My last night in my Edmonton apartment was an uncomfortable one. I had loaded up close to everything from my apartment into the Uhaul (okay, Kent loaded it for me -- thanks Kent!), and was left with only a sleeping bag, pillow and clock radio. Not one single solitary soft thing.
I ended up scrunching up my bathrobe (which I had, luckily, forgotten behind my bathroom door when I packed) and putting it under the sleeping bag in an ill-fated attempt to make my carpeted floor a bit more comfy.
The next day I spent SIX hours cleaning my apartment. I hadn't intended to spend that much time. I certainly hadn't thought I had six hours worth of cleaning to do. But I did.
When the manager came for the walk through, he opened my oven door, and peeked into the bathroom, said "this looks wonderful" and handed me back my damage deposit. Go figure.
I don't really have many pics of my drive to Toronto. Truth be told (and Cal, my travelling companion can attest), I was in a poor mood for most of it. Too much could go wrong with "the plan". And I feared all of it.
I was about an hour out of Edmonton before I realized I needed to tape the passenger-side side mirror in its place. With each highway bump, the mirror was shimmying further and further from its slot in a sneaky attempt to plummet in protest to the pavement below. Good thing I had packing tape easily accessible in the back. And Cal's son is some kind of duct-tape-tailor.
Cal and I chose to drive from Medicine Hat, Alberta to Kenora, Ontario in one fell swoop. About 13 hours driving. The last maybe one to one and a half hours with me training a flashlight on the dashboard because we couldn't figure out how to have the headlights on at the same time as the dashboard lights. Our choice was to be able to see the shining eyes of deer prancing from the wooded sidelines. And we saw one mom, with two babies. Who completely freaked when Callie honked the horn to get them off the road. One actually fell down in an attempt to rev its gangly legs up to retreat speed. But I'm happy to report the family safely made it off the road, and we continued safely on our way.
A day or so later (it all blurs together), we saw a confident bull moose who didn't seem all that bothered to be the photo subject du jour. The mom and babe were less confident, and took off on a determined trot at the sight of my camera:
And then we were in Toronto, uneventfully (with the slight exception of staying overnight at a tiny town that had no cellphone coverage. I didn't care one whit about this ... Cal still suffers the shakes. Serious electronics infatuation, that gal)
Welcome to my neighbourhood:
And view from my balcony:
If you squint -- or zoom the camera -- you can see what you're looking for:
(wait until dark, and it's real purdy:)
There are a number of fruit/vegetable/flower shops within walking distance. Fresh fruit each day. That I wash in dishwashing soap before eating because who knows who squeezed the kiwi before me. But still, nice.
And I live just north of Greektown. Usually this place is crawling with older Greek men checking out the action:
(Cal and I weren't sure just what this place roasts:)
I ended up scrunching up my bathrobe (which I had, luckily, forgotten behind my bathroom door when I packed) and putting it under the sleeping bag in an ill-fated attempt to make my carpeted floor a bit more comfy.
The next day I spent SIX hours cleaning my apartment. I hadn't intended to spend that much time. I certainly hadn't thought I had six hours worth of cleaning to do. But I did.
When the manager came for the walk through, he opened my oven door, and peeked into the bathroom, said "this looks wonderful" and handed me back my damage deposit. Go figure.
I don't really have many pics of my drive to Toronto. Truth be told (and Cal, my travelling companion can attest), I was in a poor mood for most of it. Too much could go wrong with "the plan". And I feared all of it.
I was about an hour out of Edmonton before I realized I needed to tape the passenger-side side mirror in its place. With each highway bump, the mirror was shimmying further and further from its slot in a sneaky attempt to plummet in protest to the pavement below. Good thing I had packing tape easily accessible in the back. And Cal's son is some kind of duct-tape-tailor.
Cal and I chose to drive from Medicine Hat, Alberta to Kenora, Ontario in one fell swoop. About 13 hours driving. The last maybe one to one and a half hours with me training a flashlight on the dashboard because we couldn't figure out how to have the headlights on at the same time as the dashboard lights. Our choice was to be able to see the shining eyes of deer prancing from the wooded sidelines. And we saw one mom, with two babies. Who completely freaked when Callie honked the horn to get them off the road. One actually fell down in an attempt to rev its gangly legs up to retreat speed. But I'm happy to report the family safely made it off the road, and we continued safely on our way.
A day or so later (it all blurs together), we saw a confident bull moose who didn't seem all that bothered to be the photo subject du jour. The mom and babe were less confident, and took off on a determined trot at the sight of my camera:
And then we were in Toronto, uneventfully (with the slight exception of staying overnight at a tiny town that had no cellphone coverage. I didn't care one whit about this ... Cal still suffers the shakes. Serious electronics infatuation, that gal)
Welcome to my neighbourhood:
And view from my balcony:
If you squint -- or zoom the camera -- you can see what you're looking for:
(wait until dark, and it's real purdy:)
There are a number of fruit/vegetable/flower shops within walking distance. Fresh fruit each day. That I wash in dishwashing soap before eating because who knows who squeezed the kiwi before me. But still, nice.
And I live just north of Greektown. Usually this place is crawling with older Greek men checking out the action:
(Cal and I weren't sure just what this place roasts:)
... and someplace for those Children of the Corn formal events. (It's hard to see with the reflection on the window, but cree-pee!)
And thus brings our "These are the places in my neighbourhood" segment to an end.
And thus brings our "These are the places in my neighbourhood" segment to an end.
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