Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Fievel Goes…I mean, Lindsay Goes West – Part 1

Hey everyone! So, as some of you already know, I was off for one whole week! Every summer Ryan and I take a week off of work and spend the time together traveling and relaxing. This year was no different. One of my best friends, Amanda had made the decision to be with your boyfriend, Josh, in Calgary Alberta.

After visiting with them at one point this year we all came up with an idea. I would drive out to Calgary with Amanda and Ryan would fly out to meet us. We would then spend the week seeing Alberta with Amanda and Josh!

Early (5 AM) 2 Sunday’s ago, Amanda and I loaded up her small focus and headed west!

Calgary 2001 007

Being that I had driven out west and back before I knew what to expect. I knew that the first leg of our trip across Ontario was going to be the hardest! It’s basically, a 16 hour drive across rocks and trees!

However, by switching the driving duties back and forth we made it Thunder Bay, Ontario with only one speeding ticket but basically in great shape!

We tucked into our hotel (finally) but with little sleep before waking up late (friggin phone alarm clocks) we guzzled the coffee and headed a few hours west for Manitoba!

Calgary 2001 011

It was a great feeling to finally hit another province! We grabbed a quick bite and continued driving until we finally hit Saskatchewan.

Calgary 2001 012

Finally, we could move our clocks two hours behind, we were in the final time zone! Feeling energized we decided to drive straight through to Calgary!

It was a long and late night of driving. Almost 20 hours later we were so happy to see the lights of Calgary, Alberta and even happier to see our beds! P.S Excuse me, Alberta, you suck! You have no sign for us to take a picture at!

It really is an amazing experience to drive across Canada and I would totally recommend anyone to do it. However, here are a couple of things I would have to recommend:

1. Don’t stay in Thunder Bay. Keep driving to Dryden! Thunder Bay can be a very sketchy and scary town! I mean crack heads in the potential hotel lobby! Geez!

2. Satellite radio is great but NOT for long distant drives! They play the exact same songs over and over again!! By the end of the trip Amanda and I were both happy never to hear Jake Owens, Barefoot Blue Jean Night again!

3. Bring toilette paper! If you are the kind of girl that can’t “pop a squat”  (aka, pee anywhere) then driving long distances is not for you! When driving across Canada there are not many rest stops! At times you could go hours without even seeing a store! So, pulling over on a side road just might be necessary!

4. Most important, an amazing friend to chat, sing and have fun with!!

Calgary 2001 133

xo

4 comments:

  1. uck! That sounds like a long drive... LOL although I've done that long of a drive before. But no stores, um... make sure your tank is full :)

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  2. I'm not sure I could handle a drive like that. lol I thought driving to Midland was painful last summer!! Oh, and I *might* change my mind if I heard it repeatedly, but so far, I have not gotten sick of Barefoot Blue Jean Night! One of my faves from this summer!!!

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  3. As a Shawville girl living in Thunder Bay, I'm sorry to see you would advise people to stay away...I keep telling people to come here! The exploring, the view of the Sleeping Giant on Lake Superior, all the neat rocks you can find, and super cool people.

    You probably don't know me but I found your blog by Googling Shawville Fair -- but I did grow up with Josh and remember Ryan from High School....

    Anyway, neat trip and amazing pictures. Congrats on your engagement.

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  4. Hi Sheena,

    I'm sorry if I made any offense to you. I'm sure if we had known someone in Thunder Bay our experience would have been a lot better. We had a tough time in Thunder Bay. When we reached the hotel we thought we were going to stay at, we were standing in the lobby waiting to check in and a bunch of junkies were going in and out of their rooms. It was a little intimidating for two young girls.

    If you want to email me privately (linds_414@hotmail.com) with your last name I'll let Ryan know you say hi! You probably know my brother if you know Ryan, Jared.

    Anyways, thank you for reading and commenting.

    xo

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