Kitchener/Waterloo (KW) is a small, peaceful town. Angela and Dustin seem to really like it there. I joined them for a week over Easter and had good timing as the weekend was hot!

Went to St. Jacob’s Farmer’s Market was practically in full swing because of the great weather. I had some yummy apple fritters (home made with a whole chunk of apple, not Tim Horton style with lots of dough) and some Dutch fish. (Hard to spell name) It reminded me of the farmer’s markets in Australia where the vendors sell food for the same if not lower price than the supermarket. Around during closing? Get some super deals as vendors call out discount pricing for their fruit and veg. That’s what a farmer’s market SHOULD be! I wish Edmonton’s markets could be like that.

A&D also took me to Thursday night karaoke where I did one song (with Angela’s help of course!) . A great group of people that enjoy singing and fellowship.

Good Friday service was great because I got to see both Dustin and Angela perform in the choir. Good job to both of them! Sunday I tried to make that awesome citrus honey glaze on ham for D&A but didn’t quite turn out the same. I hope that maybe Angela can try it again herself and improve on my poor performance.

Had an overnight to Toronto to visit Andrea and Spencer too. Only 1.5 hours away by bus so why not?! Knowing my love of the restaurants in TO, Andrea took us to Guu, a new Japanese restaurant with a 2 hour wait! Worth every minute of the wait! Excellent food and fun atmosphere! I’m so glad they both have patience and that we had a “snack” at Andrea’s house before waiting in line. The staff yelled out salutations and thanks to all patrons in Japanese as they were arriving and leaving!  The bathroom had it’s own soundtrack, different to the music that was playing in the restaurant. More soothing and “bathroomy”. The sinks in the bathroom had raised sinks with the faucet looking like a bamboo pump.

Thanks for the great memories.

Cheered the cross country skiiers as they went past as if they were in an olympic competition and took a bunch of pictures of the scenery for my friend’s travel business.

Our night out started at the Villa Caruso Steak House & Restaurant where we had fabulous food. The only damper was the mandatory 18% gratuity even though our service was poor. We finished the night at the Athabasca Hotel where we were subjected to the audio torturings of Social Code. Once the hour long agonizing gig was over, the little kids left and the adults danced to the Top 30 hits. Many of the Topless Kayakers charmed their way to some free drinks by the Ray Romano look alike and his crew.

Only a few flaws with staying at our accommodation.
1. lots of large groups of kids therefore prank calls and vaselined (I hope) door handles
2. bed bugs (not a serious infestation but definitely the start of a problem)
3. not in the centre of town.

THe last thing our group did before heading out back home was to visit Jasper Museum & Archives. The coupon we received from the hotel for their Jasper in January promotion gives 50% off on the entry to the museum. Excellent and informative, the museum is quaint with a good many items on display.

This year I’m looking to contribute again to Santa’s Anonymous. I don’t know of you recall but last year Charlene and I went to wrap gifts for children and the year before that we decided to do the present drop off. They are looking for volunteers to do wrapping! Drop in dates are Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

The main depot is located at 12345 121 Street.  We are open from 9am – 9pm seven days a week.

Anyone interested to join me?

I met up with Adrian and his friend Drew at the MGM Grand for a night before booking myself into the Excalibur for another 3 nights. Adrian lamented the excessive cost of his room as compared to mine (>$130.00 vs. my $41.00).

I did the CSI experience with Adrian and now we are certified! That’s right, I’ve got the emailed certificate to prove it! We looked at a “crime scene” (staged set) and then went back to the ”labs” to figure out the answers to all the observations we saw earlier.

While we were in the process of completing the lab portion, a “lead CSI” (chick in hot pants with a handcuff belt) came by telling us that our “crime scene” was contaminated and that we should ignore the condom that was tossed into the “crime scene”. Too funny!

The weekend also consisted of a TON of shopping for the boys (I think over $300.00 in one shop!) while I helped them pick out clothes because I’m penniless. At least I thought I was. The bank machine told me I had “Insufficient Funds”. I was embarrassed but when I got back to Edmonton, my account had plenty of funds. The only thing I can figure is that it was an incompatible ATM to my bank. (although it did have the Cirrus logo on it…)

Why would it say “insufficent funds” when it’s just not compatible. It is less embarrassing and worrying if it would say “Card Error” rather than “Insufficient Funds” Don’t you think?

 I’ve got another funny story about Adrian, avoiding someone and McDonald’s so if you want to know, just ask.

One highlight – Craig Olejnik from “The Listener” was sitting across from us at an Italian Restaurant. The lineup for tables was at least 10 long! It was still busy at 8pm when we left the restaurant!

Charlene volunteered to play hostess for Beau’s mom at her home in Spruce so that the family and friends would have a place to relax and enjoy their time before heading to the reception. We were pretty organized and followed Sue’s instructions to the letter and then sat down to catch up with people I haven’t seen in ages.

The reception was really fun. You had to sing songs with the word “love” in them to get them to kiss as tinkling glasses just doesn’t cut it anymore.

The dance went on all night and Charlene, Ange, Calvin, Dan, Tanner, Lauren and Glen all closed down the dance floor! Beau took all the ladies for a spin on the dance floor between dancing with his wife. He is a very confident two stepper! Glen Rees surprised me with his dancing. Pics are now up on Facebook!

I am making it my goal to feed Sarah a bunch of different foods she’s never tried before!

Wednesday night Andrea took us out for Korean BBQ.
Thursday we had Chinese bakery buns, celebrity stalking in Yorkville, and Street Salsa. (outdoor salsa dancing in the summer)
Friday we had Vietnamese Pho and Bun in Chinatown, strolled Kensington market and went up the CN tower
Saturday we went Canoeing in Paris, ate Tim Horton’s and went to the Leafs game (where we won in OT!)
today we strolled up Spadina to Auntie’s and Uncle’s, a brunch place recommended to me by Mish.

Scheduled:
Monday – local tour guide around the harbourfront
Tuesday – Niagara Falls
Wednesday – Dinner at Andrea’s
somewhere we need to fit in Greek food, Indian food, ethiopian food…. etc. This place is so multicultural!

We had a great experienced leader who planned everything and all we had to do was show up with our backpacks and go! Thanks Charlene for making it a great trip. Every meal was planned very well and she got to break in her brand new camping stove.

The portion of the hike that Jane and I did was just an overnight up to campsite #2 beside a beautiful stream just across from a suspension bridge. I think it was either 11km or 14km in. The last 4 kms were inclined and so I was suffering the last bit. Dan and I were quite slow in comparison to Charlene and Jane but they were both very patient. Dan and Charlene continued onto Camp #5 nearer the top of the mountain and took an additional 2 days. The hike up to camp 5 starts steep, with switchbacks for quite a few kms. (I’m glad I skipped out on that for my first trip!)

At camp 1 we took a short rest break to enjoy the glacier lake. The water was so brilliantly blue, I love that colour! I would definitely recommend this hike to anyone who likes a bit of a challenge. Anyone want to come along next year?

(Pictures on Facebook. Lots of them are on Charlene’s profile but you can see some of them on mine.)