Holiday Inn Edmonton-Convention Center/Se

... front of another open fire. Unfortunately Dana ended up going to bed early as she was not feeling well, but her family made me very welcome and showed me what Canadian hospitality is all about.

Sunday I drove back with Dana and she dropped me off at Fort Edmonton Park where her boyfriend Dave works on weekends because he gets to work his draught horse which is a Belgian named Nick (he's not actually from Belgium, that's just the breed). Dave took me on several wagon rides ...

So to update I got a chance to talk to a couple of younger VIA rail attendants. Isca and Deni have been with VIA for the last five years. Both having joined VIA Rail at the age of 19, they are doing their post secondary education a little different than most. Taking three courses while they work full time, based out of Winnipeg these ...

It has been an interesting few years and I want to thank everyone who supported me along the way. I have certainly learned alot :) As many of you may have already noticed, I am no longer blogging at TravelPod. I have officially left the Expedia/TripAdvisor/TravelPod family as of last month. I appreciate all the opportunities and wonderful people I met along the way and for that, I am ...

... I am enjoying more thought-provoking discussions with those who have information that I find helpful in refining my beliefs. I am becoming more passionate now that I have lost the numbness I have hid behind so long. I find apathy is becoming unattractive to me these days. I don't want that word used in relation to me anymore. So in a week, I will be voting. I was glad when the pair of volunteers showed up at my door to register me. I was glad when ...

... positive - there were no dangerous chemical spills as a result of the derailment. Finally, at about 10:30 p.m., we pulled into the train station in Edmonton - 14 1/2 hours later than the scheduled arrival. What a wonderful site to see Bernie (Dennis' brother) arrive with our suburban. Although they were out of town, the Wermanns (Dennis' sister and family) had made beds for us in their home and we thankfully collapsed in them at about midnight.

... Lots of time and the spirit of adventure and a willingness to party, if necessary. And an unlimited supply of cash. Yeah right. Okay, well the other stuff anyway. Packing was easier this time. Less weather and I sorta know what I'm doing now. First it's a 10:00 a.m. Westjet to Vancouver. Then, two hours after arriving in Van, it's a 14 hour Air Canada flight to Hong Kong. I arrive the next ...

... I went through security...apparently they have the metal detectors set as sensitive as they go - the small piece of tin foil on the pack of gum in my pocket set it off. Seattle was supposed to be a 4 hour layover, but my flight back to Edmonton was cancelled. Definitely would have been mad if I had paid for those Alaska Air tickets - out of 4 total flights, 3 were late and one was cancelled. They put me on a flight about 7 hours later, and I ate like a king on their ...

... usual haunt. But the staff were super friendly even allowing us in although they were about to close. We tried a few different rolls and makis discovering that Fuji is a better value for the money than Kyoto, as long as you have the coupons. The staff at Fuji wins hands down and I will go back if only for that reason. Good friendly service is so so important to me. So for now, in Edmonton, Fuji beats Kyoto for sushi. Grateful for doubles.

... and helped myself to more of these savory delights than I want to admit. I reasoned that they were more or less healthy and besides, I am going to yoga in the morning. Mushrooms make me so happy. I need to experiment more with them and create some new dishes. In the meantime, I have about 200 stuffed mushroom caps to devour. I guess I got carried away but I am mad about mmmmmmmushrooms.... Grateful for mushrooms.

... thought, in retrospect I realize that syllabi (hahahaha - that's a funny word), schedules, exams, et tout cela are more constraining than one might imagine. And so here I am....done my degree, no plans, no applications, no responsibility.... China has loomed intangibly in my future for so long now that it's never quite felt real...and now it's only 2 weeks away.