Day 29 - The River!

Well on this day we stayed in Leavenworth Washington and got there fairly early which gave us lots of time to go swimming in the rapids (and gain lots of bruises/cuts) from them which was totally worth it after seeing and swimming with all the large fish we found. It was pretty sweet with a couple small frights here and there like when my sister was whisked twenty or so meters down the river while she looked like a rag-doll bouncing off the rocks. We had fun and ate snacks as our final dinner with some pizza all together as well as got some awesome photos. The place looked exactly like the Okanogan which I miss so much so that was cool. Reminded me of old times on my Oma and Opa Spykers old place..

Day 28 - Yellowstone! HAWAT!?

We woke up early and had a pancake breakfast at the KOA that they supplied for a couple bucks which was totally awesome then we headed a little further into the town of Cody to check out the Buffalo Bill Historical something-rather that had five museums conected by one main lobby, we spent quite a few hours there but only saw three of the museums.

One of my favorite parts about the Yellowstone wildlife museum there was the comments box asking what they should do about the wolf problem (all killed off in the U.S. so brought in wild ones from Canada to live free in Yellowstone but still roam and damage farms etc.) in which I put a comment about creating them a colony on Mars or something random and stupid like that so that it would go up on the wall with the rest of the comments :P

Yellowstone itself was too spectacular to properly describe or capture through photos...So I took a video :P Still cant upload videos though unfortunatly so you will have to ask me about that one, its of Old Faithful (the awesome Geyser that goes off ever hour and a half) going off in front of us. So we had ice cream and explored some thirty or so geysers under the sweltering sun as well as cursed and swore numerous times after rushing back to meet up with others and seeing a massive unpredictable one go off that we had passed maybe ten minutes or less before for a good solid five minutes or longer with people only metres away, on the boardwalk where we were >:|

So those were all really cool but what was better was when we drove out of there and drove past two bison on the side of the road I could/would have reached out and touched if they werent so dangerous. Then also turning the corner to see a Grizzly Bear digging up ant hills to later turn through a field to see a number of Elk as well as another field full of nearly if not more then one hundred wild mule deer. A number of which were really close to our R.V.

Too bad we couldnt find any place to stay in Yellowstone though, we ended up having to drive a number of hours when we left there at 7:30 searching numerous campsites to no avail due to no vacancy and slept in a Wal-Mart superstore parking lot :| Its a strange sensation going into a Wal-Mart after twleve at night and at seven in the morning to brush your teeth. You sure do get some odd looks :S

Day 27 - KOA/New BFFs

So on this day we got up and brought my cousin next door to the hospital (we were fortunate) and got her check out cause she couldnt walk on her knee that completely swelled the day before so we got here crutches and heard it had something to do with the ligiments in her knee.

We drove a long ways on this day as well I do believe with a quick stop at a notable rest stop that had a replica of the Lewis and Clark expedition boat with some other cool info on it there.

Then we went to stay at my favourite campground yet, finally a KOA!!! And the pool was awesome and everything was awesome, and I met some really cool people...that eventually led to some talk behind my back among the convoy and my new nickname as proclaimed by my Uncle that leads me to roll my eyes everytime. The nickname itself you would have to ask me in person because then I would have to explain the whole story to you in which I would prefer not to tell a number of the ten people following this and whoever else they wish to share it with >.>

Should start keeping track of names <.< Ive already forgotten most of them

*Patrick Morris (Cool poor guy who claimed he could sence lighting)

*Will? (Guy from Niagra Transit :P )

*Two girls who thought I was a Tom...(LMAO)]

*Chealsea
*Ricky (Cousins)

*Cameron
*Sheridon (Siblings of C and R)

There is a story to be told behind every one of these names btw if you wish to know.

Day 26 - R-R-Roadkill Cafe

So on this day we drove a long ways and had some trouble finding a campground like we normally do considering how late we normally start to consider looking for one and ended up in another cheap little (well looked cheap) campground called the Crazy Woman or something, which the desk lady was >.>

One thing to note is the couple THOUSAND bikers we saw this day and are still seeing three days later and a couple hundred miles away. They were all going to the yearly Sturgis bikers rally there and I have a funny photo of my Opa in his bright orange shirt making small talk with some Hells Angels that my Aunt took LMAO. But wow there were some pretty cool guys but we also saw a number of sketchy Mexican bike mobsters and american equivilents alike.

There was a nice pool at this place that I forgot to mention but the storm prevented us from being able to swim there.

Day 25 - Super Storm

So lets see if I can remember back this far....Hrm. Dont remember where I got up and cant tell from the ending of my last post, but I believe this may have been the 12 hour drive day...
Anyways we ended up at an open campground (like the $3 but $15 instead) where you can camp anywhere and there is no office....and there were some sketchy people there. Like DIRT poor, so much so that they looked like they lived there which they were until they can afford to move on to the next stop on their way to Alaska from where they started in Kentucky.

Upon arriving there were storms coming from three directions and the place was the scariest campground ive ever been to not including the residents, so naturally I put my creative mind to work and made a horror film with my cousin :P Would post it but my computer doesnt like the format so maybe another time...

