Day 19 - $829.92 – Next Stop, Tuna Knee

I got into Kamloops a little tired, a little hungry, and a lot nervous. I had a live TV interview at noon, and I my hair was a rat’s nest, I was wearing pyjamas, I wasn’t sure where I was, and it was 10am.

Luckily, I had managed to get a little sleep on the bus (and on the floor of the bus station in Salmon Arm – I know, I didn’t know that was a real place either) so I wasn’t a complete mess. I managed to shuffle over to the TV station and I used their green room to get myself looking somewhat respectable.

I watched the hosts come in, and I started to feel a little nervous. Then I saw the tech guys turn on the lights and start doing some pre-show taping and I got a little more nervous. By the time the other guests arrived, I had already reapplied my make-up three times and sweat through my dress. I was literally pacing the green room. Something tells me I need a little more experience in front of the camera before I become a huge star.

I blocked out most of the interview, so I can’t tell you how it went. I can, however, thank Tracy and everyone at Kamloops Midday for being so kind to me, making me a DVD of the spot, and showing an interest in the trip. Even though I was a nervous wreck, I still had fun, and you guys were all amazing professionals.

As soon as the interview was over, I changed back into my grubby traveling clothes and headed downtown. I grabbed some lunch and then made my way to meet Aehron and Kyle, my CouchSurfing hosts. After a mix-up on the bus (ok, I got lost) I made it to their cute house on the North shore of the city, and settled in.

I really liked Kamloops. It was small but not tiny, and it was absolutely beautiful. And it’s not a far drive from Vancouver either. It’s another place in Canada I’d never been before, but I could see myself living there for a little while. I walked around downtown, and through Riverside Park, and I just fell in love. There’s nothing like being a prairie girl and being surrounded by mountains. It’s an amazing view.

Day 18- $796.46 – Calgary Part Two

On my third and final day in Calgary, I awoke with a sense of purpose. I was almost through this trip, and I was making good time and staying within the budget (mostly…I did break down and get those really fancy cupcakes, but they were awesome, and I’d do it again.) I felt really good about the trip and I was determined to make the last day in Calgary count.

I should have stayed in bed.

Not that the day was terrible, just that it was too busy. I overbooked myself, I think, and I bounced around from one place to the next all day long. I did, however, get to see a lot of the city.

I had my first brush with Calgary transit when I tried to meet Pete for breakfast first thing in the morning. Calgary is a city of drivers, not of pedestrians. At first, I thought that was unfortunate. More people should take transit to cut down on traffic in a city so big. Then I found out that people drive so much because Calgary transit sucks incredibly hard.

I had to go about eight minutes away from Tami’s house to meet Pete for breakfast. In order to do this, I had to take two buses and wait 15 minutes for a transfer. I was given three different sets of directions from three different bus drivers, and when I got to my transfer point, I found out the bus I needed wasn’t running for another hour. I had to call Tami to come pick me up and drive me three blocks, because I didn’t know where I was.

When I finally met with Pete, he surprised me with a free pass to the Calgary Zoo he’d managed to scrounge up from somewhere. Normally, entrance is about $18, so that was quite a savings for me.

After breakfast, I managed to make my way back to the house in time to get picked up by my cousin Jared, who took me out on the town for the afternoon. First we went to get the best view of the city, which was beautiful. Then we drove around the long way to downtown, until we finally met up with his girlfriend, her sister, and their friend for lunch at Nellie’s, another Calgary institution. It was a little greasy, but I think that’s part of the charm.

We all walked around down 17^th Ave for a little while until Jared had to go to work. The girls were happy to play tour guide, though. They took me to Eau Clair Market, through Chinatown, and eventually dropped me off at the zoo.

This is when I got my second brush with Calgary Transit. While I was walking around the zoo, feeling both awestruck and repulsed by seeing animals in cages so close up, Pete was trying to meet up with me. As his car had recently been written off, he had to take transit. And it took him approximately two hours to make it from his house to the zoo. So by the time he got there, I had walked around the entire park. Pete didn’t get to see the zoo at all, he just spent his entire afternoon going back and forth on the C-Train. Thrilling.

