JBR - Beer Was Beer, Fish Was Fish

Beer: Lakeside Kolsh, Lake of the Woods Brewing Co, Kenora 

Name: Lakeside is one of Kenora’s first neighbourhoods with many of its homes situated on the shores of Lake of the Woods, spattered with small beaches, boathouses & docks. 

Details: Brewed using an old-world technique which produces a crisp, clean ale with lager characteristics. It is a delicate & subtle beer with a hint of malt & fruit in the nose. 

Fancy Numbers: 5% ABV, 6 IBU, 3 SRM

Date Tried: Thursday October 22, 2020 

Location: The Cornerstone Restaurant, Kenora, Ontario 

Meal: Good dinner but too much food! I had the local fish, Lake of the Woods Walleye - it tasted like fish.
General thoughts from Jason, when asked for his review: "Not great, just like any other beer. Tastes a bit like Molson, which is not a compliment" 

Editor's note: Huge glass though, he was pretty tipsy by the end of it (I drove us back to the hotel after.)

Avery And Maya

We did not get to see my brother and his family for long enough - the trouble with driving is that it takes so long to get out to Alberta (and so long to get back) that is doesn't leave much time for actually visiting. The kids were awesome and hilarious, I can't believe we haven't seen them since Palm Springs this past November. Here is my favourite quote from this visit...

Avery: Maya hates me.
Me: No, that can't be true. You're her brother, she loves you.

Avery: Uh-uh, she doesn't like me.

Maya: I like you!

Avery: No, Maya wouldn't like me if I ate her.

Me: Umm, I guess that is true?

Maya: Yeah, if Avery eats me, I will kill him.

Jason: confused I don't think you can kill him if he has eaten you.

Me: confused that Jason is trying to add logic into any of this

RTW - Quick, Get Through Manitoba

RTW - Big drive out west from Toronto to Calgary/Banff/Edmonton and back. Covid means no flying or cutting through the USA, so Jason and I are taking the car and doing a road trip!

Date: Monday Oct 12, 2020 (Thanksgiving Day)

Starting Location: Cabin just north of Kenora

Ending Location: Basement Bachelor Apartment in Regina, Saskatchewan

Distance Driven: 791 km

Scenery: Farms, fairly flat, occasional river valley.

Animals: Tons of bald eagles, magpies, young coyote, big bunnies

Soundtrack: In the morning Peggy 99.1 (Winnipeg's Favourites) and then in the afternoon 96.1 Bob FM (80's...90's...and Whatever! out of Brandon, Manitoba)

Notes: We tried to limit our stops in Manitoba because they have stricter Covid rules than the rest of the western provinces, however we did need to get gas once. (And I peed on many country side roads.) I packed us a lunch, made sandwiches, roast beef for Jason and bologna with cheese singles for me. The last couple of nights we have been making Hello Fresh meals but are finished them now - for it was Kraft Dinner in the Airbnb in Regina.

RTW - Still In Ontario

RTW - Big drive out west from Toronto to Calgary/Banff/Edmonton and back. Covid means no flying or cutting through the USA, so Jason and I are taking the car and doing a road trip!

Date: Sunday Oct 11, 2020

Starting Location: Catfish Lake, near Wawa

Ending Location: Cabin just north of Kenora

Distance Driven: 976 km

Scenery: Big hills, farm land, lots of trees, Canadian shield rock, lakes.

Animals: Beautiful red fox, a bald eagle, deer, more fields of cows and such.

Soundtrack: In the morning a burnt CD with Neil Young's Harvest album on it, in the afternoon it was a Santana CD (a purchased one, he collaborated with a lot of different people.) Borrowed music from my Dad's old collection when I last visited my Mom.

Notes: It takes f.o.r.e.v.e.r. to get out of Ontario! Longest scheduled driving day, over 10 hours on the road. Passed a lot of nice waterfalls that we hope to stop and see on our way back. A time changed part way through helped us arrive at our Airbnb while it was still light out, but barely. Got to spend some time down at the water's edge before cooking dinner and heading to bed.

RTW - Ferry Ride!

 RTW - Big drive out west from Toronto to Calgary/Banff/Edmonton and back. Covid means no flying or cutting through the USA, so Jason and I are taking the car and doing a road trip!

Date: Saturday Oct 10, 2020

Starting Location: Jason's Parents

Ending Location: Catfish Lake, near Wawa

Distance Driven: 712 km

Scenery: Water, short trees, lakes, and large hills past Sault Ste Maire

Animals: A lot of agriculture - fields of cows, some with horses and occasionally sheep.

Soundtrack: Local radio stations, really local.