Anywho that night the storm hit us from all sides and there was almost no rain but lighting stricking 6 feet from the R.V. and I was freaking out walking to the washrooms and between campers like no tomorrow....which there may not have been for me had I been struck. :S
Video and photos of me and my cousins trying to summon lighting you will have to ask me around my laptop sometime to see....but you would have to remember to ask me cause I wont volunteer to show you them considering how hilarious and foolish we look :P

Day 24 - Trek Home Day 2 (The Lighthouse Premium Outlets)

Although there was no American Eagle there were another hundred and twenty stores the majority of which were clothing stores to chose from. We went nuts. It was fun, got some cool stuff. I now have plans to clean out my room and the majority of my old clothes within a week of arriving home. Since then we have been driving non-stop for a number of hours, longer then most of the other days because of our recent travel back in time. Where will we sleep tonight? I don’t know. But I pray they have internet.

CONT. And we don’t. Perfect. Well then you guys can wait another day or two. We covered seven hundred kilometres today by the way even though we spent a number of hours at the mall. I also get to get up an hour later tomorrow due to our time travel which is rad.

*Forgot to mention that the mall was next to what could very well have been a nuclear power plant with the massive smoke stack that was fairly short but super wide.

Day 23 -Trek Home Day 1

We finally headed out for home with two stops along the way in mind but not after going to my Aunts parents house on Frogs Hollow Side Road (had to mention the road name, I wish I lived on a street with that cool a name) where we had awesome sandwiches and learnt about their cool cat named Ivan that was more like a dog then a cat. This is where we also said our goodbyes to my Uncle and Aunt/cousins who had left us before the reunion then joined back up with us from there because they were staying another week or so. Then we headed out late (at eleven) for the days journey that lead us across the border to Flint where we swam and spent the night. I think the mini-lake we swam in there is worth mentioning. It was more or less a giant pond and was maybe the size of the panorama pool and had a dark blue/green nasty color that kept you from being able to see a foot in front of you under water as well as a small (in comparison to the pond) circle that constantly bubbled that my Uncle had made a joke about being where the sewage pumps in. I almost believed it too, that’s how gross this water looked at first glance, but after asking someone about it and taking a better look at the shade of the water it looked more of a blue color and smelled like a number of the pools we had swam in previously I learned that the water was like it was because of the chemicals they put in to keep it clean and to prevent algae from growing while the bubbles and swirls were aerators (or something like that) which kept the water moving giving it currents and such to prevent it from becoming static.

Day 22 - Tobermory and THE GROTTO

THIS was definitely one of the high lights of my trip! It was radical (I use awesome and cool/neat too much >.> ….I need a thesaurus… so I am going to replace those words with radical from now on I just decided). So first we drove two hours in two very crammed vehicles to Tobermory where we looked in shops, bought some clothes and ate all you can eat fish and chips. Then as the day grew on we headed to the coolest natural wonder in Ontario as far as I’m concerned. We hiked a kilometre in and arrived at this cool cove where super smooth white rocks and freezing water with eroded rock formations all around us. After some swimming and cliff jumping (which is definitely not illegal and where there where definitely not signs saying not to >.>) we climbed over a large formation into The Grotto. Too bad I didn’t get a full picture of the grotto itself but if not up right away come back to this post to see some from inside where you could jump ten feet into the deep water. Or dive into the glowing blue light six feet below and follow a tunnel twenty five feet to come up on the other side of the formation. It seemed like a stupid thing at first and I wouldn’t have done it a year ago but it’s a lot easier to bring yourself to do something like that when you don’t let fear and common-sense hold you back. So I swam through the tunnel with my Uncles with some goggles (its close to impossible without them) holding my breath for a good amount of time and it was especially rad. You follow the light through the rock and come up on the other side to swim back around to do it again but I only did it once after having my goggles fill almost immediately after jumping in the first time and freaking myself out big time. So pretty much I did a number of things that could have gotten me killed and loved every minute of it (don’t worry mom my uncles were there to make sure I didn’t do something tooo stupid, like what they were doing >.> well no but I wouldn’t have gone backwards through the tunnel if I where them). There was also a seventy foot tunnel but you need fins if you want to even bother attempting and the people we heard from who had done it said they started regretting it about three quarters of the way through.

When we finally hiked out of there it was almost seven or so (we left at eight or so that morning for Tobermory) and we raced back towards the campsite to see if we could make the eight o’clock showing of Harry Potter Six but missed it and got Sundays at dairy queen instead. Then we went back to the camp and reminisced before heading to bed.

