Journey to the Center of the Universe O_o!!

A tale for you;


On the 15th Day of August 2011 I, with a couple companions in tow, embarked on a journey across the country to the "CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE!" more commonly known as Toronto.  A little preface may be in order;  back in November I applied to Seneca College for their Underwater Skills program to start a career in Commercial Diving and Underwater welding, much to my surprise I was accepted and thus started all the planning to make the BIG move from little Victoria in the pacific northwest to the concrete jungle of Toronto on the shores of lake Ontario.

Captain Steve, companion #1

Back to the story.......we left RVYC (Royal Victoria Yacht Club) in a convoy trip to RVanYC(Royal Vancouver Yacht Club) to drop off Jen's 470 that was being chartered to a couple of other sailors for some training.

Le Truck avec 470 = awesome

After depositing the 470 at the club the convoy parted ways. Cpt.Steve raced around Vancouver to finish his errands for the race team, Jen and I jumped into "Dusy", my trusty jeep and partner in crime on many occasions,  to head North East towards Kelowna.  After some solid driving and a quick pit stop at DQ we arrived at K-town!

Kelowna, BC

   K-town is a pretty fun place to go; the city sits on the shores of Lake Okanagan so in the summer time it's fantastic hot weather makes the lake ideal for any kind of water sport. 

Sailing a hobie 33

Summerhill Estates Kelowna,BC

Up in the valley are all the winery's for visitors to go wine tasting and take pictures of the beautiful views, farmers markets with delicious peaches, a few pretty sweet eateries along the main drag, plus to top it all off, this one is good if you like the arts, there is a play company called "Caravan";  they put on shows all summer and in the winter in the out doors to give the audience a truly unique and inviting atmosphere, all of these things I would highly recommend!!!  

After having a great time in Kelowna we had to make our way for Cowtown!, a proud nickname for Calgary..lets face it Calgary is a town known for it's cowboy attitude, love of bbq's and drinking beer we had some fun here too!

BBQ on the Farm!

Yup! that is one large pig, and oh how fantastic it was! Calgary was a surprisingly fun city to visit, it was awesome to see all the families at the park having a little bbq with hot dogs and playing games in the fields.  The smell was so familiar to me as Jen and I did our run along the Bow river.  All the families that we met in our short time there were so happy to have us in their homes, especially when there was an entire pig being roasted for supper! These special people were family friends of Wilhelms and Meg, friends of ours in Calgary, he excitingly invited us along to the yearly BBQ titled "Pig n' Slide".  It's when some of the boys wake up super early to start the day by roasting a pig, all the friends come over at the leisure..and the party starts with the mentality of "it's noon somewhere, right?" Eventually the slip n'slide gets thrown into the mix! and it's good times had by all.

Flat lands!

Driving through Middle North America......what can I say.....it was hot.....it was fun at times....but the main thing is take your time! because my friends it takes a while.  One of the fun things to do..well on the Canadian side of the boarder, is to stop at the road side dinners to have a break there.  Talking to the shop owners about the local town and how things are is pretty fun! don't be shy about it either, heck they aren't! and you know what!? if you find yourself on the trans Canada near Morse, Sk by all means stop at the Morse Cafe, Linda you made the best clubhouse that I have tasted in years!!!! and enough fries to make anyones eyes bug out of their head :  D

In every tale there is a humbling part, as we made south for the boarder crossing into North Dakota there was a sudden change in the atmosphere.  Jen and I drove for a bit longer then we made mention of it...there was nothing.....the first few towns we stopped in to grab a bite or some fuel for Dusty...there was nothing...no people..houses were there..come cars around too but no people! it seemed as tho they just picked up and left! it was an odd feeling for sure and it made me think of what's happening in the world with crisis this and crisis that.  I do not know what Canada has done to make such a noticeable difference to the USA but I thank the people/land/powers that be for it, an ache in my heart did go out to those towns with covered windows and playgrounds with no kids....it was scary to actually see with my own eyes.

fullmoons bring laughter,
I don't care what you say.

who knew!

The Dakota's took a while, we were on the road for pretty much three days and the hours were building up! we stopped at the fun things to take a break and stretch our legs.

As we got our whits about us we were arriving into Chicago!!! ahhh the joys of a proper pit stop and the friends that let us crash at their house! The windy city tho is a pretty cool place to hang around, with the ease of public transport combined with the local sights..you can get yourself into a lot of "trouble" here..I know it did!

Blacksabbath burger!

One place in particular, if you visit, you NEED to go to! Kuma's Corner!!  This burger joint was showcased on Diners, drive in's and Dives, so we thought that if it was good enough for Guy Fieri then well it was going to be awesome!  Let me tell you my friends awesome it was! thanks to our waitress we had some pretty fantastic beers along with this beautiful 10oz burger with their home made chili on top all put in between a tasty pretzel bun.....needless to say I didn't eat much for supper :  D

Downtown Chicago

 

The Bean!

City center of Chicago was friendly and clean, with lots of gorgeous building surrounding you, one thing that can be easily done is to stop what you are doing and look up, admire the buildings and how much work went into them! With the art galleries close by to the down town core and Millennium park just around the corner you would have enough to do for a couple days! I would suggest to have the burger first so you'll be able to walk it off ;  )

Our visit was complete in Chicago, so back into our partner in crime we headed north, north for the boarder back into Canada and our final stop!

TORONTO!!!!!!

This was a hilarious trip to have done, if you are able to I would say do it! everyone should see their own country, visit other towns and cities.  Go out there meet new people, shear laughs and tears.  After doing a trip like this I truly understand how large our beautiful country is and how much of it I have yet to see! 

 FIN.