MONDAY, CONT'D:
So, Brendan actually had a surprise for me... he reached across the table and held my hands while he told me at dinner on Saturday before his friends showed up...
Since we hadn't been able to be together or do much for our anniversary on the 17th, he had booked a hotel room for us in a little town near Algonquin Provincial Park and kept it a surprise by disguising it on our shared calendar. I wasn't expecting it at all, and honestly it was really sweet of him! He was concerned that I'd be upset because he had to "lie" to me to keep it hidden since I'd asked about the periods of time he had blocked off in the calendar. How could I be mad at that???
So after we got my SIN and some sand/salt for the icy sidewalk, we went back home and packed up our things to get ready for our little getaway. We shared one bag so there'd be less to carry and packed our warmest clothes, since we'd be spending Tuesday hiking through part of Algonquin in the peak of winter. The temperature was averaging something like -10 C and I wasn't interested in freezing my buttcheeks off. Brendan loaned me a coat to wear while we were out since the only one I had brought with me wasn't warm enough.
OF COURSE, as soon as we got in the car to leave for the hotel, a snow squall rolled in. We ended up driving like 20km/h for a good half hour while we waited for it to clear. As we progressed northward, it seemed to get worse and worse, but finally we broke through and got on the highway, where the snow had been cleared and there was nothing but blue skies. At one point we had almost gotten stuck trying to take a corner where a lot of snow had drifted onto the road, and the guy behind us got out of his car to try to help us just as we managed to make it. We appreciated the gesture a lot and I'm grateful that there are still people who would do that!
We arrived at our hotel in the early afternoon and got settled in. It was pretty quiet, and I think there were only two other guests staying at the time. We got changed into some "nice" (but still warm) clothes and picked a place to go to have our 2 year anniversary dinner date.
Since it was still quite early, we walked around town for a little bit doing some window shopping and stopped in Algonquin outfitters because camping gear is like a homing beacon for Brendan.Afterwards, even though it was only about 4:30, we went to the restaurant and got ourselves seated at a huge table by the window so that we'd have some sunlight. Brendan had recommended the place as a nicer restaurant in the area, and I agree with his assessment. Definitely more date-spot-y than the other restaurants in town. Dinner was awesome and our waitress totally sold me on their cheesecake for dessert. Sorry honey, you know I love cheesecake.
Overall it was a great anniversary dinner and I'm glad we had time to go out.TUESDAY:
It was a cold day, but sunny. We got dressed up in our warm clothes and stopped by the little breakfast nook at the hotel for some refreshments. While we were there, we ran into one of the only other guests at the hotel. He was an older gentleman who turned out to have been a professor for many years, married to an opera singer who had toured all over. We had a great conversation about a variety of things, including (inevitably) American politics. He was a really down-to-earth guy with a lot of insight and experience, but had also obviously been quite successful in life. I think that conversation was one of the best things about my trip, honestly. It turned out he actually had a home out in Algonquin and was en route to open it up for the year. Basically Brendan's #goals.
We drove out to Algonquin with all our stuff, admiring the scenery along the way. Although it was the middle of winter, the forests were beautiful, speckled with snow-laden pine and maple trees. There is a highway that runs right through the park, so even if you don't want to stop and spend the day, you can still see the gorgeous views.
We stopped at the first gate and bought a day pass so we could park on site. Then we drove down a ways to the head of a small trail that Brendan had identified earlier as something not too challenging but still enough to get us out. I thought the trail would be shorter than it turned out to be based on the map that we'd been looking at, but I had actually underestimated the size of the park!
Our hike went really well. When we first arrived and got to the trail, we found a whole bunch of people with cameras trying to take pictures of a big, fat gray jay that was sitting happily on an exposed branch right above the entrance. We hesitated to go through and I took a picture as well since it was actually the first time I'd seen a gray jay, let alone one that close and willing to be photographed. As we entered the woods and progressed down the trail, we noticed a pair of chickadees that seemed to be following us as we moved. I imagine this is not uncommon there, as we passed another location further down the trail where more bird enthusiasts had scattered a whole bunch of bird feed on a podium that was supposed to be used for a guest book. The birds probably expected to be fed by anyone and everyone who walked through the trail.
It was pretty neat, though. There was probably 3-4 feet of snow on the ground, but the trail had been packed down enough that we didn't have to worry too much about falling through. I took this photo of Brendan standing next to a park bench that had been buried by the accumulation.
We passed through some bog areas that Brendan was really excited about since they were a fairly unique environment. Unfortunately, since they lacked trees, they were also extremely windy. Brendan was trying to explain the significance of some of the plants as we went through, but the wind was starting to hurt my face so I tried to hurry us along to the wooded area on the other side. I do wish we'd had more time to stop and admire our surroundings, but it was so painful and cold. Hiking through the woods was much more tolerable, despite the shade.
Finally, at the end of our hike, we stopped at the visitor center and toured the little museum they have set up. Brendan has been there so many times, but I think even he found some new things to learn about. We stopped by the gift shop and I got myself a little patch for the trail we'd taken. Then we stopped by the cafeteria to relax for a bit while we ate the lunch we had brought, after which Brendan took me out to the viewing platform to see one of the best views of the park. It really was beautiful despite being the middle of winter, and I can only imagine how gorgeous it is in the fall.
