Friday, December 17, 2010

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (2)

It's been quite a while since I have provided my status updates from Facebook. This update is particularly important because Dec 18 is the 12 month anniversary of my travels beginning. Here are the updates from September until December. Enjoy

Gibby Davis drank a whole beer last night.
September 20 at 10:24am

Gibby Davis is oxygen deprived and sunburnt. Made it to 12,000 feet today.
September 23 at 10:27am

Gibby Davis needs to learn to turn off the portion of his brain that thinks about the future.
September 24 at 10:46am

Gibby Davis is returning to sea level today.
September 24 at 11:49pm

Gibby Davis went tothe Colosseum today and now has an insatiable urge to watchGladiator.
September 27 at 11:54am

Gibby Davis is hopelessly lost in Venice.
September 29 at 6:04am

Gibby Davis just pulled out a map to figure out the best location to watch the sunset, then walked outside to find out it had clouded over. Lame.
September 30 at 10:47am

Gibby Davis would like to put Canada on notice. See you in a week.
September 30 at 11:03pm

Gibby Davis is looking for some golf partners for Saturday morning in Saskatoon. By the way, I am currently in Monaco.
October 3 at 5:20am

Gibby Davis has so much to do while visiting Edmonton next week that he has to start cutting out things from his schedule. Unfortunately the first thing to be sacrificed will be a hair cut.
October 6 at 12:35am

Gibby Davis misses France...and being able to communicate with people. I am hopeless in Germany.
October 6 at 1:40pm

Gibby Davis is getting his life organized for his flight to Canada in the morning.
October 7 at 11:02am

Gibby Davis is grinning like an idiot because he is back in Canada.
October 8 at 12:12pm

Gibby Davis broke his no golfing streak. And he broke 80 in the process.
October 10 at 7:01am

Gibby Davis has traveled around the entire world, been lost countless times in strange places, and yet I'm still nervous to go back to Edmonton for the first time.
October 11 at 4:56am

Gibby Davis has 4-5 hours free, and nothing to do. Those of you who know me well will know where to find me.
October 12 at 7:21am

Gibby Davis hasn't taken a photo since Thursday. This will be rectified shortly.
October 12 at 4:32pm

Gibby Davis is enjoying America and their obsession with unhealthy food.
October 13 at 11:52am

Gibby Davis woke up to a to a temperature of -8 this morning. Better keep going south.
October 14 at 6:42am

Gibby Davis smiles every time he watches the fountains at Bellagio.
October 18 at 4:18am

Gibby Davis is going to the airport to pick up Kari Sinnema and Mary Coyne.
October 18 at 7:41pm

Gibby Davis somehow didn't know that the PGA Tour is in the same city as him. Disappointed in myself.
October 19 at 9:43am

Gibby Davis is somewhere in California. Please google Ridgecrest, CA and let me know what I missed.
October 21 at 3:00pm

Gibby Davis is proud of his car for making it up and down Lombard Street this morning.
October 23 at 12:59pm

Gibby Davis loved the internet before, but loves it even more after seeing his new nephew on Skype.
October 24 at 12:06am

Gibby Davis has made it to the last week of his travels.
October 25 at 8:58am

Gibby Davis is getting antsy with anticipation for the impending annihilation that is about to occur at Chambers Bay (2015 US Open site).
October 27 at 12:50pm

Gibby Davis has 104 reasons why that golf course should be a US Open site.
October 28 at 12:10am

Gibby Davis doesn't know how he's going to make it through the next two months but, at the same time, has never been better prepared for two months of uncertainty.
October 31 at 9:02am

Gibby Davis is planning on staying in one place for 7 days (longest streak since August). That being said, plans are made to be broken.
November 1 at 12:40pm

Gibby Davis turned on his PC for the first time in months. Currently installing 67 updates. Sigh.
November 1 at 10:01pm

Gibby Davis just made a tee time for Saturday (yay!) during the Huskies playoff game (doh!).
November 4 at 4:42pm

Gibby Davis is wondering what went wrong in his life that he is working today.
November 5 at 11:01am

Gibby Davis cannot wait to have my own home again.
November 6 at 10:59pm

Gibby Davis is reviewing his photos from the last year and now believe that I may (may) have taken too many.
November 7 at 11:00am

Gibby Davis hasn't been in one place this long (8 days) since I was gainfully employed in Australia (in July). Wow.
November 8 at 7:31pm

