Swift Current "Where Life Makes Sense"

Is that not the best catch phrase for a town? I'd like to live in a place where things finally make sense. So this morning I left my little hotel near Calgary to go to Dinosaur Provincial Park. It's literally in the middle of nowhere surrounded by massive private ranches. And there are little hedgehogs EVERYWHERE. I almost killed about five of them on the road (they're fast little buggers though. Every time I tought that I'd run one over I'd see it scamper off in my rearview mirror). Well, mabe they're hedgehogs. They could also be some sort of ground hog? Prairie dog? Here's a picture and you can decide for yourself.
After the hedgehog dodging, I made it to the Dinasaur Park, aka the Canadian section of he badlands. Went for a sweaty walk through the "mountains" which look like big mounds of colourful dust and rock. Lot's of fun.
From there I headed East again, and now I'm in Swift Current Saskatchewan! Tomorrow morning I'm going to head into Moose Jaw to see Al Capones tunnels! Fun!

Calgary-- Edmonton-- Three Hills

From Banff I headed into Calgary to look around, do some laundry and meet up with Laurel. It was nice seeing an old Korea buddy again! She'd already had plans with a few friends so I tagged along for dinner and drinks. It was nice talking to people again for a while!

An annoying thing; as I was stuck in traffic in Calgary trying to find a laundromat, my GD "Check Engine" light comes on. Shit! I drive through the freaking rockies and it chooses to light up as I sit in a traffic jam as I am crawling along. How does that make sense? I'm due to get my oil changed in another thousand kilometres so I'll have them check it out then. Oh Pabo.

Today was a total bust. People kept telling me that if I was going to be in Alberta I should definitely check out West Edmonton Mall. So I drove about three hours out of Calgary up to Edmonton. After about fifteen minutes of looking at the miniature golf courses, the water park, the pirate ship, the ice rink and a myriad of shopping establishments, I remembered that I hate malls and I don't have much money. So I loitered for another hour, then got back in my car and headed back. On the drive south-east, I decided, "HEY! I don't need this GPS system. I am a capable, independant, free spirit!" And so I got lost for a few hours and finally stumbled upon a small town called Three Hills, where I found the wonderful little Rest Easy Motel. The nicest place I've stayed thus far. And not the most expensive! After staying in so many motels, hotels, hostels, grass and bamboo huts, tents, friends floors, etc. etc. I think I can consider myself a bit of a hotel savant. I'm getting good at just looking at it as I drive by, thinking about its location (nearby cities, central location etc.), seeing it's checking in office and being able to guess how much its going to cost me, what the room will smell like (this is VERY important! The worse the smell the less it's going to cost, but is it really worth it?) and its facilities.

Banff-- Columbia Icefields

The second day I was off to Columbia icefields, which was f**king AMAZING!!! I went on one of these huge bus things onto the glacier where it was snowing.

The part of the glacier we were standing on, the ice and snow was 100 metres deep! There were only certain areas we could walk on because everywhere else there were "holes" in the snow that you could fall into that were filled with this eerie blue glacier water. Very excellent! There was a tour grop of French Canadian dudes who brought cups so they could have a drink of the glacier water flowing everywhere. They said it tasted like whisky (Crown Royal!), and were making jokes about getting drunk on the glacier.Really it's just a bunch of ice and snow on mountains, but there was still something so amazing about standing on them. That snow had been there for hundreds of years, building up and melting away season after season. When we were up there he temperature was somewhere in the minus and it was snowing!

Banff

Once I headed out of Golden, it was on to BANFF!! Once I got to the Lake Louise area I found myself a campsite for a couple of days. Of course, first I went to Lake Louise, which was ridiculously gorgeous. Only pictures will do.

T

Golden!

I'm finally in the Rockies. I wanted to camp in Glacier National Park but the campgrounds aren't open yet since it's still so cold. So I drove on and decided to stop in a small town called Golden on my way to the Banff region. So far I'm liking the Trans Can Highway. I was expecting it to be "major highway" like (ala the Interstate highways), but it's actually pretty modest and not too busy. Although it's a little cool, I think I came at the right time. The roads are not yet crammed with RV's, which is excellent. Another difference in the highways in the States and Canada; there was a lot more wildlife in the States. Dead on the road. I saw dozens of deer carcasses that had been killed on he highways. I'd never seen that before. They're so big they look like human bodies on the side of the road and they leave HUGE blood stains on the highways (and total vehicles, I'm sure!). I'm not sure whether to attribute the difference to there just being more wildlife in the States, Trans Can highway authorities being more diligent about clearing away animals, or speed limits in the States being much higher. On the I 90's the speed limit is often 75 miles/hr (about 120 kilometres/hr), whereas in Canada the maximum speed limit I've ever seen is 100km/hr. Interesting!

At this point I'm continually slapping my own hand so I stop taking pictures of the mountains. When I come upon a new mountain that seems bigger and more beautiful than the last, I stop my car to get a couple shots. Then later I look through the photos and realize that I'm not sure where I took any of these mountain pictures, and they're all looking remarkably similar! Still beautiful, but I think people will get the idea with a few pictures instead of one hundred.

I feel like I'm making pretty good time, so after exploring the rockies for another day or two, I'm probably going to start heading back so as to perhaps save a little money. I was talking to an older gentleman a few days ago on a ferry to Vancouver island. He saw my car with the Ontario plates and told me that he'd driven through Canada from Mississauga and it'd taken him TEN days. So I want to leave myself plenty of time just in case.

Hmmm... I Spoke Too Soon

In my last little excerpt, I was marvelling at the steadfastness of my car. Then today I drove from Vancouver Island to Lilloet (where I'm staying for the night) and it got a little ugly. He's still running fine, but he's really struggling along the crazy inclines and bends on the "Sea to Sky Highway". This highway is supposed to be one of the most scenic-- and scary!-- highways in Canada, and it's definitely true! It was slow going up those steep hills and once I tried to accellerate just a bit too much too quickly and Pabo responded by emitting a nasty burnt rubber smell. After that I stopped the car, but the engine wasn't overheated I think I just went a little too far for the litle guy. So I'm going to be taking my time from now on until I get out of the mountains. But DANG, the scenes are GORGEOUS! Mountain after mountain, stream, canyon, cliffs, everything. Now I'm in my wonderful little motel room in the small town of Lillooet which is surrounded by mountains, and out-of-the-way enough to be nice and cheap. Marvelous!

Vancouver Island

So this morning I left my hostel bright and early to catch a ferry to Vancouver Island. First I drove into Victoria, which was a much nicer town than Vancouver (in my opinion). After checking out a whale watching place that was already full for the day, I drove into Sidney, a relatively small town nearby which was beautiful. I found a place to do some whale watching as well, which was perfect. We all went out on a little boat that drove us out to the nearby islands where ALL THREE!! of the local pods were cavorting in the water. It was awesome! Apparently it's pretty much mating seasons so all of the pods were just swimming around together, splashing and jumping. We didn't get very close and the boat was a little wet and rocky so my pictures are abysmal. Half of them I just deleted because they were blurry, or I'd take the picture once the big buggers were already underwater. The half hour we spent looking at the pod went something like this:
1. A couple of orcas surface in a splash, swimming around
2. Annoying kids on boat say "Woah! Look at them!!"
3. My head swivels around
4. I spot the whales! Excellent!
5. The whales dive down again leaving only some stirred water to show where they were
6. I lift my camera
7. I try to zoom in
8. I look for the whales
9. I can't find the damn things!
10. I take a picture just in case they happen to surface within the frame.

Expert wildlife photographer, I am not. But in my memory they were quite majestic and other-worldly, I assure you. Once one of the big guys jumped out of the water-- I mean right out-- and all I caught was a blurry splash of water. Sigh. But here's what I DO have:

Impressive, no?

