Have you ever gone on a long trip in the car? If you have, you’ve been on a road trip! This summer, Maura is going on a road trip across Canada and the United States. In this episode, Harp interviews Maura about the upcoming trip. Listen to find out where Maura plans to go and what she plans to do. And remember, it’s not about the destination; it’s about the journey.
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Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:
- A road trip
- A round trip
- It’s not about the destination
- Any day
- he Rocky Mountains
- A short cut
- The Windy City
- Yogi Bear
- A bed and breakfast
- To fly by the seat of your pants
- Bootlegging
- The Prairies
- A back-up plan
- The pronunciation of route
- A cat sitter Bon voyage
Harp: All right. So today we’re going to do a Chatterbox episode, and that’s where we chat.
Maura: Right. We chat about cultural things, we talk about things that might be in the news, and sometimes we interview people.
Harp: And today, I’m going to interview someone.
Maura: Who are you going to interview, Harp?
Harp: I’m going to interview you! Yes, I’m going to interview you, Maura, because you’re about to start a big road trip.
Maura: Yes, and I’m so excited. This summer, I’ve planned to go on a really big road trip, about 3 or 4 weeks, across the United States and then back to Montreal through Canada.
Harp: Wow! So you’re driving across the country, basically?
Maura: Pretty much, right. Our trip is starting in Montreal, of course, where Culips broadcasts from, and that is located kind of in the centre, but more Eastern side of Canada. And then visit my family. And I’m from Kitchener, Ontario, which is not very far from Toronto. After that we’re going to drive down into the United States, west. And then we’re going to come back up into Canada, into Alberta and the Rocky Mountains, which is really our destination. Spend some time there, and then drive back to Montreal, though Canada.
Harp: That sounds like a really long trip and a lot of driving.
Maura: Yeah, it is going to be a very long trip. We’re going to be spending a lot of time in our car. It’s about six or seven thousand kilometres.
Harp: Six or seven thousand kilometres? Maura: It’ll be six or seven thousand kilometres by the time we drive all the way out to the Rocky Mountains in Alberta and then all the way back to Montreal from there. So, round trip. Harp: Wow! A six- or seven-thousand kilometre round trip. That is a lot of driving.
Maura: Yeah. It will definitely be a few days of driving all day long. We plan to take our time, because it’s not about the destination; it’s about the journey as well. So, we’re going to take our time and stop off at different places along the way.
Harp: OK. Very exciting. Have you ever driven across the country before?
Maura: About 10 years ago, the last time I was out there actually, I took a bus from Toronto to Calgary, which is pretty much what we’re going to do this time, too. It’s very long by bus, because when I took the bus, I was lucky enough that I was with a friend and we could stop in any big city that we came to. We had this special deal, so we were able to stop three times on our way out. We visited people or visited the city on our way out. But even with those stops, it’s so painful taking the bus, especially when you take it at night and it’s so uncomfortable and you can’t sleep. So I’m really excited this time to drive and take our time and stop wherever and whenever we like.
Harp: Yeah, definitely. Driving in a car versus in a bus, I’d take the car any day.
Podcast/Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast