The completed trip

The completed trip
49 states, 10 provinces and a territory

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Mad Scramble dash

So before Irene hit we had reserved seats on a ferry to get to Newfoundland, but we had to stay at the campsite instead of moving on to (by the earliest predictions) avoid being hit by Irene.  So we had an 6 hour day yesterday and a 8 hour day today.  Yeah not the nicest thing we've had to do, nicer that having to get up before 4 am so that we can arrive at 4 at the ferry terminal so that we can catch the 6am ferry which we have to do two days from now.  At least the night before I won't be kept up till 11:30 pm by mom's live hour for her course, that was last night.  (man that was annoying I only use 24 hour time so I can never keep am/pm straight)

O yeah, hurray we got back to an ocean today!  Say hello to the Atlantic. 

So onto yesterdays campsite, it was kind of nice with a beautiful pool, but there were complaints (from other campers) that the power/water were to far away so they could not connect.  The area was grassy (no paved sites) with trees, and definitely a party place, you know the kind of place that a whole group of people meet up with their trailers and throw a party, not the kind of place we like to stay.  Today's place is on CapeBreton island, and has one nice and one not so nice shower, again it is grassy but the trees are more scattered. Tomorrow we reach the ferry terminal, do some shopping and sleep so that we can get up at 4.  

I've always wanted to see this

We have arrived on Cape Breton Island and are staying in North Sydney.  From our campsite we have a beautiful view of Bras D'Or which is a huge lake in the middle of the island.  We got our first look at the Atlantic today.  The Trans Canada Highway is not the scenic route, but it was the quick route which is what we wanted today.  Tomorrow we can go shopping and then we have to be at the ferry terminal at 4:00 a.m.

We chose this campsite because it is close to the ferry terminal.  It is a great choice.  Very peaceful.  There is a walk along the water and this evening we saw a great blue heron as well as some ducks - Paul is going to go down with his camera tomorrow after dinner.


Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Atlantic time zone

We are now in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Did you know that NB is the only official bi-lingual province. It is nice to now be able to read the highway signs without having to figure out the translation. NB seems to have a lot of rolling low hills so far.

Just a short stay here as we need to get the NS as our ferry to Newfoundland leaves at 6:00 am Friday morning. So we aren't even unhooking the trailer tonight - ready to get a good early start in the morning.

It is bright and sunny though which is definitely a nice change.


Monday, August 29, 2011

Storm has passed and we are fine

7:00 am EDT
Sometime during the night the wind and rain slowed down. We woke up this morning to cloudy skies and fairly light winds. We will walk around the campsite later and see how everyone else fared, but we are fine.

The sun has just peeked out from behind a bank of clouds. Life is good

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Storm Update 9:00 pm EDT Sunday

We are still getting pounded and now it is dark and we can't watch the trees being blown around.

The wind is a steady 60K with gusts over 90K. It is raining so hard sometimes it sounds like someone is knocking on the door.

It is supposed to peak after midnight (with gusts up to 120k) and the forecast says the wind will be down to 40K with gusts to 60K in the morning.

We are dry and warm - the furnace is on.

I am not looking forward to taking the dogs out tonight.


Storm Update 05:00 pm EDT

The storm is here and we are getting pounded. The wind and rain have been getting worse as the day goes on.

The winds are are 60K+ and and gusting much higher, the rain is coming down in sheets. The roads in the campsite are now "flooded" with an inch or two of water.

We are watching things being blown around the campsite. The neighbours couple swing has been turned over. Another's awning has been blowing in and out (it is in the collapsed position but the wind has got underneath it a couple of times).

We are OK. I am wet because Abby needed to go out awhile ago. The trailer has been rock solid and we only notice the really heavy gusts. We still have power and internet. I guess I'm not going to BBQ tonight.

The brunt of the storm is not expected until early tomorrow morning (2:00 Monday).


Storm Update 12:00 pm EDT

The wind has really started to pick up (50K + I guess) and the rain is just starting.

We have watched a number of people in the campsite pack up and leave. Some, we assume, were headed to their homes around Quebec. The ones I am not sure about are the people from Texas and Minnesota. They both packed up this morning and went somewhere. To the south would take them right into the storm. To the east and north right into the path of the storm.

There are a number of trailers that are parked here for the summer or longer. A lot of those residents have been by to roll up their awnings and put away anything that might be blown away. They then head back home.

