With Canadian flags sewn onto all my pieces of luggage (or at least, SFU patches!) and with clothes strewn across my floor, the packing for Chilliwack, Vancouver, and Australia has begun. It doesn't look like a lot right now, but as I've been mostly fussing with things for the last few days, that saves me a lot of time for tomorrow's final push--now it's just putting it all into the bags, and finding a way to make it all fit. (How, I don't know, but I'll find a way!)It doesn't feel strange to be leaving Revelstoke. I've done it enough over the last two years to know that when I come back, my friends will be here and not much will have changed. We'll have done more and none of us will really live here anymore, but together, we won't have changed. The Columbia valley is reassuring in its constance.
What does feel strange is that less than a week from now, I'll be standing with one of my best friends as she promises the rest of her future to her fiance. Little Alaina is going to be a wife, married, and on her way to France! And so young, too, at the tender age of 20--it would worry me, except that across from her will be Ashton, and it makes my heart swell to know that two such wonderful people have decided to share their lives together. They deserve each other, they've earned each other. I already know that the day will be exciting and breathtaking--and not just because we're also going whitewater rafting. Hehe.
I'm surprised at how many loose ends I'm not leaving behind. My to-do list has dwindled into completely mundane things like, "get chapstick," and I can now pack without worrying about living out of a suitcase for a weekend. Gifts have been bought for weddings and Aussies, plans have been laid to see friends for one final evening, and I'm making myself not worry about logistics for bachelorette parties and weddings. Soon, mum and I will be in the car and off to the Coquihalla once again.
To say farewell to the mountains, Eric and I ate dessert at 5000 ft tonight, on Mt. Revelstoke. Chocolate sauce and strawberries? Yum. (We also saw Transformers, which was surprisingly good!)
