Simon and Meredith's Day of Adventurous Fun

Well after 8 days without a day off thanks to my swanky new job (in a box factory) I decided to take a relaxing trip to the states with a friend of mine and pack in as many things as you can do in a day. First up was the tulip festival somewhere in Washington state, USA. You all know how I love my tulip festivals.

The first thing you learn about the states is that its a little different to Canada. Yeah the people still talk funny, still tell you to have a nice day (well, as opposed to a good day), they all probably say awesome ten times a day too, but somethings different, the people are a little crazy. The border crossing guy for example, Chuck i think he was called (or Hank or something like that). The banter with him was worth the $5 entry fee alone. He couldnt believe that they let Brits work at such fine establishments as Starbucks and thought the idea of two of us having a day off on a Friday to be highly implausible. After some debate though he let us though and wished us well, his gun, CS spray and tatoos of skulls and unicorns meant we treated him with the greatest respect.

First port of call was Denny's. Ok you can get it in Canada too but theres something quintessentially American about it. Our lovely waitress "Kandi" (I kid you not) provided us with excellent service, topping up my coffee after just one sip, I obviously looked like i needed to wake up. (That big ice cream looking thing is actually butter, there was another scoop of butter which left that gaping hole in my pancakes, mmm)

The 3 hour drive to somewhere in Washington was certainly worth it, I even got to drive my first manual car on the wrong side of the road (thank you!). I have to admit that I dont blame Meredith for being a little cautious as I first tried to enter the car on the wrong side, then couldnt work out how to start it (its different to back home beleive it or not!), but my composed driving style soon reassuringly took over. Now, are you ready for some tulip pictures? Yes, yes you are...

(Who'd have thought it. The statue of liberty in a tulip field, priceless)

(The windmill was said to be one of the most impressive monuments in "Tulip Town")

(Myself surrounded by tulips)

(Would you beleive it, more tulups) (A stunning artistic shot there, what a memory)
(This had to be the best tulip festival ever)
(Sunderland coloured tulips)
(you guessed it)
(It was 24 degrees, in April! So im freckled up) (Angelic (if not a little disturbing))

Well after all that excitement it was time to go home, and on to the next project. Im getting tired of typing and uploading pictures now but bascially we decided to get chris a new look for $10. Did we succeed, did we ever, we even gave him a new hair cut. Ive obviously got hair dressers genes in me eh mam? (Thanks Han) We also went for a swim in a private pool that belongs to a friend of ours and some gentlemen referred to our informal style of dress. But thats a whole other story...

(Back home to Canada)

(Rocky road, not as tasty as you'd imagine)

(Stylish new chris, to a certain extent)

Well all I know is that no tulip festival will ever live up to that one. Would I go back again? Certainly not

Happy St. George's Day!

While the rest of Canada was still recovering from the easter weekend, us Brits dived straight into our St. Goerge's Day celebration. Of course, we've never bothered before but being away from home means you have to make that extra effort doesnt it? Enjoying Vancouver's un-naturally warm April we had not one, not three but two barbeque's! Wild...Me and Andy even went for a swim in the ocean which was unsurprisingly extremely cold. If you want to see those pictures, theres something wrong with you, check Pauls blog for details. (Its fun to stay at the YMCA) (What a nice picture of Ian and Jade, aaw)
(Cheers Ian, better watch you dont have one too many tho)
(Why you rarely catch me in a hat or sunglasses)
(oh dear, Ian's had one too many)

It Lives!

Well after being dead for a couple of days my ipod seems to have came back to life. And with generous CD donations he's fuller than ever. Back of the net

Road trip troubles...

The road trip has been main topic of conversation over the last few days and true to form simon has been looking into stuff...Alamo wont let us under 25's rent a van and i cant find anyone else who will either, which leaves too options. Andy, Paul, and Gav drive, or we take the train. The cost of them driving would be $4,000 + gas. So lets say $700 each after gas.

Now I was probably the least in favor of this when it was first suggested but now i think it makes sence. You can go with Amtrak and get a 30 day rail pass that lets u go anywhere in US or Canada for $1000, expensive!! However, a US only pass is only $395 which is think is much more like it. Obviously we'd have to get into the states first but thats no problem, also we could even head home on the train after saving the cost of a flight (unless we're sick of the bloody train by this point :) ).

Why dont you guys check it out and tell me what u think, I havent looked into it all that much but what i have seen is pretty convincing , we can always rent cars and do our own thing in the cities we visit on the way
http://www.amtrak.com/

World cup Sweepstake

Winner takes all, $5 entry fee, all team names or the names of top ranked teams pulled randomly out of a hat (e.g. if only 10 people enter, the 10 top ranked teams will enter the hat.