I have packed up all of the chairs, the BBQ's and other outside things and put them in the back of the truck. I also moved the truck to a different campsite because in this one it was under a big tree.

We are spending the day reading, and working on various courses.

IronMan Canada Sunday - Storm Update 7:00 am EDT Sunday

IronMan Canada goes today in Penticton and my friend Gary Daniels is racing there today. Let's hope that it is not too hot and the wind is at his back all day.

Sunday 7:00 am EDT
The storm is over 900K wide so it doesn't really matter where we might have gone we would have been hit. The eye is scheduled to go by here about 2:00 am tomorrow morning with winds at 110K but we will be feeling the effects all day as it comes towards us.

I'm not sure if it is the start of the storm (it has been mostly breezy or windy since we got to Quebec (the province not just the city)) but it is getting windier here. It was very calm last night.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Waiting and waiting some more - so some pictures

This is like knowing a car crash is going to happen but not being able to stop it and not knowing how bad it is going to be. The weather office says it might be windy (storm force) it might be rainy (4 inches or more) or it might be both. We stayed here because moving forward or backward may have taken us into the path of the hurricane. They originally projected the track going right by here. Then it moved east and now it is still east of here but closer.

We are on the left side of the track so we are supposed to get the heavy rain.

While we are waiting I thought I would post some pictures.

The first one is of the library at the Parliament Buildings. This was my favourite part of the buildings. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the library because of the people working there, it was very ornate.





This is a picture of the Chateau Frontenac from the ferry that runs between Levis and Quebec City.



This is the Notre-Dame de Quebec Basilica-Cathedral.


Here is a picture of the three of us as the ferry docked in Levis.


We are the three on the left, James is the one in the hat.

Batten down the hatches

Well, we don't want to be driving in a hurricane - so we're staying put.  Hurricane Irene has been downgraded but it still on her way (she reached the Carolinas this morning).

So, we'll stay here until Monday night and give the weather time to move all the way through.  Although we do have weather warnings here (winds, rain and storm serges), we think we are better off staying in one place.

It will give me time to get stuff done, and relax . .  unfortunately on on my last unread book.  I'll have to download some to the iPad.


Friday, August 26, 2011

Old Quebec

Today we went to old Quebec, and it was great, we got to see all sorts of sites in the only fortified city north of Mexico on north america. There was a ferry ride across the st. Lawrence river which was nice and short (interesting fact Ontario was called upper Canada even though it was south of Quebec which was lower Canada, this was because their names were based on their position along the st. Lawrence river, yeah socials class). Once we were off the ferry we got lost almost immediately, with mom trying to lead us around with a guide book but never finding an appropriate land mark. Eventually we went to the information center and tried using a new guide book that was the exact same except no one stole the map from this one, and we left on the walking but as it turns out from the wrong point (apparently there were two info stations). When we were in old Quebec we found that it seemed like we were in Europe again, a different country depending on the musician that was near by, apparently there is a huge music festival all weekend. It was nice to walk on cobble stone listening to Italian harp music and pan flutes, with bagpipes around every corner. We got to see a few monuments, even though we were lost, and we walked through/over the fields of Abraham, which apparently isn't a biblical reference. Blog to ya soon, if I don't get to stressed.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Not the jeans

We are in Levis Quebec.  Just across the water from Quebec City.  There is a ferry that goes from quite near here over to the Old Quebec, so we may take it over and do some sightseeing tomorrow.

Staying in the farming area the last couple of days and driving today, I find that Quebec is very picturesque.  It reminds me a little of Germany - but I'm not sure if that is because of the language barrier or the customs and scenery.  We found a meat store today with some very interesting kabobs (most with sausages as well as either chicken and beef).  We are going to try some tonight.

Hurricane Irene is throwing a bit of a wrench into our travel plans.  Where we were at yesterday is in her direct proposed path currently - though not expected for a couple more days.  At our current location, we are almost out of the most likely path.  But we were planning on heading to the maritimes on Saturday - and that may be right into her path.  So, we are not sure what we will do.  Heading west isn't really an option as the Toronto area was getting tornado type weather.  Plus there was the east cost earthquake.

Right now, we are waiting for more updates as it is "too soon to tell" according to the Canadian weather office.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Shhhh Quiet

We have been staying at Camping de Compton for the last couple of days. It is very quiet, often in the evening you can hear a car driving down a road in the distance. The campsite has a variety of activities and the area is very picturesque. Cycling in the area is tough because it is not flat, either you are going up or you are going down.