Right now I'm staying at a wonderfully cheap motel. I went to a motel 8 type place, but the lady told me it was too expensive and that I should go across the road to the cheaper place (which I did). Thanks lady! She must hate her boss... she told me that the rates had just gone up and it was ridiculous and that she wouldn't stay there. Ha!

Note to self: Stop being so jaded! Everywhere I go, I think to myself, "this is alright, but in such and such a place it was MUCH better". "Yeah, I guess these mountains are pretty big, but in so-and-so, they were way bigger". "This hotel is nice, but when I was in Kreplakistan, they were nicer, cheaper etc. etc." Why do I have to be such a jerk?
I am really enjoying my trip so far though! Being free and able to go wherever I want and do whatever I want (within monetary boundaries) is quite excellent! I'm so impressed with my car. Pabo's a piece of crap but he's still plugging along, getting me everywhere with little fuss (knock on wood). I fed him an oil change, replenished his fluids, and I've been checking his tire pressure-- all is well! He's like my little baby (in baby talk voice)!! Once I get him a car wash he'll be getting a hug.

Vancouver baby!

So I've finally made it back to Canada. States that I have driven through in the last week: Michigan, Illinois, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington (maybe more...). When I was driving through Washington (day 6) I went from the mountains into almost-desert for a while. I swear to god a tumbleweed hit my windshield! Getting into Vancouver was brutal. A long line up at the border and annoying old man behind me made it pretty painful. I was creeping along one milimetre at a time in the big lineup of cars waiting to go to customs. Every time I let my mind wander (which is quite often) and didn't pull my car right in behind the car in front of me (even if I could only pull my car forward a few extra feet) he'd HONK at me! Then I'd look in the rearview mirror and he'd be shaking his head as though I'd inconvenienced him greatly. Hahahahaha... after a while I'd just NOT pull up so he could get angry. What a dillhole.

Vancouver seems alright for a big booming metropolis. The mountains in the background everywhere definitely add to the aesthetics though. Right now I'm staying at another hostel. For whatever reason, hostels always smell BAD. Those backpackers just can't stay showered or use deoderant I guess. Bunch of hippies. One of my roomates brought her teddy bear with her and it's sitting on her bed. Interesting.

Tomorrow I'm off to Vancouver Island to hopefully go whale watching! Expect some blurry photos of water with black splotches in the near future.

Roadtrip!

Day 1 June 15/2008

Drove to Chicago today. Actually went well. My car is fine thus far and I made pretty excellent time from Exeter to downtown Chicago. Interestingly enough, the hostel that I decided to go to is literally on the same block as the Congress Hotel, where I stayed in third year university on a field trip! Hostel was cheap $34! Parking was not $27! The border guard dude asked
“what do you do? What’s your job in Canada?”
“Ummm… ice carving… like an ice sculptor…” then I laughed because it’s weird telling people that you carve ice for a living.
“Don’t laugh!” he says with a straight face. “That’s how I put myself through college”. Funny guy.

I’d forgotten how oddly depressing big cities can be. Maybe this is a crazy thought, but sometimes it seems like big city living makes everyone… ugly. All the panhandlers, food service workers; I’m not sure what it is. I was walking out of a dingy fast food restaurant and an African American dwarf says hello to me. I say hello back and as I’m walking off he says “I need a white woman!” Keep looking buddy.

Day 2 June 16/08

Okay, not getting such a great impression of the states thus far. Why is everyone so dang unfriendly? Not that I want to sound like an uber-nice-polite Canadian, but it’s just so depressing so far in the states. Maybe because I’ve just been on the highway and in big cities. Right now I’m in Minneapolis Wisconsin. Pretty uneventful drive except for one instance. I’m on the I 94 in the left hand of a two lane section of the highway. There’s yet another souped up SUV in front of me pulling a tent tailer. All of the sudden the top of the trailer including tarp and poles flies up and onto the highway in front of me. I have to swerve into the righthand lane to miss it, then go back into the left so that the truck behind me doesn’t get into an accident slamming on his breaks! Yeesh! My heart was beating a little faster but all was well. Right now I’m in the dumpiest motel ever in Minneapolis. I was checked in by a dude that’s half senile and a guy that looked like Marilyn Manson but with more tattoos. But it only cost me $40 AND I have my own room. The hostel in Chicago smelled really funky and all the people I shared the room with came in late (and not at the same time!) and all kept their stuff in annoyingly loud plastic bags. Brutal.

