Calgary Alberta Canada, Aug 11th
Calgary Alberta, yep that’s Canada and sitting here at an Authentic Irish Pub, The James Joyce listening to a live band and getting to know the locals. Well, got to know Deb in about 5 minutes before here boyfriend called, so that’s her on the phone with him, but hey, he’s not here now is he. She isn’t a local, but that’s a whole other story cuz she’s here visiting an old boyfriend, who just showed up by the way, Justin while the bf on the phone is in jail…won’t even try to figure that out. Braden is local and is making sure I’m well taken care of and when I gave him one of my cards, you know, for my blogspot, he said his mothers maiden name was Webb – no relation cuz otherwise I would’ve had a place to stay. Tonight is going to be a first for me, the place I’m staying, but I’ll get to that later.
So the party last night after the street party wasn’t anything like Sturgis, but still plenty of fun. Tried to get caught up on some of my blogs at the Ale Works I was at, but did have to checkout some of the other bars downtown and it would’ve been really nice if they had had air conditioning, hell, it gets hot in these parts. Got a good night sleep and after doing the camping thing at Sturgis, felt I had to do a hotel just to get cleaned up a little and a good nights rest. Normally Sturgis is a different kind of camping experience when I’ve gone in the past that it’s like sleeping at home, but this year was a new year and since I’ve been traveling as much as I have, sometimes I just need to bed down in a hotel room for a night. Heard Calgary was over 400 miles away, but shouldn’t have a problem making that in a day, that’s as long as I can get out of the country so did have to take care of one thing this morning, getting my driving privilege in Wisconsin reinstated. I may have talked about that before how I was able to get a speeding ticket reduced to a faulty speedometer so only had a $25 court fee to pay, but the problem was I didn’t find out about paying it until I was home before Sturgis and paid it right away, but apparently too late since they took my driving in Wisconsin away. Did try to get the $50 reinstatement fee reduced, but no luck, I’ll make a stop at Dunn county, Menominee when I get back and see what they can do for me…there’s gotta be something.
Not much to see of Montana except for prairie that the winds blow across strong, but that was before heading north from Great Falls where the scenery really changed and was some pretty country to ride. Rode along the Missouri River which made the difference because had nice curving roads to ride thru the valley. Did eventually hit more prairie and the majority of that was once I got into Canada, Coutts Canada which took longer getting thru customs than before. Did stop into customs one other time, when I was going to Wasaga beach, but that didn’t take as long as today and felt like I had more questions to answer today than normal, might be because I’m planning on being in this country longer, but whatever it is, not a problem cuz I have nothing to hide…that is except that I might not be able to drive in Wisconsin right now. Met Eric and Elena, him from Vancouver her originally from Russia, with love and has been in Chicago for 7 years that Eric is showing her the country and I believe he said taking her back to Vancouver with him…sounds like that couple I met in Sturgis, remember he was from Florida and came to kidnap his girlfriend from South Dakota?
In Canada and I’ve already had a number of great suggestions, one is to use an ATM machine to get Canadian currency because it’s only a buck seventy five charge and the bank will do the currency exchange at no extra cost to me…now why didn’t someone tell me that the first time when I went to a bank and eventually casino to get money, well, maybe the exchange was better at the casino, but none across the border where I came into this country, casino that is. In Alberta and since someone has suggested I head home across Canada after doing Alaska so I can say I’ve done most if not all the Canadian Provinces, sure wish I would’ve thought of taking those road sign pictures sooner than now…but hell, if you really need me to prove it, I might be able to find another way. Stopped at the visitor center to see what they might suggest for cheap accommodations in Calgary for the weekend and they suggested something I heard before crossing the border, a hostel….now what is that? Well, Lisa and Jenn did a great job telling me about it and they even looked it up online for me and mapped it out so I could head straight there once in Calgary. Now what is it? Well, it’s pretty much a coed dormitory where there are a number of beds in a room that you get a bed and there’s a bathroom to share. Ok, the room with beds is coed, but the bathrooms, just like a dorm where the men and women have their own. Man, it definite sounds like a place I could have a lot of fun staying at and they gave me a book, Lisa and Jenn that is, that shows me all of the hostels in Canada so I just might be doing Canada cheaper than the states.