The first night we were here there was a great sunset. I knew we were going to be here for 3 days so I did not bother taking a picture. I hope we get another good one tonight because last night it was cloudy.

We are just finishing off the fresh cumbers we got from Hugh and Rosemary.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

The only thing worse than the prairies, Quebec

Hey people long time no read, yes I still exist. The last few days have been stressful for me so I didn't post. The last site had apple trees and good water pressure. This site is nice, the place is huge, has a golf corse, we don't have clubs and I'm half a dozen years out of practice so that's not happening and oh yeah everything is in gosh darn French! I speak English, Spanish when I'm in practice and a little German and Gaelic. Two of my good friends are linguist that know 8 (I'm estimating here) languages each and they don't speak French (one is learning from the third linguist friend I have who speaks it fluently so this point won't count in a few month but it does right now). I'm from the west coast when someone says pardon my French to me it means they were literally speaking French and I didn't understand a word of it.

Ok rant session over you can get on with your lives and I can get on pretending I have one.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Quebec for a couple of days

Leaving Ottawa this morning we followed the highway to Quebec.  You can tell as soon as you reach the border as the signs are no longer in English - no English - not even French first, then English.

Driving through Montreal was a little stressful.  We made it, but it took three of us (Paul, me and Lizzie the GPS) to get there.  The most difficult parts were the long pieces of information about detours and construction and trying to figure out really quickly what it all said and if we needed to change lanes.

The place we are at is called Compton.  It is not even on the map that I received at the tourist information centre when we first crossed into Quebec.  If you are looking for it on a map, just look for Coaticook as it is only a couple of miles from there.

The sunset this evening was beautiful and we are looking forward to just kicking back and relaxing for a couple of days.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Family Dinner


We spent the day with my aunt and cousins in Ottawa. This is only the second time I have been to Ottawa and the last time I was 3 years old so that memory faded a long time ago.
We had a great dinner arranged by Hugh and Rosemary (thanks to Parker for being master of the BBQ) with contributions from Ann and Tom, Mary Lou, Aunt Mary and others.

We also had my birthday cake and a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday.



So we are moving on tomorrow and heading east to continue our journey to the Atlantic.


Milage

So I spent last night entering all of the trip for all of the fuel stops. We have traveled 11,124 kilometres and burned 1,804 litres which by my calculations works out to 17.5 mpg. I was going to post a spreadsheet with all of the places and types of driving for each segment but the results were really consistent with only a few anomilies. One was caused by a partial fill because I did not think the station had fresh diesel and the others were caused by driving in the city (Edmonton) and our trip into Telegraph Creek. So I get 21.5 mpg in 4X4.

The most we paid for fuel was Dease Lake at $1.459. The highs for theTransCanada were Ignace at $1.329 and White River $1.339 at the next stop in both cases the price was $1.229 (Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie).

The least we have paid for fuel was Edmonton at $1.069 with Saskatoon a close second at $1.099.





Saturday, August 20, 2011

Busy day in the nation's capital

Whew,

Yesterday was a busy day.  We went down to the Parliament Buildings to watch the changing of the guard.  It is a great spectacle of pomp and ceremony.  After that, we got tickets to tour the Parliament Buildings.  Then went off for a snack while we waited out turn.

The PB are interesting to walk through.  You have to walk through an "airport style" security where you need to empty your pockets and get scanned (not the full body scan like they now have in some airports though).  The most spectacular room in the building had to be the library.  This room was the only one that survived the fire during WW1 and it is gorgeous.  The room is circular and has books going all the way up to the ceiling.  There are walkways (glass) on three upper levels to allow you access to the books.  Unfortunately, that is the one room where no pictures are allowed so you'll have to take my word for it.

Near the senate chambers, there is a stained glass ceiling.  Paul took a pic of it and, when we asked about it, we were told there were different reasons for the stain glass - some were for the provinces, some were for previous Governor Generals.  When Ross was over in the evening he asked if we had seen the Ross stained glass - we didn't notice it, but will have to look at Paul's picture to see if we captured it.

After that, we found a bakery that can make a birthday cake for Paul (that James can eat) to take to the family BBQ on Sunday.  The first one we went to was booked up since last Wednesday, so we had to go searching for another one.   We located where the Games Workshop is and checked it out so that James can visit today, found a hairdresser and made an appointment for today, picked up the parcel from UPS and went grocery shopping.

