Jello Wrestling in Sault Ste. Marie

KM 1720

City: Sault Ste. Marie

Story:
I got in Sault-Ste-Marie, also called The Soo, around 8h30 pm, I drove a bit around town, to see how it looks like, hum well, it's not that great, it's industrial, grey, seems to have a lot of poor people, I cannot say that I was impress, my first impression was not good.

So I went to the hi-hostel (auberge de jeunesse) over there and well I had to convince myself to actually just park my car there, it didnt looks like a safe neighborhood, and obviously not a safe place to leave my car all night. But anyway I did, since I was there, and since I'm doing this trip to live some adventures... I got into that hostel and talked with the manager over there, went to see the room, seems ok, it was a big room divided into 2 rooms within which you have 2 single bed and also a bathroom.

So I took a bed for the night, it was 23$, and it actually a bed, 'cuz since it's a hostel, sometimes and most of the times actually you're not alone in your room, they rent every bed to different person, in my room was already someone named Winslow, a nice guy from New York, he's actually doing the opposite of what I'm doing, he flew from New York to Vancouver last May and he's going east, hitch-hiking all across Canada, staying couple days here and there in every Canadian city. Quite a big trip eh!

After I took my shower, eat, etc, and I asked the manager at the hostel if there was anything going on tonight in Soo. He told me that the place to be on a sunday night was the East Gate Bar just besides the hostels, all right then, East Gate it'll be. Got there around 11h30 pm, maybe they were 100 persons at that time, so I just sit and take couple beers at the bar, talk to the people there, around midnight maybe we were 200, and that was probably the most people we were, yeah, around 200.

But around 12h30 pm they start having a JELLO wrestling, yep, a pool full of red jello in which girls from the crowd fight, first time I was seeing that, it's hum, I'd say interesting in is weird kinda way. They were also fight between boys and girls, but mostly girls vs girls.

Anyway it was fun, the people over there were nice, friendly, and the girls are hum, yeah the girls, they have pretty face for sure and I saw 2 or 3 very beautiful ones, however, and I dont want to be mean or anything but they're mostly overweight.

Price of gas:
0.915L

Soundtrack of the day:
Big and Rich - Save a horse, ride a cowboy

Next Destination:
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

On the road towards Northern Ontario!

I left Whitby around 12h45 pm, still sunny, around 28°. Another very nice day to drive, about driving, I drove so far 952 km. And still counting!

So I'm back on the 401, I'm going towards Sault-Ste-Marie, it's going to be about 8hrs, what I'm gonna try is to drive a maximum of 7-8 hrs each time, I don't wanna get to tired of driving.

I stopped to get coffee at Parry Sound, the hometown of Bobby Orr, one of the greatest player that played in the NHL, he played for Boston in the 70's.

And that was pretty much the big event of that drive, lol. I did another stop in Sudbury, and I start seeing a lot of Inukshuk, but I'll put a post just about Inukshuk thing soon.

Price of gas:
0.867L

Soundtrack of the day:
Sam Roberts - Hard Road
Avril Lavigne - Fall to pieces
Matchbox 20 - Unwell
Crazy Frog Song

Why so many Dundas Street?

Someone knows?
In every little or big town they have their Dundas Street, like us in Québec with our Rue De L'Église, anyway just wondering, who's Dundas?

Last Day in Whitby!

KM 775

City: Whitby

Story:
So, my last day in Whitby, tomorrow I'll be gone for Sault Ste-Marie for one night, then Thunder Bay, and finally my next big stop: Winnipeg.

Today I didnt do much, got couple things at the Wal-Mart, Staples, went to the new Whitby Library which is really nice, I really loved it, plus you have a high-speed wifi Internet connection, and I drove around to see a bit more of Whitby, I really like Whitby, it's clean, close to the city, close to some beautiful lake and park, close to the country, people over there are nice. The Brock Street is cool, I don't know if there's much stuff to do at night, but I like the atmosphere in that City.

