Tennessee to Colorado

Our trusty Rav4 has made it across the Great Plains. Yes, we saw the Mississippi River, some bison (on a farm - sigh), some rollercoaster moraines, as well as miles and miles of sorghum and corn (almost as high as an elephant's eye).

Nothing will prepare you for the theme park that is Branson. Amongst other things it boasts a King Kong clinging to a high-rise in the main street.  You can attend any kind of variety or tribute show you can think of. And then some. If you love Las Vegas, you may well love Branson.

Dodge

No sign of Dorothy or Toto (or many people or businesses at all) in the town of Baxter Springs, following a tornado a few years ago. Sad sign of the tough economic times.

You might want to dodge Dodge, especially if you are a Texas longhorn. Some of the world's largest feedlots are dotted around this regional town. Think tannery and dial the smell down 25%. I'm officially off hamburgers for the foreseeable future!

Royal Gorge

Canon City is home to the Royal Gorge. Take the 2 hour train ride along the Arkansas River and enjoy the splendid views.




A little further down the road at Colorado Springs we took the funicular to the top of Pikes Peak (14,115 feet above seal level). Amazing views and a day to round out the bonus points for train enthusiasts.

The Garden of the Gods in the centre of Colorado Springs is a fabulous (free) natural attraction. Beautiful. Make sure to put this on your bucket list. Historic downtown is also worth a visit.

All Shook Up

Channel your Loretta, Dolly or Shania and get ready to party in Nashville. A tour down Broadway will give you that up close and personal experience with another 50,000 C&W music fans all out for a good ol' time. Y'all might never know who y'all might bump into.

In a party mood

Maple fans know that cowboy boots go with everything. If you already have yours on, you can strut your stuff, but you might still need a few essentials, such as a hat, oh, and feathers to go with it.

Y'all will need a hat

Down at the Country Music Hall of Fame, you can build up a thirst checking out the sequins, guitars and cadillacs.

Y'all can never have too many guitars and sequins

Over at the Ryman Theatre you can soak up more musical history and relive the highlights of this historic building.

When you've had enough you can fall into one (okay several) of the dozens of bars to listen to live music, kick back with those boots and remember to 'swing with who swung you'.

Fiddle-dee-dee

"Open your mouth and let the moonshine in" with a healthy dose of fiddles, banjos, dulcimers, guitars, oh, and the spoons if you have a set! The Appalachian music scene is alive and well at Floyd, Galax and all points in between.

Street music with overalls, fiddles and 'flatfoot' dancing 

On Fridays outside the Floyd Country Store people gather informally in the street to play music and dance 'flatfoot' (think tap shoes and dungarees).

Inside, for a nominal fee, you can mix with the locals for a two-step, square dance, or more toe-tapping hillbilly fun.

Because 'Grandma's rules' apply (no alcohol, no swearing, no bad behaviour), all ages can have a good time - from the 8 year olds tapping away, to the 88 year old band member who stood up to play dulcimer and banjo for nearly 2 hours without a break.

8 to 88 years having fun at Floyd Country Store

The nearby Blue Ridge Music Centre contains a potted history of the influences on local music including instruments and musical styles from Africa, Germany, Ireland. Here are some things we found out today:

*the banjo is derived from a 3 or 4 string African instrument made from a gourd

*'hillbilly' music stems from a 1924 band called the Hill Billies

* Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys, dressed in overalls, led to what we call bluegrass music.

Bring your fiddle to Galax

If you want to hear the best fiddle payers around, be at Galax Virginia (population 7042) and join around 500 RV-driving, Appalachian music-loving country folk for the 82nd Fiddlers Convention.

If you have your fiddle, take it along. You could win $20,000USD.

