Hank Hits the Road

I recently shared with a group that I am and have always been a wanderer and a restless soul. I had different theories about that, but for now I’ll just say that I often thought I was searching for home.

Some of you may understand this and some of you may not, but for me I think I’ve always subconsciously been looking for something. I used to think I might be self-sabotaging. The call to go somewhere and do something else always coming just as I was getting comfortable.

But, as I started to do some real work on myself and earnestly wander-in, I began to realize that I’ve always wandered and explored not because my soul is restless ( though maybe it is), but because wandering, exploring, trying, and eating new things brings me immense JOY.

I’m fortunate to be married to someone who is just as game to explore and who has wandering feet in his own way. I’m fortunate to be married to someone who always sees the bright side of life. I’m fortunate that at this time due to circumstances we’ve chosen to look at where we’re at right now as an opportunity with time and space to wander.

So . . . . . with Hank we hit the road (Hank is our truck/camper and if you’re not sure of his story, I’ll post it below).

Our only destination/plan is to visit a friend who summers in Haida Gwaii, see our parents who we haven’t seen forever, and . . . . . ?????

We made our way to Prince Rupert from here. That stretch of highway was some of the most beautiful we’ve seen in our travels, but there was one problem. We’ve been known to get so caught up in the moment that we forget about practical things like . . . . . looking at the gas gauge. About half way between the two cities B-Rod made the realization that he wasn’t sure if we’d make it!

Sometimes adventure isn’t always fun and can be far from glamourous. We set sail at 11pm with an arrival time in Skidegate at 6am. Not being allowed to sleep in Hank for the night, our sleeping quarters instead involved . . . . .

Arrived at where our friend “Putter” is staying, said hi to her boys (one who we haven’t met yet . . . . that’s how long it’s been!) and set out to wander around.

And . . . that thing we picked up for her at Canadian Tire that we were baffled about?! It was a big hit!

Travel doesn’t always go as expected or anticipated. Sometimes part of wander-in is trusting the process and letting go of how you thought things would play out and just going with what is. Sometimes THAT is the real adventure. Turns out our time in Haida Gwaii may end up being a bit longer than anticipated. I guess all there is to do in the meantime is go with it and . . . . dela frijoles!!

Hank Westwind was named by a good friend of ours who describes him like this . . . “𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘣𝘰𝘺, 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘵, 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯; 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘬.”