Saturday, June 30, 2012

Iroquois Falls Pt2

After leaving the cabin and heading for the hotel, we met up with my moms side of the family at her older sisters house. Two of her three older sisters and their husbands were there, my cousin, her husband and her daughter were also there. You might remember that a few days ago, I was talking about how these people are related to me, I don't really consider them family as such. Perhaps it's my sentimentality getting to me, but I feel this changing slightly.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Iroquois Falls

So, after two days, I'm now in a hotel with Wi-Fi. Since the gap between updates was so short, I'll just save some trouble and summarize the last three days.

We left New Liskeard around 10:30 on Wednesday morning, driving for about two hours. The road is very annoying, for the first 40km after New Liskeard, there are ample passing lanes, but after that, there was perhaps three over the next 200km! Just my luck, as we got passed the last passing lane, an oversized load appeared ahead of me (the smallest oversized load I've ever seen), and I was stuck behind it for half an hour. No matter, eventually the town appeared and we broke our long journey was over.  


Now, I haven't been to Iroquois Falls since 2000, so I didn't remember the town all that well, but I did remember thinking that the place was a joke. Fast forward twelve years, and I find myself actually kind of liking the place. The town itself has actually grown slightly since I was last here. The economy is still slowing down here, but Iroquois Falls is finding new life as retirement community. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to live here, but the thought of it isn't nearly as bad as it was once before.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

New Liskeard

Today my mother said that she wanted to be out of the house and on the road by 10am. No problem; we packed our things, loaded the dogs, made one last check around the house, and and were on the road by noon. The road to Timmins follows along the Quebec border, so over the course of the day we encountered many Frenchmen, and saw towns which were extremely bilingual. You know that Ottawa has to be, but seeing all these small towns doing it as well is quite interesting.

As the day went on, we realized that it would probably be fairly dark by the time we arrived at my aunts cottage near Iroquios Falls. Knowing that it would be foolish to continue in the dark, we decided to stop at New Liskeard, the last large town (only 10,000 total pop) en route.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Tomorrow

Tomorrow we will be leaving Ottawa, and heading out into the wild. I'm going to be leaving the comforts of the capital, and head out to Timmins Ontario. Most of you probably have heard of Timmins, but I doubt you've ever seen the place. Imagine Fort McMurray, but it's trapped in 1985, all the little things that we take for granted are missing with no chance of them appearing.

My mother comes from northern Ontario, so inevitably we had to go there some time. Her mother is very old and in poor health, so we are obligated to going no matter what. I'd be lying if I said I was looking forward to going. Being raised so far away in Alberta, makes me rather estranged with this branch of my family. Truthfully, I feel like the friends I left behind in Fort McMurray are more of a family to me, but I still must make the effort to have a good time.

I don't know if I'll have any internet up there, so the blog might be silent for about a week. I haven't given up on it, it's just I might not have an internet connection. Regardless, I'll see you all next time!

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Return to Merrickville

I'm not sure if I mentioned this a few weeks ago, but we never actually got the boat to its intended final location. We did get it to my aunts farm in Merrickville, and we did leave it there, but we didn't leave it in the place that it was meant to be left. So after two weeks, we drove back to Merrickville and vowed to park the boat as we intended.

After one very fast hour of traveling (it's amazing how fast it goes after spending entire days doing it), we made our way to the farm and began work on the boat.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Today

Today my parents returned from their trip to Panama. They had plenty of stories about monkeys, crocodiles, riots, gangsters, and what not. However, this blog is not about their stories, but my own stories.

Today I have no stories to share. My parents came back, and that is really the only event of the day. I promised that I would update everyday even if I had no content. But don't worry, I'm sure I'll have something interesting to write about tomorrow.

In other news. I want to ask you guys to do something for me. Leave a comment, it doesn't matter what it says, I just want to know that you guys are actually reading, and not just humoring me. So sound off in the comments section below using your Google account, or identify yourself as an anonymous commentator.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Seinfeld

Once again, today started as any other day in Ottawa. I woke up, had all the dogs swarm me like a piece of meat, and realized it was later than I thought it was. I ate, got washed, and headed down to Billings Bridge to get some things. I haven't shaved since I lived in Fort McMurray, so I figured it was time to lose the hobo beard.

After doing all that, I figured I would end the day watching some TV, an activity I'm all too used to doing. Yet today was going to be different. I was getting ready to watch the final showing of CBC's Connect with Mark Kelly, when I suddenly had a question thrown upon me. Did I want to go see Jerry Seinfeld on stage?

