Me And My (New) Coach

Did I mention that the boss had purchased a new coach to the fleet? Well I was just driving the OLDEST MCI north today when I got the honour of driving the NEWEST fleet addition back south. OMG….I was thrilled and thrilled and thrilled. This 2003 PREVOST is a ROLLS ROYCE to drive. When the old MCIs start panting up the long north Albertan hills this Prevost is FLYING up the inclines. Even though it is actually 11 years old it still smells NEW! It is responsive on gas and brakes like nothing else I have driven. Tons of power are propelling this machine of proud Canadian engineering down the road. Just the thought of taking this beauty down south makes me jittery. It sure would make a great motor home.

We Meet On The Road ….Or Do We??

Our roads and highways have become the playground for just about everyone. And when you are out for the big trip you become the witness of all kind of strange behavior from your fellow players. Doing about 4000km a week I feel like I have already seen the most. But of course that isn’t true. There will always be more. What I did notice is that there are certain categories of drivers (players) which you will see again and again. Living in the big city the most obvious is THE ZAPPER.  Zappers distinguish themselves by “zapping” from lane to lane as they think the lane they are in is moving too slow. ZAPPERS have a genuine interest of being first to their goal, whatever their goal is. Zappers are also the reason for most in-city traffic accidents. Before they zapp from lane to lane they neglect to look into their mirrors, which eventually will lead to a collision. They also ignore pedestrians and occasional red lights. That is when it really gets dangerous. Except for their irrational behavior you can often detect them by looking at their vehicles BEFORE they commit their crime. Fancy colours, souped-up exteriors and rear spoilers are a sure sign. What else is there? Well, outside the city we often see the ROAD-HOG thriving in a glad solitude in front of a long line of vehicles. The ROAD-HOG drives 10-20km UNDER the speed limit engaging in a nice conversation with their fellow travelers and enjoying the surrounding scenery. They are very dangerous as they make every driver behind them loosing his patience, thus causing risky overtake maneuvers. Some of these people are actually RVers with no experience of how to drive with a trailer on the hitch. An under-category are those who slow down to a crawl because they are actually ON THE PHONE with their mother-in-law. They can often be seen veering back and forth between the yellow and the white line trying to avoid either landing in the ditch or hitting the oncoming traffic. Oh my…. The straight opposite of the ROAD-HOG is the RACER. RACERS also thrive out on the highways but they do not enjoy the nice scenery and presumably they are alone in their vehicles. You will hardly have a chance to make out their vehicle brand as they are passing you. They are too fast. Before they overtake you they are hanging on your rear bumper for a while. But don’t worry about vehicle brands. Rather look out for the accident scene a few miles down the road when they have ended theirs and other people’s life. Problem with RACERS is they fail to control their vehicle at the chosen high speed. Many motor bikers are notorious racers. Just 2 days ago one of them was passing my bus at an approx. 100miles/h speed. 10 miles later he was face down and dead in the ditch. Though luckily he failed to kill anybody else. Yesterday I saw another one of the same breed. Several times I have noticed the “LOOK-AT-ME” type of drivers. Those are almost entirely testosterone-driven young males in pickup trucks or pseudo-sports cars. When they take off from the gas station they depress the accelerator to the floor for just to hit the screaming brakes 20feet later before they screech out into traffic. You encounter them often in small towns where cops are having a much better time with doughnuts and coffee. Whoa….. look at me! They bought their drivers license at Walmart….on sale! If you doubt my words….just get out there and have a good look yourself….or simply turn on the morning news-whatever is left of it. Have a great safe day at play!

Talk About Paradise

Even though I am in Alberta for work. My heart is ……..HERE – always. Not any exotic place thousands of miles away on the  other side of the globe. It’s CAMPOBELLO ISLAND!

Sunny Saturday

After a couple of days wih rain showers and dark clouds this Saturday starts out sunny. The days have gotten shorter and yesterday’s trip to Jasper revealed a lot of beginning fall colours. It’s the seasonal change of scenery which gives us humans the meaning of passing time. As we were driving through a light drizzle my thoughts were wandering off to the year of 2006 when my brother and his oldest daughter were visiting us. We had taken them on a trip along the very same route, along the Yellowhead Highway and camped at the Entrance Ranch where we had a horseback riding adventure. It had been a gift to my niece who at the time was 15 years young. Our camper had been parked in a beautiful mountain meadow which we got to share with a group of grazing horses.      This picture was taken by my brother and is actually available on Google Earth The weather was outstanding and we had the most marvelous view across the valley to snow-covered peaks of the Rockies. How fortunate we had been to experience that trip.  And I would never have guessed that one day I would be able to enjoy this area as a bus driver.   Waiting for passengers                                           Highway into the Rockies But today I am going to drive the other direction to Cold Lake, our city of residence from 2002-2008. The old Railroad Station in Jasper Have a great weekend!