Boxes, boxes, boxes...

The moving truck didn't show up until Thursday, so we had a glorious box-free week before all of our stuff arrived. It really made me consider how much of our things that I really want and need. But, the "I don't need stuff lifestyle" lasted exactly the amount of time that it took for the moving truck to arrive. Once that monolithic sucker beep beeped his way up our street, I dove into unpacking the boxes like an Olympic swimmer on a sweltering day - fast, furious, and filled with purpose. I was happy to see that all our items made it across two and a half provinces intact. And I was thrilled to have my stuff back.

Stuff! Put away in the hutch. We used those dishes to cook with as. soon. as. we. got. them.

So, in the before times of having our stuff, what was it exactly that we did? We explored Saskatoon! The only dampener was the rain. And what a rain! We felt like the weather gods were trying extra hard to make us feel completely at home, sending cloud after soggy cloud to burst immediately above our fair city. But, I digress. We are from the West Coast, so we are used to the rain. We put on our MEC raincoats so that we didn't have to worry about dodging rain drops, then zipped downtown for a fancy birthday dinner. 

(One awesome thing about Saskatoon? The city is ringed by "Circle Road", a highway, which zings you from one side of the city to the other in 15 minutes or less. This could prove to be different in the winter, however, it's working well for the summer.)

For J's birthday, we made a reservation at Truffles. One of my very good friends gave us a gift certificate to Truffles as a wedding present and both of us eagerly anticipated trying out the restaurant. After a few tense minutes spent searching for parking (JazzFest is going on in Saskatoon right now too, so the whole downtown core area is crawling with people) we found a spot right next to the Bessborough Hotel and dashed two blocks to Truffles to make our 6 pm reservation. 

Like any good expensive girlfriend, I had the duck. 

Our supper did not disappoint. The only trouble with Truffles is that I can't eat there every weekend! I suppose that I'll have to make a serious study of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, so that we can enjoy delicious French food at home.

We'd been told by J's cousin that it was imperative that we go to Calories for birthday cake. And so, off we trundled to Calories where they were doing a roaring Saturday night trade. After a cursory glance at the display cabinet, I knew that I would be having Hazelnut Torte and J had absolutely decided upon Oreo Cheesecake. We got our dessert to go and headed home to enjoy our calorific creations.

On Sunday, I took myself off to explore the Saskatoon Farmer's Market. They have local vegetables, Okanagan fruit, meat, eggs, jams, bakery items, and all sorts of food vendors. Its like a mini Granville Island, if you will. The local food scene is emerging here - for instance, if you want local, organic, free run eggs, then you have to get them at the Farmer's Market. The regular grocery stores just don't carry them. And that's OK, not everyone wants them! But nonetheless, it was fun to go poke about and talk to some food producers, buy fresh veggies and eggs, and take full advantage of free parking on Sundays.

Notice the grey sky. 

That evening we were invited for supper at the home of one of the PGY4 (soon to be PGY5) residents. She and her husband generously fed us and answered as many questions as they could about Saskatoon and about the residency program. (Question: "Are there always this many mosquitoes?" Answer: "Yes. Last year the city had to bring dragonflies in to eat them up. Wear your bug spray, the mosquitoes bite through jeans!") They took us out for a walk with their dogs (two of their own and one they were pet-sitting) after we finished supper. The rain had cleared and they live very close to the river valley, so we went along a trail high above the river, enjoying the view. (Grandma W, you are right! Saskatoon is a very pretty city. It doesn't have the drama of Vancouver or the postcard perfect harbour of Victoria, but it has a quiet charm of its own. Something about those bridges and that sky.)

Beautiful. And the good thing about the rain is that everything is very green!

The rest of last week we spent getting organized for the moving truck and going shopping for more of the core essentials. We also spent a significant part of our time weeding the back yard. It was seriously over grown. The weeds were close to a metre high. The bright side to our weeding situation was that because it had been so wet, the weeds just popped out of the ground very easily! Now that we have fought a significant portion of the weeds, we planted some veggies and flowers. We've got peas, zucchini, peppers, cucumber, strawberries and tomatoes, as well as a colourful assortment of flowers around the property. Hopefully I don't kill them! 

Then once the truck arrived, we unpacked. And unpacked. And unpacked. Then broke down boxes, carted them downstairs, and built two brand new bookcases. I'm sure that all of you know how that goes. But now it is done and it is Sunday, so I can off to the Farmer's Market once more. We need more veggies, as our little plot isn't producing anything yet. 

Love to you all. 

