Vancouver to Whistler. Finally.
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There is a long story to be told about my first solo trip across Canada (I did it again in reverse in May 2011, but under much different circumstances) and by the time I got to Whistler I had a clear mind and an untapped ambition, but I did not have a plan. However within 2 weeks of arriving in Whistler I would secure 4 interviews and 3 jobs, move into Jason's room (a long time friend - and the only person I knew in Whistler) and tore the ligaments in my ankle on Christmas Day 2008. On my first day on the mountain, on my first run. However, within 3 months I was riding everyday, working 3 jobs, securing a 4 bedroom house that I would later sub-let, and profit on over the Winter Olympics in 2010. This house became a couch surfing mecca, the focal point of a number of social circles where I made some of the best friends I have ever had, including my partner, the love of my life, Claudia.
After spending 3 seasons in Whistler, Claudia and I decided to travel through Central America which is video blogged on my YouTube channel and makes up Living the Dream part 2, and would lead to us currently living in London, UK and Living the Dream part 3.
However, part 1 was the ultimate opportunity: to create the life that I wanted, the life that I desired and the life that I thought would only ever exist in my dreams. I brought my dream to reality and I truly am Living my Dream.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Chapter 23 - A Much Needed Rest
When I finally made it to Vancouver and met my cousin Jordan and uncle Brock at their house I was exhausted, relieved, excited, dirty, unshaven, emotional, philosophical and overall truly happy. I had made it to the west coast. I had conquered my fear, my anxiety, my doubt and I had embraced and experienced life. As I write this more than 3 years later, I smile and laugh.
But my stop in Vancouver was a rest, a preparation for the move from traveler to squatter to roommate to property manager and the bubble that would cater to this transformation - Whistler, BC.
But my stop in Vancouver was a rest, a preparation for the move from traveler to squatter to roommate to property manager and the bubble that would cater to this transformation - Whistler, BC.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Friday, December 5, 2008
Chapter 20 - The night was as cold as her lips were warm
My first experience of Nelson was a remarkable experience and certainly rivaled Thunder Bay for the most important stop along my adventure.
I stayed two nights and it felt like another lifetime. I met some incredible people who I still know, and I truly believe at some point in my life I will end up living in Nelson.
However, by this point I was looking for some kind of conclusion to my trip and wanted to get to the west coast. I made it back to Nelson a number of times while I lived in Whistler, and it captured me even more each time.
I stayed two nights and it felt like another lifetime. I met some incredible people who I still know, and I truly believe at some point in my life I will end up living in Nelson.
However, by this point I was looking for some kind of conclusion to my trip and wanted to get to the west coast. I made it back to Nelson a number of times while I lived in Whistler, and it captured me even more each time.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Chapter 16 - The Hole in the Wall
Spent a few amazing days in Banff with London and Akemi.
Also got to hang out with John Bromley.
Again, now looking back this was a real pivotal decision to leave Banff and make it to Whistler as I was contemplating staying.
Also got to hang out with John Bromley.
Again, now looking back this was a real pivotal decision to leave Banff and make it to Whistler as I was contemplating staying.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Chapter 11 - Mr. Something Something
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After 15 days on the road and over 2,500 km's I finally left Ontario!! What an event! As I was driving out of Ontario and into Manitoba the thought did occur to me that after so long and such a great start to my adventure, it would probably be a long time before I would find myself back in the massive province where I grew up. I took a moment to say 'see you later'.
I had really been looking forward to getting to Winnipeg as I had been in contact with 2 couch surfing girls and their friends that were all planning a big night on the Tuesday that I arrived. I was originally going to be there much sooner, but Thunder Bay and Duluth made for a new plan.
As was customary by now, whenever showing up to a new city, there was one thing I needed to find right away. A free wireless connection. In Sudbury it had been a pay/use network in a laundry mat and that wasn't going to do it. It needed to be free. So in the Soo we found a coffee shop called 'the bean' or 'bean there done that' or some such play on words. First place where the heater in the van started giving me trouble. After that the motel in Wawa had wireless, and led me to freely browse the couchsurfing world. The Thunder Bay hostel had a free network, as I sat beside Lloyd while he was busy writing letters to the municipality about something important and I made plans to meet up with Sarah. Then going downtown TBay trying to find a connection so that I could track down Zack and/or anyone to put me up on their couch by first unsuccessfully cruising the parking lots at Lakehead U to score a strong signal and then moving onto Franks Laundry where a small shack of a building had a huge wireless signal. The trip to Duluth was easy because Katie was driving her car and I was in the back on my laptop scanning networks at each intersection with plenty to choose from. We felt like some kind of secret ops group, or hackers, scanning unsuspecting residential networks for clues to our mission's goal - finding a place to sleep.
So now that I was in Winnipeg with plenty of experience picking up free signals, the easiest and most reliable find was a Starbucks. They were few and far between and I already had phone numbers for some of the Winnipeg girls, so I had made a call to Risa - who was at work and would be until later on in the evening - so I decided to do a big dinner party for her and invite other CS'ers and her friends over to partake. That meant I needed to find a good signal AND a grocery store. It was starting to get dark and Winnipeg looked confusing enough on my trusted CAA maps let alone trying to find my way around without the light of day. Interestingly and conveniently the big grocery store chain west of Ontario is Safeway and they all seem to have great wireless. So I made up a quick list of groceries for a nice pasta dinner with salad - 2 stolen recipes; one from mom and one from candice - whole wheat penne pasta with antipasto and artichoke hearts and a light garden salad with tomatoes, walnuts, goats cheese and raspberry vinnagrette. (I ate WAY better on the road than I do here in Whistler, I work too much)
I got online and tracked down a few of the other couch surfers in town and as it happened, they all knew Risa and Max who I would be staying with. So no worries there, I invited them all over to Risa's (where they were headed already for later on) and as it would turn out Kelci and her roomate had a couch surfer staying with them - a german girl named Julie - who was on her way east and had been travelling for some time from out west.
So I had some time to kill before Risa would get home so I found her place downtown and grabbed my camera and headed over to the red river and the city hall buildings to check out all the Rene Levesque statues. Or some french guy like that.
UPDATE - I just realized today, December 31st 2011, that I had this unpublished draft of my blog from 2008. I am now going to publish what I had drafted with the hopes of someday filling in all the details as they originally happened...
*side note - Risa from Winnipeg would later come to visit Whistler and in the summer of 2009 she and my cousin Jordan got together! Fun ensued, and she now lives in Vancouver. While Jordan and Risa are no longer together, this just is such an amazing look back on the adventure I had and how it still influences so much today!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Chapter 10 - The Time has come the Walrus Said
Here's the next post, pictures to follow sometime soon!! By the way, nobody comments on my blog stories anymore! instead of writing me an email, post a comment on here!
