Change of Plan

I think I've decided I prefer smaller towns. Cities are too much trouble. I also really enjoyed Moose Jaw, and could have hung out there longer than the few hours I was there, except I'd promised my hitchhiker I'd take him all the way to Winnipeg. He was happy to hang around, but I felt I should get on the road at some point - especially as he'd offered to buy my lunch in the next town! I've had good experiences in small towns, whereas cities mean enforced parking restrictions, navigation problems (you don't really need a map when a town only has 3 streets...) people who get annoyed about you parking outside their house, and way too many choices of everything - you have to decide if this laundromat/auto repair shop/supermarket/whatever is the one you should go to, whereas in small towns, it's probably the only one! And in cities you can't find anything, because you have to know where it is, and you can't just drive up and down all the streets because there are too many of them. So right now I have to wash clothes and I'm thinking I'll get an oil change and tune up somewhere. But I'll wait til I'm not in Winnipeg because here I'd have to do research first. In a small town, I'll just turn up at the first auto parts store or something that I see, and ask where I should go! And then maybe meet some locals and get decent advice and all that sort of thing. People have more time in small towns, I think.

So maybe I'll stay in Canada to go to Montreal, and see the small towns along the rest of the Trans-Canada highway. the big cities of the US feel a little daunting, not to mention dull, at the moment, anyway.

Reasons I could live in Winnipeg

• Mondragon

• FTW Collegiate (a monthly present-a-topic gathering)
• The Bike Dump
• A small flat city perfect for bike riding, except for the couple of months a year it freezes...
• Friendly people and an active alternative community
• Cheap for cost of living
• A good number of francophones, and a whole French Quarter
• Pretty sunsets

Of course, there are a few negatives: those months of the year when it gets to -40, for a start. Then the months in summer when it gets to +40 degrees. And I'm told it's really hard to find ESL work here!

T-Shirt Weather

I would just like to point out that I am sitting here, at 5pm, in Winnipeg, in late October, wearing a t-shirt. And with all my van doors and windows open. It's 20 degrees here today. I was getting frostbite* the night before last, and now it's t-shirt weather.

*I didn't really get frostbite, but I did get the impression that I need better gloves. In fact, i need mittens.

Trois timbres, s'il vous plait.

I had my first canadian-french conversation in today. Well, transaction, rather than conversation...

As I've moved east, the percentage of french in the environment has steadily increased. In Vancouver, if you heard french on the street, the people speaking it looked like tourists. In Canmore, I heard bunches of kids loitering around town after school speaking french. In Winnipeg, there is a whole suburb, St. Boniface, that is the French Quarter. And when I crossed the river into St Boniface today, it was quite a noticeable shift. I wasn't there long, but I stopped at the post office to get some stamps, and got to eavesdrop on the previous person's conversation - all in french. So when I stepped up to order my stamps, I did it in french. Now, it was a conversation I think we probably learnt in grade 9 french class, but none the less, it was my first transaction in canada conducted entirely in French. It was very exciting. Really.
And then I went to a bookstore that apparently only sold french books. I got quite excited, but prevented myself from buying anything because a) they cost money, of course, and b) just because it's the first francophone bookstore I've seen here, doesn't mean it will be the last. There is time, and I haven't read all the books I already have here!

