Roadtrip 2012: Days 12, 13 and 14

Day 12 (Friday)

Another quiet day – but Roscoe got off work an hour early – and I had made home-made pizza dough, and so the pups and I had home-made custom pizzas, which they really seemed to enjoy. Then it was a bit of frantic preparation for an evening at the Eagle.

Returning to the Calgary Eagle was nice – although a quieter night for the bar as Edmonton Pride was this weekend. It was still awesome to walk in and see some smiling faces I recognised from the week before – especially ones I could remember the names for!! I am notoriously bad at remembering names! Berith did some boot-blacking and made some decent tips, and we had a good evening all round. It also felt good to be in gear at the bar and get some appreciative glances.

I’m finding myself feeling closer and closer to the pups. This family I get to choose, and I feel confident in these pups, and having them as part of my family. Roscoe continues to be attentive and caring, and Berith is playful and mischievous.

Day 13 (Saturday)

We had a slow start to the morning, but I made pancakes, which the pups devoured happily. And then, apparently it was time to be attacked and loved by the pups. I was pretty well dripping with drool by the time i managed to get them both off me – and somehow I ended up with a bite mark on my ass cheek.... We then headed out to pick up some supplies for Berith as well as hit Costco briefly for a few things. By the time we got back from walking around at stores and malls, I was pretty beat and took a nap while the pups made an excellent dinner of home-made mac and cheese J

Up from my nap, we geared up again and headed back to the Eagle. Another relatively quiet night, but I did get a great shine job on my boots from Berith and we had excellent company too. Poor Roscoe was falling asleep in the chair at the bar, and so we came home and crashed again.

Today was nice because I felt like a family when we were out – even walking around the Mall, the pups looking out for me, and me them. I do think i may have to get those shock collars to make them behave sometimes tho!! Don’t tell them I said that.

Day 14. (Sunday)

Hard to believe I’ve been away from home for 14 days already. The time is truly flying by. This morning breakfast was French toast, and the pups devoured it with the same gusto they seem to use to devour about anything else put in front of them. It was quite a lazy mid afternoon after that, and i had to force the pups to get up and go to pick up stuff at a new store someone had told Berith about – in a mall across town.

The mall itself was quite an experience – busy and crowded feeling – and honestly, while the boot store was amazing to go into and look around, I was truly glad to be out of the mall. We made a few more stops along the way, including a store called Army & Navy – which seemed similar in many respects to a Big Lots or Liquidation World store.

We swung home briefly and geared up yet again to head to the Eagle for “Beef on a Bin” – which was really nice. The bar was very quiet, which was nice because we were able to converse with a few people and had a really nice time. Back home early, Roscoe and I watched a movie, as Berith went back home for the night. 

In a few short hours, I will be headed to Vancouver to see my friend Chris whom I have not seen for about 6 years – I am truly looking forward to it. I don’t know exactly how much (if any) internet access I will have while there, but will be in touch when I can. Failing that, I will be back in Calgary on Thursday late and will blog my Vancouver visit on Friday.

Roadtrip 2012: Day 11

Day 11 (Thursday)

Well some one really wanted the boots I travelled with, and have been wearing for a little over 2 years, and so I put them up for auction on facebook and – well they sold for $ 200!! Heck – at this rate I may have to start offering more of my used gear etc for sale!! LOL It may end up financing me moving to Calgary :) 

A relatively quiet and uneventful day spent job hunting and resume writing. Berith went to spend the afternoon with friends, and I had the place to myself and enjoyed the quiet and watched some episodes of Fringe too. Roscoe came home and we ate some left-lover, with some freshly made poutine – which he seemed to really enjoy :)

We decided to go and watch The Avengers, and he and I set off, for the local cinema. It was the first time I have seen a 3D movie since Jaws 3D back in... well let’s just say a long time ago when that first came out. The technology is amazing and I really enjoyed the experience, even if the glasses were a tad distracting and annoying at first. The movie itself was awesome – and I am glad I got to go with the pup.

Tomorrow is Friday, which means we’re going to the Eagle again, which I am looking forward to, and I think we will have a good time.

The idea of family is growing more and more into reality, I feel, and being Daddy is a natural thing for me. I do think I may need to invest in two chock collars tho.... just don’t tell the pups!!!

Until later everyone :)

Roadtrip 2012: Days 9 and 10

Day 9 (Tuesday)

A quiet and uneventful day – the first day since I got here that I was pretty much alone all day. This wasn’t a bad thing – I got to finish updating my blog (see previous post) and do a bit of job research too. Seems there are plenty of jobs to be had for the right candidates – and will be working on tweaking resumes and so on in the next day or two.

