The start

It all started with a pretty sketchy transaction, a month to the day that they sold out, an old high school friend made a Facebook post: “Two Coachella tickets, with car camping, for sale.”

I responded with ecstasy, I’ll take ‘em!  Working in Ontario at the time, I wired 800 dollars to someone I hadn’t seen in over a decade.  For all I knew, she was a drug addled hooker trying to hit the motherload. Less than a month until I had to leave, I booked three weeks off work, miraculously found a friend to join. Flash forward three weeks, Greg and I set off in my Smart Car, packed with as much camping gear, and clothes as you could imagine a car of such limited size could possibly hold. No tickets in hand, but the promise that they would be waiting at the will call booth.

I have been called crazy, and probably worse. 22,000 kilometers in less than six months following this story, catching up for missed time, and experiences.  Nothing’s more scary, yet unbelievably freeing than leaving your friends, family, safety and security of home, and more so disconnecting from your phone; being all but completely disconnected from the comfort of everything you know.

The funny thing about being forced into strange situations, is that it really shows you what you’re made of, what you’re capable of. Our first major stop: Denver, Colorado. Our mission: to find a Denver sandwich. Five hours later, heading down Broadway, trying to meet back up with a couple of uninhibited young women that we met earlier. They told us they’d be living it up at a “rock show.” In our search, we were led to an unlikely meeting, three older teenagers: “Where are you from?” “Canada!” Greg replied. “So are we. Where in Canada?” One said. “Winnipeg!” “Regina!” One replied

Two older guys in cowboy hats approached us. One slurred, in a very peculiar accent: “We’re from Canada too!”

Their names: Grant and Dean; turns out they are the kids’ father and uncle.  We were invited back to Grant’s house around the corner for a beer from his keg, which as a homebrewer really piqued my interest.  Hours later we found out that Grant and Doug’s brother is married to my friend Greg’s Aunt.  At this point, with the help of some delicious scotch, we decided to stick around for the night.

The next morning, we set off for our next stop, VEGAS! After the most uneventful night you could imagine, we decided to make a quick stop at the Hoover Dam before continuing on to California.  The hilarious idea to take a picture of my Smart on the Hoover Dam, led to Greg driving down to the Dam, as I sat on the monstrous new bridge that bypasses the congested road on the Dam. He drove across, while I was taking photos, laughing my head off.  He disappeared for a few minutes, drove back across, as I was thinking how ridiculous a Smart Car looks, then the unthinkable.. The car broke down...

Stay tuned next week: Our chance to make Vegas right, our vehicle dilemma, and Coachella!

Oh, we never got that Denver sandwich.