Becca Jane St Clair

I was so concerned before my trip about being able to figure out what the current temperature was outside (Multiply degrees in C by 9, then divide by 5, then add 32 to get degrees in F), that I never really stopped to think about the actual act of grocery shopping in another country.

So, here’s a few things I’ve learned so far that might be of help to other travelers:

• Become familiar with the currency and the conversion rate. I’m fortunate that Canada uses the Canadian Dollar and so the denominations are all the same with the exception of using a one dollar and two dollar coin instead of bills. This morning, I had $10 in loonies and toonies in my purse! Also remember that when you go to convert money back to US currency, most places won’t take coins, even if they are the dollar and two dollar coins. The Canadian dollar is worth about US$1.03, so it’s nearly an even exchange. I can easily convert in my head to figure out how much I’m spending in US Dollars. (And it’s not pretty. Wow, stuff is expensive here!)
• Learn the Metric system. I wanted to buy some cheese for sandwiches, and I stared gobsmacked at the signs for a good 10 minutes “$2.09/100g”. What’s 100g? 100g is a little less than 1/4 of a pound. So, if you wanted “one pound” of cheese, you’d need to order 100-500g. Fortunately, the deli scale at the Safeway measured in both pounds and grams, so when I explained I was a poor confused American who wanted a half pound of cheese, she was able to measure it out in pound format.
• Be prepared to spend more money on “American” items. I didn’t come with any toiletries because I wanted to save on the room in my suitcase. I sort of wish I had brought some along, anyway. I still haven’t bought any body wash, because I haven’t been able to justify the CDN$6.99 (US$6.70) for a bottle of body wash. I’ve been using the crappy bar of soap I snagged from the hotel in Winnipeg. I usually get the cheap store brands for around US$2.50….that kind of stuff doesn’t exist here. I also couldn’t find my cheap shampoo. I use the VO5 .99 stuff because it’s good and it’s inexpensive. I couldn’t find VO5, but I did find Suave shampoo in the same strawberry scent I usually get. CDN$2.53 for a double pack of the Shampoo/Conditioner. Not a bad price, but not the brand I usually get. I wonder how much space/weight a bottle of body wash would have taken up? Oh well, too late now! I wonder if Bath and Body Works ships to Canada?

I had such a great time on my VIA Rail trip yesterday, really. My train was set to leave at 9AM, but I got to the station around 7:30. VIA has checked baggage services (WOOT!) so I was able to check my large suitcase and that gave me time to wander around Winnipeg with just my backpack. Turns out, the VIA Rail station is in a bad part of town. Oops. As soon as I started seeing boarded up windows and smelled stale urine, I hightailed it back to the station. All I really had wanted to do was find some breakfast, but apparently there wasn’t even a Tim Horton’s on that end of town!

Back at the station, I sat with about a dozen or so people, all headed to points farther north (Churchill) and most booked into the sleeper cars. I met a man from Texas who was taking his annual vacation up to Churchill. We had fun comparing the weather with being farther North. I also met a German family who booked comfort class with me, and we spent part of the trip chatting.

The train was running on a slight delay, so we didn’t board until 9:15. But the train….oh, it’s lovely. So much leg room and head room and Amtrak *really* needs to take some notes from their sister organization! The seats had a footrest like a recliner would, and there was still room leftover that I had my large backpack at my feet and had plenty of room!

Check out that legroom!

Each train has a dining car and even that was pretty. I had a cheese sandwich (well, it was a ham and cheese I picked the ham off of) and some apple juice. Reasonably priced, too.

The dining car

Everyone I interacted with, from the counter person at Winnipeg, to the station master at Dauphin was incredibly nice and polite. The conductor even remembered I told him I had a checked bag so he went and got it off for me!

The only “thorn” perhaps, was a family with three small children under the age of 12. The kids were being rowdy and at one point bouncing on the seats and throwing shoes at each other with the parent either sleeping, or not paying attention. A quick trip to talk to the conductor though and the situation was solved.

