A garden in my heart : My Canada -- Road accident

和其它背包客朋友共租的車子

　　雪地自助旅行第三天，我們四個人集合租車，Jasper 出發到 Banff．

　　這條高速公路大約台北到台中的距離，夏季時間相當忙碌，而冬季幾乎是休眠，許多休息站和觀光景點都關閉．冬天是超級淡季！

　　澳洲軍人是駕駛，魁北克女生坐在副駕駛座．我和英國女人坐後座．路上多半時間都只有我們一輛車，對面來車幾乎是沒有．剛開始，魁北克女生時常提醒澳洲男士儘量往中間駕駛，因為澳洲的座位左右方向不同，有一點不習慣．

　　英國女人突發其想說，往後看有一個風景看起來不錯，路上沒有車，要不要轉回去看看呢??　我沒有特別的感覺，若其它人同意我也沒有意見！！澳洲男士很隨和就停下來，看前後沒有來車，接下來就迴轉．若不貪心倒退一下再轉一次就沒有問題，說時遲那時快，我們的車子就陷進路邊雪堆裡．......哼嗯～第一次遇到這種情形，完全不知道該怎麼辦?就看看另外三位外國人怎麼說就怎麼做? 討論了一下，就是注意來往車輛，攔車，看看車上有無繩子可以幫我們將車子拉起來．

　　剛才說過冬天淡季遊客少，來往車輛更少，大約十分鐘後才看到一輛車，狂招手就怕駕駛沒看到我們．可惜被攔下來的車輛沒有放繩索．再隔十多分鐘，才有第二輛車，結果一樣沒有繩索愛莫能助．

　　時間一分一秒的溜走，第三輛車子還沒到．澳洲軍人有一點內疚，他想他要搭乘我們攔下的第三輛車到下一個休息站請拖吊車之類求助，不然大家在車子外受凍接下來會發生什麼事無人可以猜到．第一要件要先想辦法將車子拉起來．

　　當時我不覺得有特別的問題，說真的還有一點興奮．我們在加拿大的高速公路上迴轉而且還發生意外．........

　　開始祈禱第三輛車一定要有繩索.....否則澳洲朋友一來一往不知道要花多少時間，而且就算到了休息站也未必有救援單位．而且若在等待過程中，萬一第四輛車有繩索可以幫我們，而駕駛先生不在，接著又要找人，似乎不是太妙的流程．

　　好在幸運之神的照料，第三輛車有繩索而且車主人很熱心幫忙．繩索一度拉斷，有驚無險，長度還夠再拖拉一次．我也有幫忙推，但其實我都還沒找到施力點，車子就被拉起來．呼～真的太感謝！！

　　再度回到車上(路途上)，英國朋友說還有一個方法就是在車輛舖上毯子增加摩擦力，車子應該有機會推上來．我沒有親身經驗也就不做任何評論．但事後想想，我當時的興奮其實是因為沒有經驗不知道危險在那裡？只要時間再拖久一點，我想就會冷到笑不出來！若是天色昏暗，視線更模糊，即使在路邊但危險性更高！！

　　重新開車再上高速公路，約莫四十分鐘才遇到休息站，連一隻鳥都沒有，那來的道路救援！？只能說唯一的一次高速公路意外真是太幸運！！

It was so cold when we arrived in Jasper. I asked the staff at the information center what the temperature was? They told me it was minus 30 degrees. I come from a warmer country; this cold weather was a big challenge for me. Finally, I arrived at my first night’s stop --- the Jasper Hostel. There were many people who came from all over the world. Everyone could describe their traveling experiences. This made it more interesting to understand the world.

I got bad news. First, I had missed the bus that comes only once a week between Jasper and Banff. If I wanted to go there by bus, I would have to wait for one week. Secondly, the skiing field didn’t open because it didn’t have enough snow. What could I do? Jasper is a small town; there are just two short streets in the downtown area. It is famous for skiing in the winter. Fortunately, I made some friends. One lady was from England, one from Quebec and the guy was from Australia. We decided to rent a car to go to Banff.

The freeway between Jasper and Banff is world famous and it isn’t busy in the winter. On the way, the English lady asked, “Behind us the views were beautiful, so can we return to take some pictures?” The Austrian driver thought that it would be no problem, so he turned around. Because the driver did not turn hard enough, our car drove into the snow. We couldn’t push it out because the road was too slippery. We really needed to another car to helped pull us out. Three cars passed but they didn’t have a rope. We just prayed and hoped for someone to come. I was quite happy when the forth car came and had a rope to pull us out; even though the rope had broken the first time they tried to pull us out. The car accident left me feeling more enthusiastic about Canadian people, because I saw the Canadian spirit from a the first hand view.

Banff is a busy town all year around, because there are a lot of tourists visiting it. Of course, there are many out-door activities that you can choose from. I went ice skating on the lake, skiing, snow shoeing and dog sledding. Those were first experiences in my life. I especially enjoyed watching the dogs pull the sled around. I spent two hours snow shoeing in the forest. The snow shoes were too huge to run. We needed to walk quite slowly and carefully. The tour guide taught us ( just the English lady and I were on this tour) to recognize of the native plants.

I went to the Rocky Mountains twice last year. Once was when I joined a tour in the summer, the other was in the winter. I think that there are totally different views and feelings between the two seasons. It was more of an adventure and interesting in the winter. I will never forget the experience.

*************************