Good Bye BC, through Alberta and Hellllloooo Saskatchewan!

Here we go for the second instalment of the return to O-Town!

Yesterday I drove from Revelstoke, British Columbia to Claresholm, Alberta. It was alright, I was still in get the hell out mode so I was pretty excited to see that "Welcome to Albert-boy" sign. I don't remember driving through those rocky mountains when I initially moved from Ottawa to Vancouver.. Damn those were noicceeeee.. The drive itself was pretty uneventful aside form the unreal views through Banff and a flipped over transport truck I drove past. Just plopped over on its side on the rand hand of the road. See ya bud, hope you're alive but I'm peeling along out. It looked like it had been there for at least a few hours, like 4 maybe 12. 

When I finally was out of the mountains and skimming along through the heart of southern Alberta  I was a little more relaxed, not fully in the mindset that I was chasing but one step closer. 

I finally arrived in Claresholm, which is an hour and twenty minutes south of Calgary, I exited my wildebeest and was pretty pumped to see Woodsy. You know what...? It did not disappoint in the least. It was definitely the highlight of the trip so far. Woodsy that beauty, barby'd up some roast beef  that had been marinating for 24 hours, sided it with rice and a noiceeee fresh salad. He had this green sauce that he swore by and it was oooohhhhh yea finger licking gooood. The meat tasted like medium rare steak and the green sauce added a tasty zing to it. We sat at his dining room table, got caught up and then reminisced about all the wild adventures we'd been on. Soooo we drove up from Vancouver to the Yukon together, that was a unforgettable drive.. some cherished memories there from "getting pinched!" Then another day, being pretty screwed in the middle of nowhere with little gas and no towns or fuel stations in sight.. It was getting hairy for a little while until we randomly saw this back road that went God knows where.. oh where did it go? To a native reservation which had gas and the best bannock you can imagine. Dipping that bannok in hot vegetable soup with a full gas tank was pretty much the equivalent of finding an oasis in the Sahara when you're dying.. okay thats a little over dramatic. Maybe your in the Sahara and your injured and you're being followed and by coyotes and then you find shelter and food and a 10 star hotel! Then in Liard hot springs another day the paper bag and handle was floating everywhere.. ya it was a hell of a trip.

Anyway getting back to it here: Honestly seeing Woods and spending that time with him was incredibly meaningful.. it was calming, the joking and just a friggen blast. So happy it worked out that we got to see each other on my journey back. We washed the night down with some camomile tea which clunked me right out. Love ya brotha!  Kill it in your training! 

The next morning I woke up feeling quite energized and went for a 5k run. It felt great and got me primed for the road. A little breakfast a la cart Woodsola and I was on my way. 

There I was barreling down Alberta and headed for Saskatchewan. I felt good and finally started to really enjoy the road, although I hadn't reached my zen spot yet. I threw on some Stomp'in Tom Conners, who has literally the best music for driving across Canada. Seriously, check out "I've been everywhere man" it's originally done by Johnny Cash but Stomp'in Tom did a remake and it is awesome. Also check out "My Stomp'in Grounds", another beauty! There are many. Then out of no where I see it; 'Welcome to Saskatchewan!!!" the big sign with green writing and barley all over it. There I am screaming SASKATCHEWAN WOOOOOOOOOO, I'm in SASKATCHEWAN!!!!! Going absolutely bananas alone in Andrea the Giants car. Felt great. I'm going along, speed limit is 110, I'm going 120 which is pretty much the max speed for this Yeti and I'm soo pumped to be in Sask. All the land and terrain around me is yellow wheat fields, I'm excited, still excited, then getting hungry then theres no town or restaurant for at least 2 hours.. shitttttt. There is nothing is the majority in Sask hahaha, I found a gas station that had a big restaurant sign, pulled in.. soo hungry. Yep closed. Got couple of pepperoni sticks to tide me over and jumped back in the poncho. They tided me over and then finallllllyyyy finally, I'm driving along and there is that bliss feeling, that utter peaceful, clam. Entire relaxation from the mind all the way down through the chest and into the toes. A country song came on "Two of Everything" by Jack Marks (Check it out). It was that bliss that I was trying to find. I had finally achieved it on this trip. I enjoyed it and even took a video of the road / song in the background and sent it to the most wonderful person :) Kristine.

I would like to revisit what I mentioned in the last blog post. The living and doing things. This means different things for different people. One incredible way to live and be happy with your life is to have kids, a family and reach a sort of fulfillment that I don't know yet. But that is an amazing way to live and do things with you kids and wife that you couldn't do later on in life. I just wanted to clarify my thoughts on the fact. Everyone has a different way of living there best life. 

One thing I'm doing that has been a cool little side thing for the trip isssssss in every province I pass through I'm been visiting a craft distillery and buying a bottle of whisky. It started in Sicamous BC and then in Thorn Valley Alberta. Then today I went to Lumsden Saskatchewan. Tomorrow I'll be in Manitoba and look for a place in Winnipeg. Anyway, I thought this would be cool and I will only have some when people come to visit so they can try only little and it can last a long time. In Lumsden today there was a huge festival called the Scarecrow festival. The tiny town was packed and I had to manoeuvre the mammoth on some side streets.. that was a ton of fun. Oh yea did I mention theres a hell of a lot of nothing in Saskatchewan LOL. This town was pretty cool though. Then I finally got to "The Last Mountain Distillery" which is famous for their dill pickle vodka so I had to get a bottle of that too. The manger heard about my trip, where it began and would be ending so I threw on a store shirt and she was took a picture of me holding both bottles. She posted it on social media for their business. If you want, you can probably search on their instagram or FB and there'll be a pic of me. She posted it LOL. The most ironic thing is I don't even feeling like drinking so I don't even want to try these spirits for 2,3 maybe 8 months. 

I'm here now in Regine girl at a beauty hotel, had a little food and getting primed for the hot tub so excuse me while I indulge after a long and great day. By far the best full day of driving and just pure enjoyment thus far. Tomorrow I'll be headed for Winnipeg where I'll be staying with Stevie ! We're going on a little excursion which I'll talk about the day after tomorrow in another post.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Shaneola 

Oh by the way! loveeee the comments on the last post, I absolutely love those.

Also! Its time for the trivia section of this bloooogg. Here goes 

How much will it cost in gas for the entirety of the trip? you must post your answers on the comment section to be valid. There is a prize for the closest person but it must be a comment on this post. Good luck! 

For everyone who's not familiar with this blog or wants to see the comments, click on comments on the last post to see all the great things people have wrote. I love the comments..