Then, we had Paul's cousin Ross over for dinner (no, not Ross Ross - Paul's dad's sister's son - Ross Finlan).  We spent a very enjoyable evening visiting with him and are looking forward to seeing him again on Sunday when the whole family is getting together.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Ottawa Valley

Today we traveled through places where family has been. My Uncle John used to live in Deep River. My brother John and my nephew Terry (happy birthday Terry BTW) we're both at Petawawa at one time or another. And Paul's mom and dad met in Pembroke. We had lunch in Pembroke at the Riverside Park. Since the sign said it was dedicated in 1984, I don't know if it was around as something else when they were here ithe 50's.

We missed it by a day - part of Hwy 17 where we were yesterday near Marathon was closed today because a pilot crash landed his plane on it. That would have made it an even slower day yesterday.

We are now in Ottawa in an RV park in Nepean. Looking forward to meeting Paul's family over the weekend.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Pictures, Driving, Gas Prices, Cyclists


Here are some pictures of James and Kathie axe throwing at Fort William.





I think I will start running again.

Here is a barn that was at the side of the road today.



Once again I watched a trucker run someone towing a travel trailer into the shoulder at the end of a passing lane, (sorry Marc) and of course a couple of kilometres later I saw a hapless tourist from Manitoba pulled over by OPP. Today we watched as a tanker truck passed a little car on a double yellow line. The car was doing a little over 90K which is the speed limit.

So is the 90 k speed at "limit" or a guideline? The signs at the side of the road state that if you get caught doing 110 k you will get a $95 fine and 3 demerit points. Does that mean I can go 109 k and not get pulled over? The roads are better here than they were for a lot of the prairies where the speed limit was higher.

My strategy for driving now has been to pick up the pace (about 98K/hr) and pullover into the straight through lane sooner. By driving faster not as many trucks catch me.

I cannot believe the price of gas in the smaller towns along the TransCanada in Ontario. We have paid 10 - 12 cents or more a litre in the smaller towns (up to $1.35 - in cities it is $1.19). Price gouging at it's worst. Except for the remote communities of Dease Lake (northern BC) and Johnson Crossing (Yukon) these are the highest prices we have paid for fuel this trip.

While driving through the prairies we did not see any cyclists on the highway and very few in the towns and cities we went through. As soon as we crossed the Ontario boarder we started to see cyclists again.





The bike/hike

What James did not tell you about our walk was that it started out as a ride. The sign at the trailhead said multi-use and the first part of the trail was flat. So, looking for a nice ride, we got on the helmets and shoes and rode onto the trail. Very shortly into the trail there was a hill, a very rock strewn hill, then another one.  Paul rode ahead to check it out. There was only more of the same. So we rode the bikes back to the trailer and switched the cycling shoes for hiking boots. Good thing too. In places along the trail the hiking boots were the only way to go. 

Paul and I drove into SSM (one book called it "the Sault" another "the Soo" so I'm not sure how the locals refer to it, perhaps it is the middle of a name change like Westshore). We saw the Roberta Bondar pavilion and took a pic for a friend's daughter studying to work at NASA. Also took a picture of the International Bridge. But not much to see. 

Now we are on our way to North Bay tonight. 

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Big Pine? more like Big Sign, that this ain't BC

Ok so we went on the walk to what these people call a big pine tree, well this ain't BC so I didn't get my hopes up, good thing to. If this was BC Big Pine signs would be seen every few metres in every forest. The tree was just about average size for a pine tree in some of the older less logged forests in BC. But I will admit it was better than I expected, I thought it would only be as tall as the one in my front yard, the one in my front yard was only 3/4 the height of this pine. Before you berate me for not having a big enough tree in my front yard I live in a city, not many trees get to grow big in a city.

Night before last we stayed at a somewhat decent site, but not good or bad enough for me to tell you about. What I am going to tell you about is the ride I took with dad. We went out to a waterfall to take pictures of, the waterfall was nice and I got another lecture about how cameras work when I asked if he needed a tripod jockey. I spent most of my time reading after he finished, and I explained to him how one of the camera attachments worked (one he had not told me about, I figured out how it worked through only my knowledge of physics, boy was he surprised when I knew more about how it worked than he did).

THe sites are nice here, big some actual water pressure some nice walking paths, that said it is mainly a cottage place and does not have many RV sites (it is even called Glenview Vacation Cottages).