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After finally leaving Thunder Bay, I was really looking forward to Winnipeg where I was going to meet up with some couch surfing girls I met online. I still had a lot of ground to cover before leaving Ontario and into a new province - and I decided to take the less traveled route of Kakabeka falls and the long awaited Quetico Provincial Park. I had originally planned to camp at Quetico for a couple of nights but I spent those extra days in TBay. It seems funny now looking back that I was concerned about when I would be getting places but I had a rough schedule and wanted to stick to it to be in Banff on a particular weekend and again arrive in Vancouver and then Whistler with enough time before Christmas to find work.
It's funny now that I think about it, that when I left Brampton I wasn't even sure if I would be home for Christmas or if I would make it as far as Whistler or if I would continue on from there and go somewhere else... I remember thinking that I might just go back to Toronto or try and get a job in the Barbados. Somewhere along the way I convinced myself that Whistler was calling me, and that I would setup my new life there. By the time I reached Vancouver I was set in my mind on staying in Whistler despite the lack of potential jobs and the even more difficult task of finding a place to live. I hadn't even been there yet! More on all that later.
Kakabeka falls was really cool. Like a smaller version of Niagara, but the power of the water and ice was raw and wild, like the first nations must have witnessed Niagara or the pioneers when they realized they would have to portage it. It was only me there that afternoon and I would have liked to share that time with someone - other than the wild pigeons of course (which was really interesting esp. since I was so used to their urban cousins) I had tried to convince some of the cool people I met in Tbay to come with me, but the real world was back and they all had work/school priorities. My map for Saturday was going to be very different than the weekly warriors. Nevertheless I took lots of photos (like my profile pic on my blog here) and made my way from there onto Quetico. Ironically, this provincial park was open for business. No locked gates, no closed signs, and there was actually one staff working at the gate house. Ironic because all the other parks that I actually spent the night at were closed and/or not staffed and here was this amazing park that was open for me to stay, explore and really get into nature - except I had other plans to continue on. I still had some winter camping inspiration in me, and I knew if I didn't camp out here I wouldn't be camping again until the BC interior, but the prairies and Winnipeg and the thought of a new province was calling me. Not before I would spend a night in Fort Frances, Ontario however.
I wasn't going to waste a great opportunity to check out Quetico, and it turned out to be an amazing discovery. I opted for the 7km hike which turned out to be really interesting. I hiked the footpaths and cross country ski trails (not very much snow on the ground - which meant some of the x-country trails ended at rivers that would normally be frozen - and I had to turn around) and came upon something really cool. I crouched down in the bushes by the river and waited as I heard something splashing around. Stirring in the reeds just on the other side of the river was a litter of otters. They didn't notice me right away and made for interesting targets for my cameras which I never left too far from my reach. Except my video camera battery was dead - luckily I had my still camera and managed to get at least a shot or two before my hiding position was compromised and the otters disappeared. I followed them up river, wandering from the original trail to spot another glimpse of the otters, and I found myself a cabin. What an opportunity! I decided right then and there this was a place I would come back to and experience again and spend at least one night in the cabin. There was a guest book in the cabin and I took the time to read who had stayed there. I stole Dad's quote from Tony and Barb's framed picture and 'wished I could have stayed a while.'
So after getting lost on a bit of a side exploration I decided to head out for Ft. Frances and find a motel (as there were no couch surfers in the fort frances area - that had couches available anyways... ) I managed to find an interesting little spot called the Adventure Inn and actually a pretty good deal considering the accommodation quality. I had dinner in the hotel restaurant and chatted with my waitress about possible things to do on a Monday night in Ft. Frances. She let me know that I was in the hottest place in town and that the hotel bar was having it's big night tonight; a stripper. Oh small towns in Ontario! How simple. Not interested in the dancer, I asked the waitress what she was up to later - but she had school the next day (probably a little too young for me to be asking her out!) I think I ended up watching Star Wars II Attack of the clones and fell asleep.
Waking up to a nice sunny day, I was super excited about getting to Winnipeg. I threw all my gear into the van, which was running great and with plenty of heat and headed up the highway for Kenora and FINALLY a new province!!
This seems like a pretty good spot to itemize all the things I had lost, forgotten and/or found along my trip so far. Remember, at this point I was still in Ontario!
Killarney - Actually I don't think we left anything there? maybe a tent peg or clothes pin...
Spanish - 6 pack of beer cooler (not the beer, just the cooler)
Sault St. Marie - Graeme! He left on the Greyhound and I haven't seem him since!
Wawa - found couchsurfing.com (actually Jane told me about it last summer, but this is when I checked it out for real...)
Pukaskwa - I lost myself for a while, and had my 'into the wild' moment. Luckily I found my purpose.
Thunder Bay - white flowered cooking pot, van heat for a couple of days.
Duluth - almost lost a glove, but also dropped my laptop. (don't worry its under warranty and it hasn't failed me yet)
Ft. Frances - A nice big chip in the windshield on the drivers side that would have hit me right between the eyes had it gone through.
View Route Map
After finally leaving Thunder Bay, I was really looking forward to Winnipeg where I was going to meet up with some couch surfing girls I met online. I still had a lot of ground to cover before leaving Ontario and into a new province - and I decided to take the less traveled route of Kakabeka falls and the long awaited Quetico Provincial Park. I had originally planned to camp at Quetico for a couple of nights but I spent those extra days in TBay. It seems funny now looking back that I was concerned about when I would be getting places but I had a rough schedule and wanted to stick to it to be in Banff on a particular weekend and again arrive in Vancouver and then Whistler with enough time before Christmas to find work.
It's funny now that I think about it, that when I left Brampton I wasn't even sure if I would be home for Christmas or if I would make it as far as Whistler or if I would continue on from there and go somewhere else... I remember thinking that I might just go back to Toronto or try and get a job in the Barbados. Somewhere along the way I convinced myself that Whistler was calling me, and that I would setup my new life there. By the time I reached Vancouver I was set in my mind on staying in Whistler despite the lack of potential jobs and the even more difficult task of finding a place to live. I hadn't even been there yet! More on all that later.
Kakabeka falls was really cool. Like a smaller version of Niagara, but the power of the water and ice was raw and wild, like the first nations must have witnessed Niagara or the pioneers when they realized they would have to portage it. It was only me there that afternoon and I would have liked to share that time with someone - other than the wild pigeons of course (which was really interesting esp. since I was so used to their urban cousins) I had tried to convince some of the cool people I met in Tbay to come with me, but the real world was back and they all had work/school priorities. My map for Saturday was going to be very different than the weekly warriors. Nevertheless I took lots of photos (like my profile pic on my blog here) and made my way from there onto Quetico. Ironically, this provincial park was open for business. No locked gates, no closed signs, and there was actually one staff working at the gate house. Ironic because all the other parks that I actually spent the night at were closed and/or not staffed and here was this amazing park that was open for me to stay, explore and really get into nature - except I had other plans to continue on. I still had some winter camping inspiration in me, and I knew if I didn't camp out here I wouldn't be camping again until the BC interior, but the prairies and Winnipeg and the thought of a new province was calling me. Not before I would spend a night in Fort Frances, Ontario however.