Song Of The Day

The Ghetto (But replace all the times they say Ghetto with Grotto and you've got what my Uncles were singing all day lol)

By: Elvis

Lyrics :

Day 21 - Sauble Beach

I guess I should begin by apologizing. It took this long to get another one out there because I happen to be a very busy boy. Although we had internet on the day this post should have gone up (four or so days ago) I was two hours away from the campground for close to twelve hours. And those twelve hours were AwEsOmE. We went to my Aunt and Uncles favourite beach, its called Sauble Beach on lake Huron and although the scenery doesn’t compare to the one with the dunes on lake Michigan the water is super clear, warm (once you get used to it) and the sand is perfect with no rocks visible…at all…anywhere. It was so awesome that we were there all day and have classy matching sunburns to prove it. The sand was so great that me and my Uncle were eventually lead to build “Sand Art” and sand Inuk shucks LOL which then turned into writing messages in the sand; my uncles expressing his love for his wife and me to two people that I never got to properly thank for their awesome birthday present.

So after buying a floatie or two and spending the entire day there, we stopped by The Patch Clothing store (like the one we have in Victoria but cooler) and headed back to the campsite.

That night I went on a six kilometre bike ride on a quest for milk that I feel the need to mention. That’s all.

Day 20 - Keady Market

So today we got up early and both sets of my Uncles and their spouses + children took me and Miranda into the middle of nowhere... We drove for fourty minutes through straight farmland much like the ones we've seen before but with many more hills until we hit one with about a thousand cars in it... Next to the biggest farmers market Ive ever seen, it was pretty neat. So we hung around there for a couple hours and my relatives bought some neat stuff and I bought a Shaved Ice and what-not. Then we went to this small (compared to the other one we went to) art gallery only displaying Tom Thompsons art as well as a mans water-color from India or someplace which were also quite cool. Then we walkd down the main street in Owen Sound, and I ruined one of my favourite shirts >:( and bought new pin-striped jeans :P I also bought a large Tim Hortons Iced Capp which is quite a bit bigger then I remembered. Oh I guess thats something none of you know about me, other then candy Iced Capps and Frapacinos are another thing I am severly addicted to. We also went to the house that Billy Bishop was born in ! (He shot down the Red Barron from World War 1) then we went back and swam again. :P

But that night was the coolest part. The most amazing thing Ive seen all summer and possibly in my life was the giant heat-thunder cloud over lake Huron around eleven or so last night. There were flashes but with this kind there is no lightning, and it was really close so it lit up the whole sky when it flashed but you couldnt see anything when it didnt so these massive clouds were exosed only when it flashed and you could see the different thickness' of clouds because the flashes were inside the clouds and would shoot light out of it! :D Coolest thing ever. I got a video too, but I doubt I will be able to post it so maybe I will try to extract some still frames from it to show you when I have time. Conrad Out!

Day 19 - Leaving Lindsay

So we took off early morning and drove to Meford near my Aunts parents house adn set up camp. Its a pretty cool place, full hook-ups and internet from our site. From here we are commuting to a number of places but the beach here is pretty nice too. Other then a couple domestic disputes the day was pretty casual. Sorry for the short lame posts, but there will be another couple before they get interesting im afraid. Ciao >.>

Day 18 - Reunion Day 3

My Birthday!!!

It was alright, a little depressing, had happy birthday sung to me three times :P once by about fifty people. Then we had a carmel cake in the afternoon once the majority of people had left. It poured like the last two days though...

The photos are of me cutting the cake and blowing out the candles >.>

Song Of The Day
I Miss You
By: Blink 182
Lyrics :

Day 17 - Reunion day 2

So... Day two... What can i say? My Omas family...wow. She has seven brothers and sisters...most of which are married and have children who came...as well as their children....and their children (for a couple) must have been close to fifty or sixty...there were a lot of people. Only three close to my age tho.. Adrian (19 and whom I hung out with most of the time) and Derek and Candice (brother and sister at 18 and 15). So we played volleyball and tetherball and swam, and then it poured....and everything got totally soaked with MASSIVE puddles everywhere so we put up tarps but you got soaked going from one to another and the thunder was so loud and long you had to pause conversations at points because you couldnt hear each other, at a couple points the lightning struck down in the middle of the campsites or next to the truck and tarp I was under for the majority of last night. It was skechy...the potluck dinner was okay though besides the weather and all. And the fact that i got sick...then drank a monster....then ate a pack of Nibs....Im a smart kid >.>

OH but I do have some funny stories you would have to ask me about in person :P

Day 16 - Reunion Day 1

Well its not pouring here anymore and its not quite hell but its pretty bad by way of mosquitoes... And the weather still isnt great, some of my Omas Nephews and Neices have already shown up and there could be more there now since I came in here. Went on a bike ride this morning but thats about all Ive done.

Here are some funny things I neglected to mention in past posts that I wish I had back when I wrote them.

-First... HAPPY CHRISTMAS IN JULY!!! Or at least Christmas eve in July as tomorrow is the proper day. Everywhere we've gone since we crossed the middle of the U.S. from home we've encountered christmas lights strung across campsites and washrooms, because although its a bit of a joke to those who know of it back home here it is an unwritten holiday, when we were at the one with the golf carts there were even "sleigh rides" on hay wagons and apparently Santa was coming on a tractor.... The upside to this was that I got to watch the Grinch (the real life one) on a big sheet outside in their ampitheatre if only for a couple minutes. Apparently it started in Michigan and is huge there as well as Wesconsin and seems to have made its way here to Lindsay Ontario.

