Montreal Trip, Day 3: Geocaching Adventure in Dorval.

Today we decided to go geocaching in the neighborhoods behind our hotel, which is actually not in Montreal. We are staying in a neighboring area called Dorval and we are very pleased with our choice because it is a very beautiful city. Geocaching give us an opportunity to explore areas that we normally wouldn't be able to see, and the cache hunt here took us to some pretty places. Dorval has several little city parks that are very well maintained and absolutely a pleasant to be in. I wish we had a place like their aquatic Walters Park back home!

I hadn't blogged much about geocaching yet, but it's a new hobby and we are still noobs. With that being said, we didn't find as many caches as I hoped we would. We hunted six, but only found one.

The first cache we hunted was the one we did find. It was tucked away in a little area called Windsor Park. I kinda fell in love with that place.There weren't many people around except for what looked like a man with his wife and he was treasure hunting himself with a metal detector. We looked around, sat on a few different benches and took in the serene scenery. Then we found our first Canadian cache! This was also my first international cache.

Windsor Park - Dorval, QC

After that we tried to find a few more along the shoreline of Lake St. Louis, but no luck. They are there but we are still nooblets. We still had good fun, got some exercise, and got to explore a very pretty place. Here are more of our photos:

Dorval Library and Cultural Center

Lake St. Louis 

Le Monument aux Braves - The Cenotaph - Pine Beach Park - Dorval,QC

And last but not least, as we were walking along on the sidewalk back to our hotel, we were passed from behind by the Google Street View car and cameras! TWICE! So there is no doubt that Google users viewing the Dorval area will more than likely see our backsides. The hubby and I found that extremely amusing and he even tried to photobomb it the second time. So we are looking forward to see if we made the cut on Google Maps Street View!

Montreal Trip, Day 2: Downtown, Rue Sherbrooke, McGill University, and (of course) Graffiti.

Mostly took care of business in regards to the immigration visa and tried to figure out the transportation systems. All the signage is in French but we are managing everything okay. Most people here are bilingual so that helps out a lot.

We made a trip to "Rue Sherbrooke" in Downtown Montreal to take care of the medical exam the hubby was required to take before his interview at the consulate. We were both nervous and it took for what seemed like forever, but it's over and done with. We can relax for a few days now. 

We wandered the neighborhood a bit and had lunch outside at a nice little bistro. There are several beautiful buildings, a couple of which had thick, green vines growing up along the sides to the top of what looked like multi-story buildings. Very pretty. 

This one kept drawing my attention every time we walked by it. It's the Strathcona Music Building at McGill Univeristy. 

We did a bit of shopping (fun shopping and then, ick, grocery shopping). And, of course, we stopped at Tim Horton's twice today. I really wanted to go to Horton's again this evening, but I am trying to learn restraint. Plus it started raining. Things are so hot and dry at home, it's been a while since I have seen a good drench. Wish I could bring it back with me! 

Another thing I've noticed even before I arrived (thanks to Google) is the graffiti. It's anywhere and everywhere and on anything! Here is one I found tucked in an alley behind the Tim Horton's near our hotel:

At first glance I thought it was Pikachu, but as I approached it I realized it was Gir from Invader Zim. He is so cute; my favorite one so far!

If it's not raining tomorrow, we may go geocaching. It will be my first international find! Otherwise, it may just be hanging in the hotel to read or watch more of Canada's Worst Driver or Canada's Worst Handyman. 

Montreal Trip, Day 1. First Order of Business: Tim Hortons

Might as well call it Crack.

After a two-hour car ride with no air conditioning in 100+ degree heat and then boarding 2 stuffy small airplanes, we had traveled for over 9 hours before arriving shortly after 7pm EST at our final destination: Montreal, Quebec, Canada. First order of business after clearing customs: Tim Horton's.

We found my nearest haven of coffee goodness in the airport (of course). The funny thing is, we were directed to it by a simple printout sign taped to the front of an information booth. It was a regular 8.5 x 11 white sheet of paper that read:
 "<--Tim Horton's
<--Taxi"

Kudos for catering to my priorities, Montreal. Score one for you. Apparently everyone else thinks it's important, too, if a homemade sign is needed at the information booth. Not to mention, it was listed above "taxi." I love Canada!

My husband knows exactly how I worked and headed in that direction. It was like a beacon of happiness when I saw that big, red "Tim Horton's" name. And even more better, there was NO LINE (*shocked*). Hubby ordered me an iced capppucinno, or an "Ice Cap" as he calls it. I have been waiting a very long time to get my hands on another one of those- and it was more delicious than I remember!

