rolling up the rug

I hope you don't mind seeing an old favorite picture of Crow and company but at the moment all of my art supplies are packed up in cardboard boxes again. We've been a little too busy packing and doing odd improvements (curtains!) in the new place for me to have found any time to draw these past few weeks. No matter how much practice I've had, or maybe because of it, I really don't enjoy moving. If I add up all the abodes where I've abided and divide them by years, it looks as though I should have attached wheels to the furniture ages ago. In truth, there have been a few memorable places we've inhabited for up to seven years and a few forgettable ones that didn't make the grade beyond a year or so. At least this way one never has time to get tired of the view.

We're not entirely sure which category our new apartment will fall into but we'll have a better idea by the end of the week. Moving day is Thursday. When we finally got the keys, nearly three months after signing the lease, we walked in and discovered it's actually somewhat smaller than we'd remembered. How much smaller, you may ask? Well, I'm keeping my fingers crossed our stuff fits and we can still close the door. Really, the kitchen is so tiny it has a ¾ size stove and fridge that pretty much fill up the space. It's going to be like cooking in a ship's galley. The rest we'll sort out one way or another. I'll have a little studio space in front of one of the windows in our L-shaped living room - a spot that's actually nicer than the area I set up here. We already know where to tell the movers to put the big stuff but I have a feeling we're going to be shifting other pieces around the way you play one of those frustrating puzzle box games. It should be fun so long as we're not in divorce proceedings before the bookcases have been arranged to our mutual satisfaction. When I come to think of it, moving is actually a very good test of a relationship and something people should probably do more often than is usual.

Hopefully, most friends who've known us for any length of time have been wise enough to write our current address in pencil when updating their little black books.  For years my email and blog have been the easiest ways to find me and that remains true. We may love the new apartment for all the other reasons we liked it to start off with, but even if it turns out not to be the best place, there will always be another. So long as we're together and laughing is the important thing.

By some magical process of his own design, Crow will still have his own gracious lodgings close to mine - a place where I'm always welcome to share his brandy and fruitcake while he regales me with stories. There may even be some I write down and draw for you.

♡

downwardly mobile

Rather than drawing or painting a new picture, I decided to post an old one (hoping you'll excuse me) partly because I haven't had time to draw a new one that's pertinent, and second, because in the not too distant future I'll get to see this one hanging on a wall somewhere in our new place. Yes! We finally found a new apartment, so the stuff that's stayed packed away in traveling cartons while we waited out this*, that^, and the other thing# will be out on display again. I don't want you to think we've been living without furniture or the other necessities of life like books and movies, but we do have far more cardboard boxes than are typical.

* this - It took a lot longer than we ever expected to get an authorization for numb to be accepted as a resident in Canada. More and more, there are things you're allowed to do that are much more difficult to accomplish in practice.

^ that - Since we hadn't heard from Immigration by last June we had to stay here for another year. Believe me, it's really best not to change your address while waiting for a government agency to come to a decision.

# the other thing - It's a law in NS you must give the landlord three months notice. Fine. Many students leave in late spring. Good. More apartments are available in the summer here than there are in the fall. Great. All we had to do was find one.

That's what we've spent the past couple of months doing. Yes, we're picky but more on the side of having something nice to look at out the windows rather than wanting a dishwasher or our own personal washer and dryer. Even though a car is a requirement sometimes, it's also undeniable it's preferable to be able to walk where you need or want to go. So we signed the lease today and will be moving at summer's end to a new apartment that's almost as spacious as this one with fewer yet bigger rooms. Instead of living on the 7th floor of a 23 story building we'll be on the 3rd floor of a 7 story one so I won't get dizzy while standing on the balcony. Plus, it's only two thirds of our current rent.  Now we'll be able to plan for some summer fun. It also means I'll have more time to focus on drawing and writing that story I keep boring you about.

Meanwhile, here's another very cool (and short) video from Vimeo:


not over from Toru Hayai on Vimeo.


(Perhaps more frequent blog posting too)
♡

cooling our jets

There comes a time after a long wearying journey that you'd just like to go home; but once we get to Halifax, after the rain stops falling and the winds stop blowing, we'll still be somewhat stuck for a while. All of our belongings, except for the computers and a few of our clothes, are still in Portland while the Mayflower driver waits to have his truck fully loaded for points east. Having seen for ourselves what a truly long haul it is between the one place and the other I have no complaints other than a vague wish our stuff would just be there all nicely arranged, waiting for us.

Since that won't be the case, and we want to get out of the hotel habitation scene sooner rather than later, we're making up a shopping list whose first item is a bed - or a sofa bed. For that we'll need sheets and pillows - then a lamp to read a book by - then towels and stuff for the bathroom - then a kettle, a pan, 2 plates, 2 bowls, 2 cups, 2 knives, 2 forks, 2 spoons.. the list goes on but hopefully, it won't get too much longer. To think we were concerned about getting all the way here before our stuff arrived at the border in Nova Scotia is laughable now.

