aadler | Oh, Canada!

Susan and I had been intending for some time to make this trip, but we were waiting for favorable weather. Yesterday the forecast was for a high of 62°, but with a 9% likelihood of rain; the following day offered a high of 74°, but with 23% chance of rain. We decided lesser rain counted for more, so we headed north — by car, leaving the RV camped — in the latter part of the morning.

We crossed into Fort Frances, Ontario, just past 1:00PM. Customs wanted to see Susan’s pepper spray, because that wasn’t allowed; turned out she’d left it at home, so we went on in without further ado … but then the first thing we saw in Canada was a cannabis shop. (Which, for all I know, is legal in Minnesota as well, but still.) Our surroundings looked like small-town USA, but the speed limit signs were of course in kilometers per hour. Our speedometer has kph listed, but the numbers are too small for me to make out while driving; fortunately, I know a kilometer is 0.62 mile, and the sign said 50 kph, so I set my cruise control for 30 mph and we were fine.

I hadn’t come to Canada to eat at a McDonald’s or Pizza Hut, though those were easy enough to find, so we stopped at Flint House for a late lunch. I had a Lakeside Kölsch ale, and Susan and I split a half-rack of grilled ribs, and fries with aoli sauce. (I’d heard of aoli before, but had to look it up to determine just what it was; essentially mayonnaise, but made with olive oil instead of a neutral oil, so different taste, which I liked. Their serving it with fries got me looking around, and I noted there was no ketchup anywhere in sight. Ah, these exotic foreign climes!)

(I also told the waiter about how my small detachment was rescued in Kandahar by Mounties when a local on a motorcycle dropped a grenade in the back of the third truck. 2005, 2006? Can’t remember for sure, but it makes a fun memory now.)

After we’d eaten, Susan and I went across the street and looked around in the Fort Frances Museum, then she checked out the crafts in Northwoods Gallery and Gifts. We’d already spent some time, before stopping for lunch, just cruising around seeing what was to be seen in Fort Frances, and we wanted to make it back to our campground before dark, so we headed back into Minnesota and, within a couple of hours, were ‘home’ again.

Oh, and Susan found her pepper spray in the bottom of her purse after all. We’d honestly been trying not to break the law, but sometimes things just work out strange.