road trip

Getting out of the city

/ Greg / Leave a comment

Over the course of many trips I have fallen in love with the idea of the “trip within a trip”. A day trip plunked down in the middle of the longer voyage is something that almost always brings me awe and rejuvenation. Going back to the first time my wife and I traveled to Europe, an expedition to Bruges in the middle of a two city trip to Amsterdam and Belgium is something that got this concept planted firmly in most of the plans I make to this day.

So, a spring training trip to Arizona for a week needed a day trip in the middle of it and after looking at some maps and talking to some friends, I landed on getting out of the Phoenix area for some hiking, exploring and even some wine tasting (yes!) in the general vicinity of Sedona. As I was battling morning rush hour traffic through what seemed like an endless Phoenix urban landscape I briefly doubted the intelligence of my plans. But soon enough, the the number of traffic lanes got down to a reasonable number and the landscape opened up to wider vistas and I felt myself easing into the day.

My first stop was just outside of Oak Creek. I had a spectacularly beautiful day for a morning hike…. the kind of day that gives you shivers of excitement. If I was hoping to feel awe, I had definitely found the place and day for that.

Hiking near Oak Creek, AZ
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Saskatchewan Summer: Sand Dunes

/ Greg / Leave a comment

Most people know the prairie stereotype of Saskatchewan and imagine farmers fields stretching to the horizon and beyond. There’s a lot of that here, but there is also a significant diversity of landscapes if you go looking for it. On a Friday vacation day in August, I took off on a road trip ninety minutes south of Saskatoon and headed for a hike on sand dunes in Douglas Provincial Park. You heard me correctly… sand dunes.

Before there could be sand dunes there was a hike from the trailhead through a typical prairie landscape.

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Saskatchewan summer: Nokomis

/ Greg / 1 Comment

In the grips of a global pandemic, as spring turned to summer, it became obvious that the only way I’d feel comfortable scratching my travel itch was to get behind the wheel of my car for some good old fashioned local exploring. And while I’ve lived in Saskatchewan for a bit over four years and owing to my province’s immense size and my proclivity to wander in foreign lands over my own backyard, I’ve seen precious little of my home province. I made a list of places relatively close to Saskatoon, booked off a few Friday vacation days, and have set off on some prairie road trips.

First up was the town of Nokomis, population 436. Located an hour and a half drive away, the attraction for me was one of my favourite craft breweries in Saskatchewan – Nokomis Craft Ales. On the drive south and east to Nokomis, I had the sunroof open and the stereo up loud listing to the new July Talk album, “Pray For It”. The open road, never-ending prairie skies and some great tunes had me feeling like this was a true vacation day and an escape from the pandemic-induced feeling like no day was different from all of the others.

Under the threat of a severe thunderstorm, I arrived in Nokomis to have my first beer on a patio other than my own back deck since November.

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Just over this mountain

/ Greg / 2 Comments

I live in a place with precious little change in elevation. The city landfill might be the highest point above sea level (crop level?) in Saskatoon. On the outskirts of the city, on clear days, it feels like if you stood on your tip toes, you might be able to see the Calgary Tower off in the distance. Granted, that’s hyperbole, but you get the picture.

For honeymoon number six, continuing a grand relationship tradition that has freed both of us from anniversary gift shopping, we choose to do a western Canadian road trip for our first ever visit to Calgary, and then a day trip onward up into the Rockies. Mountains, much like oceans, never get old to my eyes.

In the Rockies

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An epic road trip

/ Greg / Leave a comment

I live in an enormous, beautiful country, and sadly, I’ve seen more of western Europe than I have of Canada. Over the next week and a bit, I’m going to change that equation. As the final part of my family’s move from Halifax to Saskatoon, I’m flying back to New Brunswick to reunite with my wife and my dog after six weeks apart. We’ll load up the car, say a goodbye to my in-laws and kick off a journey of nearly 4,000km from Nackawic, NB to downtown Saskatoon to start our lives together on the prairies.

Since our dog isn’t able to fly, this part of our move will be an epic road trip (thanks Chewy, I owe you for this!).  Many have asked if we’ll cut through the USA on the drive.  Not a bloody chance.  That might shave a few hours off the trip, but I want to do this on my side of the border.  I want to drive alongside Lake Superior, see the giant nickel in Sudbury, visit the Terry Fox monument in Thunder Bay and do whatever it is they do in Brandon.  I’ve stocked my iPad with driving entertainment reflective of the journey we’re on: Taggart and Torrens “Canadianity” podcasts to keep us laughing and a playlist of Canadian music emblematic of the vast span of highways we’ll traverse.

Eight days, two humans and a four legged furry dude in a Honda Fit driving through Montreal, North Bay, the Sault, Kenora, small towns in Manitoba and into Saskatchewan.   Here’s to something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.  No new stamp in my passport on this trip, and that’s more than ok with me.