The Move Back To Edmonton

The move back could be summed up as "the worst move ever". And I don't think I'm exaggerating on this one either. This is basically what happened:

We couldn't fit all of our stuff into the u-haul we had rented. Had to leave my scooter behind (which I never even had the opportunity to ride while we were in Toronto). It's still sitting in Emma's parent's garage. For the record, 3 people's stuff in one small u-haul trailer is too much stuff, which we learned the hard way in Kenora, Ontario when the hitch tore from the underside of my Honda CR-V, effectively rendering my vehicle worthless - it can't tow anything ever again. Which meant we had to rent a massive and expensive u-haul truck and tow my car the rest of the way. We stopped just outside Winnipeg at a campsite and had to sleep in the back of the u-haul. We would have slept in the car but the battery was dead from towing it and it smelt like gasoline. We were afraid that with the u-haul door completely shut we might run out of air or not be able to get out in the morning, but with the door slightly ajar we were nervous for our safety AND it was FREEZING! Like 2 degrees (Celsius) outside. However, we still slept better than the previous night in our motel in Thunder Bay, where a bunch of cretins stayed up all night partying right next door to us. By 4am, I had had enough and we hit the road...which lead to Kenora and all the excitement (sarcasm) that followed. At this point we were about half way there, at least, distance-wise. The rest of the trip was significantly slower, as one thing about massive u-haul trucks is that you tend to have to drive them slowly and fuel them up often. And, as we had "splurged" in Kenora on the truck, we were tight on monies and opted to park and sleep in a Safeway parking lot in Saskatchewan.

All in all the move back was: expensive, stressful, vehicle-destroying, tear-inducing, freezing, uncomfortable, exhausting and something I never want to do again. So I guess this means we're staying put - and since we both have jobs we actually enjoy and potentially a condo downtown (still waiting on the deal to go through), I suppose this means we're setting down "roots" here now.

And that doesn't seem as bad as it did nearly 2 years ago. In fact, it doesn't seem bad at all.

Photos from Toronto

I got to say Toronto has some really great graffiti art and paintings on the sides of buildings. One thing I wish Edmonton had more of. It just makes a place feel more vibrant. Also, the back alleys in Toronto are decent and not scary. We'd always take Mr. Buns down our back alley - it was a good way to avoid people. He just loves to bark at people. Such a curmudgeon, he is.

Halloween on Church Street (apologies for the poor quality - my blackberry is mediocre at best in lighter conditions):

The crowd

I caught H1N1 that night...for a quick photo-op, that is! 

And here's some other photos from around the city.

Bumping fists with a lion:

Rich Terfry

I wonder if they have the Cream of Sumyungai special?

Honestly, I thought I had more photos of our time in Toronto, but I do remember that for the longest time I couldn't even find my camera. So I guess I'm lucky that we even have these. Next Toronto trip I'll play tourist and snap away. 

I did get to act all touristy at the Devil's Punch Bowl, though. Here's a couple of shots.

Emma was not impressed when I keep trying to get closer and closer to the edge. 

That cross in the background would light up at night. It was massive and pretty cool - and, as an atheist, I generally disapprove of such large displays of faith.

Also, in Hamilton (make that Stoney Creek) they have a drive-in theatre! It kind of had a 50's vibe to it, and they'd always play a double-feature. Luckily, when we went to see District 9 it was playing first. I wish I could remember what was playing after it. I do remember it was something terrible - probably something with Kate Hudson.

Edmonton used to be the drive-in theatre capital. I say it's time it came back. At least one outdoor theatre somewhere in this province. For nostalgia's sake. Or at least more outdoor movies at Churchill Square - like twice or three times a week. I'd pay for that. And not just kiddy movies. After 12am - no kiddies allowed, time for the PG-13 and up movies!

Nearly 2 years...

It's been nearly 2 years since my last post...I feel bad for neglecting this blog. But a lot has happened in that time. We moved to Toronto. Enjoyed it, but missed all of our amazing friends here in Edmonton. So we moved back. And we're loving it back here - in fact, we're in the process of buying a condo...just waiting for that to go through now. More on that later. But here are some highlights of our 9 months in Toronto.

Driving through Saskatchewan (not a highlight per say, but certainly made for some nice photos).

Welcome to Sheho. Heheheh!

We cruised through Manitoba and the first bit of Ontario because it was raining the whole way and there were tornado watches everywhere. Figured it was best to not stay anywhere too long. We did stop at The Forks in Winnipeg for some amazing samosas.

Mr. Buns still didn't seem to mind that he had been cooped up in a car for nearly 2 days. What a trooper!

I don't know if it was all of the rain or exhaustion from driving (we drove straight from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Marathon, Ontario - 16 hours. And quite the Marathon, it was. Hah!) but we started to play car games. Car fever, perhaps? Our favourite game: Spot Night Danger!

Half way through Ontario, and we're exhausted at this point, even Mr. Buns:

Also, my ankles swell up from constantly driving. I have car cankles! We finally make it to Toronto! Hooray! But first, we must stop in to see Emma's parents. To Hamilton, we go!

After a major job search, I find a job with Front Door Organics, an awesome organic home delivery service full of wonderful people! We'll miss that place. Hopefully, when visiting Toronto we'll have the opportunity to stop in and visit everyone again.

As we still haven't found a place to live in Toronto yet. I'm commuting from Hamilton to Etobicoke. 1-1.5 hours in the morning and 1-2 hours in the evening. Not fun.

Our friends, Kerry and Glenn, graciously let us stay in the spare bedroom of their amazing place in the Beaches (now referred to as the the Beach, for some silly reason). While staying with them we attend the Fan Expo.

Storm Troopers!

Anya from Buffy! Spock! Linda Hamilton! And Mr. Bruce Campbell!

Emma was determined to get Bruce's signature and have it permanently tattooed on her. Here's a before shot of Emma's shoulder:

And here's a shot of Bruce Campbell signing Emma's shoulder. I love that he added "Ash" below his name!

We quickly ran off to the nearest tattoo shop. We stopped in at Adrenaline Tattoo on Queen West, because they were the first shop we could find. They looked, however, more like an overpriced hipster clothing store, and the only tattoo artist available was some preening, puffed-up prick who blew literal smoke in our faces and figurative smoke up our asses by claiming that the autograph was "too small to tattoo properly". Ugh. So we called around and found an awesome place on Church Street called Passage Tattoo. When asked if the signature was too small to tattoo, Handsome Mike practically laughed at us for asking such a silly question, and proceeded to tattoo Emma's shoulder. Phew!

By October 1st we found a place on Markham Street. Which is one block from College and Bathurst and where you'll find Sneaky Dee's (and their excellent vegan nachos).

Also, our place is just south of Mirvish Village. We end up frequenting Suspect Video and Honest Ed's a lot!

While living in Toronto we got to see The Hidden Cameras, Gentleman Reg, Gossip, The Wild Beasts, and several amazing burlesque shows by Skin Tight Outta' Sight.

(More on our time in Toronto to be posted soon).