a b.c. travelogue - 4

July 31 - Telkwa

Ernie first saw the George Frontage Road sign, and I spotted the flags, one Canadian and one U.S. on either side of the "Bulkley Field And Stream RV." All was exactly as Charlie had described it and we easily found Charlie and Leslie’s home a few minutes out of Telkwa. We got there right on schedule 11:45 Sunday morning.

It was great to see Charlie again. We’d met in person only one other time, at the Edmonton Gathering of poets in 2003. He hasn’t changed, and the little spot of paradise they inhabit is every bit as lovely as one would think from reading his poems.

We met Leslie, who was still in the middle of lunch preparations. So Charlie took us to the back to see her garden. Oh my. That meticulous and flourishing plot sure puts mine to shame! I also saw the raspberry patch – the one that appears in this poem. And Charlie pointed out the trees he wrote about in another.

Lunch was a tableful of delights - homemade cream of spinach soup, whole wheat biscuits still hot from the oven, several cheeses, salami, pickles and for desert, Saskatoon berry pie, ice cream. and we finished it off with Starbucks French roast. Of course, all this was accompanied by good conversation about writing and poetry and bootmaking and Leslie’s avocation, genealogy.

Later they took us to walk beside the Bulkley River, which flows just behind the trailer park, and Charlie showed us his bootmaking shop. Then we went into town, checked into our motel, and the four of us walked the riverbank there.



We ended the evening with another great meal, this time at Three Bridges Restaurant. And the best part is, we’ve made plans to see Leslie and Charlie again on this trip. We’ll be traveling to Prince Rupert in convoy with them later in the week.