Monday, August 15, 2011

Sault Ste Marie

We are in Sault Ste Marie today.  The Ontario side.  Sault Ste Marie, Michigan is across the bridge.   I'm hoping to see both sides briefly tomorrow.

The drive along Lake Superior was a little disappointing.  When you could see the lake, it was beautiful, but it is a little along the same lines as the Washington "Coast" Highway where your view is mostly trees with the occasional glimpse of water.  The hills - that we were warned about - are not very big when you are used to driving in BC.  But I guess if you're from the Prairies they are long and high.

I read an article today that called what I am doing a worliday (work and holiday combined).  I kinda like that expression.  One of my professors said I put the "gu astar" in distance education, which I also liked.  Most of the comments on the article complained that taking work on your vacation was a bad thing.  But I figure I am taking my vacation to my work.  I can travel where we want and still have access to my students.

Mobile learning is the latest research area that we (distance educators) are all looking at.  I think the fact that we can travel and work, or learn, increases our options - not decreases them.  If you get to travel 52 weeks a year instead of 2 or 3, I think that makes it a pretty great worliday.



Sunday, August 14, 2011

School comes in handy

The last site we stayed at was nice, roomy and shady, full hook ups a pool, names on the streets to make it easier to navigate.  It also had a very good walking path nearby, it went throughout the forest that surrounded the campsite.  Yesterday we went to fort William, it was very authentic with people speaking in somewhat period language and trying to remain in character as possible.  Apparently more than just the characters were recreations as we heard a worker inform another guest, the original fort was 6k down river.  I liked learning how to throw an axe, even if I was better with an atlatl or a bow.  Mom complained that the accounting house wasn't showing what they were doing and I knew most of the stuff (minus specifics about the fort)  from socials 10/11, as in both socials courses not one giant one.  

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Fort William

We are staying just outside Thunder Bay, Ont.  We drove into town today and spent most of the day at Fort William.  It is almost as large as Barkerville but more on the lines of Ft. St. James.  All the "characters" discuss their lives with you, explain how things are done and are involved as opposed to putting on a performance.

Though they do put on performances as well.  While we were there, they welcomed new arrivals to the fort.  Then they were dancing to the bagpipes being played.  We all tried axe throwing - we are getting a number of weapons training on our trip now.  I'm not any good at any of them - you're safest place is probably still wherever I am aiming.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Ontario Truckers, Moose and How far away is that lightning?





So we made into Ontario and the driving tactics have changed. Everywhere else I have driven the drivers that drive semi-trucks are reasonably courteous and law abiding. Things all change when you cross the boarder into Ontario. I was driving above the speed limit (92 in a 90 zone) but that did not stop the semi's from sitting 15 feet off my trailer bumper. When there is a passing lane I keep right and near the end of the passing lane I put on my blinker to indicate that I am about to pull into the line of traffic. My first passing lane in Ontario, I checked in my mirror to make sure it was safe to pull back in and there was a semi still behind me, but he did not slow down to let me in he just kept coming. He was quite happy to run me onto the shoulder to get past me. The next time it happened (I was not quite as surprised) the guy pulled into the oncoming lane across a double yellow line. Both times they were well behind me nearing the end of the passing lane. Of course later on I saw two cars pulled over by police assumably for speeding - but not risking anyone else's lives.

OK onto better things.

So far this trip we have seen a variety of wildlife and I have been trying to get pictures of them. Earlier in the trip I spent a very wet day looking for moose and other things in Kitwanga. Today as we were nearing our destination I saw a moose standing in a lake beside the highway. When the trailer was set up I drove back to near the lake and pulled off on an access road. I walked down the road until it turned into a trail and that in turn turned into a swamp. I walked very quietly and slowly carrying my camera, camera backpack (with all my lenses) and my full sized tripod. I crept up to the edge of the lake and I could not see it so I walked along the edge of the lake. There it was a big dark brown .....rock. I took it's picture and left - damn.


Not long after I got back I put the pork chops on the BBQ and shortly after that it started to rain really big drops. I was pretty wet by the time the chops were ready and the lightning started. Over the next hour or so we had a great fireworks display with several strikes close enough that there was under a second between the flash and the crack. The trailer park we are in had 3-4 inches of water after the storm.


My 2 favorite things, math and storms

Sorry it has taken me so long to post again, I just didn't feel like it at the last site, which was nice by the way, nice and huge.  Not only was it big it was also shady, bad wifi is the only downside to the entire campsite.  In excess of 250 sites which are more than twice as large as a lot of the sites we have stayed in, right near an amusement park.  It had a pool and at least two playgrounds.  

