Oil Town

I almost didn't come to Edmonton. I liked Calgary so much from my visit a few years back that I thought I might go back and skip Edmonton. I'm glad I didn't. Great city. It's clean, vibrant and rich in natural resources and history. Edmonton has the working class feel of Pittsburgh, the greenspace of Portland and the history of boom and bust of Chicago.

Within Edmonton is North America's largest mall (West Edmonton Mall- 800 stores, 5.3 million square feet, an indoor amusement park, the world's largest indoor waterpark, skating rink, etc, etc), the largest connected urban green space in North America (22 parks situated along the North Saskatchewan River suitable for running, biking, skiing), lots of golf courses in town, the University of Alberta and nifty little neighborhoods. Guess what Edmonton loves? Hockey. My first turn off of Canada HWY 16 took me onto Wayne Gretzky Drive and pass the Rexall Place where the Oilers play and just off Jasper Ave downtown is 99 Street, also know as Hull Road.


I am staying at the Hostelling International Edmonton, located in the hip, old and trendy neighborhood of Old Strathcona. Strathcona's reminds me of the Virginia Highlands in Atlanta. On a Saturday night, that's where people come to see and be seen. Punk, hipster, trendy all come out to Wythe Avenue on a Friday or, in my case, a Saturday night. Guys on motorcycles make lots of noise, while others arrive and park their bicycles. Men pop their collars and show their tattoos while women wear their tallest heels and most fashionable accessories. It makes for interesting people watching.


Other notes:

1) Had lunch in Innisfree, Alberta yesterday. Grant, the owner of the cafe/bookstore/video center/convenience store proudly tells me there are 223 people in town. He convinces me to try pyrogy, Ukrainian style. I liked. Gabe, who is a "newcomer" in town (he moved to Innisfree 6 years ago and just celebrated his 82 birthday) comes in and the main topic is how insanely hot it is outside (about 83 degrees). They should come to the south.



2) I've never actually been in a tornado. At least I don't think. I have a theory that there was one near me as I camped near Kearney, Nebraska. But I can't prove it. The radio the next morning mentioned the local twisters the night before. It was windy and rainy outside my tent. Of course, I slept through it all.

Last night, I was walking back along Wythe Ave and the night sky became even darker and more ominous. And then the winds came. Not just gusts, I'm talking gale winds (reported 104km/hr winds = 65 mph). The clouds alone were the most awesome: thick horizontal billows moving very rapidly. Blew over potted plants , signs and threw enough dust up to temporarily blind me. Pea sized hail starts to fall. Get back to the hostel and the attendant says that there are tornado warnings and tells me I can go into the basement if I want. It was intense. Power goes out and we don't get it back until about 10:00 AM.

In the morning, the streets are littered with leaves and branches. Power was still out. Apparently, the storm made a mess of downtown. The CN Tower sustained lots of damage. The storm made Canadian national news, though I doubt many American outlets picked it up.
Edmonton Journal Article




- Nerd Alert: I like history. I toured the Provincial Legislative building. I love the tours they give. They are FREE and offer so much information on history, architecture and politics. I always learn a lot. A lot more than if I walked through by myself. Today was the third legislative building I have toured (Victoria and Winnipeg are the others). My tour guide asked how many tours I have been in the US and I shamefully admitted none. Next time I'm in Raleigh, I'll have to try to do that.

- Terrible night of sleep last night. Those who know me know I am a heavy sleeper. Even that talent could not help me last night. It wasn't the wind and rain. It wasn't the heat of the room. There was a guy in our 8 bed room who must have sleep apnea. All night, it sounded like he was choking. The Japanese guy in the room was pretty happy to see that the guy looked like he checked out today. One of the downsides to hostelling.

- Edmonton is hosting "Taste of Edmonton" this week. My first "Taste of" experience was in Calgary. If Asheville is not doing this, it really should. A festival with Sunny Point, Tupelo Honey, Doc Chey's, Mamacitas, Barleys, Asheville Pizza, Flying Frog and even Grove Park would really showcase culinary Asheville. And you could have a Bier Garden with Highland, Greenman, Wedge, Pisgah and French Broad.

