TravelStream™ news feed for member pharmo on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/pharmo en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 10 Aug 2008 01:48:03 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1218315660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1218315660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1218315660/tpod.html Sun, 10 Aug 2008 01:48:03 -0400 Cross-Continental Trip '08

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Belleville, Ontario, Canada

Last day on the road! I can't believe how quickly 5 weeks has gone by...After a nice morning of hanging out with Alain and Marie Eve, re-hydrating from the night before, I packed the bike for the final time and headed off. Before making my way back to Belleville I had one more stop to make in Winchester, south-east of Ottawa. My friends Gerry and Jacquie have been taking care of my dog Maiya (she's a 1&1/2 year-old Golden Doodle) and I had to go see them.Maiya recognized my voice immediately and quite literally ran me over, knocking me onto my back. She's such a sweet dog, it was great to see her. Gerry, Jacquie and their daughters are taking great care of her, although apparently their cats aren't quite as kind. :)Gerry had some new wheels to show off as well, the classic tourer, a Yamaha Venture Royale. A great bike, I'm sure they'll get some memorable trips of their ow out of it. While I enjoyed my seeing them and catching up, I was anxious to get home so after a brief visit it was on the road for the final few km. For a nice change of pace I had NO RAIN today (I know!). As with the rest of the trip, this leg was also uneventful and by 5pm I was pulling into my driveway.Total mileage today - 321kmTotal mileage for entire trip - 16,921km!These past 5 weeks were incredible: the sights seen, time spent with friends and family, pictures taken, and memories created. Most importantly was the time spent alone on the road getting right with myself. It had been a rough few months leading up to this trip and I come away feeling at peace with where I am and where I am going. Everything happens for a reason...I want to give a special thank you to my most awesome neighbours, Jacek and Urszula, who kindly took care of my house, collected my mail, and even mowed my lawn after the guy I hired to do it failed to show. Without them this trip would have been much more difficult and stressful. Thank you both! 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1218227400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1218227400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1218227400/tpod.html Sun, 10 Aug 2008 00:12:59 -0400 Cross-Continental Trip '08

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Hull, Quebec, Canada

Rain, rain, rain, and then more rain. Did I mention the rain? It hit within 10 minutes of leaving the motel and essentially didn't let up all day. This was by far the worst day for rain for the entire trip. Fortunately I wasn't going far today. Despite hitting patches of pooling water on the highway the bike handled great, and my gear kept me dry.The ride itself was uneventful, including Montreal which was smoother than expected. I arrived at my friend Alain's house in Hull just before 4pm. This was my first visit since he and his beautiful fiancee, Marie Eve, moved to their new house and I was suitably impressed: their home is stunning! I've been the lucky recipient of their hospitality before so I was looking forward to my stay with them, and they didn't disappoint! Supper was awesome and the wine excellent. In fact, between Alain and I (congratulations to them - they are expecting their first child February!!), we finished 3 bottles of red wine, a couple of beers, a great smoky scotch, and then the rum flowed freely. Combined with great music and conversation, it was a great finish to my trip. And, much to my surprise, I felt great the next morning, but that is a tale for tomorrow's blog...Total mileage for today: 551km
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1218160800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1218160800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1218160800/tpod.html Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:49:00 -0400 Cross-Continental Trip '08

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St. Jean Port Joli, Quebec, Canada

