And the painting begins...

So today, I felt well enough to go out into the world again! Unfortunately for Colin, he did not fare so well. I just MIGHT have given him my little stomach bug. Oopsie. Lucky for him, no puking has taken place. Just lots of sleep.

I left for our place in Kits around 11am, by the guidance of my trusty GPS. It took me smack into the middle of downtown. Hmmm this wasn't the way that Colin usually went. But right now I'm still in good spirits when I get stuck in traffic for the most part because it's usually new and interesting to see where I am and what's around me and gives me the time to take mental notes for later.

After swinging by the paint store to pick up some stuff and the paint we'd decided to start with, I headed to the house. I set up the iPod speakers, hit shuffle and off I went. Quickly, I realized that I was missing some key things...like a screwdriver to take off the electrical outlet covers, newspaper to cover the floor, and a bucket in which to wash the brush after I finished. But all of that was sort of not a big deal, so I just made do with what I had. Which was a lot of grey paint. We're starting with the middle room, which is the biggest and most challenging because it has panelling, a shelf thingy, and then a normal wall surface. This photo will probably explain that better:

The plan is to do it dark red on the bottom and light grey on the top. Right now, as you can see, it's a pea soup green. Apparently red is a really challenging colour to paint (go figure...) and so we needed to cover the green with a primer. However, the grey for the top works just the same, so that's what I'm using. I spent some time putting tape around all of the edges because I'm not exactly steady of hand, plus it gives me more leeway to be sloppy! Because of the different sizes from the panels, that involved more than just a strip of tape along the top and bottom. Rather, it involved about 30 different strips placed along each surface. It's always the prep that sucks the most, isn't it. Then I set about doing the top and bottom of each section. In about 2 and a half hours, I had finished one coat on half of the bottom. Yep, I have a long way to go. But after seeing those first results, I'm confident that it will be worth it.

Halfway through, I took a break and strolled up to W. Broadway, which is the main street near our house (one block away). I walked up to Shopper's (hooray, a Shopper's right nearby! Millions of dollars to be spent at that drug store in the coming months I'm sure...) and bought one of the things I'd decided I needed for a successful paint job -- paper towels to wipe up all my spills. The street has a lot of nice little shops and boutiques, a cozy yet spacious looking coffee/pub/food place called Calhoun's, lots of sushi, the aforementioned cupcakery, and a whole lot of other food places I can't wait to discover when I can eat again without feeling like puking. There's also a 2nd run cinema right around the corner but it doesn't look too promising...right now it's playing Wanted and two Brendan Fraser movies, and the upcoming sched didn't look too much better. But sometimes you just wanna go see crap, and if it's cheap, who cares, right? After a trip to the dollar store, I had a hot chocolate (in hindsight, not the smartest choice considering it's pretty much chocolate and dairy) at Minerva's Greek Emporium and listened to some Greek call in show that was on the radio yet showing on the TV? while reading The Georgia Straight, which is Vancouver's free Arts and Entertainment weekly. In it, I discovered two exciting upcoming events: The UBC Apple Festival, and that the Notwist are playing next week! It will be my first Vancouver concert. They're playing at the Commodore Ballroom, which sounds impressive? We'll see. Venessa says that I should take everything in Toronto and divide it by 10 and that'll be the size of what it is here. Not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to gigs!

So after my hot choco, I headed back to the house and resumed my painting. I decided I'd finish the first coat on that bottom half before going home, even though that would most likely have me leaving right during rush hour. Again, not a big deal to me right now because it's interesting to experience what a Vancouver rush hour is like. I heard the upstairs neighbours quite a bit...they like to slam doors it would seem. Good thing we decided against putting our bedroom in the front room right beside the entranceway. I'll meet them at some point...I think they are around my age or a bit younger. I looked around at my day's work and was pretty content. I look forward to returning tomorrow! It was also a really nice, much needed afternoon to myself where I could just explore and work at my own pace.

This evening I got to play Mario Kart with Michael, and briefly Aimee and Jen. I guess Rogers wasn't being very cooperative cause Andrew couldn't join up, and no one else came so maybe that was why? Michael and I also chatted on Skype while we played, so it was super fun. It'd be good to get a Skype conference/MK game going sometime with lots of people! Aimee -- get on that, would you? :)

Okay. Bed time I guess...still feeling a little off-kilter from my days of illness, so I shouldn't push it. Night night!

