Road Trip: The Drive

Hey Bloggy Friends,

{I hope all my Canadian Blog Friends had a great long weekend!}

Remember that time I said we were going on a road trip? And then I told you we sold our house while on a road trip? Except I never really told you anything ABOUT the road trip? Yup, it's because I'm a crappy blogger. As it turns out, keeping a travel blog about preparing to travel comes a lot easier to me than a blogging about actually traveling. Strange.

Anyways...We did it. We went on a road trip! The first leg of our journey was from Calgary down to Sandpoint, ID for one night. It was a gorgeous drive through the foothills and into Rocky Mountains. Turns out I might not hate road trips as much as I was expecting to... {so cynical, Dana}. Here are some fun facts about our trip:

3350 Km driven

6 Face tattoos spotted

5 Nights in AirBnB homes

3 Nights with friends

2 Professional sports games attended

1 Sorta hitchhiker

Waaay too much beer sampled...

On the way there...

USA border security confiscated a bag of oranges we had in the car. Sad, because I was hungry later. The cheap motel we rolled into late that night was 50s themed. It was hilariously amazing.

On the way home...

TMI: I'm a horrible road trip partner because I probably have to stop for a pee every 2 hours or so. On the way home, while enjoying the gorgeous drive down the Coquihalla Highway, I forced Juliano to pull over at a rest stop for a 'break'. While slowing down to pull over - we passed a speed trap {moral of that story: my tiny bladder saved us a massive ticket!}. At the rest stop, a teenaged guy approached us and this happened:

Guy: Umm... excuse me? Are you guys by any chance driving to Calgary?

Me: Yep. Why? Is that your car over there getting towed?

Guy: Yeah, well... technically it's my mom's car getting towed. I was driving my girlfriend home to Kelowna.

Me: Ah ha ha.... that sucks. Hey - did you know that today is Mother's day?

Guy: Really? Shit. I don't have any cell reception here.

Me: You should call her.

Guy: Yeah, I know. Can I please get a ride with you? I can pay for gas or whatever.

Me: ha ha ha...I don't need your gas money. But I feel like this will be hilarious, so hop on in!

And that is how we picked up a sorta-hitch-hiker in BC and brought him all the way home. Turns out getting your mom's car towed on Mother's day is not really appreciated by your family - his dad was pissed. It was hilarious. Also he was quite polite and friendly {Canadians...} and complimented my taste in music {which made me feel young and trendy} - overall success on our part.

Some random notes about road tripping...

- I know the words to A LOT of songs. What a waste of brain space, I should be fluent in Portuguese by now.

- Trains are cool, bridges are awesome. Train bridges = super awesome

- Road side {and river-side!} picnics are the best

- I don't know anything about geography. Seriously, I'm lost about 90% of the time.

- Farmers Markets are cool in every city. And the food is always the best there.

- There is no chance in hell that I'll ever be able to translate USD-per-Gallon to Canadian-Cents-per-Liter for gas comparisons. You literally need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out. I give up. But still:

Most expensive gas: 1.47/Liter in Vancouver, BC

Cheapest gas: 3.71/Gallon in Sandpoint, ID

- Cheap motels always have free breakfast and wifi. Fancy hotels make you pay for both. Why?


I know this post was a bit scattered, but I'll be back with more about Portland, Seattle, Vancouver and Kelowna soon!

Cheers!

Cozumel, Mexico - Holiday!

What's up friends! I'm in Mexico all week so the blog will be on pause while I enjoy my sunshine, scuba and margaritas...

While I'm gone - here's some funny stuff on the Internets to keep you entertained...

• Used Yoga Mat ad on Craigslist
•  I'm Comic Sans, Asshole  - The font you hate stands up for itself
• Please accept this drawing of a Spider - hilarious.
• Passive Aggressive Notes - everybody's come across one of these, and it's awesome.
• Carnival Photos - In Brazil and other places...
• Take a look at this dreamy yacht... the  RM Elegant - it's the kind of place I want to work!
• Have you ever gone glamping? {Glamour + Camping} Looks pretty great here
• What I'll be eavesdropping on for six hours each way...
• Turns out, I'm a terrible wife

Have a great week - see you soon!