Across the Border

So I hate crossing the border. More specifically, I hate customs. I always feel violated by all the questions and random searching. I know that they are keeping our borders secure, but whether it's the international terminal at Charlotte-Douglas Airport, a big one like El Paso, Texas or Blaine, Washington or a simple outpost near Lancaster, Minnesota, the customs experience is always a hassle.



Stayed at the Hostelling International in Winnipeg. Okay place. Nice people. Decent location. I like Winnipeg for it's location on the "Forks" (where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet), the cool French neighborhood of Boniface (where I had a terrific Tunisian meal-- eggplant tajine), the murals all over the buildings downtown, the Fringe Arts Festival that was going on and the diversity of the city that includes Aboriginal, Middle Eastern, Asian, and East African.



I did not 'connect' with Winnipeg the way I did with other Canadian cities such as Calgary, Victoria and Vancouver. Winnipeg felt more like an American city than a Canadian city in some ways. A fellow hosteller described it best: "Winnipeg is edgy." Not that Winnipeg is a bad city, it really has some things to offer and it tries hard. While other cities are able to hide some of their rough edges, Winnipeg does that less well and has fewer shining spots. There's no Stephen Ave or Saddledome like Calgary, or Pacific Ocean and funkiness of Victoria or Stanley Park, Whistler and trendiness of Vancouver.

Also visited Riding Mountain National Park. Spent the night at the campground in Wasagaming. I wish I had more time at Riding Mountain. There are some nice trails that I didn't have time to explore. I also regret not playing golf on the golf course inside the park. But the town, though touristy, is nice and quaint with it's spectacular location on Clear Lake. It's a lot like the lake communities in upstate New York or Michigan, except that it's in a National Park.


I'm in Saskatoon. My first introduction to Saskatoon was in a magazine that said this town was thriving amidst the recession with jobs and growth. It's a cool town on the Sasketchewan River. Clean, lots of greenspace and a nice respite from the prairie. Plus, I got to experience "Taste of Saskatoon".



Quick Thoughts:

1) Why we are not on metric, I don't know. It only makes sense. How many feet are in a mile? A stupid number. How many meters are in a kilometer? 1000! I attribute this fact to the reason why we are lagging behind other countries in math and science.

2) It was 4 degrees this morning. That's about 40 Farenheit. Cold. The high in Winnipeg was close to 55. Apparently, the summer has been cold and wet. Bad for two reasons: farmers are not able to plant and the tourism industry (Winnipeg is located close to two massive lakes) is suffering.



















3) Central Canada has a large Ukrainian influence. From Dauphin, Manitoba all the way to Saskatoon, every little town, no matter how small, seemed to have an Orthodox church.



4) In the tiny town of Wynyard, I had lunch at a bakery/cafe. The ladies asked about my trip and I told them. They told me to be safe and responsible and that they would ask a prayer for me. When I saw them before I left, they told me I was safe now. I consider them to be angels.


5) Gas is killing me. I am paying 99 cents (CAD) per liter for gas. There are 3.8 liters in a gallon, meaning that I am paying about $3.80 (CAD) per gallon. The Canadian dollar is trading at .89 to the US dollar, so if I figure it right, I am paying about $4.40 USD/gallon for gas.

6) I must look French. Three times I stopped and the person helping me started speaking to me in French. Then I talked and they immediately switched to English. This was in Manitoba. Even the locals were surprised that conversations were initiated in French.

7) Why I love Canada: Manitoba has an area 649,947 square miles (twice the size of the United Kingdom). Population is 1.2 million. North Carolina 48,843 square miles and a population of 9.2 million. It's not just the vastness, it's the density too. Sure, we have our Wyomings, Montanas and Dakotas (and Alaska!!!), but Canada is an entire nation of this.

8) Why I love Canada II: "First Nations". Not "Indians". Not "Native Americans". The various aboriginal peoples of Canada are referred to as "First Nations", a term I find not only much more respectful to the people, but also more in tuned to history and the European influence on North America.

0) I wish I would/could have: gone to Churchill. See map above, it's one of Manitoba's northernmost towns. It's terribly expensive to get there, the mosquitoes are torrential and the ground is all boggy in summer. But you see the famous Hudson Bay, polar bears and close-up the effects of climate change. Another trip.

