Secret Mission

So the other day I mentioned how I needed to get up early and do something on Sunday. Well, it's Tuesday now, and I guess now is a good time to talk about it. Or perhaps it would be better to keep the story secret for a later date? Hm... Decisions, decisions... I guess it can't hurt at this point.

So very...

After coming back from my secret quest yesterday, I became very sick and cranky.Without going into too much detail, let's just say that this experience has been very unpleasant for me. No doubt this was caused by the seafood I ate early that day, tasty as it was. Because of this illness, I haven't done much this past day. I'm feeling a little bit better, hopefully this will have passed by morning.

Remember, you only have a few more days to submit your questions. So get on it!

Conservation Pt. 2

Originally I was going to post about my super secret mission I went on today, but something even more important happened, so the cryptic secrets will have to wait. This deals with conservation rant I had the other day, and it is something that I only discovered today. Be wary, as this is some heavy stuff, and brings a dramatic realization to something I never even comprehended as possible.

Big Day

I'm going to keep this brief, because I have a big day tomorrow, so I need to go to bed early. In Guatemala, we live in the Central American timezone, which is equal to mountain time in the summer, but does not move an hour back in the winter. Now that's fine and dandy, but the problem is that we live in virtually 12 hours of sunlight, from 6:30 am, to 6:30 pm, then after that, the whole town shuts down. So because of that, we need to wake up early, and go to bed early. Tomorrow we're going to go looking for something, hopefully everything works out and I'll be able to make a good post about it.

Also remember, you have until noon, August 2nd to submit your questions to me. I got a whole bunch, but I want more, so keep them coming!

Home

As you all know, I'm no longer living in a house, and am now living on a boat in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala. I've gone on about how there are problems with conserving resources and what not, but I've never actually shown off the boat. That changes tonight, and in the ongoing spirit of preserving bandwidth, I give you ONE picture!

Without further ado, I present to you...

Ingram Asked

Nothing of interest happened today, got up, cooked cleaned, cooked and cleaned again, now I'm writing this. So to alleviate the slow period, I'm going to turn the writing over to you. For the next week, post your questions for me about the trip or just in general, and I'll answer them starting on August 2nd. Remember that there are no stupid questions, so just fire away on all cylinders.

Journey to the South - Map 1

Over the course of this journey I've been to many places across this vast continent. Since I've traveled so far, I decided to quickly draw up a map showing approximately where we have traveled so far. Tonight I will start logically with Canada, the starting point of this journey.

Photos from Mexico

For the past few weeks I've neglected to post any pictures of the trip. This was caused by a mixture of laziness, bad internet, and a general lack of content. Today that changes as I will now be posting everything that has been yet to be posted. So without further ado...

 Salami pizza in Villahermosa, simple but very good.

Conservation

If there is one theme that resonates about being down here in Guatemala on the boat, its conservation. No matter what you have to deal with, you need to conserve "everything", or else you're in big trouble. It's amazing at how the littlest things in Canada, things that you never think about like water and power, are so easily taken away.

As I'm writing this, I have lost complete power in the boat. My computer is the only light I'll have until either power is restored or dawn breaks. This isn't a rare occurrence like a random blackout, but something very common when either too many lights or too many appliances are running. I dare you to run the washer and dryer at the same time...

Journey to the South - Side Story #1

Over the course of this trip there have been some stories that I have neglected to mention over the past few weeks. This could be because I was too tired or not interested in posting them, but now that I have these lazy days on the river, this is a good time to do it.

I call this little story ~ Sonic and the Hen ~

Storms

One thing that has remained constant during my time here, are the storms. This is Guatemalan rainy season, so there have been storms every single day at the exact same time. I understand that it's the rainy season, but being from dry Alberta makes this something else entirely. Consider this; I can put an average sized mop bucket outside at the start of the evening, and by morning it's almost completely full.

Guatemala

After a long two months, I have finally arrived in Guatemala, the last stop before carrying on to Panama. Panama may aswell be considered a different trip, because I have no idea how long it will be before the boat goes there, let alone stays there permanently. So as of now Rio Dulce, Guatemala is my new home.

I was happy to be done traveling. No more hunting for hotels which take dogs (almost none do in Mexico). No more inspections for weapon or drug smuggling. And no more having to deal with customs and immigration. Yet my happiness was short lived, as a new problem reared it's very ugly head.

Veracruz & Tabasco

Still alive somehow, and still kicking. Today I'm writing from a rundown "Hotel" in Villahermosa, Tabasco; the capital of the state of Tabasco. The Hotel Degas is an interesting place, a crappy hole in the wall hotel, in Canada we would call this a motel, but here in Mexico that means something very different...

