30K From Thunder Bay
I'm writing from the "Happy Land" camp site, right outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario - No Phone service, but high-speed Wireless Internet - That's the way it should be!
It was another successful 8hrs of driving, we'll do it again tomorrow and end up in Sault Ste Marie - A city that exists part in Ontario part in Michigan - good thing we brought our passports!
Ontario is a massive province - we crossed BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in 1 day each - Ontario alone is going to take the time of those combined by my estimates!
Also, all the way until Ontario - it was pretty much 2 lanes - and you could comfortably maintain a solid 140-160Km/h - but as soon as we hit this massive province, we hit one lane and big trucks in front of us going 80k/h, then to top it off - every 100k there's these big signs which are like menu's for speeders. They read:
Want to Speed?
100km/h............$98
120km/h............$200
130km/h............$298
I'll take the 130km/h with a side Ceaser please.
Anyways - I love Ontario - when i was 20, I had spent about 1/2 of my life here - i just remember it being a lot "cooler". I'm sure all will be forgiven when we hit Canada's Wonderland!
PS - We got our picture on the corner of Portage and Main - check out Flickr for them! Labels: camping, ontario
The Slurpee Capital of the World - 9 Years Running!
 Look through the bug guts to a great city!
Originally uploaded by mickzilla We're driven just under 2600K total and have setup shop tonight in the great city of Winnipeg Manitoba! Per capita, they sell more Slurpee's here than anywhere else in the world - and they are very proud of that - it's the 9th year that they have won this honour - and 7-11 has invested a lot in bill boards around the city for the Winnipegonions to look upon with pride.
Thanks to Kelly, we got a deal via expedia for the Historic Marlborough Hotel on Portage Ave. (est. 1914, and I don't think much has changed since). I do feel like a fur trader staying here, making my way back east after a successful Fire Water for Fur trading binge - I guess that could be expected in a place named after cheap American cigarettes.
Winnipeg was a big stop on the tour - I've always wanted to see this city - The corner or Portage and Main (which we'll check out, and take pictures of tomorrow) is supposedly the windiest and in the winter, the coldest intersection in all of Canada.
Speaking of Portage and Main - 50 below - Winnipeg is also the birthplace of Neil Young - everyone's favorite Classic Rocker. I almost feel closer to his music just being here... Unfortunately, I haven't found the Neil Young tribute site yet. Our waiter tonight don't think it exists, but it must. I find it hard to believe that Winnipeg celebrates Slurpee's more than Neil Young! Labels: manitoba, slurpee
Pulp Fiction - Saskatchewan Style
Mick: You know what the funniest thing about Saskatchewan is? Keona: What? Mick: It's the little differences. I mean, they got the same stuff over there that they got here, but it's just - it's just there it's a little different. Keona: Example. Mick: All right. Well, you can walk into a farm in Downtown Saskatoon and see Animals. And I don't mean just like in no petting zoo, I'm talking about a full on farm. And in Saskatchewan, do you know what they call the time zone they are in? Keona: They don't call it Central Time? Mick: Nah, man, they don't believe in Daylight Savings Time. They wouldn't know what the heck the time is half the year. Keona: What do they call it? Mick: They call it a "Saskatchewan Time." Keona: "Saskatchewan Time." Mick: That's right. Keona: What do they call a Whopper? Mick: I dunno, I didn't go into Burger King. Labels: animals, saskatchewan
Saskatoon, SK
The Prairies weren't are boring as I was told - It wasn't completely flat - there where hills and turns, and seas of yellow fields. Granted, we're only about in the middle, so maybe that part comes next.
We actually knew someone in Saskatoon, and thanks to Emily - we got a neat little tour of the city, and some surprisingly good land locked Sushi. The city seems old - like a giant Gas Town, from downtown VBC. I did like the vibe, and Emily made it very entertaining - Thanks Em!
Apparently Saskatchewan's biggest tourist attraction is the actual Corner Gas station (from Canada's #1 Sitcom - Corner Gas) in the city of Rouleau (aka Dog River) - It would be about 1hour off track for us to visit it, and since I've only seen 2 episodes of Corner Gas (enjoying about 1.5 of them), I think we'll skip it. We will drive through Regina though - and I'll probably pick up an Ice Coffee at the local McDonald's there - so there will be a highlight on the next leg of the trip after all!
We're going to do a lot of driving tomorrow - almost 10 hours I believe - next stop, Winnipeg, Manitoba! (and the corner of Portage and Main!) Labels: saskatchewan, sushi
The West Edmonton Mall
We survived Jasper, and the Mountain Goats - I never did find the part of the park that I paid to get into to - but at least I supported the Park economy none the less.
A short day of driving, just a quick 4 hours and we where into Edmonton. I figured every other street would be "Wayne Gretzky Way" or "Wayne Gretzky Ave." but alas, I was wrong - i guess they never forgave him moving to L.A. We did find Alberta's greatest tourist destination, and the biggest mall in North America. From 1983-2006 it used to be the biggest (by total area) in the world - but China has built 2 bigger since. Apparently communists really like to shop.
The mall area itself didn't seem too big - maybe about the same size as the Metrotown mall in Burnaby, BC - but what did make it massive, was the full Waterpark, Amusement Park, and Hockey Rink located inside. Not to mention the the life-sized replicate of the Santa Maria in the lake located inside. We couldn't do it all - but we did go skating for a hour - it's pretty neat doing that in the middle of a mall.
Since we roughed it last night - i went to check out the "Fantasy Land" hotel that's in the mall - apparently they do theme rooms. Since it was Wednesday, and they had extra "Truck" rooms - we got a deal, and signed up for it. I'm sleeping in the back of a Truck tonight - Keona's sleeping in the cab. The room also has a hottub - go figure. Labels: alberta, mall
Billy Goats Gruff
Just outside of Jasper - we stumbled upon 3 Mountain Goats Gruff. One stopped us, and said "You can't cross here - I'm going to eat you". So I said, Mr. Billy - let us head to West Edmonton Mall where we'll fatten up, so we'll be much tastier when we return - and to that, his response - "Mick, you're fat enough!" So we ran! - Next stop WEM! Labels: alberta, animals
Worst campers ever!
We made it to Jasper, Alberta! For some reason I paid $9 to get into the park, but I haven't seen this $9 park yet... I'll figure that out tomorrow. We did find the quaint town of Jasper and my plan was to park in one of their many tourist parking lots, and crash in the car. Rightly so, Keona thought that was a bad idea, and that along with the signs that said it wasn't allowed had me looking for new accomidations. We stumbled upon Whistlers Campsite, and for $27, Keona and I are the proud owners of campsite 6H for the night! Sadly, we did not bring a tent, or flashlight, but that didn't stop us wannabe campers. With only minutes to spare before pitch blackness, and the bears come to eat us, I converted the Honda into our 4 star sleeping facility, and built the most awesome fire you see in the picture. Maybe we're campers after-all! Labels: alberta, camping
we're leaving in 30 hours!
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