The Van Blog

So I’m back, eh?  North of the border, but on the wrong side!  Ontario presently, and hopefully Alberta in a week or so.

My apologies for not blogging much lately.  My computer is ill and I am facing a long, long drive from Ontario to Alberta without the internet.  (This mandatory break from facebook is a welcome respite, but whether I need to beg, borrow, or steal the blog will carry on).  I will valiantly continue blogging the old-fashioned way—paper and pen—and update whenever I can.

Me strikin' a pose in Ottawa.

I have been in Ottawa with J.T. for the past week, doing Ottawa-type things like checking out the Hill and eating Beaver Tails.  Tomorrow, J.T. will board a plane for Kamloops and I will pack the van and start out alone for the first time.

I actually haven’t been alone in the van before…  I had Jenner from Van City to San Francisco, Jagmo during the holidays, and J.T. ever since.  Now it will be all TJ all the time—which means music of my choice and long bouts of talking to Bebe for company.  (I like to cheer her on if she hits a higher gear properly and makes it up a hill).  I’m more curious than nervous—how long will it take?  How flat will the prairies actually be?  How much more can the van take?  These are all important questions.

Beaver Tails in the Byward Market are good eating. Nutella = TJ's best friend...

I have absolutely no idea where I will sleep nights or how long it will take to hit Alberta, or what will happen when I reach it, but all one can do is check the oil, fill the tank, and carry on, right?  I guess-timate six days before I show up on my friend Miller’s doorstep in Calgary—totally broke but absolutely blissful!   

It is time to work again for awhile.  To pick up a regular joe-job and save up again for Van Plan round 2! (During which I again disappear into the US and other parts of Canada for further shenanigans).  But don’t worry!  The blog continues, always.  There will be fun times ahead—and regular times, too.  I have to fix the van up a bit before the next round.  It has leaky windows and a broken fridge—and I very much enjoy cold beverages and the feeling of waking up with dry feet.

So wish me luck (or at least interesting moments), and I will write to you from some prairie place real soon.