I GOT A JOB!!!

Well, after being here for just over 10 days I have scored myself a job!!!!

I must have been out on a million interviews, filled out a million applications and gotten lost on a few buses and pounded the pavement hard but its all been worth it.

I got the call today from the Vancouver Aquarium offering me a position in the Clamshell Gift Shop. A totally easy retail position, but the foot in the door is what I am most excited about.

You see, during my interview ... yesterday might I add ... Melissa, my manager, and I talked about my plans for the fall and my graphic design course and she told me that within the Aquarium there is a lot of internal movement between departments and that they have a in-house graphics department and that it would be very possible for me to move into that area after I am done school!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CAN WE ALL SAY AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So not only am I going to get to work in Stanley Park, be in an environment that I am totally in love with, at a world renowned Aquarium, I now have my foot in the door for a possible long term career with the Aquarium!

And BONUS I'll get to see these guys whenever I want:

Vancouver Aquarium sea otters, Nyac and Milo, have become the latest stars on YouTube!

I am so excited!

And the timing couldn't be better, as I was sitting here, working out my budget and looking at my dwindling bank account and starting to panic ... and then the phone rang!

I was getting scared there for a while, I ain't gonna lie ... but now it seams that it may all be coming together!

The Great Canadian Road Trip: Day #5: Monday July 2nd

THE HOME STRETCH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, this is it, the last day on the road. I am both excited and sort of sad. So much planning had gone into this trip and it just seems that its all going by so fast!

But with all the pics that we took over the last few days we’ll have tons of memories for a lifetime and stories to tell till we’re in the grave!

Leaving Calgary was hard. We were both really tired and getting sick of being in the car. Knowing that this was the last 10 hrs made it easier, but our eyes were on the prize – VNACOUVER, BC!

We passed the ski park for the 1998 Olympics and took some cool shots of the venue. And then they started to appear; in the distance you could just start to make them out … the stunning, amazing, and imposing Canadian Rockies.

It didn’t take long for them to be right in front of us, and before we knew it we were right in them. And I couldn’t stop looking out the window. They were just breathtaking. Too bad Phil was driving and didn’t get to really appreciate them , so I took lots and lots of pics!

We came into Banff Provincial Park around 11:30 and stopped at West Lake Louise for a pit stop and some photo ops.

We crossed over into BC around noon and stopped again in Field to stretch our legs. This day was proving to be a hard one. It was only a few hours on the road and we were already getting itchy to be home!

But we got another surprise just outside of Kicking Horse Pass, BC. As we cam up and crested a sharp corner on the trans Canada we notice a lot of cars pulled off to either side of the road. My firs thought was car accident and how long we would have to be stuck there, but as we got closer we saw what was causing the commotion … a heard of wild mountain sheep were plopped at the side of the road taking in the rays! A sight to be seen for sure! Phil pulled us over, ran across the highway and snapped some great pics of the adventurous guys.

We got into Revelstoke, BC about 1:30pm Pacific Time (scored us another hour just outside of Golden BC!!) and it was my turn to take over the wheel.

I got us to Merritt at about 4:50pm and since I had had enough of driving into the sunsets, Phil agreed to get us into Vancouver. Plus he knew where he was going – lol!

We decided to take The Coquihalla Highway and thought it was a toll route it was totally worth it! The scenery was unreal and the elevation (4,068 feet/1240 m) made your ears pop all over the place. The scary part was seeing all the runaway lanes and avalanche guns. But that’s the BC interior for ya!

And so after 5 days, 5 provinces and a mere 4565 km, we were in Vancouver!

It was surreal to be honest. It had felt like a great trip but it only hit me that I was MOVING here, and not just visiting, when we got to the airport to drop off the car. I was scared and excited and very tired!

We got all my stuff out of our fabulous Ford Focus that got us here in one piece and into Phil’s fancy Camry around 8:10pm and we were sitting on the couch, car unpacked and put to bed around 9:00pm.

So we made it here – Safe and sound and we had a blast!!!!!! I truly think that if you ever have the chance to drive across this crazy huge country of ours, you MUST!

Now, with all of that behind us, its time for me to start my new life on the West Coast!

Click here for pics from Day #5!

The Great Canadian Road Trip: Day #4: Sunday July 30th

What a great day to be road tripping across the country … Canada Day!! Could it be more appropriate?!

Today’s goal: Get to Calgary in time to see Jim Cuddy at Olympic Plaza and take in the fireworks!