The scenery was absolutely lovely, too, and I have TONS of photos to share! I’ve never seen the praries before, not even in the US, and the sheer vastness of flat was just breathtaking. Looking out either side of the train there was nothing but land as far as the eye could see…no skyscrapers, not even a mountain for a long while….just field after field of farming, flowers, and weeds.

Praries of Manitoba, with the Manitoba Escarpment in the background

Here’s a video I took of some of the scenery, including a CN train passing us:

For my photos I took in Winnipeg while walking around, you can check the gallery here:
http://photos.beccajanestclair.com/winnipeg-manitoba-august-2008/winnipeg/

For photos of the train and the scenery, you can check my VIA gallery here:
http://photos.beccajanestclair.com/winnipeg-manitoba-august-2008/via-rail/

And, if you want to see pictures of my charges for the next eight weeks, I have some photos of them here:
http://photos.beccajanestclair.com/winnipeg-manitoba-august-2008/quincy-hobbes-and-casper/

My mom drove me to the Philadelphia airport this morning. We don’t often go there, as I recently have been flying out of BWI, but when PHL is cheaper we go there since we live sort of between the two (or at least, equidistant). We printed directions off Google even though we were kind of familiar with the route.

Google Maps lie! An 11.6 mile stretch starting with the Rt 100 exit is actually more like 20+ miles. You have to be either familiar with the area or have a good sense of direction to know that there are three right turns not mentioned AT ALL in these directions. They aren’t new roads, so I’m not sure what Google Maps problem is with them. Basically, when you get off at Rt 100, you’re really on Rt 113. THEN you turn onto Rt 100, followed by a turn onto Pottstown Pike, and at one point you actually have to turn back onto 322 to get to 202. I don’t see *any* of that mentioned in the directions, do you?

Moral of the story? Make sure you have a real map in your car for a back-up, and try to figure out a way of verifying your directions before you go! Especially if you have to reverse them on your own for the way home! Mom wound up going a different way home because of all the turns not listed…oh, and id I mention that Rt 100 was closed in the opposite direction? Why doesn’t Google Maps update for those kinds of things?

Today I embarked on the first leg of my trip up to Dauphin!

Flights:

Northwest Flt 1765 PHL -> DTW Departed 9:25 Arrived 11:12 at Gate A-40 (or some insanely high number)
Northwest Flt 4739 DTW -> YWG Departed 12:15 at Gate C-29!!!

YIKES! I had to travel across pretty much the entire MacNamara terminal to grab my connection…but I still had time to grab a gardenburger from Fudruckers. It wasn’t a bad burger, and surprisingly only $5.79. And other than a bagel I scarfed down in the car, and a peanut butter and jelly uncrustable, the only food I ate today so far. Oh, and I get to add “tram” to my list of transportation devices I’ve taken on this trip. IF I go to the mall, I’d also add a bus, but I just walked around one mall,and I’m not sure I have the energy to walk around another.

Types of transportation today: Car, Plane, Tram, Cab (do the people mover things in the airports count?)

Probably the most nerve-wracking thing for me was going to be going through Customs once in Canada, but surprisingly? No problems at all.

here’s my passport stamp!

Thank you, Canada for hiring competent customs agents who are BNL fans and who just stamp my passport while babbling about BNL instead of asking me all the required questions!

After breezing through customs, it was a short (albeit pricey – CDN$12.30) taxi ride over to the holiday Inn, where Sarah had booked me for the night. The hotel is really nice, here’s a view from my window:

After settling in, I took a walk down to the Shoppers Drug Mart and a mini mall, then I headed to The Bay to do some browsing. Now, I’m back in my room, drinking the horrible excuse for tea the hotel offers for free.

Oh, and I turned the sink in the bathroom into a wet bar:

To see more photos from today, check out my album for today: http://photos.beccajanestclair.com/winnipeg-manitoba-august-2008

The Department of Homeland Security announced today that they can now search an international traveler’s laptop without reasonable suspicion. This includes US Citizens re-entering the country from abroad. Not only can they confiscate your laptop for months on end, but they also can share the contents of your laptop with other departments. There’s an article on Engadget with some comments including ways you can keep your data secure.

