A Belated Happy Fourth of July!!

Americans have long been good at creating things that go BANG, and nowhere is this talent put to better use than in 4th of July fireworks displays across the country! This year, I had the privilege of watching the display in Washington from the rooftop of the Canadian Embassy and here are a few photographic highlights!




I have many more photos from the trip, but while my internet connection is kinda sketchy, many will have to wait until I return home!!

Happy Canada Day, eh

Washington, DC may seem to be a strange place to celebrate the birth of a nation that was created primarily as a deterrent to greedy eyes looking northward, but this morning, with the help of the City of Calgary, the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede and many other generous sponsors, the Canadian Embassy put on a Stampede Pancake Breakfast with a flair. In fact, there were only a few touches to remind me that I wasn’t in Calgary during Stampede Week.

Many thanks to all the volunteers who made it possible and my especial thanks to Barb and Murray Smith who got us invitations! A few shots from my day…














No they’re not coming to arrest me, but these RCMP Officers were kind enough to pose with me and my friends, Duncan and Allie as well as many other breakfasters. Mounties are great!!














Canada’s Ambassador to the US with Duncan, Allie and some strange guy who shows up in my pictures from time to time.

















Barb and Murray Smith, our indispensable ‘native guides’!!















US Supreme Court Building














The backside of the Capitol with the Washington Monument visible to the left.











Some guy named George lives here...

I Made It!

There was a moment in Edmonton, where I wondered if I was going to actually make it. After all, immediately after I blogged about the joys of leisurely packing, my dog went and injured herself and a faulty guage on my Jeep informed me that it had no oil left... So my leisurely day of packing turned into the usual day-before-leaving crisis management mode *sigh*... But that's not what endangered the trip. You see. there was this customs guard in Edmonton...

Guard: "Your passport and customs declaration."

I hand them over and a short inspection by the guard shows, "You haven't signed it." Obviously, I'm guilty as charged and now his job is to determine whether I'm a criminal bent on his country's destruction, or just really, really stupid... He hands the card back and a pen so I can sign it. I present them back feeling like I'm in the sixth grade again during a visit to the headmaster's office.

Guard: "What is the purpose of your trip to Washington?"

Q: "Ah vacation, er leisure..." I'm still feeling flustered. There is a long silence as the guard looks me over and I'm getting the feeling that he hardly regards a vacation as a sufficient reason to visit Washington, a city that hosts more than 20 million tourists a year. Then suddenly,

Guard: "Where are you staying?" I'm getting a little pissed now because the address is on the card I had given him.

Q: "With friends."

Guard: "What nationality are these 'friends' of yours?' You literally can here the sneer when he says the word friends.

Q: 'They're Canadian". I'm getting past pissed and am approaching active irritation...

Guard: 'They're Canadian and they live in Washington, DC?" He is incredulous, obviously imagining a major conspiracy that he's just uncovered.

Q: "Yes, that's correct," I let a little steel flow into my voice. "They work at the Canadian Embassy there."

Guard: "Oh." He obviously hadn't considered that possibility and another long silence stretches as he decides whether to pursue it, but finally decides against it. "When are you returning?"

Q: We're coming back on July 8th.

Guard: "WE? Who's we??" He demands. Obviously a number of replies spring into my mind, each more sarcastic than the last but, with difficulty, I smother all my natural impulses and respond with the unvarnished truth.

Q: "I'm travelling with two friends."

Guard: "Where are these friends of yours?" Clearly, I'm making this all up...

Q: "Over there." I point over my back to where Duncan and Allie had been undergoing their own interview. Actually, though I didn't realize it at the time, Duncan and Allie had long concluded their own interview and I was actually implicating another couple in my conspiracy to visit Washington on leisure... But with one more long look at me, the Guard stamps my passport and tells me I can go.

Fortunately, ever since I've arrived in the US, people have been very friendly and welcoming. I will have more on how I spent Canada Day at the Canadian embassy with pictures in my next post!

Welcome to the USA!!