Here in Mexico, any respectable establishment is called a hotel or inn. Anything called a motel or auto-hotel is a seedy place, that respectable people would never go to. The function of the motel  is quite obvious when you stop to look at it. The property is surrounded by huge thick walls, all the rooms have garages with large steel doors attacked to them.

Figured it out yet? The answer is very simple.

Tuxpan

We left Ciudad Victoria around the same time we departed all the other cities, and made way for the long trek to Tuxpan, Veracruz. The distance is under 600 kilometers, but the traffic and quality of the roads makes traveling an extremely dangerous procedure. Remember yesterday when I said that the roads were good?

I don't either. The roads to Tuxpan were terrible, some of the worst roads I've ever been on my entire life. The road was very narrow with no shoulders, and it was full of curves making passing near impossible. The way the locals drive don't make things any easier either. Too often, to locals will drive recklessly, passing around corners and speeding through slower zones. Being here is like being on highway 63, but with a much smaller road with no passing lanes.

Mexico

Today we left America, and took the Anzalduas International Bridge into Mexico. After crossing the 2.7 mile long bridge over the Rio Grande, we arrived in Mexico, and stopped at the immigration office. When you arrive at the office, your vehicle gets either a red or green light. If you get a green light, you keep moving, if you get a red one, you go for inspection. Of course, being in such a large truck, we were flagged for inspection...

Texas Food Pt.2

Continuing from yesterday, here are some more meals I had while in Texas.

Tired of having burgers and other meats, we decided to have fish for dinner. This time, the place would be the American fish giant, Long John Silver's. Suffice to say, this was the worst meal I've had this entire trip, and perhaps this entire year. The food is complete garbage, and I will never go to another Long John Silver's again.

Now about the food itself. First off, there were these tiny shrimps in batter. Now these were the smallest shrimps I ever had, it was 20% shrimp, and 80% batter, and the batter was bland and unpleasant. Next came the main fillet. This was a flat piece of "mystery fish", surrounded by a thick layer of fried batter just like the shrimp. Totally disappointing, and this was meant to be the flagship of the platter. Also included were some fries and coleslaw, nothing terrible, but simply average.

The only good part of the meal was a single battered chicken breast. It's exactly as it sounds, no gimmicks or anything, and it was actually made competently. It's sad when a fish place has chicken as the best thing on their menu. Simply inexcusable.

Texas Food

With my rant against Texas over with, I suppose it's time to fill you in with the food reports as I promised you. This will cover the new restaurants exclusive to America, and those not available in Fort McMurray. So without further ado, let's go.

First off, is Rudy's, a Texas based restaurant that specializes in smoked meats. If you've ever seen an episode of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, you know what is being served here. Essentially, they give you a loaf of bread, a giant potato covered in spicy sausage, and a variety of smoked meats to make your own sandwich.

I'm kind of conflicted about the food. As a base, everything is fine on its own, but when everything is combined it becomes way too much. I like meat, but even I think that this is too much, and really goes beyond what is acceptable food. The meats were all smoked well, and the quality isn't at issue, but the extreme quantity.

The meal came with a large backed potato, easily the size of large grapefruit, and it was covered with cottage cheeze, cheddar cheese, and spicy sausage. I had a piece of sausage, and game the rest away to my dogs. It wasn't bad, but again it was too much. The meal also came with homemade cream corn and coleslaw, both were good and tried to balance out the meat.

Texas

As per tradition, I woke up at six, had a shower, and was on the road by seven. After about two hours of driving, we arrived at the border town of Texarkana, Arkansas, and Texarkana, Texas. This town is about the same size as Fort McMurray, and serves as the gateway into Texas for people traveling from the east. Imagine a town split in half, with one half appearing rather normal (Arkansas), and the other half being pro American almost to the point of obnoxiousness (Texas).

Truth be told, Texas has an alluring charm that can't be denied. When you see the roughneck, simple lifestyle, you don't want to join in, but it does feel rather relaxing. Yet as the day passed, the romantic image of Texas which had been built up so, quickly, began to fall like a house of cards. For you see, underneath the shiny veneer, lies an all too familiar attitude.

America Pt.2

Like yesterday, I woke up at six, took a shower and was once again on the road by seven. We went the the gas station, fueled up and headed for Kentucky. I was surprised at how quickly we reached Kentucky, because after about five minutes of driving, we crossed a bridge in downtown Cincinnati, and we were in Kentucky.

Kentucky is very nice, at first it seems very forested and boring, but as you continue through, you realize that the state is very impressive. One highlight of the state is seeing Louisville, the capitol of Kentucky. The city looks kind of old and run down, but all the high-rises have large portraits of famous Kentuckians painted on their sides. I feel kind of embarrassed to admit this, but the only person I recognized was Colonel Sanders, the rest were all unknown to me...