Get-to-Burg

As we drove along one of the ten roads heading into Gettysburg we had no idea this civil war town would hold a charm that belies the tragic events that took place here 150 years ago. Here are some must do's in this town:

*visit the Heritage Centre to re-live what it must have been like to hunker in the cellar for three days of fighting (and ponder some more recent examples of besieged communities)
* walk around the first Soldier's National Cemetery (and think about how many more cemeteries there are today)

Civil War Battlefield Site

*drive to one of the many battlefield sites (and contemplate what it must have been like to go up and down the hill five or six times on the hottest day of the year in 1863)
*take photos of statues with men on horses (and remember the symbolism of the horse's legs - 2 in the air died in battle, 1 in the air died later from wounds, all 4 on the ground lived to see another day and died later)

History in the Street

*Think about the Gettysburg Address (and why so few words in the pre-Twitter age were so powerful)

Downtown Gettysburg

* check out the pretty streets (and marvel at the antiquities on sale)

* dine at Dobbin House, built in 1776 (and chew on that fact for a while).

Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs

Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs, those 1970s gastronomic delights, have nothing on the food fads we've uncovered in Canada.

Even the Scots, whose kilts are a-quiver at the thought of deep fried mars bars, will have to do better if they want to restore their reputations for artery-hardening, sugar-induced psychosis.

Don't worry if chicken and gravy is not your thing...this is only the warm up! Knock it back with some fries (like cowboy boots, they go with almost everything).

You can have a sweet treat to 'round out' your meal. This is where the choices really 'expand'.

Here's how it works. Think of something sweet. Any thing at all. Deep fry it. Roll it in sugar. Or add chocolate. Chocolate is bound to be good.

Surely this is enough to excite those who could gobble a whole pack of the Bliss Bombs in a single sitting.





You can try the deep fried cheesecake, or for the young at heart, the deep fried oreos. What's not to like about a deep-fried chocolate biscuit?


I'm all for innovation, so here's a recipe suggestion that was not on the menu.

Don't just deep fry the cookie. Wrap the oreo in ice-cream, deep freeze it and then deep fry the whole thing. Just like deep fried ice cream, only better.

The best part is that you can add topping, marshmallows, sprinkles, whipped cream and nuts.

That would be something to get your teeth into!

Zombie Moose

'The best way of being kind to bears is not to be very close to them.' I considered this sage advice from Margaret Atwood as we left the prairie and Winnipeg behind and arrived in Kenora, situated on the Lake of the Woods. Of course, we all know about bears and woods, right? Even so, we encountered a sign that put this part of the world into perspective and made me wish I'd opted for the bear spray.

Not your average bear

Wildlife appears to be on most people's minds in this neck of the woods. We know this because:

* We drove past a deer casually eating the grass in front of a home on 2nd Avenue

* All the children's pyjamas in the shops were covered in fish, moose or bears

* You could buy a hunting license on the way into town

* Canada geese and their goslings were swimming on the lake

*Signs on the highway indicated zombie moose waiting to eat your car at night.

Nightmare on Elk Street?

Thinking about all the good times at the Boathouse in Canberra

The area around Kenora filled us with delight, not least because we were able to settle in at the Boathouse and enjoy the lake as the sun went down. We chatted with our 'hostess with the mostest', Alice, who was once on the Canadian swim team, whose father worked maintaining the TransCanada Pipeline, and who one day hopes to study medicine.  

Meanwhile she's dishing up food with the small talk, letting us know that not only does it snow in Kenora, but in winter the lake freezes over. Apparently people drive across to a nearby island. Hope they pack their anti-freeze and their insurance.


We decided to keep driving before any hint of winter appeared and lost count of the lakes and rivers we passed on the way to Thunder Bay. We're hoping it doesn't live up to its name because we're off to the ballgame tonight.

We'll let you know how the hotdogs and beer work out in the ninth!

Near Kenora

Gordon Lake? George Lake? Little Joe Lake?

Rangeland Rumpus

As you saddle up next o the likes of Qwint Stroh (novice roc rider from North Dakota), Timber Moore (tie down roper from Texas) or Cody Coverchuck  (bull rider from Saskatchewan) here are some tips for making the most of the Calgary Stampede.

