update! part 1: the trip
Mmmmmmm, letting a month elapse without updating. It just makes the notion to update an ever-growing number of days that much daunt...ier. That's a word as of now.
This is the coolest July I have ever spent. Local temperatures have been generally below normal and precip has been up. It's quite like a wet late April in Denver or late February in Phoenix with the occasional muggy Midwestern day interspersed. I suppose it's much more like a cool Northeastern summer, but as it's new to me I can't say for sure. I refuse to speculate comparatively with Seattle at this time, but it has crossed my mind to do so.
You see why updating often requires a substantial block of time.
Heidi and I had a great trip across the country. We were occasionally on schedule, sleeping late when necessary and tryin to balance our overall 12 day schedule with seeing neat things. Heidi has a geological penchant and so the AZ/UT/CO portion of the route was thoroughly documented via out-the-window digital camera (phtotodisclosure: in May I eBayed into a used 20D & a used Canon 16-35 f2.8L = whee!). We drove up through Flagstaff, across the Navajo reservation on HWY 163 stopping at Monument Valley, up HWY 191 in eastern Utah through Moab, and then the 128 Colorado River Scenic Byway to I-70 across Colorado. There are many scenic routes across the West, and I have driven precious few, but this one will always rate a Stunning.
We stayed first with the Gamaches and then my Uncle&Aunt in Denver, cramming as much of the city that I know into just over 2 days as possible. While this was mostly parks and old neighborhoods we toured Regis and Red Rocks. Picked an Onion outside Common Grounds (and saw that Arcade Fire will play the Rocks on 9/17, must... win... lottery!). We got to see lots of people on Saturday night at the Twin BDay and then over the next two days. We finished with breakfast at the new Racine's (not the same but nice) on Tuesday morning and drove across Nebraska to my cousin's in Vermillion SD.
There we spent two days trying to do nothing but relax on the farm... no dice. Farmer's market, kayaking the Missouri and exploring an island, and a trip to the Shrine to Music, a world-class instrument museum on the USD grounds. Oh, and unloading the dresser I had brought my cousin from my late Grandma. The truck was happy to be done with that.
Then we were on to Chicago, where one of my cousins had arranged a very nice surprise: use of their downtown condo for the weekend. This is if not THE way to see Chicago one of the best. We were able to walk just about everywhere and take the El when tired. A 24 hour El pass is $5 and well worth it. The restaurant/lounge of the John Hancock Tower is 1 drink minimum but also worth it (it has better views than Sears by virtue of being closer to the lake and is for city-viewing purposes the same height). In a neat coincidence the Taste of Chicago was ongoing that week and so Lincoln Park was flush with food & festival.
Chicago has a way of making you stay up past bedtime, and so the day we planned to drive to Toronto started later than Chicago-Toronto Driving Feasibility allows. So we decided to stay in Port Huron MI, rest up, and start the next day off with the border. Good thing, because the enxt day, I made a series of tactical errors that resulted in being denied entry to Canada. I was only going along with guidelines set forth by the Canadian Government on their immigration website that mentioned absolutely nothing about border crossings with plans for a long stay and certainly did not mention that, though one may indeed seek an offer of employment while on a Temporary Resident Visa (this being the visa extended to USA citizens), DO NOT TELL THIS TO BORDER OFFICIALS: THEY WILL FREAK.
So, that--July 3--was a bad day. The rest of the day was spent reconnecting with work to get a copy of my termination showing as an extended leave. I had to buy travel insurance--which I sorta had wanted to get anyway but which $350 in starter motor repairs had delayed--and print copies of my bank and credit balances. On top of that, the border officials were not considering Heidi as a means of support, so she pulled cash out of her bank and it posed as mine. However, we were kinda shaken by the whole thing and were uncertain about entering Canada on our next attempt. So we spent July 4 together in Port Huron, just in case Heidi would later be forced to fly home from Detroit.
The next day I did get to enter Canada for my birthday. I asked for (based on my resources), and was granted, 3 months. I do not remember another feeling of relief so profound. It was a high-spirited drive to Toronto.
Heidi's school is located in eastern Toronto, still known by its former town name of Scarborough. We got a room in the student res (which is a hotel in summer) and spent the next day on Centennial College's two campi. We later visited the U of Toronto downtown, driving along a very neat ubermulticultural Danforth Ave/Bloor St. You have a few Greek blocks, a few Korean blocks, a few Canadian blocks, a few Portugese blocks, etc. Very slow driving; it would be much better to walk. With lots of money. Toronto is such a safe city that a single shooting is reported as a crime wave in a metro area more populous than Baltimore/DC.
Finally it came time to drive home to Ottawa. We got in on the afternoon of the 7th and dropped by Heidi's grandma, then her dad & stepmom, who were watching Live Earth (= amusing). Then we unloaded the truck--while low on violent crime, vehicle break-in is a problem here--and were done with the trip.
Coming soon-ish: the next installment, Life in Canada and What is Going On?. Right now the Iraqis in Ottawa are celebrating their soccer victory via carhorns, and CBC is very good despite no Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!. Sounds Like Canada with its Summer Philosphy segment and anytime Sean Cullen is on are faves.
Off! to shower and finish laundry. (sung) And the Food of your choice will taake your li-ife to-nii-ee-ii-ee-iiiight!
