Thursday, August 28, 2008


Keith and I have been in Canada for a little over a week. As I'm writing this, this is the view I'm looking at. (I haven't quite mastered the art of taking scenic pictures on my camera, so its a little dark, but I'm working on it.) The weather has been pretty amazing. It looks like it could rain today. I walked out on the porch to take a few pictures of the sky. I was wearing some old Nike running shorts and a t-shirt and it was too cold. I had to go back in and put pants on. I'm not sure what the temperature actually is since everything is in Celsius up here. According to weather.com it is 63 degrees out. I've been meaning to post about all the happenings since we set out on our journey, but every time I sit down, I just can't bring myself to do it, so here goes...

We left Dallas last Monday. Of course it was raining and we still had errands to run, so instead of leaving at 8:30a.m. like I had hoped, we finally got on the road at 11:30. We made a lunch stop in McKinney at Taco Bueno, figuring we wouldn't see many more Bueno's as we went further north. It rained the entire day, all the way through Oklahoma and Missouri. The most exciting thing that happened on Monday was at our dinner stop. Around 5:30 we stopped in Vinita, Oklahoma at Clanton's Cafe. According to Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives if you go to Clanton's you have to eat their Calf Fries. Perhaps Keith and I are just not well enough educated in southern foods, but neither of us knew what they were and the waitress wouldn't tell us. So she brought us a sample. Some of you may be laughing at us at this point. It turns out Calf Fries are Bull testicles. Yeah, I'm serious.


The rest of our drive was pretty uneventful. We stayed a night in Des Moines. We saw lots of cows and corn fields. It was a really beautiful drive, but rather boring. I really never realized how beautiful Minnesota is. I guess its since I'm from Texas and never get a chance to see rocky hills and fur trees, but Minnesota was exceptionally nice. We stopped at the Wienery and had Drive-In Dogs and fresh cut fries. They were delicious! If you're ever in Minneapolis, you should try it out.


We finally made it to the border around 10:30 on Tuesday night. Keith made me drive through because he wasn't sure if his license was valid. We had no problems at customs and made into International Falls without trouble. I was surprised it was so easy since we had an entire Jeep full of luggage. From the border we had a two hour drive ahead of us. We switched and Keith drove the rest of the way. Our drive from International Falls to Vermilion was somewhat frightening. It was absolutely pitch black and there were no street lights. The road was a narrow one lane high way and the only other cars out were 18-wheelers, and they were usually coming from the opposite direction. Let me tell you, there are very few things more scary than an 18-wheeler coming at you, going 70 mph on a dark narrow road. At one point, the road turned from a well paved highway to a gravel road. And there were still 18-wheelers coming at us going 70 mph! Keith and I were both having panic attacks. He was trying to drive slowly, but we were still sliding around on the gravel and when the 18 wheelers would pass they would throw the gravel up on us. Keith was so scared that when it was all done his brand new Jeep was going to be covered in large dings. But we arrived unharmed and Keith's car has no damage. We got to the house at 1:00a.m. and went straight to bed.

The next day the people we're staying with (Stosh and Natalie) showed us around town, or rather the surrounding towns of Dryden (30 minutes away) and Kenora (1 hour away). The city we're living in is Vermilion Bay. Approximately 300 people live here. The town consists of lots of lakes and camp grounds. During tourist season (which is apparently almost over) tourists come to stay in the camps and go on hunting and fishing expeditions. There is also a gas station, a grocery store (or co-op as they call it) and a few restaurants. The nearest Walmart is in Dryden so if we need anything beyond the basics we have to drive 30 minutes. The first evening we were here our hosts wanted to take us into Kenora to see a movie. (The nearest movie theatre is in Kenora.) All three cities (Vermilion Bay, Dryden, Kenora) are on the same highway which is undergoing major construction. So if you try to go somewhere there is a good chance you'll have so sit for at least 15 minutes while they close down your lane and let the other side pass. It took us an hour and a half to get to the movies and when we got there, it was sold out. So we turned around and came home.

It is so surreal to be here. It is beautiful and a nice change of scenery, but it is just so weird to be in such a small town so far away from the big cities I'm used to. Growing up I though Kennedale was a small town, but compared to Vermilion Bay, Kennedale is Manhattan. I have never experienced a place like this. Everybody knows everybody. The nearest major town is Winnipeg and it is 4 hours away.

So far all I've really done is work. Which is good because thats what we came here to do. I had forgotten how exhausting waiting tables is. I'm getting a pretty good work out and making good money. So is Keith. And the good thing is, there is nothing here to spend money on, so we won't be tempted to spend what we make.

I miss home so much! I miss my kittens terribly. I miss my bed and my city apartment. By the time our stay here is up I am going to be so home sick!






Wednesday, August 27, 2008

3 Things I like About Canada:
1. The weather
2. The scenery
3. The unpolluted breathing air

3 Things I Dislike About Canada:
1. The lack of cell reception
2. You are not here
3. My kittens are not here

WAAAAAHHHAAAA

The complete Canada post will come tomorrow. I promise.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

I'm in Canada! I'm a bit exhausted so I'm not going to do a full post now. It is beautiful here and I think we're going to have a great time. Pictures will come soon.

