The Way Home

Holy Smokes! We're home! I do apologize for the lack of post in the last week but here is the situation, we kind of don't have internet in the truck so I had no means of posting to the blog. As for not writing while I was on the road, whatever, I don't see you writing a blog every day. Also, There wasn't a whole lot of excitement on the road home.

We left Vancouver the day after my last post. Mike wasn't feeling well from our first night there. I guess the beer set a little heavy that first night. Then as we were going to go for supper the second day, Mike's tummy hurt after one of my honey ales and the big guy was tuckered out. He took a nap and that was about it for the night there. He later did get up and we got cheep pizza. Mike was amazed at the party happening just outside our hotel on Grandville. Long story short, Grandville, Vancouver = Good time.

We left the beautiful Vancity and headed for the hills the following day. We took a pit stop at Hells Gate. It is this weird tourist park type thing. You take this gondola (for the low price of $18) across the river to this tourist stop. There was a restaurant, bar, salmon exhibit, some sort of statue that Mike climbed up on, a gift shop and a suspension bridge. Side note, suspension bridges are to western Canada as covered bridges are to New Brunswick.  Anyway, we had an expensive lunch there and looked at the water rushing by. It was neat. Mike proposed the idea of planking before we headed back up to the truck. For those of you who don't know, planking is the sport of laying face down and not moving in a random spot while a friend takes your picture. I'm not making this up... People actually do this. I guess some people have died while planking so now it is an official sport. I realize that this doesn't sound fun at all and I assure you that I think it is just as stupid as you do. Anyway, we didn't go planking but we did decided to take the walking path back up to the truck. And by we, I mean Mike because he lost his return ticket for the gondola after saying, "Oh, return ticket. Ha, can't lose that." What a dummy.

By night fall, we still didn't hit the Rockies; however, we did make it to this circus town in the foothills on the west side of the mountains. I have no idea what it was called but what a place. The highway doesn't run directly through the main part of the town but there is an abundance of gas stations and people around the highway at all hours of the day. Both on the way to Vancouver and on the way home, we stopped there for gas and coffee. There was a Tim Hortons attached to the shell station. As we pulled into the gas station, we saw the gates to go into the town. There were bears on them... yes, bears. I think they were statues of bears because they were not moving but nevertheless there were bears. As we were getting gas, there was a train pulling in and stopping in this town, a dog was running away from their owner, some lady was running after a dog, there were homeless people panhandling outside of the Tim's, two police officers were flirting over coffee, and a group of high school students were buying energy drinks. Also, all the pumps were full and the parking lot for the Super 8 motel beside the gas station looked to be about full and there were people walking around on their balconies. IT WAS 11 P.M. ON A SUNDAY NIGHT! Don't these people work? Don't these kids go to school? What is this town? Can I live there?

We were really worried about driving through the Rockies that night. Not because everyone like to fly through there at 130km/hour, but because we were unsure if the truck would make it! When we were heading west,  we travelled down some steep slopes that we were unsure if the truck would make it back up them. Before we knew it, we were back in Alberta; the truck had conquered the Rockies without any trouble.

We didn't make it far the next day because of Alberta rain and we stopped a couple times to see Mike's family. Mike has an Uncle in Olds, Alberta. What a guy. Him and his girlfriend are some of the nicest people I have ever encountered in my life. We got there and they brought us in and feed us pie and coffee. Mike's uncle told us of his university adventures and his travels as a youngster. I could go into great detail about what we talked about but I don't think he realized that I was blogging about the trip so I'm not going into great detail. It was a good time. On the way out, he offered us $600 for the truck; he needed one so he could go get dirt for his garden. Little did we know, we should have taken him up on that. See what I just did there? Foreshadowing... Like that? Hun? Yeah, that's right, you want to keep reading.

Normally I would jump over boring places like Moose Jaw but I'm going to take a minute to transcribe a series of text messages I exchanged with my dad after leaving Moose Jaw.

Dad: How's it going? Where are you at now?

Me: Horrible, thanks. We're in Moose Jaw

Dad: What's wrong?

Me:  The lady wouldn't serve me breakfast because it was 10:50 but then buddy came in behind me was still able to get his breakfast sandwich. The ladies there spilt cream all over the floor and Mike almost didn't get his bagel. Now we have encountered our first Jerk in traffic.

Long story short. Don't Go To Moose Jaw!

