What brought you to Calgary?
A van.
And then every single person that has ever asked me that question laughs, because I guess they expected something along the lines of: a job, or a boy, or to start a new life, but in every single way it was a van that brought us here.
This van to be exact:
It started before the van, though.
It started at Blue Skies, where we watched the D Rangers from Winnipeg, but had to hitchhike back to Peterborough because Georgia had to work at the Mustang Drive-In that Saturday night.
Hank told us to keep our wits about us and put on pants before we left, but instead we made this useless sign and took off. Then we hitchhiked back to Blue Skies for some reason on Sunday morning.
The highway travelling was more exhilarating than anything I'd done up that point, including film school, so why the hell not drive across Canada. Atleast I'd have something to write about.
The van was $100 and the German mechanic wouldn't approve it's safety until the rust holes were patched up with this green gook and patches. We did our best, but in the end he just rolled his eyes and did it for us.
We took off on September 5th despite the multiple warnings and predictions from family and friends. We had to turn back after 5 minutes cause Georgia forgot her cellphone. We drove by my shitty job and Georgia threw my red-t-shirt/uniform out the window where it landed in the middle of the intersection.
We stopped at a North Bay laundromat to put Georgia's clothes in the dryer as they were wet in a garbage bag for a completely normal reason. After North Bay we decided to drive non-stop until we got the fuck out of Ontario.
We camped in Wawa but couldn't cook our steak due to a fireban, so we drank all night without eating. Then one of us slept in the tent while the other slept in the van cause we were in a fight.
The next morning we finally did it. We drove into Manitoba, a completely new province.
I immediately got a Safeway card and then we went to the Winnipeg Folk Festival where the D Rangers were playing.
They let us stay at their house, but then they left us alone cause they had band practice. Jaxon's only advice was to not eat too many cookies. We did, and when they came home we were speechlessly high. We left in the morning without saying goodbye/thanks cause we were too embarrassed. (They also had a van-twin of ours parked in their backyard which blew our minds post-cookie).
I don't remember much about Regina, except we had hamburgers and beers at a nightclub.
As we approached Calgary, it started to piss down rain and our wipers were shit. We stopped at a gas station and learned how to put on new wipers, in the rain. (recently we had to do the same with Carolyn Mark on our way to Frog Fest!).
As we drove into the city in our van full of blankets, I called my friend Chris Bowen who was the only person I knew that lived in Calgary. He revealed that he never actually thought we were coming. We took the wrong exit because Georgia got too excited, and when we finally got downtown, the van immediately got towed and then we had another fight.
And that is what brought us to Calgary.
And then every single person that has ever asked me that question laughs, because I guess they expected something along the lines of: a job, or a boy, or to start a new life, but in every single way it was a van that brought us here.
This van to be exact:
It started before the van, though.
It started at Blue Skies, where we watched the D Rangers from Winnipeg, but had to hitchhike back to Peterborough because Georgia had to work at the Mustang Drive-In that Saturday night.
Hank told us to keep our wits about us and put on pants before we left, but instead we made this useless sign and took off. Then we hitchhiked back to Blue Skies for some reason on Sunday morning.
The highway travelling was more exhilarating than anything I'd done up that point, including film school, so why the hell not drive across Canada. Atleast I'd have something to write about.
The van was $100 and the German mechanic wouldn't approve it's safety until the rust holes were patched up with this green gook and patches. We did our best, but in the end he just rolled his eyes and did it for us.
We took off on September 5th despite the multiple warnings and predictions from family and friends. We had to turn back after 5 minutes cause Georgia forgot her cellphone. We drove by my shitty job and Georgia threw my red-t-shirt/uniform out the window where it landed in the middle of the intersection.
We stopped at a North Bay laundromat to put Georgia's clothes in the dryer as they were wet in a garbage bag for a completely normal reason. After North Bay we decided to drive non-stop until we got the fuck out of Ontario.
We camped in Wawa but couldn't cook our steak due to a fireban, so we drank all night without eating. Then one of us slept in the tent while the other slept in the van cause we were in a fight.
The next morning we finally did it. We drove into Manitoba, a completely new province.
I immediately got a Safeway card and then we went to the Winnipeg Folk Festival where the D Rangers were playing.
They let us stay at their house, but then they left us alone cause they had band practice. Jaxon's only advice was to not eat too many cookies. We did, and when they came home we were speechlessly high. We left in the morning without saying goodbye/thanks cause we were too embarrassed. (They also had a van-twin of ours parked in their backyard which blew our minds post-cookie).
I don't remember much about Regina, except we had hamburgers and beers at a nightclub.
As we approached Calgary, it started to piss down rain and our wipers were shit. We stopped at a gas station and learned how to put on new wipers, in the rain. (recently we had to do the same with Carolyn Mark on our way to Frog Fest!).
As we drove into the city in our van full of blankets, I called my friend Chris Bowen who was the only person I knew that lived in Calgary. He revealed that he never actually thought we were coming. We took the wrong exit because Georgia got too excited, and when we finally got downtown, the van immediately got towed and then we had another fight.
And that is what brought us to Calgary.
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