Another thing I found funny was when I overheard my Grandfather state that one of his biggest fears for this trip was that I would fall in love with a pretty girl and try to bring her home LMAO. Then this morning my Auntie Lisa knowing nothing of his fear told me that she feared I would do the same but run away with her in Ontario LMAO.

...

As he stands on the modern wooden platform he stares longingly for an alternate route then the one he knows he must take. He sees right through the illusion of pearls pouring down upon the earth from the heavens; Yes… he sees through the waters façade and observes that the water appears to be more as broken glass upon entrance.

He strides down the steps at a quick pace as the glass speckles shatter upon his slouched figure and feed the monster licking at his heels. He hops upon his metal steed, the monster’s thick brown faceless form quivers and lashes out at his waist and chest as he gallops overtop the monster’s inconsistent thickness’ of body structure. There is no escape from this beast, but he heads to the one destination that he knows he can find a short-term safe haven. As he rides he recalls the dark memory of the morning radios bleak prediction for the future telling him that the beast will grow for at least another four sunrises before its food supply begins to dwindle. But the memory fades quickly as he switches his concentration to the new growing threat of blood suckers that approach whilst he canters into the deeper woods past eerie creeks and dancing, shifting shadows. He is trapped here and time passes slower then ever because the change of time is unnoticeable by the consistent grey shade above. This is his hell. Fore this is the campsite in which Conrad Stel must stay in for four days and which he has come thousands of miles from the cleanliness of his home to meet a handful of relatives that may no longer show. As he writes God hammers an oak table hard overhead. This is day fifteen. Conrad Out.

Day 14 – Canada’s Wonderland

Took a while in the morning to get there considering how far from the park we were and we had to stop and get one of my Uncles back tires replaced on the truck because it had a crazy long (considering we didn’t see it before the guys took it out) piece of scrap metal sticking into it making it deflate most of the way overnight. Turns out we made good time though because it had opened only half an hour or so before we got there. There were more roller coasters then anything else, ten or twelve; Six of which we went on (all the best and recommended ones) and they were WICKED. It was super fun. Too bad we brought Oma and Opa on the Flight Deck roller coaster as the first ride and scared out of riding anything else (besides the Yo-yo which I forgot to circle). I speak for all of us when I say the BEHEMOTH was the best, it’s the tallest roller coaster in Canada or longest or something, haha my Uncle was saying how much he regretted his decision to go on as we ascended to the peak of the massive structure where you could see for miles. It was almost a vertical drop and I loved it, although last year with my fear of rides I wouldn’t have gone within one-hundred meters of the thing. The Bat was pretty sweet too considering you did the whole coaster then when you hit the end you did it backwards . Btw we also rode the Backlot Stunt Coaster next to the BEHEMOTH but I forgot to circle it… So we arrived around eleven and left around nine or ten at night when we discovered that we were too late to enter the water park side of the acreage. Then we went across the street to a gourmet pizza parlour and bought three party size pizzas which were quite a bit bigger then we had anticipated and had an all you can eat pizza buffet.

Song Of The Day
Readymade
By: Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Lyrics :

Day 13 – McMichaels Gallery

So this morning we said our good byes to one third of our convoy as they headed another direction to see my aunts parents somewhere else here in Ontario. We also saw some cool Canadian outlet stores but it was too early for us (they were really close to the campground/strip clubs  via vehicle) so we decided not to look in them and continued on to Clinesberg. Little did I know we were going into one of the biggest public galleries in Canada and biggest all Canadian gallery/home of the biggest collection of paintings by Tom Thompson and The Group Of Seven. It was SUPER cool and of course other then my Opa (who sorta got lost) I obviously took the longest to make my way through the gallery of intriguing arrangements of colors and shades. I also have an all new perspective and respect for first nations art due to two Canadian artists in particular. Emily Carr had quite a few paintings in there too but they paled in comparison to those of the ones who inspired her from the group of seven. Too bad you weren’t allowed to take photos although understandable, you guys will just have to see them for yourself someday :P

*Reminder to self* -New favourite artists
From the Seven:
-Franklin Carmichael
-Lawern S. Harris
-A. J. Casson

First Nations Artists:
-Shawn Hunt
-Don Yeomans

Then we went to Canada’s Wonderland to find out where the closest campground was but there wasn’t one closer then 17 minutes which turned into an hour with rush hour traffic and later because the place was a dump so we had to look else where. This place isn’t so bad, if not for all the white trash riding about, some nice sites/sights here and there though *cough* *cough*. Looking forward to tomorrow when we spend all day at the Park, I’ll be sure to bring my camera for some wicked shots, CYA! Conrad Out?

Song Of The Day
Stab My Back
By: The All-American Rejects
Lyrics :

Day 12 – Niagara Falls!!

