Travellin' Man...

Okay, It's been a little over a month since my last update... life in Toronto got a bit busy with a job and a big project, so I headed out of the east and into the west. I'm in Vancouver now, after driving to Kelowna in 5 days... which, as I discovered, is not really enough time to drive that far, especially by yourself. At least if you wanna retain your sanity. Luckily, the waters of Lake Okanagan and the mountain air of the BC have refreshed me enough to continue on. I'm at a great cafe in Vancouver right now, so I think I finally have time to recount some of my adventures thus far. Because I've only had spotty internet access and a tight schedule, I've kept a bit of a journal, which I'll refer to now in quotation marks, with occasional interjections for stuff I've left out.

Actually, first of all, I should recount the first part of my trip, since I didn't write about it at all... I didn't get out of Toronto until about 1pm on Tuesday the 15th. I got over the border with no problems whatsoever. They have these camera things at the border which I assume x-ray your car or something to make sure you're not driving anything explosive. After that, telling the border guard I didn't have any alcohol, firearms, or fruits or vegetables seemed to make him happy. I spent the first night camping near Grand Rapids, Michigan. I went into downtown for dinner, where I was met by throngs of people leaving the local arena after American Idol on tour got out. Ick. But, other than that, Grand Rapids seemed like a pretty cool midwestern american city. Like a little Chicago... more on Chicago below...

"August 16, about 4pm

I’m in Chicago now, and I’m riding the El – whoah, I just went by Wrigley field. Well, now I know where I need to go to find it. Now the train’s stopped. I really like Chicago – I’m staying in a hostel on the north side of the city, and I drove through downtown along the lake on my way in – it was, and I don’t use this word lightly – breathtaking. The shoreline goes on forever, and its just all so big. I mean, of course, Toronto is big too, and I’ve been to many big cities, but Chicago is also so spread out – it’s tall, and wide, and big all over.
Now I’ve gotten off the El, and I’m at a pizza place downtown – the bigness continues – add 2 lanes or more to a Toronto street, and add 5 stories to every skyscraper downtown. Although, as I was riding the El in the area closer to where I’m stayi8ng, it was much less dense. A lot of good mid-rise buildings, and parks and such. Geez, I could just ride the El all day – it’s a great way to see a city. I’ve often thought Toronto should build more subways, but screw that – Elevated trains are way cooler. Why be stuck underground when you could be looking at the beautiful city you’re in? Give your transit ride some much needed context and enjoyment. It goes underground here near the city centre, but central business districts are always a bit impersonal anyway.
I keep on comparing everything to Toronto – I’m not sure why. In the past, I’ve been proud of Toronto as “liveable” in comparison to other North American cities. But I’m starting to wonder if that just means we’re boring – streets of staid Victorian houses along tree lined streets, filled with people who are scared of any different or new or too big development. Meanwhile, outside of those Victorian style houses, we’ve largely obliterated a lot of the rest of our history – especially the 20’s & 30’s & 40’s, some of my favourite periods, especially in North American history. Out where I’m staying (near Loyola University, north of the city and near the lake), it’s a pretty damn nice neighbourhood, yet completely unlike Toronto. What if, in Toronto, we filled in all the single-family homes with 3 or 4 storey buildings, and filled in spaces with parks (real parks, too, not just fields of grass). Would people talk to their neighbours more? Could there be more inclusive and tighter communities? Or would we just end up with more American-city-type problems?

I just ate a deep-dish cheese pizza – it was excellent. I also just got a glass of water, and the waitress placed a straw in a wrapper beside it; I’ve always felt that straws in wrappers were something quintessentially American. I remember really noticing it on trips to the U.S. as a kid. Like, seriously, can’t you put the straw in the glass for me? Is it a health regulation? Are American hands so filthy that they can’t even touch a straw? I guess a lime or lemon wedge would be out of the question. I can’t help but think that this points to the essentially puritanical nature of the American character. Or else I’m just overanalyzing… that’s just the way my mind works.

