Well, here is my take on the last bit of our adventure:
Here I go again on my own...
Well, I lied, I'm sorry, Steve is with me. This is my side of the story. It was 6:30 AM, San Francisco, California. The early morning sun beamed through the thick San Francisco fog onto our comatose friend in the parking lot. We keep trying to pull the plug on the poor bastard but today will be the day. We boarded a bus at Union St. and headed for B.A.R.T. After arriving at the subway, we purchased our subway passes and headed for Oakland. It can't be that bad in Oakland. The train stopped at the Coliseum/Airport Station and we exited the train. Looking around, the first thing I noticed was an enormous building with the Oakland Raiders banner on it. Cool, this isn't so bad, it looks just like an industrial complex with a coliseum. We left the train platform and headed for the Oakland Pick-a-Part and met a girl there named Kashmir. Kashmir asked us a few questions about the car and we proceeded to explain our situation. She asked to see our papers. The confused look on our face and the disappointed look on Steve's made me realize what was going on. Morris wasn't ready to go to the big Laguna Seca in the sky just yet... Ass. We were directed to the Oakland DMV where we were to obtain proper forms and documentations so the charity could come collect Morris and we could begin the long trek back to the Great White North. While we were waiting in line at the DMV, a man started talking of rumors involving this particular outlet being closed for the day for unknown reasons. I started to panic and immediately got the number for the Canadian Embassy. It was around then that I heard a man's voice complaining about how "cold" it was, a female voice responded telling the man that she is from Canada and that she knows what real cold is. I shot around and confirmed what I had just heard. She told me she was from the prairies, this makes me happy due to the fact that there was a serious lack of Canadians. After meeting another Canuck, we entered the DMV and started the long complex process of registering a car that "was built on Sunday in the United States in a toolshed". I am sure Steve filled everyone in on the rest of the story.
In Sacramento we found that we had a slight problem due to the lack of bluetooths. Steve has teh epic Oakland video on his phone, but we has none way to bring it fourth to the laptop... But I have a plan, there has to be a bluetooth reciever somewhere in the Portland area... A bluetooth receiver for cheap. Steve says that bluetooth and windows xp don't get along, but I has teh computer college under my belt and hopefully that helps me.. If not, my plan B is hit up an AT&T dealer and borrow a USB cable and transfer teh video over... Unfortunately our stop in Portland yielded no results because we had no time. We had only 40 minutes to get a small charge, get Steve some food and find teh Wi-Fi. Upon entering an internet cafe (which I had no idea existed in this day and age), we wi-fi'd and figured everything out. Now it was time to get back to the bus station and get Steve some noms.
-Steve's Sammiches OR Bus Station Bingo-
We ran into the bus station cafe where Steve purchased two ham and cheese subs. I knew this wouldn't end well. Steve took a big swig of the stale (thats right, STALE) water, and took a bite of the sammich that he bought for $5.50, both were ass. About two hours after eating one, I began to feel strange, I woke Steve up and he started laughing hysterically while trying to spit out "That will hurt! About an 8 out of 10 if I am not mistaken!". After some severe lulz and stomach pains... It went away, it just left. Later on that day, I ran into a very angry Vietnam veteran from Texas... Long story short, he was a scary man...
Upon our arrival in Seattle, I sniffed out the arcade and busted out a bunch of games, the most impressing, bad ass one I did was dually pistols in "House of the Dead", I was icing those coagulated gravy and hot dog bun bastard zombies in no time. After that, Steve actually did something productive (unlike me), locating the big giant storage lockers. We put our things in the lockers and hit Seattle, looking for a pub. The downtown district is like a combination of the Granville Strip in Van and Victoria Street in Kamloops. We finally found a pub called "The Whiskey Bar" and went on in. After drinking a pint of the most bitter lager I have ever tried in my life, we left and made a break for the Mc Donalds. Inside the penny dropped for me with a horrible clang. The clock read 8:27, we had to be back at the bus station ready to go in 10 minutes. Our task ahead was pretty much our last aside from fighting off the living dead, otherwise known as the drug users in Vancouver. We made it back to the bus station with only mere seconds to spare. Right now as I am typing this, we are heading north on the I-5 towards Everett. Arriving in Vancouver, we got pwned right off the hop by Niko Bellic, the security guard. We arrived at 1:30 am, hungry, thirsty, and down right tired. He told us that we weren't allowed to leave the train/bus station because it is in lockdown. After a short talk, he pointed us to the head of security. Mr. Gill was his name, he was one of the nicer employees we have met aside from the bus driver. Mr. Gill let us in on a little secret. There was a gate, and when we went through it, we could go wherever we please. After a long night in the Downtown East Side, we were allowed entry into the bus station again. We met up with a girl there named Sacha, who kept us entertained until we parted ways on separate buses and took off on the final leg of our journey home.