After leaving Louisville, the terrain drastically changes. The forest thins out into farmland, and it becomes a land of contradictions. The air is extremely humid, but the land is ridiculously arid. You look around, and you think that you should be in Arizona or Nevada, with its deep red earth, but no, it's the Kentucky countryside! I think so far on this trip, Kentucky is my favourite state.

America! - Updated!

I woke up today at 6am, got washed (the water couldn't decide if it wanted to be hot or cold), and was on the road by seven. We drove for about half an hour, and arrived at the US border at 1000 Islands. I was surprised at how painless the border crossing actually was. As usual, the guard never smiled and asked a series of pointless questions that don't protect national security. But after two minutes, he signed the papers and we were in America.

One thing I got to give America credit for is it's highway system. No matter where we went, the highways are way better than any of the ones in Canada. Ontario in particular can learn a thing or two from America highways.

Brockville - Updated!

I wasn't expecting to leave Ottawa this soon, but my dad was getting impatient and pulled the plug today. After one last visit to the Guatemalan Embassy (a very underwhelming place), we hit the highway and left Ottawa for the last time. We didn't get very far as it was 4pm when we got out of the city, so we decided to pack it in early, and stop at Brockville, the last city before entering America.

My best friend used to live in Brockville, so I knew that it was a very nice town. However I wasn't quite expecting it to be this nice.

The simplest way to put it in my mind, is that Brockville is like a little piece of Vancouver Island situated in southern Ontario. The town has a beautiful waterfront on the St. Lawrence River, with a mixture of old styled buildings, and 21st century sensibilities.

Harness

Today was a day of no new events. All it was, was getting paperwork done to finalize the details of this trip. In the next few days (Saturday?) we'll be leaving Ottawa for the last time, and starting on our final trip to Central America. On the food front, we had Pizza Pizza, surprisingly it's not an affiliate of Little Caesar's, but actually Pizza 73. The pizza was surprisingly good, but not really special enough to report about.

Weird Tree

Today, there was no unique food, so I can't post anything about that today. But despite that, I did see something interesting around town. Today we had to visit the Department of External Affairs. Not the Department of Foreign Affairs, these are two completely separate entities (right next door to each other). After dealing with a rude and uninterested bureaucrat, I walked to a John Park, and say a most curious tree.

Best Money can Buy

Before I began writing this blog, people told me that I should write about all the great food that I've had, and will have on this journey. I agreed that this was a good idea, but as you can all tell, I've failed to deliver on that front, and for that I apologize. Rather than embarking on new culinary adventures, I've bored you all with my mundane days. Tonight however will be different, tonight will be dedicated exclusively to a new food item.

A few weeks ago, I had Chinese food from a restaurant in Ottawa known as Ruby. The food was easily the best Chinese I ever had, and today I was in the area, so I decided to go in for another round. Yet this time it was different, I wasn't interested in having a full meal, but I was instead interested in only buying one appetizer. And that appetizer, was their deep fried egg rolls.

Packing

Each day, our departure for Central America gets closer and closer. My dad wants to be out of Ottawa by the weeks end, so he is in a mad dash to get everything done. Today we were tasked with finding my parents  marriage certificate. The reason we need this obscure document, is because the Panamanian officials need a wide variety of papers in order to get things done. Passports, marriage certificate, reference letters, first born (luckily I'm the second born), and other various things are needed for the journey.

As luck would have it, my parents did not anticipate needing this (who would?), so it was buried deep behind all the other things that we're taking with us. No matter though, let's just take everything out and find it!

Canada Day

Ah Canada Day, the one day which makes us proud to be Canadian as Independence Day brings out the jingoism of our neighbors to the south. I know in Alberta, Canada Day is less meaningful, and more about the booze and time off, but over here in Ontario, you can't help but feel an immense sense of pride in the people. As I drove down Bronson Street, a main artery in Ottawa, I saw hoards of people dressed in red and white marching in joy towards the festive glow of Parliament Hill. Seeing this display made me feel prouder to be Canadian, and a little ashamed for not taking part in the festivities.

When I think of this vast land, I can't help but think of all kinds of wonderful things. The Rocky Mountains, the plains of southern Alberta, the Great Lakes, and Ottawa Valley. I think of the history of this land and it's great people such as Sir John A. Macdonald, George Brown, Sir Isaac Brock, Terry Fox, Rick Hansen, Julie Payette, and Frederick Banting. I know that many of you scoff whenever I talk about history, but I hope that for at least this week, you'll take some time and read about some of these people on Wikipedia. The last thing I think about, is all the Canadians whom I call my friend. Whether you were born in New Brunswick or Alberta, came overseas from China or Pakistan, you are Canadian, and you should feel a sense of joy and pride on this great day.