The weather was exceptionally cooperative on the way back home and I was eternally grateful for it. Driving is already stressful enough!
WEDNESDAY:
Lazy day.
I think we just hung out at home all day. I linked my PR card application to my online account and played Breath of the Wild while Brendan studied. It was a good day.THURSDAY:
During the weeks preceding my visit, Brendan had been coordinating with one of his instructors to go to an erosion control seminar/environmental thing. Since I had rented the car for the whole week, we thought it would be easy enough to drive there and offered to give some other students a ride if they needed it.
Interestingly, we ended up with five of us in the car and every one of us was from a different country! I thought that was really cool. I was from the US while Brendan was from Canada; the three students were from Vietnam, England, and Germany. What are the chances that 5 people from 5 different countries would be in the same car in this tiny town in Canada?
The event was a little bit dry at times (for me, since it's not really my field), but I did learn some stuff and we got to see some interesting modern erosion control techniques. We introduced ourselves to a few booths looking for potential employers. Me being a chemist, I didn't find many people to connect with, but Brendan found several people to talk to. He ended up getting into a good conversation with some folks from a local environmental consulting company and later was introduced to the owner, who suggested he do his placement with them (it's like a 2 week unpaid internship that they have to do in order to graduate). It was a great opportunity since the place was right next to school (meaning Bden wouldn't have to move in order to do it since he had his apartment through the end of April) and it was a position in industry, which he hadn't experienced before. Now that it's over, I can happily say that he ended up following through and was able to complete his placement there. Things worked out really well for him and he made some great connections!
FRIDAY:
Since it was our last day together and for some reason we STILL hadn't gone out to The Pie Eyed Monk, which Brendan had been recommending ALL week, I suggested we go, my treat. He protested a little bit since he wanted to be able to pay for things, but I insisted we go since he would probably be moving away after April and I didn't want to leave town having never gotten to go.
The place was a little empty since it was still a bit early (again, 4:30... we are old people), but we sat down and had a good look over the menu to decide what we wanted. Our waitress was great and went over the selection with us, but then also mentioned that since it was Friday, they had a fish fry starting at 5.
I quickly decided what I wanted, but Brendan had been there before and was having a hard time picking one thing to try. It was getting closer and closer to 5, and when the waitress came back again with our appetizers, I asked her if we could get the fish fry menu. She happily brought it to us and Brendan looked it over and practically started salivating. It was pretty expensive compared to most of the other dishes, but the way his eyes lit up told me it was exactly what he wanted, so I told him to get it.
The fish fry was HUGE and had all sorts of little fish on it, as well as one big trout with the head left on. Brendan had specifically asked them to leave the head on, and later the waitress came by to ask how it was, saying how the chef was concerned that he had said to leave the head on and was worried that he wouldn't like it. But no, Brendan absolutely loved it, and I loved being able to treat him to something he liked so much.
SATURDAY:
Time to go home.
My flight was scheduled for the afternoon, so I had to leave around 10:30 to make it to Toronto in time to go through customs. I had to drive the car back myself and leave Brendan behind at the apartment so he would have time to study for some of his finals next week instead of worrying about taking public transport all the way back. I was a little bummed that he chose not to come with me, but I understood, and in retrospect it didn't matter that much. What sucked was getting to the airport, returning the car, and then finding out that my flight was delayed because of the snow that had rolled in about half an hour before I got there. The highways had slowed down a bit on the way in as well, but part of that can be chalked up to it being Toronto. Customs didn't take that long (fortunately? Unfortunately??), and I ended up helping an elderly couple use the machines to scan their passports/cards. The lines for border control were short, thankfully, but there was a guy in front of me who apparently spoke like no English but somehow had a US passport (as he was in the US passport line) and for some reason refused to show the officer his boarding pass no matter how many times he asked. The officer got fed up with him and sent him away to the non-US passport line. Me being next, I had everything ready and tried to be as cooperative as possible and got through in about 20 seconds.
My flight ended up being delayed by a total of like 4 hours and I missed my friend's birthday dinner as a result. It was a bit of a blessing and a curse; I was exhausted and really just wanted to go home, but I felt really bad missing my friend's dinner. All-in-all, though, she was very understanding and I was able to give her the gift I had gotten for her a few weeks later when we met up for a girls' night. I think things worked out well.
~~~
I would tell you when we had our next visit scheduled, but at the time, we didn't have our next visit planned! Everything has been so up in the air waiting for Brendan to figure out a summer job (or a permanent job, but that was far less likely). He ended up getting a summer position doing watershed monitoring (his favorite!) at another conservation authority in the GTA, moving his stuff back home, driving out and viewing 6 apartments in a day and ultimately booking his apartment in the span of about 5 days. We were only able to solidify plans about a week and a half in advance. We've actually just finished this visit, which I will write about soon.
As for our next one, we're not sure. Maybe another Canada Day/4th of July week. We'll see.