Winnipeg

I arrived in Winnipeg early Monday afternoon. I had no idea where I was going - I had an address for my friend, but it wasn't somewhere I could stay, just somewhere I would have to be at some point collect a parcel I had posted from australia. And I had no idea how to get there. So I stopped at a thrift store, just for something to do, and spent $5 on some woolen leggings, an italian espresso pot (I'd looked for one in every thrift store for about 2 months so I was very happy to find one!) and an extra spoon. And asked for a map and directions. Which didn't help much. So then I drove around more or less randomly, sort of looking for net access somewhere, anywhere, and stumbled across a library, which was great, until I discovered that their wifi access had to be paid for by credit card, which is silly. But there were free computer terminals there I could use for free (cos obviously using their computers costs them less than using my own? Go figure.) So I got oriented, and then got a phone call from Ken, one of the people I vaguely know here (thanks to queeruption) who told me about The Bike Dump - a bike collective who happened to have a workshop time that night. This meant I could get my bike fixed! As the offroading I did in Canmore sort of wrecked my dodgy rear axle. So, with guidance, I got to fix my own axle, for free, (and learn how!) as well as meet some interesting people and learn lots about the interesting things in Winnipeg. And they told me how to get to the Walmart, which solved the 'where can I park tonight' problem. Walmart may not be the coolest place in town to hang out, but they let you park overnight unmolested, and have bathrooms. And they sell things I needed like engine oil and an power inverter that will allow me to run my laptop off the Battery of The Beast. Which will be nice!

And then yesterday, Ken and I I went to Mondragon, an anarchist collective cafe and bookstore - every town should have one! - for dinner and ended up chatting all evening there and then at a bar after they closed, to a varied group of interesting characters, one of whom invited me to park in her driveway, which even has a power outlet that allows me to sit here in my van and 'borrow' some wifi...
So, so far, I rather like Winnipeg!

And this is me, right now, in The Beast, sitting in the sun coming in the window, wrapped in the wonderfullest warmest ugliest doona and absorbing all the intermittent internet I can!

From Moose Jaw

So I left Canmore, got to Calgary, spent a total of 2 hours there - partly because I had 2 hours free parking, and partly because that seemed long enough. It's just a city. There's a nice park on an island in the river though, and I spent most of my 2 hours there lying on the grass in the sun. It was so nice in the sun, and the temperature must have reached at least 17 degrees, which is about as warm as I've been in a week or two!
I left Calgary and drove as far as a rest stop near Brooks where I stopped for the night. It was a fun drive - the prairies start at about Calgary, so the mountains vanished and there was a whole lot of nothingness. Gently rolling hills, if you're lucky, and grass and cows and that's about it. It's pretty though, and the sky is very big. There were lots of real Canadian experiences to be had on the way: as I was leaving the mountains there was a whole herd of Elk or something grazing on the side of the road. And there are regularly signs to say watch out for Elk, Deer or Antelope on the road. I haven't seen a moose yet though. I did have to dodge some tumbleweed on one stretch of highway - yes! real-life tumbleweed! I'd never seen it in real life before. Parked at the rest stop there was very little to shelter my van from the wind, which was fierce for most of the night, and brought the sound of what I'm told were Coyotes howling in the night, which was pretty amazing.
And the temperature was a few degrees below zero when I woke up in the morning, which was less amazing, as my van is unheated (except when the engine's running). I refilled my hot water bottle and decided to spend a few more hours under my slightly inadequate sleeping bag. And determined to buy more bedding at the next thrift store I found.
I was in Medicine Hat soon after lunch, and found a Salvation Army store that sold me the world's ugliest floral-and-frills doona for a huge $3. It's damn ugly, but incredibly warm, and queen sized, so I thing I will never be cold at night again. Certainly I was a lot warmer last night - too warm, in fact! I'll have to pack up my sleeping bag, I think!
Leaving Medicine Hat I also picked up another Quebecois hitchhiker and his great big (and well-behaved) dog, who are planning to stay with me til Winnipeg. He even gave me some money for gas, which is really nice! I felt a bit sorry for him sleeping outside last night, but it's not like my van was much warmer!

I'm now in Moose Jaw, which is just a wonderful name for a town, even in this area. Nothing was open, so we found this cafe and I've spent an hour and a half doing internet. It's probably time to go explore now! Al Capone lived here, so there's some kitsch tourist things to do/see!

Winnipeg next...

