West Coast Life
Saturday, October 28, 2006
The Downtown Vancouver Skyline
Long time since the last post - about 3 weeks or more I think. Myself and Brian are now settled into our New Apartment. We now have a steady internet connection and thus it is posting time.
It has now been 5 weeks today that we packed up the wheels and hit the open Canadian roads for the west coast, cant believe that its been so long - doesn't feel like it.
For the first 3 weeks we were holed up in a hotel. At first I was like "yeah hotels are awesome, its like a vacation" but after the 3 weeks It was starting to get pretty shitty. We couldn't cook anything for ourselves, all our stuff was jammed into a corner and stacked up, no clothes were unpacked etc. We were eating out pretty much every night. Our new apartment is a basement suite located in Lynn Valley, North Vancouver. There are mountain bike trails just up the road, a mall with all the stores we need just down the road. There are 3 ski hills within 20 minute drives and golf courses close by too.
The Bridge leading to firepit, BBQ and deck (backyard)
Looking down the Chamberlain Street
The stream in our backyard
The past week we have visited IKEA 3 times (my first ventures to this Swedish creation). I knew Ikea sold furniture but I had no idea that the store was monstrous - this thing was about the same size as a mall.
As you knew I had a job working on a big Highway project. Brian now also has a job with the same company as I do but just a different project (he is working on a power plant in the jungle a bit further north of Vancouver). I have been working for 3 weeks now, with my day starting at 6am each day (5am I wake up) and then I usually finish around 530-6ish. The first week of work was relatively slow - it consisted of orientation style activities and office work. Since then I have started to get out onto the field more and more. This past week I have been assigned to the Drill and Blast Squadron. It is our job to blow up the rock, drill the rock and then install and grout any rock anchors that are used to hold concrete retaining walls to the bedrock (all fun stuff). It is quite a lot different from what I am used to, my previous job consisted of producing building plans and performing design calculations. This job involves equipping myself with steel toe boots, hard hat and then storming around a job site. We are in charge of Drilling, Installing, Grouting and then Testing all the rock anchors within our job segment. This segnemt of the highway (Segment 2) has the most anchors of the project - 3600 in total. There are lots of opportunities to do things I haven't done before and it is a different learning experience to that of the office. For instance last thursday there was a situation where we had to install some anchors on the face of the mountain thus someone needed to be tied off just to help guide them in. Taking the training course in this I jumped at the opportunity. I was strapped into a harness, tied off and then dangled over the mountain edge to help feel the rock anchor into the drill hole, it was all cliffhanger and shit.
A conc. retaining wall with all the Rock Anchors sticking out from its face.
The Rock Anchor Kubota - a 4 wheel drive golf cart (45km/h downhill = raw power)
The view while testing Rock Anchors
These pictures were all taken early last week - while it was sunny. Since then the heavens have opened and it hasnt stopped pissing down. It just rains like crazy - and it doesnt stop. Last friday there was water running off the mountain face and it looked like water falls all along the edge of the road. I can see myself missing the cold but dry eastern winters.
I still havent adjusted to West Coast Life just yet. My TV schedule is still all messed up. I miss all my soccer on saturday mornings. I havent fully had time to really explore the downtown area of Vancouver. We have toured around most of the exterior though, while visiting apartments we were all over the place. The other night we drove past a filming set (not sure what it was though). There are movies being filmed all over this place - last week Fantasic 4 (Jessica Alba and Co.) were in town, along with people like Charliez Theron, Paris Hilton, Scarlett Johanson etc. I am going to have to get myself downtown more often to see whats going on.
Well I think this update covers most of what we have been up to for the last month, hopefully now I can keep up with my updates as certain events occur. I shall post some more pictures of work and the city as they come in. Until later -R
Elliott Street
Laurel Street Crossing - the Bridge that my previous boss in NB built while he lived in BC. Mirrors on the edge to reflect the sky and make the bridge "disapear".
Author: Rob » Comments:
Pit Stop 7 - The Home Stretch
Saturday, October 07, 2006
The bow valley beer can and the real view, car of Andy RichardI left of with us having a few brews with Andy and his compatriots. This Bow Valley beer was cheap and for a cheap beer it was surprisingly good...do I see sales for this on the east coast? OH YAH, YOU BETCHA! I do warn you though, this beer provides you with stinky farts the following morning.
We (myself, Brian, Andy, Andy’s friends Kim, Ally, Jody and 9 Stitches Niki) headed to downtown Banff. This girl has the nickname of 9-Stiches Niki because she cut her leg while back and got 9 stitches, so she srecieved the nick name of 9 stitches niki. I don’t really know the names of the pubs we went too but there were two of them. On the way home I was all pumped hoping to see some more "big game" but no dice...there was nothing out.