We made it all the way to Thunder Bay that night and parked at the Terry Fox memorial there. In the morning we went to take a look at the monument. It was a surreal experience for me. Those of you who know me, know that I'm a two year cancer survivor so the Terry Fox memorial in Thunder Bay is kind of like Mecca for me. There is this beautiful brick path that goes directly through a park to where the monument stands. From the monument there is a wonderful view of Lake Superior. The sun was out and there were no clouds in the sky. As I walked down the path towards the monument, I was hit with so much emotion. I feel like I owe so much to Terry Fox. He brought such an awareness of cancer to people through his Marathon of Hope. Today, people like me breeze through the disease in 6 months. Without him, who knows? Maybe I wouldn't have been here to take a trip like this. It was such an experience to go and see the monument for myself.

We spent the rest of the day driving with little interruption. Oh there was a bit of a run in with the law but we won't get into that right now.  Let's just say that the highways in Ontario are stupid; one minute you are on the Trans Can and the next second you are in a small town without any warning even though a cop tells you that you passed three 50km signs.

The next morning, we were only an hour away from our next pit stop. We woke up in Cookstown, Ontario in the parking lot of a McDonald's. We woke up and got ready to go and got back in the truck. Mike checked the oil then go in and started it up. As we were backing out, there was an intense vibration and we knew we couldn't drive the truck like that. So, Mike called CAA and they came and brought the truck to the Canadian Tire in Barrie. Turns out the drive shaft came lose or something so they fixed that for us. A couple hours and a couple hundred hours later, we were back on the road. We bought a deck of cards and a pair of mini lacrosse sticks to pass the time. I also realized that I forgot my camera in the tow truck. Luck for me, the driver was awesome and came back with it. I'm so grateful that he came back!  

We headed from Barrie to Guelph to where our friend Kristina lives. I know I usually don't include names in the blog but I know Kristina has been reading it and I don't think she'll mind because I only have good things to say. For those who don't know, Kristina and I were on the same R.A. team and she pretty much took care of me this past year. So, there was no way I'd drive past her twice on this trip. Anyway, we stopped by her place in Guelph where she fed us cookies and pasta and salad and we drank be beer with her dad and chatted with both her parents. It was so good to have a nice home cooked meal. Totally one of the highlights of the trip. I realized that Kristina had never cook while in residence (with the exception of cookies which were awesome) which is very upset. (Kristina if you are reading this: Hint, Hint)

We left Kristina's house and headed to Cornwall where Mike's sister lives. We got there around midnight with no trouble. We stayed up and chatted for awhile before bed. I took the couch and it was absolutely awesome to not sleep in the truck. I slept like a rock; I guess Mike's sister was up early packing and making a lot of noise. I still slept through it all. We had some eggs and got back on the road around 11 that morning.

We drove through Quebec with little interruption. We stopped for gas and Mike got a sandwich. Also, Quebec has awesome beer prices. There was a couple deals were the beer was just over a dollar a beer. It was awesome. Except, my visa card was declined. I was livid at visa because my card was paid off in full days before hand and my card was denied before that too. Long story short, I hate visa and I'm thinking about leaving that company.

I guess that is it. We got home that night and had an amazing sleep in my own bed. Wonderful.

Long story short, it was a really awesome trip. We saw 3 bears, 8 moose, a herd of elk, a bunch of dear, no mountain goats, some foxes, a couple wolves, killed a bird, crossed a bunch of rivers, spent over a grand in gas, drank a billion cups of coffee, saw the most breath taking mountains in the world, saw my hero's monument, took a lot of photos, ate the raw zoodles, visited some family, saw some friends, listened to the cbc in every province, made a trip playlist, talked about everything, spent 9 nights in the truck, got 2 sunburns, watched the Canucks, and became better friends.

Now back to the real world. I expect we'll keep blogging about our adventure here in King's County but for now, this is all.

Thanks for reading!

Flashers, Fowls, and the Vancity

Hello all! Today is day 7. Yes I realize that it has been 4 days since my last post... I don’t see you going across the country writing a sweet blog that all your friends and family say they like even though they probably don’t read it and if they do read it, they are just being supportive.  (Note: if you do or don’t read this, the support is great anyway. Thanks.)

Mike and I made it through Ontario that night, well we made it to the border.  For anyone who has travelled at night, you know that transport trucks go really fast. Truck drivers have deadlines to make so they are super scary when they get behind you.  When a truck was approaching us from behind, we would pull over so they could pass. It was a nice gesture so they would thank us by briefly flashing their four-ways. Trust me, real funny. Driving down a dark highway; a truck passes and there is Mike and I sitting on the edge of our seat waiting for a flash. Come on, that is so funny...