I've been suppressing my Timmy Ho cravings back home in the U.S. thanks to my sweet, wonderful supplier: my hubby. Every time he went back home to Edmonton he would stock up on cans of their delicious fine ground coffee. His mom is even nice enough to hook me up every now and then.

But this week I can enjoy Tim Horton's in it's natural habitat, and I am happy. Lucky me, there is one only a block from our hotel. Guess where I will be spending most of my money during this trip!

Adventures in "Smalltown" Wal-Mart.

Saturday we decided we wanted to go fishing and all we needed was to get the Canadian boyfriend a license. I should have known better than to go to a smalltown Wal-Mart. BUT..it was on the way to the lake and right beside McD's for a quick Happy Meal.

So in Wal-Mart and three employees after the initial flagdown, I am tossing suggestions out there to help this lady (bless her heart), who is apparently in a higher position than the first two, try to get this license issued. Oh my, the questions that popped out of her mouth, we couldn't help but giggle and snicker. One of her first confused inquiries was, "What's Alberta?" Ok, lol, no big deal. I told her it was a province of Canada. Then she mentioned something about using "CA" as an abbreviation for Canada to use in the state field. I was holding back a huge smile and I told her that it might not work that way.
Then came the big giggle....

Still staring at the license machine, and kind of agitated at this point, she says, "Is Canada a part of the United States?" .....

I looked at the boyfriend and he probably saw the same hysterical yet silent laughing fit he saw in me. I couldn't believe she just asked us that LOL. The other employee standing beside her giggled too and said, "Well, it's attached. On the same continent, but uh, no, it's not."
I told her that the license was no big deal and we could go get it somewhere else, but she begged us to stay because she was determined to figure it out. She made a phone call and whoever it was walked her through it.

I think I let her finish it just for amusement because I SHOULD have went somewhere else. I later found out the boyfriend does qualify for a resident license because he's enrolled full time in college. For someone trained at issuing such licenses, a flag should have went up when I mentioned that. But no. We ended up paying $40 for a non-resident fishing license for a full-year. Next time I'll take my friend's advice: go to Gander Mountain or somewhere a bit more knowledgable.

Needless to say, we got to go fishing anyway and had a blast. We also have a funny story to tell! And the boyfriend will have to make it worth $40 and catch us a lot of dinner. He's off to a good start, tho, considering he caught the only fish for that day.

Portal graffiti is not a lie!

I believe these were on Bridge number 277 in Mill Creek Ravine. The first one I saw was the cake, which was the farthest one (go figure, I am so unobservant). I was like, "Ooh look! The cake is a lie!!" Then I noticed the Companion Cube and said "OMG the cake really IS a lie!" So awesome seeing random Portal graffiti lol. The classic NES controller was awesome too.

1st Weigh-In for June.

www.my-calorie-counter.com/Weight-Loss-Ticker.asp

Not bad, I should say! And take in account that I went on TWO vacations and ate a lot of fast food. ...and The Boyfriend's super sweet, super tasty peanut butter fudge (ooOoOo yummlies).

I tried to keep it somewhat healthy where I could, but not much because I all over some tasties. Especially at Tim Horton's... because I will not be able to have treats from there for a while!! Ok, well, I grabbed Timmy Ho's almost everyday >.> lol

Needless to say, I could have done better. The weight is coming off very slowly, but hey.... I am losing and not gaining and I'm not complaining. And the fact that I managed to lose weight while on vacation makes me feel pretty good too. I did a LOT of walking on those trips: large malls, parks, airports, up and down the non-working A-kon escalators... yeah, I think I worked off some calories there.

So I hope I can try to pick back up where I left off before I went to Edmonton. The only problem is motivation to workout again. Ever since the plane landed back home, I have been depressed and don't seem to be enjoying the things I should be. Pretty much back to the way I was LOL not good. Being away made me really happy. As a matter of fact, I wasn't depressed not one single time when I was in Canada. I know it's because I reeeaallly hate my home town lol. I need to find ways to make the best of things, cuz I'm gonna be here a while.

I hope I can report the same good news in weeks to come!

Edmonton, AB - Day 4: Movies and a Walk.

Been a pretty relaxing day so far. We decided before I came to Edmonton that we would go see Terminator Salvation during my visit. And so we did. I quite enjoyed it, way better than the last one. The theater was huge and no rowdy crowd!!  Texarkana theaters seriously need to fix that wild teenage obnoxiousness. Maybe of the town would actually build something for kids to DO than it wouldn't be so bad. Ugh, anyway, I'm not getting on that soap box.

Before the movie started, we walked to a Roots store. I love Ray's Roots shirts, they are soft and nice. I bought myself my own, but little does he know that I'm still gonna wear his. Haha! I'm wearing it now actually!! 

Not much else happened. We went back to the casino for dinner, I also met his grandparents there. Afterwards he took me to MIll Creek Ravine. He bikes there a lot. It was a very beautiful place. We walked and talked and took some pictures. :D

That's our shadows on the bridge :P

Pictures of World Water Park in West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton, AB.

World WaterPark inside West Edmonton Mall. It looks like a lot of fun, but I dont go swimming. It is forbidden to see me in any kind of swimwear.

Pictures of Galaxyland in West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton, AB.

Galaxyland Amusement Park inside West Edmonton Mall.

Edmonton, AB - Day 3: West Edmonton Mall

I think it's neat that it's almost 10 o'clock in the evening and the sun still hasn't set yet! It will go down soon tho, in about 30 minutes or so.

Today Ray took me to the Casino a short distance from his home and we had breakfast. It was actually my first time in a casino... aside from when I went into Harrah's in Shreveport, but I wasn't old enough to enter and stood outside by the million dollar wall while I waited for some friends. After we ate, he showed me around the place (very pretty wall water features!) and I got to play some slots! Didn't win anything tho. Poo.

Afterwards, we were on a journey to the University of Alberta (again) to find that darn S.U.B. and locate that bookcrossing zone. I wouldn't be so hard up for it if they hadn't mentioned they had manga there. We drove around a bit, but we finally found it. But lo, all the manga was gone. *cry*  But I did manage to grab one book to take back home with me, and I managed to drop 2 off at the zone 

After being stuck in a traffic jam for over 20 minutes, we made our way to West Edmonton Mall, which is the largest mall in the world. We spent a good 5 to 5.5 hours there. Finally got to try Tim Horton's coffee while I was there. What's a coffee lovers visit to Canada worth without trying Tim Horton's!? And lucky me, today they were giving away free small iced coffees  :D So I got one of those and an English Tofee Cappuccino. OMG they were so good! Ray got an Iced Cappa, but he didn't like it much, so I had his too! I was sugared up and caffinated! But I needed it for as much walking as we did. It's official, I'm hooked on Tim Horton's. I'm getting  more tomorrow.

I took lots of pics at West Edmonton Mall. Most are on my Facebook now, but I'll post them here too. But it's late and I'm going to watch Balls of Fury with Ray :P

Gigantic Picnic Basket!

No caption needed.

Sunken Ship

Edmonton, AB - Day 2: Whyte Avenue, University of Alberta, and Some Malls.

Ray took me up and down Whyte Avenue in the Old Strathcona district. We went to a lot of neat shops and a few bookstores. This is where that Warp 1 Comics shop is located. Ended up buying a few things from a bookstore called Chapters and I got some coffee at a chain called Second Cup. It wasn't very good.

Whyte Ave^

We went to the University of Alberta to hunt down a bookcrossing zone. Ray thought it might have been the Hub, but come to find out that the Hub is not the S.U.B (Student Union Building). We decided we'd try the next day on the way to West Edmonton Mall. BUT! I'm glad we went to the Hub anyway, because it was a dormatory/mall :O  

See the windows on the side? Those are dorm rooms. It's really just a lot of convenience store type shops and fast food. I ended up eating my lunch there, I got a Sukiyaki Beef bowl at a place called Edo Japan. There are several in Edmonton, and it was very tasty.

I visited two malls, Kingsway Garden Mall (where we went to the Oilers store and bought Josh a mini hockey stick!) and Bonnie Doon mall. Ray also took me on a scenic drive while going to Kingsway mall. I'll post pics in another post.

That's all we did around town. Then we mostly stayed back at his place and played some Wii bowling :P

Edmonton, AB - Day 1: Greetings and Such

May 19th, 2009

Well, aside from the unfriendly customs people, my first day in Canada was really fun. The boyfriend took me to meet his mom and his brother, then we walked a few blocks to Boston Pizza. We had to run across an intersection and I was really tired. I felt like my spleen fell out at the curb and I had to remind him that if you die in Canada, you die in real life!

We sat in the bar section so it would be a lil' quieter, and when the waitress asked us what we wanted to drink, she look at me all weird like and said, "Um, can I see your I.D." I so got carded. And the BF didn't! What's up with that!? And he's younger than me...

