Round Trip

Ok. Sorry for the delay. I'm writing this entry from Winnipeg, so as you can imagine I've been a little occupied with settling back in. But I'll do my best to continue where I left off.

So the next day Mike was meeting his family in Niagara and I was invited along since it was one of my destinations. His Mom and her boyfriend are big spenders at the Niagara Casino so they get all sorts of free things. They were staying at a really nice hotel room on one of the top floors for free, had a free buffet meal and tickets to Sinbad live, all of which I was invited to partake in.

On the ride there I actually found it kinda weird to be in passenger after spending over 50 hours driving recently. It was nice though cause it meant I could enjoy the scenery along the way. Lol, even though he's a cop he was speeding the whole way there and cursing the drivers who were only going 20 over the limit. I thought that was kind of ironic.

Niagara falls were awesome. The Canadian falls are way better than the American ones. Mike's family were cool too. Apparently my Mom used to babysit Mike and Sherry when they were kids and their Mom told me a few funny stories about that. The last time she'd seen me I was like 5.

Once it got dark out we went to the theater in the casino and saw Sinbad live. Personally, when I heard we were seeing Sinbad I thought of terrible movies. But his stand-up was actually quite hilarious. And surprisingly PG. After his actual act was over he stayed on stage for another 45 minutes just talking with the audience and improving. It was hit and miss, but the funny improv stuff was hilarious, and the stuff that wasn't funny was usually cause an audience member had asked a stupid question. We were in 4th row, so it was kinda cool to see him up close. I just realized I forgot to mention some other actors I saw. In Chicago I saw Oprah from across the street and in Toronto Mike and I saw Eric Balfour from Six Feet Under and 24.



Anyway, after the show we headed to the casino. Mike gave me like $100 to spend in the casino! Needless to say that vanished. It was a lot of fun though. In the back of my mind though I knew this was the last destination before heading home. The fact that my trip was coming to and end was hanging in the air.

We got back to Toronto at something like 3:00 in the morning, so I crashed immediately. The next morning I woke up slowly to the realization that the long drive home began that day. I took my time waking up and showering, then treated Mike to breakfast. He had been so hospitable and paid for everything so I insisted on at least letting me pay for a breakfast. We ended up talking for hours. He totally understood what this trip was all about, and related stories of his youth when he was in a similar "who am I?" phase.

The conversation ran a little long and we didn't leave the restaurant until 3:30 pm. We said our goodbye and I thanked him for the place to stay and we both got in our cars and left the parking lot. I followed him a bit on the 401 until it was my turn off. As I turned off the 401 to take the long road back to Winnipeg he waved out the window as he drove off in the distance and I waved back. The long drive through Northern Ontario was now ahead of me.

I am really glad I decided not to come back through the states. It was great coming out through there but to go back the same way seemed silly. Everyone had warned me about driving through Ontario, saying the driving conditions were awful and that wildlife was everywhere. They told me it was 2 lanes with oncoming traffic zooming by, including semis, etc... Once I was on the road I realized I could easily handle it. I probably would have been nervous if I'd come out through Ontario, but now that I had over 75 hours of highway driving under my belt it was a breeze.
Canada is a beautiful country and I'm so fortunate I got to see it. 3 days driving along the lakes through Northern Ontario was a great way to reflect on the trip and get in a little zen time. Huge rocky hills topped with lush green forest, winding roads up, down and around the hills, with the great lakes on my left and often waterfalls on the right leading into the lakes. On the second day I could see a giant cloud of fog rolling in off Lake Superior and within an hour it was so foggy I could barely see over a meter from the car. It was really cool.



Once the fog had faded I drove by a small pond and the fast changing temperatures had led to steam rising off the water surface. Just beautiful.

After 3 days of driving I finally reached Manitoba. It's funny, you leave Ontario and it's immediate. The hills vanish, then so do the trees, and within minutes you went from huge forest covered hills and lakes to the prairies. And all you can see is horizon. After a while it feels like you're not even moving, cause there's no way to gage your speed or direction.

As I reached Winnipeg a sense of nostalgia came over me. I hadn't been home in 2 and a half weeks. Even though now I saw it for the dump it really is, lol, it's still home. "It's good to be back" I thought to myself as I drove by the mint. Literally as soon as I finished that thought I looked over and saw a young guy sitting at a bus stop not looking too good, and suddenly without warning he leaned forward and violently projectile vomited onto the street in front of him. "Yup, I'm home."

I drove by work and popped my head in to say hello. As soon as I did I realized how foreign my own life felt to me now. After that I went to my Mom's to let her know I was back in one piece. She'd been worried pretty much the whole time I'd been gone. When I got home most of my friends got together and hung out for a bit, first just at McDonald's then at Johnny G's on Main.

It's been really weird falling back into the routine of things. This trip has changed me, and it's been so monumental. It's weird though, cause everyone else is acting like it's life as usual, cause I suppose it is, but things are very different for me. There are several changes in life I've realized I need to make. This trip is exactly what I needed it to be. Next year, either the west, or south to the States!