So despite all the things I said about the place we’re in from my last post, this place is the bomb. The falls were as spectacular as the many other things we’ve seen on this trip so far, but it was especially cool to be able to get so close to this wonder. First we went in this 4D movie where you get pretty soaked watching how the falls where formed (its called Niagara’s Fury) then we did “The Journey Behind The Falls” where you go through these super old blasted tunnels to see the falls from behind…But its really just a bunch of water making a thick wall in front of you at the end of a fairly dull tunnel with neat facts on the walls in places so you didn’t really see much, still a cool experience though. Then we rode the “Maid Of The Mists” into the massive cloud of mist in the middle of the falls so we got a 360 view of the Horseshoe Falls from the middle of the Gorge which was my favourite part but I couldn’t take many pictures of it regrettably because we got soaked and I didn’t want to get the camera strapped to my side wet and ruined. Then we did the “White Water Walk” which is where you walk right alongside class 6 rapids (the wildest in the world) on a boardwalk, which is also the closest you can get to rapids this strong legally in the entire world.


CONT. Then we went back to the campground and took showers and did laundry etc. to prepare for our leaving the next morning after a quick swim and my first time watching the TV show popular among my younger cousins called Monk.


Song Of The Day
The Journey (Album: Nervosa)
By: Showbread
Lyrics :

Day 11 – Strathmore?

So I’m not exactly sure where we are going to camp to day but our next tourist destination is Niagara Falls less then three hundred kilometres away which I believe we hope to cover today as it is currently 4:15. We just crossed the border into Canada and its quite humorous when you compare crossing into Canada to the other way around, it was almost sad as the lady actually was yawning when we told her our story and waved us through after briefly looking over our passports, don’t think she even saw me. K It was a good thing in our case though as it turns out there was a bit of a mix-up with my Uncles passport…He has his co-workers, and not his own… Surprises me they didn’t catch that when we entered the States though…

So other then hobbling around like an idiot this morning (I cut a huge gash into my foot last night in the pool that’s been bleeding like no tomorrow) and getting up at four in the morning your time it’s been a bit of a boring day, almost boring enough to write a fly vanquishing story….Oh wait already did that. So there really is nothing to do. Oh but I’m officially a fan of Panic At The Disco as I listened to “A Fever You Cant Sweat Out” ten times over front to back in a day for two or more days this trip and bought their album “Pretty Odd” today. Still haven’t found the new Showbread album in any of the twenty Wal-Marts I’ve checked in this trip though unfortunately (Not that any of you care). I guess its worth mentioning that we stop in a Wal-Mart every second day and have the last three days in a row for groceries and whatever else we may need (everybody likes fresh food here). Maybe I’ll write a first chapter of a book (sounds like a novel idea to me). Or maybe I’ll just keep rambling on and making terrible jokes for another three hours? Oh wait I only have 1 hour and 25 minutes left of battery power on this thing....Fun Fun.

OH and my cousin Jackson and I finished watching Jurassic Park 3 just as we pulled into the last Wal-Mart before we crossed which was cool so the drive wasn’t too boring this afternoon.

CONT. We ended up staying in a small fairly empty campground right next door from a KOA (Which are the most amazing campgrounds of all time with picture perfect campers *the other campers you see are ALWAYS happy*) which this time was not full but because it was in Niagara it was super expensive and we planned on staying two nights so we could see the falls the next day. So we ended up in this one which is too bad because I was quite excited to stay at the KOA after seeing some of the “residents”. Little did we know we were staying in the slums of Niagara; across the street from the campsite there is a massive thirty foot long sign with a couple hundred small fluorescent lights screaming “SEDUCTIONS” (the building is about as long as our school!) with “Girls Girls Girls!” blinking just as big on the side of the building which happens to be about as bright as the signs on “The Sundowner” “Gentleman’s” club next door with others like it lined up down the street. It’s a good thing the R.V. is angled the way it is and far enough away that the lights don’t keep me up because they are visible from every site on the grounds.

As I went to the main office yesterday I glanced across after a yelp echoed across the street between the steady bass beat reverberating from the club to witness a bouncer roughing someone up. There are also cops coming by and parking in the lot for hours out front of Seductions. Says something about rest of the campers in this place… Even though the lady said she doesn’t take Stag parties on the campgrounds there are definitely a lot of older single men around. There are other things about this place that aren’t so appealing either like the shifty stores and loud train blaring by (happened at least twice last night) every now and then, anyways I’d just like to state that Niagara ain’t so pretty away from the falls.

Day - 10 Lake Michigan

I hope I spelt that right.. Anyways. We got up at 5 (7 here) and drove for hours. Then arrived here at 4 (which is 7 here as we passed into another time zone GRR) and went straight across the road down a ways from our campsite and stepped through a tree line into the tropics, it was amazing. Its definitely got to be one of the top 5 great lakes xP . So within two days we hit Niagra falls and we cross back over into Canada tomorrow. Click photos too enlarge :D

INSERT VIDEO OF FIREWORKS I DEFFINITLY DID NOT BUY AND/OR SET OFF HERE.

Song Of The Day
I'm Not Over
By:Carolina Liar
Lyrics :

Day 9 – ATTACK!

