Western Expedition

The trip across the prairies were rife with poor internet access and fairly flat. Even up around Jasper and Kamloops we couldn't really get any access. We probably should have done more updating in Edmonton, but one of our Calgary contacts turned out to be an Edmonton contact, so we sorta had to compress time a little to meet our peoples. Also, I'm a slow and lazy updating person.

Still, the prairies were not as flat as expected. It might be that since we took the northern route, there was more terrain. Perhaps when we pass back via Calgary and Regina it'll flatten out some. I'll probably get more of an impression of Winnipeg this time, as it was sandwiched between two 8+ hour drives. Memory kinda fails to hold on to much information under that sort of pressure. Saskatoon seemed a little, well flat. It looked like a respectable town, but there wasn't much life to it. Maybe we caught it on an off day, but I don't think I'll be going back that way. Edmonton is not a friendly place. The highway through runs through the industrial section, and much of the city is devoted to keeping the industries running. They really do need workers out there, to the point of offering benefits and bonuses for even burger-flipping jobs. It's just such a hectic and unfriendly place that I don't think I could be comfortable there. The mall is cool and all, but I couldn't spend every day there.

The Jasper park was a pretty cool place. Got some good shots of animals wandering about and waterfalls and such. If it weren't for the city of Jasper itself being all touristy I probably would have enjoyed it better. I suppose that's what we get for hitting it on a weekend. On the other side of some mountains was Kamloops. The only defining feature I really noticed about Kamloops was the start of the #5 higway, probably the most fun road to drive on in Canada. We experienced pressure changes of around eight thousand pascals during about ten minutes, and the valleys are right pretty. We're really just passing through Vancouver now, on the way to the island. When we come back we'll look it over a bit harder.

Asides from a rotten stomach that won't go away, I'm still in good health, after about a month of travel. It's looking like another two weeks for this travel to finish up. Most of this will probably be the travel back across the prairies and north Ontario.