Trip to Canada Pix - First Batch

Currently on holidays in Canada wielding the digital camera like a weapon.

We had a six hour stopover in Minneapolis and took the opportunity to check out the fabled "Mall of America", supposedly a rival of "West Edmonton Mall" in the city of my birth. I'm here to tell you that there is no contest. We made a brief visit to West Edmonton Mall today just to confirm that it kick's MOA ass and that is, indeed, the case. As big soulless malls go, WEM is better than MOA which feels like a gigantic warehouse they stuck some shops and a couple of roller-coasters into.

Anyway, here are a few shots of the missus and me enjoying a delicious repast at the Stampede Steakhouse in the Mall of America whilst being entertained by some people dressed up as Peanuts characters pretending to sing Country and Western songs.

After our steaks, we jumped on our connecting flight to Edmonton, which was uneventful except that our luggage got soaked with hydraulic fluid during the flight, always somewhat disturbing. You'd think most hydraulic fluid in an aircraft would be needed in some way and it would be bad to waste it painting the passengers' luggage. No matter. We lived. And were met at the Thoms residence with champagne. We'd been up for more than 25 hours at that point so the real party didn't start until breakfast.

After breakfast we went for a walk over to the C's house. When we got there, no one was home except for Little Grannie Annie and the dog.

The next day we went for another walk in the woods, and when we got back we burned some stuff. The weather up until today has been not too bad, just above zero and cloudy. It is however, pretty butt-ugly this time of the year. Dingy is the adjective that shouts for attention everywhere, barely heard above the ominipresent foghorn of GREY. Today, it's gotten a bit colder: 7 below, and started to snow again. Oh well, I'm off to Victoria tonight. Should be warmer there.

After burning stuff, I popped into town to have coffee with some friends. Another friend of mine, Roy, whom I dearly love, was supposed to meet us there a bit later but the original place we went to was closed due to smoke damage. (Uncle Albert's Pancake House, next to it, had recently burned down -- very sad). There was a note telling me (and him) to go across the street to another coffee shop (the 1912, if you're interested). I saw the note. He didn't and spent the next hour wandering around. I could have called him but I'm used to having a mobile phone in my pocket at all times and was paralyzed with panic at how to cope without it. Anyway, I'm pretty sure he must hate my guts now and so that's another friendship down the tubes. Shit.

Fortunately, there were some friends there whose lives I didn't ruin. And I went off on a tour of Ken and Miranda's New Digs. They've bought a bakery that they're going to turn into a Garden shop. It's not quite there yet but it's full of cool stuff, including an old Honda trike from our mutual treeplanting days. My God, those things were a danger to all and sundry. But fun in a deadly kind of way.

And then K and M and I went over to Russell and Heidi's for dinner.

And yesterday we went to my Dad's for dinner. It was tasty and my dinner companions (being relatives, all) were distinctly odd. But in a good way.