Sunday, October 08, 2006

Travel Log: Day 6

Last day of driving hurray!!!

After a late night of partying in Banff we woke up first thing the day after to a rainy/snowy (yes, that's right - snowflakes) morning to pack up the car and get everything ready to go. We went up the Banff Gondola for breakfast. This is where Andy works and he was kind enough to pull a few strings to get us lift tickets for free... again - Thanks pal!

We made a few friends during our stay in Banff (Ally, Kim, Nicky "9-Stitch", Jodi and Tom) and most of them are moving to Kelowna in the winter so I will definitely go visit them soon to hit the slopes.

Andy gave us a wicked carved grizzly bear eating a fish as a home warming present. We named the bear "Maurice". It will look great in our living room as a center piece. Details from how he obtained this grizzly bear cannot be shared to the public for security reasons.

We went back on the road after supper for the final leg of the road trip. The scenery in BC was fabulous; the skies had cleared up, the moutains were bigger and the highway was really hilly and turny (fun fun!)... but the traffic was slow (no fun). The road was so hilly and since we were in fairly high altitude that the cars were cutting out on us (Thin air = less oxygen = partially incomplete combustion = less power). This made the drive very sluggish at times; I was down to 2nd gear up a hill just to keep the speed constant. At first I thought Desert Storm was dying on me but after talking to Rob I found out he was having the same car issues (wheeww! relief).

On the way to Kamloops for eats, we stopped in Craigellachie to visit the "Last Spike" historical site. This is where the last spike was driven in the ground for the canadian railway system back in 1885 - Another important event of our Canadian history.

We drove in to our hotel at around 8pm. Rob's boss was very generous to have a suite ready for our arrival. Thanks Rob's boss!

Distance Traveled: 880km

Total Road Trip: 5,660km

Posted by Brian at 2:39 PM | | Comments

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Rest Day in Banff

Today was our day off yay! We basically hurried to Banff so we could spend the entire day to act like tourists and go sightseeing. Andy pulled a few strings abd abused his Banff staff powers to score us a couple of free tickets to go on the Columbia Icefield tour ($135 value each person). We did have to lie about being on Banff staff before getting on the bus. The bus driver caught us off guard and I had to whip up something good... the things you do for free stuff. The weather wasn't as good as we have had thoughout the week. It was rainy in Banff but as we made our way to the Ice Fields the sky cleared up and we were able to entirely see the gigantic mountains.

"Banff Springs Hotel"


"A Mountain"

Our first rest stop was in Lake Louise. The scenery out there is breath taking and so is how much stuff costs at the Chateau Lake Lousie ($6.15 for a regular size bottle of water). Apparently rooms at the Chateau ranges from $800-$1500 per night. Needless to say we felt out of place walking amongst the rich tourists with our beards and big tuques. Some people there even thoguht we were mountaineers due to our rugged looks Ha! ha!

"Lake Louise"

"Chateau Lake Louise"

After a 45 min break, we hopped back on the bus to make a couple more stops to act like real tourists. We finally made it the icefields mid afternoon. I could try to go in the details of what the icefields are and everything else I learned about the rockies but I don't want to bore anyone or start to give out false information. Anyway back to the Icefields, we got to drive in a pretty cool bus with Timberjack tires called an Ice Explorer. The tour guides out there are pretty funny and full of good knowledge of the area. Giving tours all day to about 5,000 people per day during the peak of the season will do that ya eh.

"Ice Fields"

"Ice Explorer"

There were people from all over the world: Ireland, Brazil, Japan, Korea, United Kingdom to name a few. Most tourists that were there were asians (bus loads of them) and I can honestly say that Rob and I were close to being the youngest people on tour. I recommend anyone who has the chance Banff to do so and if it was up to me, I would do it towards the end of September since I hear it's mental during the summer.

Well I better get going because some beers need to be drinked.

Distance Traveled: zero, zip, nada!

Today is also my long time friends from home Eric and Nathalie's wedding. Unfortunately I obviously could not attend the wedding and am utterly disappointed by it. But I want to wish you guys the best of the best in life and you guys look great together!

Posted by Brian at 12:34 AM | | Comments

Travel Log: Day 5

Today (well yesterday since I didn't have time to write up a post) was the big mother effing day of driving we had been dreading since day 1 and it lived up to its hype. The plan: travel from Winnipeg to Banff in the span of a day. That's going through 2 and a half provinces with limited breaks. We took an early start on the sun this morning by getting on the road at 5h30 local time but it (sun) still beats us by reaching the other side of the sky before we did. We drove through most Manitoba in the dark and before we knew it we entered Saskatchewan.

