A trip to Lethbridge in the cold and a nasty cold!!



Don't Jolene and Kort look like they having fun??

 Last Thursday I embarked on my mini-adventure to Lethbridge via the Greyhound bus. We left Edmonton at 8:30 AM and arrived in Lethbridge at 6:45 PM (we should have arrived at 5:55).  That was a loong day! The snowy roads in and around Calgary accounted for the delay. I also had a 2 hour lay-over in Calgary which was very boring except for watching an officious little female security twit order the next north bound bus passengers around. Greyhound now has a policy--sort of, depends where you are--of checking your carry on luggage and even wanding passengers. The excuse for this was the beheading of a passenger on an Edmonton to Winnipeg route in 2008. While an extremely gruesome and horrible event, done by someone who appeared to act like a robot and possibly had been programmed in some kind of way, nothing remotely like this had ever happened before on Greyhound buses. In Edmonton, the security guy just felt around in the bags, in Lethbridge they didn't check anything, but in Calgary it was a big production.  Apparently they got their training from the USA's Homeland Security!!  They wear bullet proof vests and little Miss Power Has Gone to My Head really struts and yells orders.  Last Thursday there were too many passengers for one bus, so they asked for volunteers to wait for another one and apparently they couldn't let the one bus load go until they had sorted out changing the tickets of the ones staying.  So those poor passengers stood for over 1/2 an hour before they could load.  I was prepared for my return trip though!! We had to wait 1/2 an hour too as there was no bus!!

Jolene picked me up and took me to the Sandman to get checked in. We then went out for supper to a place called Treats--which was excellent!! I must say that I ate well in Lethbridge!!! I spent Friday with my other friend who lives in Lethbridge--Lin.  She's the person who introduced Dave and I to each other!!! I got to see her mom, her brother, my goddaughter Dani who is 20 now (where has the time gone???), and finally meet her husband Karl.  They have been together for 15 years and this was the first time I met him!! Sheesh eh? Dave had met him before though. Lin told Dave that the Sandman was where the prostitutes and the drug dealers hang out!  He said, "Well Dianne will be used to that from the places she lived in Saskatoon."!! But later Dani set the record straight--they hang around in Denny's which is attached to the Sandman, but they can't afford the room rates!! Hahahahaha!!! Good point!! That's my goddaughter!!!

Saturday and Sunday were spent at the dog show with Jolene and Kort and I got to meet Jolene's friends--now I can put a face to their blogs and to Jolene's blog posts!!  I watched the highs and lows of obedience and rally and learned a lot. The 2 judges were really super and want to see the dogs qualify.  I got to see Kort get 2 legs of his Novice A!!! Yeah for Kort and Jolene!! I got to see Tate too and Jolene's house.  She was soooo worried that it was soooo dirty and there was nothing wrong with it at all!! Lin was the same way!! Can you tell they are both Virgos???? I had a little bit of an opportunity to see what 2 collies in a house looked like--space wise.  I can handle it!! At one point I was scratching Tate's butt with one hand and Kort's with the other!!! Heaven!!

The weather was cold and snowy for the whole time--much colder than normal for this time of year.  But I had a great time--Jolene is a wonderful hostess!!! At the dog show I bought 2 packages of dehydrated lamb lung and a toy for Duffy--like he needs more--and a bait pouch. Gas prices are higher in Lethbridge compare to Edmonton--like 6 cents higher, and so were prices in the stores from the little bit of shopping I did. This was the first time I had been in Lethbridge in the 'winter'.  But every place looks the same in winter up here in Canada!!!

I don't have much in the way of pictures-- I wish there were some of Lin and family and Jolene and I.  As for all my videos? Where did they go?  I soooo suck at this camera stuff. I had all kinds of videos including Jolene and Kort getting their 2nd leg prize. Jolene will never speak to me again!!!! Good thing Amanda has a real video camera and taped everything!! Guess I better read that instructional manual!!

Here comes Kort!!

Amanda and Pixel

Kort doing Figure 8's

 I had a wonderful time though--it was just what I needed--to get away from the grind that I am in here in Edmonton and have been for the past 6 years.  I picked up a cold though, somewhere on my travels, so I am feeling kind of yucky. But better now, than at Christmas.

Many thanks to Lin and Jolene!! My 2 Lethbridge friends!! Maybe you 2 will meet one day!!!