Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Day 20 - Keady Market
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
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 :
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Day 17 - Reunion day 2
OH but I do have some funny stories you would have to ask me about in person :P
Friday, July 24, 2009
Day 16 - Reunion Day 1
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.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
...
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

Song Of The Day
Readymade
By: Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Lyrics :
Day 13 – McMichaels Gallery
*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!!
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.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
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.
Day 9 – ATTACK!
-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
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 DayGeeks Get The Girls
By: American Hi-Fi
Lyrics :
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Day 7 - Mount Rushmore
Song Of The Day
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
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
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
Song Of The Day
Must Have Done Something Right
By: Relient K
Lyrics : http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/relientk/musthavedonesomethingright.html
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Day 5 – “Who Knew About The Hoodoos?”
Is
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
After waking we packed fairly quickly and headed out of the foothills of the
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 :
Saturday, July 11, 2009
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 :
Friday, July 10, 2009
Day 2
Last I posted I was in Coquitlam, and now I'm in Clearwater above Kamloops.... Which is friggin IMPOSSIBLE to find on a map.
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 O
Song Of The Day
Butterfly
By: CrazyTown
Lyrics :
Thursday, July 9, 2009
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