Tuesday evening was quiet but nice, we went shopping for a brief while at Safeway – I do think things are a little more expensive here than in Ontario; food-wise anyway. Still we didn’t spend much and actually came away with quite a bit of decent supplies.  Dinner was burgers and perogies – and was very filling.  We lazed a bit before bed. Not a hugely eventful or exciting day – but a nice one spent together. Heavy rains late in the evening and the entire corridor outside the apartment flooded. Fortunately only a little water got in, and was pretty much gone by morning.

I am starting to feel like part of a family, and, for the most part, there is very little awkwardness in our interactions. A polyamorous relationship can have some awkward moments, but communication is truly the key. I am loving the attentions of the pups – and I think they too are enjoying the attentions they are given. 

I’m feeling good about being here, and certainly feeling good about the puppies. As for the city itself, while I haven’t seen very much of it as yet, I haven’t seen anything I dislike yet either. It reminds me in many ways of Cape Town, South Africa – my favourite city – and Calgary’s climate and atmosphere seem to mimic Cape Town in many ways. The longer I stay and the more I see, the more convinced I am that I should move here. Let’s hope the job searches prove to be successful.

Day 10 (Wednesday)

A slow start to the day, but I was up before Roscoe, and put together his lunch (turns out later I didn’t send enough with him – I will make sure that doesn’t happen again. The carpet in the hallway outside the apartment stinks and the landlord is trying to shop-vac up all the water. Don’t even him – it really smells bad. At least they have a through draft to air it out.

Roscoe came home from work, and he and I had some pup time with Berith, which was awesome, and then the three of us collectively got stuck into making dinner in the tiny kitchen together. It was, quite frankly, awesome. Working together with and around one another in a small space but it truly was great. And the meal at the end was incredible: ham chowder – and a collaborative effort probably added to the great taste.

The rest of the evening was cuddles on the sofa watching “Invader Zim” which is hilarious – and if you haven’t seen it – I recommend it – definitely NOT for the age group it was originally intended for!! LOL

I’m truly enjoying being the Daddy to these two very different pups. It feels right and comfortable and like a very good fit. Of course we are, all three, learning still – and no doubt have much more to learn. But as every day passes, I find myself feeling like I belong here – with them. I kind of hope they feel the same too – and all indications currently are that they do. This could be the thing I have been waiting for – and missing – for such a long time. Now to find work here in Calgary – and then the decision is made completely.

Roadtrip 2012: Days 5 to 8

Day 5 (Friday)

Got into Calgary late – but so awesome to see two puppies eagerly waiting for me. One thing which didn’t arrive with me was half my luggage. A chat with customer service, and a wait for the next bus from Edmonton, and my luggage was there – and we were on our way. 

It was awesome to finally be able to actually reach out and touch the puppy from the other side of the computer screen, and give headrubs and scratches and hear him murr and whimper for more. We went out for dinner, as it was quite late, and, after such brief stops along the way on the bus, I was famished!! We went to a Vietnamese restaurant, and the server was great and friendly, the food filling, tasty and truly appreciated.

A quiet and relatively uneventful evening together after that – mainly lots of cuddles and pets on the sofa before actually being able to lie down horizontally – which was AWESOME!!! A good restful night sleep cuddling a pup was amazing.

Friday morning, Roscoe was up early and off to work, so i got up and walked him to the bus stop to see him off, and stop at Timmies for a coffee. Got back to the pups apartment and the Berith and I decided to go for a walk into this area of town and check it out.

This part of 17^th street is cool – lots of bars and some interesting stores. We walked all the way down as far as we could to the casino and then started heading back, and half way down realised that Roscoe was close to lunch time, so we headed into the city centre to meet him for lunch. We walked around the mall and found the food court – and managed to secure a table, where Roscoe met us for lunch.

I haven’t had much chance to take too many pictures – but here is one of the two of us from lunch.

After a nice lunch, the Berith and I walked back to the apartment, stopping in at a few stores to check them out – some really nice stuff in some of them – but a lot of really pricy stuff too!! Also stopped in at priape, and Berith bought a magazine, and the cute guy at the register stuffed his carry bag with condom and lube packets, grinning at the two of us!! LOL

We waited until Roscoe was on his way home, then walked to meet him at the bus stop. We went out to Costco and a few other stores to get supplies and groceries, and then a quiet evening at home with a well cooked stir fry and then cuddles and bed.

Day 6 (Saturday)

Saturday morning I was the first awake, which is not unusual for me. My back is still giving me problems and I had the worst shin splints from the lengthy walk. But we got up and sort of lazed a bit, then went to hang out briefly with some of the Berith’s friends, before coming home and heading out to the Calgary Eagle.

