Ottawa

I'm now in Ottawa staying at my uncle's place. I'll probably be here for a week and will visit relatives, see museums, and take a break from driving for a while. Today I'm going over into Quebec and will stay overnight at the cottage. I'm fortunate to be here after the heat wave has passed. :)

Sudbury and North Bay

I'm getting caught up on some previous stops now that I have found a good computer. It was a short drive from the Soo to Sudbury but since it was raining and dark I didn't go camping like I had planned. In the morning I went to the underground mine tour called Dynamic Earth which is where the giant nickel is located. The underground tour was a bit underwhelming. We only went down 70 feet, not 2000 or more like the real mines, and there wasn't that much to see down there. In the afternoon I explored Sudbury by bike.

In the evening I headed to North Bay and stayed at the Gaiser's house. I had a nice visit with Marg, Gerry, Tim, Natalie, Alyssa and Carson. Had a great tour of Trout lake with Mr Gaiser in his speedboat. The next day we caught a bit of the Heritage Festival.

On the way to Ottawa I took a detour to Temiscaming the headquarters of Tembec Industries for nostalgia's sake. Since it was a Saturday there was nobody around, but it looked like a nice little town. Stopped in Dottori Park and took a few pictures before heading on towards Ottawa.

Sault Ste. Marie

I'm escaping from a crazy rain and lightning storm in this Internet cafe. Just a few minutes ago I was inside a mall when I noticed it was pouring really hard outside. I remarked to a woman passing by, "I'm not going out there!" and just a few moments later there was a huge bang. It was a lightning strike that must have hit somewhere very close in the parking lot. I'm glad I wasn't out there.

Before it started pouring, I had a nice day wandering around in the town and along the locks of the St Mary's river which link Lake Huron and Superior. The American town of Sault Ste. Marie is just across the river, but I don't think I'll bother with the hassle of a border crossing. There was also an old stone house here that I visited. It was home to a North West company official and was built in 1814. Quite cool.

It took 2 days to get here from Winnipeg, and along the way I saw many interesting sights, although a lot of the highway was pretty boring. From the Terry Fox memorial just east of Thunder Bay to Sault Ste Marie I gave a ride to a hitchhiker from Saskatchewan. He was headed out to Nova Scotia. The first couple hours were interesting as we chatted about stuff, but then he was pretty quiet. If I pick someone again, I won't give them such a long ride, unless they are more interesting. :)

Will probably head east towards Sudbury this evening, and then either to North Bay or Ottawa. I'm looking forward to seeing my pictures on a computer screen as I've already filled up my 2 large memory cards.

Friendly Manitoba

Yesterday morning I left the Mitchell's place (after a lovely strawberry pancake breakfast). I headed east through Yorkton, Roblin, and Dauphin towards Riding Mtn National Park. My first night camping went fine and the mosquitoes weren't too bad. Riding Mtn was a nice place for biking. I'm now at the Forks in Winnipeg so I'll sign off now as I'm getting kicked off this computer. I'll try to post some pictures soon.
Matt

The rivers were still pretty high when I was there, the pathways along the river were under water still, but apparently the levels are coming down. Spent a few hours in the Forks area, and then wandered around the Exchange District and saw that the Fringe Festival was happening. Picked a play called 'The Jewish Princess Diaries' which was a one-woman comedy show and it was pretty funny. Before leaving Winnipeg I visited the legislature and Wildwood Park neighbourhood where my parents got married. It was a beautiful place.

A Taste of Regina

I'm in the fair city of Regina right now. It has been a pleasant few days so far. My friend Kelsey has shown me around the city and surroundings. We went to the Taste of Regina food festival, a trip to Regina Beach to go kayaking and a picnic in the park. The biking trails around the city are really extensive and the weather is fine.
On the way to Regina I stopped quickly in Medicine Hat and saw the world's largest teepee. It was pretty exciting! I hope I can see a lot more "World's Largest ______" along the way, but that's all I've seen so far. The tunnels of Moose Jaw were a very interesting tour in that nice little Prairie city. Supposedly the tunnels were built for smuggling booze during the prohibition as well as hiding chinese workers. The tour I went on was about the early chinese settlers that built the railways and had to work in appalling conditions for low pay in laundrys and such. Well worth it to stop if you have the time.
Thanks Kelsey for clearing up your work schedule for me and showing me around Regina for 3 days. I will wear my Rider t-shirt with Pride. :)

Finally on my way Day 1 & 2

Well I'm finally on the road after 3 weeks relaxing and getting ready in Coquitlam. Even though I can already tell I've forgotten a few things things are going fine. My trip started at 9:30am in Coquitlam and my first main stop was in Kamloops just after 1pm. It was great to see Jen again and we had a nice lunch at Fogg and Sudds and caught up on the latest news. My next stop was close to Parson which is just south of Golden BC. The drive was a bit longer than I expected, and aside for some strange weather and a few crazy drivers it was okay. The first day was a lot of driving, but I won't usually follow that pace. I arrived at Lil and B.'s beautiful place overlooking the Columbia Trench just in time for dinner. Lucy drove up from Cranbrook to meet me. What a lovely spot to end my first day! :)

Day 2 started out at the Kicking Horse Mountain ski hill in Golden. Lucy came with me to look at the grizzly bear sanctuary. They have a 3 1/2 year old orphaned grizzly bear that lives in a 23 acre enclosure on the side of the ski hill. Boo the bear was kind enough to be close to the fence and posed for a few pictures before disappearing into the trees for a nap. Thanks for the expert interpretive tour by Jubilee. Lunch (for us, not the bear) was at the Eagle's Eye restaurant at the summit. Apparently the highest restaurant in Canada. There was a great 360 view of the Purcell and Rocky Mountains, the town of Golden and the Columbia Valley. I then said farewell to Lucy and proceeded east to Calgary. There I stayed with my cousin Paul and his wife Noelia. Emmanuel has grown a lot since last time.
That's all for now, I'm getting tired.

My Going-Away Party in Cranbrook

A good time was had by all at Finnegan's Wake Pub in Cranbrook on June 23rd. Thanks for the wonderful sweater, card, and framed photo. Best wishes to everyone at Tembec in the East Kootenays. So long Cranbrook.

Lucy and Matt

Cheers!

Lil, Greg, Matt

Hope the arm heals Dave

Tjitske and Bruce

What a great evening for a few laughs

Thanks for the socks Lil!

Doran and Matt

Terry, Matt, and Don

Bruce and Lorraine

Thank you for coming to my going away party. I will miss you.

Inaugural Entry

Welcome to my inaugural posting of my new blog. Unfortunately my first choice was taken (mattropolis) so I chose my own name. While I would have preferred having my own page, so that I could learn more html and css, having this blog will make it easier to edit, add photos etc while I'm on the road. Today I should be organizing my garage sale will happen Saturday the 16th. I'm hopefully my signs didn't dissolve in the rain last night! Only 3 more days til I leave for across Canada.