I wasn't going to waste a great opportunity to check out Quetico, and it turned out to be an amazing discovery. I opted for the 7km hike which turned out to be really interesting. I hiked the footpaths and cross country ski trails (not very much snow on the ground - which meant some of the x-country trails ended at rivers that would normally be frozen - and I had to turn around) and came upon something really cool. I crouched down in the bushes by the river and waited as I heard something splashing around. Stirring in the reeds just on the other side of the river was a litter of otters. They didn't notice me right away and made for interesting targets for my cameras which I never left too far from my reach. Except my video camera battery was dead - luckily I had my still camera and managed to get at least a shot or two before my hiding position was compromised and the otters disappeared. I followed them up river, wandering from the original trail to spot another glimpse of the otters, and I found myself a cabin. What an opportunity! I decided right then and there this was a place I would come back to and experience again and spend at least one night in the cabin. There was a guest book in the cabin and I took the time to read who had stayed there. I stole Dad's quote from Tony and Barb's framed picture and 'wished I could have stayed a while.'
So after getting lost on a bit of a side exploration I decided to head out for Ft. Frances and find a motel (as there were no couch surfers in the fort frances area - that had couches available anyways... ) I managed to find an interesting little spot called the Adventure Inn and actually a pretty good deal considering the accommodation quality. I had dinner in the hotel restaurant and chatted with my waitress about possible things to do on a Monday night in Ft. Frances. She let me know that I was in the hottest place in town and that the hotel bar was having it's big night tonight; a stripper. Oh small towns in Ontario! How simple. Not interested in the dancer, I asked the waitress what she was up to later - but she had school the next day (probably a little too young for me to be asking her out!) I think I ended up watching Star Wars II Attack of the clones and fell asleep.
Waking up to a nice sunny day, I was super excited about getting to Winnipeg. I threw all my gear into the van, which was running great and with plenty of heat and headed up the highway for Kenora and FINALLY a new province!!
This seems like a pretty good spot to itemize all the things I had lost, forgotten and/or found along my trip so far. Remember, at this point I was still in Ontario!
Killarney - Actually I don't think we left anything there? maybe a tent peg or clothes pin...
Spanish - 6 pack of beer cooler (not the beer, just the cooler)
Sault St. Marie - Graeme! He left on the Greyhound and I haven't seem him since!
Wawa - found couchsurfing.com (actually Jane told me about it last summer, but this is when I checked it out for real...)
Pukaskwa - I lost myself for a while, and had my 'into the wild' moment. Luckily I found my purpose.
Thunder Bay - white flowered cooking pot, van heat for a couple of days.
Duluth - almost lost a glove, but also dropped my laptop. (don't worry its under warranty and it hasn't failed me yet)
Ft. Frances - A nice big chip in the windshield on the drivers side that would have hit me right between the eyes had it gone through.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Chapter 9 - Duluth
View Route Map
"So if you guys are Canadians.... What are we?"
- Long pause and look of shock on everyone's face -
"Oh yeah, we're Americans!"
The side trip to Duluth Minnesota was really an incredible spontaneous side trip that started off my couch surfing experience with a bang. Katie was driving with Zack, Jordan and I tagging along for a trip into northern USA along the shore of Lake Superior. We left Thunder Bay and headed south for the border. I had never heard of Duluth except for maybe vague references in movies or tv or something and really had no idea what to expect.
We were making good time until we hit the US border. Jordan and I were cautious about going into the states as I hadn't been since 2004 and Jordan even longer. The Bush era was coming to an end and we were unsure about the effect that would have on typical everyday Canadian American relations. At the border we got stopped for a full search. Beforehand, we tried to plan out what we were going to say to the border guard upon arrival, as most up standing citizens have a general fear or aversion to authoritative processes like a border crossing, we wanted to be prepared. We couldn't get much straight between each other, and I was in the mood for surprises so I didn't have much input as to our approach. To give the border guard some credit, our explanation of where each of us was from, how we knew each other and where we were staying in Duluth probably sounded as confusing to him as it was to us. The couch surfing community is large and getting well known, but trying to explain it to a US border guard was not easy. We also had a number or fruits and vegetables in the trunk which we thought we should claim - we were going to surf and save money, we had to bring our own food!
It didn't take long for them to realize we were just regular Canadians and they did not need to fingerprint us for their records. We did notice the big signs that proclaimed they had the right to take pictures and fingerprints from us without any reason. Good 'ol US of A. I keep wanting to go off on tangents in writing this blog, like for example the move in technology toward ID cards with all our personal information on them and the liberties we now take for granted will one day (in the not too distant future for me as I have to get a new BC drivers license) be things we will not be able to explain how we lost. Or that all of these new security measures are intended to protect us from terrorists, who we are fighting in order to maintain freedoms, which we are willing to give up in order to continue to fight terrorists, and... (infinite regress here)
ANYWAYS I will have to put that all in some other blog sometime. Blog is not even a word its a shorter, hipper term for 'web log'. Another topic for some other time.
On we went down the shore of Lake Superior (which I was starting to get a scope of just how Superior it was) and on into the night. The first thing we noticed in the states was how cheap the gas was. We immediately filled up. The second the thing we noticed was how cheap the booze was. We immediately stocked up. Arriving in Duluth about 8pm we parked the car on the street where we were supposed to be staying and hopped out to find the house.
I should point out that the guy's house we were staying at was this guy Bill, who Zack and Jordan had met when Bill surfed through Tbay. Zack had been in touch with Bill that we were coming down to stay with him and his roommates and Bill let Zack know that he would not be there because he was working but that we should go and meet his neighbors until he got off work. As we walked up to Bill's place, a guy walked out onto the porch of the house next door.
"Are you guys the Canadians?"
"yup!"
(turning around to the guys inside the house) "The Canadians are here!!"
Another guys comes out and yells to us "Get in the van!" and then the first guy again "were going to a kegger!"
We met Bill's neighbors (who were obviously expecting us) who happened to be 9 guys living in a duplex (which interestingly didn't have heat but did have running water and electricity) and half of them were in a punk band together and had a large A-team style van they called The Protector. The nine of them plus their girlfriends, and the 4 of us all piled into the Protector (I think 18 or 19 of us in total) and drove off to a random keg party somewhere in the Duluth suburbs. Bill would meet us there later on that night.