Gibby Davis does not like it when you want to spend money and the store won't take it.
November 9 at 6:23pm

Gibby Davis has taken a few years but now appreciates the ridiculousness that is West Edmonton Mall.
November 10 at 10:04am

Gibby Davis has a new home!!!!!!!!!!!!! And am overly pumped about it.
November 10 at 4:00pm

Gibby Davis has discovered one of the hidden joys of being a photographer: everyone gets dressed up to see me.
November 11 at 1:32pm

Gibby Davis was thrilled to see his LRPP friends again and with that is off to the 306.
November 13 at 8:04am

Gibby Davis has a love/hate relationship with raisin butter tarts.
November 15 at 11:37am

Gibby Davis is not ready for a Canadian winter.
November 16 at 1:22pm

Gibby Davis is almost home. Two more days before I move one last time.
November 17 at 8:40am

Gibby Davis has packed up his life and is moving for what feels like the 83rd time this year. Just need to find someone to help get it in the truck...
November 17 at 2:28pm

Gibby Davis is enjoying his workout this morning. And by workout, I mean lifting weights. And my weights I mean my belongings. And by enjoying I mean ARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!
November 18 at 9:05am

Gibby Davis is eating leftover Chinese food with no shirt on. The day can only get better from here.
November 18 at 10:26am

Gibby Davis went grocery shopping and filled up an entire shopping cart. Then rode it through the parking lot.
November 20 at 11:59am

Gibby Davis has a hot tub and is not afraid to share.
November 21 at 6:45pm

Gibby Davis found Sea Patrol on TV tonight!.
November 23 at 6:25pm

Gibby Davis likes to send out lots of text messages right before going somewhere where he isn't able to respond. I'm evil.
November 24 at 7:02pm

Gibby Davis has suffered another camera injury. You know what that means!! NEW CAMERA!!!!!
November 25 at 11:21am

Gibby Davis received about 58 bizarre looks from strangers today because I was wearing shorts
November 25 at 3:22pm

Gibby Davis is going to see Big Wreck and John Butler Trio tonight. A nice random, world-wide combo of music.
November 26 at 4:41pm

Gibby Davis is prowling downtown Edmonton looking for randoms from Saskie. Anybody out there?
November 26 at 5:08pm

Gibby Davis just watched an outdoor concert in -10 degrees. Canada is awesome.
November 27 at 8:55pm

Gibby Davis is stuck in Rider traffic on Hwy 16.
November 29 at 11:49am

Gibby Davis is pumped that he scored a new (to me) set of pots and pans tonight. Oh yeah, and I'm going to Japan.
November 29 at 10:46pm

Gibby Davis still feels like he just left Australia a few days ago and yet it feels like a lifetime ago.
November 30 at 12:43pm

Gibby Davis has been invited back to work at the Australian Grand Prix. I love that I get temptation like that via email.
December 3 at 7:09am

Gibby Davis is about done with sleeping alone. Need to find a cuddle buddy.
December 4 at 4:00am

Gibby Davis can now add shutting down the EBA Christmas Party to the list of random things I've done this year.
December 5 at 1:10am

Gibby Davis is happy to be back skiing on real snow (sorry Australia).
December 7 at 12:31pm

Gibby Davis is about to suffer a Mexican food coma.
December 7 at 7:37pm

Gibby Davis thinks he should receive a medal for completing the following tasks within a 24 hour period (in this order):
1. Finished the El Caporal Special
2. Finished a whole Quickee sub
3. Ran 11km in under an hour
December 8 at 5:55pm

Gibby Davis loves POWDER DAYS!!!!!
December 9 at 12:26pm

Gibby Davis survived two epic falls today. One, headfirst into a tree well. Two, double ski dismount/face-plant.
December 9 at 4:58pm

Gibby Davis needs to spend more time at home or find a drought resistant plant.
December 10 at 5:59pm

Gibby Davis is braving my annual Christmas shopping at West Ed.
December 11 at 10:44am

Gibby Davis is watching the a replay of the Australian Grand Prix that he worked at. This is much too surreal.
December 14 at 11:42am

Gibby Davis is writing.
December 14 at 6:25pm

Gibby Davis thinks it's not too bad outside, as long as you don't face west. Please don't face west.
December 15 at 6:38pm

Gibby Davis gets motivated by watching fast food commercials while on the treadmill.
December 16 at 3:45pm

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

So my inability to update my blog properly continues and as a result I'm giving you a massive update like this. Since the last time I've been on here the following things happened (pictures and videos included where possible):

-Watched Big Sugar play a live outdoor show in -10 weather. Another great band to top of my musical Grey Cup Weekend




-The Riders lost the Grey Cup and I drove back to Saskatoon the very next day with 50,000 sad people who inadvertently created chaos in Lloydminster at all gas stations and fast food restaurants.