Well, the day started off on the wrong foot. We had ordered our brekkie to be brought to our room for 9:30am so we could be on the road for around 11:00am since we had some exciting places to visit before heading to Calgary! But when 10:10am rolled around I feared the worst, they had forgotten our yummy, very eagerly anticipated breakfast order. A call to the front desk confirmed it and this little chicky was not impressed! So, after check gout of the lovely Regina Inn, it was off to see a few sighs about town (The Mosaic Stadium, Victoria Square and most of Downtown Regina … its pretty small lol!) and on to the nearest Timmies. Now, to be honest with you all, at this point I am getting a little sick of bagels and cheddar, I know, I never thought I would ever say that but I have and I was … so since there was a Sobey’s right across the street, I managed to pick up a yummy fruit salad and some apples and I was fully happy and ready to start the days ride…

First stop: Rouleau, SK: Saskatchewan's First 1 Million Bushel Town (whatever that means lol!) My interest in Rouleau is this … its home to Corner Gas!!!! Yuppers, that’s right, we went 30 minutes out of our way, along a long, dusty dirt road to the small, tiny town of Rouleau. And it was SO worth it! There was no one there and so we got to run all over the set of Corner Gas and The Ruby. Then we went into the actual town and saw the Dog River Police Station, The Foo M rt, The Howler, The Dog River Hotel and Oscar & Emma’s! It was great! Totally loved it.

After spending a whopping 20 min there, that’s all that it took to see everything, we were back on the road.

Stopped in Moose Jaw to pose with a giant moose name Mac and a rest stop and back on the road … and then it happened … I had been wondering when it was going to and thought maybe that we would have somehow escaped it, but I was wrong. About 5 minutes after getting back on the highway we saw the flashing lights … yup, we were getting pulled over by the lovely Moose Jaw police! Phil got nailed doing 118 in an 80 … and please, ask us when it was 80 since the whole ride on the Trans-Canada thus far had been 110 … well, I guess there is a 30 second stretch where its 80 and that’s where we got nailed! BUGGERS!! So after wasting 20 min at the side of the road, we got our ticket and SLOWLEY started up again.

Crossed over into Alberta about 5:15pm and we switched over to me driving thought to Calgary in Medicine Hat. Speed demon that I am, I got us into Calgary, without any issues around 8:00pm. Now that was into Calgary, finding the hotel was another situation. Damn they have a ton of one way streets in that cow town and since it was Canada Day ½ of them were closed off and it made for a great ½ hour adventure before finding the hotel.

Once we checked in and washed off the grim of the day’s travels, it was off to see Mr. Jim Cuddy. We strolled down Stephens Street, taking in all the action and people and found a great place to park it and listen to the tunes. Then it was firework time!! After all of that, we headed out to find us some grub … something that was much harder than one would think at 11:30pm on a Sunday night - lol! Managed to get a burger and throw back a few beers at The Unicorn Pub and then stumbled home to crash out ….

Click here to see pics from Day #4

The Great Canadian Road Trip: Day #3: Saturday June 30th

Day 3, we have to get from Winnipeg to Regina and we want to be there for no later than 9:00pm. So we best get a move on.

Ended up leaving Winnipeg around lunch time after trolling about the city looking at the legislative buildings, the painted bears, the downtown core and the people … it was an experience.

Then after our required Timmies stop, we pointed our wagons WEST!

About a 1/2 hour of being on the road, we passed through a little place called Portage La Prairie Why, you ask , would you go to this small, tiny town … well, it was 2 things:

A) It was on the way; and

B) It is home to the WORLDS BIGGEST COKE CAN!!

And come one, that’s worth a 15 min detour lol! So after many photo ops we we’re on our way again.

At about 4:30 we had managed to cross over into Saskatchewan and were in the tiny town of Moosomin. Pit stop time and a craving for DQ and then we were good to go. …

Took a detours from the Trans-Canada and off into the Qu'Appelle Valley, SK.

Full of stunning scenery and amazing views and vistas, it was a great adventure. Trolling about nowhere Saskatchewan, in the middle of the Parries. It was wonderful.

We managed to get into Regina about 8pm. Well, what we thought was 8pm. Apparently, Regina does not have day light savings time in place so it was actually only 7pm. SWEET!!! Just scored another hour!

After checking in and cashing out for a bit, we went out for diner and drinks and amazingly enough, found this great place in Downtown Regina!

Who’da thunk :)

Called Crave: Kitchen and Wine Bar, we sat on the patio and enjoyed the summer weather and had an incredible meal. I kid you not that I had the singe best salad I have ever in my LIFE ever had here. YUMMY! And after a few glasses of wine, we wandered back to the hotel … time to prepare for Day 4!!!


Click here for Pics of Day #3

The Great Canadian Road Trip: Day #2: Friday June 29th

Day #2 started off later than Day #1 … much later ... lol! We needed our ZZZ’s! We crawled out of bed around 10:30am and checked out of the good old Econo Lodge and made our way to the closets Timmies to get fueled for the day’s events.

