Cross Canada (and Diagonally Home) Road Trip Done!

This is my route as logged into the Find Penguins app. (I’m still editing it, adding more photos). Here’s the link to view the entries.

7870 miles, 2 days north, 7 days across Canada, [8 days doing non road trip activites], 6 days westbound.

Next, I will work on a more detailed analog travel journal, with maps and ephemera.

I’ll use a format similar to journals I created in 2014 and 2009. (Did I make one in 2019? Not sure!) I blogged the 2014 trip and book in my Patreon. (In reverse order, link to first post) For 2024, I’ll be blogging my journey on several sites, as an experiment.

Years ago, I had the grand idea to circumnavigate Canada, the way I did the US in 2014. I was going to include Alaska, the one US state I have yet to visit.

Looking at that map this January kind of freaked me out. I couldn’t wrap my head around doing the whole route. I scaled it down to something more manageable, just the part between Sumas, BC (north of Bellingham, WA) across to the Thousand Islands border crossing (north of Watertown, NY). And I pretty much avoided big cities (Vancouver BC, Toronto ONT).

Every week, I’ll go into detail about each day [except the 8 days in upstate NY].

While you wait for next week’s first installment - Los Angeles to Weed, CA - get previews on FindPenguins.

Northbound I-5 in Waterlogues: Day 2

Montague, CA 

Hornbrook, CA 

Ashland, OR 

Gold Hill, OR 

Glendale, OR

Fence Posts, Oakland, OR

Logs, Cottage Grove, OR

Rest Stop, Cottage Grove, OR

Rest Stop, Jefferson, OR

Rush Hour, Portland, OR

OR/WA

Chehalis, WA

The Hi-Lo, Weed, CA

We overnighted in Weed, getting there after darkness descended.
After checking in at the Hi-Lo Motel, we beelined to the Cafe.

Such a great placemat.

We both ordered B.L.A.S.T.s (Bacon, Lettuce, Avo, Swiss, Tomato).
We only ate 1/2, and packed the rest for lunch the next day.

 Our room, Suite 16, was spacious and had a complete kitchen, living room, two king bedrooms, and one bath.

6am view from my room, I could "just" see Mt. Shasta.

Kitty mug, blurry Shasta.

 We returned to the Cafe for hearty breakfasts.

Two free coffee tokens.

Great mug, I bought one two years ago en route to Vancouver, BC.

Breakfast.

So long, Suite 16, you were sweet.

Northbound I-5 in Waterlogues: Day 1

Here's day one of my drive up I-5, depicted in Waterlogues. I dragged along a sketchbook for the entire trip and I have nothing to show from that effort. Waterlogues it is.

Sylmar

Castaic

Rest Stop, Lebec

Big Ball, Kettleman City

Tomatoes, Mendota

Truck Stop, Gustine

Newman

Oversize and Aqueduct, Patterson

Garlic, Patterson

Rush Hour, Sacramento

Corning

Redding

Redding

At this point, it got too dark to take pictures.
Also too dark to see Mt. Shasta (boohoo).
We got as far as Weed (612 miles), where we spent the night at the Hi-Lo Motel.
Carmaig and I switched off on the driving.
He very kindly indulged me in my truck photography, and even captured me in the act (shooting the tomato truck).

Greetings from 39571: Pass Christian, MS #MBsociallydriven

SPONSORED/ UNPAID 

US90 skirts the Gulf of Mexico and at Pass Christian it's right there, on the passenger side,
if you're heading eastbound, as I was.
I first photographed Pass Christian in 1995, on my way to an art retreat at The Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, GA:

(before Katrina, with piers intact) 

The 2014 On the Edge US quick look: 

(These might not all be exactly Pass Christian. May include other Gulf towns west of Biloxi)

See more Mississippi Edge photos starting HERE in my Flickr album.

Linking up with Catherine's #SaturdayShareLinkup
Next stop? Alabama!

NOLA #MBsociallydriven

SPONSORED/ UNPAID 

Long time, no write!

I believe I have found a way to return to writing about my 2014 On the Edge trip and to perhaps maintain my interest in the task. Time will tell!

Mercedes Benz approached me with a fun way to "Share My City". << click on that link from your smart device and you can join in!

Here is my New Orleans:

My plan is to make more of these 5-image slide shows of my trip.
Five images, one zip code = mini slide show. (Hopefully not just sunrises from my motel rooms -- I have A LOT of those!)
I had left off writing about the trip at New Orleans, and I thought it'd be a good starting point for this iteration of the project.

Next up, April 3, 2014: somewhere between NOLA and Panama City, FL.

If you make your own slideshow, will you share it here? 
I'd love to see everyone's 9-second adventures!

Update: On the Edge, The Journal

I have found a great way to procrastinate on the Fashion Illustration exhibition that I'm "supposed" to be working on, due in December.

Working on my "journal" that I meant to keep during the 2014 Edge trip!

Is it still a journal if I work on it two years after the journey?
Maybe it's a memoir now.

I left you hanging in New Orleans on my last 2014 Roadtrip Recap post,
not a bad place to be, by any means.

I'm getting the pages prepped with gesso. Then I'll adhere the ephemera. Most of the maps were glued into place back in May 2014. Somehow I missed a section of Montana and Idaho (Washington is already glued in) so I'll have to make an extension page. Fun times.

I've had some good help sorting the ephemera:

What is it with cats and paper? They always plop down in the middle of it! 

Eventually, I'll get the Roadtrip Recaps rolling again, this time with the journal pages as headers. So we will all know where we are on the map. I will resume the recaps with Day 8, NOLA to Panama City, FL. Stay tuned! See it in photos over on Flickr now, if you're feeling impatient.

Roadtrip Recap Day 6: Sulphur, LA to NOLA

Pines, I-10 LA, digital painting, ©2014

I had a short driving day on April 1st, taking I-10 from Sulphur to Lafayette, then on to New Orleans via US 90.

I saw Gulf-side refineries

Wet agricultural vistas

Swamps

My favorite part of the morning was breakfast at Billeaud's Too, in New Iberia.

I opted for one of the Lent Specials -- a crawfish omelet with grits and toast. Delicious!

I reached New Orleans around noon, where I rendezvoused with Severo for a couple of days.

More photos of this segment here on Flickr.

Roadtrip Recap Day 5: Sinton, TX to Sulphur, LA

Train, US77 TX,  digital painting, ©2014 

My day started with a visit to the Sinton Post Office to mail some post cards.
A nice surprise was the wall of old style mail boxes:

I had a hankering for a country breakfast (grits, eggs, bacon) but couldn't find any suitable spot. If only I had had a craving for mariscos. Lots of Mexican food available in the region.
I finally gave up and stopped at a rest stop near Inez and made myself a sandwich.

Peanut butter, Seville orange marmalade, and bananas.

It was a very pleasant spot situated in a grove of oaks.
A train rolled by:

Back on the road, Buc-ee's signage kept me entertained for a while:

I resisted the "urge" however, and powered on through Houston's rush hour to wind up in Sulphur, LA.

Here's the Flickr link for all this day's photos.