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Civility

By now you've all probably seen that notorious video about the School Bus Monitor who was bullied by the students she volunteered to supervise. Of course bullying in all its forms against all people in itself is wrong, but it is rare to see kids like this assaulting an adult and an authority figure.

What the hell is wrong with these kids? How could they do this, and how could they be so stupid as to film the entire thing? I know they say that kids can be cruel, and we all know that it's the truth. But why do we keep seeing these things and being shocked? Is it some desire to think that we're better than that? Are we simply ignorant?

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Mechanic to You

Today I had the truck repaired. For those of you who know me well, you know that the truck has been having electrical issues, so my dad bought a new alternator to install.

Being that the truck is in a poor state, I didn't want to risk driving it to a garage, so I looked up mobile mechanics, and very quickly found one in about five seconds. After giving the guy a quick phone call, I arranged for him to come over this afternoon to install this part.


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Giant Tiger

Today, the weather prevented my uncle from going to work, as if weather is bad, it's too dangerous to do his job. Since he was off, he decided to take some time to do some errands, and me being sick of the house, decided to accompany him.

First we went to the mall, and I took out some money to pay for installing a new alternator on my truck. Found a mechanic who'll actually come to the house and install it. Fortunate since I don't think the truck will be going anywhere without it.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Downtown

Yesterday, the dogs ran out of food, and it was left to me to get them some more. As is tradition in Ontario, businesses close early on Sunday, so I left early this morning on a quest for dog food.

On my quest to find dog food, I decided to not go to the place I knew would have the food, but would instead go to downtown Ottawa. So today I woke up early, and took a bus down historic Bank St., a major artery in Ottawa. In fact, Bank goes all the way passed the house, and down to Parliament Hill.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Family

Today is Father's Day, and my own dad is far away in Panama City. Despite that, there have been plenty of Father's Day activities going on around the house here. My aunt and uncle have two adult daughters, one who now has her own family, and they were all here today bringing new life to my grandparents old house.

The older cousin has been married for about 2 years, and they brought their eighteen month old daughter with them. It's amazing the way young children can completely get to you, even if you have no history with them. Seeing that little girl interacting with the world around her, being mesmerized by fish, terrified at the sound of the hounds barking, and then sitting with the same dogs. It makes me feel good to see the next generation.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Puppy Love


With my parents gone to Panama, I am left with my most loyal and devoted followers of all. This legion of valorous and noble creatures will stay by my side regardless of what happens thick or thin. This legion, are my three dogs; Molson, Lola, Sonic, and now my cousins dog Bailey.

Together, they have formed a pack that rallies around me no matter what is happening. It doesn't matter if I'm going upstairs, going to the washroom, or especially having food. I am always surrounded by a pack of dogs. Sometimes it's cute having all these guys around. But other times they just hog up all my space. No matter what though, I enjoy their company and am glad to have them around me.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Flying to Panama

In a few hours, I'll be getting on a plane heading for Panama City. It's hard to believe, but after leaving Fort McMurray three weeks ago, my journey is near its end. Soon I'll be leaving Pearson International Airport, and arriving at my new home, a place that I've heard about but never seen. What will it be like? Can I deal with the heat? Will I become homesick? Well there is not time to worry about that, thinking these things will only make me sick on the airplane!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Pet Store

About ten minutes away from Lasalle street is Billings Bridge Mall. Now this is far from the biggest mall in Ottawa, for those of you familiar with Edmonton, I would say it is about the same size as Southgate Mall. Now, like most malls, BB is not targeted towards me, in fact it's a rather strange mish-mash of women and seniors stores. The one thing it does have for me, is Little Critters, the pet store.

Pics follow the jump.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Lasalle Street

In western Ottawa there is a small street no longer than half a kilometer running down between Bank St. and Heron Road. This street is home to my grandparents house, and has existed since 1956. For a city like Ottawa, the Lasalle area is not that old, in fact it was opened the same year that my dad was born. All of the houses here are the same ones that were there when the street opened, and from looking around you can see the love that people put into the community.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Ottawa

After a very long journey, we have finally made it to Ottawa, the final destination for the first part of our journey.

My family has a deep connection to Ottawa, as this is city where my father was born and raised, and the same town his parents lived their entire lives. I've been to Ottawa roughly ten times throughout my life, and to me it's almost like another home.

