The Sum of Our Affection

Home. (we live at a gas station?)

Phase One is complete. The rabbit is back in the cage. We are home, anticipating Phase Two (the networking networks stage).

To summarize an adventure like this is like asking a grandmother who her favourite grandchild is. There was simply way too much that happened to pinpoint an exact moment. Suffice it to say there was pretty much no non-memorable event.

Here’s the trip, all tolled:
Duration: 28 days
Kilometres logged: 10,000
Provinces visited: Five (Ontario, BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba)
States visited: Ten (Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington)
Time Zones visited: Four (all of ‘em)
Golf Courses visited: Six (Lake James GC, Brickyard Crossing, Coeur D’Alene, Osoyoos, Stewart Creek, Dinosaur Trail)
Bands seen: at least six
Newspaper articles: six
Radio interviews: two
Karaoke nights attended: three
T-Shirts given out: 144
Stops at The Flying J: five
Friends made: immeasurable

If I haven’t mentioned it before we are deeply indebted (and partially in debt as well) to all those friends and sponsors who made this whole thing possible. It was amazing to see the type of backing we accrued in just a few short weeks. While part of that can be attributed to our adorable powers of persuasion a lot of it simply is the result of living in - and close to - a tight-knit community that always seems to support its own. Special thanks goes out to Jurgen Haedicke and his wife for allowing us to borrow and “decorate” his van with our various corporate logos. Thanks to them we had a traveling place of residence for almost a month.

Lastly, to crown some champions.

Wayde (Drama) wins in the amount of items lost or damaged. Jay made a late charge but Drama held on for the win.
Drama also wins hours slept (I was a distant third). Jay also made a significant charge near the end of the tour to claim the crown but Drama wins for sheer volume.
Jay wins for washrooms destroyed; Drama a somewhat distant second. I was lapped in this regard.
Appetites? Too close to call. A photo finish between Jay and Drama.
Golf balls in the water? I win.
Golf balls in the sand traps? I also win, by a fairly substantial margin.
Best overall golfer? Drama and I graded ourselves in a different way; by the amount of great shots we made, which were few and far between but sweet when they happened. I think we both had a good half dozen miraculous shots during the trip. The rest were very forgettable. By my count that’s a tie.

So keep in touch. Tell us (occasionally) you still love us. We need the input and the encouragement.

Shiny, Drama and Flying J

the happy trio