Chris Burton

I had a good sleep in my vehicle within the Stanley park area of Vancouver, my phone was ringing around 7.30 am and Chris Burton told me he had left Seattle and was on his way to join the RamblingRat overland Expedition. Chris had answered an add that i had put up about a possible assistant travel partner and help with some running costs.
I was unsure of what sort of person to expect when he would arrive and i was trying to make some space around the vehicle to accommodate him, i hope he doesn’t bring to much stuff.
I collected Chris from a the car park of a fast food outlet in a suburb of Vancouver on Hastings road, i have to say that people have asked why i mention that i found Vancouver to be untidy, well i arrived in the dock area and had to walk into town and with any city in the world i see the non tourist places also Vancouver has more homeless people than any other city in Canada and my hostel was on Davie street where many homeless people stay so i have seen the real Canada i have had coffee with the homeless and have seen the problems that they face on a daily basis, it is also fact in the newspapers that Vancouver has a large problem with Bed bugs and this is everyones problem not to be blamed on the homeless, when you buy old clothes or a cheap sofa you can spread these critters easily no matter how clean you are.
I identified Chris as i drove into the fast food “Dairy Queen” car park i suppose they sell ice cream i didn’t need to go in he was in the car park with two bags and had his regulation US baseball cap and i lowered my window to say “Chris” and he answered “Yes Sir”.
Chris is a typical American as he told me “Apple Pie” blond blue eyes and now putting on some weight too and louder than me. I hoped we would get on in such a confined space for so long, he jumped into action helping pack clothes away eager to be part of the team.
I decided to get on with the job and instead of visiting relatives before heading north we would head north to a place called Whistler where we spent our first night, Whistler is set in lovely countryside and is to be the site of the 2010 winter Olympics it has no community spirit and is like something made for a Walt Disney film set in the mountains, everything is geared to make money from you from the Parking areas with no overnight parking and very expensive places to sleep eat and drink, it is no place for travelers on a budget, the swimming pool costs $7 for a swim and the tourist info couldn’t advise on anywhere to sleep in the car so we drove out to a forest walkers car park and cooked up supper and drank some wine and got to know each other.
Chris has no doubt had a rough few months and the Woman with his unborn child that he loves and cares for had been confused about her loyalty to her Mormon religious roots and her true loving feelings for Chris, they had both separated, her returning to her family.
So Chris Joining the RamblingRat expedition is exactly what he needs now and i can see why he wants to do something for Street Youth,
Something i am amazed by with Chris is how keen he is to promote what i am doing and i am much more reserved than him so even though i cringe when he announces him self as we arrive at a shop or filling station he is getting the message of the RamblingRat benefiting StreetKids International across in a way that North americans can relate too.
Ok i must get on with this blog as so much is going on and i will get behind,
We called into Williams Lake and had to visit A Toyota garage for a new radiator cap the garage was “Heartland Toyota” and on arriving chris swung into action talking about the expedition vehicle and how the project benefits streetkids, the garage called two newspapers down and within a couple of hours we had both been interviewed and Heartland Toyota decided to sponsor Ramblingrat with vehicle parts and diesel money to get us up into Alaska. Many thanks to www.haertlandtoyota.ca in Williams lake they have been superb.
We then met Troy Forcier from the Boys and girls club which is what we call a Youth club and a gentleman called Scott Mc Laughlin from the Child Development center, he managed to get us some winter Jackets and access to second hand snow boots for use in Alaska.
Chris and Scott went over to visit Youth for christ in the town on the advice from scott that they would be interested that we were in the town and as it happened Chris met Cecile James she was able to give Chris a contact in Prince George called Bob Greenaway, also useful contacts for Calgary and Toronto.
Thanks to Cecile James hotspotyfc@shawbiz.ca