My time in Nova Scotia seemed to vanish before my eyes - it was stretched out before me and then *poof* it was suddenly gone. I spent my remaining days with friends and family. One notable event was going to a club called The Carleton with Wade to listen to 2 Maritime performers: Cristina Martin and Nathan Wiley. Both are singer/songwriters with a blues/folk kind of style and they were great - good enough to cause me to pick up their CDs, at any rate. I also spent a nice evening with my friend and classmate Shawn, his beautiful wife Nadine, and their very cool little boy Evan (sorry guys - I was home before I realized I forgot to take a picture!! My bad!) My stay at home was fantastic, better than I could have hoped for: I got to see more friends than I thought I could track down, and it was hard to leave.The final leg of the trip turned out to be much like the first - in less than an hour I hit the rain, and the temperature stayed below 15C. The rain stuck with me until I crossed into Quebec. It was a completely uneventful trip today and I stopped in the town of St. Jean Port Joli. A nice stroke of luck was what I discovered across from the hotel - a large park full of wood sculptures. Some of them are spectacular, some were ugly, some were hard to figure, but all were cool. One question...what is it with the french and nudity??Total mileage today - 939km.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1217628300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1217628300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1217628300/tpod.html Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:43:14 -0400 Cross-Continental Trip '08

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Cape George, Nova Scotia, Canada

This week at home has been great but the days are going by way too fast...I did get a new rear tire on Monday, not the brand I wanted but it'll get me back to Ontario next week. The rest of the week has been spent seeing friends: I met up with my friend Dan (friends now for 28 years!) and his lady, Heather, for food, wine and conversation. It was my first time meeting Heather and Dan was quite remiss in conveying just how lovely she is.The next day was all about riding; I linked up with my buddy Wade (friends for 29 years!!) He rides a very sweet Harley Davidson V-Rod with a Big-Ass rear tire. We hit the Mic Mac tavern for a good breakfast hampered by poor service before heading out for the back roads of Nova Scotia. We shot up the coast to Musquodoboit Harbour before heading inland. We made a few wrong turns (my bad) and ended up on a road we never knew existed but at least it got us to a familiar area with a gas station. We decided to head through the heart of NS toward New Glasgow - again I got us lost and almost onto a nasty looking dirt logging road. I did find the right road but the pavement on this one also ran out. Fortunately the dirt was smooth and well packed so the riding was easy. In fact, when the pavement resumed we were longing for the dirt again since it was in better condition than the asphalt! Did I mention that Nova Scotia has the worst quality roads of anywhere I have ever ridden? No joke...We got to New Glasgow, and this is where I came the closest to a close-encounter with a car for this trip. I was turning right out of a gas station and 2 good ol' boys across the street decided they were going as well. I managed to stop in time but just...After a coffee to wind down a bit we headed for the destination for this trip - the Sunrise Trail between New Glasgow and Antigonish. It is a beautiful highway which follows the northern coast for about 90km, giving some great cliff-side views of the Northumberland Strait toward Prince Edward Island while passing a few quaint towns and lighthouses. The first cute little town was Arisaig, a small fishing village with a lighthouse turned ice cream shop. We passed Malignant Cove (poor prognosis there) before coming to Cape George and the next lighthouse and spectacular views of the ocean. The route is known as the Mini-Cabot trail and the moniker is apt. We finished the day with a slice of The Wheel pizza (famous in Antigonish) and a fast ride up the highway back home.Finally, I stopped by my previous workplace to visit my dear friend Jena, another pharmacist and one of the sweetest souls I have ever met. She treated me to a hearty breakfast at Cora's and we got caught up. It's so easy to let months and years slip by...So that is all for now - I've got more friends to see and places to visit. Until then...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1217191740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1217191740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1217191740/tpod.html Sun, 27 Jul 2008 20:44:51 -0400 Cross-Continental Trip '08

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Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia, Canada