It's been a great adventure.

I've posted a tiny percentage of the photos and videos from my trip on this blog. If anyone wants to check out all the photography and videos I got out of it, I have a set on flickr, it's about 900 photos and 50 videos, lol.

The Final Stretch

Well, I'm in Thunder Bay, it's 10:00 AM and I'm about to head to Winnipeg. The final stretch. It's gunna be really weird getting back home after being gone for two and a half weeks, and even weirder falling back into the routine after nothing but new experiences. When I get home and settled in I'll write a nice long final entry, including details on Niagara and my last night in Toronto, the scenic ride home through Northern Ontario, etc. Hopefully I see you all soon, I miss my friends!

Canada's New York

I made it to Toronto. A nice 6 hour drive with stops. Lol, I stopped at a rest-stop to eat lunch and was sitting in my car with the door open eating. There were like a million seagulls and whenever I’d throw a cracker they’d come from every corner, smashing into each other fighting over a single cracker. I didn’t think of it at the time but I really wish I’d taken video of it, cause it was pretty cool.

The 401 was awesome, as always. The pix and videos I’ve taken don’t do it any justice, it’s all about peripheral vision! When 18 lanes span your whole field of view, it’s quite awe inspiring, especially when it’s a sea of either sun reflecting off their roofs, or a current on white light oncoming on the left and red light travelling with you. Lol, after all the highway driving and metropolis driving I’ve done, Winnipeg is going to seem like a joke. Oooouu, route 90! Yikes! Lol, but then again Winnipeg has some of the worst streets and drivers I’ve seen, so maybe not.

Got to Toronto a bit early and Mike was in a meeting so I parked my car and went for a walk through the park behind his condo. It was really nice. Later on Mike told me it’s a pretty bad area and I shouldn’t walk through it alone... Oh well, I survived. Plus Mike is a cop so I wouldn’t be surprised if seeing the worst case scenario almost exclusively starts to jade your view of people and the city you live in.

Once Mike’s meeting was done we met up. He is a really cool guy and very funny. I met his boyfriend Mitch who was also very cool. It was late and dark so we didn’t see any sights the first night, just ordered some food and watched Robin Hood Men In Tights, lol. Though Mike being the head of the condo association thing was able to take me to the roof and get a cool view of the city. I could see the CN Tower in the distance.

The next day everyone slept in till almost 1:00pm (fortunately only noon Winnipeg time, so I didn’t feel too guilty about letting my sleeping pattern slip to its old ways). Mitch was doing a dragon-boat race at Niagara falls so he took off before I woke up and wouldn’t be back for the rest of the weekend. It was cool meeting him.

So eventually Mike took me to see the sights. While we were in the car I realized I’d forgotten my point and shoot camera in the car (so no videos of Toronto sadly), AND realized my battery for my good camera was dead! DISASTER! The plan was to park at the mall and take the subway downtown, so we looked around the mall a bit for a replacement battery or charger but no luck.

Took the subway. It was a real subway, not an el-train like in Chicago. That was kinda cool. When he arrived downtown there was a Black’s Photography and they let me charge my battery there while Mike and I went for food at a really nice restaurant.

Mike I talked about travel and self-discovery over lunch which was cool. He totally got what this trip was about. And as a police officer he has tons of interesting stories, plus he’s just really outgoing in general.

By the time we were done eating my battery was charged and we headed out. Downtown Toronto is cool. It feels like a newer, Canadian New York. We walked around and he pointed out all the important buildings and historical sites. Walked to the Much Music building. I’d wanted to get a picture of me in front of the Much Music building but sadly they were setting up for the MMVAs so there was scaffolding and stuff everywhere. Oh well. We went inside cause Mike knew the head of security and figured maybe he could get me a free tour but the guy was really busy setting up for the awards. I think some of the VJs walked right by me, but I confess I haven’t watched Much Music since I was a teenager so I wouldn’t even know.

We worked our way to the Sky Dome (Rogers Center...) and the CN Tower. Got to check that out and got some cool photos. The view is incredible! Your ears pop like 5 times on the way up, and at the top you can actually feel the tower swaying in the wind! At the glass floor Mike had me like down face up before actually looking down. He got a few photos of me and then told me to turn over and look down. That made my heart skip a beat, cause suddenly you’re staring straight down for over 100 stories! Eventually I was bold enough to jump as hard as I could on the glass, lol.After the CN tower Mike continued the tour downtown showing me points of interest. Got to see Yonge and Dundass, which is essentially Canada's Times Square.

Lol, all day he was telling me people kept checking me out, women and men. Toronto has a big gay scene, and Mike being a part of it has an eye for this. Lol, at one point 2 oolllddd guys walked by and Mike told me they were looking at me like I was meat! :-P But at one point we were walking down the street and this young girl, total drop-dead blonde nymph, walks up to us and asks me if what she’s wearing could work as a dress or if she should put on pants. The ‘dress’ was barely covering her ass, and it was see through so you could see her tiny black thong underneath. I had her do a little twirl and considered taking a photo, lol. She was all giggles and ran off with her friend, and I watched. That was the highlight of my road-trip.

