Haloranch

When you fly from North America to Australia, and without anyone asking you how you feel about it, a day is taken away from you. We left Phoenix on October 30 and arrived in Sydney on November 1. For us, there was no October 31, no Halloween. I’‘m not at all sure where it went but we’ll get it back on our return. However, we still missed Halloween. Nevertheless, I was delighted to find myself freed from a sealed airplane when we finally deplaned in Sydney. Really. It's brutally long, 14 hours and 38 minutes. Sydney is a place at once recognizably similar but decidedly different. Similar in that everyone spoke English and I was surprised not to hear thick Australian accents tumbling out all around me. So far, nearly everyone I've heard has only a mild accent. Kindly, they've said nothing about mine. And different because everything is topsy turvy, primarily the traffic. On arrival, I tried to get into Fern's driving seat! Luckily, she quickly directed me...

Omigod. Our copilot is fresh and pink cheeked. I don't think he's old enough to shave yet. And in a related note, we have left, but we haven't yet arrived. Soon, Sydney, soon.

This was our first experience with the ATC and it was fabulous! We drove to Pocatello the first night. That's 11 hours from Calgary. Long, but doable because on the first day you're keen to get going and cover as much distance as you can. Our hostess Kathleen is a retired teacher and quite charming, though possibly lonely because she had a lot to say. That was no problem because one of the things she said was that Ming's had great Chinese food and we had already decided that was what we wanted to eat. Since the ATC "gratuity" for your host is a paltry $20 per couple per night, we invited her to join us as our guest and had a lovely dinner followed by an even more pleasant evening lubricated with a little wine before heading off to an early bed. After a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, she sent us on our way with apples, pears and a bag full of tomatoes from her garden. She even wanted to include sandwiches. So, for the cost of a dinner and twenty ...

We overnighted at the Double A Ranch in Calgary before heading south for Mesa. In the middle of the night, around 3:00 a.m. I heard a car start up. It's the wee hours of Wednesday morning and I'm pondering the few reasons why someone would get into their car at that time. It could only have been a tryst.

Driving around and through Winnipeg, what struck me first were how many churches I saw. Churches with steeples,and bells, which is something I haven't seen much outside of Quebec. And other than churches, the most plentiful item we saw were parks. Gorgeous green parks everywhere. Down Portage there's an incredibly wide boulevard flanked by rows of huge, mature trees marching in a straight line down both sides, facing the streets. The center of the boulevard is lush greenery with park benches and looked very inviting. I bet on a nice day it's full of people. Today it was empty. Ergo, not a nice day. Also Sunday, so maybe the people were in some of the many churches. Lots of the little buildings and older shops downtown are brightly painted with flowers and other pictures. Looks cheerful and cute, and much better than being graffitied with tags from the local gangs. On the outskirts of the city, heading east on TC #1, the road was a patchwork of repairs and hideousl...

We're off to the Rotary International Convention. First stop, Mike's place in Calgary where we enjoyed a beautiful evening but short night. Barely 5 hours of sleep and off we were on a long drive to Winnipeg. In the end, it took us *only* 12 hours of concerted driving to get there. Hans, as always, did the lion's share while I suffered through 2 hours of driving. SASKATCHEWAN Saskatchewan: an old Indian saying meaning, "No hill high enough to jump from and hurt yourself." Saying the road in Saskatchewan is boring is an understatement. It could have been the minimal sleep, or the straight but bumpy road, but soon the silver tanker truck in front of me was shimmering. It was unclear whether my eyes were out of focus or the sun was to blame but luckily, it was time to fill up the car and then Hans took over again. HILTON HOTEL SUITES Well, this turned out to be everything we hoped for! We have a one bedroom suite. You walk into the living room with desk, sofa,...