Notes: We took the Chi-Cheemaun, a big car ferry that goes from Tobermory at the top of the Bruce Peninsula, to Manitoulin Island, which is the world's largest freshwater island. I took this ferry once before with my family (I think in the opposite direction) and it has been the only time I have ever been motion sick, I remember being very very ill. Was fine this time though (and on any other ferry I have taken, which by now has been a lot.) The coolest part of the Chi-Cheemaun was definitely the car part, besides that it was a pretty normal ferry ride. You can see in the photo that the bow is hinged and lifted up so that we can drink into the hull area to park. We had to be there really early and it took up most of the morning. The Fall colours are beautiful!!

RTW - And So It Begins

 RTW - Big drive out west from Toronto to Calgary/Banff/Edmonton and back. Covid means no flying or cutting through the USA, so Jason and I are taking the car and doing a road trip!

Date: Friday Oct 9, 2020

Starting Location: Home, Toronto

End: Jason's Parents, near Wiarton, Ontario

Starting Odometer: 285,665

Distance Travelled: 214 km

Scenery: Dark

Animals: Clancy, the lovely doodle and Biscuit, the "happy mop" according to Jason.

Notes: We did a good job of packing so were able to be on the road soon after Jason finished work. We picked up prunes and sour keys from Kristen and Noah (they got them for us from Costco) and drove north to Jason's parents, we noticed that by 7pm it was starting to get dark.

Trivia Moves Online

I had been going to Oakville on Tuesdays pretty regularly over the past few years to play Pub Trivia with Teri and some friends. They had been playing together for a while, under the name Village Idiots, so I joined their team. We did well, and we did very well when I convinced Jason to come along too. We actually placed a couple of times - winning a giftcard to spend at the pub. The people where fun, the questions were the perfect difficulty, and the food was really good (for a pub.) About a year ago the game moved from the pub in the plaza around the corner from Teri's house, which we could walk to, to a pub in another plaza that we had to drive to from Teri's place. It still was worth the extra bit of driving because everything was the same at the new place, and the food was just as good.

Village Idiots, Playing Online Pub Trivia Together

April 14, 2020

Covid has closed the pub (though I think they are doing take-out and delivery) so the trivia hasn't been running. I ended up planning to my Virtual Trivia Nights on Tuesdays in honour of the Oakville one. Well, the guy who runs the one at the pub has decided to try to broadcast it online. I moved the one that I host to Wednesday and last night got to actually play for the first time in a couple of months. We set up a Zoom call with the Village Idiots team members on one of Jason's monitors and had the Facebook Live broadcast of the trivia on the other. We think we got third or fourth - the switch to virtual meant some confusion with scoring and communication.

JBR - A Visit To Huntsville

Beer: Lake of Bays Brewing Company, on tap

Date Tried: Saturday March 7, 2020 

Location: Trading Bay Dining Company, Dorset, Ontario
General thoughts from Jason, when asked for his review: "Yeah, it is fine."
Editor's note: It has never worked out that Kristen and Noah are heading to Huntsville at a time that we can join them. They have invited us a few times but we always miss out. Kristen's dad has a condo up near Deerhurst and they love it there, in all seasons. We got to go this past weekend and had a wonderful time. Went for a couple of hikes and did a tiny road trip a few minutes down the road to Dorset for lunch - at a restaurant filled with ski-doo'ers, I think we were the only people who arrived by car. I found an old Heritage Walking Tour of the tiny village so we made sure to do that too. It was a wonderful little winter weekend holiday!

Let's Go To Virginia, Real Quick

So this past weekend brought a snow storm to Toronto (and the surrounding area). I got a call on Sunday that Steph was trapped at the airport downtown. (Toronto Island Airport that was originally just Porter but now a few other carriers use it too. Also, you used to only be able to get to it using a ferry but now there is a tunnel to walk under the water.) Steph was trying to get to Virginia for a photography conference.

Upon reviewing her options she called to see if she could stay overnight and then figure out a way home to Ottawa the following day - since everything in Toronto was basically shut down with the snow (even though it had basically stopped snowing at this point.) I decided to do one better and offered to drive her down to Virginia so she didn't have to miss out on the conference, or the styled shoot she had scheduled on location as well.

It took 10 hours to drive to Charlottesville and we arrived at her hotel at 4am on Monday morning. I was going to drive her to the shoot but then decided I wanted to sleep and just lent her the car for the day while I hung out at the hotel. When she got back that evening (and how she worked a full day, I have no idea) I drove her up to the Washington, DC airport (where she was originally going to fly in) so that she could grab her rental car and continue onto the conference. Then I drove home overnight from Monday to Tuesday.

