Author: Rae

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A Touch of Cabin Fever

The week has been bitter cold, with day-time temperatures dipping into the mid negative 20s, with the windchill nearing -40. I don’t even want to get into the nighttime temperatures! I went for a quick walk on Monday afternoon, but heeded the frostbite warning the last two days and limited my outdoor time to running around between my buildings. I’ve also had a huge transcription project the last three days that ate up the rest of my days. So I haven’t had much of a change of scenery for four days. Today, it’s a balmy-feeling -18, so I’ve decided to walk the two blocks to Montana’s for dinner!

In the RV, having to do several days of hard work with no real opportunity to go outside hasn’t made me feel claustrophobic. I get to prepare and have my meals in another room and at the end of the day, I can retire to the front room to decompress before moving to the loft. In The Apartment, I have to stare at the same four walls all day. It’s slowly becoming an insufferable situation. While I am thrilled to be in a warm place this week, I am very glad I only have about eight weeks left to go before I can move back home. This winter has proven to me that it is the number of rooms in my home, not the square footage, that determines how happily I can live there. If I had to stay on in Lethbridge in The Apartment for any longer, I would be quite content to remain there, but I would get furniture that would allow me to separate my spaces. Not that I need to think about that!

One of the things that I will doubly appreciate when I return to Miranda is the fridge. Do you housebound folks have any idea how LOUD a compression fridge is?!

In other news, a tenant must have noticed that I was working late this aftenoon and brought me a cup of tea and a slice of banana cream pie. There are perks to working here. 🙂

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Reason # 1,423 Why I Can’t Wait to Go Back to the States

Look at what I found in my mailbox today:

toasted coconut marshmallows

In Canada, we have a choice of marshmallows: jumbo or miniature. In the US, I’ve discovered they have gingerbread flavoured marshmallows (mmm…) and now toasted coconut (oh!). I’ve never been much of a marshmallow fan until now, now that I know they are divine with a bit (lot) of flavour infused into them!

Looks like chocolate and chips aren’t the only thing to have more variety in the U.S.

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Poring Over Maps

Gary outdid himself on dinner tonight, serving up an absolutely amazing appetizer of a roasted bell pepper stuffed with real crab and veggies and topped with browned cheese. What a treat after putting in a full day at transcription! I’m really going to miss my dinners at Gary and Jody’s when I hit the road in the spring. I have suggested that they follow me so Gary can cook me dinner every night, but that only earned me a laugh. Darn! 😀

After a delectable four course dinner (did I mention we had chocolate parfaits for dessert?), Jody pulled out some maps and we started to look at my possible itineraries for the spring, depending on weather, budget, and my being allowed into the States. To say that I am eager to get back on the road is an understatement! Last night, I stayed up late making the list of things I need to attend to before and during my first few days back in the rig.

The fun part of looking at a map with a like-minded friend is sharing road stories. Jody has seen at least as much of this continent as I have, so we can share our experiences of places we’ve both been, from the Grand Canyon to Gran Manan Island. I have to say that I’m looking forward to getting back to the east coast so that I can see familiar landscapes with a new perspective, but I am a tad nervous about RVing out there as the east is a lot less RV (read boondocking) friendly.

This spring’s itinerary has only two certainties in regards to two destinations I want to reach, but otherwise I don’t want to make firm plans until I’m across the border and have a better grasp of the weather I’ll be facing. I could end up having to stay in Canada, which would mean an extra month in Alberta to give the weather a chance to clear across the Prairies and northern Ontario, or I could find myself shooting straight south to sunny climes, or I might just shoot directly for the east coast at a diagonal.

I have loose plans/itineraries for each scenario, but having been on a bit of a tight schedule for a year, I look forward to going back to life at my own pace. What I am ultimately facing is what will amount to a year to do the round trip back to southern Alberta. Now that I have a very reliable source of income suited to my mobile lifestyle, I will once again be able to travel without the stress of getting to a particular destination. I want to savour the fruits of my labour and take a couple of months to just breathe once April comes!

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The Keg Restaurant, Lethbridge

The tenant who gave me the hilarious holiday card also included a gift card for The Keg restaurant. I decided to save the card for a week night after a busy day when I just wouldn’t feel like cooking. Tonight was the night!

The Keg specializes in steaks, which I don’t eat, but I checked out the menu ahead of time and saw that they had some chicken and seafood dishes, so I knew I’d be able to find something I like. This restaurant isn’t one I would choose to go to since it’s a tad more upscale (read pricey) than what my budget can absorb, but I was happy for the chance to go without breaking the bank.

The decor is quite posh, with very low low lights, dark wood, and leather seats. Definitely not my usual ambiance! I settled into a private booth, was served water in a delicate wine glass, and then took a moment to peruse the drinks menu. I decided to splurge on a cocktail, if one struck my fancy, since my meal would be paid for. I don’t drink a lot of cocktails, but I like to experiment once in a while. A ‘Cinnamon Girl’ made of rum, cointreau, pineapple juice, and a dusting of cinnamon sounded delicious, so I ordered one.

My gift card was worth $25, but that doesn’t go far at The Keg! I eliminated all the options under the seafood header, but found a surprisingly reasonably priced (by The Keg standards) $19.99 Creole chicken dish topped with scallops and shrimp. Perfect! I opted for rice pilaf as my side.

The cocktail wound up being worth the $9.95 price tag. I don’t think I could have designed a cocktail better suited to my tastebuds. Yum!

Dinner was surprisingly ho hum. I know it’s not fair to judge a restaurant when you haven’t had its signature food, but I found their Creole chicken to be rather bland and much too oily. The seafood, however, was fantastic, with just enough kick and cooked to perfect. Once I added a few dashes of salt to the rice, it went from meh to woah! The meal was served with asparagus, a vegetable I now know I didn’t like growing up because it was always served overcooked (in other words, I loved The Keg’s asparagus). There was also a basket of warm, yeasty, bread with butter as an included starter.

Dinner at The Keg was a nice treat that cost me $10 out of pocket (including a generous tip for the attentive server), but I know it’s not an experience I’ll be repeating on my own dime.

My neighbours did seem enamoured with their steaks!