Trip west details

Here are just a few details from my trip out west...

Monday May 8, at 9am I pulled out of the muskoka Gower's driveway. I stopped in Parry Sound for gas and thats where I started keeping track of km's. I hit Sudbury right at noon but didn't stop till a place called Echo Bay for gas and drinks and more than likely a pee. There wasn't much to see but I did see a total of 3 moose along the way. The only one that didn't run away when I stopped to take a picture did run off when a car going the opposite direction of me stopped right beside where the moose was standing not obly scaring it away but getting right in front of me blocking my photo chance. I passed through Wawa around 6pm getting gas on the outside of the town. That night around 9pm I stopped in a very small town called Terrace Bay and got a motel room for the night. I did 947.4 kms not including Gravenhurst to Parry Sound.

Tuesday May 9, 8am I was up showered and on the road again. I stopped at Thunder Bay for gas around noon. Again there wasn't much to see and the weather started to change. Before I crossed into Manitoba there was lots of rain with thunder and lightning. Just before Winnipeg there was hail and a car up in front of me spun out and went off the road. I passed through the Peg about 6pm heading for Brandon. I went to check out the Hostel but it was used as a half way house and was in a real bad part of town by the looks of it so I kept on Driving. I stopped once and tried to sleep in the car along the road but couldn't so I drove to the Saskatchewan border and pulled into a rest stop where I slept about 4 hours. I also played texas hold'em on my cell phone for at least an hour. I don't remember the actual time it was at least 10pm but I drove 1149kms.

Wednesday May 10, 8:30am I was on the road again. For Jodi because she had asked me about this before I left, I did brush my teeth in the washroom at this rest area but did not change or use deodorant. Not sure why I remembered this or that you asked about it. I stopped only for gas drinks and washroom breaks stretching my legs for 5 minutes while stopped. I reached Alberta around 4pm and the sky was nice and clear. I took the #3 crows nest hwy which is nice for a scenic drive but lots of mountains to climb and lots of twists and turns. I made it to a small town called Kimberly in B.C. around 10pm and boy was I beat. I stayed in a hostel in town where I had stayed on my way to Ontario in November. The guy gave me a room to myself for the price of a bed which is 21 bucks. I stayed in the common room and watched the O.T. periods of the Oilers game with a woman that was staying there. We gabbed for a while but I had to get to bed because I could hardly keep my eyes open. I took a nice long hot shower when I got back to the room. When I got up in the morning she was in the common room watching tv and gave me a hug goodbye. I had drove 1330.9 kms.

Thursday May 11 it looked like rain so I headed out again bright and early. At this point I didn't care so much about keeping track of the time. I knew I was just going to take it easy. I stopped not far out of Kimberly and decided to do a nature hike. I had a map and still managed to screw up and took a 3 hour hike instead of the one hour I was going to do. I had to keep pulling my shirt up over my head because the sun had decided to come out and I had left my hat. I saw lots of different birds and a quick glimps of a deer. It was a nice but tired me out so I drove for only a few hours and then stopped and got a room and barely made it through survivor before passing out. The next morning after a refreshing shower I layed in bed a while watching the movie channel. I left there later than I had left anywhere else but it was still early because I had left my watch on Ontario time and it is 3 hours different.

Friday May 12 I drove to Abbotsford where I found the SPCA that Jodi managed. I sat and waited for her because she was in a meeting. When she came out of her office she looked around and then suddenly realized who I was and screamed before comming over and giving me a hug. I was thinking of just having a visit then heading to the island but she asked if I wanted to go home with her for dinner (roast beef and yorkshire pudding so how could I refuse) Her mother inlaw Joan is there and Joan's sister from Scottland is over for a visit. They are both on a cruise to Alaska since Sunday. After dinner Jodi and I took her dogs for a walk and had a nice chat. I crashed on the couch watching TV and in the morning headed off to the Ferry.

I must have seen well over a hundred deer going through the mountains and ran into some pretty heavy snow at the higher ellevations. I did see one coyote as I was comming out of the last of the mountains. He jumped up on a cement wall along the steep hill and just watched me as I drove passed him then jumped back down and was gone. All in all it was a good drive.

To date this is the total of miles I put on my car this trip. 4647.6 kms !!!