Home at last - well, not <i>my home as in the one I own, but real home. The home I grew up in. And the cliche is true, there really is no place like it.I actually got up when I planned to today (5am) and was gone by 6:15. The ride through Maine was easy - very little traffic that time of the day, and the rain held off with only heavy fog to contend with. Likewise, there was no traffic at the border crossing either and, after declaring my very recent rum purchase, I was back in Canada!New Brunswick (the drive-through province) was quickly gone and I was in God's country, Nova Scotia. I made a few detours on the way to my parent's place. The first was to the "Breakwater" or "Fisherman's Cove" area of Eastern Passage (where I grew up). I fished for years with my Dad so it is always nice to walk around down there, looking at the boats and gear. With the fishery in the state it is, however, Fisherman's Cove is now a tourist destination with shops where the boat shacks used to be. It makes me sad on one hand to see the boats for sale and the gear sitting unused, but at least the tourism industry has kept the community thriving and that's a good thing.Next I went to "The Moose". The moose is a large concrete statue (more big stuff, Tara!) that is the last remnant of what was one of the premier beaches in Nova Scotia: Silver Sands. In the 60s, the beach boasted a km of beautiful sand, a number of concrete animals (of which only the Moose ha survived), cabins, and an open air dance floor. Unfortunately the sand was all removed to build the runways for the airport and that was the end of that. The area is still popular with surfers though.Finally, I made it home and Mom, like the good mother she is, was quick to feed me. Happiness is... Anyway, from the look of my rear tire I made it hear just in time - you can see the white nylon showing through the tire now! Eek! That had the potential to be nasty! I'm hoping to get a new tire tomorrow...I will hang out here for the next week and a half and will post on occasion.Total Mileage today: 742kmTotal For Trip: 13,548km
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Brewer, Maine, United States

&nbsp;Today started with a bit of trepidation about the condition of the rear tire on my bike - it's been looking a bit worn over the past couple of day, but when I checked it out this morning it was almost completely bald! Not a big deal as long as the weather stays nice but if it rains it will become interesting indeed. I have ordered a tire from a shop in Halifax so lets hope the rain stays away...I got back on the I-80 this morning heading towards New York. Within the hour I crossed the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan and the traffic slowed to a crawl for a bit but, other than the heat, it wasn't bad. Heading into Connecticut on the I-95, however, was a different matter. What a madhouse! Speeds ranged from a dead stop to 140kph and back to a stop again, over and over. Once the traffic thinned, it became a total free-for-all, with no discernable speed limit. I didn't go this fast through the wide open plains, and this involved weaving across 3 lanes to pick my way through the cars. Nuts, but fun!I stopped in New Haven, Conn. to visit the birthplace of the hamburger (okay, I know it may seem like I have a hamburger addiction, but when in Rome...if I could find the birthplace of smoothies I'd go there too) - Louis' Lunch. Legend says that in 1900 Louis Lassen, when asked by a patron for a quick meal to go, put a beef patty between two pieces of bread and viola! the hamburger was born! They still make them the same way here, broiling the patties in vertical gas cookers, and serving them between toast with onion and tomato. DO NOT ASK FOR KETCHUP - they will throw you out! Actually, they probably would - I found the staff to be surly and rude. The burger, however, was excellent; medium rare, juicy and flavourful, it was delicious. Served with potato salad and a birch beer, I was completely satisfied - it was worth the trek.The rest of the day was easy riding - Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire quickly came and went, and I ended the day in Brewer (Bangor), Maine. Tomorrow should be a nice, quick ride to my parent's house, hopefully arriving by the early afternoon.Total mileage today: 804km
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1217040240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1217040240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1217040240/tpod.html Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:41:14 -0400 Cross-Continental Trip '08

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Budd Lake, New Jersey, United States