It was getting dark and we could see constant lightning in the distance getting closer so we headed back to the subway to get back to the car. Sure enough, as soon as we got into the subway it started pouring, lightning thunder, the whole deal. We ordered pizza and watched some more TV and chatted. Good times.

Today we’re heading to Niagara falls in the afternoon and I’ll get some photos, then we’re going to see Sinbad live at the casino, lol. Mike has been paying for everything which is amazingly nice of him. So after Niagara falls and the show we’re coming back and I’ll be leaving the next morning.

The 3 day drive back will be interesting. No big destinations, long stints on the road with great scenery. I’ll really be able to reflect on the trip as a whole, get some thinking done. I start work on the 18^th which means I’ll get back just in time. I would have liked to have at least one day off before I go back to work, but not a big deal.

It’ll be really weird to be back in Winnipeg. I think I’ve changed a fair amount as a result of this trip, and it will be bizarre to be back in the old routine. But I’ve caught the bug, I am now a traveller. In August we’re doing a road trip with my family, and I’m already in the early stages of planning my next trip, either west or south. Now that I know what I’m capable of, it’s more just a question of what do I feel like doing?

P.S. Photos and video added to previous entry too!

Oh Canada!

I'm in our nation's capital with Sherry now! Driving Ottawa is very similar to Winnipeg, so I've been finding it the easiest so far.


I drove into the city yesterday from my motel and went straight to the museum of civilization. It was very cool. All the exhibits were great, including the temporary ones. There was one on a classical pianist and I ended up buying one of his CDs just for something relaxing to listen to on the long ride home after Toronto. The architecture in the building was half of the appeal too. All of Ottawa has amazing architecture.

After the museum I called Sherry and she was just finishing up work, which fortunately was only a block away. So I met up with her and we walked around downtown and chatted. Good to get to know her better. It went from beautiful to rainstorm in a matter of minutes so we ducked out in a really nice restaurant and she treated me to dinner, which was also very cool of her.

After we were done our meals and the rain had stopped we continued our walk. It was really nice out again, with those epic after-rain clouds. She showed me around Parliament which was really cool. I got tons more great photography but unfortunately there's no internet here that I can upload on, only check email and write this blog, so I'll try to add photos to this entry later. Parliament was really cool, and it has an amazing view.


Went and checked out where Tim used to live in Ottawa then sent him a picture of his old apartment on my cell just to creep him out, lol. It did.

Today I woke up and Sherry was already gone to work, so after showering and getting ready I hopped in the car and went to check out The National Art Museum of Canada. Ottawa has the largest concentration of museums anywhere, and sadly I didn't get to see them all. I really wanted to see the War Museum too, but it was closing by the time I was done at the Art Museum.


After finding some parking I walked around the Byward Market which is just a cool farmer's market. All kinds of cool stuff, bought a few trinkets, and whatnot. Also checked out Riddeau Center, a mall I remember Tim talking about when he used to live here. Ended up buying some clothes (including normal t-shirts Lauren :P)

I just got home and am pretty pooped. Sorry no pix or vids this entry, like I said I'll try to add some to this entry once they're edited and uploaded. I tried to find some places with wireless internet access today while I was out and about in Ottawa but didn't have any luck.


So Ottawa has been pretty cool. Tomorrow I leave for Toronto. I'm looking forward to meeting Mike and seeing Toronto. I also plan on checking out Niagara Falls one of the days. Then it's gunna be the drive home, which will probably be 3 days.

A Vacation From My Vacation

Woke up early this morning to check out of my hotel on time. Bill came to $640. Montreal was a bit of a splurge, lol. I'll be OK though. Right before I left my hotel room I checked my online banking and, by some miracle, my credit limit was just raised 500$. I still had 450$ left before that, and on the night of the 13th I get paid direct deposit for the week of work before I left.

Plan was for me to stay in Ottawa with Sherry, a relative I don't know well at all (not entirely sure if I've ever met her) but I couldn't get ahold of her. Had nowhere to stay in Montreal anymore so I decided to drive down to Ottawa and hopefully hear from her by the time I got there. So I jumped in my car and got to driving.



I did hear from Sherry and she isn't available until tomorrow. I got to Ottawa by 3:00 PM and checked into a cheap hotel with free wireless internet. This internet actually lets me upload, so I spent almost the entire day just watching tv in my room and uploading pix and videos that have been piling up. As always, you can check em all at http://www.flickr.com/photos/notme2000/ It was a nice low-key day with no schedule.

Tomorrow I'm going to go deeper into Ottawa and actually check it out, then meet Sherry after she's done work. I'm staying with her here in Ottawa until the 12th, then heading to Toronto to stay with Mike for a while.

P.S. If you scroll down you'll notice that now that I finally have them uploaded, my previous posts now have video! Just scroll down and look for the flash videos with the big play button!