Hold onto your hat! You'll need it if the 70,000+ attending yesterday come out again to enjoy the sunshine today

Blend in and get with the program

Be up front like Tiany Schuster - 16.99 seconds, flying start, left hand turn Stampede record and Barrel Racing Champion seen here doing her victory lap

Be bold as brass like the official Stampede Band

Enjoy the Rangeland Rumpus

Rock Stars

If you've ever dreamt of being a rock star, then you'll know it involves not only an excited crowd, but a great show and heaps of travel. Today was one of those days.

Setting out from the 'big smoke' of Kelowna, we travelled along the Okanagan Valley towards Lake Louise and Banff. Although the wildfires (bushfires) around BC were still burning up the pine forests, the morning radio happily announced that the air quality index was 11 (down from 36) on a scale normally in the range of 1-10. We took that as a positive sign and beetled up the road past red barns and an Angus cattle farm to spot this gem at Grindrod:

Gordon's New and Used (the Angus farm should have been a give away)

Perhaps the desire to recycle goes with the name!

Further up the road we drove through Sicamous, self proclaimed  house boat capital of Canada. We have no reason to doubt this since there were at least 500 house boats on the lake there.

You'll be overjoyed to learn that Revelstoke, the home of one of Canada's newest and happiest grandmas, a neat pink and white Studebaker and any number of cafes nestled under the Big Hill, has also been hit by the Fidget spinner craze. We gave the Fidget spinners a miss at $8 and invested in a great sandwich for the same price at the Modern Bakeshop and Cafe where they also serve great coffee.

David soaking up some of the mountain atmosphere with the Revelstoke bears

The mountains came into focus a short while later as we ventured through the Glacier Mountain National Park. We spared a thought for the many railway workers who lost their lives trying to build the Trans Canadian Railway through Roger's Pass (thanks Science Centre Vancouver for the background scoop on this). We hope those taking the Rocky Mountaineer appreciate it too.

Every direction had breathtaking views, including at Lake Louise and Banff. It was around this time that the rock star scenario kicked in until it became apparent the crowds were here for the scenery, not for us and we realised we were part of the groupies and not in the band (sigh).

Chris at Lake Louise

Banff - even here it was hazy from the fires

Our favourite signs for the day were:

Beware of the (insert animal here) moose/mountain goat/big horn sheep/elk.

We finally made it to Alberta 'wild rose country' and would like to give a special commendation to the Road Maintenance and Construction Department teams across British Columbia whose work at various points on culverts, tunnels, avalanche protection, potholes, bridges, road widening, traffic light installation as well as verge management and mowing enabled us to enjoy the scenic splendour of the Canadian Rockies at the ideal viewing speed of 0-50km/hour!

BC's secret tourist support service slowing traffic to enjoy the view

Hope and Dreams

The Maple Mobile is on the road! We were dreaming of a VW Combie but settled for a RAV4 that will take us across the continent over the next few weeks on our quest for maples and a drinkable coffee.

In our dreams

Windscreen full of Hope

While we already had the dream sorted, we knew we were heading in the right direction when we saw this hopeful sign. The auguries amongst you will be as happy as we were!

British Columbia is in a heatwave that had us enjoying the cooler mountain drive from Vancouver to Kelowna through spectacular scenery with 'Beware of Avalanche' signs. Why Kelowna? Not only is it one of Canada's premier wine districts, it is also home to our friends Rick, Flo and Alana who have generously agreed to host us for a couple of nights.

David explains to Rick how the Maple Mobile made it this far

Naturally, Maple has some tips about staying cool (and being cool) on road trips.

Tip 1: Head for the cool places such as Coquihalla Summit 1244m and a refreshing 18C with splendid views.
Tip 2: Drink plenty of cool liquids like those on offer at the Mission Hill Winery tasting session. It was air-conditioned - the room, not the wine.
Tip 3: Hang out with cool people (see Tip 2).

Our favourite sign for the day was to the 'Bridal Veil Falls Tourist Attraction' - we bet it is!

