I forgot to write out a digital copy of Gelbin's letter before he sent it, but it's already in the mail and here's the picture we took of him in Fort Langley!

Go West, Young Man

I have arrived safely in Fort Langley, British Columbia but my adventure west was far from simple! Luckily for you all I have detailed my trip day by day so that you can relive my journey across Canada. I hope you enjoy this monster sized blog post.

Day 0: My send off from Orangeville

My last day in Orangeville with my mom and Bryan was a rather pleasant affair. My mom made me some salmon pie (which is one of my favourites!) but more importantly it is likely that this pie will be the last baked thing that I'll get to eat for months as there is no oven whatsoever on my tours across the country. We also had potato salad and celebratory champagne to mark the occasion of my last night sleeping in a real bed and indoors for a long time to come...

Smiling mom

The tasties

Goodbye Ontario!

Day 1: The foreshadowing

On Wednesday we all arrived in Alliston to to final preparations to the trucks and to pack our personal gear the morning before we shipped out. When I arrived I was informed that the truck's trailer had a major flat and needed to be repaired and would be back later. I also noticed that it was absolutely teeming with rain. Eventually we got everything packed up and we headed north to Thessalon, Ontario. When we arrived the rain had thankfully stopped and we were able to set up camp rather easily. I made a dinner of sausages braised in a white wine and lemon sauce served with penne. We arrived in good time and spent the evening exploring the beach.

The view from inside my galley on her maiden voyage of 2010

D'aw, our first night of camp. What memories!

The ladies stayed on the sand while the men went out for a dip

Day 2: To Thunder Bay!

Day 2 was a rather smooth ride through northern Ontario's beautiful back country. There were no major complications besides the lateness of our arrival into camp. I got a dinner of chicken tikka masala on the table at around 9:30 and then it began to thunderstorm around 9:45 with heavy, heavy rain. We had to scramble to get everything put away into the trailer, much of it unwashed. I did not get to finish my dinner this night. I was not very happy.

Amaretto and good food: the makings of a good night gone to waste

Day 3: We should have stayed in Thunder Bay

On day 3 we woke up early and packed up our rainy tents and gear to head out west to Manitoba. First we made a sobering stop at the the Terry Fox memorial. We then headed towards my favourite town of Dryden Ontario! In Dryden I got to pay a visit with my dad, but the cost was steep. I couldn't find the Petrocan in town, I then blocked up traffic by having to back the trailer out of some back-roads driveway at about 1km/h. Upon arriving at my dad's I only had about 45 minutes to stay which is awfully short! We then all rendezvoused back in the Wal-Mart parking lot where we realized that our trailer had sprung a leak in the patched tire. We then had to get the tire replaced in Dryden before continuing on with our day severely behind schedule. When we arrived in Manitoba our campsite was literally flooded and much of the campground was underwater. It was still teeming with rain. Being the troopers that we are we began to setup camp. We were then forcibly removed as we were setting up partially on someone's private property (still not sure how that happened). We then setup next to - of all the irony - a waterpark in the RV section. The rain never let up. One of my wonderful coworkers cooked us some bacon-wrapped chicken with caesar salad under a canopy in the rain. The girls slept in the truck and us boys doubled up in my tent that night to conserve the amount of gear that would need to be dried out.

The Terry Fox monument

Our original campsite

I'm glad we weren't assigned to this site!

Day 4: Off to Swift current, I mean Outlook Saskatchewan

We all packed up in Manitoba and were very glad to leave (although I thought that the check in girl was really cute, we had the day from hell and that didn't outweigh it). My partner and I stopped in Brandon, Manitoba for a gas-station shower trucker-style (oh yes, they exist) and got ourselves a little behind schedule. Then we ended up in Regina to do our shopping and were even further behind schedule. After checking in with head office we realized that trans Canada highway was actually closed due to severe flooding and lane destruction at the Alberta border. Having slept in a pond the previous two nights we found this not too surprising. Already behind schedule we made a several-hundred kilometre detour north to Outlook Saskatchewan where we would stay instead of Swift Current as was originally scheduled. We stayed at an absolutely beautiful campground although we were eaten by mosquitos worse than anywhere I'd ever been in my life. I'm still scratching and it's been several days! That night one of the staff made us a lovely version of Maria's traditional recipe, Spaghetti Bolognese. We arrived late, and thus ate, cleaned, and then slept. The showers were somewhat out of order here and thus I did not shower.

Welcome to Saskatchewan (Found in a ditch at the border with no other posted signage)

I don't use the term flooding lightly. This was a farmer's field mere days ago


We pull into our sleepy little spot for the night in Outlook, SK

Day 5: Oh God, why won't the prairies end??