Sorry about the double posting on a few things recently. I tried to use YouTube's automatic posting, but it didn't appear to work. So, hence the double post of Kim Zmeskal.

I already miss my kittens so much. Its actually to the point where I found one of Murphy's hairs on something and I kept it. I don't know how I am going to last three whole months without them. Kareah, I miss you too!!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Kim Zmeskal the Great!

The Olympics are one of my favorite things. Particularly the Gymnastics. When I was younger, my favorite gymnast was Kim Zmeskal. When I googled her today I found out that she now owns a gym in Coppell which is about 20 minutes from my apartment. I may have to stop by sometime and catch a glimpse of one of my childhood idols. And you better believe when I have daugthers I will do my best to make them Olympic stars. (Not in a bad way.) Take a look at this video of Kim's beam routine. Such control. It's amazing!!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

When I was younger and my dreams of Olympic gold were still alive, Kim Zmeskal was my favorite gymnast. In the early 90's she was IT. She was the gymnast to be. I loved watching her and wanted to be her. She's been retired since 2000, but she is still my favorite. Check out this beam routine from the 1991 Worlds.



After googling her today I found out that she now owns a gym in Coppell, not 30 minutes from my apartment. You better believe that when I have daughters I will try my hardest to pass on my love of gymnastics to them. Maybe one day they can train under the great Kim Zmeskal and my dreams of Olympic gold can be passed onto the next generation.

This montage of Kim is also amazing. She sticks everything perfectly. It gives me chills. And her whipback tumbling passes are incredible.



Oh, to be young and in shape again.

Friday, August 8, 2008

A few months ago I got a speeding ticket. I won't bore you with the story, but lets just say I got screwed over by the city of Dallas. I had to pay $275 for the ticket and today I've been doing defensive driving on-line for an additional $25. I'm thinking the other 10 people who were pulled over on the side of the road with me are probably doing the same thing. If there are that many people pulled over in the same spot, wouldn't you think the city might say to itself "Perhaps the speed limit in this school zone is not marked very clearly. Perhaps we should fix that or at least give these poor people a warning instead of a $275 ticket." BUT NO.

Anyhow, today while doing my defensive driving I did learn one interesting fact: If a police car (with lights and siren), a fire truck (with lights and siren), an ambulance (with lights and siren), and a postal vehicle all arrive at a four-way stop intersection at the same time, who has the right-of-way? Because they are conducting official United States business, under federal law, the postal vehicle has the right-of-way.

With that, I leave you for the weekend. I hope that your weekend is relaxing and enjoyable. At least 4 hours of mine will be spent finishing defensive driving.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Canada, oh Canada! Let's leave today!

It's official! Keith and I are leaving for Canada on August 18th and returning home sometime around Thanksgiving. After much reserach, we figured out it will be a lot cheaper to drive instead of fly. So we're taking a road trip through Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Minesota. If all goes as planned we should arrive in Vermilion Bay late Wednesday night.



We have recently become addicted to "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" on the Food Network, starring the wonderfully cocky Guy Fieri. I have planned our route through the US so that we can have meals in at least three of the diners featured on the show. We'll actually drive past 12 so I've been having a tough time narrowing it down.

Right now our day 1 itenarary includes a nutritious breakfast of Egg McMuffins at McDonalds, lunch at Clanton's Cafe in Vinita ,Oklahoma and dinner at 39th Street MaMa's in Kansas City, Missouri. We'll stay for one night at the La Quinta in Des Moines, Iowa. (No we will not be eating at the Denny's next door.) Day 2 will probably begin with a complimentary hotel breakfast and then a lunch at The Wienery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Truth be told, The Wienery was the deciding factor in my decision to undergo our adventure to our neigbor to the North. Last Sunday Keith and I were watching the Burgers and Dogs episode of "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" and The Wienery was one of the featured dives. I decided I absolutely had to have a specific hot dog that includes cole slaw and there homemade chili sauce. Normally that kind of thing wouldn't sound good to me, but this looked amazing!! So I said "Keith, thats it, we're going to Canada. I MUST have that dog."


I'm not sure what we'll do for dinner that evening. There are five or six diners in Minneapolis, but none any further north. So I had tentatively scheduled a stop in Duluth at Hell's Kitchen, a restaurant that I found on-line. But Duluth is only about two hours north of Minneapolis. We won't really have made enough progress in our drive to warrant a stop, nor will we be hungry. I can't find any information about any of the cities further north. Its mainly small Minnesota towns. So, at this point, I'm thinking we'll drive till we hit the Canadian border and go through customs, and surely there will be something near there suitable to eat. Rest assured, I will take LOTS of pictures to document our journey.

Meanwhile, I have about a million things to do between now and when we leave. It's one thing to move to a different city for a few months, it's quite another to move to a different country. I know Canada isn't that different from the US, but there are so many logistical things that have to be taken care of. We need international travelers health insurance. We need to figure out how we'll get money into our US bank accounts. I have to find a home for my kittens while I'm gone, which, to me, is like trying to find a home for my children. We have to arrange for people to pick up our mail and check on our apartment periodically. The list goes on.

Bottom line, I am SUPER EXCITED and I cannot wait to leave!