And just to 'round out' this post, we'd like to make a special mention of:

• The homemade (vegan) vegetable samosas at the Merritt Visitors Centre Snack Shack
• Flo's Asian Buffet that continued the home cooked theme
• Flo's authentic Canadian Pancake and Maple syrup - just the one but it could easily feed a family of six for a fortnight.

Time for a short hibernation until dinner....

Kulture Vultures

Out and about in Vancouver today, we've been soaking up the culture. 

We have a shortlist of 5 must do activities next time you are Downtown.

9.30am Breakfast at Elbow Room on Davie Street. Cheek by jowl (or elbow to elbow?) with a huge plate of bacon and eggs (mostly bacon) that you will need to walk off during the day. Customers not finishing their meal are fined a donation to the local HIV/AIDS charity. Repartee is a natural for the wait staff.

10.30am Walk along the foreshore past Coopers' Point, site of a former brewer and linguist. We loved the appropriate apostrophe in the name of the park.

11.30am Off to the Science Museum to rub shoulders with the families of Vancouver and test out our science know-how. Turns out we know as much as the average 7 year old. Just as well we went.

David with a new best friend outside the Science Museum

2.00pm was an opportunity to enjoy an iMax documentary about building the Trans Canadian Railway. If you don't already know, after Time Fisher, David is Australia's foremost train enthusiast.  He had a great time. Chinese, Japanese and a host of rugged Canadians brought the engineering project to completion in half the time allotted. And this was in 1881 - approximately 120 years before Prince2 project management was invented. Go figure. 

7.00pm Scoot on in to join the friendly locals and helpful staff at the Yale Saloon on Granville Street where you can get your fill of boot scootin', country music and mechanical bullriding (lucky we have experience at a certain family wedding). 

Getting ready for boot scootin' with a sample of the local beverage

Baggage Check

I was standing next to a baggage trolley at the airport when the person next to me asked where my baggage was.

"I left it behind," I told them.

Before I could even whistle Dixie, they were pointing out the customer service desk and trying to take my photo for their social media feed.

"The thing is," I said, "you don't need to bring your social baggage with you."

The lists, the timesheets, the twenty requests from the kids and their tennis coach, the password for your cat's Instagram account, can all be left at home.

Surely the point of travelling is to find new things along the way? Where would these go if you were already overloaded?

Standing Out

Have you ever noticed that most travel luggage is black? Not only that, each piece is a regulation size, comes with an airline luggage tag and, if you're lucky, a priority sticker.

There are other similarities too. The owners have been programmed to wait by the luggage carousel until the last piece has been thrown onto the circulating belt. This ensures that they don't take luggage belonging to one of the others. No wonder they all have hangdog faces.

Advice for travellers these days is to tie a ribbon on the luggage handle. You could also put a sticker on the side, or stencil on your initials (think recycling bin and you'll be fine).

Some travellers opt for a decorative cover. Others decide a bold colour is best.

Whatever you choose, the key thing is to stand out from the crowd!

Maple Dixie's Packing Tips

Whenever I'm going on a big adventure, I make sure I take the essentials with me.

If it's been so long since you ventured out that your suitcases are the kind that will bump against your leg and rip your stockings, go get yourself one on wheels. You can pull it along while talking on your phone or drinking that last latte before the flight.

Some people pack dresses and matching shoes. Others like to have a separate make-up case. You can try that if you want to. I don't usually bother.

Whatever luggage you have, here are my top packing tips:

1) Pack your curiosity - but don't fold it up too tight. You'll need it most days.

2) Dust off your sense of humour and tuck it into your hand luggage. You don't want to be looking for it when the unexpected happens. Who knows, you might even need it as you disembark.

3) Roll a little courtesy up with your clothes and remember to put some on every day. It's a small thing, but it can go a long way!

Hi, I'm Maple Dixie. I'll be reporting on the extraordinary, the imaginative and the homespun as I take a road trip across Canada and the Good Ol' US of A.

If you have a question, leave it in the comments and I'll answer it in a subsequent post. So start packing and come along for the ride.