Canadian Flag

Headin' Home

Toronto to SS Marie	June 25	I said goodbye to Toronto, as I began my voyage home. Upon arriving in Sault Ste. Marie, I checked into the same motel and had the same dinner as the last time I was here. I then drove around town looking for a pay phone to call home since the motel charged my 30 cents for every call, regardless of whether or not I was using a calling card. I drove around town for about an hour, but could not find one. I also managed to take a wrong turn, and somehow wound up on my way onto the International Bridge into the US... not exactly where I wanted to be. I made a u-turn, and cut back into Canada... but I accidentally bypassed Canadian Customs by driving on the wrong side of their building... whoops. But I figure it should be ok, since I never did make it into the US, and I don't think my car ever left view of the cameras.
SS Marie to Thunderbay	June 26	The TransCanada Highway between Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay is not exactly the best road there is. Road crews were hard at work at repaving the thing, but quite frankly, I think it's a misnomer - it should be called the TransCanada Dirt Road. The road crews had ripped up several long stretches of road, and not all drivers had the courtesy to slow down to reduce speed of the rocks they throw up. In the end, I had a chipped windshield and paint, and a broken headlight... I wasn't exactly a happy camper. But such are the risks of a road trip. When I arrived in Thunder Bay, I took the time to explore the city a bit. I went to a viewpoint to see the Sleeping Giants - a number of islands in Lake Superior bear a remarkable resemblence to... well, you get the picture.
Thunderbay to Dryden	June 27	Because the next leg of the trip was only 4 hours long, I opted to do some sight seeing at Old Fort Williams. OFW is an extremely accurate, full scale reconstruction of the fort circa 1810, complete with actors/actresses playing a number of characters who are simply chock full of information. I spent nearly 3 hours exploring the fort, and found it very cool. One character, the blacksmith, challenged me to an axe-throwing contest. My first 3 throws didn't even hit the target. I kept moving around trying to find my sweet spot. No luck. Finally, the guy conceded when I finally hit the target... rather, the steel ribbing that held it together. I managed to ding the axe blade rather badly... whoops. At least I didn't lose any money to the guy... That evening, in Dryden, Heather and her friends took me out to the Lodge, then to one of the local bars. It's a very different night life in Dryden, but I found her friends to be very personable and friendly.
Dryden	June 28	I spent another day of rest at Heather's home. She once again had to work, but I kept myself busy. For one thing, I decided to wash my car, which took something like 2 hours! I also took some to time to rollerblade around downtown Dryden - it really is a pretty nice town! I also managed to get a little lost... it's kinda tough to figure out where you are when you don't have a clue about the street names!
Dryden to Saskatoon	June 29	I set out early in the morning. I originally intended to stop for the night in Winnepeg, but I felt pretty good driving, so I just kept on driving. Actually, the drive to Winnepeg was very strange. After I crossed the Manitoba border, I decided I wanted a soda pop from the cooler in my trunk. So, I pull over. As I got of of the car, I popped the trunk latch... and noticed a couple hornets flying around. As I approached the trunk, I was suddenly surrounded by a swarm of hornets... all buzzing rather angrily. I immediately jumped back into my car, started it up, and away I went. About a half hour later, I noticed a squeaking noise every time I hit a bump - my trunk was still popped! Again, I pulled over. But, as soon as my car rolled to a stop, I was again surrounded by a swarm of hornets. At that point, I decided to forget about the trunk, and to keep on going until I hit Winnepeg. I'm still trying to figure out why a swarm of hornets would follow me for 50km, at 100kph!!
Saskatoon	June 30	I decided to take the day off of driving, and stayed in Saskatoon an extra day. I opted to visit some of the tourist sites listed in my Tour Book. The first site I visited was the Western Devlopment Museum's 1910 Boomtown. It's an indoor representation of a typical Prairie town (circa 1910) complete with more than 30 buildings. Very authentic, very cool. But they could've used some actors... The other site I went to was Diefenbaker Center. It's a rather political kind of place, containing an exhibit detailing the life and times of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker ('50s-'60s). I never knew much about the fellow; I don't know if I just fell for all the "Dief the Chief" propaganda... Dief seemes to have been a great Canadian leader, who's ideas and policies were ahead of its time. From the Bill of Rights to the Canadian flag... Dief seemed to have tremendous faith and love for Canada and its people.
Saskatoon to Calgary	July 1	This morning, I delayed my departure time to watch the Hong Kong handover. It did seem kinda overblown, but the ramifications could be far reaching. Unfortunately, as I was watching it, I managed to finish off a pot of coffee. Unfortunate, because when I finally left, I had to stop at a gas station within the hour. I loaded in about 10L of gas, and unloaded about 10L of... coffee. I arrived in Calgary in short order, entering town from the north. For some reason, I was convinced my friends, Oliver 'n Paul, lived in south Calgary, so I kept on driving. When I finally stopped at the SE corner of town to make the call, I found out they actually lived in NW Calgary. whoops.