I don't think many Canadians travel down to Duluth, as we were a sort of novelty at the party. For the most part it was a typical university style kegger with most of the guests being students at one of the two local colleges. The biggest difference that we Canadians all seemed to notice at the same time was the American choice of party favors. The typical narcotic in Canada at any house party, kegger, club, pub, field party, cottage, farm house or what have you, is pot. Simple as that. In Minnesota, pot was more expensive than cocaine. Having been to enough parties in my time, and having the cross border living experience of Windsor under my belt - I knew how this party would end. This one ended in a few brawls and us fleeing the house for the safety of the Protector (a name we were beginning to understand by this point) - but not before we lost Jordan and were convinced he'd been captured by the enemy. We found his jacket and decided if he had left the party we should take his jacket with us. On the other hand if he had not left the party we would be abandoning him without a coat and sure cold walk to somewhere, as none of us knew where we were. At just around the time we walked out on Jordan, Bill pulled up to the party in his 70's station wagon and told us we'd better go with him, and that the Protector had bigger plans that night. Turns out Jordan found a random ride home with someone who knew where Bill lived in exchange for some Jager. So we all made it back to Bill's (eventually).
The next day we took a walk down to Superior and into the downtown core of Duluth. Zack had an idea to go check out the aquarium (his original idea for coming to Duluth in the first place) and see if he could network with some of the professionals there. We walked along and checked out some local spots first. Duluth is a very blue collar town, much like Hamilton, Ontario only smaller in population. Kind of a strange town nestled on the side of a hill sloping down to one of the best views of Lake Superior and yet filled with industry, poverty, and other typical small(er) town America stuff. I guess all of the grungy, hard nosed, past-their-prime towns on the Great Lakes seem a bit odd now.
Before Bill headed off to work though he took us to the Graveyard. Although we didn't know what to expect, and after walking through an old train yard, we were surprised to see a massive field under the highway filled with graffiti. Blocked on both sides by concrete walls, and covered almost completely overhead by the interstate, only long narrow beams of light reminded us we were still outside. It seemed like every square inch of concrete was painted and the ground beneath our feet was a hard dusty dirty floor littered with cans of old spray bottles, markers and unidentifiable trash. Kind of like an underground warehouse, with only slivers of sunlight beaming down from the world above. Actually one of the first of only a handful of places I saw on my whole trip that made me feel like I was really seeing something unique and not-for-the-tourists. Bill went to work where he washed dishes, and we hung around the Graveyard (where all paint cans go to die?) and took some pictures and added our own Canadian flavour to the masterpiece. There was only one entrance in and out of the Graveyard, and upon leaving there was a dude that tried to charge us an exit fee of $2 each but we waited him out and he got bored of trying.
Jordan, Katie and I headed out to a pub for some drinks and some eats and got to know each other a little bit. Zach went off to the aquarium as he couldn't justify not going as it was the original plan. We randomly met up with him after his aquarium trip and started making plans for later that night. We were going to host a potluck dinner at Bill's (even though Bill would not be there) for all the couch surfers of Duluth. It amazed me then and still does just how many couch surfers are out there, everywhere you go.
We hosted an amazing party and met some really great people that night, and even some not-so-great people but definitely interesting characters. This night really solidified for me the power of food. That might sound ridiculous or obvious but it finally made sense. I realized that in being a couch surfer my contribution to living with strangers who have welcomed me into their homes would be centered around the one thing that everyone did everyday; eat. Although the couch surfing mission is about hosting and surfing for free, and the fact that there are infinite ways to reciprocate good will, my mission was to make my couch surfing experience as positive as possible. Zack prepared most of the dinner (a big thick hot chilli, as it is relatively simple and feeds many - a meal I would repeat many times throughout my journey) and everyone enjoyed it. We met Ksenyia, a young couch surfer with many couch surfing stories of her own and a passion for dance and travel. Jordan and I talked at length with Shannon, a like minded American who sat politically and morally on the same side of the fence as we did but who also believed it was her right and a necessity to carry a firearm (not on her that night, whew!). We met this guy (can't remember his name...Jason?) who was an ex-con and downed beer cans like they were shots - but once we got him talking he wouldn't shut up about the illuminati and the real rulers of the not-so-free world. He also spoke Esperanto (as did Bill for some strange reason) which I had no idea was even a language. If Graeme had been there he could have filled me in but ever since Graeme and I parted in the Soo I have had to rely on wikipedia. (which is a good 2nd best)
All in all we hosted a great party and Bill Workman (his real name, originally from California - Dharma/Lost anyone?) came home near the end and we had a great time with great food. The next day we got up and made our way out of Duluth and back toward the Great White North of Canada. Not a moment too soon for Jordan and I. However we did get a chance to stop at numerous spots along Superior on the way home as well as being able to pick up tons of cheap beer. (Beer that would later enable me to stay at one of the coolest houses in Calgary!! Stay tuned...) On the advice of one of Zack's roommates Eric, I picked up a carton of Du Maurier cigarettes at the border for super cheap intending to sell each pack at a significant mark up. (as it would turn out most of the people I would stay with after leaving Ontario and across the country didn't smoke Du Maurier and I didn't get rid of the last pack of smokes until I got to Whistler!) But I did make a few dollars for my trouble. Getting back into Canada was a breeze, and Zack couldn't even find his passport! I think he eventually got it back from Bill though I'm not sure.
It was really cool to meet all those larger-than-life characters in the states, and they made plans to come up to Thunder Bay for Tazmanian New Years (Jan. 9th) and as I hear it they did make it up in the Protector and had a great time.
We left Duluth, drove straight into Superior, Wisconsin (for even CHEAPER beer to bring back with us and to say that we've been to Wisconsin) and then headed back for Thunder Bay. Along the way we stopped at the Temperance river and hiked around a bit and Zack showed us some really cool spots where he used to guide and do trails. We also got a taste of what American State Parks are like. Roped lined trails, little signs in the ground letting you know where not to walk, gift shops, liability disclaimers, all the usual things you would expect in a nature preserve.
Back in Tbay I packed up all my gear and was (finally) ready to continue on my way and try and get out of Ontario within a couple of days and be in Winnipeg for Tuesday night where I had been invited to a concert with some girls that I would be surfing with. It was pretty tough to leave but my journey was onto the next chapter and I had a lot of excitement about surfing, meeting new people and really living my life. I also wanted to get in some more nature and was looking forward to Quetico provincial park.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Chapter 8 - The Dream House
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Thunder Bay - A Map for Saturday
So as many of you may already know, I spent a whole lot of time in Thunder Bay. I was definitely not expecting to stay so long, but I certainly found what it was I thought I was looking for. After finding some people on couch surfing, I really wanted to meet them in person. This would be my acid test of the true connection possibilities of a website with great intentions but not necessarily any real results. Like what lavalife, amazon and ebay had to go through in their early stages, couchsurfing would have to find its true path, and so would I.
