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
Going through Oregon!
Oh, Hai Portland!
Well, It was 3:30 AM, and we woke up after a very uncomfortable four hour sleep... We were at a Wal-Mart somewhere along the giant strech of city known as Washington State. Luckily for us, it was a Super Centre and because of that it is open 24 hours a day. Still in a groggy sleep-deprived state we decided to go in and check it out. We got out of the car and could see our breath it was so cold, the man working in the store told us that just last week they were experiencing temperatures of 110 degrees ferenheit... After getting some really cheap energy drinks, we hit the road again, this time we were aiming for Oregon. After driving for around an hour and 20 minutes, we hit Portland, and we were floored by the sheer beauty of the city. From what we saw, the city was built on the water and had some really tall buildings going up the hill simalar to how Sa-Hali is built, but with skyscraper-esque buildings. Furthermore, the archatecture of the buildings was just stunning, the whole city was just awesome, almost as cool as Seattle. On the far outskirts of Portland we stopped at a truck stop that had hot showers, our morale was very low at this point, but after we retired to our showers and regrouped 10 minutes later, we were infinately happier. The only drawback to the showers was the fact that they are $10 (all US funds here people) but they come with a clean towel, washcloth, and soap. After leaving the truckstop and not feeling like ass from the lack of showers, we drove onward until we found a Jack-In-The-Box. After breakfast, we took off down the highway were the giant megalopolous started to break apart and turn into farm country. Right now we are driving through Oregon, 163 miles (as im typing this) away from our turnoff onto the 101. Well other than the fact that we just passed a truck going in the opposite direction carrying a FORD GT 40!!! The bonus? It also has the Gulf Oil paintjob!!! Well, that's pretty much it. We are pretty far from any civilization as I am typing this, so It may be a while before this gets uploaded, not that anyone will know that until it is but whatever.
This is a two-part post...
Until we see a '59 Chevrolet S-10...
Here we are still in Oregon, We are 62 miles from our turnoff to highway 99 (Known here as the Redwood Highway, but in Canada, we refer to it as the sea to sky). All that aside, we have been telling each other that we would feel a lot better about the trip if we see a '59 S-10... We then came to the conclusion that they probably don't exist... Well we saw an early '60's "Chevrolet 10". After laughing at it, we determined that would have to do... Again, this is another post coming to you from Oregon... I just wanna see California... Right now as this sentance is being typed, we are sitting in a coffee shop in a place called Grant's Pass (due to a bout of dyslexia, we are just going to call it "Grass Pants"
-mitch
Grants Pass is a cool place. For some reason we kept reading the highway signs as Grass Pants for the longest time.... anyway, we pulled in and up to a 76 which is a gas station that is painted just like the car. The guys working were really nice, and spoke with southern accents. One of them swaggered over and asked...
Man: You guys drove here from Europe?!
Steve: What? Europe- oh no, we're from up-
Man: British Columbia right? Yea Europe.
He thought we were from Europe since we are from British Columbia. Anyway, he was a nice guy. We told him and another our story and they loved it and gave us suggestions and directions and whatnot. I told him how we got hosed by the Department of Homeland Security and he, a man in his mid to late 30's, promptly suggested I tell them to go suck a dick.
But they do have guns.
-Steve
Well, It was 3:30 AM, and we woke up after a very uncomfortable four hour sleep... We were at a Wal-Mart somewhere along the giant strech of city known as Washington State. Luckily for us, it was a Super Centre and because of that it is open 24 hours a day. Still in a groggy sleep-deprived state we decided to go in and check it out. We got out of the car and could see our breath it was so cold, the man working in the store told us that just last week they were experiencing temperatures of 110 degrees ferenheit... After getting some really cheap energy drinks, we hit the road again, this time we were aiming for Oregon. After driving for around an hour and 20 minutes, we hit Portland, and we were floored by the sheer beauty of the city. From what we saw, the city was built on the water and had some really tall buildings going up the hill simalar to how Sa-Hali is built, but with skyscraper-esque buildings. Furthermore, the archatecture of the buildings was just stunning, the whole city was just awesome, almost as cool as Seattle. On the far outskirts of Portland we stopped at a truck stop that had hot showers, our morale was very low at this point, but after we retired to our showers and regrouped 10 minutes later, we were infinately happier. The only drawback to the showers was the fact that they are $10 (all US funds here people) but they come with a clean towel, washcloth, and soap. After leaving the truckstop and not feeling like ass from the lack of showers, we drove onward until we found a Jack-In-The-Box. After breakfast, we took off down the highway were the giant megalopolous started to break apart and turn into farm country. Right now we are driving through Oregon, 163 miles (as im typing this) away from our turnoff onto the 101. Well other than the fact that we just passed a truck going in the opposite direction carrying a FORD GT 40!!! The bonus? It also has the Gulf Oil paintjob!!! Well, that's pretty much it. We are pretty far from any civilization as I am typing this, so It may be a while before this gets uploaded, not that anyone will know that until it is but whatever.