I awoke this morning with no less than 11 plump, dark purple mosquitos lining the walls of my tent. These opportunistic pests were heavily stocked with a hemoglobic meal from my sleeping body. As a stirred they too stirred and my own blood flew around me everywhere - my own blood airborne with wings and proboscides. After this surreal experience we packed up camp and made our way across the remaining prairies. It was at this point that I realized that the prairies never end. They are an illusion which constantly makes you feel as if you are moving when in reality you've not travelled at all. After escaping the insanity of that illusion we passed through the badlands and came out the other side to see sweet, precious mountains! Oh how beautiful they were to see! We all stopped for a touristy moment at lake Louise and moved on to set up camp in the heart of the mountains at Golden BC. Showers here were $1 and I had no change: I went another day without a shower. For dinner we had some (overpriced) Alberta steak we picked up in Drumheller with homefries.

I see mountains, you guys!

See ya later, prairies!

Lake Louise, no big deal

Yeah, seems pretty average to me

Day 6: Why are we still driving??

Our final day of driving was a gauntlet. There were traffic jams outside of Vancouver, rainstorms to pass through, winding mountainous highways with construction, visibility issues and heavy traffic and also high tensions from 6 days of being seated in a car for 10 hours a day. We eventually arrived safely at Fort Langley and set up a dinner of chicken fajitas. Everyone except myself cleared themselves out to Vancouver and thus I am here for 4 peaceful days of solitude and rest. I'm looking forward to travelling no more than 100km or so a day for at least a little while! Our job picks up again on Friday and until them I'm on vacation. I plan on patronizing a few quaint little shops and sleeping a lot. Nothing more.

Gelbin and I hanging out in Fort Langley. Stay tuned for his second letter tomorrow!

Four Days off and the Missing Hayden Sisters

This week I've had a bit of a prolonged reprieve from training and was given four consecutive days off! Unfortunately the car is not here and thus I was somewhat stuck in the Orangeville area. However, I did certainly make the best of that time.

Thursday during the day I graduated from university!!! ...sort of!! I went to student services and tried to postpone my graduation date but was told that it was too late. I was told that I could be put on for graduation in absentia and that I could then attend a later (yet hollow and meaningless) ceremony. So that's what I did! I'll get my notice of being an official graduate in the mail really soon and I'm quite excited. That same day I took Karen out for lunch on her birthday, then we played some pool and bought candy. Then Thursday night I met up with one of the missing Hayden sisters, Rebecca. Beck and Laura both live in Orangeville and though Orangeville is my hometown they only moved here long after I'd left! These are the sisters of Karen and Kaila whom I never see. Beck and I went for a tour of my old walking trails in Orangeville which turned into quite a muddy and messy adventure due to all the rainfall earlier in the day. We got lost a lot due to my terrible sense of direction and my not having been out on the trails in years. However, I did manage to get Beck back home in one peice and I myself wasn't too worse for the wear!

Friday night I hung out with my old friend Sam Bull and we got up to not a lot of anything important at all. Just the way I like it.

Saturday was more Hayden hangouts again. There was a bbq in honour of Karen's birthday and Karen, Beck, Laura (whom I finally got to meet this day!), baby Alli and Kayla-via-webcam-from-Newfounland were all in attendence. I had a lovely time sitting in the sun, eating steak and drinking Red Stripe.

Unfortunately I think I may not have a lot of free time between now and when I leave next Wednesday so I'm a little upset that I have to toddle off to bed early tonight as I didn't get a lot of sleep the past few nights!

You don't make friends with salad

Tonight I made a Niçoise salad for everyone which I thought would be a lovely summer meal but was greeted with great scorn by my fellow staff. I'm realizing that a huge factor which makes a difference between working as a line cook and working in this environment is that people are generally picky eaters within specific parameters and I've just never realized this due to the difference in work environments. In a restaurant people look over your menu - often consisting of anywhere from 6-50 items - and select the thing which suits their tastes best that day and then subsequently enjoy that item greatly assuming you've prepared it properly. Picky eaters are always sure to find at least one thing which fits the tastes of their palate and - if you're skilled - you can please them every time. However, the difference here is that I'm not working from a menu; I'm selecting one dish to prepare in bulk quantities to serve to everyone that day. While some people love Niçoise salad apparently not everyone does. I'm either going to have to become a superhero and come up with a menu that pleases everyone every day or I will have to resign myself to the fact that a significant portion of people will leave every meal complaining of something which didn't suit their culinary tastes. The realization that I cannot possibly please everyone at every meal no matter how hard I try is disheartening and something I didn't fully consider! There's nothing I can do though, so I suppose I will move on to brighter matters.


On another note, here's a picture of all of us staff from the weekend event! As I haven't asked their permission to publish their names (I doubt anyone would mind, but let's play it safe) you can just enjoy their smiling faces for now.

Ship out date for going out west is June 16th and I'm counting down the days! I miss you all!