And there's something I like, first time I seeing that, there's a Centrium Entertainment Center, anyway somethin' like that, the concept is that you have a big Movie Theater, and in front of it kinda little town with many restaurants, candy shop, etc. for everyone like a Shoeless Joe's, Boston Pizza, Montana Grill, etc. with their respective patio (terrasse). Anyway I liked the concept, it looks cool.

And plus the girls in Whitby are hot, like the one that helped me at the tourist information, or even just at the wal-mart, and where I stop for supper, at Shoeless Joe's (kinda family sports bar, the food was good, and the barman/waiter funny, a guy from aylmer) really cute girls over there. And I've been told there's not enough guys for them. So, well I might do something to solve that very intriguing problem, you know me, always there to help the community ;o)

Price of gas:
0.895L

Soundtrack of the day:
Rise Against - Swing Life Away
Cowboy Fringants - Étoile Filante
Nine Inch Nails - The Hands That Feeds
Denna Carter - One day at a time

Next Destination:
Sault Ste-Marie, Ontario, Canada

Niagara Falls... and On-the-Lake!

KM 775

City: Niagara Falls | Niagara-On-The-Lake

Story:
Still sunny and really nice outside. And it's Friday! Anyway doesnt mean that much when you're in vacation, but still. So I left this morning around 11am with Rob and my mom to go see the Niagara Falls. It took us around 2h30 to get there, we got stuck on the 401 couple times, the traffic was slow, but finally we get there.

So the Falls, yep with a S because they're 2, the Canadien one, the big one, really wide (675 m) and the USA one (328 m). The height is around 55 m. Sorry for the US folks but the view and everything is definatly on the Canadian Side ;o) They're impressive and gorgeous, even from the street you get a little wet with the mist the big one produce. Is worth seeing, and if you have the time to do the line-up you could get inboard the maid of the mist, a boat which will bring you very close from the falls, you'll almost be able to touch them, well, maybe not THAT close, but close enough to get you soaked.

Around Niagara Falls you have a lot of entertainment stuff like casino, hall of fame, house of horror, hotels, restaurant, etc. They're something for everyone, the main street is probably Cliffton Hills, there's a lot stuff going on that street.

After that we went to Niagara-On-The-Lake, which is 30 minutes from Niagara, it's a really nice little town, with a lot of flowers, many beautiful flowers everywhere all around the town, is a very gorgeous town, a lot a little boutiques, gift shops, fine dining restaurant especially on Queen Street which is by far the street with the most flowers I've ever seen. And this town is surrounded by Wineries. It's beautiful, I didnt take the time to stop and taste, or do the wineries tour, but one day I will.

That's all folks!

Price of gas:
0.895L

Soundtrack of the day:
Guy Pearce - Slipping Down Life

Next Destination:
Sault Ste-Marie, Ontario, Canada

A day in Toronto!

KM 775

City: Toronto (2 481 494 pop.)

Story:

Another nice day ahead, it's sunny, 24°, perfect to visit Toronto, the metropolis, first we (my mom and I) went to a neighborhood called 'The Beaches', really nice place, big houses, big threes, a beautiful beach (woodbine beach) with a big boardwalk, the Queen Street it's where the shop and little coffee place are, seems like a cool place to hang out. We didnt stay there too long 'cuz my mom had to go back to Whitby to take care of Rob, but we spent a nice time by the beach.

Another interesting over there it's the Tramway, yep, there's a Tramway that goes across the street, I still don't know that to think about that, ok, maybe it's nicer that just a bus, less noise, gas, etc. but the cords (the electric cords? I dont know how it's called) in the air, my gosh it's ugly, it breaks the view all that wiring.

Anyway, after that I went to the subway station, the TTC like it's called, up to the College exit, on Younge Street, I walked from there up to the CN Tower, the Younge Street is like the big street here, a lot a stores, big billboard, shops, restaurant, a lot of people walking, it's a busy street, I just walked it, I already went there couple times so, no needs to visit again, like the CN tower, I took couple pictures of it, but that's it. There at the CN tower place, I met a guy, Spencer Kevin, a professional Hitch-hiker, a really nice dude, for what I remember he went across Canada couple times, gave me couple good advice and tell me some good stories about his own road trip.

