Run for the border

What do you get when you pile 6 giggly overgrown teenage women in a mini-van with a stack of birth certificates, one passport, lots of perfumes, and even more alcohol? A very annoyed Border Patrol Officer that asks too many questions. "Where are you going? What will you be doing there? How do you know each other? How much alcohol do you have? When was the last time you visited Canada?" Why Denise felt the need to elaborate and tell the young officer we were going to see The New Kids on the Block in concert, is beyond me. She told the officer on the way back, too. Seriously!

Yes, we saw NKOTB in concert. AGAIN. But the last time was in 2008 in St. Paul, MN. This is 2009, and we went to Winnipeg, Manitoba. CANADA. It doesn't count if it's a different year and country and currency, right?

One of the highlights from the last concert was when Bobby and I ordered Gin and Tonics. Kelley: "Is there vodka in that?" This time around, they had hard liquor at the concert. Kelley brought me a drink, and after I finished it, (ten minutes later) I told her it was the worst Gin and Tonic I had ever tasted. "It was a Vodka Tonic", she replied. Of course it was....We had GREAT seats this time! Two rows up from the floor. The boys came down to a secondary stage in the middle of the venue, and sang a few songs. And then, as they walked up the aisle to go back to the main stage, we reached our hands out, and Kelley and Cori were touched by Jordan and Jonathan! Yes. You'd think the hand of God reached out and anointed them. Our hotel was next door to the convention centre (Canadian), and a few doors down from the hotel was an odd book store of sorts. Kelley and I swear Jonathan was standing in front of that bookstore having a smoke. No one believes us. We think they sold gay publications, and well....he's totally gay. But I digress.

Cori and Bobby didn't bring jackets. Apparently they thought the farther north you go in North America, the warmer it gets. Or Canadian springs are more mild than in North Dakota? One degree celcius translates to cold. (If Bilby actually gets this far in the blog, and I didn't lose him at NKOTB, he'll know.)

Hm...other Canadian observations...If you've never had Poutine, french fries with gravy and cheese (melted or curds), you have not lived my friend! Holy crap. Speaking of, almost everything shuts down on Good Friday. (Holy day, everything shuts down, total crap that you can't drink without ordering a full meal) We drove all around, looking for something to do. Ended up at Shoppers Drug Mart.

Winnipeg was an armpit, to me. They have wonderful festivals and cultural events during the summer, however. I want to visit again and at least experience that. (Passports are required as of June 2nd.) But I wasn't impressed with the city itself. I expected everyone to speak with heavy Canadian accents. Nope. One of our waiters was from Duluth, MN. People seemed more European, however. Dark haired, dark clothing. I want to visit Montreal. Apparently there is a store dedicated to Poutine in Montreal!

The fields were extremely flooded! Normally when you are driving on the highway, it's flat farmland as far as the eye can see. It looked like a lake on either side of us. The water was on the shoulder in one area. (That's what this photo is showing. That and Bobby's chest. We stopped in the middle of the road to take pics) The flat lands continued across the border, also. I don't know what I was expecting. It was all so Amercian. Except for Poutine. God bless Poutine.