Reflections from a train

[Michaelaw]

Lol, I hope that is nor a suitcase full of drugs on the bed there. Good luck on your journey!

Hell no, not full, I'm only on the road for a couple of weeks

[Hillbillygirl]

Sounds like fun Michael. Be safe, (but not too safe to be bored), and can't wait to hear the reports/pics.

[Barefoot]

Hell no, not full, I'm only on the road for a couple of weeks

See?... it is Jack Kerouac reincarnated.

[AcadieLibre]

Sounds like a lot of fun and wish I could pull of something like that right now, enjoy it and have a blast!

[Michaelaw]

Well....Back online in my seedy motel room in Mayerthorpe Alberta. From Medicine Hat I drove to Drumheller and camped at Dorothy,the "Ghost town". Bad weather happened overnight which pretty much proved the Coleman tent I bought at a Zellers closeout sale in Medicine Hat was well worth the sixty bucks I paid for it...It didn't leak a drop. Next day I headed for Edmonton, well not Edmonton exactly but in that direction so I could swing east on Hwy 16 for Saskatoon. The weather was nasty overcast and raining, any shots I got were with the car window rolled down. I thought if I drove far enough I'd probably outrun the clouds but by noon I was seriously doubting this malformed idea. Somewhere on some silly secondary highway. through a rain streaked, bug smashed window I saw a turnoff for Medicine hat 180 km. With clouds stretching out to Quebec, I thought it prudent to head there and wait out the weather in my seedy, cheap hotel room. After a fine night of beer drinking with tuna, beans and corn for dinner and a recharge of all the batteries I headed back to Dorothy. I stayed there for the next couple of days steering well clear of the Hoo Doos, instead, using the Dorothy campsite as home base at night while touring the area far and wide in the daytime. The only problem withthis arangement was the coffee situation. Anyone that knows me knows not to try communicating with me before I've had at least two cups. The nearest coffee to Dorothy is a twenty minute drive to Drumheller I did make a ten minute video report from the campsite at Dorothy when I was half cut and alone in the campsite which I'd love to post but the laptop I brought has no video editing capabilities, I'll throw it up when I get home. The transmision on the Focus is making strange noises shifting between drive and reverse but is performing well otherwise. My theory on that is when I bottomed out on a back road and the center of the car was riding on rocks and mud, I think maybe some rocks got caught up between the tranny and the frame or something of that nature, so now when I shift, as the tranny torques it's knd of grinding the rocks? I left Drumheller yesterday morning, back on the road heading for Loydminster but falling short and camping overnight in Vermillion. The inclement weather I encountered in Drumheller was nothing compared to the thunderstorm that hit last night. I wasn't involved in "Desert Storm" but I now know what it sounded like! The tent is in the trunk soaking wet and I'm hiding in some silly Mayerthorpe motel because there is a cloud on the horizon Tomorrow It's back down to Hwy 16 using hwy 22..."The cowboy trail" I have no Idea from this point where I'm going to stop overnight in the next few days but I'm hoping to get home by Friday. The car is toast, slimy stuff all over it and way more slime inside it. I'll try and get a couple of pics up tonight while I have the wi-fi thing

[Michaelaw]

On another note, I've never been a big country and western fan but out here on the praries I'm lapping it up, just seems so fitting to the trip. All their women left them, trucks and dogs are dead but they mean well and they will repent if the girl takes them back. All over the praries I'm shooting the houses they used to live in.

[Michaelaw]

Here it is....The "Haven Inn" It's cozier tham the medicine hat cheepo but it was seventeen dollars more for the night. Interesting to note that these el cheepo hotels seem to have it's share of guests who seem to call it home. bookshelves, wine racks and posters on the walls. This place seems to have contracts with trucking companies and oil people and then there's me.

[Michaelaw]

This was last night in vermillion where the sky let loose. As you can see I'm there to drink a few beer, sample the suitcase, cook a steak, watch the fire for a spell, and then...Crash! For some reason, I always seem to get up well before any of the other campers five am'ish (Latvian word) I like to think of that as a deep need to get that good light, however, I think one has to consider, it may be just a hangover from work. Anyway, just a clumsy shot

[Michaelaw]

This...Is Dorothy campsite and as you can see, I'm the only camper. If they offered coffee or reasonable access to it they'd be packed Video to follow when I get back.

[Michaelaw]

This was the first night of camping in Moose jaw. All through these captures there's the faithful radio, bucket etc. Here's a little map