After getting up fairly early at the Hostel, I said my goodbyes to Wilma and Lloyd and made my way to downtown Thunder Bay. It was on this drive that my heat in the car stopped, and I was getting pretty worried and anxious about the van and it's ability to make it past Thunder Bay let alone across the rest of Canada. Before leaving on this trek I had talked with my Dad about Thunder Bay being a sort of point-of-no-return/halfway kind of stop. If the van had any problems up and until Tbay, I should probably cancel the rest of my trip and head back home to make other arrangements. Now that I had made it to Thunder Bay I thought my trip was actually coming to a grinding halt where I would have to decide to either stay in Thunder Bay or head back to Brampton.
So I stopped into a laundromat with wireless connections and logged onto the CAA website, then couchsurfing, where I found a message from Heidi and one from Danika, that I should contact Brodie and/or Zack in Tbay to find a place to crash. I also made plans to meet up with Sarah later on that night at a local pub. At this point all I was really hoping for was a bed/couch for a night, a chance to get the van looked at and maybe a chance to meet some of the other surfers I had met online. So I emailed Brodie and Zack, got directions to CAA and went on to see if they had a mechanic I could trust bringing the van to.
I should also point out that my cell phone had not worked since I left Sault St. Marie, and so I managed to call the wireless provider in Tbay to find out that there were no Telus towers between the Soo and Winnipeg and therefore I wouldn't be able to use my phone for a while. So to make a call to Zack, I found a payphone and called him up. He let me know that he was pretty busy with a presentation but that it wouldn't be too much of a problem for me to crash for the night. That was settled, and I would go over and meet him after I dealt with the van.
I found myself in a CAA certified garage, and had a mechanic take a look at the no-heat issue. In the end he said the blower motor had failed and though it might operate intermittently for a while, it would fail permanently in a short time. Best bet; replace the motor. How much for the motor? $90. Not too bad. What about the labour costs? This question later turned into a three mechanic showdown about how best to get at the blower motor since it was buried underneath the a/c, and in the back of the core at the bottom. They gave me an estimate of $700, with a time frame of about 6 hours to complete it. Knowing this was not an option, I prodded them with MacGyver type solutions that could get me another couple of weeks/months out of the van - with some kind of heat. They suggested I go to Canadian Tire and buy a space heater and a 12V DC converter to typical AC output - as long as the max. wattage was lower than the capacity of the converter. This proved to be not only difficult to find but an expensive fix. After comparing the various setups and configurations I would have to undergo, I decided on a $30 12V plug in foot warmer and thought I could just bundle up as I drove, it wouldn't get THAT cold, right?!
After spending a few hours in the automotive district of Thunder Bay, I bought some beer for my new host, and headed for a house on Oliver St., to meet this couchhost named Zack. My first couch surfing experience couldn't have been written any better. I found myself at a student housing mecca spot called the Dream House, a 3 storey house not far from Lakehead University. Zack was in the middle of a presentation he was preparing for the following night on a trip that he and two friends did the past summer when I met him. An epic 50 day sea kayak trip around most of the islands on the north shore of Lake Superior. Fascinated by this nearly 2 month long kayak trip, I started asking him all kinds of questions and we talked about how truly great Lake Superior really was. Soon his friends started coming into the house, some roommates, some kayak mates helping with the presentation, some musically inclined friends and some other usual suspects. It wasn't long before I had handed out some cold beers and was utilizing my computer skills and we were all watching a great video take from their trip of Joanne peeing in the lake, hanging onto the side of Aarons kayak. Great test video for their presentation, and great ice breaker for all of us. This was the first time I experienced the kind of self realisation that when you are part of a strange and different social circle, a new community, your personal contributions to that community help to channel the way you actually are. I found that being able to give something back like my technology help, I was able to connect and appreciate the community I was becoming a part of. This connection was what I found, that I thought it was exactly what I was looking for. It wasn't long before someone had suggested we go to the school to catch a presentation on the wolf/moose population on Isle Royale.
Zack, Aaron and I biked over to Lakehead to see an incredibly fascinating video presentation on the wolves of Isle Royale. Introduced to the island less than 100 years ago, with the moose population there needing to be controlled, a very unique relationship unfolded. With little to no human interruption, the two species developed a predator-prey relationship with almost no other species involved. The wolves were successful in managing the moose population, and the moose were better off with the weaker and sicker moose being killed off. Typically a much more complex ecosystem, here on an island in the greatest of the Great Lakes, was such a simplified snapshot of nature and the relationship all species have with their environment. Before the presentation was complete, I noted the time and decided to take off back to the dream house so I could shower and get downtown to a pub to meet Sarah, a couchsurfer I had met online.
Showing up at the Mad House for 9, I met up with a nice girl named Sarah. We immediately got on and talked easily about my trek across the country, Thunder Bay, couch surfing, her journey through China and Thailand and her plans for Lakehead and school and future travel. As we talked, the first snowflakes started to fall outside, in big soft floating flakes. We ended the night by walking around Thunder Bay in the snow and I walked her home and met her very little bundle of joy, Zoe. Not knowing if I was gonna be around for another night or not, we made plans to meet up again should I happen to stick around.
I got up the next morning and made breakfast for Zack and his presentation team who were already at work putting things together for that night. After spending time with them on the presentation they really wanted me to come by and see it that night. On top of that, I was really beginning to like Thunder Bay and with the new fresh snow I asked them what would be a good adventure for the day. That conversation led me back to Sleeping Giant, which you already know about. So returning from the Sleeping Giant that night, I made my way over to the school to see an amazing presentation on the epic sea kayaking tour. Having been away from University for a few years, it was so great to be back in a hall, with students and teachers all brimming with the final presentation and upcoming exam jitters and excitement of the ending of another semester. I appreciate the academic side of university life so much more now than I ever did through my 7 years of formal education. I had often let school get in the way of my education. I very seldom thought about things rationally or logically in that my education was something I was paying a lot of money for and it was up to me to get the most out of it, regardless of how much bureaucratic bs and terrible professors/students I encountered. But being back in higher learning I immediately saw the incredible resources, community and introspective self development that had always been so prevalent in my uni days, and I felt so enriched just being a part of all of that again.
After the presentation, we all headed back to the dream house where a party ensued and it wouldn't be long before there was talk of some kind of road trip to some place called Duluth. Many couch surfers had been through the dream house before me, and many of the usual party goers were familiar with my kind of traveller, so the question was often raised; "So, when are you leaving?" I had no real plan anymore. I knew that I wanted to camp at Quetico for a night and possibly stay a night in Ft. Frances before going onto Winnipeg. I was in the process of messaging some CS'ers in Winnipeg to see what might be a good night to spend there. I figured a Saturday night would be good, so figured if I left Thursday or Friday from Thunder Bay it would all work out. As I was working out my plan through conversation, and beer, Zack, Katie and Jordan were planning their own trip for the weekend to Duluth, Minnesota. When they first asked me to come along with them I was skeptical, both for my own plans and for any real interest in going to the US. However that great big country down there had just elected a new President that was standing for change, so I was at least a little bit interested. As I thought about it, I decided it was just such a great opportunity for my adventure to expand and go the way it was gonna go. with less planning. So we were gonna head out Friday afternoon and return Sunday. So now we needed something to do for Thursday. Turns out Jarvis Bay was calling our names.