-I worked for 3 days in a row in Saskatoon completing work as a commercial photographer.


-Went for some spectacular desserts at Calories with my lovely friend Jenn.


-Drove back to Edmonton for my first flockey (floor hockey) game of the season. Luckily my training paid off and I managed to make it through the entire game feeling great. And only scored 1 own goal. A new record for my first game of a season. Also went out to Average Joes afterward to meet up with some friends.

-The next day I got myself a shiny new suit and attended the EBA Christmas Party at the Art Gallery of Alberta with Kari. Got to see some great art, had some great food, met many great people, drank a few beers and had a great time. Those last two items may or may not be related.


-Packed up my car with my ski stuff and my latest travel partner in Europe (Boris) and headed down to Whitefish for a couple days of skiing/boarding. Day 1 was entirely average, and we took day 2 off to recover from the Mexican food we ate. Day 3 was undoubtedly one of the best days I've ever had on a mountain despite my new predisposition to land on my head.





-Drove back to Edmonton with some interesting road conditions: slush, ice, snow, wind, traffic accidents, bad tires, etc.

-Started and finished my Christmas shopping.


-Did absolutely nothing for two days.

-Went to a Christmas musical with Kari.

-Rediscovered the only Christmas song I like and made it into my ringtone. I like to hear it so feel free to call me.

Now I've got a few more days to relax before I take off for my next destination. Conclusion: My life is random.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Whitefish, Montana, United States of America

Today was one of the best days I've ever had on a mountain. There was non-stop snow which meant nearly fresh tracks on every single run. There was so much snow that there was no way you could hurt yourself. This turned out to be very helpful because I took two falls that were stunning. The first fall was caused by me skiing too fast through some small trees. I came around one tree and found myself headed straight for a group of trees without enough time to react. I ran straight into the bushes which launched me heals over head. I landed on my head in a tree well with my feet, still in my bindings and my arms stuck in the snow. Luckily I managed to kick my skis off and dig myself out eventually. The next fall occurred when I went off a jump and landed in some soft snow. One of my skis instantly stuck in the ground when I landed and one of my boots was free. This action half threw me forward which caused me to put all my weight on my other ski, which promptly stuck in the snow. My other foot came out and I was thrown head first (again) into the snow. I popped my head up after completing a falling somersault with amazement of what just happened.

Anyways, my life has been hectic as always and I will provide a complete update with photos when I get back home. Until then, cheers.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

I’m writing this post from where I will call home for at least the next year. My wild and crazy travels have been temporarily put on hold so that I could get my life back in order in time for my return to the (dun, dun, dunnnn) real world in January. Luckily for me, this means I have no job encumbering me from getting everything finished in that time. In the past few weeks, I have found an apartment in Edmonton, arranged all my things in Saskatoon, packed them into a trailer, moved them all into my new apartment, unpacked and purchased all sorts of new things to fill out my place, and sorted out my return to work. The only major things left to complete are a few writing projects, a bit of decorating and I'll be ready to get back to what most would consider a normal life again.


That being said, I'm not finished traveling just yet. I'm back on the road next week to further my career as a photographer and then I would expect to find some mountains in my future.

In the meantime, I'm still in Edmonton and if you're in Canada you know that this is Grey Cup (Canadian football championship) weekend. One of the perks of my new apartment is that it's located downtown and this week that means I'm walking distance from one of the biggest parties in Canada. Last night I took advantage of the free concert stage that is part of the festivities. The band Big Wreck was playing last as part of their reunion tour and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see them. This band created what I still hold as my favorite song of all time (That Song) and I'd never seen it live (mostly because the band had broken up by the time I heard the song). I really went to go see them just in case they played That Song (which they did and sprinkled in some Thornley too) but was overwhelmed with how solid their performance was and how great is was to feel live music again. And by feel, I mean having you're whole body shake every time the bass drum is struck. It was a great start to the night, but nowhere near the peak.