This is a two-part post...
Until we see a '59 Chevrolet S-10...
Here we are still in Oregon, We are 62 miles from our turnoff to highway 99 (Known here as the Redwood Highway, but in Canada, we refer to it as the sea to sky). All that aside, we have been telling each other that we would feel a lot better about the trip if we see a '59 S-10... We then came to the conclusion that they probably don't exist... Well we saw an early '60's "Chevrolet 10". After laughing at it, we determined that would have to do... Again, this is another post coming to you from Oregon... I just wanna see California... Right now as this sentance is being typed, we are sitting in a coffee shop in a place called Grant's Pass (due to a bout of dyslexia, we are just going to call it "Grass Pants"
-mitch
Grants Pass is a cool place. For some reason we kept reading the highway signs as Grass Pants for the longest time.... anyway, we pulled in and up to a 76 which is a gas station that is painted just like the car. The guys working were really nice, and spoke with southern accents. One of them swaggered over and asked...
Man: You guys drove here from Europe?!
Steve: What? Europe- oh no, we're from up-
Man: British Columbia right? Yea Europe.
He thought we were from Europe since we are from British Columbia. Anyway, he was a nice guy. We told him and another our story and they loved it and gave us suggestions and directions and whatnot. I told him how we got hosed by the Department of Homeland Security and he, a man in his mid to late 30's, promptly suggested I tell them to go suck a dick.
But they do have guns.
-Steve
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Seattle Fish Market?
Went through downtown Seattle. Saw Space Needle. Fish market was closed :(
About a dozen people asked about the car while we were in traffic. Seattle kicks ass. Brb portland.
-steve
About a dozen people asked about the car while we were in traffic. Seattle kicks ass. Brb portland.
-steve
Homeland Security
Finally got into the US. Had to visit the department of Homeland Security. Had to fill out extra forms, have the car totally rummaged through by guards, and answer simple questions about my life multiple times, phrased differently.
At a Shell station right now, need to find my GPS cord since it dissapeared after they ransacked the car. Also need to put everything in the car neatly back where it belongs. There are American flags and churches everywhere!
Oh yea, and a woman at the Shell gave us free drinks for being a couple of hoseheads.
I wrote this a few hours ago but right now I am in Tulalip :)
-steve
At a Shell station right now, need to find my GPS cord since it dissapeared after they ransacked the car. Also need to put everything in the car neatly back where it belongs. There are American flags and churches everywhere!
Oh yea, and a woman at the Shell gave us free drinks for being a couple of hoseheads.
I wrote this a few hours ago but right now I am in Tulalip :)
-steve
Sitting in Abbotsford...
Our journey started at 5AM today, we took Morris through the treachours Fraiser Canyon, snagging some really decent pics along the way, those will hopefully be posted in the book of Morris later today. (Personally, I am looking forward to the blazing fast internet connections of the United States). Upon our arrival in Hope, we hit up the Triple-O's/Chevron and ordered a couple slices of cheese (it is an old tradition, if you REALLY want to know about it, shoot an email...). The workers in the store were very impressed and we are pretty sure we made their day. Right now we have just passed through Chilliwack and it is extremely humid and thick overcast (I am writing this on notepad and when we hit some Wi-Fi, I just upload). Anywho this is pretty much all that has really happened so far, except when we drove by a bunch of forest fire fighters and they all cheered and gave the thumbs up in approval. The other thing that happened, which was really cool to see was the fact that we saw a car WAY older than us, an old MG! (looked to be a late '60's, early 70's)... Anyway that's it!
P.S. Everyone on the highway seems to ADORE Morris.
-Mitch
P.S. Everyone on the highway seems to ADORE Morris.
-Mitch
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
No credit cards, no extra cash... NO FUCKUPS!