New photos on Flickr

• All my pics from the last 3 weeks in Vancouver and
• Pics so far on my trans-canada trek
  

And now Canmore

So I left Hope, drove and drove and drove until late that night, and got to Salmon Arm. (Yes, they have interesting names of towns around here.) I stayed a night in a carpark of a 'beach' on a lake and then set off early the next morning in the pouring rain for Canmore. My friend - and QUT lecturer - Debra moved to Canmore on Monday, so I've been here crashing at the hotel suite she's rented for the first few months here until she finds a permanent place. It's very swish. At least by my standards, and staying in a comfy bed with heating is rather nice given that the temps outside are getting a little negative at night. And it's snowing up in the mountains. I can sit here in the living room and watch it!
In the first town outside Salmon Arm, I picked up a couple of Quebecois hitchhikers - and their small kitten, whose name was, strangely enough, Hope. I quickly discovered that I'm going to have some major problems in Quebec understanding the local lingo. I really thought I spoke french, but these guys were rather hard to understand, and we switched to english, when they spoke, which wasn't that often, as they both pretty much fell asleep.
We'd been going an hour or two when we got to Revelstoke, where I had planned to stop and get gas, until I saw the prices - 20 cents more than the last place - but my van was rather insistent. In fact, 1 minute up the road past Revelstoke and my music started cutting out again. And then m indicators didn't work when I went to turn around. I though (again) 'Uh-Oh' and droke back to find the nearest repair shop. Turns out the cable to my battery from the alternator was broken. The part was delivered from the shop up the road in 10 minutes or so, but it turned out to be the wrong part, so we waited about an hour until the right one was delivered, installed and we could get back on the road. At least it gave me time to make breakfast. And it only cost $20, which was a little better than the$150 I spent on alternator and belts the previous day!

The rest of the day was uneventful. I dropped the hitchhikers and their kitten off in Banff, and finally got to Canmore, only a day and a half after I said I would.
Canmore has been lovely - it's surrounded by mountains (rocky ones, surprisingly enough) and the town has walking paths and tracks all through it, which I explored yesterday on my bike. Yes, I actually went mountain biking! Well, sort of. It was mostly dirt and gravel tracks, but it was definitely off road. I had joked that bits would probably fall off my bike if I took it offroad, so I tightened the loose bolts before I went. But a bit still did fall off, just as I was back in town after all my offroading. The back wheel. It didn't completely fall off, but it fell out of place and became unrideable. Turns out I need a new axle. It's sort of patched up for the moment, but I have to be careful with it - no offroading! and I'll look for a new axle or wheel in Calgary and Winnipeg - the didn't have the right one in either of the shops here.

Tomorrow I'm off to Calgary for the day, then I'll continue along the Trans-Can: Following the Only Road!

Hope

I'm in Hope. It's a tiny town about 180km from vancouver.
Yep. Day one, and I made it 180km. Not the 500 odd km I planned to go. When my music started switching on and off I wondered if my battery had given up. When my indicators failed to work, I thought 'oh dear'. One look at the first repair place I found (on a Sunday afternoon in a small town!) and he said 'go buy an alternator up the road there, and I'll put it in'.
Much adventure later - about which I will write when I'm not paying 10c a minute for internet, and I have a new alternator and have spent nearly 24 hours in this lovely town, being entertained and significantly assisted by a couple of nice locals.

Now... Back on the road.

And to Ryan, who drove me to get the new alternator from the next town and then solved all the problems required to replace it, and to whom I gave this blog address, but whose contact I completely failed to get: Thanks for everything! And send me an email sometime :)

EDIT: Here's a pic of my mechanics in shining armour, just for proof. It ended up being the only one I took of them!

Leaving Vancouver Today

Today The Beast and I are setting off towards the Rocky Mountains, and then Canmore, and then, eventually, Montreal. It's only 4000km...
And Vancouver has decided to give me a fantastic sunny day to leave. More of these days in the last 3 weeks, and I might not have ever left! But as it is, I'm glad to be finally back on the road again - almost. I'd better go continue packing up!