"Prairies in the morning"

My uncle told me that you realize how empty Canada really is after you drive through the prairies and I have to agree 100% with him. Southern Saskatchewan is so bare it's crazy. the first 6hrs driving through flatland was pretty fun for the 6hrs, seriously, but after that it gets pretty old with the sun beaming on you non stop (there wasn't a single cloud in the sky today). The landscape is so vast with the odd farm house. We didn't hit real flat plains until after Regina. The town of Chaplin was pretty neat to drive by because the ground was all white like it had snowed. Turns out the soil was salt flats or salt dunes like you see in Nevada... we think?

"I'm a poor lonesome Co'boy!"

"Scouting the prairies"

"This is as flat as it gets"

We drove through Calgary during rush hour for some time well wasted. By the time we got out of there, the sun had already set but it was really cool to see the Canadian Rockies unravel themsleves right before our eyes as we were getting closer to them. We couldn't fully enjoy the scenery because it was getting dark fast and we were so tired of driving that I was more concerned of getting to final destination ASAP.

"Rockies Preview"

Our (driving) journey ended in Banff at my friend Andy's house, 15hrs 30min later. But our day did not end here, since it was 8pm local time, we headed out to the pub to watch the hockey game and down some well deserved beers. On our walk back home, we saw a deer walking around on the main street. It was pretty funny to us, especially Rob who couldn't believe his eyes but I guess it's a pretty common thing in Banff.

More to come!

Distance Traveled: 1450km

Posted by Brian at 12:09 AM | | Comments

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Travel Log: Day 4

I just want to thank everyone before I start off about my day for the blog comments I have been receiving so far. I really enjoy reading them and it’s good to know that my fan base is growing as fast as my beard =)

On today’s agenda: another day in the car whooppeee! I almost feel like a trucker. Thinking we had a long day ahead of us, we woke up at 6h00 (AST) to be on the road by 7h30-8h00, after we shower, gas up and grab some b’fast.

"Balmoral Ave. in Thunder Bay"

We hit the road before the sun rose and cruised right along Hwy 17 in very minimal traffic. The landscape was basically the same as yesterday for the first couple hours of the trip: long straight roads, wooded areas and barely any houses except when we drove by small communities. The car ride did become more interesting after we drove through Dryden because we started driving on a mountainous landscape: windy roads, big hills, cliffs and everything else except mountain goats. We didn’t stop as much as we did yesterday because in the end, everything ends up looking very similar to each other.

"Don't drive off the edge!"

"Desert Storm Leading the Pack as usual"

We grabbed lunch in Kenora and had an encounter with native Indians. They were pretty messed up telling us all kinds of nonsense stories and ended up bumming us for a couple of bucks in the end. Some things don’t change much across the country after all hahaha!!! To our surprise we ended in Manitoba sooner than we anticipated this morning and got a glimpse of what the plains look like; everything suddenly went flat about 30km outside Winnipeg.

"Watch out for the Bisons"

"Manitoba Skies"

So now the warning signs changed from moose to deer and bears now and we finally went back to a 4-lane highway (the highway had been a 2 lane highway since leaving Ottawa). Some interesting we noticed about Manitoba highway system is that they don’t have on and off ramps like we usually see in New Brunswick - and everywhere I can think off actually. Instead every is wide open and people just cut in and out to the back roads. We also drove through the Longitudinal Center of Canada (approx. 96° 45° 55° or something like that).

We drove in the west side of Winnipeg at around 4h00 (AST) and checked in a much better hotel room than the night before; no smelly room this time. After a short break, Road Hammer and I went out for some supper and a little drive downtown Winnipeg. After driving around for like 20 minutes, we knew Winnipeg in and out with all the little roads and one-ways and the mass amount of traffic. Winnipeg is kind of like Fredericton with its useless 1-ways at the most awkward locations but with roads 4 lanes wide, each way. We tried to find the old Winnipeg Center where the Jets used to play but we couldn’t find it. I think it might have been taken down already. We did drive in front of the MTS Center and Canad Inns Stadium where the Blue Bombers play (CFL). Here are a few pics off Winnipeg to finish things off. I am super tired and my brain is about to shut off, good nightand enjoy the NHL season opener!

"Shiny Skyscraper in W'peg"

"Winnipeg Train Station"

"Home of the Blue Bombers"

"MTS Center, home the of Manitoba Moose (AHL)"

Distance Traveled: 800km

Posted by Brian at 10:17 PM | | Comments

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Travel Log: Day 3

Day numero Trois and we are on the road again! We left Hearst around 8h30 for a short day of driving...

"Day Three!"

The drive started out on a pretty dry note. Woods, woods and more woods for the first 230km. I counted a generous 15-20 houses between Hearst and Longlac. The drive was so boring that we turned to a different source of entertainment: I ran down an errand rabbit (by accident).
Clean Hit! It was pretty funny to see him barrel roll in the rearview mirror at first but I did feel bad afterwards... for real (no picture available).

On a brighter note, I was really looking forward to this day because we were driving through Beardmore. "What's in Beardmore?" you may ask. Well only the largest Snowman in the world! I found out about Beardmore on Canadian Roadside Attractions but even if I didn't know about the snowman beforehand, the thing is so freaking huge you can't miss it!

