|
|
This is an ongoing, rambling project that should be finished the day after I die. Until then, feel free to read about some of my zany adventures, both in Canada and in other places. 
Aug 27, 2003 06:00 PM Heading for the US southwest
Well, we headed out for Las Vegas today. Jason had a meeting at work, so we didn’t get to leave until about 2pm. We stopped at the airport and picked up our car, a white Grand Am. This thing moves! Well, compared to my little 4-cylinder Toyota, everything does.
We set the cruise control and headed south. We due to a wrong turn, we wound up in Vulcan AB, so we took a couple of pictures of their Starship Enterprise, then headed out again. We crossed the border at about 10 pm and planned to go as far as Butte, MT and then stop and camp, but we napped as the other drove and when morning came, we were in northern Utah.
We switched drivers and continued south, going through Salt Lake City during morning rush hour. Jason was driving and everyone kept cutting us off. We both got a bit pissed by these crazy Mormon drivers but we got out of there in just under 2 hours, so we decided to forget about it.
We stopped and had breakfast in central Utah. While driving through southern Utah, we stumbled across a massive Wal-Mart warehouse, with trucks coming and going like army ants. Very strange…it reminded me of a secret base in a James Bond movie.
We got into Las Vegas at about 3pm and checked into our hotel, the Key Largo Hotel and Casino (I think every hotel in Las Vegas deserves the casino moniker). We took a quick nap to recharge our batteries and headed out to the Strip. We took our hotel’s free shuttle and wandered around the northern end of the Strip, checking out the Venetian, the Mirage, and Treasure Island. Then we headed back to the hotel to have dinner and a few beers.
|
Jul 29, 2002 06:00 PM Headed back to Edmonton
I left for Edmonton bright and early. It was very tiring driving by myself and I didn’t get into Saskatoon by 8pm.
I had planned on camping, but a freak, unseasonable cold snap had dropped the temperature to +1, and without any long sleeve shirts or even pants, I was forced to change those plans. I wound staying in some dodgy motel instead.
Then I woke up bright and early and headed home. On the way, I stopped in North BattleFord and Vegreville to see some local sights.
|
Jul 28, 2002 06:00 PM Sightseeing in Winnipeg
David had some errands to do, so I wandered around town. I stopped and checked out the Forks, a funky little collection of shops and cafes in the river valley where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet. I went downtown and took some pictures of some heritage buildings there. I had dinner with some cousins who live in the ‘Peg.
|
Jul 27, 2002 06:00 PM Back to Canada
David, Keiko and I all went to the gift opening. It took some effort to find it but we got there just in time.
In the afternoon, David and I got back in his van and headed back to Canada. We took a more scenic route, up through central Wisconsin and then into Duluth. The view of Lake Superior was amazing. We drove all night and finally got back into Winnipeg at about 4:30 am.
|
Jul 26, 2002 06:00 PM Day trip to Chicago
David, Keiko and I drove Yasuhiro to O’Hare airport for his flight home. The three of us then spent the day in Chicago.
We walked around Chicago and visited the Field Museum. It is one of the world’s best Museums of Natural History. They had several special exhibits on. We chose to check out the Chocolate exhibit, which was very interesting. We also saw dozens of regular exhibits, including Sue, the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex ever found.
Seeing as we were in Chicago, it only seemed right to go for Deep Dish Pizza at Gino’s Pizza Parlor. It was really funky inside, with thousands of signatures adorning the walls and cubicles. Personally, I thought the pizza was too messy and had too much sauce. Apparently, that is the ‘proper’ way to make deep dish pizza. I have to admit I prefer regular pizza, or even thin crust pizza to Chicago Deep Dish pizza.
On the way back, we stopped at an outlet mall in Kenosha so Keiko could do even more shopping. We all wound up buying some stuff and then headed back to Milwaukee.
|
Jul 25, 2002 06:00 PM Time for a wedding!
David, Yasuhiro and myself met Joe and Yukari for lunch. We went into Fazoli’s, an Italian fast food restaurant kind of like Pizza Hut, but specializing in pastas. We did a little shopping and then got ready to go to Amanda’s wedding.
Due to a couple of wrong turns, we arrived just as the ceremony started. Oops! It was held at a building right on Lake Michigan. After the ceremony, we went inside and had a nice meal and everyone drank a little too much.
|
Jul 24, 2002 06:00 PM Welcome to Milwaukee
We got into Milwaukee at about 5:30pm and headed directly to the rehearsal dinner. After dinner, we hung out with Amanda and Tommy’s families until about 10pm.
Then for a lark, we headed off to a karaoke bar with Mike, Amanda, and a bunch of other people. That night, we crashed with yet another former teacher, Mike.
|
Jul 23, 2002 06:00 PM Continuing on to Milwuakee
We got up early and had breakfast at Smitty’s. We left Regina at about 8:30 and got into Winnipeg at 3:30pm. We then met David, another former teacher from Japan. His wife Deborah, and daughter Emma were there. Deborah and Emma took Keiko to Winner’s where she bought even more! We all had dinner and then crashed for a few hours, so we could head out in the morning.
David had decided to come with us, so we actually wound up leaving for Milwaukee at about 2am. The weather was cool but clear and we all took turns driving his minivan. It was a long haul on the Interstate but we got to Milwaukee at about 5pm.
|
Jul 22, 2002 06:00 PM On our way to the 'Peg
Keiko and I headed out around 8am. We drove to Calgary, because Keiko had wanted to see the Rockies, but it was very cloudy, and they weren’t visible, so we pressed on to Regina, where we stayed in a Travelodge.
We had hoped to make it to Winnipeg in one day, but Keiko was still exhausted from her flight and I didn't want to push it.
|
Jul 21, 2002 06:00 PM Shopping at West Edmonton Mall
Keiko and I went shopping at West Edmonton Mall. Personally, I couldn’t care for the place, but tourists love it. She bought tons of stuff, and we did a bunch of cool stuff too.
We went to the firing range and she got to shoot a handgun, which as a Japanese citizen, was a first. We got to wander around on the Santa Maria, a replica of Christopher Columbus’ ship that discovered North America, which is almost always closed to the public.
After we wandered around WEM, we headed downtown and she did some shopping. Wow! We went home and had an early night as we had to leave bright and early the next morning.
|
Page:
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
|
|
|