This entry covers two days of rather boring travel on I-80. I left Nebraska under cloudy skies and windy conditions - it threatened rain but it was so warm I decided to leave the rain gear packed.&nbsp;As it turned out, the rain was just a threat and not a reality all day, and beside the gusty conditions it was great riding weather.I&nbsp;saw one of the funniest sights of my trip so far: a Prius -&nbsp;undoubtedly bought by someone wanting their neighbours to know what an environmentally conscious person they are - being towed by the biggest frickin' tour bus of an RV I have ever seen! A family of 14 could comfortably live in it! At least their conscious is clean...I passed into Illinois in the early afternoon and, just outside of Chicago, I found it!! A White Castle restaurant!!! Ok, for those of you who don't know what White Castle is, go rent the movie - Harold and Kumar will be happy to show you. If you don't wanna watch the movie, it's basically a fast food hamburger joint, but they serve the coolest little burgers...and I mean little! They are called sliders and they are no bigger than the palm of your hand. Three bites and they are gone. The best part is the way they are cooked - they spread a layer of onions on the grill, and then lay the little patties on top of the onions - the onions essentially steam cook the burgers (which have holes in them to allow the steam in cook them thoroughly. They then scoop the burger and onions right onto the bun, top it with a pickle, and viola! A slider! If you like fried onions (and who shouldn't, really?) you'd love a White Castle burger. I ate 6 before I left - and I smiled for hours&nbsp;afterward.Which brings me to my next point. I know we hear about it a lot, but MAN, are American ever FAT!!! I mean huge! It doesn't seem to matter where I go, at least half of the people I see are morbidly obese! It is really disgusting. And it's just the norm there now - nobody gives them a second glance. In fact, society is adapting to the obesity. Clothing sizes have gotten bigger there now: for women, what was a size 14, for example, would now be a 10. This way they can continue to swell but say "Wow, after all these years I'm still the same size I was in highschool!" I digress...The I-80 merges with the I-90 and becomes a toll highway once you enter Indiana. I don't really mind the toll since the highways are fast and generally in a good state of repair with frequent rest stops complete with service centers (gas, food, washrooms, etc). What is the pain is when you exit the toll highway: you come to a self-serve toll booth. The first exit I took, at around 10:30pm when I was tired and sore and just wanted to crawl into bed, had the line at the single booth backed up about 12 vehicles. After 15 minutes, only 4 cars made it through. You do the math. So I left, think I would stop at the next exit. Unfortunately, there were no hotels at the next exit...or the 3 exits past that. About half an hour later I found a new exit, and this one had nobody at all at the booth. I rode up, took my ticket and put it in the slot as directed and...nothing. It wouldn't take the ticket. I tried another slot and still nothing. I screwed around with the stupid thing for 10 minutes and finally pressed the HELP button. And the help I got?? I got to sit and listen to a phone ring, unanswered, for another 5 minutes. Finally, at that point, another car came so I just rode around the barrier. I'll probably end up on America's Most Wanted.Total mileage that day: 1269km, stayed in Howe, IndianaToday was less exciting. I left the hotel and rode to the nearest town which happened to be Sturgis. This is a pretty famous town among bikers and they have a huge motorcycle rally there every year. It's a cute little town, actually, very typical small town America. They even have some brick streets. Anyway, I had to find a pharmacy and buy sunscreen. Apparently my helmet visor doesn't completely block the UV rays and I now have a very attractive visor-shaped tan on my face. I am too sexy for this blog...The rest of the day was spent going fast on the highway, watching as Indiana, Ohio, and&nbsp;Pennsylvania came and went. I have to say, I think Pennsylvania is one of the most beautiful states to drive through. Even on the highway, all you see are beautiful green forests, occasionally broken up by pastures. As you go through the mountains, you see tree tops stretching away for as far as you can see.I passed into New Jersey at sundown and I still hold to my opinion - New Jersey drivers are the worst in America. I am still wound up from the tension of driving here - they go crazy fast (the only vehicles I passed where semi's and some, but not all, RVs), they don't signal, they don't shoulder check, it is just a free for all. I'm glad it was dark so that I couldn't see everything going on around me. I stopped for the night in Budd Lake, NJ.Total mileage today: 1031km - Total for the trip: 12,006km
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1216862160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1216862160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1216862160/tpod.html Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:18:21 -0400 Cross-Continental Trip '08

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Kearney, Nebraska, United States