From the Belly of the Beast

Yes, that's right, this is my very first post written from the relative comfort of my own bed inside The Beast. I know I've written lots of posts since I bought my van, but I haven't been able to use my computer inside until this week, when I connected to AC power for the first time. Despite the mental images I had before I plugged in the cord, the van didn't start glowing blue or become completely electrified (it was a completely untested system!) but everything worked fine and I can now run my electric space heater, which makes a BIG difference to the comfort levels, and my laptop, which I will get around to buying a new battery for one day, I promise.
Of course I'm also indebted to the crazyfool who is 'letting' me use his/her unsecured wifi connection. I don't mean to be rude calling the person a crazyfool - it's actually the name of the connection...
So while I'm here, briefly, I'm still in Vancouver, still working, at least until tomorrow, and it's still raining, mostly, although it's supposed to not quite rain for the next few days. Which is nice, because I'm leaving here on Sunday, and once I'm on the other side of the rockies, it shouldn't rain so much. So hopefully I won't have to swim around my van again. (I should point out that my van doesn't leak, but when the humidity is 100%, and you have no heating, it gets pretty damp. And the condensation here is phenomenal!)
More posts sometime soon, when I can drag myself away from *finally* watching series 6 of scrubs... Ah, I like AC power sometimes...

A Week in Vancouver

So tomorrow marks the end of my first week back in Vancouver. So far, I have:

• hung out with Emma Vardy-Bragg, who's just arrived here and started a year of exchange at the University of British Columbia and some of her new friends, including an outing (in The Beast!) to Deep Cove:

• found a range of places to park my van on a regular basis, ranging from someone's driveway, to on a street not far from some other van-dwellers, who have so far been very useful, to outside Emma's college residence:

• been to few job interviews, including one with a middle-aged Korean businessman who took one look at me and I knew I wasn't getting the job, and a couple for schools that I would probably really love to work for, but would feel really terrible leaving after only a month.
  
• been offered a week's trial for a job that I'm terribly afraid I might enjoy so much I won't want to leave (I *will* get to Montreal...), but the director says it's fine if I leave anytime, as long as I give a bit of notice!
  
• discovered a way to get free gym access (and showers!) for at least a few weeks,
• Perfected the art of peeing in a jar
• spent $10 on a down jacket in a thrift store (it's getting cold already!) as well as about $4 on a jumper, a long-sleeved t-shirt, some maps, a postcard and a hot water bottle (have I mentioned that I love thrift stores?)

• Spent an evening on Wreck Beach out at UBC with Emma and her friends, sitting around a fire and singing.

Well, Emma and I were singing. And then random other people gatecrashed our fire and scared Emma's friends away, but the two of us were there for many more hours, hanging out with the local homeless bums and other interesting beach characters, and, of course, singing! And playing the guitar that I am currently looking after for Antonia. It's going to be hard to give back. I'm considering buying either a 1/4 size steele string I've seen for $50, or, one of those tiny accordions, which I would then have to learn to play. But it's only $30, and more portable. Very tempting...
And then, today, I did almost nothing. It's been raining all day, pretty much, so apart from find the nearest source of water to my van, and come up to this cafe for wifi, I've hung out in my van, read all the free papers I've been collecting (I had quite a collection) and generally relaxed and chilled out.
And now I'm going to buy some things from a little natural-foods supermarket I pass on my way home, and then eat the leftovers from yesterday's pasta that I made, then maybe watch some vodcasts before bed. I have JTV or The Chaser on my ipod, which should be good. Or practice the guitar, or tidy & clean inside my van. We'll see!

Bellingham to Vancouver

I wanted to stop in Bellingham to visit Danny, a crust punk queeruptor and baroque music virtuoso (it's a great combination!). I ended up having a great two days hanging out there. It's a lovely little university town, and felt very relaxed. We played chess in a coffee shop that gave us free refills, went to another food bank and made a huge delicious meal, found me a second-hand copy of the Pump up the Volume soundtrack (but I'm still looking for Stereo Total!), sat down by the water at night, watched The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy film, and generally hung out.
It was a very relaxing and pleasant two days. And I learnt a new verb: Spange. It means to busk, or ask for spare change. (Busking with Baroque recorder pieces is Danny's main source of income at the moment, at least until uni goes back at the end of the month.)

