Thursday, August 2, 2007

Thirteen Things I Learned on My Recent Trip to Canada

  1. Do not trust internet directions.
  2. Do not trust internet travel time estimations.
  3. Always take more than three days off to make the trip.
  4. My husband does not drive as fast as I once thought he did. He drives fast, but just not as fast as some of the drivers I have now observed.
  5. Never arrive late on a Sunday. Everything starts closing down and you will not be able to do the currency exchange thing, which is important.
  6. My debit/Mastercard works when swiped as a credit card, but not in the ATMs. Bummer.
  7. Once you get on a highway, you'd better be sure that you're traveling the direction you want to go. You will not see a sign that says "QEW" (or whatever road you happen to be on) again. Only on off'/on ramps.
  8. Other than the road signs, everything looks pretty much the same as it does here.
  9. People are pretty much the same as they are here, only maybe even a bit friendlier. Many wanted to know what our weather was like right now, where we were from, had we lived there long, had we been to Canada before, how long were we staying, etc. It made me smile.
  10. There seems to be a lot more road construction (destruction?) here than in Canada.
  11. It's good when you're in the line to get in (or out) of the country, and you're not one of the vehicles that get singled out for inspection. (Wheh!) ;)
  12. Both US citizens and Canadians flock to Wal-mart in droves.
  13. I've met the coolest Canadian ever and her name (alias) is Elliemarie. ;)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

i just went to Canada as well, and I HEAR ya! There was a running joke about my atm card not working amongst my girlfriends.

Happy TT!

Joely Sue Burkhart said...

I've never been to Canada so thanks for the list!

Leah said...

Awww, you're so sweet. Although right now I think I am the hottest freaking Canadian with this weather ;)

Chris was shocked when I told him you found the people friendly...maybe we are just used to it and find it average behaviour.

Thank you so much for the visit...it was awesome to meet you and your family. I will definitely have to return the favour :)

Heather said...

That just sounds awesome! Glad you had a good time - I have never been there myself, although Ihave lots of friends there.

My TT are up here.

Lori said...

Ive always thought internet directions took the long way there. Thats funny what you said about Walmart..lol...great list and thanks for the info and advise:) Happy TT.

Robin said...

I was just in British Columbia in June. What a GORGEOUS area!

neicybelle said...

lol...awesome list! have never tried to use an atm there...sorry i couldn't warn you about that...and, yeah...it takes me 12 hours to get to toronto...the internet says 10...not!! and sunday is definitely a slow day in canada...am so glad you had a good time!!

DK said...

Great list! I've never been to Canada but we get lots of tourists here in Tiny Tourist Town from there. They are VERY friendly (and they do try to pass Canadian coins here all the time LOL) Thanks for stopping by my place. Hope you have a great week!
DK
A Flyover Blog

Anonymous said...

Hiya! Thanks for visiting my TT at Raven's Roads :)

This made me smile--it's fun to explore a new country. The same, but different.

Linda
http://www.ravensroads.com
http://www.markeroni.com/blog/