Zack, his roommate Clay and I all hopped into my van and were headed for Jarvis Bay. When Zack got into the van, he accidently kicked under the dash where the blower motor rests, and kicked it into working again. (It still works to this day since that happened! Thanks again Zack!) We hiked around Jarvis Bay on Lake Superior (see map at top) and scrambled up a cliff for a great view of many of the islands on the north shore. The ice was forming on the tips of driftwood, and so we had our ice weapons at the ready, and Zack and Clay had an ice saber battle as I found a sort of ice scythe.
Later on that night I met up with Sarah again, and she gave me something that would change my perspective on my journey and life and what I was about to embark on. She gave me a dvd called "A map for Saturday" about a guy who quit his job to travel around the world for a year. I got a chance to watch it after leaving Thunder Bay, and it made a huge impact on me. Sarah had received it as a gift at some point on her travels, and felt I was the person that needed to see it and I will hold onto it until I meet someone who is on a journey that deserves to see this video. The interesting thing about the title, is that when you are traveling long term, every day does begin to feel like saturday, in that anything you want to do you can do, and everyday becomes a day of adventure and travel and something new.
I was really beginning to like Thunder Bay to the extent that the idea of staying there and finding work there would have been a pretty cool side journey, and that later on some day I would make it out west. In the end, it was time for me to leave, but not before a truly amazing couchsurfing side trip to Duluth!!
Thunder Bay - A Map for Saturday
So as many of you may already know, I spent a whole lot of time in Thunder Bay. I was definitely not expecting to stay so long, but I certainly found what it was I thought I was looking for. After finding some people on couch surfing, I really wanted to meet them in person. This would be my acid test of the true connection possibilities of a website with great intentions but not necessarily any real results. Like what lavalife, amazon and ebay had to go through in their early stages, couchsurfing would have to find its true path, and so would I.
After getting up fairly early at the Hostel, I said my goodbyes to Wilma and Lloyd and made my way to downtown Thunder Bay. It was on this drive that my heat in the car stopped, and I was getting pretty worried and anxious about the van and it's ability to make it past Thunder Bay let alone across the rest of Canada. Before leaving on this trek I had talked with my Dad about Thunder Bay being a sort of point-of-no-return/halfway kind of stop. If the van had any problems up and until Tbay, I should probably cancel the rest of my trip and head back home to make other arrangements. Now that I had made it to Thunder Bay I thought my trip was actually coming to a grinding halt where I would have to decide to either stay in Thunder Bay or head back to Brampton.
So I stopped into a laundromat with wireless connections and logged onto the CAA website, then couchsurfing, where I found a message from Heidi and one from Danika, that I should contact Brodie and/or Zack in Tbay to find a place to crash. I also made plans to meet up with Sarah later on that night at a local pub. At this point all I was really hoping for was a bed/couch for a night, a chance to get the van looked at and maybe a chance to meet some of the other surfers I had met online. So I emailed Brodie and Zack, got directions to CAA and went on to see if they had a mechanic I could trust bringing the van to.
I should also point out that my cell phone had not worked since I left Sault St. Marie, and so I managed to call the wireless provider in Tbay to find out that there were no Telus towers between the Soo and Winnipeg and therefore I wouldn't be able to use my phone for a while. So to make a call to Zack, I found a payphone and called him up. He let me know that he was pretty busy with a presentation but that it wouldn't be too much of a problem for me to crash for the night. That was settled, and I would go over and meet him after I dealt with the van.
I found myself in a CAA certified garage, and had a mechanic take a look at the no-heat issue. In the end he said the blower motor had failed and though it might operate intermittently for a while, it would fail permanently in a short time. Best bet; replace the motor. How much for the motor? $90. Not too bad. What about the labour costs? This question later turned into a three mechanic showdown about how best to get at the blower motor since it was buried underneath the a/c, and in the back of the core at the bottom. They gave me an estimate of $700, with a time frame of about 6 hours to complete it. Knowing this was not an option, I prodded them with MacGyver type solutions that could get me another couple of weeks/months out of the van - with some kind of heat. They suggested I go to Canadian Tire and buy a space heater and a 12V DC converter to typical AC output - as long as the max. wattage was lower than the capacity of the converter. This proved to be not only difficult to find but an expensive fix. After comparing the various setups and configurations I would have to undergo, I decided on a $30 12V plug in foot warmer and thought I could just bundle up as I drove, it wouldn't get THAT cold, right?!
After spending a few hours in the automotive district of Thunder Bay, I bought some beer for my new host, and headed for a house on Oliver St., to meet this couchhost named Zack. My first couch surfing experience couldn't have been written any better. I found myself at a student housing mecca spot called the Dream House, a 3 storey house not far from Lakehead University. Zack was in the middle of a presentation he was preparing for the following night on a trip that he and two friends did the past summer when I met him. An epic 50 day sea kayak trip around most of the islands on the north shore of Lake Superior. Fascinated by this nearly 2 month long kayak trip, I started asking him all kinds of questions and we talked about how truly great Lake Superior really was. Soon his friends started coming into the house, some roommates, some kayak mates helping with the presentation, some musically inclined friends and some other usual suspects. It wasn't long before I had handed out some cold beers and was utilizing my computer skills and we were all watching a great video take from their trip of Joanne peeing in the lake, hanging onto the side of Aarons kayak. Great test video for their presentation, and great ice breaker for all of us. This was the first time I experienced the kind of self realisation that when you are part of a strange and different social circle, a new community, your personal contributions to that community help to channel the way you actually are. I found that being able to give something back like my technology help, I was able to connect and appreciate the community I was becoming a part of. This connection was what I found, that I thought it was exactly what I was looking for. It wasn't long before someone had suggested we go to the school to catch a presentation on the wolf/moose population on Isle Royale.
Zack, Aaron and I biked over to Lakehead to see an incredibly fascinating video presentation on the wolves of Isle Royale. Introduced to the island less than 100 years ago, with the moose population there needing to be controlled, a very unique relationship unfolded. With little to no human interruption, the two species developed a predator-prey relationship with almost no other species involved. The wolves were successful in managing the moose population, and the moose were better off with the weaker and sicker moose being killed off. Typically a much more complex ecosystem, here on an island in the greatest of the Great Lakes, was such a simplified snapshot of nature and the relationship all species have with their environment. Before the presentation was complete, I noted the time and decided to take off back to the dream house so I could shower and get downtown to a pub to meet Sarah, a couchsurfer I had met online.