Today's blog is pretty boring. I left Dubois this morning and did get to enjoy some beautiful scenery for a couple of hours - cattle country straight out of the Western movies. By 1pm though I was on the I-80 heading east and after that there was nothing worth seeing, or taking pictures of for that matter. The only thing on my mind was making as much distance as possible.&nbsp;I hit two bad thunderstorms; the first one only lasted 30 minutes but the rain was severe, causing some drivers to pull over.&nbsp; The second storm, this time in Nebraska, was about an hour with high winds but the rain was lighter. It did serve to drop the temperatures from the low 30sC to the low 20sC, which was a nice break.&nbsp;I stopped for the night in Kearney, Nebraska (about half-way across the state).&nbsp;Total mileage today: 1087km
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1216778400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1216778400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pharmo/1/1216778400/tpod.html Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:13:59 -0400 Cross-Continental Trip '08

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Dubois, Wyoming, United States

So I was only just out of the park when the rains hit - moderately heavy but not to bad. It produced an amazing rainbow (2, actually) for over an hour, arching over the incredible scenery of Grand Teton Park.&nbsp;The ride continued that way for the next hour, and then nature got nasty. The sky went pitch black and a bolt of lightening struck the top of a hill next to the highway! And the rain! It poured! Torrents! I was tired, cold and hungry so I actually sped up a bit, flying through the curves of the valley at 120kph. Twice it felt like the engine lost power for just a second and then picked up, and then I realized what was happening. The water was pooling on the road, in some spots 4 or 5 inches deep, and I was hydroplaning through them. Being thankful for not already having crashed, I did slow down a bit. The lightening show was spectacular though, illuminating the night and striking the nearby hilltops. I stopped&nbsp;for the night in Dubois, Wyoming and enjoyed a greasy burger and cold beer before crashing.&nbsp;Mileage for the day: 553km
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Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United States

I set off this morning for Yellowstone National Park, planning to be there by 10:30am, but once again road work foiled my plan; I arrived just after 12 (still not bad). Looking at the map I received on entry, I figured I could see the sights I was interested in and be gone by 4 or 5. We'll see how that worked out...&nbsp;The first thing I noticed about Yellowstone is that it's kinda ugly...really! All of the old growth trees are dead and the new growth is still short, so the view is dominated by grey, bare, trunks. The second thing I noticed was that distances on the map are deceiving. What I estimated to be a 15 minute drive was really 40 minutes.&nbsp;There are so many animals in the park. The very first example (after the dead rodent on the road) was bison, just standing at the side of the road, eating grass, like a common cow. Entire herds of them! Deer and antelope are also common sights.&nbsp;I got to the geyser areas and I have to say it is really cool. It's like suddenly landing on a different planet - steam shoots and boiling water bubbles and hut mud gurgles from holes in the ground, the earth takes on colours from red to yellow, green to black. There are boardwalks at all of the scenic areas for good reason: in some areas the ground is no more than a 2 inch crust with boiling water just below - to fall through would be (and has been on many occasions) fatal!&nbsp;Old Faithful lived true to its name and erupted within a couple of minutes of its scheduled time. It is impressive - 4-6000 gallons of water shoot out in less than 4 minutes. Funny though, I was expecting it hear some sort of loud whooshing sound or something, and it is actually really quiet.&nbsp;The final spot I went to was the most impressive: Artists point at the lower falls. The waterfall is impressive, but it's the canyon walls that are really cool - brilliant reds, pinks, yellows (how Yellowstone got its name!), greens, blues. The heat and steam of the hot springs at the bottom of the canyon caused the minerals in the walls to take on the colours over time. There is a path that goes down about ¾ of the way to the bottom - it only means climbing down (and hence, back up!) around 300 stairs. I nearly died...&nbsp;So my plan to be gone by 4 fell apart. It was after 7 when I finally ended up riding out of the south gate, and I hadn't even seen half of the park. If you are planning to see Yellowstone, bank on at least 2 full days and be prepared for a lot of driving.&nbsp;I'll continue today's story in the next blog...&nbsp;&nbsp;
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