Omnia Mea Mecum Porto
Tuesday, October 26th, 2010
Omnia Mea Mecum Porto. “All that’s mine I carry with me.” I left Toronto 4 weeks ago and have been driving across the country in order to end up in Nelson BC for the winter. Traveling with no solid plans is great because you can do whatever you feel like doing, on your own schedule. Real simple. Real Good.
Day 1: Toronto to Sault St. Marie - Not a bad mission. Lounged out in the car super hung over from the night before. Pops was nice enough to drive the entire 8 hours, as well as pay for a ghetto motel in the sault. Saw where Winnie the Pooh is from. Made one million stickers. Pretty good day/night.
Day 2: Sault St. Marie to Thunder Bay - Woke up to an ugly grey day with a torrential down pour outside. Good day for driving. After driving for 3 hours I hear a weird noise coming from the front right tire. Boom. A minute later our tread explodes all over the the trans Canada highway, and we are forced to pull over and change to our spare, which gets us to Thunder Bay.
Day 3: Thunder Bay to Winnipeg - Started the day off checking out Kakabecka Falls in the rain. Incredible place. Blasted through the rest of Ontario, which was incredibly scenic, and when we hit the Ontario/Manitoba border, the sun peaked out and things were looking up. We arrived in Winnipeg and drove around a bit checking out the sites, and admiring the really ghetto looking north end of the city. Saw a high school brass band do a terrible Queen medley. As well as a massive bride getting married in her adidas.
Day 4: Winnipeg to Moose Jaw - Woke up at 6:30 this morning and headed to the Plaza at the forks. Skated and filmed the park one man for a few hours. Ended up in Moose Jaw, and spent the night at the Capones hideaway motel. Moose Jaw is an amazing town with a coloured past of mining and booze smuggling. If you ever get a chance to stop through, I suggest you do.
Day 5: Moose Jaw to Calgary – Hopped back in the car and made our way Calgary, where we were greeted by Blake. Then we headed over to his parents house, where they had prepared us a meal fit for kings. Let me tell you, after a week of fast food and greasy breakfasts, a home cooked meal, a couple of drinks, and some good conversation was exactly what I needed.
Day 6: Calgary to Nelson - Got up pretty early and feeling a little rough from the night before, but had a coffee and started driving to interior BC. The Kootenay pass was possibly the most gnarly yet beautiful road I have ever been on, so much fun. Arrived in Nelson in the afternoon, and had a great reunion with the Toronto Fam at their place. So good to see everyone and hear about how great life is out here. Can’t wait to get back there for the snowboard season. Gonna be good.
Day 7: Nelson to Kelowna – Got into Kelowna early. Came to stay at my Godmothers, a log cabin that faces the Okanagan river, surrounded by orchards and vineyards, with a hot tub to lounge in while soaking up the view. Had another nice night of conversation and drinks, and fell asleep listening to the coyotes howl at the moon.
Day 8: Kelowna/Okanagan Valley - Went for an amazing walk along the kettle valley train trestles in the Myra canyon, which were leading to a massive tunnel half way along the trail. Headed next to the Mission Hill winery in West Kelowna for a wine tasting, which was interesting and hilarious to say the least. Once again fell asleep to the sounds of coyotes. Erie.
Day 9: Kelowna to Calgary - Woke up feeling still kinda drunk. Perfect. Went for a boat ride around lake Okanagan. Hopped in the car and started the 7 hour drive back to Calgary, up the 95 and across the trans Canada through rogers pass and glacier national park. Headed back to Blake’s place for a well earned sleep.
Day 10: Calgary – Calgary is pretty hype so far. Got in my car and headed over to the millennium park in the north end of town to see what all the fuss was about. Pictures can trick you. Looks a lot better than it is. You can tell a bunch of bikers built this park. But fun none the less. Met up with Blake and Melody after work and went out for some bar food.
Day 11: Still Calgary - Saturday! We hopped in Blake’s car and headed towards Drumheller. Stopped off at this place called Horseshoe canyon, which was incredible. Some of the most bizarre landscapes I have ever seen, and footage and photos just can’t do it justice. Kept on driving until we hit the town of Drumheller, where we are greeted by the worlds tallest T Rex. Continue our drive, and end up at the Royal Tyrell Museum. Another amazing pit stop. What a good day. Even I envy myself sometimes.
Day 12: Calgary still? - Got up to a not so nice day out, but was still hyped because I knew I was going skating with Blake. He had been feeling terrible from a head cold he had, but we still shot over to the millennium park and skated there for a few hours. I was pretty hyped after the session, and even more hyped when I got to eat a wild boar and buffalo burger for dinner. Had the classic few drinks before bed and called it a night.
Day 13: Calgary to Nelson - Spent the first half of the day waiting around an auto shop waiting to get some car issues dealt with. Bummer. Once I got my ride back, I headed west back to Nelson. Gonna spend the week here before deciding what next, so I will be able to have thanksgiving dinner with my friends here which will be great. This place is amazing, and I think spending the next few months here will be great. Omnia Mea Mecum Porto.
Category : 2010, Creative, FRG Affiliates, Music, Skate Spots, Worst Case Ontario
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