Road Trip

"I get pretty much all the exercise I need walking down airport concourses carrying bags." – Guy Clark

Two weeks ago I decided to take a short road trip...to a city I used to live in. Now that I live in the neighboring province I figured what a great way to see a little bit of each province. I took off the afternoon packed my bad and headed out of town. I keep a stash of maps in my truck I always have basically because I like to know where I am, where I going and how I am going to get there. So as I headed out of town on a lovely Friday afternoon I felt pretty secure in knowing that somewhere in my vehicle was the map I needed....

Its sad for me to admit but after having lived in Ontario for 2.5 years I had forgotten (I know its horrible) how far apart some towns are in the mid to northern areas of the provinces. For example it is not uncommon to drive literally for 2 hours before you encounter another community and it may just be a gas station/convenience store and a few other buildings (usually most of which look abandoned). Personally the only thing I generally care about is a bathroom especially when in farm country because there is a general lack of tress or shrubs on the side of the road that allows a female to do her business without the 1 car that is also on the lone highway from seeing. I think we all have had an experience where there is literally no traffic for miles until you pull down your pants on the side of the road and while in a very precarious situation suddenly cars, cars, cars from every direction show up...like magic. Thankfully this was not me (for once).

Back to the story - having newly arrived in my new town I haven't really become acquainted with all the highways and ways in which to leave it. So I flew past the turn to the highway I was looking for because it was literally a km down the first highway I was on. I didn't realize this until many many km's later. When the highway I was on suddenly turned into 10 km of unpaved road with little signs of life other than crops (from last year) and literally no signs saying when I would reach the next town. I was starting to panic because the map I for so sure was in my truck - was not and I was reaching the bathroom desperation point. I figured I was close to a town because I kept seeing school buses full of children which I thought mean I would actually see a town with a school soon. I felt that way for about 30 mins as my bladder continued to make its self known. At this point I was also in panic mode because I literally had no idea where I was. I knew I was somewhere between Alberta and Manitoba in Saskatchewan but other than that no idea. I had this horrible feeling that I was on my way to Manitoba when suddenly a sign appeared. I was approaching a town which meant a real bathroom. Its not easy when traveling by yourself to feel safe stopping on the side of the road to pee for so many reasons. So I headed for the first gas station I spotted and bought a map. Turns out the map I was so sure was in my truck was not. I discovered I was not on my way to Manitoba but had taken a rather more scenic route than intended on the way to my destination. It set me back a little bit but nothing major. Really I felt so relived at knowing where I was and how to get to my actual destination. So lesson here was although its good to be carefree perhaps actually knowing how to get to the destination before actually getting on the highway might be a good idea...Oh my god I sound like an adult...worse I think I sound like my dad! haha