The train had arrive early, I was out of the train station
by just after 8:00 AM. The sky was clear and I was ready to go. It is always a
bit anticlimactic to hike through the train station, pass through the doors, breath
the fresh air, turn left and then drop the pack again. For a brief few minutes
I felt free and unencumbered by the routines and schedules of the common man. Then
I had to wait for a city bus.
Winnipeg has, at least in Canada, the best downtown bus
stops. At every stop there is an electronic sign that is updated every minute
or so, clearly indicating when which bus is coming. It means that for the
traveller such as myself who only uses the transit system once or sometimes twice
a year and therefore is a bit anxious, knows exactly when his/her bus is going
to come. It makes the whole process that much more relaxing. The bus came when
promised, I took a short ride to the downtown core, got off at the right bus
stop and waited for my St. Charles Express. It too came exactly when promised
by the electronic sign. Portage Street
is a very long street. The first few times I took this bus, I use to get a bit
concerned as to how long it took to get to the last stop just less than a kilometre
east of the Perimeter Highway and the start of the Trans-Canada. Now I am use
to it and just relax, looking at semi-familiar stores and signs. When I went
along Portage Street last year they were doing some major reconstruction. I am saddened
to report that it felt as if they were still working on the same sections this
year. Perhaps they were new sections but they all look the same to me.
I got off at my usual spot, spent the next twenty or so
minutes navigating my way across entrances to and exits from the Perimeter Highway.
As always these exits and entrances ramps are busy and not made for being
crossed over by pedestrians. While I have no reason to believe it, it always
feels as if the drivers can't see me, or even worse don't care if I am there. I
am more cautious crossing these lanes than anywhere else in my travels.
As I have mentioned in other blogs, cities are getting
bigger and bigger. Consequently I have to walk further and further to find a spot
where the traffic is less chaotic. I use to be able to stand just a few metres
from the last exit ramp from the Perimeter Highway, I now have to walk past two
other stoplights to find a spot where at least some of the commuter traffic has
been filtered away and the drivers have settled into some sort of pattern. Of
course by the time this occurs, most of the vehicles are approaching their
cruising speed. It would have been nice if I could have gotten a drive from a
trucker coming out of the Flying J rest stop, but I didn't even try. I have
never had any luck there.
I was feeling a bit lazy so I dropped my pack earlier than I
normally would have. After fifteen or so minutes I picked it up again and
walked to just after the next set of lights. Within a few minutes a car
quickly, from the outside lane, swerved over to pick me up. (This almost never
happens. Cars in the outside lane do not stop for me. It is amongst everything
else, usually too dangerous. It happened twice this year). My first driver of
the trip west was going to Regina - a ride of almost 600 kilometres. A pretty
good start to the trip!
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