Pheeew, was that a long drive or what.
Finally, 550km away from Regina, I am finding myself laying on my bed in a motel called Red Lion Motel, right at the outskirts of Winnipeg. Before that, I consulted my friend Jonathan regarding a place to stay, and he suggested two reasonably priced places in Winnipeg. I ended up ignoring them both because I noticed a cheaper place as I approached town and just checked in. Turns out this place has a strip bar. I swear to God that I didn’t know anything about it before checking in. It wasn’t mentioned in the sign…
I haven’t seen Winnipeg yet so I don’t have much to say about it (other than the receptionist’s warning of “stay away from the north end of downtown”, which I will), but what I can tell you about is the road from Regina to Winnipeg.
This is road number 1, the Trans‐Canada Highway. Guys, this road gives the word “boring” a whole new meaning. Driving a distance of 550km in 130km/h gives you about 4.25 hours of net driving. It felt like 425 hours.
It just never ends, never changes and boring to the point that you start talking to yourself, ask yourself questions, answer your own questions and then conclude the “discussion” realizing that you’re going bananas.
Why is there a speed limit on that road is beyond me, considering the fact that I have failed to see even one police car during the entire 550km stretch. I’ve never been to the Autobahn in Germany (and I pray, for the sake of the Germans, that the Autobahn is not as boring as highway 1 here), but if there’s one highway stretch in Canada that deserves having no speed limit then this is it.
The car’s front, as well as the windshield, seems to have tonnes of proteins in it, which are the remains of once happily‐flying insects.
I’m happy that I did this boring driving stretch today rather than tomorrow. It means that tomorrow I’ll have all day to enjoy downtown Winnipeg (some people told me that it’s rather dull… I’ll have to look into that) and then go to the show.
Will go for a quick bite soon, and if I’m not too tired, I’ll add another post outlining some of the discussions I had with myself during the drive today.
Later,
Isaac
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2 comments:
Hi Isaac,
So . . . when you stopped at a coffee shop we got a picture of you with Emily the barista. Now that you're staying at a strip club . . . :)
BTW, we have Taco Del Mar's in California too - I think they've spread beyond western Canada.
You mentioned you were becoming more talkative to strangers. Is this a glimmer of that inspiration thing?
Keep the great posts coming.
Rod.
Hi Roderick my old pal,
Good catch there with the strange "coincidence" with the Barista and the strip club. Crap, I was hoping nobody would notice...
As a matter of fact, you may recall my post about the Portland gig. I mentioned there that I had some burrito in a really dirty place. That actually was Taco Del Mar as well. Just happened to be run by people with no sense of cleanliness. But the one I had yesterday was really clean and good. Good food at a decent price.
You were also right on the money with me being talkative. It is more like a combination of things - being on the road, listening to great music almost every night (they have some day-offs, like today), living among strangers... makes you feel insecure at first and not really want to talk to anybody, but then comes this great phenomenal music by the band and reminds you that it's OK, you're just far away from your comfort zone but, after all, the music is still here and there's so many nice people out there worth meeting along the way. Screw the comfort zone; you can always go back to it. Now get out of here and meet new people! It's only by meeting new people and creating new connections that you can really appreciate what you already have in your "comfort zone".
In a sense, this experience helped me discover a few new things and strengthen other things I believed in before. It's not just the music that inspires me, but a combination of the music, the places and the people I meet along the way.
I know it sounds a little crazy and mixed up but that's what I feel. Lots of things yet to be figured out. I never felt like that before and I prefer writing without filtering anything out, even if it sounds (or reads) like a complete mess.
--
Isaac
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