Before leaving Thunder Bay we made a few stops around town, like seeing a HUGE curling rock and taking in the Terry Fox Memorial. We actually were in town the day after what would have been the 28th anniversary of his death. Very inspiring it was to be there. And it was a beautiful and well-designed monument.

Then around noon it was back on the road to Winnipeg!!

I drove the first stretch to Kenora, about 4 ½ hrs, with this damn red truck following me on my tail for a good 3 of those hours … Big Red just would not let up! And I was making good time … if you know what I am saying ;)

Along the way we had another wildlife encounter … this time the animal was a baby Black Bear who decided to go for a wander across the Trans Canada. I was spacing behind he wheel and out of nowhere Phil is saying “Bear ... Bear … BEAR ON THE ROAD!!” I slammed on the breaks, and stopped about 10 feet from the cutie (yes, he was cute!) and then saw Big Red coming down on me … that scared me more than the damn bear! The bear stared at us for a moment and then scampered off to the other side of the road and was gone into the forest. Luckily Big Read was on top of things and didn’t take me up the backside and we were on our way, a little shaky, but on our way in a matter of minutes.

Never a dull moment on this trip so far!!

Managed to get into Kenora around 5:00pm Central Time – Yup, that’s rights, we had left Eastern Standard Time somewhere just before Upusla, ON and entered the Central Time Zone! Scored us a whole extra hr of travel time – SWEET!!

Had some dinner at the BoPo in Kenora and then Phil took over for the 2nd leg of the day … Kenora to Winnipeg!

We crossed over into to Manitoba around 7:00pm and man, does it flatten out immediately after you cross the boarder … its shocking really how the landscape is so vastly different in Ontario than Manitoba. The highway was so straing we thought we could see for days … and man, they have some HUGE black birds in that province.

Got to our hotel around 9:00pm and once we were cleaned up a bit, we headed out for some drinks in downtown Winnipeg. It sounds much better than it was. Then again it was off to bed around midnight and up and at them for the next days drive ….

Click here for pics of Day #2

The Great Canadian Road Trip: Day #1: Thursday June 28th

I know I was suppose to blog this as we went but the time just got beyond us so fast it was impossible. So here I go, lets start at the beginning …

The start of the five-day road trip to Vancouver began without incident. Phil and I had packed up the car the night before, so it was up at 6am and out of the apartment for 7am and on the road.

Getting out of the city was easy-breezy but we hit a tad bit of a snag on the good old 401. Took us about ½ hr to get to the 400 but then it was clear sailing … and on to our first Timmies stop of the Trip :)

I got us into Sudbury just after noon and we headed for the Big Nickel. Took some fun pics there and then it was time to head out. No time to waste … we had to make it to Thunder Bay that night!!

But we did stop along Hwy #17 to see a Giant Loonie in Echo Bay … yes, were geeks like that :)

Phil took over then and got us to Sault St. Marie for some lupper (lunch/supper) around 3:30pm. Had us some yummy Pita-Pit and posed for a few shots with a giant Moose and the time to get back into the car.

We made a pit stop at a scenic look-out at Agawa Bay looking out to Lake Superior and man, that was just stunning. Never knew that we had scenery like that in Ontario.

With no time to waste it was off for Wawa …

Got to Wawa around 6pm, hit another Timmies and it was my turn to get behind the wheel.

Now the drive from Wawa to Schreiber was a tough one. Very bendy and curvy and with the sun setting in my eyes it made for some tough driving. So we decided to switch again in Schreiber for the sake of getting us there alive. This was around 9:30 or so and would you believe that it was still really quite light out … amazing really.

Along the way to T-Bay we did see something that rattled us a bit. Around 10:30, while we were chatting about how awesome it was that it was just now starting to get dark out, we spied at the side of the hwy a HUGH dead moose. And when I say HUGE, I mean HUGE. I’ve never seen one up close like that and man was I shocked to take in its size. The thing must have been hit by a mac-truck or something and then moved off to the side of the road. Insane really. Needless to say this made both Phil and I a bit more concerned while on the road since every few feet there were signs telling us to watch out for Moose, Deer and other assorted wildlife that could come out and try to cross the road at any time … defiantly kept us on out toes!

We pulled into Thunder Bay around 11:41pm and DAMN we’re we tired. When we finally got to the hotel and out of the car it was like we needed to get our walking legs back. Like sea legs on a cruise, it was odd to be standing at first and took a while to get used to it again. I guess 17 hrs in a car will do that to you!

Don’t think we have ever been so happy to see an Econo Lodge in our lives before and in no time we were checked in and crashed out …

Click here for pictures from Day #1