It was great to spend time catching up but now I need to catch up on some sleep!

We Found The Apple!

When we visited the Finger Lakes area of New York State in 2016, Jason and I did an Apple Tasting Tour, during which we both fell in love with a new apple variety called The Snap Dragon. Couldn't find it during our Salem trip last year because according to one farmer we were a couple weeks early. So, this year, after exploring the waterfront on Sunday morning, Jason looked them up online and we drove into the countryside to try to find them again. And we did!!

Why Not Buffalo?

Jason and I have a tradition of visiting The States during Canadian Thanksgiving, also in 2017 we stayed in Toronto because we had gone to San Francisco at the end of September that year.

Last year, Kristen and Noah joined us for a road trip to Salem, Massachusetts and a little visit to Boston. Since this year we decided to go to Buffalo, New York, and Kristen's mom lives in St. Catherine's we invited them to join us again for a night it if worked out with their Thanksgiving plans. They came out for the Saturday night and we had a blast doing a self-guided walking tour together through Allentown, getting tastings at a gin distillery and beer brewery, eating 'buffalo' chicken wings and exploring the waterfront. The photo is from our walk through downtown on Sunday morning, lots of cool architecture!

An awesome highlight was getting to take Jason to The Buffalo Zoo! This has always been my favoruite zoo, we used to visit it a lot when I was younger and my grandparents first lived in Fort Erie. The last time I had been was during a high-school road trip with Teri. A lot of things had changed, less animals and larger enclosures mainly, but I still loved it and could have stayed all day!!

Staying Awake In Budapest

After we landed, we took a bus/van into the city from the airport - this gave me the opportunity to test out the cost sharing app that we are going to be using to manage various joint expenses during the road trip next week.

We checked into our hotels; most people were at the recommended hotel for the wedding but Teri and Greg wanted a separate room for the baby and Jason apparently went on a hunt for a bathtub for me so we were away from the group. However, it turned out that the 'baby apartment' and the hotel that Jason hoped would have a bathtub (it didn't but it was an awesome hotel anyway) were right around the corner from each other - so we ended up being our own little group, often meeting up before walking to the larger gathering together.

I feel like Thursday was basically spent trying to stay awake. The larger flight group met up for a late lunch at a restaurant, suggested by Greg, I have learned through many trips that his research pays off and the places picked are always awesome. This place was a wonderful start to our time in Budapest! Called Mazel Tov, serving Israeli-inspired food in a gorgeous courtyard space, see photo on the right.

The hotels are in the Jewish Quarter of the city and is the main place for restaurants, bars and general nightlife. We wandered the area, popped in and out of "ruin bars" having drinks and snacks. Everyone ended up down by the waterfront and a few other people in town for the wedding joined us.

An Evening Flight

This is my first post about the big Hungary/Romania trip! When Mom posts about trips over on her blog, she does a nice job of naming and dating posts so that her travels appear in cohesive diary entries. I have done that in the past but I don't know how organized I will be at the moment as this trip involves piles of people, a wedding, a road trip and at the same time I am trying to stay on top of The Shop via my phone and computer. 

- Wednesday evening, after working all day and frantically packing, Jason and I made our way to Toronto airport to catch an overnight direct flight to Budapest.

- Teri, Greg, their new baby, and Matty were on the flight with us. Also on the flight was Diana2 and her husband Jas. We were all seated in the back section of the plane but kept to ourselves for the most part to try to sleep.

- I did manage to sleep and enjoy the wonderful bland food. I really love airplane food. Jason and I got one of each type and he was disgusted by the flavourless chicken so we switch because I am just content with anything that isn't spicy and comes divided out so it isn't touching.

- There was an annoying clapping thing when the plane landed, why doesn't anyone clap when I do my job well? However, I would say it was a very lovely landing, but still, the clapping thing is always strange to me.

Stay tuned, I hope to keep everyone updated and will post soon about our adventures around Budapest and beyond.

Some Of The Things We Missed

During my missing streak, when I didn't post on Always Standing from June to September there was so fairly big things that happened - aside from starting a small businesses (though frequently related.)

Here are some things that happened...
- Got to Long Point a bit, but not nearly enough
- Summer Solstice Event involved a full road closure and wasn't as tiring this year
- I had a big team at the office with three students hired for the summer
- Kristen, Noah, Jason and I went on a road trip, got to do some white water rafting
- Mom and I went to Las Vegas, she did five posts about it on her blog
- We got our driveway re-paved and the roof done at Casa Verde
- Had an awesome day at Wonderland with Jeska, as is tradition

Mildly Adventurous

Soooo, you want a low number - I guess that means you are more adventurous. I need to remember some of these for when I play this as part of a drinking game.