Today we went past the geographical center of Canada, I guess that means we are a quarter of the way through the first loop of our trip, we started on the second and it is the eleventh of the next month so that is 41 days to this point that means this trip will (in theory) last 164 days total that means we should be home on November 12. Math is fun.

Today's site is spacious almost as much as the last, it is a family run establishment as far as we can tell. I say it is family run because a little kid driving a golf cart showed us to our site and the person at the reception desk looked like she could be his sister, she definitely wasn't out of her teens. Best of all about this campsite is that there is a thunder storm, I like what most people call gloomy weather, I've said that before but I really really like storms. And the one right here right now (as I am writing this) is a big one, with lightning strike frequently and often less than four seconds before the thunder if you can here it over the rain.

Ontario

We left Winnipeg this morning.  Just outside of Winnipeg is a sign indicating that it is the centre of Canada.  Definitely must be east to west.  Because, despite what some city dwellers may think, Canada actually goes quite a way north of the 49th parallel.

When we were in BC, the sign for the geographic centre of BC is in Vanderhoof - that makes much more sense.

Highway 1 coming out of Manitoba is fairly smooth and straight.  The scenery in Ontario is very pretty with lots of lakes on the side of the road and lots of trees.  Even a few rolling hills (not very big so far).


Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Winnipeg and warm

We arrived in Winnipeg last night and are staying here one more night.  The weather is nice today with an expected high of 27.  So nice after receiving so much rain.  We did get rain yesterday though.  Driving along Highway 1 - we could see the black clouds and the rain ahead.  Then there was a line in the road - and we had torrential downpours, the windshield wipers couldn't keep up.  Another line in the road - and no rain.  Driving on the prairies is definitely different.

Today was a day for little things.  Spent some time catching up on paperwork (paying bills, etc.), Paul went out and got some pictures, and James worked on some Chemistry.  So a productive day for all of us, just not very exciting for any of the blog readers.


Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Highways, byways, pictures, software and birthdays

Happy 50th to my sister-in-law.

So I have driving down Highway 16 the last couple of days and for miles at a time the white line is the edge of the road and then there is a 4 inch drop or so onto a gravel shoulder. Knowing that a small mistake could drop the wheels of the trailer over the edge of the road keeps one's attention but it gets tiring after a while.

When we moved south to the TransCanada (Highway 1) I though it would get better. Was I ever mistaken. At least in Manitoba the situation on the road is the same, but we have two lanes and semi's to deal with. Now I am watching the mirror on my right - how close are the trailer tires to the white line and the mirror on the left that shows me where the semi that is passing me is. The busses are the worst they are usually at least 15 k over the speed limit and the flat front pushes the trailer out of the way as they pass.

We had a great visit with our nephew Terry and his wife Natalie on their 8 acre farm not far from Shilo Manitoba yesterday.

In a number of places that we have been this year I have not been able to get the whole picture I wanted in the frame. The Salmon Glacier is a prime example of this. So I bought software that will allow me to stitch the images together.

Below are some early results:

The Salmon Glacier -


I think this is Spirit Lake between Carcross and Skagway. I will correct the name if I am wrong.




Monday, August 8, 2011

The Middle of Nowhere

Went to visit Terry and Natalie.  Twenty miles down gravel roads (apparently there is also a route that is only four miles of gravel).  They are the furthest away they can be from everywhere. You can see for miles from their house - and it's all flat.

Both T&N are doing well.  Natalie has a month to go before the baby is due and she looks great.  Terry cooked us steaks on the BBQ.  After dinner we went out to meet all the animals.  Echo (the horse) decided she liked me and kept pushing my shoulder whenever I turned my back to walk away.  We left with 1.5 dozen eggs for our the next part of our road trip.




Sunday, August 7, 2011

Back to the net

So yeah there is no 3G in Saskatchewan so to the one friend that emailed me while I was there I apologize. To all my other friends I implore you to read Starved for contact one of my previous posts because you still are not emailing me, if you have lost my email to bad cause I aint putting it out on the net. All of this applies to my friends from victoria or otherwise who have my email address, not my great aunts.

The site here is quite short but it has some nice trees and thank god for the wifi cause it is a dead zone for cell coverage, kind of like Victoria for tv and radio

Saskatchewan

We had a wonderful visit with Uncle Truman and Aunt Gwen. I didn't get to see my cousins but Melanie did phone the house while we were there and we had a two minute chat. We also got to meet Mel's daughter Gwen and her son Cooper (19 months). 