After that I walked home, got my car and picked up Andrea to go see my second show of the evening. Next up was the John Butler Trio which is a band Andrea introduced to me after she spent time in Australia (their native land) and inadvertently met John Butler. I had listened to this band for the last couple of years and really started to appreciate their music while in Australia when I realized how revered they are there. I remember listening to JBT while working in Australia and hearing stories about how he used to busk on the streets in WA and about how great his live performances are. Little did I know that I was about to see one of the greatest live shows I've ever experienced. The band came out and went through an astonishing number of great songs, while mixing in great crowd interaction and some jaw-dropping guitar performances. John Butler himself played 10+ different guitar-like instruments (including lapsteel, acoustic, electric, acoustic electric, 12 string, ukulele, banjo, etc, etc). I'm still in shock because how good the 2.5 hour show was. It's taking everything I've got not to drive to Calgary tonight to see them again.




I've got more of my own videos of JBT trio last night, but I found this clip online of a song I saw him perform last night. The clip is the closest thing to what the experience I had. This song raised the bar for what I thought was possible with music and I implore you to watch the entire clip. Then I dare you not to drive to see him in Calgary.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

So after the bright lights of the concert I saw in Edmonton on Halloween I packed up the car once again and headed for Saskatoon for the longest visit since I moved away from the 306. In typical fashion of the prairies, I was treated to a spectacular sunrise which kept me awake on the early morning drive.


When I got to town I finally got to see the newest member of my family, Maxwell. He was born about 2 weeks ago and has been a joy ever since (just ask my sister). I also was joined in taking photos of Max with Rylen as well.


I have been able to visit with my family and with friends in the city for the last few days. Most of my days are now spent trying to catch up on the mountain of work that I have accumulated over the last year. I have finally finished compiling all my full resolution panorama photos and converted all my videos from the trip. In the process of this I have found some hidden videos that are randoms and intersting.

This is just another example of what passes (no pun intended) for typical driving habits on Thailand highways. Just watch the oncoming traffic have to swerve out of the way.


This was the second AFL game I ever saw and was the game that cemented my love for the sport and the Fremantle Dockers. The entire second half felt like this video: non-stop edge of your seat excitement.


This is at the future US Open venue of Chambers Bay and this is Riley hitting a monster drive off the elevated 5th tee. Nice to see that his swing has rounded out and is now coming more from the inside compared to the old chopping feel that his swing produced.


I didn't always have awesome seats at AFL games, but even from the upper level you can feel the electricity of a Sunday afternoon game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with 80,000 fans.


This video was meant to capture the beauty and sound of the Oregon coast, but Kari went ahead and provided some tremendous unintential comedy by awkwardly trying not to be in this video. Love it.


This is just one of the many fire twirlers you will see on any number of beaches in Thailand.


I was sitting on the patio of the bungalow on Koh Mook when I noticed a colony of red ants filing across the clothesline in front of me. It inspired me to take some of the best macro photos I've ever done, and at the same time the best macro video ever.


This video has a race marshal pretend to start taking his clothes off right before the race comes into turns 15 and 16. The back story to this marshal is that I saw him out in the parking lot in the morning. I had a brief conversation with him as he walked into the track. Then later in the day when I'm watching the race, he recognizes me and immediately asks why I'm not in the parking lot. I mention that I do, in fact, get some time off and that I'll see him the next morning (which I did).


While walking through the Swiss hills we encountered many farmers walking their cows down the path towards the lakes. Once we got to the lakes, the cows stopped and allowed me to get up close and personal with this particular moo-cow.


This was during my last round of golf in Montana where I found my drive in the trees on the left side of the 2nd hole. I looked to my right and saw a nice easy way to punch my ball back into play. Not wanting to take the easy way out, I looked towards the green and saw a MUCH smaller opening. I asked my caddie (Kari) which option I should take and she promptly told me to go for it. This video shows me successfully punching the ball through with a 3 iron. The down side was that despite the successful shot, I never saw this ball again. Double bogey.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

I have once again returned to my home and native land. This time there was a few reasons why I came back to Edmonton this time. First of all, I had to drop off Riley and Kari because they have to (cringe) go back to work. Tough break for them.