And then I set off for the hour or so's drive to Vancouver. It would be an hour, if it weren't for the border crossing, which can take a while.
I was lucky, although I had to wait in a long line of cars for about 30 mins, the actual crossing was quick and trouble free. I didn't even have to get out of my car. Given the stories I had heard of vehicle searches (I have a lot of vehicle to search) and delays, I was quite pleasantly surprised. He just asked a few basic questions, including 'Are you bringing anything into Canada?'. I had to point out that I was bringing everything I owned into Canada, and was he looking for anything in particular?! But as I didn't have weapons (do kitchen knives count? I didn't think of that!), tobacco, alcohol or C$10 000 (unfortunately) there wasn't any problem.

The Puyallup Fair

While in Seattle, I discovered that my friend Brandon, whom I met in Berlin many years ago, just happened to be visiting his family 45 mins south of Seattle in Puyallup (not pull-you-up, which is how I keep wanting to say it, but pu-aaah-lup). And the famous Puyallup fair was on.
So I headed down there to experience another bit of America. I was quite excited to be going to a proper fair, complete with rides and 'cotton candy' and cows and prizewinning quilts and vegetables and giant pumpkins! I really wanted to see a giant pumpkin, and I wasn't disappointed!
There were also these Produce Dioramas, which I found rather amusing:
Brandon's a film maker and does some photography, so his motivation in going to the fair was to get stock footage he could use later, and to take photos. And, of course, for the nostalgia of it all. As I was also there as an observer, and am always doing the photography thing, we both felt a little disconnected and outside it all, I think. We didn't go on any rides, or play any sideshow games or anything like that. But we did eat some crappy fair food. I can't believe that a sausage covered in batter here is called a Krusty Pup. I thought the Australian Dagwood Dog was a bad name!

And, of course, we took lots of photos!
I had a fantastic time. It was great to hang out with someone I'd known more than a month!
And, as Antonia had decided to head straight for Vancouver instead of coming with me, it was also the first time I'd been travelling in my van on my own, which was initially daunting, but actually really nice. It does effectively double my fuel costs, of course, but Puyallup to Vancouver isn't far, so it wasn't too bad.

Many more pics on flickr, as per usual.

The Seattle Library, and other highlights

I spent a lot of time in the library in Seattle.

It's the most amazing and practical piece of public architecture I've ever seen, and I almost wish I had decided to be homeless in Seattle instead of Vancouver & Montreal, just so I could sit in the library there all day and explore and read and use the internet and go to the talks and do the tours and everything.


I also went to SAM - the Seattle Art Museum. The entry fee was rather a lot, but for some reason, and I'm not sure why, the guard at the entrance to the galleries was very nice to me and let me in without a ticket, telling me to be sure to put some money in the donations box on my way out instead. It's just as well, as I realised later that I only had $2 in my wallet! I put them in the donations box though. And I'm sort of glad I didn't pay the full $13 or whatever it was, as, after the MOMA SF and all the other fantastic art galleries I've seen in the last year or so, it wasn't brilliant. I rather liked the Huge silhouette of a worker outside it though.
I also explored the Pike Place Public Market, which is Seattle's most famous market. I had heard it was a sort of fish market, but I could only find 2 stalls selling fish. They seemed to be famous for throwing the fish about and yelling a lot, however. People were standing around taking pictures, and you could buy t-shirts that said 'Fish Can Fly at Pike Place Markets'. I didn't buy any fish.

Pike Place is also famous for the Original Starbucks coffee shop. I didn't go in. I just walked past.