The contract says it will be here no later than Sept. 23rd but I've been scoping out this hotel room to see what they could spare. Hmpff.. gone are the days when you could collect hotel towels; anything missing they just add to your credit card bill. The other temporary aggravation is we'll have no internet service until next Friday so I guess we'll be spending some time in wi-fi connected restaurants and sports bars. It will continue to be interesting for a while yet - never mind the fact it's 8:30 in the evening here and still 4:30 on the other coast. That still feels very weird as did losing an hour every other day on our way across.

One thing I can safely say about Canada is that it's much like the US in many respects but without the hand guns. That's a definite plus.

Tomorrow we travel to our new home by the sea. Crow flew in this evening to let us know the skies have cleared between here and there. He's relaxing on his travel perch now and sends his greetings.

Bon soir, mes amies.

☀

road hogs

We're pretty damn close to our destination now after 8 days on the road and 3600 miles on the odometer but it appears we're stuck in Fredericton, New Brunswick until a hurricane makes its way through some time tomorrow. I mean, really, what else was going to stop us or at least slow us down?

The huge surprise we got today was our discovery that Rte 2, the part of the Trans Canada Hwy that traverses this province, is a beautifully built and maintained divided four lane that allowed us to drive over the northern Appalachians at 110kph. We'd been imagining a 2 lane road with a speed limit of 45mph. Considering 110kph translates to approximately 70mph and people usually add 10+ mph to the posted speed you can see what I'm getting at here. You're allowed to drive at 80+mph but then they post signs to say you might find a moose standing on the road so be careful. What! The signs belabor the point of how big moose are by showing a graphic of one that towers over a car. That wasn't very reassuring; we were half expecting antlers to appear over the treetops.

The other menace we've seen a lot of is trucks - big trucks and bigger trucks that can also drive at or above the posted speed limit. Most of them are cool but sometimes they like to race alongside each other which can be quite disconcerting if you see them barreling down a 9% grade in your rear view mirror. Your only choice is to speed up or drive off the highway, which is not recommended in any driving manual for travel at speeds over 20mph.

Anyhow, we're here now safe and sound after what was really another surprisingly beautiful drive. The good news is this province is right next door to Nova Scotia so we'll be neighbors and can come back easily if we get bored with looking at the Atlantic.



Good night and remember to keep an umbrella handy. Hmm.. That might be a quick way of getting to Halifax tomorrow.

☁ ☂ ☁

vagabonds heureux

What can I say to add to this? It's a photograph taken of the place we arrived at this afternoon - Riviere du Loup, about 200 miles further up the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City, and a stunningly beautiful place it is.

We've been traveling through Quebec all day and you may not believe it but everybody around here speaks French. Mine is mostly pretty rusty after so many years away but I've been getting along okay at the quickie marts and restaurants as well as here au Hotel Universale (if you consider almost all can speak English when I fail with French). It will be fun to work on being fluent again even if I do speak it with an English accent. My friends used to laugh at my pronunciation when I lived in Montreal years ago.

Speaking of Montreal, we've decided the reason why the US never successfully invaded Canada was because they couldn't make it through the traffic in the city. Now that the place has had 30 extra years to get bigger it also continued to develop a highway system that would defy a team of NASA engineers. It was pretty insane coming through there to say the least.

Up to now we've driven 3250 miles and still have about 500 to go before we get to Halifax. We're both a little wiped out but happy to have made it so far safely and fairly comfortably. Early on we realized that a motel that advertises $40 a night means each so it's just as well to spend $120 for both of us and have a nice place with breakfast included. We needed them even though neither of us generally eats a morning meal.

That's it for tonight. I hope you're all well and rest assured that one of these days soon I'll be able to visit again at leisure.

way north then east

It's been quite a ride since I updated last - seems hard to believe it was just yesterday morning we were still in Superior, MI. Tonight we're in Ottawa - Canada's capital city and this is our second night in the country.

The first was weird since we almost got arrested in a way north town called Elliot Lake while we were trying to find the entrance to a hotel that was on top of a shopping mall which was itself on the top of a tall hill. We drove all around the mall and the hill looking for an entrance and even got out of the car at one point to see if it was hidden. By then we'd been on the road for nearly 13 hours and were tired, very tired.

Sault Ste. Marie, where we crossed the border, is in the middle of No and Where. So we drove and drove and it got darker and darker and there were two heavy downpours and there were no hotels on the Trans Canada highway. In fact, that far north there wasn't much at all and Elliott Lake was the closest town on the map but it was miles (should I say Kilometers?) up another long dark road and everybody in town was in bed when we got there. Except for the policemen who caught us not wearing our seatbelts while we were searching for the hotel entrance. He checked us out to make sure the 63 year old woman and her 60 year old accomplice hadn't stolen a 16 year old Geo Tracker.

