Blogs from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, North America - page 61

So far the weather forecast had been pretty accurate. And indeed we awoke to find we were traveling in snow flurries as predicted by the weather forecast. For breakfast I had a 79c (all you can drink) coffee (so good) and a 99c processed bacon and egg muffin (hmmm). America has the cheap hookups! Driving through central Montana was interesting. The road had not been graded so we treaded carefully on the snowy slushy road. The trip included more prairies and rather flat straight highway. We pulled over briefly to photograph a windmill farm. At the border to my dismay, I discovered that I had to pay excess tax on my camera. Oh well I guess these situations make you all the more wiser about traveling. We tiredly trouped back to Calgary. Our 5 week trip ... read more

I'm here in Calgary, the first leg of my Alberta trip, to visit the sites and meet with my cousin before heading off into the mountains right next door to hopefully get lost. Ah Calgary, home of tasty dead animal meals such as bison, elk and yummy moo cow. Land of the Canadian cowboy, crazy right wing oil tycoons, and not as cheap as you might think goods. I swear Nova Scotia has cheaper everything, from booze to food. Sure the gas is low priced and there isn't as much tax, but damn, 10 bucks more for a bottle of rum? Where was I now...oh yes, the food. The Bison, or Buffalo, is a strangly cute and furry lump of an animal that makes a very tasty burger as I experienced in a brewary pub called ... read more

Geo: 51.0197, -115.547Woke up, ate breakfast, and was off to the airport ... sigh .... it's all over today! Nooooooooooo!!!! I remembered the pathetic meal on the flight to London, so I grabbed a sausage roll at the tube station ... sigh ... rode the Gatwick Express train to the airport. I wrote in my journal a little bit, but it was difficult, as all of my inspiration seemed to have evaporated ... sigh ....Went through the very busy security check at Gatwick. All liquids (including water bottles) had to be thrown out. The line seemingly stretched on forever. It seemed so wrong ... waiting so long ... and for what? To go home and leave behind this glorious continent??? Why? Secretly, I hoped that there would be a security breach, and that they would shut ... read more

I've had a request from Poppa Brooks to include some photos and a description of what exactly we're driving around. Here's the deal. We're driving a 2002 GMC Sierra with a Duramax turbo diesel engine and Allison transmission. I don't really know what that all means, but it sounds impressive. When travelling, we've got a mobile office set up complete with a digital camera and camcorder, laptob, blackberry, and Kodak photo printer (which is currently on the fritz). We've got all of our personal stuff stuffed in the back seat of the truck. On the covered flatbed of the truck we have a DeWalt gas generator that we use to run the Shave lab when there is no hydro available. We also keep miscellaneous items needed for the set up of the shave lab in the ... read more

The Route To Australia... read more