Dog Sleds and Driving

Contrary to popular belief, we Canadians do not live in igloos, drive dog sleds and we even have electricity and summer temps into the 100's! (I'd have said in the 30's and 40's but that would just have confused everyone. :o)

Being the lone Canadian at 3 of the bloggy bashes I've attended I've taken (and dished out to myself) many 'Canadian' jokes. Being the lone 'foreigner' can be a tough row to hoe but I'm happy to do what I can to dismay the myths about Canadians. Sure, I hear snickers when I say, 'house' and 'about' but hey, my aunt who lives only 4 hours from me thinks I says those words funny so maybe it's more a Catherinism rather than a Canadianism?!

Saturday afternoon I needed to pick up some groceries so Lisa offered to lone me her car. She and Julie felt it was necessary though to first ensure that I'd be able to make a smooth transition between driving my dog sled at home and her automobile! We discussed what side of the road to drive on (after Lisa had just moments before driven down the left side of a street to get us closer to a house! Oh yes, there was oncoming traffic at the time too, albeit driving very slowly checking out the 3 crazy ladies on the wrong side of the street!)

We discussed such important rules of the road such as, 'What does a yellow light mean?' (Floor it baby...that's easy!) There were other questions too and when they were satisfied I could handle driving in Utah, I was given the keys to the car. Wahoo! Let's go!!

I drove to and from the grocery store without incident...sorta. Hmmm. Is it legal to turn right on a red light? Guess I'll give it a try and see if anyone freaks. Hmmmm #2...is it legal to make a u-turn when you miss your street and need to go back? Mary-Mia and I had already mastered that in the exact same location an hour earlier and the 'California u-turn' had been born so I used this new skill and skillfully completed my very first California u-turn. Oh yes, I was driving in Utah and having fun!

Now, on to Sunday. We went to a mall so that Julie could check out a store she really likes online called Naartjie and I wanted to make my regular Bath & Body Works stop. Ummm...guess I bought a lot as that encouraged an inexpensive luggage purchase at Tar-jay later that evening. (I was able to prove one thing though. It takes exactly 1 flight for a new suitcase to be scarred for life by an airline. The one on the left was encased in the one on the right. Oops!)
Oh well, it's only luggage and hopefully it will gain lots more travel tales over the years to come.

Back to Sunday afternoon (oh man do I wander when I tell a story!) and to this picture...it says it all!

After answering 20 questions before 'da foreigner' could drive the car, this my friends is how Lisa parked at the mall! Notice the round yellow line snaking under the car? Yup...that's because she'd created her own spot and oh boy did I laugh! And, take pictures of course!

Such fun, fun memories of a wonderful weekend together! Thanks for the lone of your car Lisa, and the parking chuckle Sunday afternoon!

Oh yes and umm Lisa, care to share what happened when you were driving for meet Tiffany and Lisa for supper Monday night? Let's just say the HOV lanes are well enforced in SLC!