Toot Your Tooters!

By Blake De La Perrelle, Kamloops

Another great day riding from Salmon Arm to my home detachment of Kamloops.

We woke up at the Prestige Harbourfront in Salmon Arm to sunny skies which was the first sign that today was going to be a good day. We headed down to McDonald’s for a champion’s breakfast to fuel the day.

A quick stop at Salmon Arm West Elementary to see the kids who had made some really cool signs cheering us on was great encouragement to get us out on to the TCH headed westbound.

We stopped in Chase and were joined by our dear friend Cody who rode the last leg with us into Haldane Elementary where another group of students were waiting for us with supportive messages, including one from a local family who had benefitted from our efforts in the past. The lunch provided by the Rotary Club was one that had been talked about all day as we rode along looking forward to soup and muffins, and it did NOT disappoint. There were a lot of muffins being added to back pockets for later as we left the lunch stop, also with a generous donation to help the local kids.

Back out on Hwy 1, the wind was at our backs and we cruised into Kamloops with ease, and even had time to rest at the park before our landing at my detachment. I was so excited to get there, and it was great to see so many colleagues and the set up provided by the detachment for our arrival. We were joined by some of the families who had received funding for their kids in their time of crisis. The landing was a great end to an awesome day.

We had a quick change and then it was off to Moon Wok for team dinner, and we filled our bellies! Before we left, we were approached by a couple who recognized us. As it turns out, Cops for Kids had helped their grandson and we had a heartfelt moment before we left. Small world.

Since Creston, we’ve had 100 toots from semi trucks. If we could get 150 before Kelowna it would make our day. Trucks on the road – toot your tooters!

Tomorrow is the last full day as we make our way to Vernon, and then we wrap up and head back to our regular duties on Monday. What a ride!