J'Aime Montreal! <3

Ok. Remember when I was in Chicago and said I doubt anything would top it? Well Montreal is pretty freakin' incredible too! I'm so glad I paid the extra cash for my hotel, it's within walking distance of everything! This morning after writing my entry I packed the laptop into the backpack, put my camera around my neck and headed out to see Montreal. Centre-Ville (downtown) and Vieux Montreal (Old Montreal) are side by side, so first I walked through Centre-Ville and then spent most of the afternoon in Vieux Montreal.

Montreal is a unique city. Downtown is very modern, though in a distinctly Canadian way. Then you walk one more block and suddenly it's like you're in Europe on the waterfront. Vieux Montreal is exactly like Europe (I assume). Old buildings with great architecture, cobblestone roads, nice live music playing everywhere, rooftop diners etc.



After walking around and enjoying the atmosphere I stopped at one of said roof-top resaurants and had some food and wine while I overlooked the docks. Nice blue skies with big puffy white clouds over pristine blue water and boats, seagulls in the air. Amazing.

Whenever I talk to someone I get to put my french to use. It's really surreal being in a city that speaks a different language. It's also really weird being somewhere where your language is the foreign one. I met a few people who didn't know english at all!

And it's actually not just french. There seems to be so many cultures mixed up. I took a walk through China Town and was blown away.

This trip is already a huge success. When I remember the doubt I had before I came I'm filled with pride that I came. This is going to be a story I tell for the rest of my life. And I've been doing a lot of soul searching while on the road and come to a few surprising conclusions.

I've been really lucky with weather too! I've been watching the forecasts, and every place I've visited they've predicted thunder-showers all week, and every place I've been was oddly sunny and warm just on those days. It's like there's a ray of light from the sky following me around. It's quite nice.



Distance wise this is about as far from Winnipeg as I'm going to get since I've decided not to go to PEI. But my trip is only really half over. I've done Minneapolis, Chicago, and my visit to Montreal is half over. It's been one week. I still have Ottawa, Toronto and the long drive back home, another week.

Thanks to everyone leaving comments and writing on my facebook, text messaging me, etc... It's been great having something to come to when I get somewhere that has internet, and connects me to home.

When I get back I'm going to try to have a night out at a bar or restaurant, cause I miss everyone and will have many stories to tell. If you're reading this, you have an open invitation to come!

So I'm in a cafe in downtown Montreal on my laptop uploading pix to flickr on the free internet. It's going to start getting dark out (hence cooling off) and I'll start walking to my hotel.


Crap. It just started pouring out. I had to open my big mouth about the weather, lol. I got a long walk in the rain ahead of me :-P

En Francais S'il Vous Plaît!

Montreal it is! It was only 7 hours from Cambridge so I headed down. Another great drive.

I was on the 401, which is an amazing highway. Everyone speeds, at one point I was going 140 km per hour for 45 minutes in crowded traffic. It went through Toronto, though I didn't turn off cause Mike is gunna show it to me after the 12th. Eventually it reached it's full width of 18 lanes and I drove down the exact stretch I had on video in an earlier post before the trip. Kinda cool to find yourself doing something that intimidated the crap outta you not to long before!



Ontario is beautiful! At one point I was driving through lush forest and suddenly the road descended and cliffs started to rise on either side of the road, at the end of it I could finally see it in it's entirety and realized I'd been on the top of some plateau and it'd just spit me out onto some plains. It was light a giant wall covered in lush forest jutting out of prairies, like something out of Lord Of The Rings. It was truly epic!

I've been driving so much I'm starting to get a driver's tan. My left arm is noticeably darker than my right, lol. And it's only going to get worse over the next week.

Once I entered Quebec all the signs were in french and for a second I felt like I was back in school, since that was the last time I really read french. As I entered Montreal I immediately realized I'd underestimated the city. It's an actual metropolis. My hotel was downtown and as I went further into the city the roads got more insane. I never expected Montreal to be the most intimidating city. At one point a biker gang of Chinese guys came by. It was like 6 guys on racing bikes and one guy in a Lamborghini and they kinda hassled me for a bit, circling my car and pointing at me. It was a little scary.

So as I mentioned before, there's a huge F1 Racing thing in Montreal right now. Like an idiot I did not call hotels in advance... When I got to Vieux Montreal the sun was going down and there we're people EVERYWHERE. Saturday night... Montreal is like one giant party. There were fire blowers and guys on stilts, the whole deal. And all walking through the streets while I inched through.

Eventually I parked on a side street and called hotels. All were booked, the only few I could find were like 500$ a NIGHT! The prices quoted in my travel book were double or tripled cause of the F1 thing. Finally I found Le Hotel Du Fort and got 2 nights for 500$. WAY more than I was hoping to spend but it was night now so I had to stay in Montreal and it was the ONLY one I could find after almost an hour of calling hotels. Looks like Montreal is as far as I go...