...Anyway...

The following day we made it all our way through the Manitoba floods. Well, that is to say we made it through Manitoba. There was only one section that seemed bad. Well, that is to say, there was a house with sandbags around it with not water by the house but there lawn was covered in water. The roads were clear and sunny! We did swing by Winnipeg for a coffee. Anyone familiar with the song One Great City by The Weakerthans? If you’re not, the chorus of the song goes, “I hate Winnipeg”.   Lets face it, Winnipeg doesn’t really have much. It is very flat.

We swung by the Badlands. They were awesome. I felt like I was in a Clint Eastwood film. We climbed through them and got covered in mosquito bites. Mike climbed to the top without telling me where he was going. I didn’t notice he was gone until a little girl pointed to the man on the top of the hill. Sure enough, it was Mike. I’m sure he has some good photos.

On the way back to the Trans Can, I hit a bird... Yes, I know what you’re thinking (when you’re reading this you should totally used that voice I use when I’m doing an impression of my Dad), ‘wait a second there Jeremy, didn’t you kill a bird the last time you took a road trip?’ Yes! Yes I did. Last time I took a road trip west, we were hardly out of the driveway when a bird flew in front of the car. I thought he might have made it but when I looked in the rear view mirror, there was a big puff of feathers like in the cartoons. This time we were driving along and same deal only this time the bird tried to fly over the truck but didn’t quite make it. He left a pretty good splat on the windshield. It is a real shame that Mike decided not to go into law because he kicked into lawyer mode. He was talking about how there were no witnesses and no one could place me at the scene. Then he went into plea bargains and how many years I’d get. Anyway, that bird is now gone at the hand of me...

We didn’t stop again till we made a stop at Mike’s aunt’s house in Saskatchewan. I guess she made reservations at a nice steakhouse but then I had to go and ruin it ten years ago when I gave up eating meat. All was good though and she made us supper. It was the first time since we started the trip that we had a full home cooked meal. We also go to have a quick shower... Also another first since the start of the trip. One time I couldn’t shower in over a month (long story) and I’m not sure that that first shower was as good at this one on the trip.

Mike and I continued on right through Regina and on into Moose Jaw.  Somewhere in between I told Mike that there was just something about the prairies. This was the first time I have ever been past Toronto; it was the first time I’ve ever seen the prairies. I liked them but they were just so flat, so open. I really didn’t know what it was. Mike pointed out that we could see the city we were coming from and the one we were going to. I’m just throwing it out there; Moose Jaw and Regina aren’t particularly close. It takes around an hour to get from one to the other. For readers in New Brunswick, which I think is most of you, it takes about the same amount of time to drive from Regina to Moose Jaw as it takes to drive from Saint John to Fredericton. It was such a weird experience.

We camped out in the truck at a rest stop about an hour away from Medicine Hat.  There were some tents set up there in the bushes and a car in the parking lot. Mike was nice enough to kind of slow down when our headlights hit their tent so he could get a good look. In the morning, I was sleeping in the bunkalow (wait, did I ever talk about the bunkalow? I fashioned a bunk in the back of the cab of the truck. You didn’t think Mike and I were sleeping together did you? We’re not those kind of friends.) Anyway, I woke up in the bunkalow and the people in the tent had woken up and were packing their car. One dude kind of saw me and was startled. I pretended to be asleep rather than have an awkward moment. After they left, I woke Mike up and we headed out. It took us forever to find a Tim’s but, oh boy, when we did, it was awesome.

After Medicine Hat, we hit the road to the Rockies. First we took a stop in Calgary for some gas and some subway. It started to rain pretty hard. Mike wanted to see some of Calgary before we stopped. So there we were, sitting in rush hour traffic in Calgary. It was good though, we got to see the downtown Calgary for a bit and got lost a bit.

We hit the Rockies. It was absolutely breathtaking. You can’t describe it. You can’t look at photos. You need to go and see them for yourself. It is just an experience that I can’t put into words. They are big and beautiful, kind of like elk.