After he gave us a stern warning we asked him HOW to get into the hotel. It turned out there was one door to the mall that remained open for hotel guests. I'll tell you about the hotel another time. Leave it for now to say there was a rusty beer bottle opener on the bathroom wall.

We laughed and went to bed - happy the policeman hadn't seen us run a red light when we got bored of waiting or making a couple of illegal u-turns.

Thanks for checking in on us. The picture at the top is one of Lake Nipissing - just one of the beautiful lakes seen from the Trans Canada Hwy today.

great plains to great lakes

There was a big storm overnight in Bismarck, ND and it was still raining when we left a little after 9am. We've been fairly lucky with the weather so far except for another heavy rain that lasted an hour or so when we were still in the mountains of Montana the day before. When you're on the open road traffic doesn't slow down for much of anything so there were some scary moments. The winds were fierce between there and Fargo (don't go, not scenic at all) but in the whole 250 miles we saw only one wind turbine. What a waste of energy. One thing we've noticed though is that if you don't like the weather one place, keep driving.

The other tip I have for you is that if you get bored on a long drive let a fly into your car. Rather than all that money for video games and movies for the kids you could just get them a fly swatter each.

It was a pleasure to find ourselves driving through northern Minnesota; all of a sudden we were seeing signs we were back in the east - white birch trees, goldenrod and huge placid lakes on either side - all that and green grass too.

By early evening yesterday we'd bypassed Duluth and driven along an amazing little windy road that ran 10 miles beside a river rapids that looked much like this. Then we crossed the border into Superior, WI. The lake and Canada are just outside the hotel window.

See you on the other side :-)

mild wild west

Big Horn, Montana yesterday and a sign that pointed to the right off the road saying 'Battlefield of Custer's Last Stand'. All we saw there was a very, very large corn field that was irrigated and more of the Badlands beyond where it wasn't and you have wonder why a bunch of crazy white guys came all the way beyond the middle of nowhere to fight a bunch of Indians. There's not much out here worth fighting over and I have to think the country would have been a better place today if we'd left the middle to the tribes.


Montana rolled by the window for quite a while so it seemed we were almost to Bismarck before we actually crossed into North Dakota. We saw mile after mile of rolling hills, buttes and mesas, and more grass than you could wave a stick at. Multiply layered clouds lit parts of the landscape like roving spotlights. Huge wheat farms were interspersed with badlands and painted canyons. It's easy to forget just how big this country is unless you see it from a car window now and again.

We've also seen some enormous car dealerships on our way - never mind the RV sales centers and every larger town seems to have a Harley-Davidson franchise. Some of the towns are still involved in mining and smelting. It's a different breed of people out here from most we know on the coasts and cars and trucks are a way of life. Of course, all I have to do is imagine this landscape in winter and I want to keep going right now. Personally, I prefer a city bus or taxi.

Next we go to Duluth, only 450 miles but we'll be getting off the highway and traveling narrower roads through more state parks. I've got the camera handy again. My computer doesn't know what time it is and neither do I.



Not everyone can stand living out here.Yesterday afternoon I actually saw a woman on the other side of the highway hitch-hiking with 10 suitcases. I hope someone gave her a lift.

no shifting gears

Before I say anything else, I'll just mention I'm not taking any pictures - impossible at highway speeds. You need time and skill to get good photographs and the only times we stop are for the necessities. One quickie mart truck stop looks much like another. I am taking notes, though.

We spent yesterday driving through Montana, an experience that was at least as amazing in parts as the Gorge drive. We crossed the Continental Divide just outside of Butte at nearly 7000 feet and hadn't even realized how high we were because there were mountains all around, followed by huge mountain valleys with rivers and more mountains beyond. Yellowstone looked as though it was a landscape that had been dropped from some magical other planet.

Now we're in Billings getting ready to go to Bismarck, ND. I'll keep my eyes open for you :-)

on the road

There's no way east from Portland except through the Columbia River Gorge which is even more beautiful than one picture can show since it's 200 miles long. The part you can't see here is the effect of the strong wind gusts on the cars and trucks driving along its length at 70 to 80 mph. Beautiful and scary all at once.. just like life.

We're in Spokane and will be leaving for Billings, Montana in a little while. This time I have my camera available and will see if I can get some pictures of the mountain peaks and rivers - that is after we get the insects who sacrificed their lives off our windshield.

Sorry, I don't have time for visiting. You know there's nothing I like much better than being able to do so every day but we have miles to go before we sleep again. Love to you all.