanting the same standard of living as us in The States, but Holy Shit the Earth just can not sustain it. That’s why this movement has to start now, and just maybe... Hell NO! Not maybe. We ARE the ones who are going to do it. He looks at his gorgeous pumpkin next to him, leaning back with her eyes closed.

  Yep this trip for sure is the best thing that has ever happened to him. It is time to quit the silly drugs and get down to business. First step is to marry pumpkin, she is for the sure the most awesome girl on the planet. And she’s with him only because he’s obviously the most awesome guy. And these two Canadians are obviously pretty frickin awesome, in their own right.

  Issy can’t remember ever being happier in her life. She keeps her eyes closed and thinks how amazing everything is turning out. Heck she even likes this Rolling Stones album more than Pete knows. She’s not too fussy for his Led Zepplin but The Rolling Stones are pretty cool. She just can’t let Pete ever know that though or she would never get to listen to her own music again around him. Yep life is good. And they will soon be in Seattle and it will be nice to help out poor Uncle Mick. He has had such a tough life recently. He first loses Aunt Kay to leukemia, and only one year later his only child is brutally murdered. Issy is determined to do everything she can to make his life a little easier. Working in the hardware store sounds a little boring but she will obviously be some kind of manager, at least when Uncle Mick isn’t there, and it should be fun to work with Pete. He sure is getting excited about this charity idea. Hey if it helps him forget about drugs she is all for it. Yep things are working out better than she could have hoped. If only Monica was going to be living closer to her. Oh well, she just bets that they will be taking turns jumping on a bus to visit each other. And thanks to the internet they will be chatting almost every day for sure.

  Pete turns down his music, The Doors are now playing, “So pumpkin why didn’t you ever suggest we go camping together before?”

  “Camping!? Hey you silly dumbass, we never went anywhere. You spent all your time working on your car. I was lucky to get you to come out for a single evening just to catch a movie. So I didn’t have a hope in hell getting you to go anywhere for two or three days at a time. But I love it that you want to do more of it now. We’ll go camping any time we have a couple of days off and the weather looks decent. But you’ve got to understand Pete, that my priority for the next little while is to help Uncle Mick. The poor guy hasn’t had any time off in months. But I am sure we’ll be able to check out some awesome campgrounds around Seattle soon. Can you imagine setting the tent by the ocean? Now that would be awesome!”

  Pete smiles as he nods his head, “Ya for sure, that would be really cool. And hiking and camping in the mountains, that would be frickin amazing.”

  Issy just nods her own head and looks forward smiling to herself. Pete reaches over and cranks up Jim Morrison singing one of his spooky cool songs. The sun is high in the clear blue sky, as the two young couples continue west on the Interstate heading to the their separate destinations, but their apparent merging destinies.

  Jeff comes over a slight rise and catches his first glimpse of The Rocky Mountains in the distance. His heart speeds up just a touch and his eyes widen a little as well. Right Fucking On! We’re almost there! He hopes they don’t stop for lunch until the interstate is swallowed by those majestic beauties. He turns and shouts, “Baby look! There they are!”

  Monica barely hears Jeff’s shout above the wind. She looks up and she sees the mountain range. As soon as she lays her eyes on it stretching across the horizon, as if by magic she completely forgets about Ottawa, or school for the moment. The thought of skiing at a real ski resort for the first time steam rolls all other thoughts. OH YA! To take a gondola way up into the high altitude, then to be able to descend nonstop in miles of soft beautiful powder snow, now THAT would be heaven! She squeezes Jeff tight and suddenly feels much more confident about this whole adventure. She is so young, and university will still be there waiting next year. And a degree at a British Columbia school would be just as satisfying as any from an Ontario one. And Juniper will be joining them, so everything will then be as it should.

  As they approach the waiting mountains Jeff gets more and more excited. The girls had made some sandwiches after breakfast back at the campground while the boys took down the tents. It was the thought of those, and his grumbling stomach that made Jeff decide to pull into a rest area before they reach the mountains. He compromises with himself that they will be amongst them very shortly and feeling full of energy to match the excitement that he anticipates he will be filled with.

  He brings the bike to a halt next to an empty picnic table that is under a towering oak tree. There is only one other group at the rest area, a family with a few noisy, happy children and an even noisier dog. It will take a whole lot more than that to dampen Jeff’s rising spirits. The four all settle around the table as Issy passes out the sandwiches. Jeff is chewing on his ham and cheese and quickly washes a few bites down with the Sprite they are sharing from a big bottle.

  He then announces, “I can’t believe that this whole trip is turning out so perfect.”