G&T have two Doberman cross dogs. One barks to warn when the rain is coming. It was so funny. Every time there was going to be even a couple drops of rain he would run up and down the porch barking.  He never barked otherwise. In the morning, both dogs were off in the fields hunting gophers. 

G&T look after 8 horses for Mel and Gwen and, while we were there, the farrier came by to shoe one of the horses so he had supper with us too. 

It was a great evening of conversation and Uncle T has some extra family information that I can add to the tree. So I'll have to get busy on that too. 

This morning we took the route through Greenwater Provincial Park and it was a very pretty drive. 

Friday, August 5, 2011

A run and some luck

So Saskatoon has a river walk where there are paths down both sides of the river and they go on for miles. I have not run much lately but I am trying to get back into it, so we went to the river walk so I could run (more like a fast walk) and Kathie and James could walk. The run went well considering it is only the second run in 4 years.

So when we checked in to the campsite we asked what was going on. The person at the said "oh, there is an airshow this weekend but you are only checked in until Friday". "We might change that" came out of my mouth.

The great thing about airshows on the weekend is they have to practice on Friday. When we got back to the campsite after the run there was a jet doing it's practice runs for the weekend shows. The stadium they are flying over is just north of us so I got to see the practice runs. At one point the jet (below) flew so close I could not get the whole plane in the frame. He was also causing me to run around my tripod as I whipped the camera 180 degrees.




The Snowbirds are also here. The long lens is great, I could get individual jets in the frame but there are no group shots.



In the open field between the stadium and where I was standing a Northern Harrier was hunting:


I had my fun today I will have to make sure Kathie and James get to have their fun in the next couple of days.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Driving the praries - a brick and a stick

On our ferry trip down from Skagway to Prince Rupert we met a number of people including Brett. He was talking about driving across the praries and suggested using a brick and a stick. I don't think that method of driving would work for highway 16 because there is a corner about every 5 K or so. The other issue is the road is not exactly smooth and we are often "bounced out of straight" so there is a lot of corrective steering going on. Speaking of Brett - he owes us a picture.

With it being so flat and straight with not a lot of traffic I get to check my gauges more than I do normally. At 103 k/hour and just under 2000 rpm my exhaust temperature runs at 900 degrees, turbo boost is 10 pounds, water temp stays at about 75 - 80 C (which make me wonder if my thermastat is working correctly), voltage just above 14 and oil pressure just above 275. BTW the speed limit is 110. When I get time I will calculate my mileage and post it.

It is so flat here we think we can see the curvature of the earth. Today we could see for 20 - 30 K to the north and south.

This campsite in Saskatoon has the worst roads we have seen this trip and possibly the worst ever, so Edmonton is no longer number one on that list but it is number 2 and highway 37 coming in 3rd. The problem with highway 37 is that it is about 700 K long but there are no potholes that you could lose a wheel in like here or Edmonton.

The propane cover John made for us is working out great, best investment I've made for awhile.

Sorry no pictures today - maybe tomorrow.

Flat, flat, flat

We are in Saskatoon today. Did I mention it is flat here. Every where you look, you can see a long way.

The RV place we are booked in charges ridiculous prices for laundry. Six dollars a load. And the light load need twice in the dryer and still wasn't done.

Saskatoon looks like it should be fairly straight forward to drive around - it has a circle drive that goes around the city. But actually driving in it gets very confusing.

The weather was warm and sunny today and I'm hoping for more of the same tomorrow.

Starved for contact

Hello…Hello…anyone listening out there, cause I can't really tell. You see although I have emailed many of my friends with this blog I'm not sure if any of them are reading this. I have also personally emailed many of them, they still aren't responding. Eesh with friends like this who needs acquaintances, and I am getting desperate for anyone to contact me…okay so I reached desperate a while ago (about 2 weeks) but then I got some contact but it is inconsistent at best. My friends from Victoria and elsewhere please respond to this by sending me an email at least replying to one that I have sent you, please.

Ahhhh that is a weight off my shoulder, I've been meaning to do that for a while (2 weeks)

Now onto the site, a lot like the last one except thinner, less muggy, less nice, and more bugs.

Heros, Campsites, and Roads

We are in Vermilion the home of Olympic X-Country skier Beckie Scott.