· ANGOLA
· ARGENTINA
· AUSTRALIA
· BRAZIL
· COSTA RICA
· IVORY COAST
· CROATIA
· CZECH REPUBLIC
· ECUADOR
· ENGLAND
· FRANCE
· GERMANY
· GHANA
· IRAN
· ITALY
· JAPAN
· KOREA
· SAUDI ARABIA
· MEXICO
· NETHERLANDS
· PARAGUAY
· POLAND
· PORTUGAL
· SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
· SPAIN
· SWEDEN
· SWITZERLAND
· TOGO
· TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
· TUNISIA
· UKRAINE
· USA

Anyone fancy it? We can do the draw next week (Canadian residents only :) )

A game of two halfs

Or rather, a game of 7mins on then 7mins off. It was football time last night and the lack of English people mentioning no names Andy and Andy didn't stop it being a classic 4 a side affair. Banksy was his usual smooth self with arguably the best goal of the night, a Di Canio esq volley direct from his own keepers long clearence that left the opposition keeper no chance. I scored my best goal ever in canada with a thunderous volley from the half way line (or erm 10 yards). In other news today I think my ipod has finally died, any donations of cd's to compensate me during this tough time would be greatly appreciated

Duggans gone, and taken the good weather with him

Well its been about a week now since Mr Duggan set sail for Royal Brittania, and the good weather has gone too. Its been rainy and miserable ever since...Until today! When we had lovely sunshine. We went on a random driving adventure to West Vancouver and came across Lighthouse Park which boasted a great lighthouse and equally good park. Good fun was had by all and we even had an ale or two (two) at Darby's rooftop terrace. I'll post something more interesting and substantial when I do something more interesting and substantial :) Its pretty much summer now though so the possibilities are endless

At last! A night out with real Canadians!!

Well after 6 months and 3 days i've finally had a night out with Canadians in Canada, awesome (as they say). The night started in our local Darby's where myself and Bethany (a Canadian) showed up roughly on time. Of course, I took along 8 of my British pals for company and thats how the night went on for the first couple of hours. 11 o clock though saw the arrival of Karina, Johnny, Lindsay, Stephanie, and Ian bringing the Canadian total up to a magnificent 6. Meredith's arrival was the cherry on the cake raising the bar further to seven. Still, there were more Brits than Canuks but we got close, maybe next time...

Whistler Part Deux

First of all I apologise to those of you who will look at pretty much identical pictures on this, Ian's, Paul's, and the other bloggers sites, but we took so many pictures this weekend that it'll be worth your while looking at them. With Chris and Ian's friend Hannah both coming to visit this week we decided it would be perfect timing to head back to whistler and see the last of the winter snow. First thing we did when we got up there was hit the head for the pub, afterall Whistler has a "party town" reputation. The night got off to a crazy start with me and Ian spending half an hour reading the paper, but quickly settled down as we headed onward. Its fair to say that we got pretty drunk, but a quick McDonalds breakfast and we were ready to go Ski-dooing.

Me and Ian in Canada's wildest party town Us lot in possibly the worst club ive ever been in (apart from Klute), we later went to a better one where we met Toadfish from Neighbours
Liz enjoing her last seconds of happiness before Chris slapped her across the head (dont worry he didnt really)
King Banks lord of the dance floorCant remember this been taken

Ski-dooing was excellent fun, they get to over 40mph on compact snow apparently and felt really bloody fast. It does get dangerous tho and Hannah was getting bored of going round the course so decided to park her Ski-doo in a ditch. Unbelievably she escaped uninjured, excellent!

Parked up before we set off for the afternoonGav taking an action shot

Hannah's Ski-doo (whats left of it)

All the gang with helmet hair, looking a little weery

Me and Chris half way up Whistler mountain

Whistler - Part One

Before we get into it, lets start with the professional pictures that we paid through the nose for :) The gang with our first Ski-Doo
Me chasing someone up a hill
Gav lining up King Banks for an overtaking move
Me leaving Hannah in my wake
Chris trying to kill himself
And nearly succeeding

Me trying to do a Chris and getting some air

The Subways!

Last week all the male members of the Macdonald household along with Chris' good pal Erin and up and coming Vancouver hostess miss Meredith Baker went to see the Subways in Richards on Richards. It has to have been one of the best and most random nights thus far in vancouver! Here are the pictures...

We got pretty close to the action

Shame we missed a picture of Chris falling on his head

The boys looking slightly intoxicated

The gang minus Chris, Meredith holding a Corona that I would later cruelly steal