Eventually we both got home, I had dinner, and packed my things. As luck would have it (or it was at least lucky for Tami) Pete’s brother Marc was taking the same bus I was down to Vancouver, and his family offered to give me a ride to the bus station. It’s always nice to have someone you know on the ride, it makes it go a little faster.

But before I could leave Alberta for my last province, I got one last run-in with Transit. Both Marc and I were waiting in line at the Greyhound station to board our bus, and we were both delayed because of one surly security guard. I was told that I couldn’t go through security if Pete was on the same side of the rope as I was, and Marc had to make two trips to the back of the line because he needed to empty his water bottle. It was so infuriating, we both got on the bus a little pissed off.

Luckily, things turned around from there as Marc and I talked until 3am (not a wise choice when you have a TV interview the next day), sharing traveling stories and off-colour jokes involving the dismemberment of certain Greyhound associates.

Day 18 - $754.01 – Calgary Part One (aka: Oops)

Ok, there’s no need to get upset. Everyone makes mistakes. Even charming young travel writers screw up from time to time. I’m not naming any names, though…

Basically, I screwed up my dates. I miscalculated the amount of time I had to spend in Edmonton, and left for Calgary early. I was ahead of schedule! Which is great for Calgary, because I got two and a half full days to explore it. The downside is, I could have spent more time in Edmonton. Ultimately, the trip turned out to be a little Alberta heavy (sorry Saskatchewan! Next time!)

I realized this fact on the bus ride to Calgary, when it was far to late to do anything about it. After I was finished kicking myself about that, I vowed to try and really explore Calgary and take my time, as I wasn’t rushed.

When I arrive,d I met up with Tami, a friend of a friend, who promptly took me to Peter’s Drive in when I told her I was hungry. Peter’s is an institution in Calgary. With over a million and a half flavours of milkshakes, and the ability to mix and match flavours, Peter’s is the kind of place that Calgarians make pilgrimage to frequently. I got an Oreo and Marshmallow milkshake, and I was in heaven. I wish I could tell you what Tami told me about Calgary on the drive back to her house, but I honestly don’t know. I was in milkshake nirvana. I'd like to go on record here and say that along with the best nachos in Canada, I've found the best milkshakes in Canada. Period.

After I got settled in Tami’s house, I set about calling an old army buddy of mine. Yes, I seriously mean an army buddy. I worked for a brief period as an embedded reporter for the Canadian military, and I met a few troops from Calgary. I called up one of these strapping young men and, in the true army fashion, he offered to take me out for a night on the town to get blinding drunk. So, in true journalist fashion, I said yes.

Tami and I left to meet Pete and his brother Marc at the train station that evening, dressed in my backpack’s finest. As luck would have it, Tami and Marc knew each other quite well, and the group of us headed downtown for a night of bad dancing, drinking, and debauchery. We even had pizza after the bar, but it wasn’t as good as pizza corner in Halifax. All in all, though, it was a great introduction to Calgary.

The next morning, after some slightly hung-over yoga, Tami and I went for a walk down by the Bow River, which is a hot spot in Calgary. People like to float down the river, or have parties by the banks. It’s a beautiful spot. She filled me in what Calgarians like to do for cheap: not much.

As it turns out, Calgary is a fairly expensive city. There are a lot of jobs, and a lot of people with money, so everything is a little more expensive in Calgary than other places in Canada, and even other cities in Alberta.

Still, we managed to find some cheaper things to do. We walked down through Kensington, a funky, arty area of town filled with little shops and restaurants, and we drove through the downtown area.

I also managed to save money that night by staying in. Since I had another full day in Calgary ahead of me, I let myself have the night off. When Tami’s family left to go to a football game (against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, coincidentally) I watched a movie, had some leftover pizza, and relaxed. It was delightful.