The way home...
We were on the bus for about 20 minutes when I passed right out. About 20 minutes before Merritt, the bus started making Morris noises... Great... The bus then decided to just up and quit on us. The driver believed it was the turbo charger in the big gigantic engine in the back. About five minutes later, a rescue bus showed up and everyone but us boarded it. Another 10 minutes after that, a man in a pickup truck showed up, fixed the engine (turns out it was just a hose clamp that came loose giving the engine no compression), great! We were on our way again. After a short cat nap, we arrived in Kamloops, jumped in my car that was waiting for us at the Greyhound station, and ended our journey...
But don't think we are done just yet...
-Mitch
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
The B Sides
Just a few pictures more pictures I found on my phone.
Riding a really old streetcar.
Taking a trip on BART (the subway).
Waiting in line at the DMV.
Learning that ICBC really is full of shit.
Riding a really old streetcar.
Taking a trip on BART (the subway).
Waiting in line at the DMV.
Learning that ICBC really is full of shit.-steve
Thursday, August 20, 2009
San Francisco Rush
-in portland at time of posting-
Early Californian sun shot through the bathroom skylight. Shower steam condensing on beer bottles created an appropirate type of fresh morning dew. Droplets on the side of Rolling Rock ale from the night before. Our last night in San Francisco. I was underslept and over-stressed. I knew we would have a massive day ahead. Over 24 hours had already passed since the car was supposed to be picked up and gone. We were supposed to be unhindered and free to return home to Canada.
Stepping onto the balcony, I saw him sitting below. Same spot he stayed parked for the last three days. Morris, you coagulated gravy and hot dog bun eating bastard. Why was he still there? I had called the charity- rather they called me, wanting my registration information. I was told prior to travelling there would be no problem, but they assumed my Canadian car would have a California title. I had to travel to Oakland. The woman on the phone, Brenda. She told me to take my ICBC registration to the tow yard, they would fill out a form, and we would be safe to go see the Painted Ladies.
7:12AM
Bus 41 to California BART
We had walked two blocks to Union st, paid our fare and boarded towards the Bay Area Rapid Transit. A combination subway and above ground light rail system. We had taken it to the airport, SFO, several days before to see a man about a horse. Now we would be travelling beyond the city limits, across the bay to Oakland. Home of the Raiders.
7:28AM
Boarded BART to Colliseum/Oakland Airport
7:58AM
Arrive Colliseum/Oakland Airport. We needed to walk about 1.5km to the tow lot, in the middle of a very poor neighbourhood and industrial district, jumbled between an elevated freeway and two rail lines. First in the office of the yard, it was just after 8 o'clock. The woman had no idea what we should do and directed us to the Oakland DMV. Forunately for us, it was only around the corner. Another 2km or so through some of the poorest neighbourhoods I have ever experienced. Trash and broken bits of cars piled up between the freeways. Open sewers ran beside the streets.
8:30AM
The lineup at the DMV was wrapped around the building. It wouldn't open until 9. We were already running out of time. Not knowing what we could even accomplish we began taking action. I was on the phone with the ICBC in Kamloops asking about forms and policies. Mitch was setting up Greyhound tickets for our departure- at 5:30PM. What if we couldn't scrap the car? How could we pay to bring him back? What kind of forms do we need to find? There were no answers. The lineup built longer and people became agitated. We had decided the Canadian consulate was about to find a happy surprise in their parking lot today. If of course, we couldn't work this out.