You will have to pardon me for the harsh language in the title of this post, but it is true. After realizing what we are about to do, we have started getting a little err... antsy? It has occurred to us what we are actually about to attempt. We figured out that if we never drove Morris at all we could have already gone to Mexico and back no problem... But we also have put 5000 KM on Morris over the course of 5 months... we are going to attempt to do the same distance in 9 days!
Now, I don't remember reading anything in Steve's last post about our CV problem, well... Our passenger CV decided to shit the bed and so we went on another epic journey to the land of busted up cars. Long story short, we had to find a replacement CV joint, and they no longer make replacement bits for a Nissan Micra, so off we went. After fighting with the stupid nut that holds the hub on the axle, we applied some penetrant and I torqued it off with the exhaust from a Honda Civic CRX. Removing the axle was a breeze, you literally just pull it off, do that in reverse to install it and you're done.
It is really starting to sink in for me that we are actually attempting what can only be called a "stunt". Why are we doing this? How did the whole idea come about? Why aren't we just using the Toyota? We are about to leave our nice safe country and travel to a set of countries where our civil rights no longer exist! We simply may very well just not make it back... Maybe only Morris will not make it back... Maybe Morris will make it back. I personally hope he does because I want to take him on at least one rally. The only good thing I can think of that will relieve this stress is the fact that I can get a case of beer at the 7-11 for like 9 dollars, any time of day!
-Mitch
Now, I don't remember reading anything in Steve's last post about our CV problem, well... Our passenger CV decided to shit the bed and so we went on another epic journey to the land of busted up cars. Long story short, we had to find a replacement CV joint, and they no longer make replacement bits for a Nissan Micra, so off we went. After fighting with the stupid nut that holds the hub on the axle, we applied some penetrant and I torqued it off with the exhaust from a Honda Civic CRX. Removing the axle was a breeze, you literally just pull it off, do that in reverse to install it and you're done.
It is really starting to sink in for me that we are actually attempting what can only be called a "stunt". Why are we doing this? How did the whole idea come about? Why aren't we just using the Toyota? We are about to leave our nice safe country and travel to a set of countries where our civil rights no longer exist! We simply may very well just not make it back... Maybe only Morris will not make it back... Maybe Morris will make it back. I personally hope he does because I want to take him on at least one rally. The only good thing I can think of that will relieve this stress is the fact that I can get a case of beer at the 7-11 for like 9 dollars, any time of day!
-Mitch
Monday, August 10, 2009
New old rotor + Health insurance
Picked up an old brake rotor for 10 bones in Kelowna and it solved a lot of problems. Also, I was found to be 100% correct that the reverberation at high speed was due to the winter tires. The car no longer shakes uncontrollably at high speed and brakes a lot better.
Not bad for ten bucks. I mean ten bucks is ten bucks. Sealed up the exhaust too, didn't make a difference. That's the 2nd time trying exhaust sealant. Never waste your time with it, it wont make a difference.
Also, the old rotor was totally seized, but a screw driver and a hammer and a whole bunch of medium-force taps work a lot better than big swings. Basically just try to vibrate it out of place. Felt really good to finally win and get that fucker off there.
Going to Mexico on Saturday. Bought health insurance for the states today. 2 weeks was $27. That's $5 million, zero deductible, anything goes. No medical history check. That is private insurance in Canada. Why doesn't the USA have government run health care again? Fools.
Also, it's starting to set in what I am actually about to do.
-Steve
Not bad for ten bucks. I mean ten bucks is ten bucks. Sealed up the exhaust too, didn't make a difference. That's the 2nd time trying exhaust sealant. Never waste your time with it, it wont make a difference.
Also, the old rotor was totally seized, but a screw driver and a hammer and a whole bunch of medium-force taps work a lot better than big swings. Basically just try to vibrate it out of place. Felt really good to finally win and get that fucker off there.
Going to Mexico on Saturday. Bought health insurance for the states today. 2 weeks was $27. That's $5 million, zero deductible, anything goes. No medical history check. That is private insurance in Canada. Why doesn't the USA have government run health care again? Fools.
Also, it's starting to set in what I am actually about to do.
-Steve
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
T-Minus 11 Days and Counting...