As G crept up on my Opa I swung with fire in my eyes and the intent to harm but he noticed at the last second and dove across the room. Moments later I unbuckled and followed in pursuit sending three quick strokes in rapid succession but he jumped right. Anticipating his next move I parried left but he dove to the floor and rolled up behind me. {“Young and fit” is how my Oma described him and those two features were exactly what made him such a formidable foe.} I spun and sent a mighty knee-capping swing at him but he was nimble and dodged with ease. But he didn’t see my next move coming as I went for those shifty eyes after faking left. Although again he emerged from the blow seemingly unscathed so I sent him a mighty blow to the head and he tripped backwards onto the oven grate and as he did I imagined the pop and sizzle of his brains upon contact with great joy but the oven was off and he fell silent upon the metal rods. I had lost visual but by the way he fell I assumed I had proved my point. But like his forefathers young Germainius [GER-MAIN-E-US] the third would fight on until his final breath and dove at me as I sat back down in my seat making contact with my hood. So I flicked out my hoodie and watched him soar valiantly to his death near the trash can behind me.


-My epic battle with a fly in the R.V. It pretty much sums up the accomplishments of my day.


Oh and we had to stop a couple times because the cord that goes from the trailer to the truck that controls the brakes, brake lights, and fridge power of my uncles trailer had not been plugged back in to the truck in the morning so it dragged for a couple hours and got wrecked…So we had to go to a couple dealerships and got it replaced. We are now on our way through Wisconsin after passing through Minnesota after staying there last night. 10 hour drive…Awesome.


CONT. It is now about twelve and we have found a campground that had spots for us here in Wisconsin but the people didn’t exactly recommend it and although the place itself is amazing and there are tons of young people (many of whom I met) + lots of pretty sights *cough* *cough* there are also lots of people who have summer home permanent mobiles here…and they all own and ride golf carts around…after having one too many drinks…


Side note: There has not been one place we have gone to here in the U.S. where I haven’t run into a hardcore stereotypical hick or redneck and morbidly obese are following in numbers close behind…or would that be rolling in numbers close behind?? (sorry bad joke). Proof of which would be when I was walking to the washrooms and met three guys between the ages of 13 and 15 who were talking to the head park ranger and I overheard something about pursing lips or whatever so I figured they were talking about kissing or something (I don’t know) but shortly after realized that the head ranger was discussing with them proper methods to chew and spit chewing tobacco. They were all pretty cool guys and all but wow.

Song Of The Day
There's A Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey,
You Just Haven't Thought Of It Yet
By:Panic At The Disco
Lyrics :

Day 8 – Looong Drive

So I meant to write this last night but writing

this morning isn’t going to change anything I did yesterday so I figured id wait. Well yesterday we drove for hours on end, but stopped early in the morning when we hit Wall (PUN INTENDED) and took a look at Wall Drug. But assuming you don’t know what that is I’ll fill you in. There was a couple like eighty or so years ago that opened a Drug store in Wall South Dakota but no one went there because it was off the main stretch and no one knew about it. So the Husteads ( the couple ) put signs up for miles and miles everywhere along the highway saying “Come try our amazing spring iced water!” and people were like okay, yeah lets go get some ice water, I could t

otally use a drink right now or whatever. So the original Husteads have kept the tradition going and eventually this small pharmacy expanded into this massive market. So in reality the place is a big tourist trap, and the spring water is from the original well the first Hustead dug up. And I personally thought it tasted gross >.> So that’s Wall Drug for you.

Anyways later in the day we stopped in the sketchiest looking gas station EVER and I now know the true definition of Redneck. He even raised, killed and turned Buffalo into jerky. That is also w

here I definitely did not buy cheap explosive fireworks… >.>

OH and I almost forgot the coolest part of yesterday, last night walking through the big fireworks prohibited campground I thought I was going crazy because it was getting dark out and I thought I was seeing small floatie pieces of fire from a campfire….In unoccupied campsites. K But upon further exploration I found these little flashes of light everywhere and told my uncle and sister who also saw them, then we discovered

the reason behind these strange lights, FIREFLYS!! They weren’t like you see in the movies though; they would only flash now and then with this bright but small white light instead of steadily glowing with the exception of one that flew right past us lit up. So we put a couple in an old herring jar because you could get them to crawl onto your hand and one glowed green and the other white. If it works I will put the video that I took of it up here soon.

*Also discovered I know very little about what my father was like*

Song Of The Day
Geeks Get The Girls
By: American Hi-Fi
Lyrics :

Day 7 - Mount Rushmore

So yesterday we got up in Medora, packed up and left early. Then we went to Mount Rushmore where we saw the bigger then life art piece carved into the mountain side and went down below into some big exhibit and museum type thing about how it was carved which was pretty cool and took lots more photos and then we took off to look for a camp to stay in for the night, but all the nice ones (we check three) were full cause it was getting late so we ended up in some small cramped one but it had a pool and wireless accesible from the R.V. so really its been the best one yet. So we swam and stuff and made a small fire. Today we are going on a LOOOONG drive out of South Dakota with one stop in WallDrug if we make it that far.