9:00AM
The DMV opened, for once. From one line to another, to a ticket dispenser, from one clerk to seats and another clerk in another location. The first woman was sure we would need special documents direct from the state capitol. It would take weeks, she insisted. It wasn't until 9:30 when we began a sort of negotiation with a second clerk and her supervisor. And at nearly 10 in the morning we left the Oakland Department of Motor Vehicles. I agreed to pay 38 dollars and the Great State of California agreed Mitch and myself built Morris in a shed when we arrived here on Sunday, and would issue us an American title.
But first the inspection.
10:00AM
Filling out forms and writing sworn statements set us back. Check-out for our room was 12 o'clock. It would take close to an hour now to return to the hotel. We needed to get the car inspected, return to the DMV, get issued a junk title, call a tow company, and board the last bus to Canada at 5:30PM.
We ran to the train station and returned to San Francisco. Glad to be the flying fuck out of Oakland. Returned too far into San Francisco in fact, passing our stop by three. Wasted about ten minutes but finally returned to the Embarcadero station. There was no time for the bus, our transportation the rest of the day was by hailing taxi's, GTA style.
11:58AM
Checked out of the hotel. Two minutes early! Morris lay in the parking lot. No inspection. I frantically made calls to every body and organisation capable. The police department sent me to highway patrol. Erik Estrada was out of the office, and then fully booked for weeks. The internet gave me the name of a woman in Marin County. At last a break, she picked up right away and fit us in immeadiatly. She could be at the hotel in an hour. We needed to be at the bus station for check-in within 5 hours and then we would be gone. She arrived just after 1PM, inspected the car, completed a form and for this I paid $150. American.
1:45PM
The taxi to the San Francisco DMV was just about $15, just like every taxi ride taken today. I lost count how many. We wouldn't leave the DMV for another 2 hours. But we had our forms, they gave me a scrap title to the car. It was a Californian vehicle, finally. Plus, I'm getting sent a cheque for $35 USD, for reasons I do not understand. It will probably bounce anyway, the state doesn't have any money. Their employees are currently accepting IOU's instead of paycheques. No joke.
The time was now 3:45 and we ran up and down Haight St trying to find a cab. Exhausted and nearly defeated, we knew we couldn't catch our bus. A cab finally caught sight of us, and back to the hotel and Morris. During the trip I called the charity that would be taking the car. We would need to return to the tow lot in Oakland with the title. It was then I realised with the title in my hand, any tow company could take the car away.
Bad news for us, it was a 2 hour wait. And since the towing service still didn't fully accept Morris as an American citizen, there was another fee. One Hundred Dollars. And we didn't make our bus.
We cabbed again to the bus station and it was now getting near 7 o'clock. Fortunate for us, a mere $15 fee got us on the very next last-bus-to-Canada. I took a walk down Mission st to relax. And I write this tale now, sitting somewhere between Sacremento and Redding. It's 12 hours to Portland, and another 30 to home. I just "showered" in the handicap stall of the men's room of a Sacremento bus stop. Everything smells like pee.
It cost $290 Canadian, not including fee's, taxi fares, train tickets and late charges, to see Morris off. That is ninety dollars more than we paid for him!
-steve
ps.
and we never made it to the outlet mall in ogdenville!
Early Californian sun shot through the bathroom skylight. Shower steam condensing on beer bottles created an appropirate type of fresh morning dew. Droplets on the side of Rolling Rock ale from the night before. Our last night in San Francisco. I was underslept and over-stressed. I knew we would have a massive day ahead. Over 24 hours had already passed since the car was supposed to be picked up and gone. We were supposed to be unhindered and free to return home to Canada.
Stepping onto the balcony, I saw him sitting below. Same spot he stayed parked for the last three days. Morris, you coagulated gravy and hot dog bun eating bastard. Why was he still there? I had called the charity- rather they called me, wanting my registration information. I was told prior to travelling there would be no problem, but they assumed my Canadian car would have a California title. I had to travel to Oakland. The woman on the phone, Brenda. She told me to take my ICBC registration to the tow yard, they would fill out a form, and we would be safe to go see the Painted Ladies.
