Went for the usually walk and grocery shopping to get some stuff to make Thai curry tomorrow. It's been a long time since I've done that. The strange thing is that even though it's at least 5 degrees warmer than it was last night and not as windy, it feels like it's 10 degrees colder.

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Yeah, I know it gets pretty hot up in your neck of the woods this time of year.

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Food always is better when someone else makes it and you don't have to mess with anything. That's probably why the local Chinese restaurant is like our second kitchen. Sometimes, we don't want to deal with cooking and the cost is roughly the same, anyway.

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We just rolled into Moosejaw, Saskatchewan after a 7 hour drive and freezing in prairie countryside filling a gas tank. The car block heater outside is plugged in at the hotel. This is because the temperature is -28 C / -18 F. Feels like -41 C / - 41 F with the wind chill. The next week is supposed to warm up to 0 C / 32 F without the unknown wind chill factored in. That's a whopping 73 degrees difference!
Now I'm looking forward to a good sleep before travelling to the Rocky Mountain foothills tomorrow.

Have a great cozy and warm night, Glenn and everyone.

FSB

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Hello, big guitar. Meet my little fingers.

I'm living down in south Florida because I never, ever, ever want to be that cold again! My old thick, wool British Officer's style coat doesn't fit anymore so this time of year I rarely venture north of Lake O. I'm getting chills just thinking about it !!!!

Sunday is suppose to warm up to 57 degrees, but then drop down to 25 degrees after that. That's New England weather for you. I have to say this is typically the time of year that I miss Florida, where I lived most of my life, sans the last 14 years in Rhode Island, and the first 6 years of my life where I was born in Virginia. Usually, people move from somewhere like the New England area down to Florida because they are sick of the cold, I did the opposite.

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I have no opinion over the weather. Or under the weather for that matter. It's still A/C running weather here. Stay out of the cold.

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"Electric Lady"

Finished the 2nd leg of the journey and we are now just outside of Banff in a little ski village called Canmore, Alberta (known for past Olympic participation including cross country events).

Tonight we shared with skiers and snowboarders a brewpub called The Grizzly Paw pub. It is rustic log cabin like and I had a local elk burger for the first time. Our British bartender from Bristol presented me with an ice cold copper mug of In house produced ginger beer, vodka. lime, and a new twist for the Moscow Mule - a touch of Angostura bitters. My wife had a custom drink of blueberry vodka. lemon. lime, and topped with tonic. Add the atmosphere and it was no surprise that the establishment made a list of top
100 pubs in the World.

It's -14 C / 6.8 F and that's considerably warmer compared to what we left behind.

Tomorrow, we tackle the mountain passes. For some unfortunate soul there was an accident this week from which he/she never walked away. May he or she RIP, and we will do our best to arrive at our destination safely as we wish the same to other drivers.

FSB

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Hello, big guitar. Meet my little fingers.

Go up any further north and you'll be staying in an igloo and munching on seal eyeballs.

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ROTFL. FSB
I'm thinking of taking a course in soapstone carving.

FSB

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Hello, big guitar. Meet my little fingers.

That would be interesting. You can make some pretty elaborate pieces doing that.

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I'm getting close to feeding the dogs their dinner. These little guys better than some people do.

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"Electric Lady"

I'll bet they'd be your buddy if you have a cheeseburger.

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Getting ready for the sack. Just got off the highway from Canmore, AB to Vancouver, BC. Someone lost their life just outside of Banff just days before we arrived. In the Rockies the much needed highway department's sand and gravel added gave us a few stone chips on the windshield, and, perhaps, elsewhere. Some debris (looked like part of the front end of a vehicle such as a headlight, and perhaps a stone guard) was revealed only once the semi and a car in front avoided most of it leaving a large part for me to run over. Swerving in the slippery conditions was not an option. Fortunately, we seem to have survived it. Then we saw a flatbed truck that backed up too far left hanging over a small cliff. Later, we passed flashing cop cars with a semi and trailer that went off the road into a ditch. It landed upside down. I only hope the driver was okay.

We got all the weather scenarios today . . . sun, blowing snow, sleet, and rain in that order. Because, there is an expected turn for the worse tomorrow, we decided to do the Coquihalla challenge and drive it on a winter night.

Now I know how that Coquihalla reality show is true to form. I have made several Coquihalla trips - but, in the summer. Two more accidents and several heavy duty tow trucks at the ready were prevalent tonight. It's a long drive up and down the inclines amongst the semis with chains. Pitch black in a restrictive area that presented us with blowing snow and ice in our headlights. on and across the long winding road. It's difficult to keep on the road with packed snow on various spots of the road, random ice covering the pavement, snow drifts along the side, and blowing snow, all covering the driving lanes and passing lanes hiding the lines bordered by cement barricades. If you use low beams you benefit from having fog/driving lights to hilight the edges of the road, but, you lose the changes ahead such as the advance turns. Use the high beams and the falling blowing snow is a hazard. Then there are the odd dry patches with slick areas. Add steep inclines and passing vehicles on a reduced width of highway and the game's on. Even having many years of traveling mountain roads, I won't tackle late night challenges like this again, by choice. The odds are not favourable. I think a t-shirt is needed that says "I traveled The Coquihalla on a blustery winter night and lived to tell about it". YMMV

FSB
If that wasn't enough, Vancouver had a dump of snow and we saw a nasty related accident coming into the city too. In the end Mrs. FSB was all stressed out, and I was hooped from being a calming factor and tackling the driving . . . so a nightcap was in order at the end of the journey

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Hello, big guitar. Meet my little fingers.

Yeah, I'm thinking of making a Strat with a Narwhal tusk for a neck. Not sure how the tone would work out though.
FSB

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Hello, big guitar. Meet my little fingers.