our trip by the numbers

   3843
the number of kilometers we travelled by car

    1
the number of times we forgot to fill up on gas and almost got stranded on remote roads

    0
the number of times we ate at McDonalds.  this is the first trip we've eschewed that 'ol standby (in egypt we went to McD at least 4 times)

   22
the number of days we were out west

    6
the number of nights spent in a hotel - which, let's face it, are horribly sterile places for a family to stay.  much more hospitable condos, cabins, and youth hostels took up the rest of our nights

    2
the number of road signs that confused me in alberta.  one said "watch for pedestrians" and we were on the bloody main highway (yup, people do walk the highways) and the other said "important intersection ahead" and i thought it was a special intersection.  maybe they could employ a colon after the word important.  just saying.

    7
the number of things we forgot to bring / had to buy in calgary
* lobello (there's no humidity here even though it's summer)
* allergy pills (rob sneezed a record number of times on monday in calgary)
* kleenex (see above)
* shampoo (that was just plain dumb)
* audiocable (to connect our mp3s players to the car's stereo)
* moisturizing cream (didn't forget - but at the last moment switched my regular brand for an SPF one i'd worn only occassionally, but not daily for a week. oh, horrible, shiny, disaster)

   1001
the number of dogs we saw in BC.  they are allowed everywhere: at the beach, in the water, in restaurants, even at hotels.  i almost fell over one while simply walking on the sidewalk (and instead stepped on it) and the owner was livid with me