7:12AM
Bus 41 to California BART
We had walked two blocks to Union st, paid our fare and boarded towards the Bay Area Rapid Transit. A combination subway and above ground light rail system. We had taken it to the airport, SFO, several days before to see a man about a horse. Now we would be travelling beyond the city limits, across the bay to Oakland. Home of the Raiders.
7:28AM
Boarded BART to Colliseum/Oakland Airport
7:58AM
Arrive Colliseum/Oakland Airport. We needed to walk about 1.5km to the tow lot, in the middle of a very poor neighbourhood and industrial district, jumbled between an elevated freeway and two rail lines. First in the office of the yard, it was just after 8 o'clock. The woman had no idea what we should do and directed us to the Oakland DMV. Forunately for us, it was only around the corner. Another 2km or so through some of the poorest neighbourhoods I have ever experienced. Trash and broken bits of cars piled up between the freeways. Open sewers ran beside the streets.
8:30AM
The lineup at the DMV was wrapped around the building. It wouldn't open until 9. We were already running out of time. Not knowing what we could even accomplish we began taking action. I was on the phone with the ICBC in Kamloops asking about forms and policies. Mitch was setting up Greyhound tickets for our departure- at 5:30PM. What if we couldn't scrap the car? How could we pay to bring him back? What kind of forms do we need to find? There were no answers. The lineup built longer and people became agitated. We had decided the Canadian consulate was about to find a happy surprise in their parking lot today. If of course, we couldn't work this out.
9:00AM
The DMV opened, for once. From one line to another, to a ticket dispenser, from one clerk to seats and another clerk in another location. The first woman was sure we would need special documents direct from the state capitol. It would take weeks, she insisted. It wasn't until 9:30 when we began a sort of negotiation with a second clerk and her supervisor. And at nearly 10 in the morning we left the Oakland Department of Motor Vehicles. I agreed to pay 38 dollars and the Great State of California agreed Mitch and myself built Morris in a shed when we arrived here on Sunday, and would issue us an American title.
But first the inspection.
10:00AM
Filling out forms and writing sworn statements set us back. Check-out for our room was 12 o'clock. It would take close to an hour now to return to the hotel. We needed to get the car inspected, return to the DMV, get issued a junk title, call a tow company, and board the last bus to Canada at 5:30PM.
We ran to the train station and returned to San Francisco. Glad to be the flying fuck out of Oakland. Returned too far into San Francisco in fact, passing our stop by three. Wasted about ten minutes but finally returned to the Embarcadero station. There was no time for the bus, our transportation the rest of the day was by hailing taxi's, GTA style.
11:58AM
Checked out of the hotel. Two minutes early! Morris lay in the parking lot. No inspection. I frantically made calls to every body and organisation capable. The police department sent me to highway patrol. Erik Estrada was out of the office, and then fully booked for weeks. The internet gave me the name of a woman in Marin County. At last a break, she picked up right away and fit us in immeadiatly. She could be at the hotel in an hour. We needed to be at the bus station for check-in within 5 hours and then we would be gone. She arrived just after 1PM, inspected the car, completed a form and for this I paid $150. American.
1:45PM
The taxi to the San Francisco DMV was just about $15, just like every taxi ride taken today. I lost count how many. We wouldn't leave the DMV for another 2 hours. But we had our forms, they gave me a scrap title to the car. It was a Californian vehicle, finally. Plus, I'm getting sent a cheque for $35 USD, for reasons I do not understand. It will probably bounce anyway, the state doesn't have any money. Their employees are currently accepting IOU's instead of paycheques. No joke.
The time was now 3:45 and we ran up and down Haight St trying to find a cab. Exhausted and nearly defeated, we knew we couldn't catch our bus. A cab finally caught sight of us, and back to the hotel and Morris. During the trip I called the charity that would be taking the car. We would need to return to the tow lot in Oakland with the title. It was then I realised with the title in my hand, any tow company could take the car away.