Then, I went to the ferry, to go up to the Toronto Island, the Toronto islands are just right in front of TO, and on those island you have an amusement park, beaches, restaurant, trails, etc. It's a pretty cool place, I liked it, I had my supper over there, at the Island Paradise Restaurant. It's probably where you could have the best scenic view of Toronto. It's beautiful.

And that was it for the day, I liked it, I like Toronto, it's clean, people are nice, they're some really beautiful place, I think I could easily live here.

Price of gas:
0.805L

Soundtrack of the day:
Gorillaz - Demon Days
System of a Down - BYOB
Interpol - Slow Hands
White Stripes - Blue Orchid

Next Destination:
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

Arriving in the Greater Toronto Area, Whitby!

KM 775

City: Whitby (87 413 pop.) (Greater Toronto Area)

Story:
I got in Whitby, where my mom lives and where I'm gonna sleep for the next couple days, around 5h30pm, the weather got nicer, now it's sunny and I'd say around 20°, my mom lives there since hum, almost 4 years now, she moved there to learn her english, she's doing pretty good now. Her job over ther is to take good care of Rob, is a 25 year-old guy living with a Cerebral Palsy (paralysie cérébrale), is actually really nice, always a smile on his face. And you should see his room, it's incredible, what he does is that he writes to celebrities all around the world to get their picture with their signature on them. And it's working, so far is having hundreds of them, the walls in his room are now painted with those celebrities faces.

After the welcome hugs and kisses, we went in the evening to Port Perry, a nice little town close to Whitby, it's on the side of the lake Scugog, it's where they shoot the movie 'Welcome to Mooseport' with Gene Hackman and Ray Romano. It's a beautiful place, a lot of nice houses and stores, the view with the lake, many canada goose (outardes). Seems like a nice place to be on vacation.

One thing interesting around here, is that the price of gas, after 11pm, goes down a lot, like 10 cents, instead of being around .90 it was more around .80, that's pretty good. I love that idea.

Price of gas:
0.805L

Soundtrack of the day:
Jann Arden - Where No One Knows Me
Lil Rob - Summer Nights
Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)
Avril Lavigne
Rihanna - Pon De Replay

Next Destination:
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

On the road towards Toronto!

Just got into my first traffic jam, 15 minutes waiting in a line just outside of my Montreal where the highway split like a Y, to go towards Toronto or Ottawa, but 15 minutes not too bad huh, it just I'm not used to traffic jam, in Quebec City, they're none, or almost.

The weather is not really great, moist, cloudy, a little rain here and there, but whatever, I'm on the road, I'm free!!!!

I just heard a song on the radio that I really like, we could almost say that it will be THE song of my road trip, but maybe it's a little fast, we'll see, but it'll be pretty close I think anyway it's the new song from Jann Arden 'Where no one knows me'.

The lyrics are telling exactly how I feel right now about my road trip, about what I'll try to do, what I'd like to do, where I'll like to be... So here's the lyric and try to catch it over the radio, the music is good too.

Jann Arden
Where No One Knows Me

Got my suitcase
Got my dog
I'm packing up my life so far

Got my pictures
Got some cash
I'm getting out of here at last

Got my hands on the wheel, got my foot on the pedal
Gonna drive til I drop, til the tires turn to metal
Gonna sleep when I'm dead, gonna laugh like the devil
Gonna find some place where no one knows me

Gonna stop when the last drop of gas turns to vapor
Gonna ride til I can't even seem to remember
Who I was when I left and it don't even matter
Gonna find some place where no one knows me

Feel the sunburn on my skin
I feel the wind whip through my grin

Took the rear-view mirror down
I wrapped it in my wedding gown

Got my hands on the wheel, got my foot on the pedal
Gonna drive til I drop, til the tires turn to metal
Gonna sleep when I'm dead, gonna laugh like the devil
Gonna find some place where no one knows me

Gonna stop when the last drop of gas turns to vapor
Gonna ride til I can't even seem to remember
Who I was when I left and it don't even matter
Gonna find some place where no one knows me

Here We Go, first stop: Montréal!