That's Sean Cullen's fault.
This is the coolest July I have ever spent. Local temperatures have been generally below normal and precip has been up. It's quite like a wet late April in Denver or late February in Phoenix with the occasional muggy Midwestern day interspersed. I suppose it's much more like a cool Northeastern summer, but as it's new to me I can't say for sure. I refuse to speculate comparatively with Seattle at this time, but it has crossed my mind to do so.
You see why updating often requires a substantial block of time.
Heidi and I had a great trip across the country. We were occasionally on schedule, sleeping late when necessary and tryin to balance our overall 12 day schedule with seeing neat things. Heidi has a geological penchant and so the AZ/UT/CO portion of the route was thoroughly documented via out-the-window digital camera (phtotodisclosure: in May I eBayed into a used 20D & a used Canon 16-35 f2.8L = whee!). We drove up through Flagstaff, across the Navajo reservation on HWY 163 stopping at Monument Valley, up HWY 191 in eastern Utah through Moab, and then the 128 Colorado River Scenic Byway to I-70 across Colorado. There are many scenic routes across the West, and I have driven precious few, but this one will always rate a Stunning.
We stayed first with the Gamaches and then my Uncle&Aunt in Denver, cramming as much of the city that I know into just over 2 days as possible. While this was mostly parks and old neighborhoods we toured Regis and Red Rocks. Picked an Onion outside Common Grounds (and saw that Arcade Fire will play the Rocks on 9/17, must... win... lottery!). We got to see lots of people on Saturday night at the Twin BDay and then over the next two days. We finished with breakfast at the new Racine's (not the same but nice) on Tuesday morning and drove across Nebraska to my cousin's in Vermillion SD.
There we spent two days trying to do nothing but relax on the farm... no dice. Farmer's market, kayaking the Missouri and exploring an island, and a trip to the Shrine to Music, a world-class instrument museum on the USD grounds. Oh, and unloading the dresser I had brought my cousin from my late Grandma. The truck was happy to be done with that.
Then we were on to Chicago, where one of my cousins had arranged a very nice surprise: use of their downtown condo for the weekend. This is if not THE way to see Chicago one of the best. We were able to walk just about everywhere and take the El when tired. A 24 hour El pass is $5 and well worth it. The restaurant/lounge of the John Hancock Tower is 1 drink minimum but also worth it (it has better views than Sears by virtue of being closer to the lake and is for city-viewing purposes the same height). In a neat coincidence the Taste of Chicago was ongoing that week and so Lincoln Park was flush with food & festival.
Chicago has a way of making you stay up past bedtime, and so the day we planned to drive to Toronto started later than Chicago-Toronto Driving Feasibility allows. So we decided to stay in Port Huron MI, rest up, and start the next day off with the border. Good thing, because the enxt day, I made a series of tactical errors that resulted in being denied entry to Canada. I was only going along with guidelines set forth by the Canadian Government on their immigration website that mentioned absolutely nothing about border crossings with plans for a long stay and certainly did not mention that, though one may indeed seek an offer of employment while on a Temporary Resident Visa (this being the visa extended to USA citizens), DO NOT TELL THIS TO BORDER OFFICIALS: THEY WILL FREAK.
So, that--July 3--was a bad day. The rest of the day was spent reconnecting with work to get a copy of my termination showing as an extended leave. I had to buy travel insurance--which I sorta had wanted to get anyway but which $350 in starter motor repairs had delayed--and print copies of my bank and credit balances. On top of that, the border officials were not considering Heidi as a means of support, so she pulled cash out of her bank and it posed as mine. However, we were kinda shaken by the whole thing and were uncertain about entering Canada on our next attempt. So we spent July 4 together in Port Huron, just in case Heidi would later be forced to fly home from Detroit.
The next day I did get to enter Canada for my birthday. I asked for (based on my resources), and was granted, 3 months. I do not remember another feeling of relief so profound. It was a high-spirited drive to Toronto.
Heidi's school is located in eastern Toronto, still known by its former town name of Scarborough. We got a room in the student res (which is a hotel in summer) and spent the next day on Centennial College's two campi. We later visited the U of Toronto downtown, driving along a very neat ubermulticultural Danforth Ave/Bloor St. You have a few Greek blocks, a few Korean blocks, a few Canadian blocks, a few Portugese blocks, etc. Very slow driving; it would be much better to walk. With lots of money. Toronto is such a safe city that a single shooting is reported as a crime wave in a metro area more populous than Baltimore/DC.
Finally it came time to drive home to Ottawa. We got in on the afternoon of the 7th and dropped by Heidi's grandma, then her dad & stepmom, who were watching Live Earth (= amusing). Then we unloaded the truck--while low on violent crime, vehicle break-in is a problem here--and were done with the trip.
Coming soon-ish: the next installment, Life in Canada and What is Going On?. Right now the Iraqis in Ottawa are celebrating their soccer victory via carhorns, and CBC is very good despite no Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!. Sounds Like Canada with its Summer Philosphy segment and anytime Sean Cullen is on are faves.
Off! to shower and finish laundry. (sung) And the Food of your choice will taake your li-ife to-nii-ee-ii-ee-iiiight!
That's Sean Cullen's fault.