Showing up at the Mad House for 9, I met up with a nice girl named Sarah. We immediately got on and talked easily about my trek across the country, Thunder Bay, couch surfing, her journey through China and Thailand and her plans for Lakehead and school and future travel. As we talked, the first snowflakes started to fall outside, in big soft floating flakes. We ended the night by walking around Thunder Bay in the snow and I walked her home and met her very little bundle of joy, Zoe. Not knowing if I was gonna be around for another night or not, we made plans to meet up again should I happen to stick around.
I got up the next morning and made breakfast for Zack and his presentation team who were already at work putting things together for that night. After spending time with them on the presentation they really wanted me to come by and see it that night. On top of that, I was really beginning to like Thunder Bay and with the new fresh snow I asked them what would be a good adventure for the day. That conversation led me back to Sleeping Giant, which you already know about. So returning from the Sleeping Giant that night, I made my way over to the school to see an amazing presentation on the epic sea kayaking tour. Having been away from University for a few years, it was so great to be back in a hall, with students and teachers all brimming with the final presentation and upcoming exam jitters and excitement of the ending of another semester. I appreciate the academic side of university life so much more now than I ever did through my 7 years of formal education. I had often let school get in the way of my education. I very seldom thought about things rationally or logically in that my education was something I was paying a lot of money for and it was up to me to get the most out of it, regardless of how much bureaucratic bs and terrible professors/students I encountered. But being back in higher learning I immediately saw the incredible resources, community and introspective self development that had always been so prevalent in my uni days, and I felt so enriched just being a part of all of that again.
After the presentation, we all headed back to the dream house where a party ensued and it wouldn't be long before there was talk of some kind of road trip to some place called Duluth. Many couch surfers had been through the dream house before me, and many of the usual party goers were familiar with my kind of traveller, so the question was often raised; "So, when are you leaving?" I had no real plan anymore. I knew that I wanted to camp at Quetico for a night and possibly stay a night in Ft. Frances before going onto Winnipeg. I was in the process of messaging some CS'ers in Winnipeg to see what might be a good night to spend there. I figured a Saturday night would be good, so figured if I left Thursday or Friday from Thunder Bay it would all work out. As I was working out my plan through conversation, and beer, Zack, Katie and Jordan were planning their own trip for the weekend to Duluth, Minnesota. When they first asked me to come along with them I was skeptical, both for my own plans and for any real interest in going to the US. However that great big country down there had just elected a new President that was standing for change, so I was at least a little bit interested. As I thought about it, I decided it was just such a great opportunity for my adventure to expand and go the way it was gonna go. with less planning. So we were gonna head out Friday afternoon and return Sunday. So now we needed something to do for Thursday. Turns out Jarvis Bay was calling our names.
Zack, his roommate Clay and I all hopped into my van and were headed for Jarvis Bay. When Zack got into the van, he accidently kicked under the dash where the blower motor rests, and kicked it into working again. (It still works to this day since that happened! Thanks again Zack!) We hiked around Jarvis Bay on Lake Superior (see map at top) and scrambled up a cliff for a great view of many of the islands on the north shore. The ice was forming on the tips of driftwood, and so we had our ice weapons at the ready, and Zack and Clay had an ice saber battle as I found a sort of ice scythe.
Later on that night I met up with Sarah again, and she gave me something that would change my perspective on my journey and life and what I was about to embark on. She gave me a dvd called "A map for Saturday" about a guy who quit his job to travel around the world for a year. I got a chance to watch it after leaving Thunder Bay, and it made a huge impact on me. Sarah had received it as a gift at some point on her travels, and felt I was the person that needed to see it and I will hold onto it until I meet someone who is on a journey that deserves to see this video. The interesting thing about the title, is that when you are traveling long term, every day does begin to feel like saturday, in that anything you want to do you can do, and everyday becomes a day of adventure and travel and something new.
I was really beginning to like Thunder Bay to the extent that the idea of staying there and finding work there would have been a pretty cool side journey, and that later on some day I would make it out west. In the end, it was time for me to leave, but not before a truly amazing couchsurfing side trip to Duluth!!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Chapter 7 - Oh Deer!
View Route Map
I made 2 trips to Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. The first time I was on my way to the international hostel in Thunder Bay so I drove down to check out the campground and on the way in I saw 10 deer. That was more deer than I had seen in my whole life.
The campground was called Mary Louise Lake and of course it was closed. However I met this guy there who wanted me to snap a pic of him holding a coors light so that he could send the picture to his friend. I took the pic and he returned the favour. After telling him about my trek he gave me the warm coors light. I would eventually drink it (after chilling).
After meeting Zach the couch surfer in Thunder Bay, he suggested I go bike the sleeping giant trail and I made it back to the park after the first snowfall only to find 34 more deer. (some of them may have been the same ones, driving in and driving out of the park and may have been the same as two days before - but anyways that is still a lot of deer!)
The bike trip down the Sleeping Giant trail was spectacular. Fresh fallen snow, maybe an inch and a half in most places, created such a quiet soft peacful bike ride. And it wasn't too much snow for my tires to handle. Based on the advice I got from my new friends at the Dream House, I biked out to Tea Harbor. The nicest thing about the ride was on the way back and looking down at the snow, my bike tracks, a few rabbit prints and a whole lot of deer prints was all that impressed upon the perfectly white snow. I felt like if I started singing, all the deer, rabbits, raccoons and birds would come out to me and travel along side my bike. And make me a dress.
After my bike trip I drove to the end of the road and came to a tiny town called Silver Islet. Once a very rich sivler mine, today is a quaint little town with a lot of charm. Was such a nice sunset that I was so in the moment I barely took any pics of it. That's probably a good thing, too many times I have found myself torn to just snap a photo of something or to try and really appreciate the moment. Anyways back to Thunder Bay for a presentation on the 50 day sea kayak trip that Zach did with his friends over the summer.
I made 2 trips to Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. The first time I was on my way to the international hostel in Thunder Bay so I drove down to check out the campground and on the way in I saw 10 deer. That was more deer than I had seen in my whole life.
The campground was called Mary Louise Lake and of course it was closed. However I met this guy there who wanted me to snap a pic of him holding a coors light so that he could send the picture to his friend. I took the pic and he returned the favour. After telling him about my trek he gave me the warm coors light. I would eventually drink it (after chilling).
After meeting Zach the couch surfer in Thunder Bay, he suggested I go bike the sleeping giant trail and I made it back to the park after the first snowfall only to find 34 more deer. (some of them may have been the same ones, driving in and driving out of the park and may have been the same as two days before - but anyways that is still a lot of deer!)
The bike trip down the Sleeping Giant trail was spectacular. Fresh fallen snow, maybe an inch and a half in most places, created such a quiet soft peacful bike ride. And it wasn't too much snow for my tires to handle. Based on the advice I got from my new friends at the Dream House, I biked out to Tea Harbor. The nicest thing about the ride was on the way back and looking down at the snow, my bike tracks, a few rabbit prints and a whole lot of deer prints was all that impressed upon the perfectly white snow. I felt like if I started singing, all the deer, rabbits, raccoons and birds would come out to me and travel along side my bike. And make me a dress.