I'll discuss more about Ottawa later, as I'm too tired to right anything else right now.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Merrickville

About an hour south of Ottawa, is the small town of Merrickville. Merrickville is a quaint little town which is home to a bustling art community, old styled buildings, and numerous tourist attractions. My aunt Judy owns a farm near here, so we took some time to explore the town.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Southern Ontario

After an unpleasant nights sleep, we left the motel and headed for the ferry which would take us to the Bruce Peninsula. We arrived at the port about two hours before the ferry even arrived, because towing the boat required us to be in a lane suitable for over sized-vehicles.

As we waited, we chatted with some other travelers heading across the country. There was an old man in an RV from BC, traveling across Ontario to see all there was to see. Another traveler was a man working in the Alberta oil patch, he seemed to clearly hate his time in Alberta, and was happy to return to Ontario. We also talked to some guys who happened to be staying in the motel next to my parents, they had customized trikes, and were traveling the land.


Thursday, June 7, 2012

South Baymouth

After leaving Wawa, we traveled to Sault Ste. Marie, a city a little larger than Fort McMurray on the American border. Prior to arriving at SSM, we blew a tire on the boat trailer, and I was forced to exchange the tires, a difficult task without any prior experience.

When we arrived at Sault, we found a Kal Tire and had all the tires replaced on the trailer, a job which took about two hours, but probably would have taken two days in Fort McMurray. After leaving, we headed for Parry sound, via Sudbury. As we drove, my mother read about a ferry which travels through Georgian Bay, a place we hadn't visited before.

After a two hour drive south of Espanola, we arrived in the port town of South Baymouth, and what we found was perhaps a tale of two cities.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Wawa

Today we left Fort Frances, and conquered a good portion of Lake Superior. We traveled virtually non top all day, only refueling briefly in Thunder Bay. At about 7pm, we arrived in the small town of Wawa, with a population of about 3000 people.

We looked around for a place to rest for the night, using our AMA guide book, we headed for a motel but took a wrong turn and ended up at a place which rents out cabins. Figuring that we may as well stay here, he rented some cabins and prepared for the night.

What good fortune that we did come here. Of all the places that I've stayed at so far, this is by far the best the place. Some pics of the cabin.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Fort Frances

Today, we bid Manitoba farewell and departed into the depths of western Ontario. The big thing about Ontario, is that outside of the St. Lawrence region, the rest is all Canadian Shield. For those of you who don't know, this means that the highways are awful, and traveling on them is like going on highway 63, times 5.

The usual route we take going to Ottawa is traveling in the northern part of Ontario near Dryden, going through some of the densest parts of the Canadian Shield. Today however we decided to take the more obscure southern route, taking us to the border town of Fort Frances.

On the way there I was quite surprised, I'm used to the dense forests of western Ontario, but near Fort Frances, there were all sorts of farms like in Alberta and Saskatchewan.  Being here gives me a sense of continuity with my trip, and I'm very glad we took this route.

Some pics of the Canadian Shield.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Manitoba

After a brief stay in Saskatchewan, we barreled into Manitoba with the fury of a bullet train passing under Mt. Fuji. Manitoba is surprisingly easy to pass through, we traveled through Brandon, Portage La Prairie, and Winnipeg as if they were nothing. After leaving Winnipeg, we found it too late to carry on to Ontario, but foolish to head back to Winnipeg. Therefore we traveled to Steinbach, MB.

I know most of you never heard of Steinbach, some of you even take pride in your ignorance (you know who you are). But Steinbach has a rather unfortunate reputation. Steinbach is known nationwide as being the city which uses bullets to put down stray dogs. It's hard to believe that such a small and unimposing town like Steinbach has such a reputation, but there it is.

I'll admit, Steinbach doesn't seem too bad on the surface. Frankly it reminds me of Lac La Biche; small but full of character. Despite that, I can't look at this town like any of the others I've visited. This place will always be the dog killing town to me.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Saskatchewan

Today we finally left Lethbridge, and have made some serious headway into Saskatchewan. We traveled for most of the day, and are resting for the night at Moose Jaw, a city less than an hour west of Regina. The most significant part of the day however, was stopping at the Cypress Hills Inter-provincial Park.


Friday, June 1, 2012

The Galt Museum

Today, we decided to visit the Galt Museum, a museum which chronicles the history of not just Lethbridge, but the entire south west of Alberta. For a history buff like me, this was a great trip, but I know most of you aren't interested in a history lesson, so I'll let the pictures do the teaching for me.



The map of the exhibits