  Monica was hungry as well and is making quick work of her own ham and cheese, she pauses and says to Issy, “Aren’t the mountains beautiful, I can’t wait to be driving through them. I am stoked to go skiing in them this winter. Have you or Pete ever tried skiing?”

  “No the closest I’ve ever been is tobogganing, and I don’t think Pete has even tried that.” Issy manages with her mouth full.

  Pete is starting on his second ham and cheese sandwich, “No not at all, my parents didn’t encourage much outdoor stuff, but I played hockey for a few years when I was a kid. I think that still qualifies as a winter sport, especially for you Canadians, your country is pretty obsessed with that.”

  “That’s for sure, and we take particular pride when our men and women are both kicking your American asses in the Olympics and World Championships.” Jeff says this, while starting on his own second sandwich.

  Pete finishes his last bite, “Well that’s about the only thing you come close to us in. So Jeffy boy what’s the first campground in the mountains you have us heading for?”

  Jeff had been studying his map and his notebook, “I am thinking we should stop near Anaconda, I love that name for a town. It’s only a couple of hours away and right in the mountains.”

  “Sure, that sounds good, then just one more day til we are in Spokane and have to say our goodbyes.” Pete says, then heads to the garbage can to toss his plastic wrappers.

  Monica has been watching the little boys playing catch with a Frisbee with their yappy little Terrier. “Uhh.... speaking of that, would you mind Jeff if I go i
n the car for the afternoon, you’ll have me to yourself soon enough?”

  Jeff is still looking at his map, “I’ll make you a deal, we should be entering the mountains in a half hour or so, and that is a huge deal to both of us. I really want to be with you when we do that. I need gas soon so how about we stop at the first station we see in the mountains to fill up and then you can go the rest of the way in the car.”

  “Oh, all right.” Monica relents.

  Pete’s heading to the car, “Let’s get going then.”

  Monica heads to the outhouse at the end of the rest area, “Wait, I have to go pee first.”

  Jeff sees that Issy is almost in the car, “You guys head out then, and we’ll catch up. If not, we will see you at the first gas station you see after you hit the mountains.”

  Pete slams his door shut. “Sounds like a plan, see you guys soon.”

  Issy shouts to Monica, “Bye girl, see you in The Rockies!”

  Monica waves from the entrance of the outhouse, “Bye Is!”

  With a squeal of the Mustang’s wide mag tires they are off. Jeff watches the Mustang pull back onto the Interstate and speed away. A couple minutes later Monica appears from the outhouse and heads his way. He gets off the picnic table to greet her. She stops halfway to toss the Frisbee that landed at her feet, back to the boys and laughs as the older boy tells her that it was a good throw for a girl. She laughs thanks, and comes up to Jeff and puts her arms around him. She gives him a passionate kiss.

  “What was that for?” Jeff is wondering but not displeased.

  “That’s just to say how happy I am to be here with you.”

  “Baby I don’t think I have ever been happier in my life. And the best thing about it is I just know it’s going to keep getting better.”

  Monica heads to the bike that’s waiting by itself in the parking lot, “We better get going.”

  “Ya no hurry, we’ll catch up to them no problem, Pete drives that thing so slow. Besides its kinda nice to be by ourselves again.” Jeff arrives with Monica at the bike. He grabs her and makes it clear he wants some more of those sweet lips of hers. She relents once again and they lock in a leisurely embrace. They finally let go of each other and put their helmets on. Jeff flips up his face shield and declares firmly, “Next stop The Rockies!”

  Monica slaps him on the back, yells, “For sure!” And gets on the bike behind him.

  Up ahead in the Mustang Pete has put his favourite CD on to celebrate the coming mountains, Led Zepplin IV. He looks at his smiling pumpkin, “It is so frickin cool how good this trip has gone. I wish it never had to end.”

  Issy nods in agreement, “We will make sure we do lots of travelling and camping from now on.”

  “Now that we are going to be on the west coast we should make sure we explore from Southern California to Northern British Columbia.” Pete reaches over and rubs her thigh to accentuate this.

  “Ya and hopefully Monica and Jeff come with us as much as possible.” She grabs his hand and gives it a kiss.

  “What the hell are these two doing in the middle of nowhere?” Pete indicates forward with his chin. Up ahead is two people hitchhiking on the shoulder.

  Issy has, “No clue Pete.” Pete sees it’s two girls, one a tall black one, and the other a short white one, as he approaches, “Let’s pick them up, it will add a little more spice to this adventure of ours.”

  “Ya I guess so.”

  Pete gears down, passes the hitchhikers, pulls over and stops. Pete and Issy turn around and watch the two girls run up the shoulder in their direction.