It’s about as natural as the call of nature after a large slushy… if it’s the beginning of September and you’ve been on summer break, you start thinking of going back to school. It’s an unspoken rule, but that last week before class is also the most epic. In-between stalking up on stationary, most try to make the most of the free-time left. My first lecture wasn’t till the middle of the September, so my break between the end of my summer job and classes was a drive across the country.
It’s a road-trip that everyone has heard of, taking the TransCanada highway from one end of the country to the other. We detoured though…rather than taking Highway 1 all the way from Alberta to Ontario, my friend and I went through the states. The highways are faster, the route is shorter, and the shopping is totally amazing.
The drive took off after the night after a camping trip with friends. After sitting around at a bonfire laughing, joking around and eating delicious fire cooked food… we were pretty tired but excited to start the drive we’d talked about for weeks. The first leg of the trip was the longest but it was made better by lots of coffee and good music.
We were already an hour east of Calgary from the campsite, 7hours from Moose Jaw and another 14 hours from Minneapolis. The seven hour mark is where we stopped traveling east and headed southeast to the border. Minneapolis is home to the Mall of America, which speaks for itself. Host to 524 stores, an aquarium and the opportunity to have a lot of fun, this was worth saving up for. I went on a “shopping diet” when we were planning our trip. This meant only the most necessary purchases were made prior to the trip… it was really worth it.
It rained along the highway straight to the border. By sunrise we had reached the states, the weather was nicer and the highway a lot more interesting. After driving across flat and boring prairies all night the change of scenery was really appreciated. A helluva lot of driving, a couple drive-thru stops and a nap later we reached our destination. Hello, relaxation.
Our first step was to cure the side-effects of long drives. After a shower and hot meal, we played scrabble. The game was between an engineering student with a thing for diction and policy student with no mathematical strategy skills. He won, I lost.
The next day was the best of the trip. My friend and I tried to be kind while the other tried making questionable stylistic choices, trying to keep our “you’d wear THATs?” to ourselves… mostly. We learned a lot more about jellyfish, seahorses and sharks that day too. Many shoe, shirt and random purchases later, our wallets were considerably lighter and it was back to the highway.
Night driving is a different experience than traveling during the day… but to make better time we left that evening. Also, on the short-list of reasons to reach Ontario was a new thing; the desire to get a POUTINE. Midday after we passed the border, my friend and I pulled up to a KFC and asked for a poutine. When we were repeatedly asked what we wanted and the man with the headset still had no idea what fries, gravy and cheese together meant, we learnt that a lot of Americans are not familiar with this delicious entree that our nation takes so seriously.
Throughout our time in the states we asked around for the mystery dish, but to our disappointment it was largely unheard of and impossible to find! Other bloopers in the US included using the letter “zed” instead of “z” and having people give you a quizzical look when you use the word “eh”.
Needless to say, I’ve already discussions about an even grander trip in April, from Ontario back to Calgary… with new and different detours. Doing the road-trip back to school was a remarkable and amazing experience. I’d recommend the trip to anyone with the opportunity to try it. Having a scrabble champion and good friend on the road to share stories, conversations and coffee with made it even more fun and epic end to the summer.