We were in bed by 3am and then up again by 730am. At 830 we (Brian, Andy, 9 Stitches and myself) were heading up the Banff gondola (http://www.banffgondola.com/) for some breaky. These bacon and eggs were damn good. Following this breakfast break we took a walk along a boardwalk type feature to the summit of Sulphur Mountain. I think I should have brought my oygen pack for this little hike. The view of the valley and town of banff was amazing. At the summit we were at an elevation of 7486 feet above sea level. Following the trip back down the gondola we said farewell to Andy and the banff bonanza was concluded. I would like to thank Andy for his hospitality and letting us crash at his place, we hope to see you out in Kelowna and Big White within the next few months.
Brian, Rob and Andy - Mnt. Sulphur
Banff from Mnt. Sulphur
Rob & Brian atop Mnt. Sulphur
We were on the road by 1030 local time and this would be our final day of driving to Vancouver. The road down the mountains was 2 lanes for the most part thus speeds were not as fast as we had been used to during our previous travels. There were a few sections of road where the red hawk was really lacking its usuall bevy of power. Even on flat sections trying to pass trucks it would not get up past 80km/hr. I thought I was in trouble, but I put this down to heavy load and the thin air from being up in the mountains.
Views as we went from Banff to Vancouver
At one point we came around a bend in the road and there were all these cars just abandoned in the ditch or side of the road, there were people running all over the place with their cameras - I was confused. However it was people stopping to see the pacific salmon heading up the river to their spawning location. We decided to take advantage of these people pulling off and contiuned with a clean stretch of road. The next stop we wanted to make was at Craigellachie. It was at this location that the last spike was driven for the CP railroad. It now meant that there was a rail road connecting the east and west coasts of canada. The date was Nobemer 7th, 1885 - this railroad is still active today.
We stopped for supper at Kamloops, filled up with gasoline and then were onto the home stretch towards vancouver. After driving a distance of 5559km spanning 7 provinces we are now situated within the Comfort Inn on Capitalano Road, North Vancouver. It was an interesting trip in which I saw some amazing scenery. I think when the time calls for it the trip back to the east coast shall be made via the states.
Author: Rob » Comments:
Pit Stop 6 - The Day of Rest
As I am getting behind in my blog posts I shall make it quick and to the point...put in a lot of pictures so you can all see it instead of reading.
Today we were up at 730am local time or 930 Atlantic Time – it felt like a huge sleep in compared to what we were used to. Andy, using his abilities was able to get us booked onto one of the Brewster (tourism company) bus tours. This tour we were booked onto wasthe Columbia Ice field.
We drove ourselves to the bus station and were off onto the tour. The tour departed at 845am and returned by 6pm. It was a full day. The trip up to the ice field was about 2.5 to 3 hours long making stops at numerous sights along the way. The first stop was at Lake Louise. This lake is fed by glaciers, and due to the sediment etc that is washed into the lake it is an emerald green color. It was here that the Lake Louise Chateau is situated…a big fancy hotel. Rooms range from $800 to & $1500 per night. As me and Brian were walking thru the hotel everyone was staring at us, since we looked like lumberjacks (see picture). After leaving Lake Louise we make our way up thru the Rocky Mountains, we climbed to an elevation of approx. 7000 feet above sea level. For those who care, it is at this elevation that vegetation stops growing thus all that was around was rocks and sediment left from the glaciers.
Me @ Lake Louise
Chatteau Lake Louise
On our bus were myself and Brian and then 6 to 8 asians, all very excited and equiped with an array of photographic tools. This particular tour cost a total of $132 (or close to it) - I think I slept the whole way home, so I can only emagine what the others on the bus thought of me.
Once back at Andy's he ordered us each "the best burger ever". For some reason I thought it was a buffalo burger- but I dont think it was. Either way they were pretty damn good.
I am currently sitting on Andy’s couch drinking a local beer – Bow Valley Lager. I bought a 6 pack for $6.30, a very economical beer that is. I haven’t showered yet and we plan to head out to the bars shortly. The events from this point will be spoken about with tomorrows post.
Me and Brian on the Columbia Icefield
The Rockies 
More of the Rockies
A Deer in Banff
Author: Rob » Comments:
Pit Stop 5 - finally
1450km and 15 hours later we arrived in Banff from Winnipeg. We drove through Manitoba, Saskatchewan and then ½ of Alberta. We were expecting a long day but it was one hell of a lot longer than I thought it would be.
