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Finding Ying Yang and Fall Foliage

Here’s my New England 2008 ride report.
Here are all of the pictures.

87 …

… days until Christmas.

Precious Moments

I have always been a fan of Precious Moments but lately I have seen so many I like. There are some REALLY cute ones out for Christmas… *hint hint*

Reasonable?

So both Disney World and Disneyland are offering free admission on your birthday during 2009. So I am wondering, since my birthday is on a Saturday next year, if it’s reasonable to fly down Friday night and come back Sunday… It is risky since I was born during a blizzard… and had a blizzard on my birthday last year too…. Hmm… So I would save something like $60 but how much would I have to spend. And March is a nice time for 48 hours of warm weather…

Sad

I did my St. Jacob’s Saturday routine as summer is now over… and thought a trip to Anna Mae’s was in order. Anyway, on my drive past the market I noticed a ‘walmart’ sign. It appears that Walmart is going in beside the St. Jacob’s market?? How sad is that?? Talk about ruining the atmosphere.

On an aside, I was beside a table of six adults at Anna Mae’s and it was interesting hearing them explain things to their American friends… first about the Amish and Mennonites… and that Anna Mae’s is all run on wind power (they wind tower is new since I was there a month ago)… and then how Tim Horton’s started on the east coast… and on and on. Kept me amused.

Farewell, Lucy!

Lucy, my first bike, has been sold. A bit of paperwork, and then on Saturday night I say goodbye. She’s a great bike, and I’d love to keep her but I can’t justify paying extra insurance, giving up garage space (even with a Smart car), and seeing her sit there un-ridden and un-loved. She’s going to a good home where she’ll be loved. I’m sure I’ll feel better when Maggie is back in the garage (she had to get a ride to the clinic to have her foot fixed - can you believe it, a nail in the tire after only 1800 km?) - ah, she’s in a totally different class. It’s like how you feel about your elementary school girlfriend, but now you’re with a supermodel.

Cute

Outside of Rockwood, ON along highway 7, there is this entertaining property. They have a lot of geese lawn ornament things and they position them in different themes. So this week the geese are all sitting at desks and there is a blackboard that says “Welcome Back Students”. Last week they had little plastic pools and diving boards with the geese on them. At Thanksgiving they are sitting around a table with food, there had them riding horses a few weeks back. It’s just a fun thing to see on the way to work.

Our Newest Baby

Maggie arrived yesterday, at ~ 10:30 a.m., measuring just 7 km, and an estimated 500 lbs. Her tank was mostly full, she was shiny and clean, and the mechanic said she was ready to go. I brought her home the long way, and took her out again a couple of times today, and she’s doing better and better. She had a good night last night with Lucy. We’re really looking forward to a lifetime of adventures.

More pictures

Newfoundland

Supposedly there are no snakes, deer, porcupines, groundhogs or skunks in Newfoundland. The latest invader is the coyotes who are rumoured to have arrived on an ice flow.

Rumours

Well, the Bath and Body Works is slowly coming along in Stone Road Mall. On the facebook site it says that it should be open by Sept. 2… do I believe those rumours? I limited myself to a $10 purchase when I was in the States last week…

August?

It’s August? Crazy! I think I have done a good job of filling my time up in July… I visited lots of friends, went on a few road trips, and spent lots of time outdoors. August looks to be promising as well!

Media Hating

I used to hate Bell. Now I hate Bell and Rogers. Oh the reasons! The latest.

Fun Link

For all of those do it yourself people, or people who like to waste time trying to find a ‘better’ way to do something, I this perfect organization website. Oh, it’s also good if you hate to buy new planners every year, you can make your own here .

Flying

I hadn’t been on a plane for almost 10 years and then we went on two flights last year. Anyway, flying is totally different than I remembered it to be. I thought for sure I could read on the plane, but nope - I get motion sick. I watched the movies fine but if the movie sucks, I get pretty bored. The flights with your own TV were fine though… I am a very antsy person - and can’t sit for long periods of time. Oh, the plane was so much louder than I remembered as well. Very loud. Anyway, the purpose of this is I keep wondering if I would ever be able to travel overseas? I think my longest flight lately was 3 hours and that was really pushing my boredom/antsy factor. My friend downloads books onto her iPOD… that might be an option. But yeah… these people on 13 hour flights? HOW????

Square One

I have been out of the loop. I had some time to kill yesterday so went for a walk around Square One. Wow, I haven’t been there in years. My first mistake was that I went in a different door - I was very lost for quite a while… There is so much in there now!! I think I went over five years ago when there was a new addition but I didn’t really get the feel for it. I’ll have to go again soon now that I know the lay of the land.

Side note, Breakfast Television says that women find their 30’s their toughest decade. Hm…. they are tired and stressed! Supposedly woman in their 80’s are happier than those in their 30’s. Interesting.