My advice would be that if you do have sensitive and confidential material on your hard drive, you should remove it and possibly store it on a secure online server where you would be able to download it once you reach your destination.

Just another example of why I’d love to move out of this country.

I’m just about ready to embark on my two months trip to Canada. I leave tomorrow morning, bright and early, and I have to take a plane from Philadelphia to Detriot, then Detroit to Winnipeg. Then, I spend the night in a hotel in Winnipeg and take a Via Rail train on Sunday morning up to Dauphin. I was going to take Greyhound, but I found that the train was a little cheaper, got in earlier, and I love trains. Good thing too, with a man being decapitated on a bus headed to Winnipeg!

But anyway. Packing is always fun. Especially when you get to your destination and look at your suitcase and think “the heck did I pack that for?”, which is exactly what happened to me when I went on Ships and Dip III in January. I packed TWO bags to take to my cousin’s house in Orlando, and when I got onto the ship? I alternated between a skirt or a pair of shorts. I didn’t even touch anything else I had packed for the bottom half. I think I got it down pretty well for this trip. Two pairs of pants, a skirt, two pairs of lounge/yoga pants, a few pairs of sleep shorts/boxers, 5 t-shirts and a peasant blouse. Sarah told me not to worry about trying to squeeze in a sweater and told me to raid her closet if I need one. Sarah also passed along a great packing tip, that has saved me from having to pack a second checked bag!

Instead of spending money on those Space Bags – make your own! Sarah told me she and her husband use large Ziplock bags for packing their clothing when they go on long trips. Just put all your clothes into the bags, seal them up with leaving a small opening at the top, and squeeze out all the air! I tried this with a few 2 gallon sized bags I had laying around and I actually have extra room in my suitcase – enough that I can pack two skeins of yarn to start a knitting project up there!

Another thing I did was eliminated packing heavy books to read on the plane or up at their house by getting audio books. Librivox is a service that offers FREE audio book versions of books that are in the public domain. I was able to download several old favourites, as well as the audio book version of Bleak House, so I can keep up with the Burn-Gorman.Com Book Club read-through of it while I’m away. These are mp3 versions of the books, however, so if you want to have them as iPod audio book format (m4b), you will need to convert them. Fortunately, I found a free converter for Windows, and I understand Apple computers come with a converter.

My last task for today before I go to sleep is going to be packing myself a Bento lunch for the plane. One of my favourite blogs to read,Lunch in a Box, has a great post about packing a bento for the airplane, giving you tips on what you can pack and how to pack things to make the most of your space. I plan on taking an Uncrustable and a Bagleful with me.

I’m actually quite excited! On Sunday, I get to take VIA Rail from Winnipeg to Dauphin! I’ve never ridden on Via before. Sadly, when Dave and I took the train to Toronto from Wilmington in 1997, the VIA staff boarded onto the Amtrak train to take us into Toronto. I’ve always wanted to experience it…I love trains. Check back for lots of photos on Monday!

Today, I headed over to the AAA office to get some US money exchanged for Canadian to have with me just in case I needed cash before I get up to Sarah and Joe’s. Everyone kept telling me to use AAA instead of a bank because AAA wouldn’t fee you. Uh…right.

AAA has these things called “cash packs”, that is – US$100 worth of currency, minus a “shipping fee”. So, I passed over my US$100 and was handed a packet with CDN$88.

Please note that the current exchange rate is US$1 = CDN$1.02. Theoretically, I should have gotten CDN$102, which makes the AAA fee $14. Seems a bit steep to me! I’d rather I had taken my chances over at the airport, but ah well. We can’t always win, right?