We got up @ 6am (Atlantic time) had some Timmy Hobo for breakfast, gassed up and then were tearing down the highway at 730am (530am central time). As it was so early we traveled for about 2 hours in the dark. There was plenty of road kill – all of it seemed to be mown down by a huge truck in front of us. Total annihilation it was.
At 730ish local time the sun started to rise over the plains, it was actually quite a site. We decided that today we would only stop to eat and take a leak. Any photo shots would have to be taken by me on the fly from inside the car.
I had always imagined that the plains were totally flat, with nothing but grass and the occasional cow or something. To begin with it was actually quite hilly and rolling; there were still miles and miles of grass with absolutely nothing on them.
We stopped for lunch at a Husky Gas Truckers Stop, ate quick, filled up with “go-go-juice” and were once again tearing down the highway. After passing through Regina and then Moose Jaw about an hour later the plains suddenly started to flatten out; as I imagined it to be. They call this area (along with Montana etc) the Big Sky country and rightly so. You could see for miles with no end in sight. We decided that we wanted to have a picture of us in the fields of the Great Plains – thus we decided to pull of the highway and drive down a dirt farm road, a road that was very rough and at one point I thought the red hawk was going to sustain some damage.
That was our last stop before supper in Medicine Hat, Alberta. We now knew we were close to our destination of Banff. Back onto the road again we were once again tearing down the highway and basically owning the road.
We knew the day before that we would hit Calgary right at the peak of rush hour, it sucked. I spent about 1 hour going at speeds less than 20km/h and it was all constant brake, clutch, gas, brake, clutch, gas – my knees were pretty sore at the days end. I thought that with the Rocky Mountains being so huge I would see them rising up from the plains but it wasn’t until we had passed thru Calgary that I saw the Rockies in the horizon. Even though we were quite a distance away they looked very formidable. The closed we got to Banff the larger the mountains became, they were slowly engulfing us. I knew the Rockies were big but until you are within a hundred feet of the base of them you just have to stop to take them in…WOW.
We located Andy’s residence and set up HQ however we would not go to sleep just yet, it was off the local for a few beers and some hockey. After 5 pints and at about 12 (2am Atlantic time – we had been up for 19 hours) we made our way back home. I thought Andy was joking when he said “watch it boys, we might see some wildlife en route to the apartment”, BUT as we made our way home a deer came crashing out of the bushes and onto the street in front of us. All I could think to say was “Holy f*#k A deer”, I was so amazed to see a deer it was all I could talk about. It was as though I had never seen a deer in m life. After than excitement it was time for sleeps.
More Plaines
A Train
The Little House on the Pararie
Searching for the Rockies
The Rockies
Author: Rob » Comments:
Pit Stop 4
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Today we were making our way to Winnipeg, Manitoba. We were up at 6am, out to the cars by 7am and then after we had breakfast we were on the road by 8am. According to Map Quest the trip from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg was supposed to take approx. 9 hours. We made it in 8 hours (this time included 1 hour for lunch, and a couple of other short stops for pictures.
The scenery for much of the trip from Thunder Bay to Kenora consisted of Rocky base, trees on top with lakes scattered amongst them. The roads were relatively quiet thus traveling went at a good pace. One of the interesting ‘things’ we passed was the ‘Atlantic Watershed’. It is from this point that all the water flows south to the Atlantic Ocean.
We stopped for lunch in Kenora. While I was in the car sorting out my satellite radio Brian had found a trinity of natives. Not quite sure what they were talking about but they asked us for a tooney (as they said they were robbed by a gang of kids). We gassed up and then headed towards our 4th Province…Manitoba. The Manitoba highway was huge – 2 lanes but the median and shoulders were huge. All the drivers were really laid back cruising along at 100 or so. If that was in Quebec they would be bombing along at 130 or so. The scenery for the first 30 – 45 minutes of being on the Manitoba highway was much like New Brunswick, trees and a grassy shoulder/median. However all of a sudden the tress suddenly disappeared and everything went flat…the beginning of the plains? Along this highway we passed the longitudinal center of Canada.
We are staying at the Howard Johnston Express Winnipeg tonight. We just came back from a tour of Winnipeg. We drove down and around the main streets. We got to see the football stadium where the Winnipeg Blue Bombers play, the MTS center (not sure what happens there)
Tomorrow is going to be a long, long day. We aim to drive from Winnipeg to Banff, where we plan to stay at Andy's place. Map Quest states this as a 15 hour journey. We are hoping to reduce this by a few hours, and as we are still operating on Atlantic Time we would gain 3 hours once in Alberta. Well thats it tonight. My blog isn't uploading pictures so its making me mad thus im gonna quit and post as is...