Calgary to Banff	July 2	We decided to go for a hike at Lake Minnewanka in Banff. I guess there really isn't much more to say than that. If you've ever gone hiking, you'll know what it involves. Banff itself was absolutely gorgeous. All those tall pristine mountains, water that doesn't have little brown things floating around in it, wild life, etc... wow.
Calgary to Saskatoon	July 3	I backtracked to Saskatoon to help my friend Alana and her husband, John, move into their basement suite. Alana was involved in an altercation with a cow (literally!) a few days before they left Richmond; since they didn't know anyone in Saskatoon, John essentially would've been the sole mover. So, being the nice guy that I am, I decided the 600 km backtrack wasn't enough of a deterrant to not help out. I still have no idea how we got some of their furniture through their door! It involved a lot of twisting, turning, cursing... In one case, we couldn't squeeze Alana's desk through the door... so we cut its legs off.
Saskatoon	July 4	We continued the move today, though this time, it was primarily their friends' stuff - they too were moving to Saskatoon, although they weren't here yet.
Saskatoon	July 5	After all that work, I thought it best I took the time to visit the annual Saskatoon Exhibition. It wasn't much different from the exhibitions in any other town, though it's been years since I been to one. I kinda ate a lot while I was there - hamburger, onion rings, milk shake, snow cone, ice cream, the famous Saskatoonberry pie, and nachos. But I figured with all the physical activity of the previous couple days, a bit of gorging wouldn't be too harmful. Some of the shows I saw include the Hawthorne white tiger show, a really talented jazz group who's name escapes me, a juggler from Vancouver, and... Sailor Moon! It was all a lot of fun.
Saskatoon to Calgary	July 6	I guess the drive back to Calgary wasn't too eventful. I did stop at the Horseshoe Canyon near Drumhellar to look around a bit. It still confounds me how a canyon can form in the midst of all the rolling hills in the area. When I got into Calgary, I checked the local paper to find out what was going on at the Stampede. I was shocked! Kim Stockwood and Chantal Kreviazuk (two of my current favourite singers) would both be performing on the Coca-Cola Stage in the next few days!
Calgary	July 7	My buddy Paul and I took transit out to the Stampede. We spent the afternoon aimlessly wandering about the grounds... We opted not to pay the extra money to see the rodeo, and since neither of us are big fans of amusement parks, we had little to do but walk around. Even so, the Stampede seems to be a great place to be. That evening, we saw Kim Stockwood perform. I've seen her before, (Dec. '95 in Vancouver). And as before, her stage presence was quite personable... she seems to be able to really "connect" with her audience. Her music was very upbeat and fun... just the way an outdoor concert should be.
Calgary	July 8	With nothing that interested me going on today at the Stampede, I decided to look up an old friend from school who was in Calgary on a co-op job - Anthony. He seemed to be in good spirits, although one of his room mates apparently has a fairly severe case of weirdness. Anyways, Anthony and I went to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe (where he complained bitterly about said room mate), and then a movie. We had to settle for "Out to Sea", since it was the only movie both we haven't seen.
Calgary	July 9	This time around, I took my buddy Oliver to the Stampede. We met his friend Steve and his younger brother. We timed our arrival much later than when Paul and I went, so we straight for a fantastic buffet dinner. After dinner, we walked around for a little while, then headed straight for the Coca Cola Stage in hopes of snagging some decent seats... which we did. As we sat there, Chantal Kreviazuk came out onto the stage to do her sound check... I've never seen someone do their sound check in front of their audience! But CK was amazing... I saw her last May at the Orpheum when she opened for Amanda Marshall. That show, I was a little disappointed - I paid nearly $80 in total to see her perform only 5 songs. But tonight, I wasn't disappointed. Chantal played for over an hour... and then we stuck around for her second show. After the second show, I hung around back stage to meet her, along with a number of other people. I had a fairly long solilquoy all ready to praise her for her music, her accomplishments, etc... but as soon as I shook her hand (and a really sweaty hand I had too... her hand was strong... and completely dry. Who was playing the piano for the past hour??), I was reduced to a "duh... uhh... ottograf pleaz.... tank you... picture?.... tanks much very lady..." Anyways, I'll have a review up in the music section shortly.
Calgary to Richmond	July 10	As I drove through Roger's Pass through the Rockies with my anthem "Ride Forever" blaring on my stereo, I was amazed at the splendour of the land. I have to admit, driving through BC was terribly frustrating. Not only is most of it single laned, but this time of year, there are a lot of holiday drivers (RVs, 5th wheels, etc.) from all over... but I won't get started on that here. But despite all that, I have to say... nowhere is quite like BC. As they say... home is where the heart is.