Actually works out OK though, cause I'm here for 2 nights, then Sherry is available in Ottawa from the 9th to 12th, then Mike is open in Toronto for a few days, then I can start the trek back to Winnipeg. I decided to come back through Ontario, not the North but the highway along the lakes. I have A LOT of highway experience now, and will have even more by then, so I think I'll be OK. I won't drive at night though, cause of deer and moose.

So once I had my hotel booked I started the incredibly slow drive through centre-ville. Finally reached my hotel and checked in. Got to speak french which was cool. My hotel is really nice; better be for 500$! It has an amazing view, unfortunately I can't upload pix on the internet here. I walked around downtown a bit last night, the women here are gorgeous! But was pretty burnt out so came back and went to bed.



So last night was a little stressful. I'm kinda glad some things went wrong though, cause I showed myself I could handle it. But today is a new day and I'm gunna go enjoy Montreal!

On The Road Again...

Back in Canada! Writing this on the laptop (Chad, you rock for lending me this, and don’t worry, it’s in one piece!) in the basement of my Dad’s girlfriend’s daughter’s house. Her name is Ashley and she had a daughter named Emily. I don’t know them too well, only met them a few times when they came to Winnipeg, but my Dad knows them well, as does his girlfriend, obviously. They’re really nice and very hospitable.

Weird to think I woke up in Chicago this morning. I was up pretty late working on the photos from my day downtown (still not done) but had to get up at 9:30 AM to pack all my stuff into my car for 11:00 AM checkout. Once I was checked out I went to a nice restaurant and had some breakfast. The owner of the store was really nice and I ended up chatting with him for a while. Talked about 9/11 and the war for a bit, then he told me about how he started the restaurant from nothing. Told him about my little adventure and he though it was really great. He ended up giving me a little American Flag thing to keep as a souvenir, lol. Cool guy.

After I’d digested my meal and our conversation wrapped up I jumped back in the car. I only realized my car doesn’t have A/C right before my trip. Never needed it until this season. Let me tell you, I woulda liked to have it today. 9 hour drive from Chicago, through Indiana and Michigan, back into Canada at the Ontario border up the 401 to Cambridge. It was hot and humid the whole ride. Once it was past mid-day it wasn’t too bad with the window open, but for a while I was dying.

I’ve gotten a lot better at the long hauls. Only stopped twice on this leg of the trip, and I easily coulda gone another 3 hours of driving if I had to. First stop was at some rest stop in Michigan for a bathroom break and to stretch my legs. Got a popsicle too cause I was so hot. Second stop was at a Wendy’s for some supper.

I actually really enjoyed the drive today. Chicago left me with a glow that I think will last for the rest of this trip. The trip didn’t feel real before Chicago. I had a lot of fun visiting my aunt and uncle in Minnesota but it just felt like a family visit. Now I’m on my independent adventure. I’m doing things I never thought I’d do in places I’d never expect to find myself ALONE! For the whole drive I just listened to great music on my Ipod and reflected on that. Some more great scenery. Took the Skyway in Chicago, some cool stuff passing by Detroit (passing, no way I’m going to Detroit), etc.

After a few toll roads I came to the Canadian border. It was a really cute girl at the gate I pulled up to and deprived of company as I’d been all day, I smiled like a fool the whole time she asked me questions, which eventually made her start blushing, lol. She let me go on and I was back in my home country. We drive slow as molasses here. Thankfully once I was on the 401 on my way to Toronto everyone completely ignores the speed limit and goes up to 130, which is what I’m used to now.

This side of Ontario had some great scenery too! Once I was in Canada the traffic loosened up a bit and it was straight the whole way. I put on Terria by Devin Townsend, had my polarized aviators on which gives everything that epic sepia tone, recline my chair, steered with one hand and watched the sun set over Ontario. Fuckin’ A.

Cambridge is about 100 km before Toronto, so I turned off the 401. I realized I was now in a new time zone and called Ashley to explain why I’d said I’d be there at 7:30 and it was now 8:30, lol. I stopped at a Rogers Video on the way, lol. Rented Season 3 of Weeds to rip to my laptop to watch over the next week. Got my rentals for free when the imported my account, lol. I know for a fact I was supposed to pay for em, but I’m not complaining. I chatted with the folks at the Rogers for a bit about what things were like at my store in Winnipeg, ol’ 536. They were store 471. They were pretty cool, Rogers seems to hire cool people.

Got to Ashley’s around 9:00 PM, local time, lol. They let me have a shower, cause after 9 hours on the road in the humid heat I needed one. After that I had a drink with her and talked for a while. She’s cool and we had some laughs. Eventually they set me up in their basement on a futon. I have a huge tv down here to watch Weeds on, lol.

Just here for the night; couch-surfing. Tomorrow I head to Montreal most likely. At this point in the trip my plans have started to become more from the hip, and tomorrow after I leave here I’m going to hit up a starbucks and use the wireless internet to check my banking and make some decisions about the rest of the trip. If I’m not mistaken, Prince Edward Island may have to be cut. But on the bright side it will give me more time to check out Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City! I just don’t know if I have the time and money for Prince Edward Island. I’m not that upset though. I’m having an AMAZING time already, honestly better than I ever expected. And there’s still a lot to come either way. If PEI has to be cut, this is an incredible experience already, so I’m just thankful for it. By the time I upload this entry (no internet at Ashley’s) I’ll know how far I can make it and add a post-script at the end.