I am at SIX. Because I have never...
- Broken a bone (knock on wood)
- Been skydiving
- Had braces
- Given birth
- Gone scuba diving
- Been on a cruise
(Does having braces make you more adventurous?)

Let me know your number in the comments!! 

Quotes From Alberta

As I mentioned before, Jason and I went to Alberta this weekend. We flew out Friday evening and came back overnight Monday to Tuesday. It was a quick visit but I got to see my GeoConnection girls, their spouses, Mike, Aimee and the babies. Here are some quotes from the trip that I found amusing:

----

Pointing out the car windshield...
Jason: Oh God! How cold is Edmonton? Is that a penguin?!?
Me: Huh? What?
Jason: That black and white bird that is waddling.
Me: Oh! That is a magpie, they are like my favourite! I don't understand how everywhere has them except Ontario.

----

(Said at various different times) Coming out from the changes rooms at the resort spa, wearing the hooded plaid bathrobes provided:
ERin: Ooo, I feel like I am at Hogwarts
Matt: Totally lookin' like a boxer here
Anne: Reminds me of Dementors
Sutik: Is this some sort of Illuminati thing?

----

Me: Are you just the cutest thing ever?!
Maya: I'm Maya!

Happy Weed Day

The day has come - Cannabis is legal in Canada. This has been a long time coming and I totally agree with all the arguments for legalization. At the moment there are still quantity restrictions and edible products won't be allowed for another couple of years, but we are totally moving in the right direction with this.

My one concern comes with driving under the influence. Impaired driving has always terrified me, growing up in a small town it was a huge issue that took many lives. While the breathalyzer is far from perfect it has provided a quick and convenient tool to assess alcohol impairment. It is harder to determine what is going on when someone is driving high. At the moment there isn't a federally approved fluid screening device that can be used roadside for cannabis.

On top of the testing challenges, right now, there's no set limit on the amount of cannabis that you can have legally in your blood or urine when driving. Driving high has always been illegal, and covered under Impaired Driving, but it doesn't get charged as much, even though drugs now show up more often than alcohol in blood tests of drivers killed in crashes. So scary.

I am excited to see the start of legalized cannabis but please - don't drive high!

Just Like Us

Driving home today, yesterday we visited Harvard and MIT campuses in Cambridge, just across the river from Boston. (We also went kayaking on that river and had a picnic lunch in Harvard Yard.)

Harvard Students - They are just like us!
Seen on campus: 
Student with an armful of obviously stolen toilet paper.
Overheard:
"Yo, if a girl matches you on Tindr means she is go to go!"

MIT Students - Less like us
Seen on campus: 
A juggling club practicing in a hallway with a variety of materials.
Overheard: 
"When you amplify the sample size, you decrease the error rate."

Road Trip!

Jason and I like to travel to the US during Canadian Thanksgiving. This year Kristen and Noah were interested in joining us. We have planned out a pretty intense road trip over to Massachusetts. We knew you can get there for a weekend, since we had done it for the playoff game in April. That had been a lot of driving but with an extra day I hope to be able to see some cool things, going to visit Salem and Boston. We are used to being in the car together. Besides the playoff road trip, the four of us have also driven together to Pittsburgh this past summer, well just outside of it, to go White Water Rafting. Road trip!

How Hard? Boston Hard

Both the CBC and Toronto Star ran articles recently talking about how hard it was for the public to buy tickets to see the Leafs play in the upcoming first round of playoffs. It was counting the one hundred or so seats that were offered to the Leafs Nation fan club, which is free for anyone to sign-up for,as part of the presale and not the general public. But even with Jason's access to tickets through the fan club the prices were insane, the options limited, and everything sold out almost immediately.

On Monday night we somehow we ended up looking at tickets in Boston, for Saturday's game. The ticket prices were comparable to regular season in Toronto (which is still expensive) and the selection left was varied. We messaged Kristen and Noah. In a rush of hockey excitement the four of us planned a road trip, got 4 seats together, and are off to see the Leafs take on the Bruins at the TD Garden on Saturday.

No one is taking time off work, just leaving as soon as we can Friday evening and heading for Albany to spend the night. A short drive from there to Boston in the morning will give us the day to explore the city, which I visited with Teri a few years ago. The game is at 8pm and we have a hotel booked for Saturday night. Then the eight and a half hour drive home all in one go on Sunday to get back to Toronto for some rest before work on Monday.

Let's hope they win - Go Leafs Go!