Song Of The Day

Year 3000

By: BUSTED ( NOT THE JONAS BROTHERS )

Lyrics : http://www.lyred.com/lyrics/Busted/Busted/Year+3000/

Day 6 – Roosevelt Park

I could have posted for day 6 yesterday but it would have been incomplete knowing that we were to be leaving for the Medora Musical twenty or so minutes later, so here I am writing it on day 7 praying that I get a chance to post it before tomorrow.

So I don’t think I mentioned but we ended up staying in a campground in Montana at the end of day 5 which only cost us three dollars per camper + vehicle! It was odd that we didn’t find anyone living there for that cost. It was actually quite empty. Anyways that night there was this huge thunderstorm in the distance and we could see the thunder in massive flashes and forks, much like the one we had driven through that afternoon. After a few games of CTF and eating at nine o’clock (shortly after we arrived) we all headed to bed.

So yesterday (day 6) was relatively boring until we reached Medora around four in the afternoon and explored the small town. It was like walking into an old western movie, although I didn’t see any tumbleweed it was so windy that the sand/dust that was kicked up every couple minutes stung your eyes and all flesh that was exposed. Anyways the whole place was pretty neat looking; too bad it was just one big tourist trap. There were seven museums in town, six of which you had to pay for and the free one was a dollhouse museum. K With two or three cool all western stores (one being John Deere heaven *drool*) and a ton of old style looking restaurants and ice cream parlours. So we went on to find out more about this massive and really cool looking amphitheatre built into the edge of the nearby canyon but indecisive on whether to go or not to the Musical there that night considering the price and how windy/cold it was. But in the end the wind died down and you couldn’t even feel it in the amphitheatre because it was built under the edge of the canyon so the wind blew overtop. Anyways the Musical was amazing and a Broadway calibre performance in all respects… The sound system made me especially envious >.> But there was also a special attraction there just after the intermission, PROJECT DYNAMITE….Never heard of em? Neither had I….Anyways they were comedic stuntmen who trained with Cirque Du Solae for a little while (apparently) and had just won number one act in San Diego. So they were a good laugh and I got their signatures plus a photo with them so that was cool. And then I went back and was finally able to take a proper shower in two days (rather then just washing my hair in a bathing suit at the back of a trailer) because there were showers at this campsite unlike the previos and went to bed. Now we are on our way to Mt. Rushmore. Cool. Tell you about that later, Conrad OUT.

Song Of The Day

Must Have Done Something Right

By: Relient K

Lyrics : http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/relientk/musthavedonesomethingright.html

Day 5 – “Who Knew About The Hoodoos?”

Is

a line I’ve probably heard two hundred times upon entering Alberta. “Maybe a Voodoo? Or Two?” As goes the rhyme my Uncles came up with or something along those lines… Seriously though, the place we left this morning was spectacular. I definitely plan on going back there at least once in my life, and really wish we could have stayed longer.

It was a Canyon more like a valley in the middle of the Badlands, even though it was huge you could see across to every side, it was mostly barren and riddled with small cacti and massive Hoodoos in every direction with a large river running through the middle which must have fed the trees in the campsite area that looked like a large oasis on the edge of it all.

When we got up this morning we couldn’t leave without doing a little exploration of our own, it just wouldn’t have done the scenery justice, so we climbed to the top of the nearest Hoodoo and got some amazing shots then worked our way over to a cave built into one. But on our way down my sister who came along (Miranda) accidentally grabbed a cactus while sliding down a steep ridge and got a ton of splinters in her hand, some of which she still hasn’t gotten out 10 hours later. Did I also mention that it was burning hot? Well now you know. There was even a sign WARNING you to wear sunscreen because the sun was so intense it could get up to 47 degrees Celsius in the shade. Whoa! Then as we left this morning we went to a small lookout at the edge of the Canyon/Valley to take some photos and I almost stepped on a Rattle Snake!! But luckily it slithered away rather then towards me. So I got a video of the thing in a bush but its short and the snake blends in so well its hard to see but it is visible for the first couple seconds of the clip. Other then that we’ve only stopped for groceries and to replace that flat wheel from the other day passing field after field, the border crossing (into Montana because the campsites and gas are cheaper here then in Saskatchewan) and lots and lots of cows plus some Buffalo, which were neat. Conrad Over and Out!

“Conrad, Are you there? Do you copy?”

“Umm, yeah I’m here”

“I said do you copy?”

“Yes Uncle Mike I copy”

“That’s terrible, you shouldn’t plagiarize”

(Walkie talkie conversation between vehicles)

(Also what started the Conrad Out! Finishes)

Song Of The Day

The Water Buffalo Song

By: Veggie Tales (Don’t Judge)

Lyrics : …

Day 4 – RAWR

SO. Im sorry this is a day late, possibly two by the time I can post this, but where we were staying there was no Wifi for like 50km or something. :S SUCKY. So now it is 5:34 back home but 6:34 here or somewhere near that (dunno the difference between zones from Alberta to Montana). Anyways let me tell you what went down yesterday...