I feel invincible right now.

P.S. Now I'm in a mall in Cambridge using their free wireless internet and I was looking at my finances and even thought I could in fact make it to PEI I'm thinking I'm gunna cut it anyway. It'd be A LOT of extra driving and I wouldn't be able to really check out Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa and Toronto like I want to. I could always take a flight to PEI some day cause I have family in Halifax I could stay with. But I think I'm just going to enjoy the Ontario/Quebec area. So I'm heading out now, and I'll either be going to Ottawa or Montreal. Once I get the in the car I'll get my GPS to calculate driving times and then I'll call hotels to make sure they're not booked. In Montreal there's an F1 race thing going on so hotels may be booked. My next entry will let you know where I ended up!

Scruff Magruff, Chicago Illinois, 60652

I'm writing this from a cheap motel in Chicago! Yesterday morning, as planned, I woke up early and packed. I said my goodbyes to my Aunt and Uncle and cousins and packed up my car.

It was a 7 hour drive from Minnesota, through Wisconsin, to Chicago in Illinois. The interstate through Wisconsin had tons of awesome scenery. It was very hilly, like miniature mountains covered in lush green forest. I was racing from a thunderstorm behind me, so it was really humid, with tons of mist rolling in through the valleys.

Once I entered Illinois there were toll roads every 10 minutes and no lie, 20 miles of construction that took a 45 minutes to get through. It cleared up for a while until I came up on Chicago. The highway kept getting wider until before I knew it I was on 14 lanes going deeper into Chicago. I had been nervous about the highway driving and city driving, but I've actually surprised myself; I think I'm pretty good at it! You have to be a bit aggressive, and you're constantly going 130 km per hour, but I feel totally in control.

I got to my hotel easily enough. Dragged my luggage and stuff into the hotel and checked in. They told me my room wouldn't have wireless internet because I was getting a cheap motel room next door to the actual hotel, but I quickly found that I could get the signal, even though it's unreliable and weak. The thunder storm I'd be racing from finally caught up and it was a big one. So that night I just got settled in and uploaded pix to flickr while chatting with people on MSN and Facebook while watching American TV. It was sort of neat to be in America while Obama wins the Democratic nomination. It's been cool hearing Americans opinions right from their mouths.

I was nervous because the next morning I was planning on taking the El-train to downtown Chicago. So, as planned, the next morning I woke up early and left my hotel. I went to the station, bought my ticket and waited for the train. It's essentially an above ground subway. When it came I boarded and took a window seat. There were definitely some shady characters, but I figured as much. The train actually went right through one of Chicago's slums and... Wow. I mean, the houses were all boarded up, mattresses right in the street, stripped cars in the 'lawns', which were just mud, and groups of black people (just saying what I saw) sitting on the front porch drinking 2 litres of beer and smoking pot, at 11:00 AM!

I accidentally got off a few stops early, so I just walked around downtown. It was incredible. The buildings were HUGE, the roads were PACKED and so were sidewalks. So busy and bustling. I always thought a big city (and I was in one of the biggest in North America) would be intimidating or claustrophobic, but I actually loved it. Everything felt important. People were walking out of the Chicago Stock Exchange, and the Chicago Tribune building, etc... Eventually I asked someone for directions and worked my way to Millennium Park.

Millennium Park was designed by the same guy who did Central Park. It was amazing. I got to see The Bean and The Crown Fountain Monoliths. I wondered around the park for a bit with a nice cold drink. It was extremely hot and humid out. It really felt like summer for the first time. I wonder what it was like back in Winnipeg.

Eventually it got so hot out I needed to go indoors. I found the Chicago Institute of Art and bought a ticket. It was really cool. Got to see a lot of great art including some really famous ones.
It was really neat looking at a Van Gough, Picasso or Salvador Dali and realizing that was the ACTUAL painting, the artists themselves had sat in front of that canvas for hours, the same one I was now standing in front of.

I had a Chicago deep dish pizza for lunch in the in-museum restaurant. Very different from the pizzas I'm used to, but it was great. Very filling. After that I continued looking at the different exhibits for a while and eventually headed back outside. I just walked around downtown for the next few hours, working my way down to the waterfront and following a few walking paths. I had my good camera around my neck and was snapping photos like crazy, like a true tourist. But everyone was, so I fit right in. Downtown Chicago is huge! I must have walked like 10 miles today!



By around 5:00 PM I was beat. I'd been walking all day in the sweltering heat. So I hailed a cab, which in itself was awesome. I felt like such a big city kid, lol. On the cab ride home I listened to my Ipod and just reflected on everything. I'd had a freakin' great day! I can honestly say today was one of the best days of my life. I'm really glad I ended up coming on this trip alone. The idea had always been to go myself, but the thought of going alone scared me and I ended up inviting people. But when people backed out I forced myself to go anyway, and I'm so glad I did. It was surreal. I kept having to remind myself who I was and where I was. I never thought I'd be alone in downtown Chicago, miles from ANYONE I know. And all on my own steam. To think not all that long ago I was scared to leave my basement.