Media Blackout--over

I'm not sure if anyone will even read this since it hasn't been touched in ages AND was flagged as a spam blog for a while?! I've been laid up with a stomach virus for the past 3 days, and it's pretty much knocked me off my feet and put a huge damper in everything. We had plans to start the organization of the house/painting/furniture shopping, but all I've been able to do is puke, sleep and moan. Anyhow, today I went to the doctor, and as expected, nothing can be done pharmaceutically to ease my pain. It's pretty pathetic -- I can barely walk up a flight of stairs right now without sitting down, as I haven't been able to eat for 3 days.

As I write, I have a border collie alternately chewing on my wrist and his stuffed squeaky dinosaur. His name is Marley, he's 6 months old and just got his balls chopped off last week. So far, this hasn't made him any less rangy. But he's such a cutie!! But man, he makes me rethink the idea of having a dog. It's one thing for Carol, who is retired and has lots of time to deal with his craziness, but when we (hopefully) have jobs and lives, I don't know that there will be room for a dog just yet.

So yeah, we don't have jobs yet. I guess the economy pretty much sucks right now and the jobless rate is just climbing and climbing. For some reason I'm not worried yet, though I have times of total stress that come and go. Colin is a whole different story though. He once told me about when he went to the physiotherapist and they asked him his stress rating between 1-10 and he answered 1. So it's been really strange and a bit scary having him so stressed out right now.

Living at his mom's place is really comfortable, but that's not necessarily a good thing. It is hard to be productive in the suburbs. And all the driving we've been doing to get downtown and back is like a knife twisting in my heart. I can't wait to get our bikes! Our stuff is being delivered on Monday, to our new house! We've signed a lease on an old heritage house in a part of Vancouver called Kitsilano, which is very near the beach. You can google map it! 2322 Balaclava Street. Our neighbourhood seems INCREDIBLE! We're one block from tons of shops and restaurants and bars and a cupcake shop. Seriously, Vancouver seems to have a whole lot of cupcake shops...not that I'm complaining, but it's a bit strange. However, because of this stupid stomach virus, I can't even look at a cupcake right now without gagging. Anyhow, I'm really looking forward to moving into the place and actually starting our lives out properly. Today we went and got some paint. Dan Oke, please fly to Vancouver and paint our apartment. It's so frigging overwhelming! Anyhow so far we haven't fought much at all about the colours, which is amazing considering our vastly different tastes. The hardest part about the new place is that it's totally WEIRD. The two front rooms are lovely and big, with a fireplace and stained glass. The kitchen is sunny and big. But then there's the problem of bedrooms. There are two small rooms that we will use for bedrooms, but they are oddly shaped and it's going to take some creativity to get the place in working order. But the kitchen! There's a DISHWASHER!! There are 2 bathrooms, one full and one powder room. I'm not sure how this will work out...I mean, I don't MIND cleaning the bathroom, but having two might not be as great as it sounds. The shower is big, but there's no tub. The sinks are both European old-style, meaning they have a separate hot and cold faucet. But it's an old house with a LOT of character, so it'll be fun once the overwhelming bit is over.

And the best part of moving into the new place -- getting the kitties!! Though I'm a little reluctant to take them away from their surrogate mommy (my real mommy) as she's been having a hard time lately. She had a routine surgery that didn't go as it should have and has been having a lot of complications from it. So the boys have been keeping her company, cuddling and purring and being their cute selves. Although I've been hearing that Grumble's been working pretty hard to get outside recently. I'm really nervous about putting them on a plane as cargo. Anyone who has a story about a pet they know of or have had who has gone on a plane, please tell me some good things! I'm going to order some of this stuff: http://www.rescueremedy.com/pets/ for sure. Maybe I'll get some for my own separation anxiety as well.

I booked my flight home for Christmas!! December 21st I will be in Oakville. And I'll be in Toronto for New Years Eve!! My flight back to Vancouver leaves on Jan 3rd. I can't wait to see everyone. I'm feeling so disconnected from everyone. I know that I just got here and stuff, but that's only a good reason for so long. Even if it takes months for things to settle down, that doesn't mean that I don't have 5 minutes for a phone call or an email. (psst and that goes for everyone else too heehee). I know we're all busy, but just a quick hello makes everything so much better.

Due to this virus, the horse trials have had to be put on hold. I found a lovely 4 year old Thoroughbred X called Pirate at one of the seemingly rare places with an indoor arena, and was meant to try him last night, but was obviously too ill. So that'll hopefully be okay to wait until Tuesday. Another lady offered me her Draft/QH X who has just started over fences. but in her email she said if I had a little bit of redneck in me, I'd fit right in, so I'm a little worried about THAT. Plus, they have no indoor :) And then there's another girl who offered me her young TB who "overjumps and gets rushy" at fences and she won't jump him but is confident that someone with more experience could. Thanks, but I can think of better things to do than visiting the emergency room routinely.

So anyhow. I'm going to attempt to eat some food now! You can't imagine what an event this is. WISH ME LUCK!

Day 8 - We're on our way "home"

Lake Louise, AB to Vancouver, B.C.
3950km-4780km
Buck 65 - Situation
M. Ward - Post-war
The Rosebuds - Night of the Furies (this one didn't last long...it's pretty terrible, as it turns out)
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day audiobook
This American Life podcasts
Portishead - Third
Mates of State - My Solo Project
Broadcast - Tender Buttons
Final Fantasy - Has A Good Home


So the morning started out with an argument, but fortunately neither of us tend to pout for too long after we fight, so soon enough we were smiling again. Aside from the fact that I was chilled to the bone, I was in a better mood. We were able to sneak into the Lake Louise trailer camp showers, and I've never been so happy to shower in a public washroom. The initial plan had been to go for a hike around the area before heading out on the final stretch of highway, but it was raining and freezing still, so we just started to drive. The view was totally breathtaking. The cold and rain had contributed to huge puffs of mist around all the mountains, and the drive through the mountains WAS really nice. But I saw NOTHING!! Actually that isn't technically true -- I think I saw a bighorn sheep, but Colin maintains that it was a fake. I'm not convinced, but I still feel ripped off!! I guess all the animals were hiding in their cozy caves away from the rain and cold. I think I preferred the Northern Ontario driving, but that doesn't mean I'm turning my nose up at mountains. We stopped at a few lookouts, and once I was SURE I was going to spot a beaver, but no. Umberto hit the 100,000km mark! What a great car.

My dad said to me that Kamloops was sort of desert-like, and I couldn't picture that, but it's true. The mountains are all brown and nearly barren of trees, and there are short bushes and sparse trees along the side of the highway. Again, I'm so amazed at the vast difference between provinces and even cities within the provinces. Maybe once I am able to upload this and add photos, I will do a cross-country selection of photos just to show the wide diversity.

The weather cleared up for a couple hundred kms, but as we drive through Kamloops, the clouds have gathered into a threatening sign of things to come. Hopefully not, but that's what I've been led to believe by basically every single soul that I've told about my move. I guess I'll be getting a whole lot of use out of the umbrella that Robin got us, which says "Shit...it's raining." Sigh. As I type this, the sky has opened up and our wipers are going at full force. What a welcome.

An hour later, we've got blue skies and fluffy clouds again. This is the way that I have sort of told myself that Vancouver will be -- rain for a bit, and then sun, or at least grey skies without sun. Seriously though, everytime I've been to BC the weather has been lovely and the rain comes in short stints. Granted, it's mostly been in the summer or springtime, but I'm sticking to the memory of being in Vancouver in February with only my spring jacket and a hoodie on. I might need to get Linh to send me an Adult Parka from Vietnam, but we'll see. First I need to find a job to commute to, then I will figure out HOW I will get there.

Venessa called me a few minutes ago and said she was so excited for me to get there and that she'd be there if things were hard or crazy, and would take me out with her friends, who are awesome. It was so nice to hear. I know that Colin's family is so happy he's coming home, and they are wonderful and caring and lovely, but I think it's only natural to worry about being the girlfriend tagging along, at least for the first while. Stuff will be different -- I know that. For example, the barn for me was always somewhere to go where I didn't have to be social and though I absolutely loved almost everyone I met and knew at my barn, it was so nice to have that place to go and be alone with only Jack. Now, I will be using the barn as a way to potentially meet people and make friends. That's obviously not a bad thing, but it's different. I will just have to adapt so that I can find another way to find that serenity. Maybe it will be through running...with Carol's doggie, Marley...right Marie? I know you're going to kick my ass the next time I see you if I'm not keeping up with my running. I mean, I know that riding won't be totally destroyed by social aspirations or anything, but I will just have different short-term goals in that realm of my life. It's going to take a while to feel comfortable with pretty much anything.

Hey! Guess what, it's raining again. I can't believe I just typed that...I've been so sick of people saying that to me about BC. Anyhow, it's been raining really hard, and the wind has been ridiculous, and I've been sitting in the passenger seat so stressed out that I've actually covered my eyes a couple of times. And just when I thought we'd gotten through the worst of it, we encountered completely dead stopped traffic on the highway, and watched as truck and car one after another did U-turns on the highway through the grass median. Colin didn't want to sit there and wait, so instead we also did a U turn and drove back through the pouring rain and driving wind to get to an alternate road to take us past the roadblock. God forbid the drive be easy for the last 3 hours or anything.

And now...after 3 hours of a hell drive, which fortunately I wasn't actually behind the wheel for and tried to watch episodes of Greek rather than concentrate on the death roads, we are here, in North Vancouver, at Colin's mom Carol's house. PHEW. Her dog is ADORABLE. She's wonderful. It's going to be hard living at someone else's house with little room for our clothes and other things, but all I'm thinking about right now is sleeping in a proper bed and having tomorrow to be somewhat lazy and get ready for the weeks ahead.

I'll put this post up now so you all know we've arrived safe and sound, but again, I'm too exhausted to get photos up right now and the cable is in the car, and I'm in this bed in my pjs and am about to pass out.

xo for now.

Day 7 - L'ennui

Airdrie, AB to Banff, AB
3628km - 3940km
Elliott Smith - New Moon
This American Life podcasts
Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling
Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out

Today was not a terribly good day. I cried a lot, and was really grumpy. We pulled into the parking lot of Mountain Equipment Co-op and when Colin asked me why I was in such a bad mood, I burst out crying and said I didn't know. Being his wonderful self, he tried to comfort me, but then uttered the phrase that really set me off: he said that tomorrow, we'd be home. I lost it, wailing that it wasn't home and that I was scared and worried and upset. I don't know why yesterday was such a bad day for me. Maybe I was just feeling the results of 7 days of driving, where all I feel that I'd been doing was driving, sleeping, eating, and talking to strangers about anything from how I wanted my tea, to how they needed to get out of the motel room because I was naked. My mom suggested that maybe it was because it was Michael's birthday and I wasn't there to celebrate with the family. This seemed pretty feasible. Whatever it was, I didn't make life very pleasant for Colin, I don't think. Michael and my dad both told me that these next 2 days would be the nicest driving of the trip, and that I was going to see mountain goats and bighorn sheep and bears and eagles on the side of the highway. This made me feel better, and I knew that part of my bad mood also had to do with wanting to get out of the city (Calgary). Nothing against Calgary, it's just that when you don't know a city, all you really get to see of it while passing through is fast food joints, malls and super centres.

So we left MEC with two down sleeping bags and some more camping stuff, as the plan was to camp when we got to Banff. It was nice and warm out, which I heard was a vast difference from back home, where my mom claimed to be wearing 8 layers of clothes. I actually had to change into a tank top because I was baking. Then we headed to Spruce Meadows! I tried to perk up, thinking about going to visit a place I've dreamt about going to for years. It worked, a little bit...but the place was nearly deserted as no events were on, the tack shop was closed, the rings were all cleared, and we saw a total of 8 horses, 7 of them in their stalls. Not that I'm complaining about that part...I got to pet the noses of beautiful Hanoverian 3 year olds, and see some of the new jumps being built. I think that my horsie peeps and I need to plan a trip to Spruce Meadows for a big event next year! I heard that there were 60,000 people there 3 weeks ago for the Masters. It sounds unbelievable and so exciting. Who's in?? Nikki, I'm looking at you!!

Then, it was off to the mountains. We got into Banff National Park around 2pm and walked around downtown for a bit. It was pretty ridiculously touristy, and I really had no interest in it. It's just a little obscene. I could imagine that the lodges and inns in town were easily hundreds of $$ per night, and the downtown was a mecca of Gap, Lululemon and McDonalds. Okay I'm being a little harsh here, but this was my impression, heavy influenced by my grumpiness.

We discovered that there were only 2 campgrounds open at this time of year. You weren't allowed to have fires at one of them, and it was right in town, so we weren't too keen on this one. (Truth be told, I wasn't too keen on the idea of camping at all, considering that the sun was still up and I was cold in a sweater). The other was at a place called Mosquito Lake, around 40km from town. This place apparently wasn't manned by any staff, and had no shower facilities. Normally, I don't care about showering when camping, but when you're going to be sitting in your own camp filth for the whole next day in the car, I wasn't too keen. But Colin convinced me that we could stay the night at the campsite and then head to Lake Louise and use the showers at the trailer camp there. Nothing could convince me that camping was a good idea, but I knew Colin wanted to do it, and I'm not a TOTAL whiny bitchy princess, so I went along with it. However, before heading to the campsite, we went to the Banff Upper Hot Springs. This was where I started to relax a little bit, as I was looking forward to going to the hot spring. I read about it being good for relaxation, so just the idea of this set me more at ease. It was definitely nice -- like a big hot tub at 39 celcius. However, they've modernized it to the point that it is just literally a big swimming pool, with a vinyl bottom and benches built along the edges, metal ladders, and a lifeguard. I guess when it comes to tourists and water that they are going to immerse themselves in, it's an easier bet that if you make it look modern and totally safe, more people will buy into it. But that aside, it was still lovely and relaxing.

So now, it was on to the campsite. As we got out of the town of Banff, it began to rain. Then it got dark. The drive wasn't nearly as harrowing as a few days ago to Dryden, but I just felt my heart sinking lower and lower. Here I am, trying to be brave and optimistic, when all I feel like doing is pouting and stomping my feet. Colin was obviously aware of the fact that the conditions weren't exactly optimal for my enjoying this thing that he's really trying to get me into (camping) and was saying that if the weather got really bad, I could just go in the tent and he would cook my dinner and bring it to me, and that he would set everything up etc etc. I appreciated it, though I'm sure he didn't get that impression.

We turn into the campsite, and see a fire burning, which is a good sign. In bear country, when they are getting ready to hibernate, it's not really a fun idea to be on your own in the middle of nowhere with bear warnings posted and written down in brochures for the park. We chose a site, and Colin started to set up. We hadn't gotten any wood aside from one easy-burn log from Safeway, because the guy at the information centre had said, when we asked about getting wood, that there would be some at the campground. It was still raining lightly but constantly, and there was no wood to be found on the ground. Especially in the pitch black, guided only by a small LED flashlight. Even if I hadn't felt totally guilty and unhappy about ripping branches off nearby trees, they were so wet that they wouldn't have even broken off, much less burned. We were able to get the easy-burn log going in a half-assed manor, and set about cooking our veggie dogs and asparagus. The ground was wet and muddy, and the picnic table was too soggy to sit on -- I laid out a garbage bag, but this quickly got wet also. The hot dogs were yummy and the asparagus was pretty much perfect, but I still wasn't terribly satisfied -- not hunger-wise, just in general. This wasn't a case of "the more effort required to cook the food, the better it tastes." It was just a pain in the ass, cold, wet and dirty. By that point, I was wearing flannel pajama pants and sweatpants, a hoodie and a jacket, and a toque. But I was so cold and soggy that as soon as the food had been consumed, I headed for the tent. The sleeping bags were cozy, by we still had a leaky air mattress, so the knowledge of its imminent deflation didn't make me excited for the coming night's sleep. After a night of total discomfort, we were out of there. Colin was not impressed with me after the first thing I said in the morning was "I'm glad I never have to do this again."

AND ALL WE SAW WERE FAT RAVENS. NOTHING ELSE.

Days 5 & 6 - To VagCity and beyond

Brandon, MB to Regina, SK, to Calgary, AB

2460km-2840km-
Radical Face - Ghost
Stein the Selector - Booyakacha!
Greek - episode 5
Wolf Parade - At Mt Zoomer
Stein the Selector - Cats=Poo
The Verve - Forth
This American Life podcasts
Sigur Ros album
Sound Opinions podcast


I'm combining the past 2 days because, honestly, they haven't been too exciting. Yesterday we spent the whole day in Brandon, visiting Colin's relatives. We stayed with his grandma, and his uncle Jack was visiting as well. He was in town getting his truck fixed, which had been hit by a deer. No, he didn't hit a deer. It hit the side of him! Then, I'm not sure how close to that incident, he hit a loon. He got off at the next rest stop to discover a dead loon lodged into his front grill. Lovely.

While we were in Brandon, we visited the town centre mall, the hospital (where his grandfather is), Smitty's Family Restaurant, and a white-person Chinese Buffet. Mom and Dad, Canadian chinese food just isn't the same without you.

We headed out around 8pm, the destination being Regina, SK for the night. The drive was long, flat, straight and boring. But fast! The speed limit on the Trans Canada around here is 110km. I think it should be 130km like it is in France, but oh well. We actually called 3 hotels before we could find a vacancy.

We decided to stay in a seedy motel for fun, the Inntowner. It wasn't terribly fun, as it turned out, but it was a cheap room for the night. With a rusty sink, a bathroom door missing a handle, and floor to ceiling floral curtains, it was sure a charmer! In the morning, we were getting ready and housekeeping barged in when I had only a towel on. A few minutes later, as I w

as getting dressed and had nothing on at all, some strange guy that I can only assume works for the motel as he had a key, barged in again. Fortunately I think I managed to hide behind the bathroom separating wall quick enough. There's a sign on the building that says it's about to become part of a chain called the Knights Inn. Usually I think it sucks when independant businesses are bought out by chains, but this time I'm glad and I hope those people all lose their jobs. Obviously they are not fit for the hospitality industry.