The Midwest

There's something special about the Midwest. Maybe it's the friendliness of the locals, the good beer or the endless farms. There's a lot to like:

Madison- what's NOT to like? Good food, clean city, central part is on an isthmus that divides two lakes, the University of Wisconsin, bike friendly, progressive people, pretty girls, free zoo, wonderful ice cream. Camp Randall Stadium is apparently a great setting for football and "Jump Around" before the 4th quarter is a classic and awesome tradition (see videos above).



Mineral Point- historic and artsy. Located in the 'driftless' region, a place untouched by glaciers during the last ice age. Good town with nice folks. They have a local brewery that I enjoyed. I rode 25 miles in tough, rolly terrain along rows and rows of corn and several dairy farms. The crows tracked me and the cows eyeballed me. And I got to visit with friends Dave and Mary Martin.



Mineral Point has places like the Midway Bar and Grill where a guy came in, sat at the counter and the bartender had an opened Miller Light in front of him. It's where everyone knows each other and looks out for each other. Alisha (below), who worked there and just graduated from Mineral Point High School (about 250 students), gave me the lowdown on the wrestling program there. Wrestling is huge in this area and Mineral Point has won 3 state championships in a row. Her brother is trying out for varsity nexy year.


Small towns- I've been avoiding interstate as much as I can. I get to drive through small towns and communities that I would otherwise miss. Places like Dixon, Illinois (home of Ronald Reagan), Fayette, Wisconsin and Kimball, Minnesota. Perham, Minnesota, where my old high school friend Jeff lives, is another place like that. These are places surrounded by farms large and small and where the pace of life is much different from mine (and I consider myself from a small town). It's really an envious thing to have be slower and less rushed.


Jeff teaches and coaches at a school with less than 400 students and while we do the same job, we have very different experiences. Perham is a town of less than 3000 people, the closest Walmart is 30 minutes away and the big industry is dog food and the several lakes around the city that brings in summer and weekend tourists. There are lots of advantages to what he does and how he lives. There are also lots of advantages to the way how and where I live.

By the way, Perham is a good athletic school. They are competitive every year in cross country and track, baseball and wrestling. Their gymnastics team has won 6 straight state championships. That's Jeff and their gymnastics coach talking in the photo below.

On The Road

Finally, I am moving. Left this morning. Writing tonight from Franklin, Indiana.

For those of you who do not know, I am driving to Alaska. The goal is to arrive in Skagway, Alaska by July 30. Then it will be a few days visiting my buddy Emily on the island of Sitka and a week of bicycle touring beginning back at Skagway. I am very excited to see my dear friend and her home. I am just as excited about being able to explore some of the spaces in between North Carolina and the Yukon

Besides the freedom of the road, gorgeous and interesting places, and intriguing and fascinating people, these are the things that are helping inspire me on the road:

Book I am currently reading:
"Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose -I should have read this last year before I did the Lewis and Clark seminar in Montana. It's the story of one of the greatest expeditions in history and the president who backed it all. I'm not physically close to the Lewis and Clark trail (maybe on the return drive), but I feel very close to the spirit of the Corps of Discovery.

Books that that have gotten me here:
"On the Road" - Kerouac, "Grapes of Wrath" - Steinbeck, "White Fang" - London

Text message:
"Hey coach can u bring back sarah palin for me if not a shirt lol :)"
from Enrique, one of my wrestlers. I am just glad he knows who Sarah Palin is, even if he has never met a punctuation mark in his life (and no, :) doesn't count).

Theme songs of my trip:
"Lost!" - Coldpay
Running with the idea of "Not all who wander are lost". Plus, it's a great song.


"Rise" - Eddie Vedder
from Into the Wild soundtrack. I have other music on my iphone, but this CD is the one in the car player. Also, the embedded video has sweet scenes from the movie.
Such is the way of the world
You can never know
Just where to put all your faith
And how will it grow


"When You Were Young" - The Killers
This song just came out when I was last in Alberta. I remember ripping around Banff and Jasper in my rented Chrsyler 300 with this blasting. You can believe that this song will be loud when I the Rockies. Plus, I needed a Killers' song on here.


"Highwayman" - The Highwaymen (Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kirstofferson and Johnny Cash)
This is for the Superfans. It's the song the GT Superfans play and sing before we go into every game. I get chills when I watch the video, right about 2:05 when Johnny Cash breaks into verse 4.
I fly a starship across the Universe divide
And when I reach the other side
I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can
Perhaps I may become a highwayman again
Or I may simply be a single drop of rain
But I will remain
And I'll be back again, and again and again and again and again

"Drive" - REM
The quintessential road trip song.