Author: Rob » Comments:
Pit Stop 3
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Right, first order of business; my previous two blogs. After re-reading them I came to realise that not only were a lot of grammatical errors, spelling errors. Overall the english was pretty crap. I blame this to lack of sleep and diminishing red bull resources. Onto today's post.
@ The Hearst Welcome Center
Today we were on the road by 830am (atlantic time). Since we only had a 6 hour trip to Thunder Bay we took our time and slept in one whole extra hour. Once on the road and up to highway speeds we were cruising along at a decent pace. The sceenery consisted of a lot of trees with no civilization anywhere. The only wildlife that we have seen on the highway since leaving New Brunswick has been a bunny rabbit. However after choosing to run the wrong way it ended up under the front tyres of Brians Honda Accord. Longlac was the first sign of civilization since leaving Hearst, and even then there was very little there. That seemed to be a reoccuring theme...we would enter a village then leave it just as quick as entering. Brian had done some prior research and found that Beardmore was home to the largest snowman ever. This excited us and we had to stop for some pictures.
Frosty the Giant Snowman
From Beardmore to Thunder Bay we were again into the woods. Brian let me lead the way for this part of the journey so that was exciting. The last 100km of this highway was called the "Terry Fox Courage Highway", a section of highway dedicated to Terry Foxs' effort to help find a cure for Cancer. Background Info: After losing his leg to Cancer at the age of 18, Terry Fox planned to run across Canada from St Johns Newfoundland to Vancouver British Columbia (5300 miles). Starting in April 1980 he ran 26miles per day, by June (3339 miles complete) he had reached Ontario, Thunder Bay area. However due to recurring Cancer he had to end his run.
At the Terry Fox Monument The View from the Terry Fox monument looking over Lake Superior
Tonight we are staying at Econolodge, Thunder Bay. Every other hotel that we called (granted we only called 3) were fully booked up, we figured that on a tuesday that there would be plenty of room. We were wrong. That being the case we found accomodation at the "economical" lodge. Once we entered the room it smelled like wet towels, some quick thinking led to us turn on the A/C fan and open the windows to vent out the room. We went for supper at montana's steak house to give the room time to freshen up. Once we got back to the room it still smelled the same as it did when we left, however, now is was both -20 oC as well as being stinky.
Tomorrow we are heading to Winnipeg, Manitoba and with it entry into the central time zone (a 2 hour difference compared to New Brunswick). Mapquest tells us to expect a 9 hour trip. I picked up a satellite radio today so I shall have to get that activated and give it a test run. We are planning to stay at another hotel and hopefully we will have some more internet access to update the blogs. I shall leave you with on last shot of an old church on a peninsula just outside of Longlac. Until Later, R out.
I took this picture with the sepia option on my camera.
Author: Rob » Comments:
Pit Stop 2
Monday, October 02, 2006
Today was a long 12 hour day of driving through Northern Ontario. That is basically it - a whole lot of driving (really too tired to write much more). Here we are sitting on a boat dock @ matawawa.
Here is a huge buffalo. Somehow I totally didnt see it but instead saw brian swerve off the road to get pics. They are some big balls (check brians blog for another shot).
We decided that two vehicles were just a hassle. THUS when we saw this Winnabego we couldnt resist trading for it. If its good enough for Barf and Lonestar (Spaceballs) then its good enough for myself and Brian.
Author: Rob » Comments:
Pit Stop 1
2 Provinces down (New Brunswick and Quebec) 5 to go. Destination BC section 1 took 11 hours.
The expedition started at 7am when I said my goodbyes to parents, brother and sister and proceeded to hit the open road. The Red Hawk (myself) was riding low with the mass load it was carrying, but all the gear I wanted to take was crammed, jammed and strategically packed in.
I was to meet the Gunner at the Big Stop Irving just across the Quebec Border however due to being a tad tardy he would not be there before I. This lead was not to last long as the Dessert Strom (Brian) was breaking all land speed records and rapidly approaching.
The cars were gassed up and Quebec was looming – crazy drivers were very close. Traveling in convoy Dessert Storm led the way followed by the Hawk. The plan was to drive a steady economical speed, however once on the highway and up to speed we were battling for position with Quebecois residents. Once the brian entered the fast lane there was no looking back. Montreal took us about an hour to get through. As Brian had all the directions to our pit stop I had to keep him within distance…I lost him. After some evasive maneuvering I once again re-located the Gunner.
The intrepid travellers.
We are staying the night at Brian’s relatives house just outside of Ottawa (about 30 minutes).
Tomorrow the plan is to hit the road by 7am (6ET) and then we shall probably snag some breakfast and a couple of coffees once on the road. Our destination tomorrow is Hearst, which is located in Northern Ontario.
Author: Rob » Comments:
