A change is has come.

well then

turn turn turn beer turn turn.

Sam Cooke had it right when he sang:

"It's been a long, long time coming,
But I know a change is gonna come, Oh yes it will"

It had been 4 years since I had sat down in the chair to have my hair cut, 6 years since my hair had been short enough to be called "short" and get away with it.  The question that I have received more than any other "When are you going to cut it?", which I always answered with "When it no longer is something I love dealing with."  "When" came last week, I sat there by the water on a hot sunny day and wanted nothing more than to jump in; but I knew that would mean hours of wet hair to deal with so I stayed away.  With that the orders had been sent, my hair was putting in for its last meal and we were saying our last good byes before it met its shiny metal doom. 

But my hair is a fighter, and it kept making me promise that it wasn't the end.  So today I sent my hair on it's next journey, it will live out the rest of its existence as a wig for somebody who is dealing with cancer.  And I know without a doubt it will bring smiles to faces of people who need a smile the most.

So long for now,

Braden

Cows and Sun

      Here are just a few shots from the last drive across Canada, even after 3 days of cold weather and grey sky the sunsets were always amazing. 

Cheers, 

Braden 

Calgary AB, May 2012

Winnipeg MB, May 2012

Wawa ON, May 2012 

Day 25

Thursday April 28th 2011
Orlando, Florida

What a day, when I said it was hot yesterday I should probably have waited until today had happened.  It was gross hot today, my shirt was soaked and the steering wheel hurt to hold.  But as we looked at the forecast for the rest of the trip we noticed that the rest of the East Coast was being hammered, which wasn't good news.   We were supposed to be joined today by two fantastic people, 11 am rolled around the time they were supposed to be on the ground in Orland, still in New York.  1:15, still in NY stuck with weather.  2:30 yup, no flight with that kind of storm.  4:40 boom, no flight at all as the delay turned into a cancellation.   So now we are missing our navigator and systems engineer for the launch tomorrow.

Speaking of which, I read the news and the rough estimate of how many people will be there is still growing, the heat and the weather isn't turning anybody away.  We are getting up super early and hitting the road in an attempt to get to Titusville with at least 5 hours to kill, way better than trying to do it with 10 minutes.   As we stood in a massive line to check in to the hotel tonight, everybody was talking launch related talk.  This is a huge event for many people, I am too young to really get a grasp on the whole space program, the shuttle program itself is almost 9 years older than I am.  But to think that in those 30 years of active duty, the shuttles have been to space 133 times, orbited earth 20,710 times and docked with the ISS 34 times amazes me.  

I was thinking today of what it must be like sitting strapped in to the seats, listening as the final systems checks are going on.  You are sitting on over 1.6 million pounds of fuel, waiting to push you with 7 million pounds of thrust straight up into the sky.  Think of how scary/ amazing that would feel!  5.... Oh my goodness what have I signed up 4... I think I might get out, the can fly these with just 3...nope, missed my chance to get out whats that peaceful song by U2.... Okay heart is exploding it is beating so fast I think i need a new 1... and there is it.  

We just went for dinner in Celebration, FL.  If you don't know about this town let me just say it is both awesome and very strange.  It is almost too perfect.  The streets are spotless, the people friendly as can be, the houses are perfect in every way.  But after being on the road for a month, you realize that isn't what places look like.   Still it was amazing to sit out on the patio of the Tavern enjoy a Labatt Blue and watch people go wandering about.

I'm pretty excited about tomorrow, so I am off!

Song of the day - Black River Killer-   Blitzen Trapper

Day 24.

Wednesday April 27th 2011
Savannah, GA

Well today was hot.. So very hot In fact we tried to make our own DIY A/C unit for the car. It didn't work well because the heat was just so hot. We left lovely Washington DC this morning and decided that the best course was the coast, down through the Carolinas to north western Georgia.

After numerous stops to sit in the shade, rest and try and get our body temperature down we ended up in Rowland North Carolina for some gas. It was like something out of a movie, trees sprawled out across the streets, houses pinned by massive branches and limbs. The town was hit by a tornado last weekend with winds up to 100mph. I have seen a few little storms here and there that leave a few branches and a small path of destruction, but this was amazing. I don't think I want to live in a tornado area.

We finished a long day (1000km) of driving in Savannah, which is a really cool place. Cool in the design and general feel of the town, not the temperature. We wandered around very briefly before finding Vinny Van Go Gos, a little pizza place with a very cool feel to it. It was very tasty, and I had no problem at all devouring half a pizza.

Tomorrow is off to Orlando to pick up the last 2 passengers before joining the reported 500,000 other people in Cape Canaveral for the 2nd last launch of the space shuttle. Pretty darn excited.

Beer is waiting so is bed. Cheers

Song of the day. At Or With Me - Jack Johnson.

Day 23 - A new beginning

CAPITOL  BUILDING

Tuesday April 26th 2011

Washington, DC

Okay so instead of making you read about how I spent 3 hours at Dufferin Mall, watched Tron and did a general lot of nothing this weekend. So I took a break, a breather, and now I am back it.

Today I left Toronto and headed south, but not alone this time.  My good friend Anna was crazy enough to join my whirlwind adventure and deal with my terrible car singing.  It was a great day of driving, and you know what?  The border guard was fantastic, he was confused as to why I had just moved to Toronto on Friday and was leaving today, but thats okay.  Confusion is better than anger/ accusation and fear that they usually convey.   So on the way to Cleveland today I turned and said to Anna "Have you ever been to Pittsburgh?"  She hadn't, and knowing that Cleveland at this time of year wouldn't blow my mind, I turned and headed to Penguin town.  Very cool city, it has lots of big buildings and bridges which I really enjoy.  Plus it had this tunnel when you leave that felt like you were just falling straight down.  

Then from Pittsburgh we were going to head to Charlestown, WV but it didn't look like much happened there, so again I asked "Anna, Have you ever been to DC?"  Long story short, 20$ in toll booths later we were here.  Well we are here.  Late night wandering around looking for food in DC is almost completely useless, amazing that a city that does all its work during the day doesn't have food at night.  NOT.  We were walking to the Washington Monument and right next to the Department of Defence when we heard "HEY YOU CAN NOT GO THERE, STOP! COME HERE"  ahh!!!!  We were going to get shot, and for what crime you ask?  We crossed the invisible line that makes walking towards a building look like you are going to do something dangerous.   

Did I mention it is like 25 Degrees and humid? awesome.  Did I also mention that we (the collective team blue WE)  destroyed the champs? good bye Chicago.  Did you see how excited we were? I sure did.  Heart beat back to regular for a few days at least.  

Cheers.

Song of the day - Nothing But The Whole Wide World - Jakob Dylan.

Washington Monument.

Day 22

Friday April 22nd 2011.
Toronto, ON

Happy Easter blog world. I got into toronto today and set up a little at my new place and then went for an amazing dinner at Reids place. Awesome food and company as well, thank you s much for that. I didnt really get up to a whole lot more today, it was actually really nice to nt feel the need to do something awesome. I saw some of my favorite people today after a long time not seeing them, and itbis always great to have that happen.

I am sorry my post isn't awesome today, I will be sure tomorrow makes you laugh a bit more


Sng of the day? Weighty ghost - Wintersleep

Cheers

Day 21 - whiskey for my men.

Monument Valley Hwy

Thursday April 21st 2011
Guelph, ON

I didn't do anything today, I drove maybe 77km (46.2 miles) and had some sushi for lunch.  Then I relaxed and watched youtube videos.

Some diversions from daily life for you.

How many countries do you know? Try this  and post that knowledge.

I am really excited to see the shuttle launch, I have watched this a few times!! Shuttle 

I wouldn't have been able to do this trip without Couch Surfing.  I think you would like it, so check it out and look me up.  Braden Hanna

I also wouldn't have been able to make it this far without some of the awesome food found on Urban Spoon, I love the food!!

I love internets, it is awesome and you can to.

Please accept my apologies for the brevity of this blog, I am tired today and I feel like sleeping!

Song of the day ?  The Great Escape - Patrick Watson.