"Can't go in Beardmore without growing a beard"

We were taking it pretty easy for the most part of the day since we knew we would get in Thunder Bay sometime in the afternoon so we easily took half a dozen pit stops for pictures, laughs and eats. We were fortunate enough to not see a single moose in what is supposed to be a moose infested forrest. And here's a few snapshots of the kind of scenery you can expect
in Northwestern Ontariooooo (go'geous!), courtesy of Road Hammer:

"Abandonned Church, Longlac"

"Lunching at a rest area - Notice the PB Jar on the table"

"Pijitawabik Palisades - Impressive"

Another highlight of our daily travels that I really looked forward was the Terry Fox memorial statue just outside of Thunder Bay. Terry Fox is one of the greatest Canadian of all time. His story is truly inspiring and having ran the annual Terry Fox run for a few years now, I had no choice but to come visit where Terry's final strides of his Marathon of Hope occured.

"Stick that in your tourism guide!"

"Checking out Thunder Bay Docks with the Panoramic Telescope"

And our resumes in Thunder Bay at the Econo Lodge in a room that smells like a mix between body odour and wet towels. We tried to vent out the room before we went out for supper by opening the windows and cranking up what seemed to be a air exchanger? We came back with high hopes but the room only went from hot to cold. I better not asphyxiate tonight to a smelly carpet.

I give the Econo Lodge: minus 1 star

Distance Traveled: 540km

Posted by Brian at 8:55 PM | | Comments

Monday, October 02, 2006

Travel Log: Day 2

The second day of driving started off brigt and early again! Well, it was still dark out but it was really early! We left around 6h00AM (EST) to avoid getting stuck in the Ottawa traffic and on our way out of town we stopped i for a coffee with my cousin Mireille. We couldn't find the right Tim Horton's so we ended up at a McDonalds and my cousin joined. After all that cat and mouse chase and hello-goodbyes, we headed back on the high road around 7h30.

Today's drive was a lot more interesting since the fog lifted early in the morning and we had nothing but clear skies and sunshine afterward. Once we got past Pembrooke, the scenery was awesome for a few hours: thick colored woods everywhere and big lakes all around.

"Time for some reflection on life in Mattawa"

We stopped at a rest stop outside North Bay for some lunch and after my belly was full of good food I felt courageous enough to try my luck at a public washroom. Uuugghh, the flushing water consisted of whatever was dumped at the bottom of the black hole... My entire lunch almost came back up the way it went in.... Groosssss-aaa!

We continued making our way through northern Ontario and we started get bored so we stopped at a RV dealership to check out their inventory. That stop turned out to be a really good one since we traded both of our cars straight up for this wicked Winnebago:

"The Flying Saucer"

Ok that's a lie but I did stay at a Holiday Inn. Lie again! However I DID kiss a buffalo's nuts... 'Nuff said

"Balls of Steel Baby!"

We finally made to my relative's house in Hearst at about 7h00pm, just in time for a quick supper and Prison Break. We are pretty beat from being on the road for close to 12hrs and on this note I say:

Good evening and good night!

Note: Desert Storm achieved another milestone today by rolling on its 335,000th km towards the end of the day. Go car!!

Distance traveled: 1050km

Posted by Brian at 10:42 PM | | Comments

Travel Log: Day 1

And we are off! I left home early in the morning and said good bye to a teary mom (HI MOM! LOVE YOU). I left Campbellton at 8h30 and Rob… pardon me, Road Hammer left his house sometime around 7h00. To our surprise we were only 3 min apart from each other when I connected on the Trans Canada Highway in St. Leonard. That’s about when the weather turned on us. Driving through Quebec (province) in torrential rains is well… interesting to say the least.

"The only thing you see when I'm at the wheel"

"Friends Reunite"

The drive through Montreal was intense. We were hoping the traffic would be somewhat light since it was around 3h30 in the afternoon…. Rrriiiiiiggghhht. We got a glimpse of how crazy drivers can be. None of this fansee shmamzee polite right of way courtesy in this town. Fortunately we made it out in one piece without even taking a wrong turn.

We drove through the Hippolite-Lafontaine tunnel and it reminded me how I love tunnels. Those 5 minutes had to be the highlight of my day. There’s something about tunnels with all those lights everywhere concrete walls that make you feel like you are driving faster than you really are or something haha.

"Brutal Picture to support my opinion"

Overall the drive was nothing spectacular since the crappy rain and the fog blocked out the scenery and I have been to Montreal twice over the past year.

"2 Down, 4 to go!"

We finally made it to my relatives house around 6h30 (AST) and now we can rest a bit for another day of driving tomorrow. Tomorrow should be more interesting since I have never drove past Ottawa before.

Stay tuned!

Distance Traveled: 900km

Posted by Brian at 10:20 PM | | Comments