Canadian flag

Heading Out

Richmond to Castlegar	June 9	I set out on my little expedition. Traffic in the Lower Mainland was lousy as usual, but once I cleared Hope BC, it was essentially clear sailing. While I was in Hope, I did manage to get lost - I used the wrong exit and wound up across town. The trip itself wasn't too eventful. When I arrived in Castlegar, all the memories of my old home town flooded back. It was a very strange sensation - I couldn't remember the names of a lot of things, but everything seemed very familiar - I seemed to know where everything is. I found that while a lot has changed (most noticeably, the number of franchises that opened up!), the changes were only superficial. The Castlegar I remember and love still exists. That night, I had an awesome lasagna dinner at Gabriel's Restaurant (one of my old favourites), and camped out at Syringa Creek.
Castlegar to Rossland	June 10	I spent the day exploring Castlegar - driving around to see some of the sights. I went to Zuckerberg Island and to the Heritage Museum (2 things I never did much when I lived there). It was kinda cool to experience some of Castlegar's rich heritage. I then looked up an old family friend. We drove into Trail for lunch at Colander's and to visit the local mall (note- it's a lot smaller than I remember it being!). That evening, I drove up to Rossland to visit my buddy Aaron from UBC. His family was very friendly, and invited me to stay the night. Their stories about bears frequenting the area clinched the deal. I think I learned a little something about small town hospitality.
Rossland to Calgary	June 11	I set out to continue my trip. The Salmo-Creston highway I planned to take had just been reopened after it was closed for several days due to mudslides (the recommended detour would've taken upwards of 4 hours!). There was still a bit of a delay (hour and a half), and traffic had slowed to around 60 kph, even hundreds of kilometers past the affected areas! In addition, the first glitch of the trip occurred, as I somehow managed miss Banff by quite a bit. Instead of using Roger's Pass through the Rockies, I took a wrong turn at Cranbrook and wound up using Crow's Nest Pass. But considering I've never been this way, the spririt of the trip was safe. I took on a new anthem on this drive, one that kept me sane on my entire trip - "Ride Forever" by Paul Gross. Anyways, a trip that normally should have taken to more than 8 hours suddenly became a 10 hour drive. I arrived in Calgary shortly after 8pm, and decided since it was so late and I would only be in town for the night, to stay in a hotel. After finding many of the nicer economical hotels to be fully booked, I resorted to a rather seedy one. "Free Cable" they advertised - too bad that didn't include a TV...
Calgary to Saskatoon	June 12	This drive wasn't too eventful. I did discover something though - the Prairies aren't anywhere near as flat as I've been led to believe. Just hitting the cruise control and snoozing is totally out of the question. I came across a very strange area though. In the middle of the rolling hills of the Prairies, there's an area which seemed like some giant took a pick and dug number of trenches - and there we have Drumhellar. Drumhellar is a very nice town - very quaint, and very dependent on the tourist dollar it seemed. I stopped at a McDonald's for lunch, and was greeted by my greatest phobia. As I sat down, the door opened, and 40 screaming kids streamed into the place... <shudder>
Saskatoon	June 13	My friend, Alana, from Richmond was in Saskatoon house hunting for her and her husband's impending move to facilitate her acceptance into vet school at the University of Saskatoon. I contacted her and her friend Sharon, and we got together to "see the town". Well, actually, we went to the University to look around a bit, then went to see the "English Patient". Normally, we would've went to see the sights, but we were all too tired to do much more than hang out.
Saskatoon to Winnepeg	June 14	The drive from Saskatoon to Winnepeg was for the most part uneventful.
Winnepeg to Dryden	June 15	As I drove into Dryden, I was actually quite surprised. I had spent many a day teasing my friend Heather (whom I know from my time in Ottawa, but haven't seen since) about Dryden being not much more than a hick town. While it wasn't a bustling big city, it certainly wasn't the smallest town I've been to in my travels. And it certainly seemed to be a very nice and relaxed place to be. I stopped at the Tourist Center to give her a call, noting nothing more than the presence of a young lady. It turns out the young lady is actually Heather's sister... what a coincidence... and that I somehow managed to miss seeing a large 6 meter tall statue of a moose at the center... whoops. Anyways, Heather took me out to see the sights with her friends, Tom and "Flavour". That evening, we went to the local drive-in with some more of her friends, Caroline, Cheryl, Jason, Potsy, Ralph Mouth, Richie, and the Fonz.
Dryden	June 16	Heather had to work, so I spent the day relaxing - sleeping and reading. I think I really needed that day to recover from all the driving I've done so far, and to store up some energy for what looked like the lengthiest leg of the trip. That evening, we hung out with some more of Heather's friends (that girl's got a lot of friends!). Heather and her family were fantastically kind, far beyond expectation - showing me the same kind of "small town hospitality" Aaron and his family in Rossland did. They certainly restored my faith in all Canadians.
Dryden to S.S. Marie	June 17	I started my drive quite early, stopping for brunch at a truck stop in Thunder Bay. The beef dip I ordered bewildered me. When I dipped and took a bite, it was quite salty. I tasted the meat - that was fine, the bread - that was fine too, and the dip - also fine. I figured maybe I stumbled across some strange combination that brought out the salt flavour. However, just as I was finishing my meal, I noticed a rather large pile of salt in the bottom of my dip bowl. It seemed that when I dipped to the bottom of the bowl, I also picked up all the salt. Very peculiar. As I continued on my trip, I was awestruck by the beauty and size of the Great Lakes - no wonder early explorers thought they hit ocean when they got to the lakes! I was also surprised at the condition of the TransCanada highway. I suspect at this point, it was pretty much a misnomer - it should be the TransCanada Dirt Road! But to be fair, they were in the process of repaving. Around hour 10 of my drive, I was starting to feel some fatigue. I pulled over for a short break... even took a picture. Lake Superior Provincial Park looks to be a very nice area for camping, fishing, hiking, etc. About a 15 minutes after I continued on my drive, I was surprised by a sudden slowing of traffic... until I realized someone had a serious accident which pretty much destroyed the car... one that had passed me as I was pulling over. Talk about a close call.