Bad news for us, it was a 2 hour wait. And since the towing service still didn't fully accept Morris as an American citizen, there was another fee. One Hundred Dollars. And we didn't make our bus.
We cabbed again to the bus station and it was now getting near 7 o'clock. Fortunate for us, a mere $15 fee got us on the very next last-bus-to-Canada. I took a walk down Mission st to relax. And I write this tale now, sitting somewhere between Sacremento and Redding. It's 12 hours to Portland, and another 30 to home. I just "showered" in the handicap stall of the men's room of a Sacremento bus stop. Everything smells like pee.
It cost $290 Canadian, not including fee's, taxi fares, train tickets and late charges, to see Morris off. That is ninety dollars more than we paid for him!
-steve
ps.
and we never made it to the outlet mall in ogdenville!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Ancient Egypt and China town
Today started off when we went to the neighborhood Wells Fargo to withdraw our funds from our accounts. Upon our arrival, I was greeted by a good looking girl behind the counter, with a smile she asked how she could help me. I asked about withdrawing my cash yadda yadda, and you know what? It worked! It turns out that banks in the United States serve customers not B.S.
After that we decided to hit the local Starbucks Coffee and grab something to eat. When we got there there was a very angry man yelling about stuff that neither of us could really put together, he seemed to like us though and said "God bless you two".
Upon leaving the Starbucks we returned to the motel so we could call a scrap car removal place to remove Morris (memorial services will be held LOL). Now realizing that we have to go to OAKLAND, we get to use the subway again! Anyway, after we did that, we jumped on a bus that took us to a museum.
We entered the museum and it was there that we discovered the biggest archaeological find of the 20th century. It was the King Tut exhibit! We checked it all out and honestly, the replica stuff you see today is only slightly different. It was hard to believe that the artifacts I was looking at were around 3500 years old!
We left the museum, jumped back on the bus and hit up the squiggly part of Lombard st, there were some very nice houses on there but the constant sounds of brakes. It was really REALLY REALLY steep. The sidewalks were full of tourists and at the bottom, we took some pictures of us, keep an eye on the YouTube channel for the videos!
-Mitch
Headed down to the Financial district tonight and saw the Pyramid. It is the tallest building in San Francisco I think, and we discovered it was only a short walk over to China town. Grabbed some trinkets and a large duffle bag to put our stuff in for the bus trip. On the way out we passed the Church of Scientology and a man in a business suit just about abducted Mitch into the building. Literally just about abducted him. I made sure we both got the fuck out of there.
Tomorrow will be a crazy day, I will try to update before we check out at noon. I think our bus leaves for home around 5:30pm, and I am not sure what we will be up to. If we manage to update there will be a couple of videos instead of text. See you guys soon,
-Steve
After that we decided to hit the local Starbucks Coffee and grab something to eat. When we got there there was a very angry man yelling about stuff that neither of us could really put together, he seemed to like us though and said "God bless you two".
Upon leaving the Starbucks we returned to the motel so we could call a scrap car removal place to remove Morris (memorial services will be held LOL). Now realizing that we have to go to OAKLAND, we get to use the subway again! Anyway, after we did that, we jumped on a bus that took us to a museum.
We entered the museum and it was there that we discovered the biggest archaeological find of the 20th century. It was the King Tut exhibit! We checked it all out and honestly, the replica stuff you see today is only slightly different. It was hard to believe that the artifacts I was looking at were around 3500 years old!
We left the museum, jumped back on the bus and hit up the squiggly part of Lombard st, there were some very nice houses on there but the constant sounds of brakes. It was really REALLY REALLY steep. The sidewalks were full of tourists and at the bottom, we took some pictures of us, keep an eye on the YouTube channel for the videos!
-Mitch
Headed down to the Financial district tonight and saw the Pyramid. It is the tallest building in San Francisco I think, and we discovered it was only a short walk over to China town. Grabbed some trinkets and a large duffle bag to put our stuff in for the bus trip. On the way out we passed the Church of Scientology and a man in a business suit just about abducted Mitch into the building. Literally just about abducted him. I made sure we both got the fuck out of there.