Day 16 - $726.70 – I Hardly Knew You

I’ll admit it. I let you down, Edmonton. I didn’t give you a fair chance. But can you blame me? I was distracted. By this.

I mean really, who can resist that?

And by that, I mean, Matthew, my new cousin. He’s a gorgeous addition to our family, and he happens to live in Edmonton, so I had to see him.

That’s not to say that I didn’t explore Edmonton. I absolutely did. I took the LRT downtown and walked around Jasper St. I explored the university campus. I walked down Whyte Ave and got to try out two awesome vegetarian restaurants in the city. I even met up with Meaghan, a friend of a friend who told me all about places to go in the city. All in all, I feel like I saw a fair chunk of Edmonton in the course of one day.

Plus, I was even home in time for bath time.

Day 15 - $720.77 – One Heart, One Soul, One Love, One Goal.

Folks, across this great nation of ours, I’ve run into some fairly wacky characters. I’ve met the dude at the bus station in Quebec City who woke me up by stepping on my face. I met the grandmother who wanted to drive me around Thunder Bay but couldn’t because she had to get home to feed her cats. I even met some incredibly large men who dressed up in kilts and threw around large tree trunks for fun in Fredericton.

And yet, everyone pales in comparison to Vincent.

Vincent, you see, is a rapping preacher. He travels the country preaching and trying to convert the homeless population of Canada to accept a life filled with Jesus and all sorts of other nonsense.

And he tried to convert me. Because he thought I was homeless. Why? Just because I happened to be sleeping in a park. Geez! Can't a woman just fall asleep in a park anymore? Where’s the love, people?

So, the story is that I arrived in Saskatoon around lunch time, and was so hungry. I could hear my stomach growling and I’m pretty sure other people could too. So I walked around until I found a restaurant that I wanted to try. It was medium price range, but the portions were huge and my sandwich was delicious. It’s what I would imagine a BLT to taste like, if you substituted deep-fried angels for the bacon.

After lunch, with my full belly, I wandered around Saskatoon downtown, and ended up walking along the waterfront of the South Saskatchewan river, which was gorgeous. And I noticed a few office drones sitting on the grass, getting their daily allotment of sunshine, so I figured this was a place to see and be seen. I plopped down on the grass and set to reading my guide book. I must have dozed off, because the next thing I know, I’m being tapped (hard) on the back and I hear

“Wake up! You don’t need alcohol!”

Vincent, it seems, had found me. He believed that I was drunk and sleeping it off in the middle of a park, and wanted to make sure that I was ok, and also that I was alright with the big man upstairs.

I was a little confused, understandably, which didn’t help matters, because everyone sounds a little drunk when they first wake up. Our first exchange went something like this:

“Wake up! You don’t need alcohol!”

“Wha…?”

“It’s ok, young lady. Everybody falters. But if you have Jesus in your life, you can follow a true path without alcohol.”

“Wha…?”

That’s when he started rapping. Seriously. I don’t need to expand on that, it’s best if you just picture it yourselves. I’ll wait.

See? It’s everything you wish it was and more. Anyway, I finally convinced Vincent that I a) wasn’t drunk, and b) was just fine with the Dude. (I figured that starting the whole ‘I’m an atheist’ conversation just then was probably unwise.)

I’d love to tell you more about the rest of Saskatoon, but it really pales in comparison to my run-in with Vincent, the rapping preacher. I will say that Saskatoon is very pretty and I liked it a lot. I really enjoyed walking around the downtown area. I found everything to be very central, and the people were super friendly. It’s a place I would even consider living.

But only if Vincent could be my neighbour.

Day 14 - $686.44 - Chana Masala and Funny People

Regina: the city that rhymes with fun!

Or so people say. I, of course, would never stoop to such crude parlance.

But I actually found Regina to be plenty fun. It’s a small city, smaller than I expected, but people are friendly and there is a lot going on. I was there just as the Folk Festival was starting, but there are festivals and events all summer. Because the town is relatively small, you can walk around the downtown area in a day and really get a feel for the city.