Oh, btw, I’m drinking Honker’s Ale now, a local microbrew, right after a pint of 312 – named after a local area code, I assume, since the tap handle is shaped like a telephone headset. Which is a damned great idea – I must started brewing 416 lager (which will, of course, be unavailable in the 905). Perhaps soon to be followed by Centre of the Universe Ale (not available in Alberta)."

it took me forever to get out of Chicago.... I ended up on a highway that wasn't the interstate, which was annoying and took more time. But, eventually, I got through to sioux Falls:

"August 18, about 9am

I’m at a Perkins restaurant inj Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and all the omelets have ham in them. Actually, I think one of them had turkey instead… I guess that’s for big fat Midwesterners who are on a diet.
The theme of American bigness continues, except here in the Great Plains, that bigness in spread out to impossible widths. And I only just got into South Dakota – I thought I’d never escape from Minnesota… it went on forever, just expanses of green nothingness. By the end of the day I was exhausted, totally sick of driving, and not nearly as far west as I’d hoped I’d be. And the worst part is that I’ll need to keep on driving like a maniac to make it to Kelowna on time.
Although yesterdays’ driving got to me a little, there were some major highlights. The best by far was stopping off midday near Baraboo, Wisconsin at Dr. Evermore’s industrial sculpture garden, home of the world’s largest junk sculpture. (http://www.drevermor.com/) This place was amazing –There was one big, huge fantastical sculpture towards the middle of the place, and a few other big ones here and there – but more impressive was the incredible number of small to mjid size stuff; mostly bird & insect-like creatures; it was like an alien colony. I can’t really do it justice in words – luckily, I took an absolute ton of pictures.
Other occasionally transcendent moments included driving over the Mississippi river in Minnesota – absolutely breathtaking (unfortunately, the other, oh, 4 or 5 hours through Minnesota felt like a 4 or 5 years). I even ended up in Austin, yesterday… but not exactly as I would have hoped, since it was Austin, Minnesota. The only thing to do there is go to the Spam museum… but it was closed, so no Spam-themed souvenirs for back home, unfortunately. I gassed up across the street from the museum, where the air all around positively reeked of the smell of Spam. I also briefly stopped in Blue Earth, Minnesota and took a picure of a 60ft. tall statue of the Jolly Green Giant.
Anyway, I’ve finished my French toast, so I should be on the road. Oh, last night I camped just outside of Sioux Falls, at Big Sioux recreation area, in a town called Brandon, South Dakota… which I thought was quite fitting."

"10:52am
Okay… I’ve barely gotten an hour outside of Sioux Falls, and now I’m pulled over to the side of the road. It’s started raining harder than I’ve ever seen while driving. Visibility is absolutely non-existent. It’s so windy that rain appears to be coming at the car from the side, as if it’s shooting across the earth from the north. I have absolutely no idea how long this is going to last. This sucks. I was already worried about my time. Damn damn damn. There are tons of other cars by the side of the road as well. The only vehicles driving are trucks, which actually makes the roads even scarier."

"Sat. Aug. 19 – 7:45am
I’m at Tom’s Main St. Diner in Buffalo, Wyoming. Check out this note from the opinionated menu: “Potatoes are a great idea. Someday I hope to meet the fella who invented hash-browns (soaked in an industrial strength preservative and quick frozen) and tell him how badly he screwed up. We do home-fries; par-boiled real potatoes cut up on the grill and browned in a light oil. Good, basic food.” I love it… it sounds like Steinbeck complaining about processed food in “Travels with Charley.” Finally, an authentic small town diner, with coffee that doesn’t totally suck. They also have these great big thick white coffee cups with the diner logo on them, which I must own.
Anyway, my drive is turning out to be fairly stressful. I’d love to be on the road right now, but I’m forcing myself to eat, because I didn’t really eat a proper lunch or dinner yesterday. After breakfast, all I had was a Taco Bell 7-layer burrito and various snack (apple, banana, almonds, etc… admittedly, a lot of snacks, I guess.)
Although I’m close to Yellowstone now, which was my initially planned destination for last night, that extra distance looms large. Even if I had gotten there, I’m not sure getting to Kelowna in one day is do-able… add those extra hours and it’s almost impossible. I will likely need to camp tonight again, hopefully I make it into BC to do so. I’d half decided to go to Glacier national park, because it’s on my way if I take a slightly different route off the I-90, but now I’m not so sure. Any extra time taken on slower roads will kill me. I’m already veering off the I-90 to go through Yellowstone."

