Ed. note: This is the Christmas memo going out in my Christmas cards this year. If you're not on my IRL friends list -- or even if you are -- please accept my Merriest Christmakwanzukkah holiday greetings, and enjoy my year in review.

I hope that 2019 found you well and leaves you in the same condition.

The big thing in pop culture these days is ( Read more... )

ST JOHN'S - I assume since St John's is a port city, it's supposed to be windy. But man, did the wind howl overnight and into this morning.

It easily blew me down the hill to the Avalon Mall, where I picked up my bus card and a copy of Son of a Critch, the autobiography of Mark Critch, a St John's native who appears on the CBC's 22 Minutes, a mash ( Read more... )

VANCOUVER -- Chad opted for the free hotel breakfast instead of just free pancakes, so we hopped in the car and headed north -- right into a good old-fashioned Northwest drizzle, which lasted the rest of the way into Vancouver ( Read more... )

CHICAGO -- The trip started off Sunday evening across the river from downtown, as I headed to the train station. I was able to procure a parking space, then waited for the now-35-minute-late train.

I popped in a Little Mosque on the Prairie DVD and watched several episodes before deciding to turn in. And that's when the woman in front of me and ( Read more... )

CALGARY - A rain system came from BC overnight, hitting metro Calgary as freezing rain and Medicine Hat as snow. And while driving in winter weather is a serious matter, I did get a chuckle out of seeing a tractor trailer stuck at a traffic light on an uphill grade as I was leaving my hotel ( Read more... )

MEDICINE HAT AB -- The heated garage did as advertised; this morning, the car read 10C (50F) when I turned it on. Of course, it plummeted to -24C (-11F) by the time I arrived in the dark at the Saskatchewan Legislative Building for the 8am tour ( Read more... )

REGINA -- Who says I don't have drive? They weren't in the car with me for over 500 miles today. This raises several questions.

1. What about gas in Canada?The country does have gas, and at first glance, you'd think it cheap. Today I paid $1.079 in Edmonton and $1.119 in Saskatoon for gas -- but don't forget, Canada does litres, not gallons, and ( Read more... )

EDMONTON -- I should first note two things that made my loft in the Rockies a little less than perfect: Canadian Pacific trains passing 100m from the hotel, and the alarm clock didn't work. But when you're slamming jet lag onto the turf, who needs an alarm clock? (I woke up naturally at 5:55am ( Read more... )

(Ed. note: Transcribed somewhere over Montana.)

COLUMBUS -- My initial intention was to fly to Calgary straight from Charleston, but the lone daily CRW-DFW flight would arrive after the DFW-Calgary flight departs. So, playing with American's schedule, I selected Columbus instead.

Spurred by a column from the local food critic, I sought out Melt ( Read more... )