What really had me amused though, was the girl behind the counter’s reaction to the Canadian money. The envelope felt heavy, and I knew there would be a loonie and a toonie ($1 and $2 coin nicknames), so I opened the envelope to take them out before they fell out, and the girl was just fascinated with the Canadian coins. She turned them over and over in her hands a few times and asked me what they were, and seemed impressed that I knew the “nicknames” for the coins. I guess they don’t get a lot of informed international travelers at the AAA in Lancaster!

It’s officially confirmed. From 2 August until 30 September I will be blogging from the hundredth meridian (or at least 100.3) in Dauphin, Manitoba. I’ll be housesitting and catsitting for my friends, Sarah and Joe, while they go to Europe.

I’m quite excited for the opportunity to spend two months in Canada, and to visit a province I haven’t yet. I’ll be blogging my travels to Canada and my experiences as well as contributing to my project 365 from Canada!

I visited the nation’s Capitol this weekend with my friend L and her husband. We learned several important things we didn’t know before and hadn’t discovered on the school trips we used to take to DC.

• Things aren’t as close as they look on the map. Sure, it may look like you’d be able to go between ALL the Smithsonian museums AND see all the major monuments, but the National Mall area is nearly two miles long from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol building. Even if you’re a fast walker and can walk across the length of the mall in a half hour, you still will have to contend with other tourists that may be blocking your way and construction. And that’s not the only walking you’ll do! Don’t forget you first have to get to the mall, plus walk around inside all the buildings. And if you’re planning on seeing anything that’s not actually part of the mall, factor in more walking.
• since 11 September, security has been stepped up at ALL attractions. Each building has it’s own security checkpoint now, complete with metal detector and someone to check your bag(s). It’s not too bad when you’re going into something like the Freer Gallery of Art, but if you’re waiting in line at the Archives to see the US Constitution, prepare to wait. They even have signs snaking around the side of the building to tell you how long the wait is to get in from certain points.
• The Metro is nice, but there can be delays, and stops might not be convenient. L picked a hotel near a Metro stop that had a shuttle, so we wouldn’t need to drive into the city. From where we were in Alexandria, it was a 40 minute Metro ride to the Smithsonian stop. Not a bad ride, but it depends on how late you’ve started your day. Currently, there’s also construction along the Orange line, so be prepared for delays.
• Pack a water bottle, and make sure you have an insulated case for it. DC tap water isn’t the best thing to drink, and bottled water can cost an arm and a leg ($2 for a small bottle of Dasani). Make sure you have a way to keep it cool, too, especially if you’re visiting in the Summer. If you have room in your bag, pack a few snacks too. Remember that sugary drinks like soda will not quench your thirst and may actually make you hotter.
• Do not trust your GPS within the city. L’s GPS got confused, and we wound our way through downtown into bad parts of town and through circles…Logan at least once, and Thomas twice. While we’re on the subject of GPS, don’t tell it to avoid stop-and-go traffic on the highway. It will take you through the city instead and make you contest with traffic lights.
• Washington DC rolls up the sidewalks early! Many buildings and monuments close between 5:30 and 7:30PM, some even earlier. A late start to your day means you might miss out on some of the places you wanted to go.
• If you have dietary needs, plan ahead. I’m a vegetarian with food allergies, and we had problems finding places I could eat at.
• Wear comfortable shoes! Make sure you wear comfortable shoes. Don’t even attempt to wear new shoes, or shoes that might not be sturdy. A good pair of sneakers is your best friend. Wear socks, not only for extra cushioning, but to keep your feet from sliding around in the shoes if you sweat.
• Don’t carry a large bag. Large bags mean more weight to carry around, and more time waiting for it to be searched. However, if you need to carry around a lot of things or plan on picking up souvenirs, then pack along something like a backpack which will distribute the weight evenly.
• keep an eye on your belongings. Never leave a bag unattended, even if you’re sitting down to eat a meal. Hold your purse in your lap or put it on the floor with the strap looped though your leg. Don’t sling it on the back of a chair. Be mindful when you’re in a crowd too. Periodically check to make sure you still have all your essentials (wallet, phone, camera, etc.) and empty your bag of anything you won’t need. Avoid carrying all your cash at once or in the same location. If you are an international traveler, keep your passport in a safe place.
• Make sure you get off the right side of the Metro. Most stops have two exits. Look at the signs and follow them to the side you want, or you not only may wind up doing lots of extra walking, but you could wind up on the “wrong side” of the tracks.

