F-Rated

Dave...

Canadian Dream

Canada Day 2008!

Being in the capital city of British Columbia while celebrating B.C.'s 150th Birthday and Canada's 141st was phenomenal. We spent the morning sleeping in, preparing ourselves for the late night festivities.

Technically, we rang in Canada Day with pancakes and maple syrup just after midnight the night before. Then after a good 12-hour hibernation we got up to start celebrating. We had excellent steaks for dinner on the BBQ and enjoyed cold brews on the deck. We had an awesome evening enjoying the company of friends; Dan, Andrea, Dave, Heather, Josiane, Julie and Devon. After dinner we made it downtown to watch a concert and fireworks. The streets were packed with people in patriotic flair, a sea of red and white under the waving of Canadian flags. The sidewalks hosted drummers, guitarists and a xylophone quartet. Sailboats, yachts and dingies bobbed in rhythm, afloat in the inner harbour. We grabbed a grassy void on the parliament grounds to watch the lights flash in the sky as they lit the faces of the people around us who joined in chorus to the national anthem.

McKenzie Ranch

Time for some info on our house and house mates.

The house has an upper and lower floor and we live in the lower half. Both have separate entrances, but are connected with a staircase in the middle of the house. The driveway is more like a paved parking lot able to accommodate at least 8 cars. Parking is never a worry for our guests and great for setting up a kiddie pool on warm days.

The lower half entrance is off to the side. You walk into the living room with a sectional couch and kitchen with an island. Immediately to the right are two bedrooms. Walking through the living room and kitchen, you pass through a door into the rec room with a pool table and bar. Definitely a bonus. The staircase to the upper half starts in the rec room and makes its way up to the main hallway above us.

The upper half has three bedrooms, two baths, fireplace, living room, X Box room and kitchen. Right off the main hallway, are one the greatest additions to any house, a patio! Lunch in the sun and BBQs whenever Blue Goose is around. Intro to the men upstairs.

Chris, a.k.a. Erdy; a man with many dreams who thinks any idea worth pondering is an idea worth pursuing.
Mike, a.k.a. Brown; the business student and Starbucks supervisor.
Gordon, a.k.a. Gordy; Canadian 7's Rugby all-star and vintage boat restorer.
Robert, a.k.a. Traz; master chef and super chill.
Mackenzie, a.k.a. Mac; cowboy, whistle blower, robot and tetris/crossword genius.

The boys are from Vancouver and decided to stay in Victoria to finish up some summer classes for school. All very super chill. We get along great and can host some awesome BBQs and house parties. They will soon be finishing their classes and heading back to Van, with the exception of Brown. He has the responsibility of making those Skinny Machiatto Latte Triple yadas.

To say the least, the guys are great and we're glad to have found a place like this.

Coush!

Cous...

Hanging Ten

We just returned from a short camping trip to Tofino. We managed to pick up a tent site at Bella Pacifica Campground located right on the Pacific Ocean.

Unfortunately, we experienced some car trouble from our beautiful Kia Sedona. Not just once, but twice. The first time was just outside of Tofino where we stopped to get some Tourist Information. Luckily, everyone working there was nice and offered to call for a tow truck and give us a lift into town. We ended up towing the van to the local garage. Funny enough, after letting the car sit for a while once it was at the garage it decided to start again. Great news. So we took the Kia down to the campground and set up our tents and starting making dinner. We called it an early night and hit the sack ready for more adventure the next day.

After a warm oatmeal breakfast, we decided to try our hand, or should I say feet, at surfing. You can't go to Tofino and pass up on the opportunity to Hang Ten. So we set out to look for a Surf Shop where we could rent a wetsuit, board and perhaps lessons. We ended up finding all of that. We took a 2 hour surf lesson and then continued playing in the Ocean until we had to give up our boards.

And that was when the Kia decided to show us a little more trouble. We had it towed to the same garage and would have to wait until morning for the verdict.

In the end, everything went well and we had a great time. Surfing in Tofino is a great adventure.

In the Beginning

Friday morning marked the start of our journey from Windsor, Ontario to Victoria, British Columbia. Both Mike and I have decided to spend the summer working on Vancouver Island now that we finished our University education. Mike with a degree in Psychology and I in Business.

We left that day just before noon heading for the Canadian Border at Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario over the Ambassador Bridge. No problems with customs. Not even with the case of home-made wine from the Cousineau Winery, generously donated to make the transition away from home that much easier.

After crossing into the U.S.A. we jumped on the I-94 towards Chicago, Illinois passing through Michigan and Indiana. Just outside Chicago we made a change to our travel plans. We were to take the I-94 right through the U.S. Instead, we decided to head a little further south and take the I-80 to a little place called Salt Lake City, Utah. We voted unanimously to go for it.

Once on the I-80, we passed through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming and Utah. And all in one day, 24 hours. We hit every kind of weather possible. Sunny skies and temperatures of 30C, rain storms in Iowa after crossing the Mississippi River and a -5C snow storm in Wyoming that lead to white outs and us not driving faster the 60km/hr. We pushed passed 6 states, 2 time zones and now we were getting tired. After the snowstorm we took a nap at a rest station early Saturday morning.

We arrived in Salt Lake City before noon Saturday and checked-in to a hotel. Driving into Utah is beautiful. You get your frst glimpse of the Rocky Mountains. The city itself is unbeleivably clean. One of the nicest cities we've been to. But we wouldn't make it out of our rooms right away. It was time to catch up on our sleep.

Later that night we took a walk into downtown Salt Lake City. It has beautifully landscaped streets and a certain big city feel with small city friendliness. Once host to the 2002 Winter Olympics it was now hosting the Utah Jazz in their quest for the NBA championship title. We tried to scalp for tickets, but it wasn't in the cards.

Today we left for Portland, Oregon. What an absolutely phenomenal drive! After driving through Idaho for a few hours we found ourselves along the Columbia River in the Columbia Gorge. On one side you drive along a rising wall of earth. On the other side you see the Columbia River moving past another massive wall. The road follows the river for the most part until it takes you into flora that we have never seen. Every shade of green and trees that look like they belong in the Jurassic Period, almost waiting to see a reptilian giant emerge between the branches.

Along the highway we found a waterfall that had turned into a tourist stop. A great place to stretch our legs and enjoy the views.

And a few hours later we were in Portland. We checked in to our hotel, dropped our luggage in the room and headed down to the hotel bar for a quick drink before heading out to see the night life Portland had to offer; Mike with a Black Russian and myself with a Gin Martini with three olives.

We headed to a place called Candlelight, a bar that playes host to blues, soul and R&B. It was great. The Andy Stokes Band put on a great show and kept us in the mood for cold brews.

Long story short, Portland was fun and hopefully we'll be back soon.

The next day we made it to Victoria while missing one ferry in Port Angeles and having to drive through Seattle and up through Vancouver to catch the ferry from Tsawwassen. Luckily, we made it on the 9 o'clock ferry and didn't have to wait until 11pm. We were so lucky as we were the last car on the ferry. Talk about timing!

So finally, in Victoria we met our housemates and moved in to what we now call home.

The Countdown

This morning featured a delightful 3 hour exam. Nothing like getting up at 0630, watching the sun rise and sitting down while you're still half asleep to write what will take you into the future. Two more and then I'll never see another blank space to write in my student number again!

Friday morning will be the start of another summer adventure. This time out to Victoria, BC. Approximatley 4000km from home, the 4 day drive will keep us on our toes and ready for action. You meet a lot of great people on the road and its too bad we have to gun it to the Pacific.

So back to the books, but first, a taste of sushi and warm Sake!