After yet another breakfast of eggs and homefries at a local diner (this one was called Mr. Breakfast and sorta felt like the camp cafeteria) we set out for Calgary. Holy crap, is it hot in the prairie today. It amazes me the aesthetic and meteorological differences between each province we've been through so far. (With our recent passing into Alberta, I've now had the honour of being in every province in Canada!) Thunder Bay was so cold that I saw a girl in a parka and was jealous. Manitoba was sunny and warm and I was able to dry some freshly laundered sweaters in a matter of hours outside. Saskatchewan has been baking hot, and the gigantic prairie sky has been free of clouds all day. It's killing our gas mileage, since we were forced to turn the a/c on today. The ground sure is flat here. And mostly golden in colour. The hay fields have all been harvested, and so it's just been miles and miles of fields of cows, horses and what I think are salt ponds. 

We've just basically been driving and driving and driving, with one stop made in Swift Current to the Safeway, as I was dying for fruit. We got some grapes and bananas, and Colin got a Safeway soda called Dr. Skipper. 

I love rip-offs! It reminded me of the Hapitos that they had in Indonesia.

(this one's for you, Carly Spencer!)

The vast fields can be pretty smelly. Either it's dry manure smell, or the smell of burning. Perhaps burning poo smell. We drove through a lot of clouds of smoke last night. I don't know if it makes sense that the farmers burn their fields once everything's been harvested so they can start with a clean slate next year? I really have no idea. It makes me wish I could turn off my sense of smell whenever I need to!

After 6 days of travel, our car is still in great shape. We have managed to keep everything packed in a pretty organized fashion, and can still see out all 6 windows. We have a totally ridiculous yet awesome set up going. We bought a power converter for the lighter to plug in whatever we needed to charge, be it the laptop, the camera battery, the two iPods, the portable speakers, the two cellphones, the radar detector, or the GPS. We actually stopped by a Canadian Tire in Sault Ste Marie to buy an expander thing so we could plug 3 lighter chargers in at once. This way, we can daisy-chain the GPS and iPod to the laptop and have everything hooked up at once. Before we left, we downloaded a bunch of movies and tv shows. So far we haven't really touched those except during the long prairie drive last night and today. We also brought the Sennheiser headphones for that extra listening enjoyment. Back to nature? Nooooooo thank you!

I will definitely want to give Umberto a good bath when we reach our destination, or maybe even pay someone to do it for me! I discovered the other day that my parents had taken back their garage door opener. I know that this makes sense, but for a minute there I was upset! I've always had an opener for my parents' garage, and this was just another reminder that Umberto will never make it back to Ontario. Once we reach BC, I think I have 90 days before I have to have a BC license plate put on.

In Calgary, we will visit and possibly crash at Colin's cousin's house. I met her and her boyfriend at the wedding this summer as well and I really liked them. They are both vets and have worked with large and small animals. So you know what this means!!!! Animals to cuddle!! I asked Tara if we could come to her work and cuddle random pets, but she'll be done work before we arrive in town. Boo. It would also be great to get a tour of Spruce Meadows, but that might have to wait until the next time we're in Calgary. We'll see...as with the majority of this trip, we'll take things as they come, and go from there.  

Animal Corner!!

Tonight was a gooooooooooooooood night.  We are staying with Colin's cousin just outside Calgary and she and her boyfriend are both vets.  So they have 3 cats and a dog!  One's a ginger Maine Coon!  With a lion cut!!  Adorable.  He's got a bit of a snot problem though.  Another is a Bengal cat and he's apparently a lunatic, and then there's one they just recently took in who starts to purr so loudly as soon as you cuddle her.  Unfortunately, the Bengal wants to kill her, so she has to be separated from the others.  We also saw lots of cows, a mini pony farm and a lot of horses.  All from the car, on the highway, but still.  I said awwww a lot.  Here are photos!!

Day 4 - The world goes flat

Dryden, Ontario to Brandon, Manitoba
1860km -2460km
Ride - Going Blank Again
Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
This American Life podcasts
Radiohead - In Rainbows
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day audiobook


Day 4 of traveling. It's starting to get a bit old, I have to admit. Really, I'm just missing the comforts of home -- my cats, my bed, my couch (RIP) and my free time. I know this last bit sounds ridiculous, but it's true! I mean, I'm not working or following a rigid schedule, and Colin's a fabulous traveling partner, humouring my need to see Huskie the Muskie in Dryden, or stop to take a photo of the semi-lame Big Foot in Vermillion Bay. But however you put it, it's traveling. You aren't home and you can't really choose to just laze around or go for a walk or whatever you want. I could get really philosophical right now about the idea and concept of freedom, but I'll save us all the pain of that. I hope this makes some sense and doesn't just come across as me whining.

