Good Riddance (potential) Backseat Driver!

My car is packed and this whole adventure is finally real to me. Everything is going well, except. . .

Everyone bailed on me (through no fault of their own - Job issues) and I'm going it alone at this point. I almost had a last minute road companion, but that fell through, too. I'm disappointed about that one, but that's another story.
My parents are worried about me being on the road alone for that long, but I'm honestly not worried at all. My mother keeps calling me asking me if I'm still driving. YES, Mom, I'm still driving! I don't know what she expects to change from day to day. Unless a car for me to use in AK magically appears so that I can fly up instead, I'm driving! I've checked and double checked my options and driving makes the most sense for my needs. Parents schmarents.

Driving alone doesn't bother me, in fact I prefer it most of the time. I spent a lot of time alone on the road while I worked at MMR and I developed an appreciation for it. It's nice to only worry about one person's taste in music, bladder and hunger. I'll admit that sometimes the highway is a bit of a racetrack to me, so it's also nice to drive how I will without worrying about the level of fear in the passenger seat. Similarly, it's nice to not have to sit in the passenger seat of my own car, white knuckled, trying not to be a backseat driver. Having one person in the car eliminates any possibility of backseat driving.

Overplanning to Avoid a Strict Driving Schedule/ Interesting Canadian Destinations

I've decided to stay away from a strict schedule with pre-planned nightly stops. I think I'd be opening myself up to too much stress. I'd hate to push myself too hard and drive when I'm too tired just to get to my night destination and I'd hate to have to stop when I still feel like driving just because I've already reached my planned destination. I'm also thinking the amount I'll want to drive in a given day will be heavily influenced by the terrain.

I've started making myself a chart which I've populated with destinations along my route. Each destination is at most a few hours apart so I have the freedom to add or subtract a few hours from my daily drive while still having an idea of where it'll put me in terms of the next days driving. You can see it here, but just remember that I'm still working on it. I honestly don't know why you'd want to look at it, though. It's painfully boring. I'm just a nerd and happen to like lists and charts. A lot of planning is needed to avoid strict schedules, you know.

In my online searches I've actually found a few interesting places in Canada that I'm thinking of stopping.
-Signpost Forest - In 1942 when the Army Corps of Engineers was building what is now the Alaska Highway, a homesick engineer put a sign in the ground with the name of his hometown and the mileage from his location. The tradition caught on and now there are over 50,000 homemade signs and license plates hanging there.  I'll try to hang one for Swampscott while I'm there - too bad I don't have more time to make a quality sign.
-Liard River Hotsprings - Exactly what it sounds like! Natural hot springs in northern British Columbia. They have a lodge there, so I'm going to try to finagle staying there.

If you're ever planning a road trip, I highly recommend this site. It isn't very flashy, but it has really good information.

I can't wait to see what happens when my phone assumes Canadian behavior!

I'm mad at Canada again.

I just realized I can't use my cell phone in Canada. Sort of. In true wireless carrier form, it's complicated. I was able to gather some info, most of which means absolutely nothing to me:

-My phone is enabled to use in other countries, but I might have to switch the frequency?
-I have to activate the international calling feature on my plan, which is somehow dependent on my payment history and the length of time I've been with the carrier.
-My phone will behave like a Canadian phone once I cross the border. If only I knew Canadian phone behavior.
-It's $0.80/minute in addition to my regular rates. Super.
-I may only be able to call the US while roaming in Canada. May? Why aren't they sure?
-I'll only have service for half of the Canadian leg of the journey at best.

The moral of the story: Don't call me while I'm in Canada.

Food

One of my true life loves is food. I have a lot to say about food. Always.

While I'm on the road I'm not going to be doing any five star dining, that's for sure. I'm perfectly okay with that, but I dread almost all fast food. The other day Leah and I were on our way to visit Ian, my cousin, and we were both starving and unsure of the dining plans for the night, or if there even were any. We decided to stop somewhere to get a quick something before we got to his place. After missing a few exits we ended up at Burger King. I pointed at the "chicken fries" on the menu in disbelief - of course we had to get them to figure out what the heck they were.

We found out what they were: disgusting. I figured it'd be breaded and fried chicken cut into strips to resemble fries. I was half right - Only the chicken didn't seem to be cut into that shape, rather, they seemed to be molded into that shape. I took one bite and looked down at the exposed 'chicken' and wondered if I'd be able to take another bite. The best word I can use to describe what I saw is 'sponge,' I suppose. Everything about it was horrible, and I'm going to spare you further details. I will, however, tell you that the container they came in was cupholder-shaped and there was a little pop out on the top where you could insert your dipping sauce. The french fries were in a similarly shaped container, as well. And we wonder why americans are so fat.

I won't even explain how I ended up doing this, but I googled those horrid chicken fries, and what I found was truly hysterical. This is a direct quote from Wikipedia:
" . . .these products are intended to bring in a larger, more affluent adult audience who will be willing to spend more on the better quality products."

There is so much wrong with that statement. So much. If this is what they call quality and if this is what they're using to lure in a more affluent crowd, I don't want to know what they had on their menu before this! I know where I won't be stopping on my journey.