Last week, we embarked on a 4,260-mile round trip that would bring us to Edmonton and Lac La Biche in Alberta, Canada to visit Teng's relatives. It took us more than 3 days and two nights to drive one way, starting from Loma Linda on Monday, July 8 and arriving Edmonton at 2:00 am of Thursday, July 11. We were cruising Interstate 15 all the way except for a brief detour to Yellowstone National Park on the boundary of Montana and Wyoming.
A month earlier, while considering the trip, I did some research on whether I have some friends residing in those places. True enough, I found a family who used to be my neighbors in Hinaplanon who are now residing in Edmonton. The Quilacios are very close to me because we belong to the same church which only consists of half a dozen families.
Then I remember that Wengweng Candelasa is also residing somewhere in Canada but I'm not sure which part of the country. Wengweng arrived in MSU when I was the one directing the choir and when I learned that she plays the piano well, she became the pianist right away uncontested. When I went to Manila for a study leave in 1983, she was still there assisting Remrem Ortega who took over the choir leadership.
When I checked her Facebook page, I found out that she lived in Grand Praire, some 5-hour drive northwest of Edmonton. So I informed her of our planned trip and that I wished to meet her but considering the distance, I would understand if it would not materialize. But she responded that she was willing to drive that far in order to meet me. She also informed me that Evilla "Bebing" Aguilo is in Calgary, which is a 3-hour drive south of Edmonton. When she told Bebing that I'm coming, Bebing also decided to drive that 3-hour distance to meet us.
Those were the highlights on my part of the trip, the rest of our itinerary was meeting and bonding with Teng's uncle, a number of first cousins and lots of nephews and nieces.
On Thursday, Teng's cousin, Alex drove us to Jasper National Park reaching up to the foot of Edith Cavell Glacier which was in time for snow drizzling. It was the first time for Teng's mother to touch snow. We spent the night at a hotel in Jasper City and the following morning we rode the tramway up to the park's Alpine Tundra at an elevation of 1300 meters above sea level overlooking six mountain ranges.
On the Sabbath, we attended the Edmonton Filipino SDA Church which, as expected, I met Wengweng, the Quilacio family and Bebing. What I did not expect was that Wengweng would drive 5 hours on a huge 4x4 pickup truck with big wheels and elevated chasis. She arrived Edmonton the night before with 3 non-SDA friends who attended church with us. Bebing also drove a SUV from Calgary.
There was one unexpected friend who greeted me in church. It's Julius Betoya who I only knew in MSU as Dodoy, Alandrex's younger brother. Dodoy did not finish in MSU. He transferred to AUP where he would meet his wife. Since Teng worked at AUP during their time, they also recognized Teng and she remembered them.
After lunch in church, Dodoy invited us to come to his luxurious townhouse at the outskirts of Edmonton. There they offered us cold juice drinks while he was showing to us a video of their exploits in Mindoro as missionaries among the Mangyans for 5 years.
Too bad, time was so short for bonding. After the video, Bebing was already in a hurry to go because she is meeting her son also in Edmonton. We gathered around, sang one familiar song and I offered a short prayer thanking God for the opportunity of meeting old friends who have gone to different directions in life and then meet again at an instant in the same space and time after thirty years.
Since Bebing left her car at the church's parking lot and Wengweng left hers at the hotel they were staying nearby, we drove them back to be reunited with their wheels. I wish such meetings of old friends in unexpected places will become more frequent in the near future.
Then it was our time to bond with my Hinaplanon neighbors. They were very excited to see me and Teng. I am their first neighbor from the Philippines that they meet here in Canada. They brought us to the Alberta Legislative Park then treated us to a sumptuous dinner at a Royal Buffet. You can see our pictures in my FB pages. The rest of our visit was meeting and bonding with Teng's relatives. Her 97 year old uncle is still strong and active. I could not memorize all the name of her cousins and nephews and nieces and even grandchildren but I enjoyed every moment of it.
On Monday, we drove northeast for almost three hours to visit another cousin who lives in Lac La Biche. At 54.9 degrees north of the equator, this is the place with the highest latitude that I have been to. "Lac La Biche" is a French word which literally means "Lake of the Deer." It's the name given by a French explorer who discovered the place. It was in Lac La Biche where I found total serenity and for a time forgot all the cares of the world. Our most enjoyable experience was boating on the serene lake on Tuesday.
On our way home, we had another sleepover in Edmonton and then retraced our route starting Thursday morning. When we reached Utah, our wanderlust was again excited at the prospect of visiting Arches National Park and on the Sabbath, we find ourselves amidst God's creative wonders, awed and mesmerized at those gigantic natural monuments and unusual rock formations sculpted by time.
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