The other reason was that Riley and I had tickets to see the band Stars. I had an opportunity to see them back in 2005 and didn't, so it was 5 years of anticipation for me. After a bit of a slow start, the band actually swayed me over with one of my least favorite of their songs. The measure of a good concert for me is how many times I get goosebumps, and after a long wait for the first 'moment', Stars did not disappoint. The rest of the show was spectacular and the crowd just kept getting louder and louder. I tried to capture some of the concert for you. Enjoy.







Whitefish, Montana, United States of America

So the trip is finally coming to an end shortly. For Riley and Kari, today is their last day with me on this adventure. We are returning to Edmonton this evening so that they can return to their normal lives and I can continue whatever it is I call normal.

The last few days have consisted mostly of eating and relaxation while in Whitefish. We got into town in time to hit up my favorite sushi restaurant (Wasabi) before coming back home and wearing out the leather couches at my parents house. The next day we did what any reasonable person would do, which was eat, buy alcohol, golf, and eat. We completely lucked out and got a perfect day for golf in the middle of a week of rain.

And now I return to a life of question marks. I have no idea what the next two months will bring. The part I'm looking forward to the most is to meet my newest nephew when I get back.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Seattle, Washington, United States of America

I'll warn you in advance, this post is going to be heavy on dorky golf talk.

Yesterday we got up from Portland and started getting ready for the day and then headed down for breakfast. Unfortunately for us we showed up 5 minutes late to a breakfast that concluded at 9am. We found alternative place for breakfast (Safeway) and headed up the I5 towards Tacoma. It was going to be a big day for me because we had a 1:44pm tee time at Chambers Bay Golf Course. The true golf dorks out there will know that this course hosted the US Amateur this summer, and the even dorkier know it's the venue for the 2015 US Open. I had been to the course before, but because of dreadful conditions I only got to play the front 9.

Going into the round, I had exactly zero expectations because I'm still in my 'early season' mode with this being my 3rd round of 2010 (sacrilege, I know). After discussing things with Kari and Riley I decided an appropriate goal for the day was to simply finish the round. I had no thoughts about it being a tough task, just a humbling one. It turned out to be both as we played in near darkness for the final two holes. I played the 600+ yard 18th hole completely by feel, but managed to keep finding my ball, stayed determined and finished the round.


After getting back to the car, Riley took the scorecard and added up the totals for all three of us. And that's where the humbling part came in. 104. Ouch. We played the furthest back set of tees we could find, and luckily for us most of the back tees weren't accessible so the course was 'only' playing 7300 yards instead of the potential 7600 (at sea level). What I do know now is that I will greatly enjoy watching the US Open in 5 years, and I'm just hoping I get another shot at the course before then.

After the round we hauled from Tacoma to Seattle to our last hotel of the trip. Upon arrival to the hotel we discovered that there is a free shuttle to the market so we headed to one of favorite places in the whole world: Pike Place Brewery. It's pretty much on the list because of their BBQ Chicken Nachos. I over-hyped them to Kari and Riley for weeks and even with that, they were still impressed.

So to recap, 18 holes and best nachos in one day. And that was followed up with a soak in the hot tub. 'Twas a great day.

Portland, Oregon, United States of America

Today was yet another normal day for me, which is to say, it was jam packed with fun. We started the day on the Oregon coast and drove through the rain for a while before we finally got to a point where there was sunshine. We stopped the car and got out for a walk at Perpetua Cape. We discovered Devil Churn which turned the ocean water into a milky foam. We were on our way back to the car when we saw a sign for a blowhole and went to check that out as well.


After that stop, we traveled a little further up the coast before heading inland for Portland. The hotel we found is on an island in the middle of the Columbia River and our room is spectacularly big. We also got a free breakfast and free drinks at the bar. Anyways, we spent a few hours wandering around downtown before settling in for a great dinner at a restaurant called Southpark.

On tap for tomorrow is Seattle and GOOOOLLLLLLFFFFFF!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Coos Bay, Oregon, United States of America

My trip around America marches on as we now approach the final few destinations. Yesterday we awoke in northern California, to sunshine for once, and started driving towards Redwood National Park. We managed to get in a short hike before the rains began again in earnest. That didn't stop us from seeing a few other random stops along the way, including some random beach where we were able to see the true force of the massive surf. The waves we so big that the water was being turned into a foamy lather and at one point they just about came completely over the tall beach where we were standing.


We then proceeded up into a new state (Oregon) to see the coastline. We made a few stops along the way, in between the rain, to experience the coast. I tried to get a few videos to show what it felt like to be standing there. Words and pictures have failed to do it justice.