Our Trip to Canada

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June 10^th, 2008: Day 5

We woke up on the morning of the 10^th to the good news that Ruth had once again managed to get the room for free, due to the non-working phones and the housekeeping girl who lied to us about the number of available blankets.

We did in fact manage to wake up in time for breakfast, so we went to the breakfast area, in bare feet and nightclothes, even with the signs posted proclaiming “Please wear shoes.”

Following breakfast, Mandy decided to do her nails with a pretty pink color, but she dripped some nail polish on her expensive ($69) jeans, but at least her nails turned out alright… she tried everything to get the nail polish out, water, nail polish remover, hot water, cold water, soap, the works; needless to say, the stain is still slightly visible.

We ventured downtown again, this time with Don at the wheel, allowing me to get some nice pictures of the skyline. It’s really quite a beautiful sight, the buildings are very shiny and modern.

We found the accounting placement company Don was looking for, and headed back towards the Super 8 we stayed at, since it was so close to some stores we wanted to look at.

When we got back we went to to Starbucks. There happened to be a Quizno’s next to Starbucks, so we got a sandwich from there. On the way out of Quizno’s, I spotted a nice classic VW camper, and across the parking lot. was also an old VW GTI.

We took our sandwiches and ate in Starbucks. Don met some guy in the parking lot and talked for a while while we were there, we didn’t think anything of it at the time.

We went to look in Canadian Tire, which I think is the most awesome auto parts and tool store since PepBoys or AutoZone in the U.S.; it’s gigantic. Julie and Mandy of course became bored quickly in such a store, so they wanted to head over to Zellers, much to my dismay, and she took the car keys with her. Shortly after, Don came into the store asking me for the keys. I told him Julie had them, and that she was in Zellers, so he went to find Zellers.

I eventually found something to buy in Canadian Tire, a set of pliers, but my card wouldn’t swipe properly and they refused to key in the card number manually; I was quite disgusted and angered, so I walked out of the store empty handed and headed to Zellers.

I found Zellers around the corner from Quizno’s and went in. I looked around there for a while and couldn’t find Julie or Mandy, until about a half an hour later they came into the store; they had gone to the dollar store next door.

We headed quickly to Starbucks, since Don apparently couldn’t find Zellers or Julie. We walked into Starbucks to find Don and Ruth talking to the guy Don had met in the parking lot earlier along with another lady. Don wanted us to go back to Canadian Tire and separate the two sets of keys that the rental place gave us so that we wouldn’t run into this situation again. I found the set of pliers I wanted to buy, and went to a different checkout lane; this time my card worked fine on the second swipe. After we left the store we carefully opened the keyring that held the two keys together.

Julie and Mandy went to the car to wait as I went to Starbucks to give Don the key. Just as I went in, it started to rain buckets, so I had to run to the car and hop in. Minutes later, Don and Ruth followed.

On the way to find a new hotel to stay at, Don said that the people they were talking to were shysters; con artists looking for people moving into the area. He proclaimed to be a builder and the lady was a furniture seller/home decorator. The only catch was that the guy wanted 100 grand down before he started building… they also mentioned some realtors they knew, also with the names Don and Ruth; sounds fishy. They had asked Julie’s parents to coffee the next day, which they decided against.

After our adventures, we found the Holiday Inn Express in Leduc, AB; it had a pool with a water slide! We spent some time in the pool until we were all swum out.

When we were done, I called Geoff and I found out that he actually works at a Panago; we decided to meet at the same Panago we did the other night and then drive to the one that Geoff works at, where he gave us an employee discount after making us our pizzas! And what good pizzas they were…

After our delicious meal, we went home to a good night’s rest at the Holiday Inn. Sweet dreams at last!

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