This is the tale of how two small town kids, from the Kootenay mountains, managed to find their new home.
It was the fall of 2011 when Justin and Sarah felt an itching. The wind was changing and something new was brewing! They both came from a small town and had never really ventured away from that life. They had spent most of their teenage years working at a forest education camp in Canal Flats, B.C. Blue Lake Forest Education Society was an amazing place to nurture their love and appreciation for the outdoor world. It was a 25km drive up a windy logging road to the beautiful camp; Nestled in around tall greens you would see a small, glacier-fed lake and warm cedar cabins near by. This place was so full of magic and inspiration. Justin and Sarah spent many nights under the stars and their days were filled with smiles. There came a point, a few years after graduation, that they decided it was time to move on from making minimum wage, playing dress up and having campfire songs stuck in their heads. So one quiet night, in the middle of August, they both sat down in the old camp office. With the little internet and a promise of finding something new they eagerly opened up a new web page. With the happy Google logo staring back at them they began typing…"some place on the B.C coast with mountains…" and then ENTER! As the slow connection began to search they felt their excitement building. Soon the page began to work! And suddenly Squamish popped up. A mysterious land of ocean and rock; a place that they had only dreamed of! Of course getting there wasn't going to be easy, but soon enough the hard work would pay off. Sarah and Justin spent 2 months preparing and trying to find jobs and soon after, packed a U-haul to the brim and headed for their new town. It wasn’t the familiarity they were longing to have, it was the story that hadn’t begun. It was the empty pages waiting to be lined with notes and the yearning to find something for themselves. Something new. So with that unknown, uncomfortable hungriness, they left home.
They hit the road in the early morning as the sun was just starting to crawl over the great Rocky Mountains. The road to Squamish was dark and rain covered. The highway puddles made a reflection that was hard to see up ahead. With every turn Justin and Sarah began to question their decision making abilities. We're they crazy to have just dropped their lives and decided to move somewhere they knew nothing about? Was a photograph of a mountain or an eagle standing along a river enough of a factor to change your whole life? Hopefully.
They arrived in Squamish late and opened their new home to rest for the night. They spent the next few weeks exploring what the little town had to offer. At times they felt scared and lonely but before long the awesomeness of the choice had began to manifest...
A few years later…
When Sarah and Justin wake each morning, they try to clear their minds. They know today holds a new discovery for them, a whirlwind of embracing the challenge. When their bodies begins to go and they lose track of steps, they know the journey has begun. They brush their knuckles against a hard granite wall and as they see the top won't give up, two feet or all fours, they will make it to the finish line. Beside them, you'll see their new companion dog, Doc moving faster and pushing them on. Feeling the salty ocean breeze quickly wisp through their hair as the two dive into the ocean. Shadows of adrenaline enthusiasts and the mighty Chief mountain hovering overhead. There are no boundaries or walls to stop you here.
There are days when they look outside and see the rain coming down, heavy as a paperweight. The mountains are surrounded by a great fog, the hills echoing an unknown chorus and the sky vacuous with question. They feel the longing to get out and explore. There is such an enigma to this world of unknown. Its quaintness and woodland feeling gives an immediate nudge to get going! There is a stab of gold hidden in each endless dirt road and the bitter wind has a sweet taste. Sarah and Justin don’t know what is waiting for them but they know they are out to find it. Everyday they wonder what it is. Something draws them both to this place of adventure. It could be the feeling of being healed, healed from the journey they have endured. Or it could be the hovering fog sweeping the valley looking for discovery but perhaps it is the symbol of foreign imagination. One thing is for sure though: Squamish will be the answer to home forever and always.
"Dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you." — Marsha Norman
— Sarah Murrell
