Back at it.....??

One week home and we're just getting back into the swing. Everyone we run into is excited to hear about our adventure. In fact we heard from Jessica in North Carolina that she was "addicted" to this blog and checked throughout the day to see if we posted new info. Sorry Jessica we could only get one posting out a day. By the way....say "hi" to your friend Nancy for us.

As promised, here is some contact info and "Thanks!!" to those who made Our Twisted Travel such an adventure.

Giant "THANKS" to sister Deborah for getting the airline tickets arranged, Lauren for helping with the travel day envelopes (great job with the LSATs, we're proud of you) Leah for keeping things under control at home and certainly to Craig and Noella for the use of their high-def camera.

Here are links for more info about locations, businesses and friends connected with the trip.

Canmore, Alberta: Susan at www.rockymountainsoap.com
Ashley at www.thegrizzleypaw.com
General Business info: www.canmorebusiness.com

Drumheller and Rosedale, Alberta: World's largest dinasour, Outlaw's Saloon (Ashley & Ann)
www.drumhellerchamber.com

Torrington, Alberta: Gopher Hole Museum, search the internet for more info, good luck!

Thanks for video tips and support, Greg Aiello: Check his show "Motion" at www.livewellhd.com

Thanks for bartering items: Victor at Idea Print Work www.companycasuals.com/ipw
Dr. Norton at www.americasholisticdoctor.com
Anna & Deb at www.queensinn.com
Ken and the Cuccia Family at Vinces Spaghetti - Ontario, Calif.

More to come later regarding the posting of video clips. Stay tuned.........................

Back again !!!

Got in late last night. We left Canmore at 7:30am after a nice continental breakfast, included with the room. Wow, what a deal and what an amazing area !!! As we drove south to Calgary the vista of the Canadian Rockies in the rearview mirror was stunning. That view along with the friendly and helpful folks cemented the idea that we must return to the area someday in the future, next time with a more "comfortable" budget.

The flight back to the "real world" (read "work world") was uneventful and the 5 1/2 hr drive home was expected and exhausting. But what a treat to be home in Ahwahnee, to see the dogs and to be welcomed home by Leah. Thanks again Leah for keeping things together while we were away. It was so nice to come back to a clean, warm home with our own bath. Oh the simple pleasures in life.

We'll soon get posted websites and contact info from some of the places and new friends we visited. We also look forward to using some of the new techno tools (i.e. Facebook, YouTube, etc.) available to spread the word and share pictures from our twisted adventure.

Thanks for the encouraging comments and stay tuned for more from your Twisted Travelers....

Thanks Raine!

Hey, just got back from a fantastic hamburger here in Canmore & saw a comment from one of our favorite waitresses, Raine in Calgary. That made our day, very creative - thanks Raine!

We couldn't get to our email today but Lauren, hope your tests went well, thinking about you. Can't wait to hear more.

Leah, hope your holding down the fort & the doggies are being good for you.

Miss you all, it's great to have lots of new friends in Canada & can't wait to share our adventures with everyone.

A day to remember

After yesterday's blog entry, we decided to check out the local watering hole the Outlaw's Saloon. That's were we met Alicia (bartender), Ann (owner) and some of the locals, including Mr. Winnipeg (here working w/ his bro). We finally got to try the famous Canadian Ceasar & it was well worth it. Way to go Alicia! After a disappointing dinner (not mentioning names) and at Alicia's invite, we returned to the Outlaw's Saloon. Many thanks to Alicia for treating us to their own signature drink the Inkslinger named for her boyfriends tattoo joint next door and Mr. Winnipeg for buying us a round after he did well on the slots machine there. Thanks Ann for making the shirt trade - a nice momento of our time there. Be sure to visit them on facebook at Outlaws Saloon. We left you a shirt outside the door Alicia - hope you got it.

After leaving the Drumheller area this morning we travelled across Alberta towards Banff, the back way & saw some beautiful scenery while being pelted with rain. Came across a town named after us - Madden, Alberta, Canada. Arrived in Canmore outside Banff National Park around noon & enjoyed homemade pb&j while sipping lattes at the local coffee house. We set off exploring the town & met some great people - Susan at Rocky Mountain Soap Co. (rockymountainsoap.com) hooked us up with a care package - nat'l soaps & goodies - what a sweetheart! Then Ashley at Grizzly Paw Brewery treated us to a local micro brew & micro soda (no caffeine - yeah!). We hit Banff, a bit of a disappointment but very beautiful - more on that later. Now it's out for dinner. Running out of time, we'll tell you where we stayed tomorrow!