Week 1

Wow, being unemployed for so long caused me to forget just how tiring working a full-time job can be! I've just wrapped up my first week of training and things are going quite well! I won't divulge too much information about the job or my coworkers for privacy's sake, but I will say that things are going as well as I hoped they would. We're steadily getting ready to ship ourselves out west and I'm beginning to understand the ins and outs of the job itself. In brief, our training days consist of organizational meetings, shop-work (such as truck outfitting and equipment inventory) and - my favourite part - menu demos for dinner. Since I've arrived I've cooked dinner every night except our first night in order to test out menu ideas for the tours once they begin. On that subject, I have composed a tentative list of meals to cook on the road which can be repeated for each tour:

1. Tofu with tomato and coconut curry served on rice (vegan)
2. Linguine prima vera with chicken or plain (optional vegan)
3. Potato soup with ham or plain (optional vegetarian)
4. Penne caprese with chicken or plain (optional vegan)
5. Shrimp jambalaya
   
6. Salad niciose
7. Mexican rice (Vegan)
   
8. Asian noodle salad
9. Fettuccine Alfredo with bacon and shrimp or plain (optional vegetarian)
10. Burritos (optional vegan)
11. Cream of mushroom soup with tomato and cheese sandwiches (vegetarian)
12. Perogies (vegetarian)
13. Macaroni and Cheese (vegetarian)
14. Chili con carne
15. Spaghetti bolognese or alla arrabiata (optional vegetarian)
16. *Special occasion* Fettuccine with salmon and mushrooms in a brandy cream sauce
17. *Special occasion* Whitefish (whatever's available) encrusted with yams served with sautéed green beans and dill sauce
    

Obviously one of the major things to note is that my menu is limited by various dietary restrictions. I'm not sure exactly what kind of dietary restrictions my tour will be dealing with but it's a safe bet that at least several of them will be vegetarian and possibly there will be a celiac, vegan or lactose intolerant as well. This choice of meals should be fairly accommodating to such dietary restrictions! Also, another huge limitation is my lack of an oven. All my work must be done on a stove top alone. Finally, the most interesting element for menu restriction is the availability of ingredients. Most of this food must be cooked from canned or bought instead that day from the grocery store. Relying on grocery stores all across Canada to be consistently stocked on whatever ingredients we'll need for that day is a difficult task to say the least.

Working in a yard is not one of my strong points. I'm really waiting for our ship out date to come! My prescription aviators came in yesterday though so at least working outside will get a lot easier really soon.

Goodbye Dryden, hello Orangeville!

Yesterday I travelled the great gap between Dryden and Orangeville to arrive safely at my mom's house where I will be commuting to my job's training in Alliston from. It was sad to say goodbye to my Northern family as (being so remote) I will only get to see them once in a while from now on. I enjoyed my stay despite the fact that the weather was regularly between 0 and 10 degrees and was raining constantly since my arrival! We did manage to finish off that huge bottle of rum (with surprising ease I might add) before I boarded my plane in Thunder Bay to head down to spend time with my Southern family.

Who knew that 3 weeks in Dryden could ever turn a man quite this Canadian?

My good friend Megan (whom you may remember from our Montreal shenanigans) was there to pick me up from the airport because a) she's awesome and b) I left half of my stuff in her car due to poor planning! However, we made a good night of my arrival by going for a bit of a hike first and then heading to Orangeville for some lawn camping at my mom's house in the country. Sidenote: The highlight of the hike was Megan who upon arriving at a trail-sign, fence and a ladder which goes over the fence asks "Oh my God, what do we do!" not realizing that the ladder was for climbing.

Megan is very excited to be doing something as lame as backyard camping. Good for her!

We got to try out my new tent for the first time and all seems well! I love this little thing! However, there was only 1 air mattress and 1 sleeping bag, so I didn't get the greatest night's sleep seeing as how I was using a blanket on the floor of the tent in the cold!

However, there was beer enough for each of us, so I'm not going to complain too much.



This is my mom's fire pit which we spent the night sitting around. We trashed and torched an old dresser and it threw off quite the amount of heat! I actually have a bit of a UV burn on the front of my legs from wearing shorts that night.

Tonight I actually got to spend time with my mom and Bryan even though I arrived early yesterday! I made a simple dinner and then they toddled off to bed early. This week I'm quite busy even though I'm counting down the days until I start working! I'm visiting with Sam Bull and Rebecca Hayden (Kayla and Karen's Orangeville-residing sister) in the next couple of days, then I'm heading to Guelph to visit with Karen and Dana later in the week and then on the weekend I start my first day of training on Saturday morning. Pop in to this site next week and see what my first few days of training turn out like!

Site update and new e-mail address

Okay, so this should look a lot more readable now. I'm not quite sure what I was thinking with the black background.

Also, I have a new e-mail address! Since my university career has come to a close I am no longer able to count on having a university e-mail address! You can all reach me at kevin.a.bruner @ gmail.com (no spaces). Feel free to e-mail about anything as I'm not doing a whole lot in my spare time these days.