This trip is turning out to be exactly what I wanted it to be.

I talked to my cab driver for a bit as we got closer to my hotel. As he dropped me off he told me I was the nicest fare he'd had in months and asked if I lived in the city. When I told him I was from Canada he said "Ooohhhh! That explains it!"

I dropped my stuff off in my room and headed down to the hotel bar and had a drink and chatted with the bartender for a bit. I ended up getting a little drunk. Finally I came back to my room and started the long process of editing and uploading my photos from today. I started at 6:00PM and it's 1:00AM now and I'm still not even close to done. I might not get them all finished tonight...

Tomorrow morning I have to check out by 11:00 AM and then I'm heading back into Canada. Driving is going to feel slow when I'm back in Canada! I'm going to crash in Cambridge at my Dad's girlfriend's daughter's place. Really cool of her for letting me stay there; I've only met her once briefly a year ago. I'm going to bypass Toronto because Mike said he'd show me around after the 12th, on my way back. So after Cambridge for a night, just for somewhere to sleep, I'll head to either Montreal or Ottawa.

This road-trip is turning out to be the single best idea I've ever had. I'm having an amazing time, and getting exactly what I wanted to get out of this!

Well back to uploading photos...

Busy Day

Today I really felt like a tourist. First I headed down to the Mayo Clinic and had a guided tour, which was really cool. I've seen pictures of the place many times on the news and then standing there in person was weird. Once my Uncle was on his lunch break we all went for lunch at a really nice Italian restaurant, then when he went back to work we headed to the Mall of America!

I'd been there once when I was really young, and barely remember it. It was a huge mall, lol. It's like consumerism incarnate. Not to say I didn't think it was awesome. I bought a necklace and a souvenir shot-glass (SO touristy), and that's it. Pretty proud of myself for not going on a spending spree. I'll probably pass by here on my way back though, so if I have a ton of money on the way back, I may splurge then.

Lego Land, one of the few things I remembered about the Mall Of America, was still there. It was pretty cool. The other thing I remembered, Camp Snoopy, is no longer there. The amusement park is still right in the middle of the mall, but now it's a Nickolodean theme park. Dora, Diego, etc...

There was an Apple store which was cool. They were giving some lectures about future Apple products too, and there were some cool ones. The nerd in me was beside himself, lol.

After that we came back to Rochester and went to a couple places to take photos. Sadly I haven't been able to edit or upload any photos taken with my Digital SLR, only my point and shoot. Hopefully I'm able to at some point, but lack of time makes it hard. I was gunna work on some tonight, but realized I don't have the plugin for my monitor (I can only edit my real photos on my trusted monitor from home, which I brought for just that reason). So on my way to Chicago I'm going to try and find an electronics store so I can get the adapter and work on them at a hotel one of these nights. So far I haven't been able to get any amazing photographs. I've been having too much fun to really get in an introspective artistic state. I've been with family I don't see enough of though, once I'm alone in other places I'm sure I'll produce some more artistic shots.

Sadly my Aunt and Uncle couldn't take me to Chicago to show me around, but they might have someone I can stay with, I'll find out tomorrow morning before I leave. If not I'll just get a hotel near an L-Train station and take it to downtown Chicago. That should be a real experience.

Rochester

So today was a slower day. Took a bit of a breather after the 9 hour drive last night. My aunt showed me around Rochester during the day, a beautiful city that is so green it doesn't feel like a city. Very hilly, which is a nice change from Winnipeg. The whole city exists because of the Mayo Clinic, so it's neat cause the entire city revolves around medicine, and it is apparent. To an outsider it's like they picked a random profession and dedicated an entire city to it.

Tonight my aunt and uncle threw a dinner party to introduce me to a bunch of people they thought I'd like. All about my age or just a few years older. They were all really cool. One of the couples was really into the music scene. Had a philosophical conversation with a pastor about Nietzsche, good times. And they told me of some people I might be able to stay with in Chicago!

Tomorrow I'm waking up bright and early and taking a guided tour of the Mayo Clinic, then having lunch with my Aunt and Uncle, then heading to the cities (Minneapolis and St Paul) to see the Mall of America and a museum I was told to check out. I'll sleep here that night, then the next morning it's off to Chicago. Like I said, it's beginning to look like I might have people to stay with in Chicago. They might even show me around, but if not I got some good advice on how to see Chicago alone if I have to.

It looks like I won't make it to Toronto in time to stay with the police officer. That's too bad, but I'll still find a way to see Toronto. I have someone I can stay with in Cambridge, and I could just take the Go train right downtown from there.

Loving this trip so far, though already itching to get back on the road. But my aunt and uncle are really excited to have me here, so I decided to stay a little longer. Day after tomorrow, bright and early though, off to Chicago!