After my bike trip I drove to the end of the road and came to a tiny town called Silver Islet. Once a very rich sivler mine, today is a quaint little town with a lot of charm. Was such a nice sunset that I was so in the moment I barely took any pics of it. That's probably a good thing, too many times I have found myself torn to just snap a photo of something or to try and really appreciate the moment. Anyways back to Thunder Bay for a presentation on the 50 day sea kayak trip that Zach did with his friends over the summer.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Chapter 6 - The Lonely Planet
View Route Map
Before reaching Sleeping Giant and the hostel however was a pretty sweet drive not like the day before of driving through the bush where it was rolling hills of logged trees, desolate, big mines right on the highway and no sign of Lake Superior. I hadn't been able to check my email, so I had no idea if I would have any couch surfing requests that would be answered by surfers in Tbay. With all of this on my mind, I felt like my trip was falling apart, or at least happening too fast and I wasn't getting what I wanted out of it. I was getting lonely and I needed more interaction with people. By this point I thought I would have at least met some other campers or fellow travellers in hostels, but it was not looking promising. I needed to meet people at the Thunder Bay hostel or I was gonna go a bit crazy.
Arriving at the International Hostel outside Tbay (25 kms outside...) I found a note on the front door that said Lloyd and Wilma would be back by 4 (but the 4 was crossed out with a 5, and the 5 was crossed out with a 6). It was 4:30. So I decided to try and log onto the internet from the van and see if I could find a wireless connection while I waited. This momentous event would change everything that was about to unfold on this journey. I had more than a few couch surfing responses ranging from people that wanted to meet up for drinks to leads to other surfers where for sure I would be able to crash. Finally the social aspect was coming together and I was tempted to leave the hostel, drive into Tbay and try and find some surfers to host me. In the end I was still skeptical of the whole couch surfing concept, and decided to wait around for Lloyd and Wilma.
This car pulled up with the license plate BORNEO (just like lonely planet had mentioned) and out came an elderly couple with a spark of the backpacking lifestyle. Lloyd was wearing a long bright red and yellow poncho kind of thing under his jacket and Wilma was not dressed like your typical 70 something year old would. They eagerly invited me into their hostel/home and I quickly signed up and got myself a room. I had the full use of their place, so I went online and then made some dinner. While eating dinner I met the resident politician, Robert. He was an interesting character that at first seemed like a bit of a recluse who refused to take off his heavy winter coat and toque, but after engaging him in some politics and world financial talks, he lit up like a christmas tree. We ate and sat down to watch the leafs play on a huge high def screen and talked hockey and living in Toronto (as Robert had lived there for over 12 years).
Interestingly, all of these things would be last times for me for quite some time. It would be the last time anyone was interested in talking politics, finance, and the pros/cons of living in Toronto with me until Nelson, BC (where I am currently writing this blog). It is still the last time I have seen a leaf game thus far.
In any case I set off to message the couch surfers in town and let them know that the next day I would be looking for something to do with someone and possibly staying another night in Thunder Bay. The next morning would bring trouble for the van, as the blower motor died, and I was left with no heat.
After leaving Pukaskwa, I was beginning to feel like my trip was not going as planned. I had planned on spending a total of 4 nights winter camping - 2 in Lake Superior and 2 in Pukawska - all of which amounted to a night in a motel in Wawa and a night at Pukawska followed by getting kicked out even if I wanted to stay another night. On top of that, the next stop was Thunder Bay which I was not exactly looking forward to as much as I was hoping to get through it and find the elusive Quetico Provincial park where winter camping was assured (the only park that had an actual person answer the phone, along with Killarney) So the Lonely Planet became my guide from here on in, letting me know where to sleep/eat/etc. The recommened stay was an international hostel on the outskirts of Tbay which seemed like the best option and only $20.
I would pop down into Sleeping Giant (the first time) before reaching the hostel, and was a cool little side trip - but that's saved for a combo story in Chapter 7 - Oh Deer!
I would pop down into Sleeping Giant (the first time) before reaching the hostel, and was a cool little side trip - but that's saved for a combo story in Chapter 7 - Oh Deer!
Before reaching Sleeping Giant and the hostel however was a pretty sweet drive not like the day before of driving through the bush where it was rolling hills of logged trees, desolate, big mines right on the highway and no sign of Lake Superior. I hadn't been able to check my email, so I had no idea if I would have any couch surfing requests that would be answered by surfers in Tbay. With all of this on my mind, I felt like my trip was falling apart, or at least happening too fast and I wasn't getting what I wanted out of it. I was getting lonely and I needed more interaction with people. By this point I thought I would have at least met some other campers or fellow travellers in hostels, but it was not looking promising. I needed to meet people at the Thunder Bay hostel or I was gonna go a bit crazy.
Arriving at the International Hostel outside Tbay (25 kms outside...) I found a note on the front door that said Lloyd and Wilma would be back by 4 (but the 4 was crossed out with a 5, and the 5 was crossed out with a 6). It was 4:30. So I decided to try and log onto the internet from the van and see if I could find a wireless connection while I waited. This momentous event would change everything that was about to unfold on this journey. I had more than a few couch surfing responses ranging from people that wanted to meet up for drinks to leads to other surfers where for sure I would be able to crash. Finally the social aspect was coming together and I was tempted to leave the hostel, drive into Tbay and try and find some surfers to host me. In the end I was still skeptical of the whole couch surfing concept, and decided to wait around for Lloyd and Wilma.
This car pulled up with the license plate BORNEO (just like lonely planet had mentioned) and out came an elderly couple with a spark of the backpacking lifestyle. Lloyd was wearing a long bright red and yellow poncho kind of thing under his jacket and Wilma was not dressed like your typical 70 something year old would. They eagerly invited me into their hostel/home and I quickly signed up and got myself a room. I had the full use of their place, so I went online and then made some dinner. While eating dinner I met the resident politician, Robert. He was an interesting character that at first seemed like a bit of a recluse who refused to take off his heavy winter coat and toque, but after engaging him in some politics and world financial talks, he lit up like a christmas tree. We ate and sat down to watch the leafs play on a huge high def screen and talked hockey and living in Toronto (as Robert had lived there for over 12 years).
Interestingly, all of these things would be last times for me for quite some time. It would be the last time anyone was interested in talking politics, finance, and the pros/cons of living in Toronto with me until Nelson, BC (where I am currently writing this blog). It is still the last time I have seen a leaf game thus far.
In any case I set off to message the couch surfers in town and let them know that the next day I would be looking for something to do with someone and possibly staying another night in Thunder Bay. The next morning would bring trouble for the van, as the blower motor died, and I was left with no heat.
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