Anywho, I really liked it. There were about 6 or 7 flatscreens in the place and the best part is... not a SINGLE ONE played football or basketball! It was Hockey on all of em! I loved it! And believe me when I say that Canadians really DO love their hockey. Lots of emotions and reactions whenever a player scored a goal. Last night it was the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Black Hawks. The Red Wings won btw :P

I was sooo hungry that everything looked good, but I went with a Szechwan personal pizza because it looked tasty and interesting. It was delicious :D

The he took me to a cool shop called Warp 1 Comics, and it. was. AWESOME. Tons of anime, comics, action figures, manga, tons of tabletop gaming stuff, t-shirts, and STUFF. It was like being in a mini-A-kon dealer's room. But the one thing I kept going back to was The Legend of Dragoon action figures. They had Rose, Lavitz, and Dart. At the time I hadn't cashed in for Canadian munnies. That wasn't my main convern tho, my major problem was trying to decide between Lavitz or Rose! Rose is awesome, but if it would be unacceptable if I passed on Lavitz. So the BF helped me get Lavitz, and now that I have slept and thought about it...I'm going back for Rose!!

The store was way cool, and they had so much stuff thatI want to take a second look. Cthulu was hanging from the ceiling, as pictured, and the first person I thought about was my brother of course. That would be a nice throw pillow for my brother! HA! 

The BF bought the first volume to Claymore and we watched 5 or so episodes of that then played some Wii bowling. I did pretty gewd for a beginner! :D  But I was pooped by the time I went to bed, and I had no problem going to sleep :)

Yesterday's flights.

Yesterday was really exciting! For the first time in YEARS, I am on vacation!! Waiting it out too was horrible! I felt like a 6 year old waiting for Christmas to slowly come.

I was scared to fly again, because it's been over 12 years since I've been on an airplane. But I got extremely excited once that plane started speeding up for take off. And i got to do that for 3 flights yesterday! All my flights departed on time and arrived early. I had about an hour and a half layover in DFW, and about 40 minutes at the Denver International Airport (which I'm not too fond of that airport btw, it had a funny smell). The seating was extremely cramped in the first two flights, but the small jet that took me from Denver to Edmonton was really nice and roomy.

It was a good day for travel too. The skies were clear or partly cloudy until we neared the Edmonton area. I got to see the Rockies from above :) And I saw some really big canyons and such, but the clouds started to cover most of the view at that point.

Descending into Edmonton was a good experience. I could tell that most of my co-passengers were Canadian because at they would look out the window and see patches of snow on the rooftops or ground (it was about 1C, or about 33F with some snow flurries when we landed) and they would go "EWE snow!" and make nasty faces and sigh heavily. Me on the other hand, I was as giddy as an overly excited child and thinking "YAY!! Snow, cold weather, NO heat/humidity and Ray is down there waiting for me!" And there was a poor 2-year-old on the plane that DID not like that seatbelt and all I could do was smile and feel sorry for the lil guy...and was ready to yell at anyone annoyed by it and say "Leave that poor baby alone, he's just scared!" But even with all that going on, my heart was thumping with excitement when the plane landed; I was FINALLY on foreign soil!

Going through customs was very uncomfortable. It wasn't comfortable at all having security go thru my underwear and personals at the first airport, but even MORE uncomfortable to be interrogated by 3 different parties, have them search through ALL my stuff, and ask me all kinds of personal questions. I understand why they do it, but wow, it was the most unpleasant experience (aside from a root canal!) I'm not looking forward to having to go thru it again when I go home.

But going thru that mess was totally worth it! When I was finally released (without going through a full body cavity search or detained as a weirdo), I walked out to see the sweetest, bestest boyfriend waiting for me with white roses and peanut butter yum yums!

I'm going to Canada!!

I'm going to Edmonton, AB! And I'm very excited! That's where the boyfriend is from and I'm going to meet him there. I never get to take vacations so this is very exciting. And it's like I'll have my own personal tour guide too, teehee. I'll leave at the end of May and stay for a week. Then we are both coming back together and then, it's off to Dallas for A-kon 20! Yippee! Fun times ahead :D

I've already applied for my passport (Eeek!) and I should be getting that in the mail within 2 weeks. I've always wanted a passport since I was a kid!

This is a BIG step for me in may ways. Most of all, it's my first trip to another country! I love to travel and always dreamed of visiting other countries. I never thought I would ever get the chance to and for some reason I had it my head that I never would (well I can think of a few reasons why I thought that, but I'll keep this blog nice lol). And the best part is, I made the decision by myself and for myself :)