Let’s Get to Know, Brooks Alberta

Learned a lot, my brother is a great tour guide.

There are 120 different nationalities living here!

It’s an oil town; if you work in the on an oil rig, you’re a “rigger“.

I wish I had more time here, I want to go out to work with them, be a rigger for a day, HOW fun would that video be… my weak blogging arms failing me, getting coffee at the Red Basket at 5am, seeing oil up close gushing around.

This is Canada’s Desert… like, it rained twice this summer.

The sky is HUGE, it’s hard to explain, and it doesn’t translate in photo.

That’s the Brooks Aquaduct, built to water the fields in the 1910s… of concrete?!!

The new way, that machine, drives up and down the fields and you can control it with your iPhone.

During the tour my brother and I turned into ghosts.

Been playing lots of pool, my favourite spot is The Legion. I almost beat Ron there… SO close I sewered on the 8 UGH.

The bars are in hotels here, and many also have liquor stores in them, it’s kinda hard to explain.

The two main bars.

The people here are genuinely nice. Not happy crappy nice, genuine; then they’ll give you a shot or two, so Canadian I love it.

Pete took me to Brooks Animal Protection Society, where he volunteers. Special place, and heartbreaking, too. That’s his story he wrote about adopting his cat.

My lovely hosts!

And the tour will end of course the city’s very best radio station, 101.1 The ONE Brooks.

Where I messed up the song introduction.

Thanks for a great time Brooks, I’ll be sticking around for your giant Boxing Day party next year!

 

 

Why I Don't Like Christmas, and a Moving Update

Short answer: Christmas makes a lot of people feel bad.

Brooks, Alberta has 120+ different nationalities living there!  I know come ON.

The Calgary airport (YYC FYI) is quite nice, there’s even an F-18 simulator.

Nope, not travelling with any hunting bounty, antlers, ha.

By pure luck and I was upgraded to First Class on the way home, look how excited I am, thank you T ;)

You’re offered a choice of 3 meals, eaten with real silverware, finished off with warm cookies baked fresh in the sky, and look how I had my feet up. That’s luxery.

Good Twitter profile pic eh, looks like I’m yelling my tweets at you.

Just changed it though, no more holiday stuff. Click here to see the new one.

Here’s my trunk containing everything I own (plus my backpack of computer/camera gear).

You bet I did a dry run… imagine if my trunk didn’t fit in my car?

What’s the solution to that?

I don’t know either. Fainting.

And please tweet / email / comment / anything me if you have a suggestion about how I can keep my cel number while paying as little as possible.  I’ll be back when the snow melts.

Kay gotta run, work to do, TTYT

xo

Keri

 

Hello I'm in Brooks, Alberta

Came out yesterday for Christmas with my brother Pete!

Flew into Calgary, rented a car and drove around lost in Calgary; now I know it well.

Look, I coincidentally ended up with a Ford Focus, ha.

I’ve still not told you all about Los Angeles and Ford shipping me out to the LA Auto Show have I. I have so much to catch you up on.

Pete took me on a tour of Brooks, which I’ll share with you later.  The people are ridiculously friendly, and there is a LOT of cool stuff here, you’re going to be surprised, too.

For now:

He and his lovely girlfriend are decorated OUT for Christmas; the dining room table has under-glow.

Even my bedroom is decorated, a bowl of candy beside my bead, awwww Pete I love ya.

The Studio* Lives!

MOBILITY. I AM SO HAPPY. YES I AM YELLING.

5 months without a car, longest stretch in a decade+, and it was really getting to me. Genuinely, it was making me down.

Then two weeks ago when I was on a roof looking out, and it hit me, “I can’t get to any of that”. And I’m used to being able to get to that, designed my life around being able to get to that, you know?

BEHOLD!!

Check out the keyed entry.

The odometer readout is more for me than you, to document. Miles though, funny eh… The Canadian Explorer drove an American car, shhhhh.

I can’t turn on radio though, I’m being defeated by the anti-theft system.

You can’t see the display to enter the code to turn on the radio.  It’s my new game: you get two tries then it locks for an hour.  It’s possible this is impossible to win, because the radio might no longer works.  Half the windows don’t go down.  No one knows.

Funny I posted the radio security code online eh, not for the first time either.  Security is relative.

Driving home.

This happy face is brought to you by Claus of Frontenac AutoBody in Kingston, Ontario.

Remember when it all started, my car broke down and I left it under a cel tower in Kingston?

I got news last week Claus and his gang had been tinkering, and YES got it up and running again YES Claus YES Frontenac AutoBody.  And another YES to you for not having a website, and making me link to the YellowPages ahaha for real.

Their specialty is making  high-end cars in wrecks, look like they never were.  As well as Extreme Studio Maintenance.  Actually, if you smashed your pretty car here in Toronto, I’d flat bed it here.

*

For those of you just meeting me, ‘The Studio’ is my car, which was an integral part of my show, The Canadian Explorer, which I will explain further here, in song.

I'm Leaving Canada!!!

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I’VE DECIDED AND I’M SO EXCITED!

I don’t like winter, so I’m not going to see it this year; I’m off to the South-Eastern United States.

The timing is correct, and if not now, when?

I’m no longer ‘The Canadian Explorer’ so no such blog obligations, I gave away all my possessions two months ago, my car is fixed and I’m mobile again, so my trunk and I are outta here. And you’re coming along!

Details to come… but wanted to declare and make it official on this very sunny Sunday, which I hope is a good one for you.

TTYS!