I had to write this all down as I would end up waiting for more exciting things to happen and forget bits.
On Saturday I was resigned to leaving whether or not I had to pay for greyhound. I'd had some good times with Corey & co. but I needed to move on and away. The Friday night was great fun and just highlighted the dichotomy of my stay there. Not feeling comfortable anymore at the apartment because of Mariah whilst enjoying my time with Corey, Svetlana and Mike. We went to Mike's sister's house for a 'potluck'. Everyone brings a dish for dinner - simple. The people there were nice and talkative. Felt a bit awkward at times but just powered on through. Got talking to a nice, attractive girl whose name was Rose. She said she was leaving on Monday and could give me a lift to Winnipeg (so I always had a backup). Rose had also explained, along with Mike's sister, that I could have stayed there. Heartbreaking to only hear now as I was leaving that I could have potentially stayed two other places that week! Rose left fairly early, which was a damn shame. Corey later told me she had a moustache. I'd still have gone there.
Svetlana and Corey wanted to go to a different party and I followed, not wanting to repeat the mistake I made on Halloween. Corey kept telling me to just talk to people and not be so shy. Say things in my funny English accent and let the conversation flow. When we arrived we talked to a few people and I did my best. A very young looking Canadian girl was pretty intense. Up close and giving it the best English accent she could. Corey kept trying to egg me on but she just looked too young, even though he assured me she was OK. I had a good time and chatted to a guy I got a cig from. He didn't know anyone and had been dragged there by his girlfriend. I figured I was doing better than him and it was cold as balls outside, so I headed back in to chat to more people. Towards the end of the night Svetlana saw me on my phone and I explained I was talking to a possible ride share to Winnipeg. He hadn't replied in a while. She said I should just hitchhike. I scoffed at the idea... but it planted a seed. We left with two girls who had a car and dropped us all off which was nice.
So Saturday was here and the rideshare hadn't contacted me. I got all my shit together, raided the recycling for a piece of cardboard to make a sign, and headed up to the highway to see if I could catch a ride to Winnipeg. Halfway there I realised that it was far colder than I had originally judged. The wind was making me want to cry. I got my coat, wooly hat and mittens on rather than freezing to death and carried on what seemed like an endless trudge to the highway. Once I got there, I dumped my stuff a little way down the highway and stood/shuffled about holding my sign. With my thumb raised and a smile on my face I gave myself 2 hours of this hell before returning home and finding out about that free ride on Monday with moustachioed Rose. I sang to myself for a while but realised that it probably looked as though I'd gone mental to those passing by. I stopped shortly after this realisation. About an hour and a half into my mental breakdown, a guy finally pulled over and said he'd be going through Winnipeg. Success! His name was Dan and he was heading north for work. I threw my bags into the truck and we headed off on our merry way. "You don't mind the smell of weed, right?" he asks as we pull away. Hmm...
It turns out Dan is an incredibly interesting fella. He smokes weed like it's going out of fashion and throws coffee down his throat in a similar manner. The conversation was actually really interesting, albeit slightly terrifying. He regaled me with stories from the past. His boxing, his martial arts, how he'd knocked this and that guy out with one punch. His drug dealing and abusive ex-wife (she abused substances, not him).
Not once, in spite of his smoking copious amounts of marijuana, did I feel unsafe with him driving us. Which I can assume sounds surprising. Even when he sat driving with his knees whilst rolling a joint. I guess his confidence led me to feel a sense of security in his abilities. The guy was very kind and well mannered. He gave me half of his Tim Hortons sub. He even offered me some of his own personal weed. That's the thing. Despite all his weed smoking, knee driving, violence filled stories of days gone by, conspiracy theories about the world leaders and our current dependence on capitalism, he was on the whole a kind, caring family man who has clearly made some poor choices in life and allowed his emotions to control him. He was passionate. As we came into Winnipeg and got gps, he followed it to the address I'd given. However the gps on his phone was crap and took us everywhere but our destination. He eventually started getting pissed off and pulled into a 7-eleven. I figured this was a fairly reasonable time to part company and I thanked him for everything. He even took my number and said he'd get in contact with people from a sister-company who travel between Winnipeg and Calgary.
I phoned Marilyn, my current host, and asked what bus I could take from my current location to get to her. She came and picked me up. She's lovely. 40 something, two kids, charming Swedish boyfriend and a lovely house. It's been a wonderful stay so far. And so ends the tale of how I hitchhiked and didn't get bumraped or die in a flaming pile of twisted metal on the highway.
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