Portland and Seattle

Portland was a lovely place to hang out for a few days, thanks to the lovely Shea and her housemates, and to Pike from SF, who helped keep us entertained for the whole time we were were there. Apart from the stereo total concert, I also went to a mid-week club night for some ass-shakin', (translation: dancing. I'm learning the local lingo, you see), went to 'First Thursday', when a lot of the little galleries in town open up and have exhibition openings or little shows or whatever, hung out in the Black Cat cafe in Alberta St for the free wi-fi and lovely iced coffee and bagels, went to the largest new & secondhand bookstore I think I've ever seen, and *still* didn't buy anything, rode around Chinatown and other bits of the city just to look, and made good use of Shea's professional skills as a piercer.
Yep. It's 9 years since I got my tongue pierced, so it was obviously time for some more holes in my body. So I got 2 new ones. But more about that later. I might even post photos when they've healed a little...
Random pic of hanging out in Portland, on one of their great steel girder bridges:


Friday night we drove to Seattle - the plan to stop in Olympia was cancelled when we accidentally missed the exit, and it was 9pm or something by then anyway. Staying outside Lindsey & Ash's place here, and they are also wonderfully welcoming, helpful people. Yesterday, by coincidence, Shea was coming to Seattle for a couple of hours to collect a friend, so the whole bunch of us went for a picnic in a park, which was lovely. And the food was all courtesy of a food bank that we visited in the morning. The food bank seems a wonderful thing in this city - it's like organised dumpstering. Shops and other food places donate the food that they can't sell, usually because it is past the sell-by date, but not past the use-by date, and anyone can come once a week (you have to register so they know who's been already that week) and take stuff for free. There are good and bad things, but when a lot of the good stuff, particularly in the 'vegetarian' section, is supplied by a natural foods deli of some sort, so we got artichoke salad and pesto and dips and all sorts of wonderful fancy things. And about half a kilo of macadamia nut pieces each! I think it's the bottom of a bulk lot, so it's sort of crushed nuts, but that's just perfect for sprinkling on my morning porridge, or for baking with bananas and cinnamon sugar, or for just eating with a spoon... Anyway, all this made for a wonderful - and free - picnic lunch. Thankyou Seattle!



And now I'm sitting in the rather wonderful Central Library, about which I had heard so much. Actually, I've heard a lot about a lot of Seattle, thanks to my regular reading of The Stranger. It's great to be able to explore it in person. Not to mention actually do some of the great things that get mentioned in it. Last night I went to 'LSD and other Drug Scare Films', which was a very entertaining way to spend an hour or two! And I picked up a paper copy of the newspaper I had only ever seen online. It was exciting. At least, I thought so!


So now I'm going to go now and explore more of this wonderful bit of public architecture. There's a book spiral here, where all the books are on one giant sloping floor that goes around 4 times - non-stop books!

San Fran to Portland, and a Stereo Total concert!

The fun continues - it's really been rather non-stop lately!
Leaving San Francisco felt good - back on the road, and heading north, back to Canada, eventually. I'm not in a great hurry. The funds aren't quite depleted yet, the weather is warm, the sun is shining, my Beast of a Van still goes, and I seem to have things to do and people to visit all up the west coast of north America, so why race back!