Speaking of elk. In the foothills of the mountain, we saw a road sign warning us of elk of the road. We kind of looked at it with a laugh and continued on until Mike almost smoked a herd of elk trying to cross the road. Mike pulled of the road pretty quick and got out the camera. He got out to get some photos. I was distracted by the mountains. Mike got back in to the truck and let out a large, “Wooo,” and a, “Yeah Buddy!” He then went on with a story that kind of went like this:

“You know when ya hit a deer in New Brunswick and you tell someone about it? They are always like, ‘Ah that damn deer.’ I don’t think people would react like that here. ‘Yeah, I hit an elk.’ ‘What! You hit an elk! DUDE, what are you doing? Didn’t you see sign?’”

That Mike... Funny guy.

We stopped at the BC border for photos and congratulations then continued on. We travelled into the night and stopped in a little town for coffee. I have no idea what town that was but it was going full stride when we hit it. I’m just saying, there was traffic at 11:30pm. Why there was so much traffic? And there was a jerk behind me too! He was flashing his high beams and everything. I’m just saying we have encountered one jerk on the road so far and it was that guy. That Guy, if you are reading this, I hope you slide your car into the ditch because your wife is yelling at you because the kids are crying and you need to swerve to avoid an elk because you don’t want to hit it because you know that all the locals will be super angry with you.

Anyway...

BC, beautiful place. My girlfriend was born here and she is beautiful, am I right or what? I like this place. We parked the truck at a rest stop with a good looking view of the mountains. We had coffee in the morning then drove to Vancouver. That is where we are now. It is our second night here. Mike and I got some beers and went out for supper at some place that was really expensive but we had a good view of the t.v. The Nucks lost so we didn’t tip. COME ON! It is just a joke! Of course we tipped. We’re staying here at the best western... nice place. We spent the day at Stanley Park and wondering around downtown. Now we’re watching SNL.

I have never felt so small before this trip. It might be the prairies or the mountains or the waterfalls, I’m not sure. Everything is so big! I can see to cities at once, see the ground actually touch the sky and a really big goose in Nowhereville, Ontario (for some reason). People ask why we would take a trip like this and I always thought, ‘why not?’ I’m not sure why we took this trip, but I definitely feel more Canadian.  

I’m not really sure what is next but I’m sure I’ll blog about it. Well, cya later!  

If I take one more step, it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been.

Today is day three. I realize that I didn’t blog about day two so here is a brief overview: We got in the truck and drove a lot. It rained.

Last night we stopped for supper just past Sudbury, Ontario. We thought it would be a good idea to wait till 9 pm EST to make spaghetti. Turns out it is real flipping hard to cook spaghetti and then clean up in the dark.  Afterwards, we found a rest stop by a waterfall. Turns out we aren’t allowed to camp at rest stops. But Hey, we’re tourist from New Brunswick...

Today has been... Fun.  Turns out that Western Ontario has a lot of trees. We passed a construction site we it looked as though the rock wall beside the road collapsed. It was also in the middle of a field that appeared to have been a site of a forest fire. All the trees were bare and black. There has been some sweet views but most of the time the drive is very similar to the one from Moncton to Fredericton with the exception that these roads are only two lane.

Mike decided to make his own entertainment by driving towards crows on the side of the road and honking the horn. The best part is seeing the satisfaction on his face when the crow flies away. Just saying, I saw this man graduate university the other day and he wasn’t as excited as when the crow flies away. One crow stood up for himself by not flying away. Mike hasn’t talked since...

On a happier note, my cell phone hasn’t gotten signal since we left the rest stop this morning. Wait, that isn’t good news at all. Our friends and family must be worries sick. Oh that’s right; Mike still has reception on his phone. My phone is only a couple months old! Mike has had his cell phone since they started to manufacture flip phones. So I guess only my loved ones will be worried... It isn’t like my girl friend has to climb a mountain to send me text messages from Ecuador and if I don’t get them on time then she leaves. No, I’m not bitter at all.

Side Note: the one radio station we get out here is playing Cher. It wouldn’t be nearly as fun without Michael’s commentary, “Do you believe? Do you believe in love after love? Do you? I do. I can’t feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough.” ...Awesome.

Mike noticed the abundance of traffic on the railroad here. He always takes a minute to watch them going by. He has also started to make his case as to why trains are more economically and environmental better.

One thing I do like about Western Ontario is that the sun likes to vacation out here. Not that I don’t like the rainy grey skies of the Maritimes. I just like to see the sun from time to time.