Ok before getting here, to Calgary that is, figured I better take a picture of me riding with a helmet for all those concerned that I should be wearing one. Have no choice in Canada, but to put your worries to rest, it’s not DOT approved, the helmet that is that my head might crack as easily as the helmet, but it should keep my brains in…ok, not a very good thought as I nock on wood. Also say a horse trailer that I’ve never seen before and that must’ve been tough stuffing the horse in such a small trailer…I swear, you can see the horses ass hanging out the back. Well, the directions to the hostel were great that found it right away, but one problem, they didn’t have a bed available. The guy did suggest taking the hour drive to Banff which I’ll eventually be going thru to see if they had an opening otherwise there was another one a couple blocks away…ok, I’m done riding for the night that lets check out the other, a few blocks away…and what’dya know, just had a cancellation that there’s a bed for me. Made pretty quick time there, remember a couple of blocks and Larry did a great job explaining the thing to me and hell, for $28 a night, why wouldn’t I try this instead of dropping a bill for a hotel room for a weekend night. Ok, so it’s supposed to make you feel at home, but we’ll have to see about that. I have bed 6f for the night, room 6 bed f and already got settled in and showered before heading here, that Irish pub I started this story out with. Let’s see how the hostel works and for as cheap as they are, probably the thing to do across Canada and hey, now I’ll know just how to do use them for my Europe trip…they’re really big over there. Not sure what tomorrow will bring since could use a day off from riding, only to get caught up on my blogs, but that’ll make a difference whether my bed, 6f is still available or not, right now all full that I’ll have to be outta there by 11:00.
Met Bre who works at the Palomino, you know the one, downtown Minneapolis, wait, she’s telling me the best smoke house in Canada, almost forgot where I was. Another thing I learned is how she has given up some dreams because of things that have happened to her in life, one of them being a monster truck driver because of the car accidents she’s had, well, that’s where I remember telling someone, never give up a dream…ok, so that’s a whole other story that I’m staying away from. Well, before the nights over Braden is offering me a place to stay if I stick around tomorrow and Bre is telling me we need to show up at the Palomino for some fun since she’ll be working…that just might be the ticket for tomorrow. Out of the US to Canada pictures.
So the party last night after the street party wasn’t anything like Sturgis, but still plenty of fun. Tried to get caught up on some of my blogs at the Ale Works I was at, but did have to checkout some of the other bars downtown and it would’ve been really nice if they had had air conditioning, hell, it gets hot in these parts. Got a good night sleep and after doing the camping thing at Sturgis, felt I had to do a hotel just to get cleaned up a little and a good nights rest. Normally Sturgis is a different kind of camping experience when I’ve gone in the past that it’s like sleeping at home, but this year was a new year and since I’ve been traveling as much as I have, sometimes I just need to bed down in a hotel room for a night. Heard Calgary was over 400 miles away, but shouldn’t have a problem making that in a day, that’s as long as I can get out of the country so did have to take care of one thing this morning, getting my driving privilege in Wisconsin reinstated. I may have talked about that before how I was able to get a speeding ticket reduced to a faulty speedometer so only had a $25 court fee to pay, but the problem was I didn’t find out about paying it until I was home before Sturgis and paid it right away, but apparently too late since they took my driving in Wisconsin away. Did try to get the $50 reinstatement fee reduced, but no luck, I’ll make a stop at Dunn county, Menominee when I get back and see what they can do for me…there’s gotta be something.