Happy Canada Day!

We had a nice Canada Day exploring parts of southern Ontario. We went to the St. Jacob’s farmers market and bought peas and cherries. We paid the owners young son for cherries and he gave me the same amount back but in different denominations… so told him what change I needed. The owner seemed happy to have an honest customer and we saw her sneak another handful of cherries into our bag. Yumm! From there we headed to Stratford. They have the best tea store (for Doug) and the best toy store (for me!). We each made a purchase and then headed to the chocolate store for their chocolate mints! Umm… I spent a gift card at the Rocky Mountain chocolate store and bought some caramel corn with nuts for our journey. From Stratford we headed… through small towns and ended up in London. We found the best historic general store called Legg’s. I won a free ice tea package in their Canada Day draw thingy… and the girl giving samples was SOOOO cute and nice. Just a friendly kid that you don’t see much of any more. They had quite an eclectic mix of stuff and it was one of those stores that kept going at every turn - I like those places! We headed by Doug’s old house and he chatted about all his memories in London along the way. Of course we had to go to the BMW dealer (which was oddly open today) and Doug drooled over the bike he wants. We had dinner at Kelsey’s and took a scenic drive home. The weather was gorgeous today too! Hope everyone had a great Canada day… hopefully the fireworks end sooner than they did last night!! (11:30!!).

It’s Official

Yep, saw the “Bath and Body Works Coming Soon” sign at the mall today. I’m still a little sad that it is coming as it is always a treat to go in the States and see what you can find that round. Ah well, I’m sure I will get used to it.

Knapps is Nasty

I don’t like Knapps. They’re a greenhouse/berry farm/country store just around the corner from us in the town of Eramosa. I really wanted to like them because of their convenience, but their products (ready picked strawberries, u-pick strawberries, jams, pies, etc.) are overpriced, and in 2 days we’ve had 2 bad experiences with them. They have a big sign saying that picking conditions are “excellent”, so we drove in at 5:30 (berry places are typically open till 8 on weeknights) and they said, sorry we closed for the day - come back tomorrow morning, we’re open at 8. So we show up at 8:30 and the sign still says picking conditions are “excellent” and they say, sorry we’re closed because it rained. Huh? Other places at least put a sign up at the end of the driveway with updates, but not Knapps - you need to drive up and walk in to see if they’ll allow it.

If you’re looking for an alternative provider (not of all the same stuff, but enough of an overlap), we highly recommend The Marketplace on Jones Baseline south of 24, north of 7. They’re super friendly, have great stock, host a Veggie Market of local produce, and have a broad selection of delicious meats. Go there instead!

We’re in the market for U-Pick - specifically for strawberries at this time of the year, but also raspberries and blueberries and other fruits and veggies. Suggestions within 1/2 hour of Guelph?

Safari - Roaaaar!

As part of our summer initiatives to ‘do stuff’, and in celebration of the first (full) day of summer, Jenn and I went to African Lion Safari. It was so much better than we expected! We had prepared ourselves for the hefty price ($24 per adult) when a lady walked up and offered us two extra free tickets from their work party. Thanks ServiceX, or was it PlanX, or maybe ManageX - anyways, it was something-X, and we thank you profusely! So, we embarked on the safari (the free safari!) and saw amazing things and had a wonderful time. I broke the rules and opened my windows for the harmless animals (Jenn freaked), but there were a few incidences that made us almost poop our pants (ahem - lions and ostriches). See flickr for our adventure. Great times - highly recommended, even if it’s not free!

A Great Day!!

Doug and I always feel summer passes us by, so we have been planning ahead! Last weekend was Niagara and today’s adventure was the African Lion Safari. I was a little worried as it was raining on our way there… but by the time we got there the rain had stopped and it was cloudy. We were two cars away from paying when this lady knocked on our window… and GAVE US TWO FREE TICKETS!!! She was there for a company work party and her family hadn’t come so was looking for two people to give them to! A Smart car is an obvious choice as you know there are no more than two in the car! So… we saved $50!! WOohoo! The safari was GREAT!! I have vague memories of the safari and just figured there were a few animals, and you would be lucky to see them. Well, they were all out, and they are all close enough to see. Umm… we had one fearful moment when this one lion locked eyes with us and just kept walking right up to our car. He had been sleeping far away and then came right at us! It was freaky!!!! Umm… we survived the baboon area but had fun watching them poop on other people’s cars. They seemed to know which cars were junk as that is the one that was worst hit! We watched the elephants take a bath, went on a train ride, and had a hoot watching this 3 year old trying to go through the ball play area. Tomorrow is my brother’s birthday party - so yet another fun day ahead!

** Side note: Hey Cousin Christine! My Mom was talking about Nana and how upset she was that you only remembered the monkey peeing on the window! So I thought of you as we drove through them!