I couldn't believe that the Greyhound would just drive by me like they did and I left all my stuff on the side of the highway,walked into the lodge and picked up the phone.I called Greyhound Canada(who were the ones that told me the damn bus would stop)and they told me to call the Watson Lake depot.I called Watson Lake and they simply said that they did not work for Greyhound and that it wasn't their problem.Fuck!!I told them that I was now stuck for another two days until the next one came along and she just said that is the way it is and hung up.Man Greyhound Canada sucks big time!!
Linda came up to me and asked what I wanted to do and I told her that I may as well stay with them again and she told me that my room hadn't been touched yet and I could just roll my stuff back in and come back for a beer.I know that she felt really bad about what had happened to me but not as bad as I felt when Jack decided to pay for a room for the night and right in front of me she charged him four times the price I had paid.I kept my mouth shut.
The next two days were spent hanging out chatting to all the travellers as they passed through while I rested in between run and swim workouts.I was reall happy that I could run without pain but a few hours later my knee started hurting again and I was now resigning myself to the possiblity of day three at Ultraman being a really painfull day.I didn't really want to consider the damage I may have already done to my knee and just how bad it will be after the 84 kilometer run that finishes off the event.Not having done any actual swimming since the Challenge Cairns Ironman distance race seven weeks before didn't really worry me as I've done the Ultraman swim with no training before and I was sure that the dry-land swim workouts would help.It would make for a great experiment if nothing else.
Even though I was enjoying my stay at Rancheria,I did start to have some pretty low moments during the next day and after going for my morning run/walk in the woods,hid myself away in my room and watched a few movies to take my mind off all the stuff that I didn't want to think about.It was a really frustrating time for me as I was really getting sick of being delayed by outside influences all the while knowing that it is during the down times that I have time to think about the negative stuff in my life.It is a a huge Catch-22 situation because I know full well that it is my depression that holds me up and delays my progress most of the time but it is that vey down time that allows me to dwell on the stuff that causes me to become really blue and that shuts me down even more.Sometimes it is a monumental task to drag myself out of wherever I'm hidden away and deal with the real world.That evening I forced myself out of the door and back to the lodge where I knew I would be surrounded by people who would be intterested in my trip.That always seemed to cheer me up and hanging out with the ladies from the lodge that night proved just the tonic I needed.They were all so nice and so interesed in my trip and the crazy event that I was heading to Penticton to do.
My last day at Rancheria was a slow one but eventually the time came when it was time for me to leave.I had just had a huge plate of food and was floored once again when I searched out Linda to settle my account.She asked my what I had eaten and charge me $15:45 for the meal,coffee and a couple of snacks I took for the ride.I was really confused and said "there is my room as well,it should be a lot more than that".She just said "don't worry about it,it has been a pleasure having you here and we are going to miss you".Yet again I was speechless!The bus did ,as promised,stop and I loaded all my gear into the trailer among all the freight.I was touched when all the ladies who worked there lined up in the driveway and said their goodbyes with one of them yelling "Now go kick some ass in Ultraman".What had I done to deserve such generosity?I watched them all waving as the bus pulled away and was very sad to be leaving that safe little lodge in the middle of nowhere and as I write this there are tears in my eyes at the memory of that grand experience.
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