Day 10 - Calgary Arrival

We finally made it back home to Calgary Saturday evening. The road conditions were excellent all the way from Couer d'Alene to Calgary with no trouble at all through the Crowsnest. Someone was definitely looking out for us on this trip - the only preceipitation we experienced of any kind was a bit of rain as we left Houston. We had to go pick up my key from Uncle Daryl's and Auntie Dixie's house and couldn't pass up the opportunity to grab a quick pic of downtown Calgary from their front yard. At least three cranes are visible all lit up which shows the building boom is still underway. It's +6 degrees C today because of an ongoing chinook warm spell which is making the transition from Houston much easier. My apartment was left in very good condition and I am very glad to finally be home again, safe after our 4000+ mile journey.

Day 9 - Head for home

We are getting travel weary and it is time to head home. Unfortunately we didn't get too far today after leaving late from the Whites who were very gracious hosts. Rather than brave the Crowsnest pass in the dark late tonight, we are staying put in Coeur d'Alene, ID. Unfortunately, we are a day late it seems because it is apparently snowing now up in Sandpoint and we will likely have a slow drive home. At least we have the time.

Day 8 - The Redwoods and OR and WA friends & family

The Redwoods and northern CA coast are very pretty. Highway 101 goes right through the Redwood National Park. We decided to spend more time in the park and skip the Oregon coast due to an incoming storm from Alaska.

After finishing with California we zipped up I-5 and stopped to visit a friend, Sharyl Ashley just outside of Portland. It was too bad we couldn't stay longer. We then crossed into Washington to visit the White family. They all came out at very short notice for a dinner and Pat and I really appreciated their hospitality. We were privelaged to stay with Aunt Pauline and Uncle Al for the night and reget that we couldn't stay longer.

Day 7 - The Bohemian Grove at Monte Rio

Near the town of Monte Rio there is a place called the Bohemian Grove that hosts a yearly camp for the rich and powerful of the world. The stories go that every July the nearby airport fills up with more gulfstreams and corporate jets than you can imagine. The goings on in the Grove are pretty ritualistic in the vein of the freaky scene in the movie "Eyes Wide Shut" with Tom Cruise. A Texan talk show host supported by Channel 4 of Britan snuck in and filmed the whole human effigy sacrifice ritual a few years back and I wanted to see if this place actually exists. The town is all as seen in the video documentary but of course I couldn't find which little road off into the forest was the Bohemian Club. Plus, the forest was pretty spooky like a Lord of the Rings scene with the mist and everything and Patricia was so freaked out she couldn't wait to leave. A place where world leaders get together and do a "cremation of care" ritual to a giant owl god molech sounds just too crazy to be true. But wait, here Alex Jones discusses the Bohemian Club with one of it's members.

Here is Part 1 and Part 2 of the whole ritual caught on tape, live in the forest of Sonoma County. Buy the DVD to get the full resolution in all it's creepy splendor. Here are some more pictures of the Grove. This one is of the high preist infront of the sacraficial alter to the Owl god Molech during the cremation of care body burning. By the way, rituals like these are where our bon fire saying comes from, literally a "Bone Fire". Here is a full on picture of the owl statue Molech.Recognize any of these Bohemian's? This pic is from the summer of 1947. And look where Dick and Ronnie ended up...

Day 7 - SF, Golden Gate, the Bohemian Grove...

We woke up early (5am) due to the hotel clock being 1 hour ahead so we made it into downtown San Fransisco before rush hour for some quick picks of Alcatraz and Fisherman's Warf before heading over to the Golden Gate Bridge and on up the coast on Highway 1. The road detoured on a Panorma Drive which was even more curvey than the 1. When we got to the Santa Rosa level we headed inland so I could check out if one of my internet conspiracies was real.

Day 6 - Hearst Castle and Elephant Seals

We goofed around on the Californian coast today. There was no point in rushing north to the freezing cold weather any sooner than necessary. We toured Hearst Castle at San Simeon and I really enjoyed it. The castle was crazy opulent but I appreciated the sourounding 82,000 acre, 5000 head ranch and coastal view more. The view is awesome. The tour guide we had recently had shown the castle to (thankfully) former PM of Canada Paul Martin who was there on vacation after having his useless Liberal government defeated by the conservatives. The pool below reminded me of Ceasars Palace in Vegas but the view from that mountain is so much better than that of the Nevada s desert.

Day 5 - Hollywood and Pacific Coast Highway

Monday saw us drive over from Jeremy's to Beverly Hills, but not until our @#$% GPS took us on a scenic tour of downtown L.A. which was not called for. Rob, you have to get updated maps for this thing! Patricia had fun looking around at all the Hollywood "stuff" and we drove by some pretty nice houses in Bel Air. After that we lazily made our way up the Pacific Coast Highway 1 to end the day in Santa Maria. Thanks Kim for the hotel rec via expedia - they tried to charge me quite a bit more than expedia listed price until I called them on it.

Day 4 - California and Jeremy, Bibi and Briana

We started the day by trying to get some sunrise pics at the Grand Canyon before we left but didn't make it up to the rim until 20min too late. What a drag - we should have slept in more to at least make it worthwhile. We then traveled over to Colton, CA to visit my cousin and his family. I was glad to make it over just before the weekend ended so we could see them before the work week schedules began.

Day 3 - Grand Canyon, AZ

The third day of our journey saw us travel out of NM to AZ and the Grand Canyon. We got away late from the hotel in Albuquerque because we got talking to a couple over breakfast - another Filipina and white guy who were traveling home to Phoenix from Denver where he was picking up expensive instrument kit for his twin engine pressurized airplane. The guy was a retired airline pilot and businessman who was full of cool stories. For example, he had just landed his plane on it's belly after the landing gear collapsed on touchdown. To make a long story short, Pat and I have an open invitation to stop over in Phoenix to visit them in their 6000 sq foot house.

We are logging fewer miles in days 2 and 3 because of the extra time we are taking to site see each day. I thought I had the route planned pretty good but the GPS that friends loaned us is really helping us guesstimate distances and travel times. Oh, by the way, Patricia and I are still on speaking terms after the first 2000km.

Day 2 - Carlsbad Caverns, NM

Day 2 started out cold. Funny, that the first snow my Canadian issue Van experienced was in southern New Mexico! We drove out to the Caverns and went down the 75 stories in an elevator. The caves were really cool and I would highly recommend them for anyone passing through the area. December is a great time to go because of the few people to interupt pictures and views.

After lunch we headed north and ended the day in Albuquerque where I currently am typing this. We hope to head out early tomorrow to see this big ditch people say is in Arizona.

Let it begin...The trip to Canada - Day 1

We embarked on our return trip to Canada Thursday morning after saying a last good-bye to the San Brisas Apartments and Houston TX. The first leg of our trip took us from Houston to Carlsbad NM. It was a long and for the most part boring drive through West Texas. Unfortunately we came within 20km of running out of gas due to strong headwinds and not paying attention. From then on, Patricia started to freak out every time the tank fell bellow half full.