Well, here we are, 11 days until our epic journey begins. It seems like only yesterday we met our dear friend, Morris. And after all the mishaps and follies, Morris has prevailed. From losing a wheel bearing on the Trans-Canada Highway, to losing our entire exhaust going up Columbia Street, it has been good times. The car literally paid for itsself in the first hour or two when I decided to spray the washer fluid whilst Steve had Morris' bonnet up, I had determined that this car has a beauty of a personality as I watched Steve scream while washer fluid rained down upon him.
As for Morris updates, as Steve mentioned, he brazed the pipes together to form a proper exhaust (no thanks to me actually tearing the pipe while trying to bend it). There is one other idea I came up with while trying to organize the disaster I call a living quarters... A portable DVD player hooked up to the tape deck! "Surely you jest!", one might say, "You can't possibly watch DVDs and drive on the superhighways of California!", you are probably thinking. I believe that this will be mighty fine plan thanks to the capacity of the mighty DVD ROM, we will be able to store literally thousands of songs on one disc and be able to navigate them nicely as well. Steve has managed to acquire a sweet ass cassette mixer to make mix tapes and has successfully turned his computer desk into a full blown recording studio using his computer, the mixer, and a small JVC tv that I left there on boxing day claiming that i would be by the next day to come pick it up...
I hope to use my digital camera to film a short video going over all the behind-the-scenes work that we put into morris and didn't quite make it into the blog. Another thing that will be covered by the video (or series of videos) is the other (mis)adventures that we encountered in Morris, going over all the locations Morris has been and the friends he has made. Also, our passports should arrive next week, and we have to go pick them up in Surrey, I would really like to film our trip down there and start posting videos on YouTube. I know I have mentioned this in the past, and the only reason I haven't started is because try as I might, I just can not find the carger for my little camcorder. For now, I think the digital camera will suffice.
Anyways, I seem to be rambling on like I normally do with a blog post (which is why I ususally try and get Steve to do them). With that being said, I am signing off for now.
-Mitch
As for Morris updates, as Steve mentioned, he brazed the pipes together to form a proper exhaust (no thanks to me actually tearing the pipe while trying to bend it). There is one other idea I came up with while trying to organize the disaster I call a living quarters... A portable DVD player hooked up to the tape deck! "Surely you jest!", one might say, "You can't possibly watch DVDs and drive on the superhighways of California!", you are probably thinking. I believe that this will be mighty fine plan thanks to the capacity of the mighty DVD ROM, we will be able to store literally thousands of songs on one disc and be able to navigate them nicely as well. Steve has managed to acquire a sweet ass cassette mixer to make mix tapes and has successfully turned his computer desk into a full blown recording studio using his computer, the mixer, and a small JVC tv that I left there on boxing day claiming that i would be by the next day to come pick it up...
I hope to use my digital camera to film a short video going over all the behind-the-scenes work that we put into morris and didn't quite make it into the blog. Another thing that will be covered by the video (or series of videos) is the other (mis)adventures that we encountered in Morris, going over all the locations Morris has been and the friends he has made. Also, our passports should arrive next week, and we have to go pick them up in Surrey, I would really like to film our trip down there and start posting videos on YouTube. I know I have mentioned this in the past, and the only reason I haven't started is because try as I might, I just can not find the carger for my little camcorder. For now, I think the digital camera will suffice.
Anyways, I seem to be rambling on like I normally do with a blog post (which is why I ususally try and get Steve to do them). With that being said, I am signing off for now.
-Mitch
Monday, August 3, 2009
I really do exist :O!
So I got some pic's from Mitch somehow. Of me. Holy shit.
Here I am looking very on-guard. Manly!
And here I'm looking at the same thing! Or something different!!
Finally here I am hiding my chin behind my shoulder.
That last one made the car at least 50% quieter. I'm brazing! The new exhaust is held together with the fearsome might of brass! I bought some pipe from Knowles for $20 and actually did I thought a fairly well job repairing the car given the budget, tools and circumstances. Still nowhere near decent though but much better. Might work on it tomorrow a bit.
-steve
Here I am looking very on-guard. Manly!
And here I'm looking at the same thing! Or something different!!
Finally here I am hiding my chin behind my shoulder.That last one made the car at least 50% quieter. I'm brazing! The new exhaust is held together with the fearsome might of brass! I bought some pipe from Knowles for $20 and actually did I thought a fairly well job repairing the car given the budget, tools and circumstances. Still nowhere near decent though but much better. Might work on it tomorrow a bit.
-steve
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