SF to Portland was a whole lot faster than the southbound trip - Antonia (who also wants to get back to Vancouver) chose to travel with me, and we decided to go straight up the I-5, the big, fast interstate freeway. It's less exciting than the coast road we took to come down, but a lot faster. We were two nights on the road, staying at a couple of well-appointed (and free) highway rest stops. The weather was hot and sunny almost the whole way - the temp rose about 10 degrees the moment we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. It's the first time I've wanted air conditioning here, I think. We passed through the volcanic country near the California/Oregon border, and considered a detour, but the good things to see were all a bit far off, and the idea of spending more time in Portland and Seattle appealed more. We did stop at a lake just near the border for a swim, though, which was very pleasant in the heat of the day.
A bit of car trouble (inexplicable flat battery - have to look into that...) meant we were a bit later than expected arriving in Portland yesterday - but that didn't matter. Like I said, there's no hurry!
Portland is one of the most comfortable places I've been. It helps that Shea, whose house I park outside here, is a wonderfully welcoming, generous person. But so are all her flatmates. And everyone else we've met here, pretty much! And there seems lots to do - last night we went to a Stereo Total concert - I've heard a bit of their music before, and had them pointed out to me in a Berlin bar (they hang out in the same sorts of places as everyone I know in Berlin) so the opportunity to go to a concert for half price (we were given one free ticket between two of us, and live music is cheap to begin with here!) was fantastic. And the concert itself was wonderful. It was like a little bit of Europe in the middle of the USA, which felt odd, but also rather good. And now I have to find a copy of one or two of their CDs, as I don't seem to have any of their music. I'll have to start combing second-hand record shops - I need the Pump up the Volume sound track too! Anyway, they put on a highly entertaining show, and I notice they are touring practically everywhere that people I know live in the next few months, so look here to find out when they are in a cool venue near you.
(Click the picture to see more!)
And today has been rather pleasant too. Antonia and I met up with Pike, another currently travelling queeruptor, and followed Shea's directions to a vegan cafe, where we had tofu, vegan sausages and vegan french toast for breakfast, and then went to a hotel/restaurant/art kind of place that is in an old elementary school. They also happen to have a large hot spa, which was a rather nice place to hang out in for an hour or so, followed by mojitos in the garden... All highly civilized, really. And extremely relaxing. So much so, that when the other two decided to ride the bikes to a anarchist collective bookstore and bike co-op, I chose to return to Alberta street (which is an interesting bit of Portland that is fast becoming very familiar...) and hangout in the cafe that has wireless access next to Shea's work (she's a piercer, which may be convenient. But more on that later... maybe...)
So life continues to be mostly idyllic. The only thing currently causing me any stress is the possibility of expensive things going wrong with the van, and even that, I know I can deal with. I just might need to find some work earlier than I'd otherwise like. So I shouldn't let even that stress me!
The unemployed travelling lifestyle is definitely agreeing with me, anyway!

More San Fran and random observations on Thrift Stores.

The thrift shops on this continent are amazing. I first went to one in Vancouver, and almost instantly found a shirt and some trousers that a)fit, and b) were affordable, and c) looked decent. I nearly fell over. And in Portland, I spent $17 at the local Goodwill store on almost-everything I needed to live in my van. Another $2 in some tiny town on the Oregon Coast bought me 3 mugs (the plastic ones I bought in Portland tasted funny), 3 matching face/dish cloths, a couple of teaspoons and two teatowels. They're fast becoming my favourite shops.
And here's a photo of Mission in SF - the area I spent most time, and site of some rather good thrift stores. It's very multicultural - an interesting blend of latino and asian. Click the pic for more photos.


I rode across the Golden Gate bridge yesterday - after riding there all along the Embarcadero past the piers and fisherman's wharf and all that. It was lovely, although my bum is regretting it today. I really need a new bike seat... And then I was crossing the bridge back just at sunset, which was also nice. Pics on flickr, as per usual.



And in about half an hour, I plan to leave San Francisco. It's been fun, but it's time to head north. I'm *supposed* to be in Canada, you know.

