Oh Canada

Here I sit in the cold and it is starting to rain… I just did a phone blog and decided that I should start writing a real blog post so when I get back I can post it. Part of me feels like if I had a laptop I would become a great writer. There is always a story in front of you. It would be easier to write the experience within the moment.

So yesterday, (05.26.07), at about 6:00 PM in the afternoon I left my work parking lot to go to Canada. To tell you the truth I haven’t been excited to go on the trip. Not because going with Gabe wasn’t good enough… it just wasn’t what we both wanted it to be and we can’t force it to be either. We invited a group of people because we really wanted to go somewhere with a group of friends and have a good time. Since all our friends are back in the states it only makes sense that tomorrow morning we are going back to the United States. However I will tell you the story anyways.

We left and drove north. Riverside was insane; traffic was at a stand still. There was only one time that I wondered if I would make it home tomorrow due to Gabe’s driving. Other then that it was great. We arrived in Nelson British Columbia at around 8:15 and we were starving. We walked past Redfish Grill. I remember taking Jen Cunningham to the Redfish the very first time I ever went to Nelson. In fact for some reason I am thinking about her more and more on this trip. Maybe by seeing areas we hung out I realize that we had a lot of fun back then. But that’s a different blog to write about. We ended up entering Baba’s Indian restaurant. I’m not a huge fan of Indian food, but it smelt so good walking past the restaurant. The Mango smoothie / yogurt drink was awesome. I ordered the buttered chicken and they brought out some fresh bread. We sat and ate our food while we tried to figure out what we should do that night. We were unprepared for the trip, so everything was kind of on the seat of our pants. I suggested we find a hostel and stay the night. After dinner we walked down the street and found a hostel. There were only bunk beds available in a dorm style room. We didn’t care we just needed a place to crash. We brought our stuff in and then decided to go and hit the town.

As we walked around downtown Nelson, I noticed it was kind of dead. We decided to try to find a pub and have some of the domestics. We had one pint of something local... I can’t remember what. Then the young female bartender came over and started talking to us. I was ready to go to the next place and ask “So where is the hot spot tonight?” She jokingly said “right here.” She asked if we wanted another beer and we both said yes. Then she went back to just standing around… it was kind of strange, but she did her job... and that was to get us to buy another round. These Canadian women are tricksy.

After the drinks we went to a place called the Spirit Bar on the recommendation of the female bartender. The Spirt Bar was awesome. I had been in the same club years before... back when me and Jen Cunningham had visited Canada... this place had changed… and it changed for the better. It was put together quite nicely. Nice lighting, neat atmosphere. Spokane really needs a place like it. I doubt it will ever get a place of that caliber. This is where I really started drinking. I started talking to random Canadian women. Everyone was really nice and hospitable. I even danced to some of the techno / 80’s retro mix. Around 1:00 in the morning Gabe was ready to go. I felt no reason to stay so we left. We got back into the hostel and I jumped into the top bunk. Below me was a snorer and I forgot ear plugs. As I lay in bed I decided to work on a few text messages and send them out. Ever since I got my new phone drunken texting seems to be a thing of mine. Basically my message to friends back in the states was just saying I am in Canada and I wish you were here. However some got a message that said “I miss you”. I sent text messages to a lot of people and two people I kind of regret, because as much as I miss them like everyone else Its sometimes better off if you don’t tell them such things.

Anyways I do miss you all. I’ve been thinking about friends all day and I wish I was with them right now.

I then feel asleep.

“GGGrrrruuuuuuuurrrrrgggggggssss”, “GGGrrrruuuuuuuurrrrrgggggggssss”, “grrssgaa”

The snoring wouldn’t stop. Was it Gabe? Finally someone shouted “who’s snoring?” “Not me” I said.

Then as I am writing this... it started pouring down in the camp. I moved into the tent and went to sleep. The rest of the blog has been written at a later date.

The snoring stopped for a few seconds and then started up again. The guy who couldn’t sleep with the snoring got up and left soon after. Before he left I said “Have a good day”, he then replied “Have a good summer”. It this point I decided I should get up and see the town on my own for awhile before Gabe gets up. I didn’t want to wake up Gabe either…This was suppose to be a vacation.

I walked around downtown Nelson and found a nice coffee place. I sat and had a tea (local blend) while reading the paper. Nelson was so relaxed. I could sit and have tea alone and feel like other people were watching me. Why do I feel that way when I go into the Service Station or Starbucks...? Why do I feel like people are watching me? (Not paranoid... I promise) Anyways I walked around Nelson a bit more and it was now about 10:30. We were supposed to check out by 11 so I went and woke Gabe up. The hostel had a T.V room in which a woman was watching T.V. I thought I would be friendly and talk to her. We watched some MTV reality show while we talked about Nelson and camping. Then I went and got my things and I and Gabe were off. By this time Gabe was staving and wanted some coffee. We went to the very place I had had tea earlier that morning and this time I got something to snack on. After getting something to eat we decided we needed to get some stuff for camping, brats and beers. We stopped at the Safeway and liquor store and then made out trip out to the campsite.

The campsite was on Kokanee Creek. It seemed like a real clean safe place to stay. We set up the tent and were starving so we tried to get the camp stove started. An hour later we decided to go back into town and get something to eat and then go for hike. Gabe’s all about going on the trails where if you fall you go into a rushing river and die. However, I got some awesome picture from these locations and as all of you can see… I didn’t die. I don’t know how long we walked for, but it felt good to go on a hike and take some pictures. After the hike I was bushed so I took a nap. When I woke up again I got some fire wood and started the fire and also decided to start cooking dinner.

We drank beer and sat around talking and eating. Gabe had to go to the other campsite and jump a car that had ran their battery dry. We really didn’t do much… just sat around and decided that we were going to drive back to Spokane on Sunday because we both wanted to be around friends I started playing with my camera phone and started writing this blog and then it started raining…

It rained all night long and when I woke up in the morning I had a chill in my body. I decided to take a shower at the showers in the campground. Campground showers known to be cold… but not at this campground, no, no, no this shower was hot and felt awesome. I was awake and was able to help Gabe take down the tent. We packed up everything and went back to Nelson for breakfast. We stopped at the Redfish Grill and I have a Greek omelet. It had feta cheese, olives, and spinach in it. It was awesome. The coffee was great too. Soon we were on the road and driving back to Spokane. I sang all the way home... I feel sorry for Gabe. Check out the videos to understand why.

The Canadian trip wasn’t a bust. I think next time I just need to let people know about the trip more then a week ahead of time. Till the end of the year all you need to go to Canada is a birth certificate and driver’s license. As of Jan. 1^st you will need a passport, It’s time to get a passport.

Peace.

Ryan