Miss you all!

Day 3 and still kicking

Last night we were not very complete in our posting as we only had a few minutes left on our internet time card. So here's a little more on Sheraton Steve. Not sure what his position was there but he was a great ambassador for the hotel. When we told him we were from California his response was "o.k. i'll talk slow." Besides the ginger beef and the Caesar folklore, he did offer to let us sleep on his "chesterfield, eh" (that's couch to y'all) and dinner if we needed it. We'll skip on the chesterfield, but you might be seeing us tomorrow night Steve, for that bbq dinner.

Today, we rented a car (yes, we worked it into our budget) & headed off to ... no not Banff as everyone told us to do, but Torrington, home of the Gopher Hole Museum, rated one of the top ten weirdest museums in North America (a well deserved recognition). Bev showed us the dioramas of stuffed REAL gophers (as in taxidermy folks) in little costumes. There were baseball players, bride & groom, even a preacher along with at least thirty others. It was the target of PETA protests years ago, but they've continue to "flourish" in spite of the controversy. At $2.00 a head for admission it was well worth the trip. We ran into a group of Red Hat Ladies who were also on an outing from Calgary enjoying the museum.

From there we headed east to Drumheller, home of the world's largest Dinosaur. After some "discussion" over budget, Beth at the visitors bureau hooked us up with a $23 a night hotel (cash only) in Nacmine. Here's a tip - you get what you paid for... We passed on that in favor of a $55 room, much cleaner, but still shared bath in Wayne at the Last Chance Saloon. We'll be discussing budget later.

Not sure what tomorrow brings, but certain to be more adventures.

Quick update to the days events. We didn't mention Ron & Nellie at one of the MS Walk's checkpoints. Nellie gave us some great pointers for future Twisted Travels including Indonesia & Ron was intrigued by the whole concept.

After a great big dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory (not nearly as good as Vince's but still enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow) we ran into Steve when we decided to venture into the Sheraton to see what we're missing. Steve let us in on some local history including Ginger Beef and the Ceasar (known as Bloody Marys in the states but made w/ Clamato) both Calgary inventions.

More tomorrow

We'll never be hungry again...

First off, yes Deborah, Banff or Lake Louise would destroy the budget beyond repair, not that we didn't think of it. We have something even better in mind but you'll have to stay tuned to find out.

Last night's dinner was at a pub in down town Calgary - nice area. The only thing we could afford on the menu was pizza (Canadian of course) which gave us enough left over for breakfast this morning. Tim was yearning for a 2nd Grasshopper Ale, but again not in the budget. He did a little creative negotiating - a Vince's Spaghetti t-shirt for a beer (thanks to Ken & the Cuccia family) - with our waitress Raine. She was stoked although her first response to our story was "you guys are freaking me out."

Today started with coffee & a shared muffin at McD's (their $1.42 special) then it was off to this "trendy" area of town. On the way, we stumbled upon a charity walk/run along the Bow/Elbow River. A boon to us as we got in line for some of their free water & goodies. We felt a little guilty but paid it back later. Arriving at the trendy Kennsington area, we found it wasn't our cup of tea. On the way back we stopped and listened to the band (the Matt Blais Connection - visit his facebook at The Matt Blais Connection or www.myspace.com/mattblais) they had at the end of the race & bought one of their CDs. All proceeds went to MS (the race charity) & thus our pay back. Continuing on our way back to the hostel we noticed a beautiful building that was the Chinese Cultural Center & enjoyed a musical play for a few minutes inside (Tim was the tallest person there).

One thing we've noticed through all this (besides our hunger) is that the places we plan to go to are never as interesting as the places we stumble upon. In other words, it's not the destination, but the journey that counts.

One last thought. We've both noticed our hording instinct has kicked in. If have food, we eat it even if we aren't hungry - who knows when we'll get our next meal. We've overcome that by investing in a box of graham crackers & a jar of chunky peanut butter - we'll never be hungry again...

Tomorrow starts a new adventure. Keep those comments coming.