S + J and J + S

Three Days Journey

We made it. We packed boxes, stacked boxes, and watched the movers haul them onto their truck. We left Victoria the next day and it only took three days to drive 1, 689 kilometres to a brand new life. Of course, we had a two beautiful overnight stops on the way - One to visit with my auntie, uncle, and cousins in Kelowna, BC, and the other to stay with some dear friends in Cochrane, Alberta. 

Our last sailing on BC Ferries (well, for the foreseeable future) included a trip to the breakfast buffet, some ocean and island sight seeing off the bow of the ship, and a muted whistle at Active Pass. Both of us remembered the whistle being much louder and more frightening as children, but maybe this is what happens when you grow up - Loud noises don't scare you so much. 

Alas, no whales. 

(Not true, our new oven just beeped and I jumped about a mile in my chair.) 

The drive to Kelowna was easy. My only problem was when I took the 17a into Richmond rather than just following the 17. After driving this route out from Tswassen hundreds of times, I got confused with all of the new roadwork that has happened outside Vancouver. Nonetheless, we found our way back via the 91 and onto Highway 17, which is, of course, the Trans-Canada. 

After my mix up in the Fraser Valley we had no issues. Just sunshine, "Steve the First" (a hilarious CBC radio drama which I highly recommend), and some Vinyl Cafe to accompany our journey. We pulled into Kelowna just as planned, at about 4:00 PM. We had a fabulous supper of pink salmon, roasted root veg, and decadent Choices cakes, surrounded by our family. It was a wonderful way to be sent off to a new province! 

The next morning, we made sure to pick up some Okanagan cherries on our way out of Kelowna. Again, it was an easy drive, but this time made more delicious because of the cherries! We stopped for a decadent lunch in Revelstoke at La Baguette - decadent, because it included fresh gelato and a blueberry pavolova for dessert!

Stop at La Baguette. You will not regret it. 

The soaring Rockies gave us some much needed mountain time, as we wound our way closer to the prairies. We picked our way into Cochrane, driving along the Bow River and marveling at the many signs for wild life. (We saw none, besides many large trucks!)

We miss you, mountains.

By the time (don't forget to add in a one hour time difference like we did!) we arrived at E + MC's house, we were ravenous. Luckily, they had anticipated this and had a steaming chicken pot pie fresh out of the oven. We had an evening of much merriment, with mead, a delicious galette, and board games. We're all looking forward to seeing each other again soon. 

Early the next morning we prepared ourselves for the last day of driving. It seemed that we hadn't quite left the West Coast behind, because a torrential downpour greeted us as we packed up the car. Of course, being BC born and bred, we had our rain coats handy! 

The next issue was to decide which road to take. Google Maps recommended three routes and after a bit of back and forth, we decided to take the AB-570 from Drumhellar. This meant that we got to see many Hoodoos, as well as the rolling prairies. I'd been a bit nervous about going this way, as there were no gas stations along the route, but we filled up in Drumhellar and the car has a big gas tank. 

Hoodoos! Just outside Drumhellar.

After about an hour of Hoodoos and the ghost town of Dorothy, we found ourselves on a straight prairie road. It's quite something to be able to see the crest that you will be on in 10 minutes! We listened to "Steve the Second" (the sequel to the CBC radio drama that I mentioned earlier) while enjoying the huge sky around us. 

Cruise control at 100 km/hr and you're good.

However, at long last, our journey was at an end. We pulled into Saskatoon around 3:30 PM and found our way to our little house on the prairie. Our landlords were here when we arrived and gave us the grand tour: We've got a main floor living room-dining room, a kitchen (with dishwasher and self-cleaning oven!), a mud room, and a bathroom with bathtub. Upstairs we have our bedroom and our guest bedroom. We hope that you will be out to visit us soon! 

Notice the dishwasher. We are excited.

We arrived to a beautiful floral arrangement sitting on our dining room table. It's from some of my dear friends and says, "Welcome Home". We do feel like we're at home, even though we are just getting to know the city. Everyone we have talked to has been friendly and full of helpful hints of fun things to do in and around Saskatoon. The drivers are courteous and, like in Victoria, stop for pedestrians crossing the roads at crosswalks. This is the mark of a good city. 

Wonderful friends. We miss you already! 

We've been out to procure supplies at Costco and Superstore. Our pantry is full, which inspired us to bake cookies. A 2.4 kg bag of chocolate chips begs to be transformed into a gooey mouthful! You'll know that we have settled in happily, because we have cookies, internet, and the knowledge that Saskatoon's renowned Jazz Fest begins today. We will check it out if it is not thunder-storming tomorrow.

Cookies. We have them. 

The rain has returned and I'm feeling quite at home with the World Cup, a mug of steaming tea, and a warm cookie. I'll talk to you all again soon. Love to you all.