Washington DC can be a very fun place to visit. There’s a variety of museums for everyone in your family to find something they’ll like. Currently, the Museum of Natural History has a butterfly conservatory right inside the museum where you get up close to the butterflies by walking through their habitat. The National Gallery currently has a Jim Henson exhibit where you can see some of the original muppets running until October, and the National Archives has a display of political cartoons.

If you’re planning on eating while downtown and you’ve got a variety of tastes in your family, head to the Old Post Office. The bottom floor of this building has been converted into a food court with food ranging from pizza to Mediterranean to subs, hot dogs, and ice cream.

You can completely avoid driving by taking the Metro everywhere, and you can even fly or take a train into DC and then get on the Metro. I took the train from Lancaster to Hamilton, NJ where I was picked up by L and then we drove to our hotel in Alexandria where we left her car and used the Metro to get into DC. Fares vary depending on how far you need to travel, but a daypass is only $7 and you can purchase day passes at all Metro stops using an automated machine that takes both charge and cash.

To see photos from our trip to DC, including a free Carbon Leaf show in Baltimore, you can view them here: http://photos.beccajanestclair.com/wa

I’ve published an article about this on Associated Content. Please click here to read it: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/879175/is_the_tsa_too_power_hungry.html

With gas prices rising, I’ve barely driven anywhere recently. Instead, I’ve been taking the train. Specifically Amtrak’s Keystone Service, which offers service between Harrisburg, PA and New York City. For just $30 round trip I can travel between my homebase of Lancaster, PA and one of my favourite cities to visit, Philadelphia, PA.

Just like with traveling by car or plane, you might want to build some extra time in for delays, as you never know what might happen on a train. Engine trouble or downed lines, or even a problem with a train farther up the line could cause problems and delays in your travel.

Recently, I was taking the train between Lancaster and Paoli, PA to visit a friend who was in town for a few weeks. My plans were to arrive at her hotel around 10AM, giving us plenty of time before we were going to meet her husband for Lunch at 11:30. I was going to take the 8:32AM express train from Lancaster and connect to the SEPTA Rt. 206 bus at 9:35 in Paoli, giving me a 20 minute layover in Paoli. 8:32 arrives, and no train. The train was running 10 minutes behind schedule due to engine trouble. This left me with a 10 minute layover in Paoli, but still enough time to make it across the parking lot to the bus stop. We boarded the train around 8:45, and 20 minutes later we started to slow down to a crawl and pulled into the Thorndale station. A power line was down on the Eastbound tracks farther up the line. We sat and waited for about 20 more minutes before finding out we were waiting on permission to run on the Westbound side of the tracks. We finally got our approval, but with a caveat, we had to run as though we were a SEPTA regional rail R5 line and had to make every single station stop between Lancaster and Paoli. I arrived in Paoli just minutes before the next bus and I was afraid I missed it. Fortunately, the buses adjusted their schedule to run on a delay for the trains, so I only had a short wait at Paoli. I finally arrived at my friend’s hotel at nearly 11AM…with just enough time to put my things down and for us to head out into the lobby to wait for a ride to Lunch.

My trip home was just as eventful, with the train I intended to take being canceled. Fortunately, I was able to take the very last train out of Paoli, and I arrived back in Lancaster a few minutes before midnight.

Despite these problems, I still would recommend taking the train over driving. It’s just a whole lot less stressful even when you’re stuck on the tracks over being stuck in a traffic jam on a highway!

So, I’m trying to set up a blog for all the traveling I’ll be doing, so there’s an easy place for mom and others to just check in on me as I travel around.

I’m still trying to figure this out and customize things, so please bear with me. Help is always appreciated.