After waking we packed fairly quickly and headed out of the foothills of the Rockies to ranches as far as the eye could see, all of which were pretty boring with the exception of the unnaturally bright yellow Canola fields that stretched on for miles, they were pretty cool.

After a 6 or 7 hour drive we finally got to the Tyrrell museum in Drumheller (the dinosaur museum) which was totally awesome and I bought a wicked new wallet, maybe to be holding one of the 200 plus photos I took in there in the future? :P Then after another drive we ended up at these really cool naturally created outcroppings called Hoodoos so we took a bunch of photos, one of which has me sticking my head out of a small hole from a cave I almost got stuck in…that was dumb.. Anyways the Hoodoos were really wicked and apparently there was this place you could stay about an hour or two away off the highway in the middle of nowhere that had Hoodoos as far as the eye could see all around you with a campground in the middle. So that’s where we went, and after setting up I went on a run for about an hour or so around the campground many times because it was so small and met some people from our destination (Ontario) while I was at it. That night as the light went down the whole place was swarming with bats that would whip right by your head, and the moon was the most eerie and beautiful I had ever seen it around 11 (12 by Alberta time) but only me and my uncle were up so I couldn’t get a hold of my camera to take a photo L. Anyhow, thanks for keeping up with my trip if you have been so I don’t have to tell these stories another million times to different people when I get back. Miss you all, Conrad OVER – and Out.

Song Of The Day

The Dirt (Album : Nervosa)

By: Showbread

Lyrics :

Day 3 - The Rockies!!!

As probebly predicted by the title I spent a lot of my traveling today in the Rockies!

We got up early (like 6 or earlier) then headed out after much more rush packing done by my Aunt and Uncle. The Rockies....Whoa! Thats all that can describe it other then breathe taking...well at least until my teenage instincts kicked in and i became bored and chose to sleep >.> oops

Here are some cool photos of the wicked glaciers and Mt. Robson! OH AND when we were eating fish and meats and stuff a black bear came towards us from across the road, and i got some photos too :D Checkem out!! Should all be on Face book within the next couple days too... Anyways here I am jacking wireless in a 5-star resort hideaway motel resort thing leading them to believe im staying here when im really at the shoddy R.V. park next door for the night :P Shhh! Although we should not be here at all right now but my Uncle got a flat as we entered Banff so here we are. Hope to here from you guys. Miss you all and its only just begun :O. Conrad Out! :P

Song Of The Day
Meant To Live
By: Switchfoot
Lyrics :

Day 2

Well,

Last I posted I was in Coquitlam, and now I'm in Clearwater above Kamloops.... Which is friggin IMPOSSIBLE to find on a map.

This morning after a bunch of hurry-up-and-waiting we headed off to meet up with my Uncle Mike, Auntie Lisa and their three girls, Tess (going into grade 7) Claire (going into grade 6) and Charlotte (going into grade 3) Then took a 6 or so hour drive with only a stop at Costco and Starbucks in-between. OH and there was a Moose!!! But I missed it :'(. Tomorrow we leave around 7 or so in the morning (Eeeek!) and are camping in a place called Cadmoore?...No....Il have the name in my next post :P Our convoy will also now include our third Camper with my Uncle Alan, Auntie Kathryn and their four children, Kiera (Going into grade 9) and Jackson (going into grade 7) Then the two younger ones Georgia and Mya (dont know who to spell it..) whos ages im not going to guess >.>

So far B.C. is a pretty dull looking countryside, you've seen the Okanogan and you've seen it all, but so far its still the Province with the prettiest girls that I am aware of. :D

YOU BETTER BE MISSING ME DARNIT! >: Conrad Out!


Song Of The Day
Butterfly
By: CrazyTown
Lyrics :

Day 1

Well, here I am!

After much scramble and last minute packing (which is the only kind of packing I do) we said our short-lived goodbyes and were off to the ferry. Which wasnt as great as it was cut out to be....Sure it was one of the new ferries but we unthinkingly decided to sit in front of the T.V. playing Winnie The Pooh....Which was loud...and annoying...but later when we had had enough and I searched the new ferry for somewhere else to sit the whole ferry was unnervingly quiet. No one was talking anywhere I looked and I covered every floor. WIERD. Anyways later after a long drive here I am in Coquitlam at my Oma and Opas, tomorrow we set out for my Uncle Alan and Auntie Kathryns in Clearwater where we will stay a night before setting out on the first leg of our cross-country adventure. Conrad OUT! >.>



Song of the day (Pretty much random off my iPod, no particular meanings behind whats chosen)
-Thank The Watchmaker
By And Then There Were None
Lyrics : http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/lyricsdetail.php?lyrics_id=49460

Day B4 The Ferry

It is 11:30, almost a full day until i leave to my grandparents to start my (hopefully) grand adventure and i feel sick... I would blame such sickness on the donuts and massive amazing breakfast i just ate thanks to my boss' family but i have had this feeling on a smaller scale like butterflies in my stomach for the last week, not the good kind tho, more like there are too many and they're trying to get out....