Tomorrow will be a crazy day, I will try to update before we check out at noon. I think our bus leaves for home around 5:30pm, and I am not sure what we will be up to. If we manage to update there will be a couple of videos instead of text. See you guys soon,
-Steve
Monday, August 17, 2009
Life is a journey, not a destification.*
Here's the low down, straight up. About 300 miles north of San Francisco, our transmission basically went. We could keep it in gear, just barely. It was a lot like threading a needle in the dark, from 5 feet away, using poles to hold both the needle and thread. And it sounded just awful. Now the car still ran, and we got him all the way across the Golden Gate.
But, we made an important decision here. If you were to drop, or image what it sounds like to drop, about a few thousand pennies onto a glass surface, that is what it sounds like when we drive. And we get kicked out of gear randomly and constantly. So we decided it just isn't safe to drive any further. We could cause a deadly accident. So here we are.
I am posting from a hotel room at the Motel Capri, on Greenwich in the Marina district in San Francisco. We are a short walk from the Palace of Fine Arts, the Golden Gate Bridge, the crooked Lombard Street, the Marina, Alcatraz, historic street cars and downtown. It truly is wonderful.
Every person we have told our story to has wanted to help us in some way. The wonderful folks that run this hotel are giving us a top floor room with two beds at roughly a 50% discount, for instance. So we are staying here for two nights, maybe three. We don't feel like we failed, we feel like we just reached a different goal.
Everyone who reads this really cannot understand how wonderful this city is without seeing it for themselves. It is truly beyond description. After a few days here, we are going to grab a bus back to Kamloops, and should be home on Saturday. We have seen so much already, but have even more left to experience here. Although we aren't posting many pictures or videos on the blog, we are indeed racking up the gigabytes on our SD cards with hundreds of photos and videos.
Before we leave, we are going to try for a tour of Alcatraz, and see the King Tut exhibit at the de Young museum. Hopefully we use our cunning and charisma to get into both, I've heard we will need it. Until then, enjoy these two video updates of our adventures :)
*Our GPS has a George Bush voice that keeps telling us we have reached our destification. Once he told us to bear right, but he didn't know what kind of bear it was.
-steve
But, we made an important decision here. If you were to drop, or image what it sounds like to drop, about a few thousand pennies onto a glass surface, that is what it sounds like when we drive. And we get kicked out of gear randomly and constantly. So we decided it just isn't safe to drive any further. We could cause a deadly accident. So here we are.
I am posting from a hotel room at the Motel Capri, on Greenwich in the Marina district in San Francisco. We are a short walk from the Palace of Fine Arts, the Golden Gate Bridge, the crooked Lombard Street, the Marina, Alcatraz, historic street cars and downtown. It truly is wonderful.
Every person we have told our story to has wanted to help us in some way. The wonderful folks that run this hotel are giving us a top floor room with two beds at roughly a 50% discount, for instance. So we are staying here for two nights, maybe three. We don't feel like we failed, we feel like we just reached a different goal.
Everyone who reads this really cannot understand how wonderful this city is without seeing it for themselves. It is truly beyond description. After a few days here, we are going to grab a bus back to Kamloops, and should be home on Saturday. We have seen so much already, but have even more left to experience here. Although we aren't posting many pictures or videos on the blog, we are indeed racking up the gigabytes on our SD cards with hundreds of photos and videos.
Before we leave, we are going to try for a tour of Alcatraz, and see the King Tut exhibit at the de Young museum. Hopefully we use our cunning and charisma to get into both, I've heard we will need it. Until then, enjoy these two video updates of our adventures :)
*Our GPS has a George Bush voice that keeps telling us we have reached our destification. Once he told us to bear right, but he didn't know what kind of bear it was.
-steve
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Avenue of the Giants
Crashing for the night in a town called Willits I think, few hours north of San Fransisco.
-Steve
-Steve
On tonight's program- I drive a car through a tree, Steve does a wee in a log, and a man thinks we're British!
Didn't get to San Fransisco today cause we spent a lot of time seeing sights along the Redwood Highway.
-mitch
-mitch
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