Ps. The resort I'm at has a camera that you can watch throughout the day.... a live shot of the pool. Creepy or great marketing tool? I feel like a creep when I look at it... but I can't stop!

Banff & Lake Louise Tourists

Even though we're in the mountains at least a couple of times a month, we rarely go as 'tourists' and see the fun stuff! We were happy to have my wonderful sister-in-law from Ottawa come to town with a friend who'd never been here... I always love seeing people experiencing the mountains for the first time.The super swanky Chateau Lake Louise has outdoor skating, ice castles and winter magic aplenty. Banff Springs Hotel is also amazing [we even got to stumble on a winter wedding!]

In Banff we got to try traditional Bannock, eat loads of candy and relax in the hot springs [if you go, please rent a 'heritage suit' and wear it - you'll make my day].

Happy Winter Tourists! Also, we got to finish the weekend off with a basketball game, huge dinner [16 people!] at my house with family. I love it. I'll miss being close to my extended family when we're away.

Happy New Year Happiness

 I love New Year's Eve so much! It's a great way to celebrate everything that you did in the previous year, and holds so much hope for the coming year. The eternal optimist in me comes out to shine - all for a glass of champagne and a kiss at midnight. I could be biased though:

 Look how young! How Excited!  If I could go back for a minute, I would say be brave, be adventurous and don't let anything stop you from doing what you dream of. Don't compromise {too much} for other people's opinions. Here's what else I would say:

How to be Happy out of the Current

{according the the de brito epistles, which have no authority over anything}

Take responsibility for you life to date. Don’t blame anyone else for your situation, own up to all the elements of your life - good and bad as 'We are the Architects of our own Adversity'. Your life is the sum of the consequences of your actions, which are regulated by the choices you make. Not all actions are choices that you WANT to make… but here you are.

Cut out the Bullshit!  This can include people who cause you drama or situations you dislike. These can be big or small. Are you endless fixing the same piece of technology or talking to the same person about the same thing ?? Work on permanent solutions for these problems, or cut them out of your life completely. When you're surrounded by drama, you expend SO MUCH energy dealing with it - or feeding its fires.

Drop your old baggage – you can't move forward in this life with the endless negativity of your past weighing down on you. Regrets, grudges and resentments don't get you anywhere. They cloud your judgement and close you off to new ideas or opportunities. I know it's hard, but Let It Go.

 Question everything – ask yourself WHY you are doing why you’re doing. WHY you work in the field you do, WHY you live where you do, WHY you believe what you believe. Don't just give yourself the 'cocktail party' answer, really think about it.

Be brave and be vulnerable. Leaving elements of your life behind is hard. It causes you to question many of your choices, values and theories on things. Do this! Be brave when you make a decision and stick to it. Be vulnerable with your questioning and to the people closest to you.

This is just a list of things that we're going to working on, and moving forward in 2012. Check out this Resolutions post for some more info about the specific things I want to learn/do this year! 

 Try a couple of simple things at home to put you out of your comfort zone. These are all experimental, and we’ll be doing them throughout our leaving process to help with the ‘culture shock’ of leaving the familiar…

o   Go to a restaurant and try food you’ve never tried -  Get crazy with it!

o   Learn a new sport. Even if you’re crappy and sports and always get hit in the face with the ball... so what’s the point of even trying?! Yeah, that’s me. Hello.. surfing.

o   Take a class - it's a great way to discover a new world and meet new people

o   Do something you’re scared of - even if it's small. I'm going to try more blue runs!

o   Give up something comfortable. I want to eeeeaaaaase myself into. Personal Space, Privacy, Independence and Proximity to Family are some of the big things we'll be compromising on this year. One step at a time.

Sorry for the list of cliches, it's an inevitable at this time of year. 

Enjoy the rest of your Holiday, Make 2012 a year to remember!

**Side Note** Want to know why we're always wearing white at New Years? It's a Brazilian tradition.

Happy Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Good Tidings to All!

I hope you are enjoying a festive meal and not being as Scrooge-ish or Grinch-like as I usually am!

In celebration of our favorite holiday, here's the best of my favorite Sketchy Santas:

 

 

Happy Holidays ~ See you in the New Year!