The Eagle was nice, although quite a few lesbians – which was unusual. I don’t think I have ever seen women in the Toronto Eagle when I have been there. Met a few of the pups friends which was awesome – some very nice, friendly people, as well as David, with whom I have chatted for a while on Recon. I’m really looking forward to going back there again.

Day 7 (Sunday)

Another quiet start to the day. The pups were going out to swim with a friend, and I was wanting to treat them, and stayed home to prepare a large roast beef dinner, with Yorkshire puddings, roast potato, and plenty of gravy to go around. The meal was definitely worth the effort as shown below:

No-one felt like doing anything after dinner, but I prepared Roscoes lunch and we relaxed before heading to bed.

Day 8 (Monday)

Monday was a quiet day again, and Berith and I relaxed, and i will admit to taking an unexpected nap in the afternoon. When Roscoe got home from work, we had dinner together and then he took Berith home.

When he returned, it was time to relax together – and honestly our first completely alone time together since I arrived. I petted him for a while, and then i gave him a good puppy bath in the tub – which was awesome. I loved it. And, judging by the pups reactions – he did too. It was very intimate and enjoyable, and I am feeling  very close to the pup right now.

Some concerns still for me are pocket money. Im kinda out completely. Once again, if you are able to donate something, please do!! Every bit helps!! And for those of you who are on my face book, you will have probably seen there is an auction under way for my boots I wore on my trip out here. Get your bids in before 6pm MT Wednesday, 6 June!!!!

More to follow more regularly now that I am up to date!!!

Roadtrip 2012: Days 1 to 4

The following is typed from my at the time writings on the bus. More to follow when I get a chance.

Day 1:

Up at 6:44am – well before my 7:30 alarm – after crashing at 3am. Coffee, cleaned the apartment and started putting the final odds and ends into my bags. I’, still worried about overages. I wonder if i can re-organise my smaller bag. Was a little late leaving apartment, but made good time to the city. Unloaded the car where I am staying the night and then off to the dentist. This was a brief dental visit, which is good, and stopped in to visit a friend who gave me a travel pillow and blanket for  the trip J

Picked up some snacks for the road. I’m tired though. A good dinner with friends and relaxing evening before the daunting part of this trip starts for me. Will be up at 5:30 to make sure I’m at the greyhound by 6:30/6:45 – which is an hour before departure. Not sure about how i will sleep on the bus.

Day 2

5:30am – can you say hangover? Entirely too much red wine, and definitely not enough sleep. Windsor is also experiencing a heat wave. Will be glad to be out of here.

6:30am Another panic moment about baggage overages. 11kgs for carry on? Seriously? I can see myself leaving some stuff in Calgary or having it shipped home.

The bus station is practically deserted at this time of day. A few rather suspect looking people around. Apparently arriving an hour early was a waste of time. Really wish the bus would get here as I hate waiting at the best of times. This is worsened by the fact that I am tired, I have a headache and I’m already dripping sweat at 7-ish in the morning, let alone the baggage concern.

8:00am-ish  My fears of baggage hell disappeared. They didn’t even weigh the bags or measure them – neither did I have to go through a security check – after all that worrying.

The first bus was pretty full, but I managed to get a double seat to myself the first leg, until we reached London and took on more passengers. They also changed drivers here, and the London driver got quite abrupt and rude with another passenger, with some of his “barked” instructions at passengers.

London to Yorkdale was relatively uneventful, and the bus picking us up in Yorkdale was a tad late in arriving. This driver at least is friendly, and jovial.

We’ll be stopping in Parry Sound for a brief break – which I’m looking forward to – my ass hurts! And this bus shakes a great deal – although I think it’s predominantly from the road itself.

I had forgotten how much rockier the scenery is here – the roads seemingly sliced through large boulders. We’ve now driven through two thunderstorms today, and its overcast and dark – but it’s not nearly as humid on the stops as it was in Windsor.

The stop at Parry Sound proved expensive. A burger and Fries came to $ 11, and while the burger was decent, the fries left a little to be desired. Can you say extortion? Every stop you are captive to whatever store is at the stop – and have no choice but to pay what they ask for whatever you want.

I have been napping a lot on this trip so far. I hope I can sleep during the long stretch from Sault Ste Marie to Thunder Bay, because it would suck if I was awake all night.

Just finished reading “Woof!” By Michael Douglas, and started reading “Grrr” but, as it basically appears to be puppy erotica, I decided to hold off on this and perhaps read it to the pups as bedtime or quiet time stories – the accounts in the book will no doubt cause the puppies varied reactions – and I can gauge their levels of interest in the scenes described.

