Hello, everyone!
Sorry about the following thread hijack, but I'll get to a Horizon-related point somewhere.
Just to let you know: I came back from a rather extended driving trip. To keep tabs, I recommend opening up the
MapQuest Route Planner in a new tab.
There are those Europeans who consider North Americans to be "wasteful." What I am about to relate puts a different light on their complaints about Norte Americanos like me.
I just came back from returning a car I rented for two days. During those two days, I drove well over one thousand miles / sixteen hundred kilometres. The heart of the trip was a return journey from Toronto, ONTARIO to Kapuskasing, ONTARIO and back again. For perspective's sake, the distance between Toronto, ONTARIO and Kapuskasing, ONTARIO is in line with the distance between London, ENGLAND and Edinburgh, SCOTLAND. This is enough of a comparable for any Europeans in da thread to make a closer-to-home comparison for themselves.
For spits and giggles, I invite you to open
that MapQuest Route Planner in a new tab. and calculate the total kilometerages for a Grand - But Abridged - Driving Tour of the single province of Ontar-iar-io.
- The first leg of the Tour is northerly. Your initial exposure to living on
Tim Horton's infamous Double-Doubles and a
diet Homer Simpson would approve of is a drive from TORONTO, Ontario to COCHRANE, Ontario. Along the way, you avoid the temptation to encounter a whole bunch of "I-knew-
Shania-Twain-when..." stories by bypassing TIMMINS. (You did open that MapQuest tab?)
- The second leg is westerly, after demurring from the opportunity to ride the
Polar Bear Express train from COCHRANE to MOOSONEE. (
Not that you could right now, anyway.) Instead, you go from COCHRANE, Ontario to THUNDER BAY, Ontario.
- (Is your calculator complaining about the running total of kilometres yet? You did open
the MapQuest Route Planner in a new tab, didn't you?]
- The third leg could be fairly called the "Grand Subtour of the Canadian part of Lake Superior." It involves a nice long drive from THUNDER BAY, Ontario to SAULT STE MARIE, Ontario.
- The fourth leg is also south-easterly: SAULT STE-MARIE, Ontario to SUDBURY, Ontario. In these last three legs, you might have noticed that you've gone from mining country to mining country to mining country.
- The fifth and final leg, which
smug Torontonians would privately peg as a "return to civilization," is SUDBURY, Ontario back to TORONTO.
Did you have to soothe and nursemaid your calculator to get the five-leg running total? Remember, this is the Grand But Abbreviated Tour of one single province in Ontario. Granted it's the largest, at least in terms of population, but it's only one of ten.
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So, here's what I was mulling over: how about me taking a Grand Cross-Canada Road Trip and Meetup to meet up with Nick in Vancouver, British Columbia after driving ~ 4500 kilometres along the Trans-Canada Highway?
Granted, it's not Youtube-worthy in terms of hits unless I present myself as a "Likable Loony Bird Who Discovers Canada On The Road And Pesters His Fellow Canucks About Some Magic Internet Money." Fortunately or no, Youtube is a heart an infotainment depot in terms of virality and large view numbers. Frankly, the whole concept may be too loony (in terms of low view numbers, and/or visitor count for a blogging) to be bothered with - but it may not be. Please give your opinion.
Feel free to include whether or not I'm suffering from the aftereffects of too many double-doubles and donuts.