Right now we're driving to Brandon, MB. We stopped for the day in Winnipeg to have a late lunch at this cafe/bookstore downtown that is run by anarchists. Seriously! It's pretty overwhelming to walk into with all the art hippies and slogans and books about politics and feminism etc, but when it came down to it, it was just a nice cafe with great vegan food and a totally chill atmosphere. I think their website is www.mondragon.ca . After lunch, and after Colin had gotten a hold of his cousin and aunt that are in town, we wandered around downtown and along the river for an hour and a bit. There are some pretty cool old buildings with the old signs still intact on the sides. Nothing exciting though, just a city. After driving nearly 2000km through northern ontario, I wonder how anyone from those parts can go live in cities. They are just so ugly and characterless. I'm sure the same could be argued from the other perspective -- you get numb to the trees and rock walls and varying terrain, and everything gets boring. I know the big cities and small towns serve different purposes and mean different things to different people, but it's hard to understand how the two things can co-exist.

Being in a city made me a bit sad. Driving for the past 3 days through unfamiliar territory felt like a vacation proper, but being here reminds me of real life again. It's rather unpleasant!! I'm really scared of starting over in a new city, no matter who I have with me. When it comes down to it, your life is lived by you alone, with some support from others to help guide you. You come to depend on the comforts you have, and the familiarities, and the idea of those being taken away from you is something you'd rather not think about. But now I am forced to, and it worries me. So many questions running through my head...I guess they will be answered when the time comes, and I can't force them to be realized before the time is right.

The time has changed now. One hour back. I can't bring myself to change my watch just yet though. I think one of my first purchases when I get to BC will be a dual time watch. On our new wall, I will have two identical clocks, one set to BC time and one set to home.

Animal Corner!!

Today was a little better for creature comforts. Pretty much the moment we crossed into Manitoba, we saw a deer right off the highway, munching on grass. A few km west, what appeared to be a momma deer and two babies were snacking on some luscious greenery. Around 6pm we headed to Colin's cousin's place (the one whose wedding we attended this summer in Manitoba) and were greeted by a toy English Spaniel and a Boston Terrier. Super cute for little dogs! The Boston, Enzo, was relentless in his mission to get anyone to throw his toy, and stood there snorting while staring hard into your soul. Kaiser, the Spaniel, was the more cuddly one, and hung out with me a bit on the couch.
We headed out for dinner with Chris and Lauren, as well as their aunt Geri, and had a few lengthy conversations about horses and riding and Spruce Meadows, and I felt more at ease than I had all day.
I STILL NEED TO CUDDLE A CAT THOUGH.

Here's something relating to animals that I hope you'll all enjoy. Marie and I came across it years ago and watched it over and over again. Yesterday, curse her, she sent me the link and the song once again was rooted in my head until I fell asleep in the hotel bed. ENJOY!!

http://webpages.charter.net/redemption/banana

ps. something went totally crazy with this post and I ended up having to drag and drop photos from some black hole on the page into the body of this post.  Sorry if you're offended.  Yeah, I'm looking at you Jennifer Lee.  Cause I know you're a total blog layout snob.  :D

Day 3 - A few years older

Lake Superior Provincial Park - Dryden
956km-1860km
Band Of Horses - Cease to Begin
This American Life podcasts
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
RCRD LBL.com assorted selections
The Walkmen - You & Me
Coldplay - Viva La Vida
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day audiobook
Spiritualized - Songs in A&E
Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
Sigur Ros - the new one that i don't feel like typing out the name of


The weather today hasn't been so hot. It makes us happy that it was so nice yesterday, since today is just a driving day anyway. We've been driving through pockets of hard rain, then really heavy fog, mixed with sunlight and fluffy clouds. The trees have barely any red leaves on them -- it's all a mix of yellow and green now. The road is really winding now. So far though, I've only had one moment of my heart shooting into my stomach and zipping around like a manic butterfly. Our tires hit some grooves filled with rain water and we did a bit of a mini-hydroplane. Nothing to worry about really, but still. Unpleasant. Michael gave us his radar detector as a going-away gift, se we set it up for a bit, but realized we didn't really know how to use it and would wait until we could read about it online later on. Today's the first day we've encountered traffic too -- so far, two pockets of construction. But the cars and trucks are so sparse on this stretch of highway that it wasn't a big deal, and it was cool to watch the big machines picking up the giant boulders that they'd recently blasted on the side of the road. I was hoping maybe a moose would be hanging out watching the construction, but no luck so far. I also keep hoping we'll drive past one of the many ponds along the side of the road and just see a moose, deer, bear and wolf hanging out and drinking water. Colin doesn't think this is very feasible.