When I arrived early Monday morning, I made my way over to Kris and Dennie’s house on 15^th Ave. After meeting all the roommates, I asked if there was a landline available so that I could do a phone interview with CBC Winnipeg. Unfortunately, there was no phone I could use. But on the even-better side, Nichole, a roommate, works for CBC Regina, heard about my story, and pitched it to her producer. I was on the air the next morning. Thanks again, Nichole!

With the whirlwind media tour out of the way, I got myself cleaned up and then Kris took me on a walking tour of the city. Unfortunately, it was Saskatchewan Day, meaning most of the stores were closed, but we still had a good time. He was a delightful tour guide, too. I got to see part of the University campus, most of downtown, and even an old high school building that was turned into a movie studio inside. It still looks like a high school outside, but apparently inside it’s all been gutted and they shoot movies and TV pilots in there. Who would have

thought that building would be in downtown Regina? How exciting!

And yet, even with all the excitement in the air, I still couldn’t hold it together. I was so tired from the ride overnight to Regina that after lunch, I fell asleep on the couch. With other people in the room. While they were talking. I so full of energy these days, it’s amazing.

I felt so ridiculous, but I was so tired! The bus ride over from Winnipeg wasn’t an easy one, and I couldn’t sleep during it. I just couldn’t keep myself awake. When I woke up, some friends were coming over for an impromptu dinner party. People started pouring into the house, cooking up yummy Indian food (samosas from scratch. From scratch! I love this house) and listening to music. Their friends were a great group of people to hang out with, and dinner was delicious. Afterwards we walked to The Milky Way, which is a great ice cream stand, and then came back to the house to chill out and have wine. It was a good summer day.

The next morning my phone woke me up. It was CBC Winnipeg on the line, and I was about to go on the air with Information Radio. Apparently, the alarm that I set either turned off or I slept through it, either way I had to get ready to go on air in about a minute and a half! On the plus side, that’s one way to get rid of nerves.

I managed to get myself through the interview, but I don’t think I was my most coherent. Next time I have an early morning interview, I’m setting two alarms! However, I did wake up and become coherent long before I had to be at the CBC Regina studios. My interview there was great, and a lot of fun. Going to the studios is really more interesting than doing the interviews over the phone.

I walked the long way home after that, had some lunch, and then borrowed Kris’s bike to ride around Wascana Park, the Legislative building, and finally, out to the RCMP Heritage museum. In between, I met up with CTV Regina for a cheesy interview on the grounds of the Legislature. I felt like such a doofus, filming b-roll of walking along the waterfront, or looking at flowers. I’m surprised I didn’t laugh more during the interview.

I spent two days in Regina, thanks to my incredibly generous CouchSurfing hosts Kris, Dennie, Nichole, Shawn, and Mike. Thanks for letting me stay in your house and eat your food, guys. I had a great time in Regina because of you.

Radio Daze

I'd like to give a quick thank you to CBC stations across the country for continuing to talk to me regarding this trip.

I did an interview with CBC Regina yesterday afternoon, which went really well. I'll be talking to CBC Montreal again on Thursday at 4:20 in the afternoon for a trip follow up. And I'll be catching up with CBC Winnipeg on Tuesday when I finish the trip in Victoria. Thanks!

I also did a spot with CTV Regina yesterday which was a first for me. I've never been interviewed for television before. I think it can make even the most self-assured person seem vain and unsure. But I want to thank Ryan and Carl for taking an interest in the trip and coming out to meet me. It was a lot of fun.

Lastly, I'll be talking to 930 AM The Light radio station today in Edmonton around 5:00 local time. I was talking to the producer of the show and she seemed very excited about the project, so I look forward to the interview.

I'm continually amazed at the media attention that I seem to be getting, and am so grateful to all of these wonderful outlets for giving a young journalism student a chance.

Thanks again everyone!