The day after Independence Day

And what better way to spend it than with a quick trip to Canada!! Well, a potential trip to Canada. We're about to head up to the Outlet Stores at Tulalip, because the Samsonite store there is apparently the only one in the state with the exact piece of luggage my father-in-law wants to get (he needs to replace his old suitcase and wants the same style, and considering he originally picked it up in Melbourne, I think it's a minor miracle he could find a place relatively nearby that actually had one).

Anyway, after we're done there, we'll be checking the wait time at the Alder Grove border crossing and possibly making a run up to Langley to do a bit of shopping -- gotta replenish our supplies of Canadian food (yes, really) and maybe pick up some DVDs that aren't available in the US. Oh, and we'll probably get some TimBits. Mmmm...

And now, while I'm thinking about it, I'm gonna go track down my stash of Canadian money. Since normally I tend to forget it until we're nearly at the border and then toss in any new change when we get back, there should be more than enough!

Quick trip to Canada

It's always fun to do... since Langley is only about 2.5 hours away, with good traffic, and is an excellent place to go if all you want to do is shop! We probably wouldn't have gone today, though, if we weren't already heading up about halfway... although my father-in-law was not able to get the suitcase he wanted at the Samsonite outlet. Apparently, it's only available in Australia (where he bought his last one), but he did manage to find another that he likes... and hopefully the old one can be repaired after he gets home.

The wait times at the border weren't bad at all. I think we timed our crossings right... meaning only about a 25 minute wait going north, and maybe 15 minutes coming south. We did notice that pretty much all the other cars crossing were from BC. I'm guessing not as many folks from the US were interested in heading across the border for the holiday weekend!

We snagged the first season of "Robson Arms" on DVD (we've never seen it, but wanted to give it a try) and the book Tales from Dog River. Unfortunately, we weren't able to find the first season of Little Mosque on the Prairie, which I was really hoping to get (I've liked what I've seen of it, even if the stereotyping can be a bit much at times). And then we hit the grocery store and stocked up on Canadian Kit Kats, All Dressed potato chips and Pirate cookies (Rackham's favorite). We also snagged some various flavors of popcorn seasoning, because apparently only Canadians like that kind of thing (seriously, why is this stuff not for sale in the US?? I was able to get BBQ and Cajun popcorn seasonings in a regular ol' grocery store in Canada).

Then, of course, there were TimBits. Mmmm... (even better, they're only about 1 Point a piece on WW).