Dale vs 900 Km

So June 1st. At long last. Woke up early and packed the car full of my stuff. Tim treated me to breakfast which was awesome. We were gunna go to a place he recommended called Cora's, but it was way too busy, sadly. So instead we just went to Sal's. Good stuff. I dropped Tim off and said goodbye, and hit the open road! A full tank of gas and 0 on the trip odometer. I was curious to see how many kilometers to a tank I get, to see if my worst-case scenario of $1500 for gas was in fact the realistic scenario.

Headed south from Emerson, cranked the tunes and drove. And drove. And drove. When I finally reached the border the GPS was a little wonky but I figured it out. Of course they searched the car. They always do for young people. At least I assume that cause every time I've gone we've been searched. Could be the tattoos I suppose, though I dunno if that's just me being defensive.

From the border it was hours of straight line. But at 120 km. I had been nervous to drive that fast, but in no time I felt myself fighting the urge to speed. Driving in the U.S. is so much better than Canada. Their signs, road conditions, and overall system is just way better. I stopped at a few rest-stops to eat, drink and pee. There seems to be a rest-stop every 50 miles on the interstate and each one has FREE WIRELESS INTERNET!

After 6 hours on the road my brain was turning to mush. Eventually I noticed the roads seemed to be busier, and there was a lot of traffic on the overpasses I went under. After a while I realized the interstate was taking me right beside downtown Minneapolis. That was when it all hit me. I was driving by myself in a country I don't live in, and out the side window was a freakin' metropolis. It was awesome. The Minneapolis skyline looks really impressive.

Thank God for GPS. Thanks to it I was navigating the 12 lane highway near downtown Minneapolis like I'd lived there my whole life.

As I was leaving Minneapolis (the aunt and uncle I'm staying with live in Rochester, 2 hours outside Minneapolis) it was beginning to get dark out. But suddenly red and blue was flashing in my rear-view. I was being pulled over! Had I been speeding? I thought I got the whole kilometers to miles thing down pat... I pulled over onto the shoulder and waited. The cop turned on the flood light so I couldn't see back in the mirrors. Eventually he came up to the window and asked if I knew why he'd pulled me over. "Speeding..." I answered apologetically. "Really? Not that I noticed!" Great, lol. I explained that I thought maybe I had been cause I was from Canada and was getting used to the coversion, but if I wasn't speeding then why WAS I being pulled over? My new Ipod holder... Apparently you're not allowed to have anything attached to your windshield, lol. So I took it down :P There was also some confusion over my insurance cause apparently in the states you get a card, but in Canada its just a big folder up paper. But the cop was nice, he actually lived in Winnipeg for a while, so it was no big deal and eventually he sent me on my way. Already an interesting story to tell.

So finally, at 10:30 pm I turned onto the street my aunt and uncle live on. It was so dark I couldn't see the numbers so I had to call them and get them to come out and wave at me, lol. They have a really nice house! So I sat and talked with them for a while, and one of my cousins, Jordan, was still up so he sat with us too.

They went to bed and I've just been uploading pix and videos, checking email and writing this blog. And even though it's only midnight, which is usually really early for me, I'm exhausted so I'm going to bed!

Oh btw, I made the whole trip on just over a full tank. So I get 900 km to a tank on highway! That's over twice what I'd figured in my worst case scenario!!! This trip might actually be comfortable now! Also, I'm uploading all my pix and videos to flickr, so check em out if you have time! http://www.flickr.com/photos/notme2000/

Final Night

So I leave tomorrow morning... Tim is taking me out for breakfast before hand which is cool of him. That should be around 11, after that I'll drop Tim off and hit the road. 8 hours of driving, give or take, to my first destination, Minneapolis. I'll be staying with my Aunt and Uncle and my cousins there. They're great family, but since they moved there a few years ago I don't get to see them much, so this will be cool.

I was looking at my money, and realized there is a good chance it won't last to PEI, so I might not get that far. It's 50/50 right now. I will definitely make it to at least Montreal, so even if I only make it that far, I'm willing to bet it'll be a great experience. I do hope I can make it to PEI though. In my worst case scenarios, gas would be $1500, and I have $2000, so $500 to last 2 weeks for food and hotels is pretty slim, lol. But if I sleep in my car when I don't have anywhere to stay a few nights, and eat from grocery stores instead of restaurants it's still doable. But I'll wait till I'm a few drives in to estimate if my worst case scenario is reality or not. Hopefully I get halfway there and am amazed at how cheap it's been and get to PEI no problem. And then when I'm there, on a whim, I buy a lottery ticket and come back a millionaire!

Jenna baked me cookies for my trip, which is awesome of her. Everyone at work has been really supportive of this trip, except for Craig, but that's only cause he's terrified I'm going to die, lol. Good peeps I work with.

Chad dropped off the laptop yesterday, so I'll be adding entries and photos along the way, so please check back often and leave comments. The majority of this trip will be pretty lonely, so if I have a few followers over the net, it won't feel quite so isolated!

Wish me luck!