MOMA SF and I Love the Castro Cinema

I like hanging around with Micha and Tobi. They know people. Specifically, in this case, they knew someone who knew someone who works at the modern art museum here - MOMA SF, and got us three complimentary tickets. Useful when it's usually between 12 and 15$. So we went on Thursday, and I spent about 5 hours wandering around there, I think. We did a bit of a tour about 'what is art' and some of the pieces that have challenged this in the last century or so - matisse's colours, that so shocked everyone, and found art, and whole canvasses of one colour (it's *which* colour that is important...). There was also an amazing installation that involved a huge vaguely coffin shaped pile of 18000 used blue cotton shirts and pants, all neatly folded. In front of it, a volunteer 'attendant' sits for 4 hours each day erasing a book (a naval code of practice, I believe) from back to front using a pink eraser and his/her own spit. The human element becoming art was quite amazing really.
The other piece that I loved was this one by Anthony McCall (I even remember the artist's name - it must have made an impression!). It was a very dark room - kind of scary to walk into because you really couldn't see a thing at first - and a projector projecting a pattern of gradually changing white lines - a circle that breaks to become a lines that become a cross etc... Doesn't sound much, until you add the fog machine, and then stand in the middle of the screen looking at the projector. When the projection was of a circle, it was like standing in a tunnel of watered-silk-patterned light. Quite amazing, really. The fog makes the light seem solid. It was also amusing to stand back and watch others in there. And be completely un-seen until their eyes adjusted enough to get a fright that there was someone lurking in the darkness the whole time! I didn't mean to lurk - I was just admiring the art, really!

(I don't know these people - the pic is from google, as you weren't supposed to take photos in the musem)
The other wonderful thing I've done recently is go to the Castro cinema. This is a fabulous grand old cinema, with the red plush seats and gilded ceiling, gold velvet curtains and what appears to be the original organ! And organist! (not the original, though. He wasn't *that* old). And last night I went to a regular themed marathon thing where they screen three related movies in a row. I have to admit that I didn't stay for the last one, which started a midnight, but the first two more more than enough! The theme was 'switching schools sucks' and they showed: Pump up the Volume (1990), Footloose (1984), and Massacre at Central High (1974) (now maybe you see why I didn't stay for the last one.
And I think Pump Up the Volume is my New Favourite Movie. I can't believe I had never seen it before. And I can't believe I hadn't seen Footloose, either, but I knew I would get to one day, and this was probably the best way - with the organist before it started, previews for upcoming films there (I now REALLY want to see The Incredible Shrinking Woman which is on here in two weeks!) and a crowd of people willing to laugh in all the right moments, and respond amusingly to the film ('You can't just yell Fire in a crowded theatre and then walk out!' said the film. 'FIRE' yelled someone in the audience....).


And today, which seems to be starting very slowly, I plan to ride my bike (I haven't blogged about my bike, but I have one - it was free, it fits in the back of the van and it's cool) to the golden gate bridge and ride across that, which is apparently a Very Good Thing to do. I might ride the longish way too, which goes along the embarcadero and past Fisherman's Wharf. And then I might check out some of the beaches near the bridge before putting my bike on a bus and taking the easier way home!
And then tomorrow, or maybe Monday, though I think I would prefer tomorrow, I'm heading north again - back to Portland for a few days on my gradual way back to Vancouver.

San Francisco

So after a week on the road with a bunch of queers in my van, we arrived in SF on Friday night. We arrived in proper style at dusk over the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately, my camera had run out of batteries earlier that day (5 days without AC power and with about 200 pictures - not too bad!). And of course, I was driving - and having slight culture shock after a week on little country roads and highways, which very very suddenly turned into a huge 4 lane freeway. We then found the house where the others are sleeping (I'm still sleeping in my van, but it's nice to have somewhere to come that has electricity...) and then spent 40 minutes driving around looking for a park within walking distance. I found a great one in the end - quiet street, unlimited free parking, but overall I was just grateful for any park!
Since then, I've wandered or biked around town to see things, went to the De Young museum of Fine arts in Golden Gate park yesterday, have been to a few interesting gallery events (seems to be the Thing To Do here) and hung out with lots of interesting people.
The plan for the rest of the week is to get a 'tune-up' for my van, and continue the sightseeing. And find people who want to head back north this next weekend or so. I want to be back in portland and seattle and then vancouver in the next two weeks, maybe. We'll see.
The whole story of our drive down the coast is on travelpost - I find it easier to organise my thoughts there, when travelling. So I suggest you start here, and read them in order! Also, there are a heap more photos on flickr to amuse you all.