These tiny towns along the way amaze me. They remind me of Newfoundland, where I went with my mom a few years ago. Not as many abandoned buildings, but I just can't believe there are enough jobs in these towns to sustain the populations. I'm sure land is ridiculously cheap here, but food and gas aren't. As soon as we got off the 400 Hwy, gas prices went up a minimum of 10 cents/litre. And where do people get their clothes and stuff like that? Mail order I guess? Make their own?? I'm such a big city girl.

















So we made it to Thunder Bay around 7pm and drove around for a bit in search of the old downtown. We didn't actually have any knowledge of this actually existing, but we assumed it was more than just super centres and fast food places. After some helpful advice from the Macs Milk dude, we went to what he said was downtown. It wasn't much, but we did find the Finnish Quarter. Apparently Thunder Bay has a huge Finnish population. It wasn't too surprising that we couldn't really eat at the restaurants though, unless we wanted a side of veal with our fish. Anyhow we ended up at a decent grill called the Madhouse. Our plan was just to eat and leave anyway. Which we did, after I finally got to talk to my mom, taking advantage of the cellphone reception in this booming metropolis.

This is when shit got scary.

It was dark by then, and the Trans Canada isn't exactly lit up. It's got a few reflective signs here and there, but for the most part, it's just a lot of trucks passing with their giant lights, blinding the oncoming driver for a second. Now, a second doesn't seem very long, but when you're on a highway with nothing but giant trucks and miles and miles of forest, with some cliffs and rocky overhangs thrown in for good measure, a second seems pretty damn long. Then it started to rain. I thought back to earlier in the day when we hit the rain-filled tire ruts, and then I imagined a moose walking out in front of the car -- a car that's weakest point, I would say, is its traction on wet pavement. Now, when trucks blew past us, they brought with them sheets of water and wind to hit us. The moose warnings had been upgraded to an actual electric traffic sign. Every muscle in my lower body was so tense...it was like when you're at the dentist and you periodically realize that you're gripping the chair so hard that your knuckles have gone white.
It would seem to make sense to follow a truck at a safe distance so that you can see what's in front of you, but this becomes a problem when the trucks are leaving huge clouds of rainwater behind them, and also going about 30km over the speed limit. I know you're all thinking "but Laura, you speed all the time!" but this wasn't the case in this situation.

And then...a moose wanders out onto the highway.

Fortunately, by the time we saw him, he was in the other lane of the road. Colin was floored, as he'd never seen a moose, nor did he believe me that it was a real danger. He had thought I was just being paranoid. Moose are crazy animals...they move so slowly, almost like they're floating in the fog while they wander across the road. They are both beautiful and alien at the same time.

So now we're driving along this wet, dark, empty road and there's NOTHING around. Going the speed limit, we would arrive in Dryden around 1am. That was around 2 1/2 hours away from where we saw the moose. Part of me thinks "okay, we saw a moose, that'll be it for the drive, we're ok" but then the majority of me just keeps thinking "oh shit oh shit oh shit this is so stupid oh shit." Colin's trying to assure me that everything's fine, and offering to drive, but I don't know if this is better or worse. After an hour and a half of this hell, we get to a town called Ignace. Now you've got to understand...driving through one of these tiny "towns" means basically there might be a gas station, a co-op store and, if you're lucky, a dodgy looking motel. I pulled into a parking lot of one of these motels and asked Colin what he wanted to do. By this time the rain had stopped and the road was more flat and straight, so he decided he could do the rest of the drive, and I conceded. Somehow I even managed to fall asleep. Colin said when we arrived in Dryden that he'd seen something that he figured was a wolf on the edge of the forest, but no more moose. We pulled into the Best Western and got a room, and that was the end of that nightmare drive.

Animal Corner!!

It was a pretty lame day for animal sightings. Aside from the giant (fake) Canada Goose in Wawa, and Winnie The Pooh in White River, all we saw was that moose. No photos or anything. Sigh. I need some cat cuddling!! Please give your bebes cuddles for me. And cross your fingers that tomorrow will be a better day.