Prince George to Spirit River

I've never seen Prince George the way Goji showed it to us. I didn't know that side of the city existed.

Actually, before visiting Prince George (or most of the cities and towns on this trip) I didn't know much about the place. It's in "the north," it doesn't make the news very often, I might have heard something about the forestry industry, probably something about layoffs. It was far too easy to just stay contained in my own little world between Coquitlam and Vancouver, and I didn't really hear much about the rest of BC, especially the Prince George area and points north and west and east.

Goji brought the place alive. He picked us up at the bus station on his pedal cab. I felt really bad, cause we have these two huge packs, plus another backpack that makes up for its smaller size with weight, plus Neil and I sitting on the back. But Goji managed to pedal us uphill while entertaining us with the history of the area and the story of how he's gotten the nickname "Jesus" because of his all-natural lifestyle, pacifist ways, vegan diet and his striking resemblance to the long-haired, peace-seeking deity. The response to the pedal cab, and to Goji himself, was amazing. I'm used to people walking around with blinders on in cities - pedestrians don't look anyone in the face, and drivers rarely acknowledge there's anyone else on the road, unless an accident is emminent, or they have the opportunity to yell at someone. Here, people were waving, making appreciative comments about the bike - even the cabbies were considerate.

We got in fairly late that night though, so we didn't have much time before we crashed. The next day, Goji took us on a tour of Prince George, with our first stop at a local naturopathic store. We got some cool interviews in there with the employees, and an unsuspecting customer or two. Then we met up with one of his friends for an interview. Anita Hotty, who described herself as a super sexy socialist. Actually, that might be the best way to describe her right now. Wait for the documentary, then you can meet her in person :)

and we got to interview Goji's housemate, and in the middle there somewhere, found some time to interview Goji as well. And got to stop for ice cream. And then ended up flagging down a woman who drove past in her van, and interviewed her as well. It was a really cool day for meeting people. I was sad to leave, but we had to keep pushing on, so we were back at the bus station last night at 11:00 or so.

Today we're still on the bus - this is the 15 hour ride to Spirit River, Alberta. I was hoping we might be able to stop for a night in Chetwynd or Dawson Creek, but it's really difficult co-ordinating interviews and getting stuff done if you're only in a place for an afternoon and evening. So we're gonna spend a couple days in Spirit River and get a good feel for the place instead.