We have been having meals of coffee and bagels at Tim Horton’s in small towns along the way; however, one of the most memorable meals was lunch today at a highway side rest stop and look out. There was one picnic table and a garbage can but it really was only the shoulder of the highway. Mike went off to watch the trains as I struggled with the can opener and a can of zoodles. When he came back, he took over opening the other can and started to eat as I continued with my struggle. Turns out that you are supposed to go at it from the top and not the side of the rim. Anyway, I got noodles all over the place when I was making it a noodles sandwich.

We’re hoping to make it to Manitoba tonight and I guess if I was more focused on the wheel instead of the blog... A laptop is hands free right?

Rest Stops, Rest Stops Everywhere, but Not A Place to Sleep

OK. Day one over! Thank god. I’m never ever doing day one again. After Mike was finished at his birthday party or whatever it was he was doing in Fredericton, we hit the road north in the rain. As we passed Woodstock, the rain finally stopped and it was smooth sailing from there. 

We talked about girls, ambitions for the trip, the future and the merits of a silent ‘h’ at the end of Sara. I’m sure we talked more than just that; after all, we were awake for 21 hours. I’m sure that if I were a better writer, you would be starting to get the sense of the male bonding going on in the truck... I would be thankful if you just pretend that this is awesome or at least pretend to liked it in front of my face. 

Anyway, we stopped for gas in Edmunston before the gas prices jumped 20 cents in Quebec. We also went into the Wendy’s to use the washroom.  After we had Burger King for lunch, Mike swore off fast food. Here is how the Wendy’s scene played out. (After the bathroom of course)

Jeremy: (to Mike) Are you getting anything?

Mike: No. I think I’m alright.

Jeremy: I think I’m going to get something. I feel weird about using their washroom and not getting anything.

They stand in line

Server: Can I help you?

(Keep in mind this girl has a French accent. But, she wasn’t the type of French girl who makes you wish you were dating a French girl.)

Jeremy: Hi, I’ll have a chocolate frosty.

(Insert awkward scene here ... this part really isn’t that interesting so we’ll just call it the chocolate frosty fiasco and move on. If you’re really interested, just ask me about it later.)

-Okay, skip ahead to funny part that has a lot of build up but not a lot of pay off.

Also, Mike has decided to get something.

Mike: What did you get?

Jeremy: Frosty.

Mike: Yeah, yeah. (Looks at the menu as if he sees a butterfly flying around). Yeah, I think I’ll get a chicken salad. (Pause for added comedy). Holy Jeese! Those are expensive.

Jeremy: You could get a half size.

Mike: Yeah, I think I’ll do that.

Server: (keep in mind that Mike has just told me that he has a thing for French accents and I took his words out of context for added hilarity). Can I help you?

Mike: Yeah, I’ll have a bacon cheese burger.

... and then we found 5 dollars.

OK. Side note: Mike is a jerk. As I was reading what I wrote for the blog, I had some nasal debris hanging there which he neglected to tell me about...

We continued on till we were just outside Quebec City. We took a rest at a rest stop to try to figure out how far we were going to go before we stop for the night. After much debate as to staying there or trying to get to Montreal, we decided to keep going.

We got past Montreal and looked for a gas station in the GPS. It led us to a tall scary looking apartment building in the middle of a field. We took our chances and kept going. We tried to stop at an Ultramar but we were told it was closed so we kept going till we found an open gas station. Now I realize that story wasn’t going anywhere but I just wanted to note that the French don’t seem all that bad and were pretty nice. Be kind to the French! They are people too. Apparently, Mike tells me, I spoke to a Tim Horton’s worker as if was a child. “Do. You. Speak. English?” Whatever. I was tired.

We got out the trust ol GPS out again to find a rest stop. There was a big one that was close to where we were. Come to find out it was closed and the closest one was 10 minutes away.  I know it doesn’t seem like a big deal but when you have been awake for long than 20 hours, have to stay awake to drive another 10 minutes seems like forever!

Turns out that the closed rest stop was a blessing. We passed the Sea Dogs bus. Now for yous who don’t follow hockey, The Sea Dogs are the biggest hockey team in Saint John. Oh, and they won the regional championship last night. It is the first time they ever one and now they are off to the national tournament. Anyway, it was cool that we got to honk and give them a thumbs up at 4 in the morning when they are on their way home with the cup! Second, we passed into Ontario. That’s right, we made it through Quebec.

Today is day two. So far we haven’t really done anything fun cause I’ve been blogging when I should be navigating... Crap. Where are we?