Aug. 20, 8:30pm

Hallelujah, I’m finally in Kelowna. So far all I’ve done since dropping the car off this morning is take care of some of the necessities of existence that I’ve been neglecting up ‘til now – namely sleeping and eating (3 hour nap plus big healthy salad with pita and hummus). In fact, I’ll probably go to sleep for the night fairly soon, since I’m still exhausted. Last night, I pulled over at around midnight, slept a few winks in the car while parked in the lot of a recreation area somewhere in Idaho near Coeur d’Alene. I woke up at 5am to make my final drive, making it (almost) in time (I got to Kelowna in time, but got lost in town trying to find the airport). Thankfully the border patrol/customs guy didn’t stop and search my car, even though I get the impression he rightfully should of and was doing me a favour letting me pass.
Yesterday was cool, but way too hectic to properly enjoy. I drove through Yellowstone, with a few very short stops along the way at some of the geysers, hot springs, and Yellowstone grand canyon. All that suff was cool, although being there on a Saturday in the middle of summer made it incredibly busy and touristy - and being in a hurry made it impossible to get off the beaten path at all to escape from that. There were a ton of bisons throughout the park, which wa probably my favourite part of going through there.
Oh, and I almost forgot, before Yellowstone I drove through the Bighorn mountain range, wich was one of the more beautiful and unique parts of the Rockies that I've seen.
My only other stop was very briefly in Missoula, Montana to grab a coffee and food for the road in the early evening. A very cool town, actually, where the few people I talked to were incredibly nice. (well, mostly just the guy who made me my pita and the girls at Starbucks.... the first Starbucks I've run into since Chicago, and practically the first decent coffee... there's alot of bad coffee in the great plains.) Also, a car full of girls drove by and honked at me and told me they liked my shirt. I guess that's what people do on Saturday night in Missoula. Too bad I had to get back on the road - I would've liked to have fully experienced Saturday night in Missoula.
Tomorrow, I'm determined to take a hike and properly enjoy the wilderness a bit, since I've missed so much in my hurry to get here. After that, I really want to get to San Francisco - but the idea of being on the road anytime too soon makes me sick to think about. All I can think of is curling up next to a redwood tree and giving the rockies and this whole damned continent a bit of the time and respect it deserves."

"Aug. 22 - 3:30pm
I'm on the bus headed to Vancouver from Kelowna. We just stopped in Chilliwack, and are driving along the ..., on what must be one of the best stretches of highway I've been on - if not the best - and I'm extremely grateful not to be driving; to have the luxury of just looking outside at the mountain, and occasionally nodding off. Even if there is a baby on board who occasionally starts screaming, it's a small price to pay. I hate to say it, but I think all the nice scenery from accross the country I just took days to drive accross is all clustered in this 6 hour stretch of BC. Right now, we're in a perfectly flat valley, with a mountain not too far in the distance. As we've driven, the mountains have become more and more lush with trees, as we get closer to the coast and away from the scrubby sandy soil and sparcely treed mountains of Kelowna.
Oh, yesterday I did take a hike, by the way; up and down Knox mountain, and along the edge of Lake Okanagan. I aslo had a swim and put in some beach time. All in all, a very good day of relaxation. I considered staying longer, but I've got it in my head that it'll be cool to ferry from Vancouver to Seattle, and I hope to do that tomorrow.
Hey, we just got into Abbotsford... and passed a place callled "Ethical Addictions" coffeehouse. I like that. Speaking of other small observations, I got a taste of the undercurrent of weirdness in BC this morning, on my way to the bus station. First, I saw an anti-abortion protest outside of a hospital, with a rown of signs, and a mother with 2 small girls in tow wearing a sandwich board. Blech. Also, a holistic practitioner near the hospital had a sign which featured 2 of the seven dwarfs from the disney version. I took a picture, so as to later determine exactly which dwarves they were (I swear one of them was dopey).
The first think I wanna do when I get to Vancouver is get a cappuccino... mmm..."

(actually, it was a latte)
Anyway, yeah, now I'm in Vancouver, which is really a heck of a lot like Toronto, except with mountains, and way more junkies. Waaaaaay more junkies. Also, it feels like September here, if not October already.

Okay, I should go. I've spent an awful lot of time in this place, and they may ask me to leave soon. Unless I get another coffee, which I may do after so many bad coffees throughout the land. When I next post, I hope to be in San Francisco.