Okay, a little rant about SUV’s and the people who drive them. A bunch of a**holes. If I’m driving 120km/hr in the right hand lane, don’t tailgate me you gas guzzling piece of sh**! All these middle class suburban pricks in their big cars (driving by themselves-- not carpooling) acting as though they own the road and weaving through traffic as though they have a death wish. Hmmmm… maybe they do? If I lived in the suburbs with my 2.5 children, boring job, boring spouse, and one car garage I’d want to die as well. F**kers! (Censored for Sandra Arley Coulter)

Day 3 June 17/08

I’m in Medora North Dakota right now. Deep in the really cool badlands!!! Most of North Dakota (this is all from the I94 mind you) seems pretty boring. Rolling hills, very few trees or buildings. Then all the sudden the landscape looks like it’s all caved in on itself and desert like. Very fantastic. The hills and cliffs are straight out of a Dali painting. I can almost see the melting clocks in the foreground. Staying at “The Bunkhouse” for $80 a night; a little costly but worth it for my own bathroom and air conditioning goodness! After I checked in and found something to eat, I just drove around to check out the area. Absolutely gorgeous, and I've regained my faith in humanity; everyone's really friendly.

Day 4 June 18/08

Now I’m in Yellowstone Park in Wyoming. So I drove all through Montana and part of Wyoming. Absolutely gorgeous, but so very desolate. I’d love to be some rich rancher mans wife. Eeekkkk… that’s not very feminist of me, but I still can’t deny it. I’d like to be able to go for long walks in the mountains, but not have to do the work associated with having a ranch (that's where the big manly husband comes in)!

Yellowstone is ridiculously big. Once I was finally in the park I paid $25 to get in. Then I was told to go to Bridgeway campgrounds because they had a few campsites left. It took me an hour to get there! So all of the campsites were gone and I had to drive another 45 mins to get to Canyon campground where I’m staying now. Yeesh. As I was driving from one site to the next I notice that all the cars in front of me have stopped, then I see this bison walking along the centre of the road. This bison is HUGE and he’s taking his sweet ass time walking along the middle of the street. By now I’ve stopped and as he walks up to me I close my window and actively avoid looking him in the eye. He literally comes within five feet of me. As soon as he’s passed, I drive on and burst out laughing. Did I really think rolling up my window would help? The animal isn’t a panhandler! And if I DID look the big beast in the eye, would it attack me??... probably not. When I first got into the park I also saw a few antelope(s?)! Very cool!

My campsite: there is actually SNOW on the ground. All of the mountains around here are snow-capped, and my campsite is about a 1000 foot elevation I think, so it’s like spring has just sprung. And as I was driving here I thought there might be a nice lake for me to swim in! Ha!

For the most part I’m really enjoying travelling alone, except for when people ask me “Alone?” (whatever I may be doing). I guess this means that there’s something horribly wrong with me, but I don’t care. Whoever I might’ve brought would inevitably be complaining all the time, and I would have someone to complain to.

Note: I have a tan on my left arm, left shoulder and the left side of my face. Veeerrryyy becoming.

Day 5 June 20

I'm still in Montana in a little town called Missoula. This morning before leaving Yellowstone, I of course had to check out old faithful. Mmmmm... sulphurous volcanic goodness! Also saw a few herds of bison, more mountains and got lost a few times before I had to head out and make my way west yet again.

Hopefully I'll make it to Vancouver tomorrow!

Note: I have a nasty burn on my left arm, left shoulder and the left side of my face. Veeerrryyy becoming.