I know that today’s prompt asked about my favorite road trip, but in December of 2023 there was a similar prompt that asked for my most memorable place visited… you say toematoe, I say towmotto!  Either way, it’s a fruitegible… just sayin.

Enjoy…

My most fond memory of a place visited would have to be Kamloops, British Columbia.

When my oldest daughter was about eleven, I wanted to do something special with her… just the two of us. I packed her up and drove straight through from Seattle to Kamloops for a massive Native American Gathering… a Powwow! I had wanted to attend one for much of my life and finally had an opportunity for a Mom Daughter Road Trip, so I took it!

I woke my girl up during the night, packed her snoring little body into the passenger side of our Toyota Camry and headed for Canada. We drove straight through Banff National Forest, which was amazing, by the way. Once we got to Kamloops and dumped all our stuff in the hotel, we headed for all the noise!

We attended two days of amazing displays of incredible Regalia, outstanding music and intense dance performances… f.y.i. taking pictures willy nilly is considered quite rude. If you wish to take a picture of someone, it is sort of expected to give a gift in return. I learned this early on and left my camera in my purse.

We toured the local museums, got lost driving around in the countryside and ate whatever we wanted. I will never forget that trip. I honestly can’t remember what I bought my daughter, but she picked out a necklace for me that I have kept to this day! It is a bronze cast of a wolf’s face. Though the necklace bindings all gave out, I have continued to reset the cast all these years later.

While some may think I remember the Powwow as my favorite place to visit… in truth, it’s the time spent with my oldest that holds my memories fast! She and I haven’t spoken in some time. Many years have passed since we were that close. No matter how angry she is, no matter how unforgiving she tries to be… I know we will always have Kamloops, and that is enough memory to get me to the gates…