Sudbury sucks. Just saying. Waiting outside a run-down shack which is the greyhound station, waiting for the next leg of this seemingly endless tour, which has at least one good thing – I get to see my friends again whom I haven’t in a few years. So that’s something good to make the trip from Sudbury more worth-while.

Two things are bugging me at this point. Firstly, my ass hurts, and I haven’t quite yet figured out how to make myself more comfortable. Secondly – I appear to be constipated. Oh joy.

The bus which was to leave Sudbury at 6:30 arrived at 6:43, and then took another half an hour to load and leave. This will affect the rest of this journey, no doubt.

Day 3

Actually slept quite a lot last night, waking at each stop to get our and stretch and walk a bit while having a smoke or two. Kinda nice that I got 2 seats to myself – or i wouldn’t have been able to sleep so well I don’t think.

Seeing my friends in Sault Ste Marie was awesome – Even though it was so brief – yeah – we were running late – so the driver was all in a hurry – but time, even if brief is awesome J

For the record – this tiny town somewhere between Sault Ste Marie – is a bloody rip off. $ 2.75 for a small cup of coffee. A small bottle of coke was the same price... Next time, no coffee and will stock up on coke at the dollar store.

Thunder Bay. Had just arrived and was finishing my first smoke when my friend of 12 years online, Ryan, pulled in. He’s even hotter in person! I had to strongly resist the urge to shove my tongue down his throat and manhandle his thick beard. In many ways he is my type through and through: Masculine, bearish, smoker, pig and gear-nut. I had an hour to kill while they cleaned and refuelled the bus. So Ryan took me to his family’s diner, we had coffee and English muffins, and time was up so he drove me back to the bus.

Sad that an hour can go so fast. I want to molest him badly. Definitely going to try and figure a way to come up here again and spend a day or two with him. Cute, hot, sexy little fucker!! WOOOOF!

Leaving Thunder Bay has so far been a nightmare – all sorts of road closures due to heavy rains they have had the last few days, which have washed out many of the bridges and roads. Apparently, Thunder Bay is on a “don’t flush, don’t shower and no laundry” advisory until water levels subside.

As we approach Winnipeg, I realise I have now been on a bus for at least 36 hours. And that will be roughly 62 by my calculations when my trip is done. I have managed since last night to keep a double seat to myself, but I guess that could change in Winnipeg, as we change busses there too.

Physically my body is ready for this to be over. Try as I might at each stop to move around, the pain my lower back and ass is getting worse. I think tonight is time for back pain pills.

Winnipeg sucked – our bus was late and actually arrived very close to the official departure of the next bus, and we were hustled into the terminal, and then, for the first time on this journey,  security checked. This was painless, but lengthy and thorough. No smoke break though – so by the time we had our next smoke break, it had been almost 7 hours since my last one. Head-rush – and while not happy about it – I did survive. One bonus is that the new bus has more comfortable seats, which also seem a little further apart, so a little more leg room.

Stopped somewhere late and the only food available was sandwiches. So i got a ham and cheese and a bottle of coke. $ 8.50.... I’m definitely packing more of my own food on the trip home!

Day 4 – The end is nigh

I managed to sleep most of the night – even sleeping through some of the brief stops along the way. Saskatoon was flat and dull, and I bought a coffee (only $ 1.25 this time!) before stepping out for a smoke. Discovered that one of my companions on this journey is celebrating his birthday, so bought him a coffee too.

Stopped in North...something or other... for a brief smoke break, and there are these two chatty girls on the bus, apparently sisters. One of them thinks I am a cop, and says I look like one – in stature. Then she started saying how much she wished she had weed. I just walked away without saying a word. Let her believe I am a cop, it was a bit of an ego boost.

Arrived in Edmonton. Final Bus change – except – we are half an hour late. The connecting bus has already left without me, and about 6 other passengers on my bus. SO they issue us tickets on the Greyhound Express via Red Deer to Calgary. I noticed just in time that the woman had issued me a ticket to red deer only, not Calgary. She was super apologetic, and corrected the problem.

The greyhound express busses have leather seats, wi-fi (not that that us any use to me) and power outlets. All was ok until Red Deer, when they added more passengers and I lost my double seat. Cramped and painful last leg – but at this point – seeing the pup is all that matters. I tried to call him from Red Deer – but the payphone wanted $ 4.75 for the call. I’m sure he will wait. Will admit I can’t feel a part of my right leg – which worries me – and pins and needles in my left leg – sure that will go away.

I will add more to this as a separate post later today or tomorrow sometime.