Un-poof

...Teepee Creek, AB!

I made it! I had no problems at all with the trip out here, and I made it to Alberta on time and in one piece.

So, I've been out here over a week now. What's it like, you ask? Well, it is different-yet-the-same. Same currency. Same language. Same restaurants. Same big-box stores (like Home Depot, Costco, etc.) The differences, well, there are a lot. More pick-ups than cars in the parking lots. Things taste different, in some inexplicable way; a bit like softened well water tastes different than city water. The sky is so big that I now understand the term "big sky country". Going 110 km/hr on the highway (in ON the speed limit is 100). Prices are higher for just about everything except Timmy's.

Living in "the country" is different than living in the city, for sure, but not in the ways you'd imagine. I am quite comfortable with the peace, quiet and solitude. Some things take a bit more getting used to. For example, the aforementioned softened well water. It doesn't taste bad, it just tastes different. The way our house sounds. The furnace is on the main floor, so of course it seems louder than the one we had in our basement. The house water softening system is also really loud and goes off and on at weird times. The way the duct work expands and contracts seems amplified too. I guess we just have a LOUD house now. The noises don't really bother me, and I got use to them quite quickly. Another great thing is our property. I can let the dogs out off leash and not worry. They have been awesome and love going for walks both on and off the property. It is so heart-warming to see Shadow running free with his ears flapping in the wind, without a care in the world.

Well, for now, that is the short version of my adventures in AB so far. I'm sure I will be filling in a lot more details as time goes on. Now it is time for me to sit in front of our big window and look out on my new world.