Not much to see of Montana except for prairie that the winds blow across strong, but that was before heading north from Great Falls where the scenery really changed and was some pretty country to ride. Rode along the Missouri River which made the difference because had nice curving roads to ride thru the valley. Did eventually hit more prairie and the majority of that was once I got into Canada, Coutts Canada which took longer getting thru customs than before. Did stop into customs one other time, when I was going to Wasaga beach, but that didn’t take as long as today and felt like I had more questions to answer today than normal, might be because I’m planning on being in this country longer, but whatever it is, not a problem cuz I have nothing to hide…that is except that I might not be able to drive in Wisconsin right now. Met Eric and Elena, him from Vancouver her originally from Russia, with love and has been in Chicago for 7 years that Eric is showing her the country and I believe he said taking her back to Vancouver with him…sounds like that couple I met in Sturgis, remember he was from Florida and came to kidnap his girlfriend from South Dakota?
In Canada and I’ve already had a number of great suggestions, one is to use an ATM machine to get Canadian currency because it’s only a buck seventy five charge and the bank will do the currency exchange at no extra cost to me…now why didn’t someone tell me that the first time when I went to a bank and eventually casino to get money, well, maybe the exchange was better at the casino, but none across the border where I came into this country, casino that is. In Alberta and since someone has suggested I head home across Canada after doing Alaska so I can say I’ve done most if not all the Canadian Provinces, sure wish I would’ve thought of taking those road sign pictures sooner than now…but hell, if you really need me to prove it, I might be able to find another way. Stopped at the visitor center to see what they might suggest for cheap accommodations in Calgary for the weekend and they suggested something I heard before crossing the border, a hostel….now what is that? Well, Lisa and Jenn did a great job telling me about it and they even looked it up online for me and mapped it out so I could head straight there once in Calgary. Now what is it? Well, it’s pretty much a coed dormitory where there are a number of beds in a room that you get a bed and there’s a bathroom to share. Ok, the room with beds is coed, but the bathrooms, just like a dorm where the men and women have their own. Man, it definite sounds like a place I could have a lot of fun staying at and they gave me a book, Lisa and Jenn that is, that shows me all of the hostels in Canada so I just might be doing Canada cheaper than the states.
Ok before getting here, to Calgary that is, figured I better take a picture of me riding with a helmet for all those concerned that I should be wearing one. Have no choice in Canada, but to put your worries to rest, it’s not DOT approved, the helmet that is that my head might crack as easily as the helmet, but it should keep my brains in…ok, not a very good thought as I nock on wood. Also say a horse trailer that I’ve never seen before and that must’ve been tough stuffing the horse in such a small trailer…I swear, you can see the horses ass hanging out the back. Well, the directions to the hostel were great that found it right away, but one problem, they didn’t have a bed available. The guy did suggest taking the hour drive to Banff which I’ll eventually be going thru to see if they had an opening otherwise there was another one a couple blocks away…ok, I’m done riding for the night that lets check out the other, a few blocks away…and what’dya know, just had a cancellation that there’s a bed for me. Made pretty quick time there, remember a couple of blocks and Larry did a great job explaining the thing to me and hell, for $28 a night, why wouldn’t I try this instead of dropping a bill for a hotel room for a weekend night. Ok, so it’s supposed to make you feel at home, but we’ll have to see about that. I have bed 6f for the night, room 6 bed f and already got settled in and showered before heading here, that Irish pub I started this story out with. Let’s see how the hostel works and for as cheap as they are, probably the thing to do across Canada and hey, now I’ll know just how to do use them for my Europe trip…they’re really big over there. Not sure what tomorrow will bring since could use a day off from riding, only to get caught up on my blogs, but that’ll make a difference whether my bed, 6f is still available or not, right now all full that I’ll have to be outta there by 11:00.
Met Bre who works at the Palomino, you know the one, downtown Minneapolis, wait, she’s telling me the best smoke house in Canada, almost forgot where I was. Another thing I learned is how she has given up some dreams because of things that have happened to her in life, one of them being a monster truck driver because of the car accidents she’s had, well, that’s where I remember telling someone, never give up a dream…ok, so that’s a whole other story that I’m staying away from. Well, before the nights over Braden is offering me a place to stay if I stick around tomorrow and Bre is telling me we need to show up at the Palomino for some fun since she’ll be working…that just might be the ticket for tomorrow. Out of the US to Canada pictures.
posted by Dalej Webb at 1:32 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home