Orphans and Ambassadors

Last week, Grace's Watershed Youth did work at the Presbyterian Home for Children. Many of the kids there are orphans-- children without parents waiting for adoption. Remember the musical Annie? Annie just wanted to be adopted. In fact, that was the hope of all the children in the orphanage.

The fact is that we are all orphans. We are looking for a home. Like Annie, we wait hopefully that our parents will come back and adopt us. The truth, however, is that we are already adopted. God is kinda like Daddy Warbucks. But he not only promises to adopt us, he promises us the inheritance of his kingdom. I imagine that if Bill Gates promised me a small inheritance of his fortune, I would immediately jump at it. And how much more valuable is the kingdom of heaven?

I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you. - John 14:17

In his great mercy he has given us new birth... and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-- kept in heaven for you.
- I Peter 1:3-5

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One career I always thought I would like to be is an ambassador for the State Department. Being able to represent my country in foreign nations would be really neat. It is a very important job, which is why ambassadors are usually the pick of the litter in the State Department.

Josiah Bancroft stated in a sermon a few weeks ago that an ambassador does not have the freedom to say whatever he or she wants. An ambassador represents a higher power. The ambassador of the United States in Russia is only priviledged to state on behalf of the United States, not for himself.

In the same way, we are ambassadors. Our message is not our own. We represent something bigger and more important than us. If we fail to communicate that message, then we fail as ambassadors.

We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
-II Corinthians 5:20

Ambassador Apartments- 5th Ave, Hendersonville, NC

Summer Sports

It's July. Midsummer and hot. I've been without football since February. I hurt. Fortunately, July offers lots of good sports drama and is my favorite non-football month. Consider:

- Tour de France: I still love this race. Nearly a month of cycling. These guys are crazy. If Lance wins, he wins. Astana is a loaded team, with Armstrong, Andreas Kloden, Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer all having been podium contendors in recent history. The question remains: who will be the leader of this team, who will sacrifice position to help their teammate win. That will be interesting to watch unravel.

I'm still pulling for Team Garmin and Christian Vande Velde even though he has a tough route considering the injuries sustained in a crash at the Giro d'Italia. The dude is riding after breaking 5 vertebrae. Makes my excuse of being tired seem lame. Here's a nice article in NY Times written by Vande Velde. I wouldn't mind seeing a good race from Team Columbia that features British sprinter Mark Cavendish and longtime American Mr Reliable George Hincapie.

- British Open, or The Open Championships, is also this month. My favorite golf major. This year, it will be played at Turnberry, where in 1986 Greg Norman finally won his first Open Championship.

These two events alone will get me to August and the beginning of football season. Bring on Scotland and the Champs Elysees.

13 Pennies

I spent the last week with the Grace Youth on our local mission trip. For various reasons, the summer mission trip right in our backyard. We might not have traveled to Dalton, Georgia, New Orleans or Houston, but we might have made a larger impact on the kids who participated.

Go to my flickr page for photos of the trip.

We had many projects including Manna Food Bank, Asheville Greenworks, the local Women's Mission, the homeless Veterans shelter and a retirement home. Every morning, we started at the Presbyterian Home For Children. It takes in children who do not have parents or, because of circumstances, cannot stay with their parents. The PHFC attempts to give hope to children who otherwise would not have much hope.

In 1904, when Perry Smith, who was orphaned at 12 and grew to be a Presybterian minister, was given charge to start an ministry for orphans in Western North Carolina, the issue was raising enough money to begin and sustain the ministry. Hazel Johnson, just a child, came forward from the back of the room and asked if what she had was enough to get them started. It was 13 pennies. With that humble gift, the elders were committed to building the orphanage and the Presbyterian Home for Children gets its start.

It's never about how much you give, it's about the heart of your gifts. Whether it is tithing to your church, Christmas presents or your beloved's birthday, the love that accompanies the gift should and will be more valuable than the gift, no matter what it may be.

^{Mark 12:41-44
41}Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴²But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins,worth only a fraction of a penny.

⁴³Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."