The campsite here is a privately run provincial campground. It has putt putt golf, soccer and ballfields a trout pond and cycling trails all around it that join to the cycling network.

After driving around Edmonton for a few days I decided that the roads here are as bad or worse that highway 37 in BC. Some of the potholes would easily take out a wheel.

I got the trailer into a shop in Spruce Grove (Spruceland Truck and Trailer). They aligned both axels on the trailer and one of the wheels was toed in. It seems to be towing better and the tire will not wear out as quickly now.

I got out to take some pictures yesterday. The highlight was a ruddy duck with a light blue bill. It was too far away to post here so here are some barns.


Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Vermilion AB

Today we stopped in Vermilion Alberta at the Provincial Park.  We had a very short drive today but wanted to get part-way to Saskatoon for tomorrow.

The weather is mild - mainly sunny and not too hot.  Paul went out to take some pics and I spent some time working on the computer.

Sorry, not a very interesting day to write about for you readers.

On to the flats, bleck!

If you know me, you know that I hate flat ground. Nothing personal it is just that I was born and raised in the mountains and forests of British columbia and for a long time thought that all of Canada was as flat as a gravel road is to an ant. If there is anything that I do like flat that is water, and even then only because of my tendency toward motion sickness. The site here looks flat be is somewhat sloped, the gravel roads are nice and the sites are huge with a grassy lawn in front of each trailers, when we arrived here it was muggy, but it got less muggy after a while.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Time to Go

Today was a wrap-up day.  We had the trailer alignment done, did some last minute shopping and said good-bye to John and Kim.

Tomorrow we will move on from Edmonton.  Eastward, Ho!

Monday, August 1, 2011

I have an awesome brother

For those of you who know John, you know he does great upholstery work.  He got to try out some of his new (to him) equipment this week.

Out hard plastic propane tank cover is a pain to get on and off the tanks due to the angle of the front of the trailer.  So, we purchased a vinyl propane tank cover and put in on at the beginning of the trip.  On the first day it started to rip and didn't stop.  By the time we got to Edmonton, it was being held together with more duct tape than original vinyl.

John made an awesome tank cover to replace it.  Looking forward to testing it on the road in a couple of days.

Games at a loss

So yesterday we went to the west Ed mall again and I played a game of warhammer 40k. And I lost by a single point. Now not to lead you astray, this was in no way a close match, I only had 2 models left on the board -thank khaine for leadership 10 or they would have ran away- and they were surrounded by tanks, guard and a vendetta. So basically what happened in the game was I infiltrated my rangers into the stupidest place possible, not that it wasn't the second best place for them, and they died first turn. I placed my dark reapers in a good location and took out half a squad of guard, and they died after the hellhound was finished with my pathfinders, god I hate flamers. Just the turn before my reapers died my wave serpent came in with both my farseers, you can look at my list below, and a squad of dire avengers. The wave serpent did nothing but my farseer was able to immobilize a chimera (one of three). After my reapers died the wave serpent was immobilized and my war walker came in, shot the living daylights out of the back of a tank and did nothing whatsoever. When I deployed the squad inside my wave serpent I thought hey I know I will spin the tank with eldritch storm and take some shots that will do some damage, but it spun to face me instead, making it so that my shots were totally useless instead of more useful. Then with everything else dead the only reason why that squad survived was because of the spell fortune saving the models again and again. And in theory I could have moved my squad on top of the objective but to do that was to move closer to a vendetta, and it was turn five I didn't think the game would end, I was wrong.
My list (1000)
HQ
Farseer(55)
Doom(25)
Fortune(30)
Runes of witnessing(10)
Spiritstones(20)
Total(140)

Farseer(55)
Guide(20)
Eldritch storm(20)
Runes of witnessing(10)
Rune of warding(15)
Spiritstones(20)
Total(140)

Troops
Dire Avengers x10(120)
Exarch(12)
Twin Shuriken catapults(5)
Bladestorm(15)
Wave serpent (90)
Twinlinked Bright lance(45)
Total(287)

Rangers x5(95)
Pathfinder upgrade x5(25)

Heavy support
Dark reapers x5(175)
Exarch(12)
Tempest launcher(20)
Fast shot(20)
Crackshot(10)
Total(237)

War walker (30)
Scatter laser(15)
Eldar missile launcher (20)
Total(65)

On the upside the weather has been nice with storms every few hours, I like rain thunder and hail mid summer, it makes me cheery.