KM 269

City: Montréal (1 876 932 pop.)

Story:
My first ride with the BillBaBong a little 2 hours and a half, it went pretty well, I'm surfing on the excitement of this trip, just thinking about all the new stuff I'm gonna see, try and discover along the way, my god do I feel free! I love it! I'm having a blast just thinking that I actually done it, I'm GONE for real!

I got in Montréal around 3pm, it was cloudy outside, very moist (as usual these days), I took the Metro (subway) to go visit the City a little, because I'm just staying one night here, my goal is not to visit Montréal anyway, I already know Montréal and it's close to where I usually live, and I've never been a big fan of Montreal, I really like some places but I... I dont know, I usually say in a funny that Montréal stinks (montéal ça put!) but well, it's not really true, it's just I've never felt really comfortable there, for no particular reason. Maybe it's the attitude, the 'montreal attitude' as we used to say with my friends in Quebec City, hehehe I dont know.

So I was saying I took the Metro and my first stop was to see the new Library they just build (La Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec) it's beautiful, big, really clean, I loved it, and I tried for the first time my wifi connection with my iBook, so cool! I think I'm definatly gonna worship that feature... Free Internet almost everywhere!

After I walked from there to the office of Tourisme Jeunesse to get my Hostelling International Membership (ma carte pour aller coucher dans les auberges de jeunesse) to sleep in the Hostels across Canada and everywhere else, so if you're planning to get some sleep in those place, we'll probably see each other in the next couple weeks! So now, I'm all set!

Then I met with my brother and his wife on St-Catherine Street, they live there since, hum, 4 years maybe, anyway, we walked down there up to Crescent to get together with some of my friends that lives now in Montréal as well, all good buddies from Quebec City! We had a few Corona, a good burger, a nice chat in a pub on Crescent, the Winston Churchill Pub to be exact.

And I got my first pic of a beautiful girl, actually it was our waitress at the pub, geneviève, if I remember it well, anyway, I'll try to take some pics of the nice girl from all across Canada, we all love a beautiful smile right?

So that's pretty much sums it up for Montreal, like I said, it was just a quick stop to see my brother and my friends.


Price of gas:
0.954/L

Soundtrack of the day:
Damien
Rise Against - Swing Life Away
System of a Down - Question!

Next Destination:
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

So long, Quebec City!

KM 0

City: Québec City (Hometown, 576 395 pop.)

Story:
Finally, after months of thinking about leaving, and weeks of preparation, I'm going today for my big road trip across Canada and the US West Coast. I'm a little behind my schedule, but whatever, it takes time to prepared a big road trip like that one, and since I'm the big organization guy, (some would say a little slow) it takes me a little longer to be reaaaally ready.

So today I'm leaving Quebec City, my hometown, with my station wagon, the 'BillBaBong', he's packed ('cuz yeah, it's a he), the odometer shows 122 375 km, the tank is full, everything's under control, I'm excited and nervous, a bit scared too, first time I'm going all alone for a big trip like that one. So, you know, you don't exactly know what to expect. But that's the fun part about going on a road trip with nothing really plan ahead, you just go with the flow. And I'll see where's the life's gonna bring me!

Here's the tentative plan for the next few weeks:
Quebec City
Montréal
Toronto
Winnipeg
Regina
Saskatoon
Edmonton
Calgary
Vancouver
and then the US West Coast:
Seattle
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Las Vegas

I hope you'll enjoy following me going coast to coast, feel free to leave a comments, a suggestion for my trip, or something worth seeing in your city, which could be a festival, a beach, natural wonders, and so on. I'm free as a bird! I dont have a schedule, so I'll stop when and wherever I want!

Gotta go ;o)

Price of gas:
1.014/L

Soundtrack of the day:
Green Day - Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Suburbs - Halle Berry

Next Destination:
Montréal, Québec, Canada