Thar She Blows

Well, I have discovered that I do not particularly care for driving the van in high winds. I was heading near directly west on the TCH yesterday before heading north on the 2.  The wind was nearly directly from the north, with gusts to 70kms. Oh, and SNOW. Yes, snow. I left the campground yesterday morning outside Medicine Hat and it was 16C. I wore sandals and dried my damp bamboo mats in the sun.  Then I got closer to Calgary and it began to snow...I checked into things and discovered that snow often hovers around Calgary but won't find it's way north to Edmonton, or Lacombe, where I was headed. The wind nearly blew the van off the road at each and every gust, particularly if one came while a transport truck was blowing past me. Everything passes me. It got real whiteknuckled for a while when they would toss enough snow and wind my way I lost all sight of the road in their wake.  That was fun. The van's engine temp light started flashing off and on. For no visible reason.  I stopped the van several times and checked the coolant level - not the problem. I also heard a rattle noise, but reckon it might have been the wind baffling something under the van.  I was never so glad to see the #2 hwy so I could head directly north, into the wind.  The engine light never came on again, and the noise pretty well ceased.  The snow kept up and I discovered the van is not meant to be driven in snow. It couldn't take the slush off the windshield in any real fashion, until a truck blew by and it flew off.  As for the light coming on, I think the engine had to work so hard to drive straight with the wind hitting it side-on, it overheated, or just plain didn't like it.  In any case, the van seems fine and continued to drive well. When the wind was on it though, it slowed right down on the hills as it couldn't always maintain the momentum it usually does on the hills, being blow around so much. '


I finally broke down and took the van to Future Shop in Medicine Hat and had it outfitted with a GPS, a new stereo that plays CDs (the original played cassettes...I don't own any cassettes) and also plays mp3, has an audio jack, a usb port, and my satellite radio is now hardwired into it.  Well, at least I thought it was going to be until I saw the hero at Future Shop install it.  Lots of black electrical tape. So of course, a couple of hours out of town, I stopped once again at a rest stop to check the engine coolant, and the power went to both the GPS and the satellite radio. Just effing perfect.  I wasted hours in MH only to be left with less than I went in there for! The only cds I had were what I had believed to be 3 good Newfie cds my mother burned, but were not the right cds in the cases! And Ringo Starr.  Oh, and a classical waltz cd I somehow ended up with.  I didn't know how to tune my new radio yet as I was using the satellite until I had time to figure out the stereo.  I lost all of my cds in the fire. My cousin burned me some, but I didn't have a cd player to play them with as my dvd drive for my mini-laptop isn't doing much - says it needs more software.  Sigh...


So after the harrowing white knuckle drive through southern Alberta, I topped a hill and it was pissing rain and GREEN! Not one flake of snow, where I had just driven out of a storm...crazy. I FINALLY arrived at my destination, and boy was I GLAD. I had had enough of that crazy ass wind trying to beat me off the road. I had visions of my camper flipping onto its side and then being driven over by several transport trucks...I'm rather thankful that did not transpire.


Got up this morning to SNOW on the ground, on the road, slush everywhere, total mess. Gross. So hung out with my friend M. for the day, and parked the van, passing up a stop out in the country with another friend - other regions still had all their snow.  By mid-afternoon all the snow was gone here. Yayy. So tomorrow I hit the road again, not far to travel - just to Devon where I'm spending the weekend with a niece.  Tomorrow's plan is to head to southern Edmonton first, take the van to Future Shop and have them settle this power issue as I do not need more headaches, and I don't want my ignition power frigged up. 


Stormy spent the day in the house, most of it in a closed room to maintain some sense of peace and harmony in the home with two female resident kitties.  He was out in the van, but with the snow down, and the air so cold, I felt bad for him, so brought him in for the day. He's curled up on the bed in the van with me now, seemingly content with the world. That boy can sleep.  While I was struggling to keep the van on the highway, he was snoring the entire time, curled up on the bed. I was super jealous.


I can't believe I am driving north from here. I need my head examined. If my darling daughter was not located in the Yukon, I would likely have gone right through the Rockies and kept on going to Victoria, and got the hell away from the snow! No, I did not bring it with me.  I had beautiful weather most of the trip so far. This is the earliest year ever I have had such a tan already, including sandalfoot tan - in April!

Thank Jaysus We're Finally Out West

and across the prairies AND Ontario. I don't know which is worse.  I think the prairies. At least northern Ontario had some interesting road art...kind of like what I left behind in a couple of places. What's a gal to do when traveling across the country in a funky bus with a box full of spray paints? PAINT!


Stormy has enjoyed camping and visiting the picnic parks, the rare few that are open. He has taken to going for walks with me on his tether. Sometimes he bounds...I stumble along behind and he usually outruns me and his tether...twwwwwannnnngggg....


Last night's campground was interesting...no running water yet, but the power was on. I could use the bathroom through the woods at the Esso station that closes at 10pm...there were about 20 classic cars and trucks parked in the main lot, all in various stages of decay. I'm not sure what the story is there. There was even an El Camino.


Saw a bear in northern Ontario and a deer earlier today on the prairies.  The rest of the wildlife I saw was smeared on the highway. There were, however, a great deal of cows, horses, and at one point, I think I saw llamas. I reckon I'll see more wildlife once I hit the Alaska highway.


Okay, time to barbecue some supper.

So a quick wrap up of the past week with some highlights
- Ontario is huge. It takes FOREVER to cross, particularly in an old van at 90kms/hr. I have had a lot of trucks crawling up my bumper, and many trains of folks waiting to pass. I maintain the speed limit, but they want to go faster, so they just have to wait their turn to pass.
- we camped at a truck stop across from Wal-mart the first night out of southern Ontario, just past Sault Ste Marie. Noisy as hell. Stormy took off, the little bugger and I had to go chasing him in between all the transport trucks.  He is not a cat you want to lose in the dark.
- we camped two nights at a campground just outside Marathon. No one else was there the first night, but a camper showed up the following day. I slept most of the day...needed some downtime. So did Stormy.
- Lots of comments about the van still, and people asking to take photos. The older folks don't know what to make of it, the baby boomers wistfully recall the 60's and the freedoms they had back then, and the younger generation like it just because it's so very different than a plain white van.
- Stormy has been getting used to being on a lead and I've been taking him for walks. I feel bad that he doesn't get much exercise in the van if we are not parked somewhere he can go in the house. So we take walks. Sometimes he cooperates. Sometimes he freaks out and tries to run...most of the time he is a good little tomcat though, and we have great walks.
- northern Ontario's highway 17 TCH is littered with dead motels and gas bars, like a graveyard. Kind of sad, really.
- the temperatures were freezing at the last stop, but much warmer today with 21C most of the day. I can handle that. I do not want to wake up with snow on my lid. I will roll over and go back to sleep until it is gone.
- Stormy and I take little breaks at the picnic areas and he goes walking, rolling in the dirt, or just sprawling in the sun.
- the photo of the seat is where I sit to journal each day, and pull the little table around.
- the photo of the alcohol is a Polish liqueur my friend S. drank with me to toast the van. It was pretty damn strong...
- the compass is a new addition to the van in memory of my father, who always found the way home, and showed me the world on a map.

We head into Winnipeg for a few days tomorrow to chill with some friends there before heading across the prairies. I shall be ever so glad to see the end of Ontario for awhile. Lake Superior is one big bitch of a lake.

St Catharine's

I spent the weekend with my cousins in St. Catharine's and did some sightseeing, which included this local museum, a Ukrainian orthodox church, and one of the canal locks. The architecture in the museum was just as interesting as the artwork. This building is part of Brock University. This one is my favorite...lol