Rock and Pool is Nice and Cool

I’ve made it to the other side! I got my first smell of the Pacific Ocean and now I can proudly say that I have trodden the soil of every province in Canada. Yay for me!

To finish up Calgary, Ian and his two work buddies came down for the night and stayed at Alison and Nancy’s. Thanks again girls! I know they were loud and stinky! Me and the boys headed out for a night on the town. After finding Cowboys closed on a Tuesday, we went to some place called Tantra that the cabbie recommended, only to get turned away for wearing sneakers. On the way to our next attempt, we ended up walking for a bit with a homeless guy. His money question was so original and funny, we had to give him our change; he said, “Do you have $50,000 to spare so I can buy a Dodge Viper?” Straight and to the point. We laughed and had a good chat with him and off we went. So we ended up at a place called Morgan’s, where I made a friend, April, in the long wait outside. She promised to be my dancing friend for the hair metal band inside. Please do check out my Flickr pictures for a better look. So after lots of Keith’s and Jager, back we went to the 42nd St. Lounge. The following day was chill, as I prepared for the 15 hour bus ride ahead of me.

More to come later… I’m heading out for some all-you-can-eat sushi in Van-city baby!

Yesterday I wandered the mean streets of Calgary. Really it was only 8th St. Or was it Avenue, I can’t remember. Either way it was a nice long street filled with interesting things. The first thing I saw and took a picture of was a restaurant called “The Chick Pea.” For those of you who may not know, this is cool to me because my MSN messenger name has been “chick pea” for probably the last 5 years. So I was more excited to see that someone appreciates the garbanzo bean just as much as I do.

I went into a couple of stores, just to browse at the things I could not buy and eventually made my way into the Glenbow Museum. They have an Egyptian/Ancient Greece and Rome exhibition on right now. So I asked the admissions lady if there was a student price and she said, “but of course!” so I showed her my UPEI student card (that’s right, I’m still milkin’ it). She said, “oooh PEI, how fun!” And the near by janitor/technician man yells, “Let her in for free!” So she said, “Ok!” To get in free I had to get a comped ticket which meant they had to give me a fake name. So I toured the ancient Mediterranean as Brenda Smith. How nice of them. The artifacts were so cool and I could help but marvel at the fact that people so long ago touched and used these things. And a dead pharoah used to live in that mummy case. And remnants of his organs are still inside those canopic containers. So cool.

After a “have fun in Calgary Brenda!” I went for supper at the Unicorn pub. Got myself, a hearty buffalo burger and beer. It definitely has a distinct taste and I enjoyed it. The beer was good too. On my way back to the bus stop I saw someone get arrested on the opposite sidewalk. That was kind of funny. Then for payback at laughing at someone else’s misfortune, I got off the bus a block further than I was supposed and had to pee really bad. So I ran. I ran so fast that I ran right past Nancy and Alison’s house. Two blocks past. Not impressed. But we finished the night off with fondue. Lovely.

Now live from Calgary. I am now here, staying with the lovely hostesses Nancy and Alison at their 42nd St lounge. They have their new abode and comfy cozy it is. My bus ride from Saskatoon was nice and fairly uneventful. By uneventful, I mean no one was drunk. So it was nice. Lots and lots of snow covered fields and big farm equipment. Also a lot of those oil pumping things. The ones that look like pecking ducks? I think you know what I mean. The bus stopped in Wainwright so we could grab a hot breakfast. And then off to Edmonton. I was only in Edmonton for about 45 minutes, but what I saw of it was charming. Prettier than Calgary. Sorry Calgary. Then back to bus en route to Cowtown.

Janelle met me at the bus depot and from there we walked to the transit bus #2 stop. It was my first real practice walking some distance with the big ole sack on my back. Felt good. Re-energized me. I unloaded at 42nd St. and Janelle, Alison, and I left for supper downtown. We ate a swank and suave place called the Metropolitan Grill and drank the 8$ per glass house wine while waiting for a table. The food was spectacular. I had the Asian stirfry and witnessed the girthiest asparagus I have ever seen. Real girthy. Haha, girthy asparagus. After getting some less-than-impressed glances from neighboring tables, (likely due to our overly casual attire, numerous glasses of wine, and talk of girthy asparagus) Vince picked us up and took us back to 42nd St. Nancy was home by then and we continued to drink wine and laugh.

Sunday brought us the infamous Crave cupcakes and seriously, they are the most amazing thing you will ever eat. Ever. Then we had lunch. Gotta love the dessert before lunch. We made perfect bus timings and went to the Market Mall where I was lost and alone for a good 1/2 hour. I pride myself in have a good sense of direction, but I lose all radar contact when in a mall. With no cell phone in the City of Cell Phones, I began to prepare myself for an adventurous return to the house, but luckily ran into Janelle and Alison. Phewf.

Today has been a little confusing, as I am supposed to meet up with my brother Ian sometime today, and original plans were to be making a snowboarding journey to Banff for the night, but that plan may diminish unfortunately. So for today, I will be heading downtown to check out a museum and maybe a gallery and just wander around and get myself lost just so I can find my way back again. So until then…

Well here I am, safely snuggled in at my first destination. Saskatoon. I am being hosted by the lovely Siemens family and their dog Groban. I arrived here Tuesday night after a long day of gate sitting and flying. Oh and crossword puzzle doing. After a sad goodbye at the Halifax airport I boarded the plane for Toronto. Now not only was it 9am, but I had been up since 4:30am with a shat-like sleep from the night before. I am sitting in my window seat waiting for take-off (my heart races for the take-off) with high hopes that I was going to be sitting alone. Soon enough, a man and his son plunk down next to me. Thankfully the son was in the middle because the father was abslutely HAMMERED! At 9am folks. Hammered. Missing teeth and loaded drunk. He asked for a beer as soon as he sat down. He had to wait. Not pleased. So over the course of the flight, he downed at least 4 beer, went missing for 40 minutes, cussed and made sexist remarks, and grabbed my hand 3 times to shake it. The poor kid was thoroughly embassed. Mr. McDrunk continued to get up and walk around during descent, forcing the flight attendants to yell at him like a child over the intercom. I received many sympathetic eyes from the passengers around and finally we land and disembark. But the memory McDrunk left me with was of him grabbing the pretty flight attendant’s face and roughly kissing her. Then as he walked off the plane he proclaimed to the world, with his hands high above his head, “I love fucking women!”

Obviously this was highlight of my flight. And what a way to start. Following was a delayed flight from Toronto to Winnipeg, causing me to miss my connection in Winni. Fine, I got a meal voucher. Spent it on a club sandwich and 2 bottles of Keith’s. Needless to say, I, myself, was a wee bit drunk. Some 5 hours later, I finally made it Sasktoon, or as some call it, Stoon.

The next day I walked with Luke to the university and got a tour. Saw a T-rex, stegosaurus, and triceratops. Luke is an art student so I got to see his domain which was very cool. They each get their own little studio complete with an easel and paint-smeared furniture. I enjoyed the atmosphere.

it’s been great getting to visit with the Siemens clan on their own turf for once, and I can now say that I have been further West than Ontario. Up and coming in Saskatoon is a night at a cowboy bar and a chocolate buffet. And on Saturday my journey continues Westward on a Greyhound bus to Calgary. See you there.

Oh and it really is flat as one would imagine. Flat squares. Flat. And they don’t plow their side streets. Tsk tsk.

This is just a test.