It has been a few days now since our last update and we are in Manitoba. We crossed the border the day we left Esterhazy. When we were crossing the border we decided to sit and meditate. The border is a tween place, which means it is between two places. Other examples are when you are standing with one foot in a lake and the other foot is in the sand, or when you are on the stairs. In these places mystical things are more likely to happen. I read about this phenomenon from the book, "Shape Shifting". Anyways, the first town we got to in Manitoba was called Binscarth. We had orginally planned on going to Russell but the road that we were going to take turned out to be gravel. The tires on Tara's bike do not do well on gravel, especially for long periods of time.

We stayed in the campground at Binscarth for 2 nights. The plan was 1 night but we woke up to rain so we stayed the second night. This campground had a huge swimming pool and a concession, so we managed to enjoy ourselves. Not much excitment there but it was relaxing.

Next we went to Shoal Lake where we stayed for 1 night. When we got up the next morning we stopped in at the gas station to get water before we left. While there we met up with another biker, the first one thus far. His name is Alex and he is a very cool guy. He biked with us to Minnedosa and me and him talked the whole time. He is an outdoor education teacher, mainly rock climbing, but still can do much more. Alex has done a lot of traveling so he had some pretty interesting stories to tell. He is biking from Canmore to Ontario where he lives. When we got to Minnedosa we all stopped at a gas station to figure out where we were going to stay. While we were there a guy came down from his house to see us and ask what we were up to, his name is Guy. Alex ended up staying at Guy's house. After we got settled in to our hotel and showered we went over to see Alex because we were going to take him out for a couple of beers. When we got there, Guy and his girlfriend Nicole said we could hang out with them on their deck. We did just that, and discovered that they are very cool people. We had a great time with all of them; it was like we were all good friends hanging out like we normally would. I would love to see all of them again. It was great meeting the 3 of you, and Guy, thanks for catching me-lol. Like you said, it will knock you on your ass ;)

After that night, we decided to stay at the campground at Minnedosa,and this campground was freak'n awesome. It is on a lake and has so many things going on there. There are baseball diamonds, soccer fields, the best playground ever, and yes we played on it. I have to say that a playground is the best place to go for ninja training, seriously it is great. There is also a pavillion that would be so perfect for a wedding or big ass party. Now, our campsite was pretty awesome because we were right on the lake and we had our own beach separate from the main beach. Tara layed on the beach for hours and I trained and jumped in the water all day. We stayed for a couple of nights because it was so nice there. Another cool thing were the dragonflies. There were hundreds of them flying just over head. I love dragonflies; they are my favourite insect and I have never seen so many in one place, it looked like a huge swarm of mosquitos. We would like to go back to Minnedosa again someday, we had such a nice time there.

The day we left Minnedosa to go to Brandon was very hot, our watches were reading 39 degrees Celsius when we were on the highway. The ride was only 40km but the heat just drained us, so we were happy about the short distance. So now we are in Brandon and so far so good. We managed to find some Guinness which we could not seem to do for about 2 weeks. I would like to mention a man we met yesterday while riding around downtown. His name is Phil, and he is what most people would call 'a little out there'. We do not think that at all. He is having trouble with the justice system right now and has been waiting on his trial for 2 years now. He has been protesting outside the court house for sometime, and of course he has been getting hassled by the cops a lot and few people will listen to him. We had a great talk with him and found that we share many ideas and beliefs. He knows a lot about what is to come, and how to prepare for the next few years. I will not go into too much detail, but the conversation ended with 2 cop cars pulling up and asking for Phil to come talk with them. I guess the restaurant we were standing in front of does not like Phil very much. Some people would rather shoo away someone that is standing up for ther rights and speaking the truth, than to listen and stand behind their fellow man. We must give people a chance and not close our minds to things that scare us. So many people over the years have been looked at as crazy just because they are saying something that is not of the norm, and this is one of the big reasons why we, as a race, have not evolved much. Stay open and allow the things that you never thought of, or never thought you would accept, to open your minds to possibilities beyond your present comprehension. The church is one of the biggest mind-restraining systems in the world. And why do they do this? So they can keep us weak and in-line. Our power far exceeds the power of control that has been set upon us. This form of control has gained power by making us believe that we need to be controlled, or there will be chaos. The fact that there is control makes us want to rebel. It is like a lion in a zoo: it does not belong there, and it cannot fully express its power in the confines of a cage. Anyways, control is evil and we must all see and realize this. Sorry for sounding preachy but we must see what is happening before it is to late.

We have a computer now so we well be writing more frequently. Also, I would like to say something about self defense that I thought of. Most people I teach say that they do not want to hurt anyone, and I feel the same way. I believe that by gaining self defense skills, we begin to lose our fear of being physically dominated. We do not nessesarily have to hurt anyone but we can definitely stop others from hurting us, or someone else. If you like to talk your way out of situations, then you can do so more confidently and not out of desperation. I say, learn self defense to lose the fear, and to open up a world to yourself that you did not think you could have. Be strong and confident because you can.





Self Defense

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Joe Self Defense

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